Article/Document:
UFO Disclosure Crusader Dr. Steven Greer Challenges Media Establishment on Its Home Turf
Len Kasten, writer for Atlantis Rising Magazine
original source | fair use notice
Summary: The momentum for full disclosure of the truth from the government about the UFO phenomenon seems to fluctuate almost like the stock market. It goes through periods of intense enthusiasm usually initiated by one or more dedicated individuals or groups, followed by times of relative discouragement and disinterest after it has become abundantly clear that a solid stone wall has been encountered, and it is an exercise in futility.
The momentum for full disclosure of the truth from the government about the UFO phenomenon seems to fluctuate almost like the stock market. It goes through periods of intense enthusiasm usually initiated by one or more dedicated individuals or groups, followed by times of relative discouragement and disinterest after it has become abundantly clear that a solid stone wall has been encountered, and it is an exercise in futility. Generations of courageous truth-fighters come and go. They heroically hurl themselves against the great stone wall, but it remains implacable, yielding not even a tiny crack. There are times when a breakthrough seems imminent and there is a real feeling abroad that the wall will break wide open, and the dammed-up revelations will come flooding through-but alas, it just never happens. Presidential candidates make promises, but when the time comes to deliver, they become mute. In 1993, five-term congressman Steve Schiff from New Mexico, under pressure from constituents, came to believe that there was something to the Roswell story and asked the Government Accounting Office to thoroughly review every piece of evidence old and new. For awhile, it seemed that at last a pronouncement from an official government agency might be forthcoming. But the GAO report, issued on July 28, 1995, said that all the important government documents about the Roswell incident were inexplicably destroyed over forty years previously. Schiff, however, kept up the pressure and became the congressional point man for continued probes. He personally investigated the Santilli alien autopsy film about which he said, 'It looked real to me.' Less than three years after the GAO inquiry, on March 25, 1998, Schiff died of a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer after a one-year battle. He was 51. So ended another promising crusade.
Without doubt, the biggest thorn in the side of the government, and the most persistent gadfly seeking disclosure of UFO secrets, is Arizona attorney Peter Gersten, founder and director of CAUS, or 'Citizens Against UFO Secrecy.' Since 1998, Gersten has mounted a multi-pronged one-man campaign to force various government agencies to release everything they have on UFO related information. Using the Freedom of Information Act as his primary weapon, and relying on his legal skills, Gersten has sued the U.S. government, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Federal District Court in Phoenix, Arizona to force them to release their secret UFO documents. Naturally he hasn¹t had much success since the federal courts tend to side with the government, and as a last resort the government takes refuge under the 'national security' umbrella. But he has enjoyed an occasional psychological victory, and his efforts are slowly gaining wider attention. More importantly, his organization is starting to attract financial assistance from many sources. But the wall remains intact.
The Crusading Physician
But now, in these early days of the 21st century, a major new force has entered the fray, and threatens to blast a huge breach in the wall, if not to bring it down entirely. It comes from an unexpected place. A previously obscure emergency room physician from Charlottesville, Virginia has stepped upon the world stage and has taken the reins in hand to lead the charge to finally wrest a public admission of the history of extraterrestrial contact with the human race, from the deep, shadowy recesses of the top secret world. Dr. Steven Greer has become so inflamed with this crusade that he has put his promising medical career on hold, thereby forfeiting his considerable income, and putting at risk the welfare of his wife and four young daughters.
Greer¹s efforts have been highly organized, and carefully orchestrated right from the beginning of his involvement, over eleven years ago, when he founded CSETI, or the 'Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence.' After recruiting a corps of top UFO researchers all over the world to affiliation with CSETI, he formed them into an Initiative Working Group designated as CE-5 in order to produce a comprehensive working document about the extraterrestrial presence on the planet, i.e., who they are, their characteristics, and why they are here. That document, published in 1991, is a comprehensive and complete analysis of the situation, utilizing virtually every piece of information available outside of the secret government world, but including the statements of some courageous ex-government insiders. The discoveries described are not surprising to anyone who has been investigating the UFO phenomenon, but it is remarkable for Greer to have arrived at such explicit and far-reaching conclusions about the alien presence so early in the game. The working paper claims that there are several ET groups visiting earth, all of whom have bases within the solar system, and some located on (or under) the earth itself. Greer says that the technologies used in their propulsion systems include: 'a) gravity/anti-gravity and electromagnetic/gravity technology, b) space energy and so-called hyperdimensional energy systems, c) matter-energy inter-changeable technologies d) possible Consciousness Assisted Technology (CAT) and Technology Assisted Consciousness (TAC).'
