This book may prove to be one of the most disturbing books you'll read in long while. But it may also be one of the most critical.

In recent years a number of astonishing events in our skies and in the corridors of power and influence, suggest to many that we are on the verge of open, and global recognition of the reality of UFOs (unidentified flying objects) and extraterrestrial life. To many this "great shift" in our understanding of our place in the cosmic community will usher in a period of unparalleled peace, prosperity and global unity. On the other hand, many, including top UFO researchers, believe that we may be headed for the most bizarre-and most far reaching-challenge ever seen on the Planet Earth. And your personal destiny-and that of your family-may depend upon how you deal with the strange events that may soon take place.

As we approach the dawn of the twenty first century life in outer space is now taken for granted by our educational and media establishments. And with it comes the inevitable discussion of UFOs and alien life forms. Once relegated to the ostracized domain of the lunatic fringe, or science fiction writers, UFOs have now emerged as a "socially acceptable" topic for serious discussion. Previously regarded as the "whacko delusions" of the 40's and 50's, they have now become one of the hottest topics of our entertainment and news media of the 90's. One cannot even count the number of TV specials, documentaries (and pseudo-documentaries) and major movies have been aired in recent years on this topic. And yet, in the last several years a number of staggering, yet very well documented UFO events have occurred world-wide which have received no coverage by the mainstream U.S. media.

However, beginning in 1996 we have witnessed what some have called a "leak a week" strategy being orchestrated by agencies of the federal government and the scientific establishment, which many believe is part of a global strategy toward open acknowledgement of "ET reality."

Are the UFO's real? Or are they some form of delusion? Can anyone really take them seriously? What's really going on? It may come as a surprise to learn that a recent Gallup1 poll revealed that 72 percent of Americans believe in extraterrestrial life; 48 percent believe in UFOs and 15 percent believe they have seen a UFO. According to other polls up to 2-3 percent believe that they have been abducted by a UFO!

It turns out to be a gargantuan task to even catalog the volumes of the UFO reports in recent history. A bibliography of just the professional articles--excluding newspapers, etc.--lists 6,000 publications in English, 2,200 in foreign journals, and 1,350 periodicals published on the subject.

Wading through the mountains of reports of sightings, encounters, and even accounts of abductions, one is confronted with an unmanageable barrage of unconfirmable testimonies, hoaxes, frauds, and deliberate disinformation-even from the government. Yet there remains behind it all too many serious cases which involve multiple, reliable witnesses, and even tangible physical evidences, enough to bury even the most ardent skeptic.

A Sudden Change of Policy

On August 6, 1996, a dramatic shift in policy was apparently set in motion. A press release, personally endorsed by none other than the NASA Administrator, Daniel Goldin himself, startled the entire world:

"NASA Scientists Find Evidence Of Life On Mars."

The next day, President Clinton joined the elation with a press announcement on the South Lawn of the White House:

"This is the product of years of exploration and months of intensive study by some of the world's most distinguished scientists. Like all discoveries, this one will and should continue to be reviewed, examined and scrutinized. It must be confirmed by other scientists. But clearly, the fact that something of this magnitude is being explored is another vindication of America's space program and our continuing support for it, even in these tough financial times. I am determined that the American space program will put it's full intellectual power and technological prowess behind the search for further evidence of life on Mars..."

"Today, rock 84001 speaks to us across all those billions of years and millions of miles. It speaks of the possibility of life. If this discovery is confirmed, it will surely be one of the most stunning insights into our universe that science has ever uncovered. Its implications are as far-reaching and awe-inspiring as can be imagined. Even as it promises answers to some of our oldest questions, it poses still others even more fundamental.

"We will continue to listen closely to what it has to say as we continue the search for answers and for knowledge that is as old as humanity itself but essential to our people's future."

Since the announcement a number of investigative teams have expressed considerable doubt regarding the evidence presented by Goldin and the NASA team.5,6 Nevertheless, the event marked a significant policy change for the administration. Life in space was now "in." The cynics snickered that it was just a clever ploy by NASA to facilitate desperate funding. It may, however, be far more than that. In subsequent months the Mars announcement was followed by similar, less dramatic, announcements by NASA touting the discovery of liquid water on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons:

"Jupiter's Europa Harbors Possible 'warm Ice' Or Liquid Water"

"Tantalizing new images of Jupiter's moon Europa from NASA's Galileo spacecraft indicate that 'warm ice' or even liquid water may have existed and perhaps still exists beneath Europa's cracked icy crust. Europa has long been considered by scientists and celebrated in science fiction as one of the handful of places in the solar system (along with Mars and Saturn's moon Titan) that could possess an environment where primitive life forms could possibly exist."

