UFOS: Keeping Anderson Cooper & CNN HonestPart I

By Frank Warren
© 11-13-07

     By now most folks who have an interest in UFOs or those who are just plain “news junkies” have probably heard about the “press conference” held in Washington D.C. at the “National Press Club on Monday, entitled, “”UFO Close Encounters.” The event was sponsored by FCZ which is co-owned by James Fox, documentary filmmaker and co-producer of “Out of The Blue—The Definitive Investigation of The UFO Phenomenon.”

Teaming up with Fox in this effort was investigative journalist, “Leslie Kean.” Kean is known for her fait accompli regarding the “Coalition for Freedom of Information” (CFI) and its work. In part the organization’s mission is to:

“Achieve scientific, congressional and media credibility for the study of unexplained aerial phenomena while working for the release of official information and physical evidence.”

Monday's press conference was indeed a step in that direction.

Over the years, the neomedia has often erroneously melded Ufology with “blurry pictures, lights in the sky, drunks and jobbernowls. More often then not any coverage of the phenomenon is framed wearing those glasses.

The consensus is, “give us something we can sink our teeth in,” “show us the money!” Now, assuming the ideology (and “I” do) that a small percentage of UFOs reported are in fact “nuts & bolts craft,” and these craft behave and exhibit characteristics beyond that of “man-made technology,” obviously the dope would be “one of those craft,” and or its “pilot(s).” In that vein, and much like anything else that falls from the sky, e.g., satellites, space junk, ours and or “foreign,” the “powers-that-be” are reluctant (to put it mildly) to share the gist of these matters with the American public, much less that of any peoples of any other country.

How often do we read, watch or hear about a “spy satellite” crashing to earth, or its recovery, foreign or domestic, and see it displayed and or recognized by the government? The answer is zip, nil, nada!

Yet the media uses that as a weapon (the unwillingness of the government/military to show its hand) in its quest to pollute public thinking in regards to “proof,” or more accurately what the
pyrrhonists say is the “lack of proof” in regards to UFOs and their genesis.

With that in mind, what would be the “next best thing” in regards to “proof” that some UFOs are indeed of extraterrestrial origin? How about an assemblage of “former High Level Government and Military Officials” sharing personal and insider information on the matter?

Given the erroneous, disingenuous, incompetent flapdoodle that the neomedia tries to pass off as journalism in regards to the subject of UFOs, as well as their unfair criticisms concerning evidence, and their ignorance of it, obviously they would “covet” such a contingency!

This being the logical assumption, I personally monitored the news (all day Monday), specifically "CNN" in great anticipation of the “announcement(s)” of such a “monumental event!” I didn’t have to wait long, as the first “blurb” about the event came in the morning; however, it was to no surprise that the talking heads gave no special attention to this “historical gathering.” In fact, it just “blended in” with the day’s news, and came with the usual “giggle factor” injected; the “wink-wink, and “poke in the ribs” commentary was in full force.

This particular minutiae was repeated a couple of times in the morning and early afternoon; following these snippets was a slightly longer citation on what CNN has dubbed, “The Situation Room” with commentator, Wolf Blitzer.”

The opening remarks seemed promising, but then a familiar name was heard; Blitzer announced to his audience that, “Gary Tuchman” was the “boots on the ground” reporter for the conference. At this point I let my breath out; Tuchman’s “biased reporting” became evident when he covered the
“O’Hare Incident,” which quite frankly was contemptible.

The first word out of Tuchman’s mouth, were:

“ Well Wolf, it's most interesting; a panel discussion within the beltway about what might be taking place in the Milky Way and beyond.”

Followed By:

“Well, 14 men from seven different countries participated in a panel discussion described why they believe UFOs visited earth. These are not guys they picked up off the street.”

Tuchman didn’t use “an obvious” sardonic tone, nor did he need to when he began to “color” the event; the “Milky Way comment” and the inference of what the witnesses “believed” happened to them, rather then “what” happened was enough.

After some video and sound bites from a couple of the witnesses Tuchman further reported:

“We've covered a few of these kinds of stories before, Wolf, and one thing that we always mentioned to the enthusiasts is if one of these crafts came down to earth and did an interview with one of us, the debate would be over. But that hasn't happened yet.”

Note how Tuchman “degrades” former “government & military officials” of multiple countries to “UFO enthusiasts”; followed by his “now evident” sardonic tone, making the cockamamie, “if I could interview the aliens” statement and inferring that the “UFO Conference” was a debate of some sort.

Remember gentle readers this is what CNN calls “reporting the news.” Now, if Tuchman’s flapdoodle wasn’t enough, the segment ends with correspondent Jack Cafferty stating:

“No, Wolf. And Gary Tuchman is one of the most distinguished and capable reporters in this business and that's not the culmination of a fine career being sent to cover the UFO convention, OK.”

No need to highlight the sarcastic innuendo in that statement; just take a moment and reread it; remember that this is from the same media that says UFOs are about “blurry pictures, distant lights and “questionable” witnesses.

Could there be a pattern here? Why is it that no matter what “evidence is thrown at CNN the reporting remains the same? How is it that Tuchman didn’t emphasize the fact that a few of the witnesses were from a nuclear capable Air Force base, and one of the men “touched” a downed craft? Why wasn’t there focus on the “caliber” of these witnesses, that more then one of the witnesses was an “insider” for the government, e.g., “Nick Pope” who actually investigated the UFO phenomenon for Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD). How is it that “what makes this story newsworthy” is overlooked, and replaced with sarcasm, innuendo, misrepresentation and censorship? This is reminiscent of the days that the CIA and other “covert agencies” manipulated the media (regarding the UFO phenomenon) . . . is this “still” happening!?

At this point in the day the hopes for a “neutral unbiased news report” were all but gone; the only thing to be culled from CNN’s attention to the matter, was the fact that many millions of people heard about the event and perhaps they could “glean” the significant parts of it even through CNN’s parody.

Sadly, CNN wasn’t done yet; the coverage of one of the most significant moments in history would culminate later that evening with, “Anderson Cooper 360º.”

End Part I

See Also:

Transcipt of Witness Declarations From NPC UFO Conference Held in Washington D.C.

Veteran Ufologist Richard Hall Reports on NPC UFO Conference

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