Interestingly, this document concludes that it is the aliens themselves who choose to keep their presence relatively secret. On this subject, Greer says, 'Sudden and fully open contact with human civilization has been avoided because of a number of interrelated factors, including: a) the need to avoid an untimely disruption of Earth civilization including military, political, geopolitical, cultural, economic, technological and religious upheaval; b) risks to their own civilization and people, as well as overall mission, given human xenophobia and tendencies towards violent armed reactions; c) up to this time, such massive and open contact has not been necessary, and has not been consonant with their overall long-term mission and purpose...since their purpose is not acquisition-oriented or disruptive.² But he goes on to say that they do have a plan in place for ³gradually broader and deeper contact with human society and individuals.'
The paper then discusses the government cover-up, claiming high-level knowledge 'since at least 1947.' Surprisingly, this document then appears to excuse, or at least to understand the reasons for, government secrecy. Those reasons are: a) fear of public panic and social disruption; b) security issues surrounding possible military and technology applications of ET technology, especially in the setting of a world beset with Cold War tensions and competing interests; c) uncertainty and mistrust regarding ET motives and ultimate intentions; d) embarrassment and consternation over human military inability to secure world air space from repeated penetrations by ET's; e) embarrassment and loss of face resulting from disclosures concerning how this matter has been handled, such as the harassment and ridicule of innocent civilians and military personnel, the withholding of information from the public and congress, etc. More surprising is the conclusion concerning ET technology, as follows: ETI (Extraterrestrial Intelligence) technology is strictly guarded by both ETI and human governmental agencies because of its potential for military applications which would greatly threaten world security. It is imperative that this technology not find significant human applications until such time as the Earth attains international peace and an effective world government. This early position about secrecy would change drastically as the CSETI investigation continued.
Project Starlight
By 1993, Greer had come to realize, presumably through ET contacts, that the ETs were open to complete revelation and welcomed the opportunity to interact with the human race. In his newsletter of May, 1994, he says, 'I believe ETI is waiting for us to educate our own people, and soon.' Based on this, he launched Project Starlight, which was 'designed to educate world leaders, leaders in society, and the world¹s population to the fact that the earth is being visited by advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. A comprehensive and world encompassing strategy has been designed to achieve these educational goals, which will culminate in a world announcement regarding the existence of extraterrestrial life forms.' He cited many new worldwide developments that supported a move to complete openness, especially the end of Cold War tensions, the declassification of many secret documents, and increased worldwide UFO sightings, implying an ET desire to be observed. However, in the same newsletter, Greer announced that in implementing Project Starlight, he was surprised to learn that most U.S. high government officials including the president, the Cabinet, and probably the Joint Chiefs of Staff were 'out of the loop.' He said he had learned that the real information was controlled by a top secret, quasi-governmental, quasi-private, international group, and therefore it was necessary to convince that group that the time had come to release the information.
Consonant with the goals of Project Starlight, in the Fall of 1993, CSETI began a series of briefings of top international figures to educate them as to the real facts of the extraterrestrial presence. This briefing process included senior Clinton administration officials, sitting CIA Director James Woolsey, former United Kingdom Ministry of Defense head and five-star Admiral Lord Hill-Norton, UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali, other senior UN officials, as well as numerous private briefings with members of congress and senior Pentagon officials. James Woolsey, now a Washington lobbyist, recently publicly expressed indignation that Greer characterized his meeting on December 13, 1993 at the home of a mutual friend, and including all their wives, as a ³briefing,² claiming that it was simply a dinner party and nothing more. Greer claims that Woolsey had no previous knowledge of much of the information he conveyed to him that night.
Government Ultimatum
In a dramatic briefing paper titled 'National Security Implications of the UFO/ETI Subject,' dated August 30, 1995, Greer cited all the cogent and compelling reasons why he believed continued secrecy to be both dangerous and unconstitutional. He says in part, 'The current covert management of this issue appears to be operating independently and outside of the constitutional chain of command. The group controlling these operations, which involves reconnaissance, extraterrestrial technology back-engineering, and space-based targeting of ETs (among others) is non-responsive to congressional or Executive Branch oversight and control. This constitutes a real and grave threat to national security and to constitutional democracy and freedom.'
Not shrinking from this challenge, Greer, on November 15, 1996 under the aegis of CSETI Project Starlight, sent a letter to all of the top U.S. government officials, including the president, advising them that unless they objected in writing, all security oaths related to UFO activity taken by government officials, presumably including military and intelligence personnel, would be considered null and void because such oaths existed outside of 'legal constitutional oversight and control.' The letter stated that, 'UNLESS OTHERWISE DIRECTED, this assessment would be regarded as accurate and all such government witnesses would be free to speak openly as of 1 January 1997.' This was a bold and unprecedented act by a private citizen. Remarkably, almost all of the recipients of the letter sent an acknowledgment, and the deadline date came and went without receipt of a single objection, warning or threat! Thus on that date, January 1, 1997, Project Disclosure officially began.