A subsequent news release heralded the possibility of a mass of ice in the giant crater known as the Aitken Basin near the south pole of the moon.8 Clearly, more announcements of this kind are sure to follow.

Understandably, this fanfare has made "life in space" a hotter topic than ever. The euphoria is likely to be soon enhanced by the two current Mars missions which will predictably supply more "evidence" to fan the interest. The Mars Global Surveyor should reach orbital insertion in March 1998, and will begin mapping for one Mars year (687 Earth days) until January 31, 2000. This is intended to be the first of a decade-long program of the robotic exploration of Mars, called the Mars Surveyor Program. An aggressive series of orbiters and landers are planned to be launched every 26 months, as Mars moves into alignment with Earth.

A second U.S. mission, the Pathfinder, is also on its way and is scheduled to land July 4, 1997. It is intended to land a small 25 lb. six-wheeled robotic Rover ("Sojourner") for imaging and soil mechanics experiments.

In the mean time, while the U.S. press slept and the scientific community focussed on the possibility of ancient microbes from Mars, a number of well documented mass sightings of unidentified flying objects have continued around the globe which have convinced multitudes of the reality of UFOs.

The Day Mexico City Stood Still

On January 1, 1993 at 2pm, Mexico City became host to the most astonishing and best documented UFO event in recorded history. According to numerous broadcast9 and published10 reports, tens of thousands of people (including police, military personnel and ordinary citizens) sighted a silvery craft performing aerial acrobatics over the central portion of Mexico City in broad daylight. Radio stations were inundated by phone calls while television stations preempted their regular schedules to broadcast the event. Videotapes of the event showed traffic backed up on Mexico City's main thoroughfare, Avenida Reforma, as drivers and passengers emerged from their automobiles to get a look at the strange metallic disks.11 Later that afternoon, at 3:51 and 5:21 pm, two additional metallic, disc-shaped craft appeared and were also documented by local residents with camcorders.

On January 2, 1993, every major newspaper and news program covered the event which reportedly lasted five hours. One of Mexico City's major newspapers, La Prensa, carried the headline, "Astonishment! UFOs over the Capital." The event was also recorded by radar at the Mexico City International Airport.12 Incredibly, there was no reporting of this event in the U.S. press.

This was not the first UFO event in the skies of Mexico in recent years. The Mexico UFO flap (a flap is a large number of sightings in a short time span) began on July 11, 1991 during the total eclipse of the sun that swept across the central part of Mexico. On that day, shortly after 1 p.m., seventeen unrelated individuals, in four different cities, armed with cameras and camcorders documented a metallic disc-shaped object hanging motionless below the eclipsed sun. This event became the first "mass-photographed" daylight disk in history. Interestingly, many of the witnesses didn't realize they had photographed the disc until subsequent viewing of their tapes.

Examination of the video tapes revealed a solid, metallic, "hockey puck-shaped" object with counterclockwise rotation. Since that time researchers have collected over 700 video tapes of metallic, disc-shaped UFOs observed in the skies over Mexico.13 Over one-hundred of the video tapes are daylight shots. In addition, many of these have been videotaped by local residents while being simultaneously tracked on radar by nearby airports. On March 4, 1992, Air Traffic Controllers in Mexico City recorded a group of UFOs on their radar screens. The blips stayed for 40 minutes.

UFO researcher Brit Elders discussed the radar tracking of UFOs over Mexico:

"...Mexico has in place and operational a highly-sophisticated radar system, the TDX 2000. This air traffic management system has tracked and recorded unidentified objects simultaneous to the eyewitness reports of OVNIs [the Spanish term for UFOs] both from the ground and from pilots."

Commercial pilots and air traffic controllers have asked the Mexican government to investigate the problem due to a number of perceived "near misses." However, when officials of the Mexican government held a press conference-during which they acknowledged the sightings- they said the UFOs posed no significant danger to the public.

The UFO activity has even engendered the attention of Mexico's news magazine 60 Minutos (the Mexican counterpart of 60 Minutes). The chief investigative reporter and editor of 60 Minutos, Jaime Maussan, has directed extensive research on the Mexico UFO flap and has reported his results on Mexican television on numerous occasions. In 1995 Maussan stated "thanks to the video camcorder, Mexico has become the site of the most documented UFO flap in history."

