Military UFO video could be key to credibility in enthusiast's career (Jaime Maussan)

Dallas Morning News - 7/25/2004

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Jaime Maussan has spent the past decade collecting possible evidence of alien visits to Earth and maintains he has had personal contact with other "entities." And now Maussan says he has secured the most definitive proof yet of extraterrestrial visitors, and from an unlikely source: Mexico's super-secretive military.

BY LAURENCE ILIFF

The Dallas Morning News

MEXICO CITY, Mexico - (KRT) - Jaime Maussan has spent the past decade collecting possible evidence of alien visits to Earth and maintains he has had personal contact with other "entities"

He presents UFO photos, videos and testimony on two Internet sites, at conferences in Mexico and the United States, on the radio and on his new prime-time television show.

Entertainer, journalist and believer, Maussan is the guru of a subculture of UFO and space-travel devotees in Mexico, where there are a surprising number of reported sightings.

Like their astronomer ancestors, Mexicans embrace the notion of life in outer space and are generally less cynical about the UFO phenomenon than Americans.

"In no other place in the world is there such a commitment to producing evidence" of UFOs as in Mexico, he said.

And now Maussan says he has secured the most definitive proof yet of extraterrestrial visitors, and from an unlikely source: Mexico's super-secretive military.

The air force tape shows 11 luminous flying objects that military experts can't explain. So they sought out Maussan and cooperated with his investigation.

With the video has come a new dose of respect, Maussan said.

That could counter attacks on Maussan's credibility by Mexican scientists and even UFO buffs in other countries. While he is a darling among some in the UFO field, he is also considered one of the worst hucksters by scientists and skeptics, believers and nonbelievers, many of whom have their own Web sites.

UFO Watchdog, which is much more interested in debunking UFO theories than searching for proof of extraterrestrial life, is one. A Chile-based Web site, "La Nave de los Locos" or "Ship of the Crazy" likewise is dedicated to debunking UFO stories and the people who make money off them.

Both sites suggest that Maussan accepts any and all UFO stories and repeats them - with little or no skepticism - to make money. The Web site UFO Watchdog has placed Maussan in its "UFO Hall of Shame" alleging that the longtime journalist is a "promoter and supporter of various UFO hoaxes"

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Maussan, 51, acknowledges that there are bogus UFO stories, but he said his new military-filmed video is bulletproof.

"This is a watershed" he said of the video, which was broadcast worldwide in May and was the top story on Mexico's nightly news. In the history of UFOs, "there is a before, and there is an after" Maussan said in the dramatic tone that has made him a mainstream entertainer and global UFO "expert"

The video also may be a watershed in Maussan's career.

He used it on the June 13 debut episode of his two-hour weekly TV show, "Great Mysteries of the Third Millennium" which is broadcast live from his own studio.

On the show, air force pilots described their surprise at coming across luminous objects while looking for drug traffickers in the lower Gulf of Mexico on March 5.

Some of the objects showed up on radar, the pilots said, meaning they had mass. Others showed up on an infrared camera, meaning they emitted heat. During the incident, the pilots expressed surprise and even concern that they were being surrounded.

At one point, one soldier says with nervous laughter, "We are not alone"

National Defense Minister Ricardo Clemente Vega Garcia said the video was given to Maussan largely because the defense ministry was unaware of anyone else who actively studied the subject in Mexico.

"There are more copies for those scientists who want to see it, only we don't know them" Vega said. He added that the military had no opinion on what the shiny objects might be and had never used words like "UFO" or "flying saucer" to describe them.

Since President Vicente Fox became the first politician from an opposition party to hold that office in seven decades, the notoriously closed military has been somewhat more open.

Maussan, who dresses casually and exudes sincerity, said he is a skeptical journalist who simply presents the evidence.

He cites his credentials as the former host of the investigative news show "60 Minutos" which is unrelated to the popular U.S. TV news magazine "60 Minutes" and a long list of awards and achievements.

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Maussan is also a believer who said he has had contact with "entities" The experience, he said, was shared by half a dozen people and came in the early years of his UFO investigations.

"For me, it was something very important. It convinced me that this phenomenon is real and that it's just a matter of time. The most natural logic indicates that this universe must be full of intelligent life forms, and it's very likely that they are more intelligent than us and can reach our planet" he said.

Maussan said he did not want to go into the details of his personal experiences because that would make him, rather than his journalistic work, the focus of attention.

"We are talking about the most important story in history" he said. "When you accept that intelligent entities of unknown origin exist in our world, it changes everything"

While Maussan said he is not rich, his unique home in a wooded area of Mexico City features underground bedrooms, connecting tunnels and ongoing construction.

An above-ground nook is carved from a single tree and resembles a pointy spaceship. But there are few other UFO knickknacks, and his two young children don't seem particularly interested in the topic. Maussan said his wife used to be a skeptic, too.

To be sure, scientists from Mexico and elsewhere are loudly skeptical of this latest video. The usual explanations - weather phenomena, offshore oil rigs, highway lights - have been suggested.

UFO believers are unmoved and remain elated about the rare military openness.

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An admitted workaholic, Maussan holds twice-a-week conferences around Mexico at $20 per attendee, and he had his first in-person sessions in the U.S. on June 25 and 26, in Los Angeles.

He is a regular guest on U.S. Spanish-language programs such as the talk show "Cristina" His own TV show can be seen by U.S. viewers via streamed Internet.

"Many people ask me why the video was given to me" Maussan said from his downtown Mexico City office, which is sprinkled with a few UFO knickknacks. "Because of 13 years of presenting this type of evidence. For the scientists, this was an offense. But for the people, this was absolutely natural.

"The scientists" he added, "would have explained it away and guarded it in a drawer so that no one could see it"

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© 2004, The Dallas Morning News.