Project Disclosure
At the commencement of Project Starlight in 1993, Greer began identifying, seeking out and interviewing military and government witnesses to UFO events who were willing to talk. He also started gathering as much hard evidence as he could find. By the time Project Disclosure began, he had amassed an impressive cast of witnesses. In April of 1997, more than a dozen such government and military witnesses were assembled at the Westin Hotel in Washington for briefings with congressmen, Pentagon officials and others in an attempt to persuade congress to hold open, secrecy-free hearings on the UFO/Extraterrestrial presence, advanced energy and propulsion systems that could conceivably provide solutions to global environmental challenges, and to enact legislation to ban all space-based weapons and to develop and explore space peacefully. Congress wasn¹t interested. If they were impressed by the witnesses, they didn¹t admit to it. At that point Greer realized that he had to take his case to the press and the people.
For the next four years, CSETI continued to identify and interview witnesses. By early 2001, they had an army of several hundred such witnesses covering every branch of the armed services, the NRO, DIA, CIA, and NASA. Internationally, they included high officials of the former USSR and other agencies and countries. Over 100 interviews had been videotaped and 70 transcribed into edited testimony. A four-hour videotape summary of testimony and an over 500-page briefing document was produced. Virtually all of these people are prepared to testify before congress.
Says Greer in his Project Disclosure Description, 'The weight of this testimony, along with supporting government documents and other evidence, establishes beyond any doubt the reality of extraterrestrial life forms, UFOs, or extraterrestrial vehicles, and advanced energy and propulsion technologies resulting from the study of these vehicles... The testimony and evidence proves that these vehicles have been tracked on radar on many occasions, have landed and/or crashed on terra firma, and have been retrieved and studied by specialized and compartmentalized projects. Advanced technologies which have been identified from the study of these vehicles, once disclosed, will replace currently used forms of energy generation and propulsion. These technologies will enable the Earth to attain a sustainable civilization without pollution, energy shortages, or global warming.' And further, 'These numerous recorded witnesses constitute only a small portion of a vast pool of identified present or former military, intelligence, corporate, aviator, flight control, law enforcement officers, scientists and other witnesses, who will come forward when subpoenaed to testify at Congressional hearings.'
Some of the witnesses were very highly placed in government, and much of the testimony confirms information previously considered wild-eyed and highly speculative, thus salvaging the reputations of many investigators who had sometimes been ridiculed and under attack. All of the verbatim witness testimonies are available at the Project Disclosure web site, http://www.disclosureproject.org/. Be assured-even the most jaded UFO researchers will be astounded at what they find in this material.
The Press Club Gambit
In late March of 2001, Dr. Greer appeared as a speaker at the International UFO Congress in Laughlin, Nevada. In a rousing speech, he revealed that a landmark event in the protracted, bizarre struggle between the government and the citizenry for the release of UFO information was about to take place. He announced that on May 9 at a public meeting of the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., about 'two dozen' high-ranking military personnel would tell the world what they knew about UFOs and secret government flying disc development. He promised that this would be the breakthrough event that would end the secrecy once-and-for-all, and would put the information out in the legitimate media marketplace at last. Greer¹s fiery speech was greeted by many rounds of enthusiastic applause from the large audience as he castigated the government for appropriating to itself for military purposes, new technologies derived from ET contact that would end reliance on fossil fuels, and would end poverty in the third world by making new forms of abundant energy freely available.
If it happened, this would definitely be a landmark event. One had visions of the press corps scurrying for their cell phones and laptops after the presentation. It did happen right on schedule on May 9, 2001. It was carried by live radio and three TV networks, and over 250,000 people were lined up to view the simultaneous webcast, which was hit by some very sophisticated jamming causing the connection to be down about 15% of the time. But it was recorded in its entirety, and is available for viewing in the archives of ConnectLive at http://www.connectlive.com%20/events/disclosureproject
Somehow the Press Club event did not have the impact that Greer had envisioned. There was no scurrying by the press writers, and it didn¹t make the news the next day anywhere in America. It just sort of disappeared into a black hole testifying once again to the power of the media managers. As one ponders this, there is a realization that even if it had made the front pages the next day, daily life all over the world would not have changed a bit. Everyone would get up the next morning and go to work, still beset with all their financial, romantic, and health concerns, and not able to give a thought to our extraterrestrial friends. It¹s a fact that most people already believe in aliens anyway. Thanks to years of mass psychological preparation by Hollywood, this news has already been processed and discounted by the public, and they just can¹t get excited about it enough to start haranguing congress for legislation. And yet many believe that Dr. Greer is absolutely correct in his assessment that it is potentially the solution to all our energy problems, and that it will open the portal to travel to the stars and joining the extraterrestrial community. The public consciousness, it seems, has been very cleverly put to sleep on this issue. Let¹s hope that this courageous visionary can eventually succeed in waking us up again, and jolting us back to reality.
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