Since 1991 sightings of UFOs have continued almost unabated in the skies over Mexico, especially over Mexico City. UFOs have been sighted and videotaped extensively by hundreds of ordinary citizens, commercial pilots and Mexican governmental authorities. Although the sightings have been extensively covered in the Mexican press, according to researchers, the majority of the populace has become desensitized to their presence and have come to view the sightings as "routine." While opinions vary, many of the witnesses believe that the Mexico flap represent the fulfillment of ancient Mayan or Biblical prophesies.

Israel: "The Big Invasion"

Starting in 1996 the borders of Israel became host to one of the most extraordinary UFO flaps in history. At 2 a.m. on Tuesday, September 17, 1996, traffic on High Road in the Ramat Aviv section of Tel Aviv, Israel came to a standstill when astonished motorists emerged from their automobiles to watch a UFO hovering near the city. Tel Aviv police received dozens of calls about an lighted object doing aerial acrobatics over the northern end of the city that were considered impossible for any conventional flying plane or helicopter. According to a report in Mai'ariv, one of Israel's two largest daily newspapers, the event was witnessed by police along with hundreds of motorists at the scene.

Since the Israeli flap began, David Ronen, a reporter and editor for Mai'ariv newspaper has received hundreds of reports of UFO sightings as well as accounts of alleged contact with aliens by Israeli citizens. In his column Ronen noted that the sightings, which previously were restricted to relatively deserted areas, have started to occur in the more heavily populated coastland and city regions of Israel. In a 1997 interview for the British Journal UFO Reality, Ronen summarized the goings on in Israel;

"All at once, UFOs have begun to appear in the centre of Israel and in other areas throughout the country, as well as simultaneously in Iran and Australia. At precisely the same time (August 1996) a tide of eyewitness reports came in, this time not from individual people, but involving a wave of mass reports, including an intervention by the police and the army. The succession of reports is so staggering that it is already impossible to keep track of the hundreds and thousands of eyewitness reports that pour in each day."

One of the best documented sightings occurred on Sunday August 4th, 1996 around 2:30 am in Eilat, Israel. According to some estimates over a thousand people saw a UFO travelling slowly over the perimeter of the city at a height of on 200 meters above ground. The local police stations and emergency centers were duluged with dozens of reported sightings. An eyewitness to the event was the son of the Deputy Mayor of Eilat, Rafi Edri. Regarding the event he stated;

"At 2:30 am, a group of 50 people stood and watched a UFO, like a giant tent full of lights, light up the sky above two residential districts. The UFO passed just over our heads at a height of not more than 100-200 metres. The event lasted close to ten minutes. Suddenly, without any advance warning, it disappeared."

Other residents who observed the UFO stated that at first it was semi circle-shaped, afterwards it split into two then instantaneously disappeared. In a similar sighting in August 1996, the deputy editor of the local paper in Eilat reported an enormous red and purple boomerang shaped UFO the size of "half a city" which split into two, then floated above the city of Aqaba and disappeared above Jordan. According to published reports, in September 1996, in the village of Netanya an estimated 5,000 people were terrified when a UFO descended between a group of nearby buildings. The event was witnessed by numerous local officials including at least ten police patrol cars.

On other occasions residents have reported disruption of electrical appliances, burn marks on the ground, burnt out street lamps, "crop circle" landing sites, cattle mutilations, close encounters with "giant alien entities," and yes, even alleged alien abductions.

One of Israel's best know journalists, Barry Chamish, has extensively researched the recent events in the skies over Israel. Chamish, who is the chief editor of Inside Israel, an investigative news journal, stated that "Israel is recognized as an international UFO hot spot -with an unsurpassed quantity and quality of evidence." Due to the enormity of the Israeli flap Barry Chamish and many of his journalistic colleagues have dubbed the events as "The Big Invasion." In fact, the frequent sightings of UFOs and alleged contact with alien entities was even discussed-with no resolution-by the Knesset on February 12, 1997.

According to those who have studied the events over Israel there is a very puzzling aspect of this UFO flap. Researchers note that the sightings appear to be occurring almost exclusively over the tiny land mass of the Jewish state rather than throughout the Middle East. This peculiarity was also noted by Daniel Brynberg, a journalist for the Jerusalem Report:

"Ufologists are at a loss to explain the lack of sightings in Israel's near neighbors -it is as if the aliens, unlike most earthlings, are aware of Israel's borders."

The "rationalists" in Israel, like those in the United States, prefer to deny the existence of the phenomenon claiming the events are a simple case of mass hysteria. Many view the events as a sign from God. Still others believe that the events in Israel portend a sinister influence-a foreboding sign that something ominous is about to happen and that Israel will be its focus. Whatever the case may be, the events in Israel follow closely those that have comprised UFO folklore in the United States for over fifty years.

Phoenix Rising

Similar sightings to those in Mexico and Israel began to occur in the skies over central Arizona on March 13, 1997. According to local media the region of central Arizona became host to a series of unidentified silent flying triangles viewed by thousands of residents, including airline pilots. These "flying triangles" have been consistently reported to be several hundred feet across with seven perimeter lights. This UFO flap has been widely reported by the print and electronic media in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.23 According to local residents jet interceptors from nearby Luke Air Force Base were seen attempting to intercept one of the triangular objects. However, spokespersons from the base have officially denied this allegation. At this printing the Arizona UFO flap continues unabated.

UFOs Over Korea

On November 23, 1996 the Associated Press (AP) in Seoul, South Korea posted a story about a daylight sighting of a disc-shaped UFO that was witnessed by thousands of Koreans at 7:20 am, during rush hour traffic. The story, entitled "UFO footage stirs sensation in S. Korea", described the event and noted that it was videotaped and aired by a local television network.

The television pictures showed footage of a shining object floating motionless in the early morning sky suspended in midair for about 10 minutes before it suddenly disappeared. While skeptics attributed the event to conventional air traffic, according to AP, South Korean Air Force officials stated that there were no scheduled military or civilian aircraft flying in the area at the time when the object was allegedly sighted.

According to the published reports South Korea had been overtaken by "UFO fever" in recent months as numerous sightings-documented by local photographers-have received widespread and prominent coverage in newspapers throughout the country.

UFO that appeared on Korean TV, November 23, 1996

Observers in South Korea said the flying pattern of the object was identical like that of another unidentified flying object sighted in 1995. The same day, at 7:30pm PST, CNN World Report reported the "cigar shaped UFO" over Seoul. According to CNN a number of witnesses recorded video footage of the UFO and this footage accompanied the CNN report. The incident was also reported in the United States by Reuters making it one of the rare UFO events reported by the mainstream media.

Project Starlight

On April 9-10, 1997 an unprecedented congressional briefing occurred in Washington D.C. to promote official and definitive disclosure regarding the reality of UFOs and extraterrestrial intelligence. The briefing was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI) and represented the official start of CSETI's "Project Starlight" initiative.

The Project Starlight initiative was initiated in 1993 by Dr. Steven Greer, the director of CSETI, "to identify the best scientific evidence related to UFOs and Extraterrestrial Intelligence"24 and for the open public release of this information. According to Dr. Greer, since 1993 CSETI has identifiied over one-hundred "bona-fide military, intelligence, government contractor and other government agency employees with direct, first-hand knowledge of the UFO/ET subject."

Since 1993, Project Starlight team members have provided preliminary briefings of "best available evidence" for senior military leaders, senior United Nations leadership, White House staff, a sitting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, international leaders, members of the Senate and House of Representatives, and leaders in foreign governments, among others. However, these briefings were simply a prelude to those of April, 1997. According to Dr. Greer the congressional briefings were necessary because CSETI had learned that the UFO subject was being "managed in a way which kept the majority of our constitutional leadership uninformed on the subject." During the April, 1997 briefings, the CSETI Project Starlight team brought together nearly 20 first-hand government witnesses to UFO/ET events. According to CSETI most of the witnesses formerly possessed top secret security clearances and testified to events which took place while they possessed those clearances. These UFO witnesses were active in the Air Force, Army, Navy, NASA, private industry and intelligence operations from the early 1950s to the 1990s.

The closed, confidential briefings took place at the Westin Hotel in Washington DC, the Pentagon and other locations in the Washington D.C. area. They were attended by nearly 30 congressmen or their staff representatives, VIPs from the executive branch, representatives of the Dutch embassy staff, government scientists, and representatives from the National Academy of Sciences and two state governors' offices. Separate media briefings were attended by reporters from The Washington Post, US News & World Report, The Boston Globe, The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), WTNH-TV, United Press International, USA Today, and a producer from CBS' "60 Minutes." Briefing participants were provided with extensive photographic, written and video documentation of "definitive and unambiguous" evidence for the existence of UFOs.

In addition, eleven of the best witnesses were selected to testify before the government leaders assembled. The testimony included a statement from "a world-renown astronomer who was present when an apparent extraterrestrial signal was received at the Harvard observatory (SETI) facility" in the late 1980s. In a subsequent interview several weeks later Greer said that over three dozen signals of non earth-based origin have been received by the META (Million-channel ExtraTerrestrial Assay) System at Harvard University.26 In our own research efforts we were indeed able to confirm Greer's statement.

The Million-channel ExtraTerrestrial Assay (META) at the Harvard/Smithsonian observatory is fed by a 26-meter steerable Cassegrain radiotelescope which became operational in 1985. After five years of scanning for narrowband radio signals (near the 1420 MHz line of neutral hydrogen) the META hardware searched over 60 trillion channels! During that time there were 37 candidate "events" which exceeded the average detection threshold.27 These "events" were in fact, electromagnetic signals of varying duration that were determined to be of non-earth origin. However, they were published with no fanfare in the Astrophysical Journal.28 When we inquired as to why the anomalous signals were not considered extremely significant, public relations officials at SETI in Palo Alto, California, stated that they were not repeatable events. That is, when the anomalous regions were re-scanned the signals did not repeat.29 No explanation for the signals was given other than they were "unidentified."

At the briefing sdditional witnesses discussed first-hand knowledge of UFO artifacts; well documented photographic evidence which was altered by NASA; as well as the testimony of Naval employee who witnessed a major UFO encounter off the eastern seaboard which was photographed, tracked on radar and pursued by military aircraft in 1981.

The ultimate goal of the closed congressional briefing was to bring about open congressional hearings on the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrial life in a non-sensational, rational manner. However, if they are not forthcoming CSETI plans to press for the disclosure of UFO/ET reality either through the United Nations or a public blue ribbon panel of former and current military, NASA, intelligence and government employees with direct, first-hand knowledge of the UFOs. Stay tuned!

The Testimony of the Astronauts

For decades purveyors of disinformation have carefully cultivated the notion that only wackos had sighted or believed in UFOs. This perception, widely promoted by the media and educational establishments, is one of the main reasons why the scientific establishment has not undertaken an open and thorough examination of the UFO phenomenon. However, in recent years this perception has began to crumble -perhaps by design- as numerous astronauts have spoken publicly about the reality of UFOs and their belief in the existence of intelligent, extraterrestrial visitors.

Gordon Cooper

On May 15, 1963 Major Gordon Cooper, one of the original Mercury Astronauts and the last American to fly alone in space, completed a 22 orbit journey around the world. During the final orbit, Cooper told the tracking station at Muchea (near Perth Australia) that had sighted a glowing, greenish object which was quickly approaching his capsule. The unidentified flying object was solid enought to be picked up by Muchea's tracking radar.

Cooper's sighting was reported by the National Broadcast Company; however, when Cooper landed reporters were not allowed to question him about the UFO sighting. This was not the first sighting by Major Cooper. In 1951 Cooper had sighted numerous UFOs while piloting an F-86 Sabrejet over Western Germany. The UFOs, which were sighted over a two day period, were described as metallic, saucer-shaped discs at considerable altitude which easily out-maneuvered the American fighter planes. Six years later, while supervising flight training at Edwards AFB he and his colleagues witnessed and photographed a "flying saucer" that landed near the base. The film was sent throught the "normal channels" for processing and evaluation yet he never received a report on the photographs. Due to security directives, Cooper kept these sightings to himself for many years.

However, on July 14, 1978 Gordon Cooper met with Secretary General of the United Nations, Kurt Waldheim to discuss his personal knowledge UFOs and to encourage international research. Also in attendance were Jacques Vallee, J. Allen Hynek, Calude Poher, David Saunders, Prime Minister of Grenada Sir Eric Gairy. In a letter to the United Nation Security Counsel Cooper wrote; "I believe that these extra-terrestrial vehicles and their crews are visiting this planet from other planets and are obviously a little more advanced than we are here on earth...Most astronauts were reluctant to discuss UFOs. I feel that we need to have a top-level, coordinated program to scientifically collect and analyse data from all over the earth concerning any type of encounter, and to determine how best to interface with these visitors in a friendly fashion. Also, I did have occasion in 1951 to have two days of observation of many flights of them [UFOs], of different sizes, flying in fighter formation, generally from east to west over Europe."

On May 7, 1996 Cooper was interviewed on the nationally broadcast television program Paranormal Borderline. In the interview Cooper confirmed his personal encounters with UFOs in the 1950s and his belief that extraterrestrial life forms are visiting this planet. During the interview Cooper expressed his belief that we are in an era of increasing revelation by the government and that he expects an announcement regarding the reality of UFOs and extraterrestrial life.

"I think we'll see our government having a totally different approach really to the UFO situation, or extraterrestrials, whatever you want to call it. I think the presseure that comes to bear on the government from whatever reason they withhold information is certainly getting more and more and more, so I would like to think that they 're going to release all the information."

In fact, in 1996, NASA announced Project Origins. Its goal is to search for inhabitable (inhabited?) planets orbiting nearby stars.

Ed Mitchell

At the highlight of his mission (January 31- February 9, 1971) Apollo 14 astronaut Ed Mitchell became the sixth man to walk on the moon and spent 33 hours roving the lunar hills of Fra Mauro with fellow astronaut Alan Shepard. At the age of 65, with the 25th anniversary of Apollo-14 coming up, Mitchell returned to Florida to shoot a segment for "Dateline NBC" about his experience.

In the episode, which aired in April 1996, Mitchell was asked about his beliefs regarding the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life.

"I have no firsthand experience, but I have had the opportunity to meet with people from three countries who in the course of their official duties claim to have had personal firsthand encounter experiences...with extraterrestrials..." I'm convinced there's life throughout the universe. It's just a question of how developed..."

During the interview he also stated that he believes that the United States Government covered up the evidence surrounding a case of an alleged UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

In a separate interview in January 1996, Mitchell was asked about the evidence for UFOs and extraterrestrial visitors. "I am convinced there is a small body of valid [UFO] information, and that there is a body of information, 10 times as big, that is total disinformation put out by the source to confuse the whole issue...The information is now held primarily by a body of semi- or quasi-private organizations that have kind of spun off from the military intelligence organizations of the past...The dangerous part is, they're still operating under a black budget, which has been estimated at over $30 billion a year. And nobody knows what goes into black budgets. The prime requisite is security first and everything else second. Imagine an organization that has a black budget, an unquestioned source of funds, reports to no one, and has this exotic technology that they can keep to themselves and play with."

In addition to these revelations by Ed Mitchell, he was one of the high profile individuals that accompanied the CSETI team in April, 1997 and revealed his knowledge of UFOs at the closed congressional briefing.

Apollo 11

For many years unconfirmed reports of UFO sightings by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" on the July 21, 1969 were relegated to the world of science fiction and dismissed out of hand by NASA officials. However, according to Otto Binder, a former NASA employee, the agency has a longstanding policy of blocking sensitive transmissions through secret, non-public frequencies. According to Binder32 a unnamed Ham radio operator picked up the following transmission on a public bypass channel when Apollo 11 landed in the sea of tranquility:

MISSION CONTROL: "What's there?... Mission control calling APOLLO 11"

APOLLO 11: "These babies are huge, sir ... enorrnous.... Oh, God, you wouldn't believe it! I'm telling you there are other spacecraft out there...lined up on the far side of the crater edge...they're on the moon watching us..."

In 1979 Otto Binder's account was confirmed by the former Chief of NASA Communications, Maurice Chatelain. According to Chatelain, Armstrong had indeed reported seeing two UFOs on the outer rim of a Lunar crater. Regarding the event he stated, "When Apollo 11 made the first landing on the Sea of Tranquility, and only moments before Armstrong stepped down the ladder to set foot on the moon, two UFOs hovered overhead." Regarding NASA's knowledge of the incident he stated that "The encounter was common knowledge in NASA, but nobody has talked about it until now."33 Chatelain has also alleged that Apollo 11's radio transmissions were re-routed on numerous occasions to hide certain events from the public. To this day NASA officials and Neil Armstrong strongly deny that any UFOs were sighted.

Nevertheless, in his book, Our Cosmic Ancestors, Chatelain made a number of startling claims about UFO sightings during NASA missions. "...all Apollo and Gemini flights were followed, both at a distance and sometimes also quite closely, by space vehicles of extraterrestrial origin-flying saucers, or UFOs, if you want to call them by that name. Every time it occurred, the astronauts informed Mission Control, who then ordered absolute silence."

Regarding code names for UFOs used by astronauts he states:

"I think that Walter Schirra aboard Mercury 8 was the first of the astronauts to use the code name 'Santa Claus' to indicate the presence of flying saucers next to space capsules. However, his announcements were barely noticed by the general public. It was a little different when James Lovell on board the Apollo 8 command module came out from behind the moon and said for everybody to hear: 'PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS." Even though this happened on Christmas Day 1968, many people sensed a hidden meaning in those words.*

Were it not for Chaletain's credentials it would be easy to dismiss his claims. As the Chief of Communications, Chatelain was in a very senior position at NASA and was certainly in a position to know the truth. He was in the control room for many of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flights during the 1960s and 70s. He established a very reputable carreer in the aerospace industry. As an engineer he secured eleven patents and held senior positions for Ryan Electronics and North American Aviation in the 1950's and 60's. Yet NASA denies his claims.

Dr. Brian O'Leary

Another former scientist-astronaut, Dr. Brian O'Leary, was being trained by NASA to go on a manned mission to Mars. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, and he has served as a faculty member at UC Berkeley, Cornell University, California Institute of Technology, and Princeton University. On September 18, 1994, at the International Forum on New Science in Fort Collins, Colorado, Dr. O'Leary made a remarkable public regarding UFOs, extraterrestrial life and the government cover-up, "For nearly fifty years, the secrecy apparatus within the United States Government has kept from the public UFO and alien contact information....We have contact with alien cultures....the suppression of UFO and other extraterrestrial intelligence information for at least 47 years is probably being orchestrated by an elite band of men in the CIA, NSA, DIA, and their like. This small group appears able to keep these already-hard-to-believe secrets very well. ...those who have investigated this hydra-headed beast believe that the Cosmic Watergate of UFO, alien, mind-control, genetic engineering, free energy, anti-gravity propulsion and other secrets will make Watergate or Irangate appear to be kindergarten exercises."

John Blaha

John Blaha is a veteran of five space shuttle missions including a tour of duty aboard the Russian MIR space station. As commander of space shuttle Discovery, on March 24, 1989 Blaha was recorded on a secret NASA bypass channel by a Ham radio operator as saying,

"Houston, this is Discovery. We still have the alien spacecraft under observance."

Not suprisingly, NASA denies that it was a reference to a UFO. Instead they claim that Blaha was referring to the Russian space station.

With the credibility of our NASA astronauts being added to the public's awareness of the UFO mystery we must ask the question-why now? Although NASA is a civilian agency, many of its programs are funded by the defense budget and the astronauts are subject to military security regulations. For decades our astronauts were held to these "non-disclusure" oaths. So it is puzzling to see them confirming the existence of UFOs in such a public forum. Is the government turning a blind eye to these disclosures or is this part of a gradual release of information to awaken the populace to the reality of UFOs? Is this a precursor to an announcement of UFO reality? We may soon find out.

What is Going On?

While the events discussed in this chapter may establish the existence of UFOs in the minds of many, they shed very little light on the question of their origin and agenda for mankind. Indeed for over five decades government and civilian researchers have attempted to unwravel the mystery of the UFOs. And yet there is nothing close to a consensus among those who have seriously examined the nature and history of the phenomenon.

To the skeptics the phenomenon is a product of mass hysteria or a shared visual hallucination. However, as Jim Marrs, author of Alien Agenda pointed out, with the advent of the camcorder hundreds of people have videotaped UFOs and "you can't tape a hallucination."37 To others the UFO phenomenon is the harbinger of a New Age of spiritual awakening and evolution accomplished with the assistance of our highly advanced space brothers. Still others believe the UFO phenomenon represents the return of God's angels who sometimes visit in "chariots of fire," who today are returning to herald the dawning of a new millennium and the arrival of the age of Apocalypse. If these things are real, we believe it will lead to the biggest challenge ever faced by mankind. If these things are not, they bear evidence of a gigantic delusion-one that is being orchestrated with a political end in sight. There are some who believe that we are all being "set up." These issues are no longer casual curiosities. There is increasing evidence that what lies behind these strange events will shortly affect every living person on this planet.

Who are they? Where are they from? What is their agenda? Whatever the case, one thing is clear-the appearance of unidentified flying objects is an ancient phenomenon which has perplexed-even harassed- mankind from the beginning of written history.