Citizen Hearing on Disclosure: Remarkable Revelations Undercut By Distressing Disinformation

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By Robert Hastings www.ufohastings.com 5-18-12

     Although I was repeatedly invited—pestered, actually—by Stephen Bassett to participate in the hearing, I chose not to lend my name and credible research to the event. Over the past 40 years I have interviewed more than 140 U.S. military veterans, regarding their involvement in UFO incidents at nuclear weapons sites. Seven of those individuals participated in my September 27, 2010 "UFOs and Nukes" press conference in Washington D.C., which CNN streamed live:

Even though I decided not to be a part of Bassett's recent affair, the co-sponsor of my press conference, former U.S. Air Force Captain Robert Salas, became involved, asking three other USAF veterans to join him. Each of them—Captain Bruce Fenstermacher, Captain David Schindele, and Technical Sergeant David Scott—had independently approached me over the past three years and revealed their nukes-related UFO experiences.

Salas believed that the hearing would provide valuable public exposure for those incidents, and his own, which involved the mysterious shutdown of 10 widely-separated nuclear missiles at Malmstrom Air Force Base's Oscar Flight, on March 24, 1967, just as a glowing red, disc-shaped UFO was observed hovering over the central launch control facility.

Moments before the four men began to testify about those encounters at ICBM sites, Stephen Bassett took the microphone and said that their impending statements would be "the most important" revelations during the five-day event, which included some 40 witnesses. Quite a statement. Sitting next to the vets was researcher Richard Dolan, I guess as a substitute for me, sort of.

So why did I decline to participate? As I noted in an open email, circulated shortly after the event:

All,

As I told a friend, when he asked me to assess the Citizen Hearing before it happened, "Nothing is black or white. Some good will come from it, however, I suspect that the negatives will outweigh the positives and I am concerned that the ex-USAF missileers who've decided to participate will end up being unfairly associated with the less-than-credible witnesses."

Well, given that former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel (D-Alaska) took the Air Force veterans seriously and went so far as to say that their statements were the "smoking gun" that confirmed that there was/is a government cover-up on UFOs, I would say that I was correct about the good part.

Also, serious researchers were in evidence, including Peter Davenport and Kevin Randle, to name two. And credible whistleblowers, such as retired FAA administrator John Callahan.

But as I watched the hearings, all five days, it became clear that I was also correct about the bad part. Bassett has never vetted his witnesses, refuses to do so, probably doesn't even know how, and it frequently showed. So, it's not surprising that there was more than a little BS, wishful thinking, and unwitting participation in hoaxes and disinformation ops.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Ufology.

However, given how rare it is for a high-level government type to say something affirming about UFOs and the cover-up of same—even though Sen. Gravel left Washington in 1981—I decided to issue this press release.

It has already received some useful attention. The debunkers will say that I am posting it just to sell books. That's what they always fall back on, since the information I have collected over the years from military veterans is credible, documented, and hard to refute.

Robert

Over the past few days, various recipients of that email have asked me to elaborate on one or two points, so I am doing so here. In particular, there is curiosity regarding my remark about some ufologists having been duped by hoaxers and government disinformation agents. The remainder of this article and, importantly, the links that follow it, will address this topic:

Decades ago, no later than 1990, overwhelming evidence emerged which confirmed the fraudulent nature of the so-called MJ-12 documents. No matter how many times certain researchers—who should know better—suggest or outright claim that they are legitimate, one glaring fact remains: Not a single "document" has a verifiable provenance, confirming its origin within the U.S. government network of departments and agencies.

On the contrary, exhaustive work done by Barry Greenwood, Dr. Kevin Randle, Jan Aldrich, Brad Sparks, the late Bob Todd, and myself—as well as others—makes clear the bogus origin(s) of the alleged documents. Whether they were created by still-unidentified hoaxers, or now-exposed disinformation agents working for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations—or a combination of the two—remains in dispute. However, the forensic and anecdotal data are damning.

Except, of course, to those who have a vested interest in the documents being for-real, either due to their own insupportable biases, their lack of understanding about the basic requirements for document-verification, or the general gullibility they have displayed with distressing and seemingly oblivious abandon over the past several years.

Because MJ-12 reared its ugly head again at the Citizen Hearing, I felt this article would be timely. Despite claims by Linda Moulton Howe regarding the so-called "SOM 1-01 field manual" being genuine, and the embarrassing video of "the dying CIA agent" who discussed his supposed knowledge of MJ-12 for Howe and Richard Dolan, there is every indication that the "manual" is fraudulent, and it is a virtual certainty that the testimony of the "agent" is equally bogus.

Links to my most recent article on MJ-12, and updates, published in 2009, have been inserted at the end of this one. I also recommend reading these articles by Bob Todd and Barry Greenwood in the now-defunct newsletter Just Cause:

greenwoodufoarchive.com/Just_Cause_Greenwood/1987_09_n13.pdf

greenwoodufoarchive.com/Just_Cause_Greenwood/1990_03_n23.pdf

greenwoodufoarchive.com/Just_Cause_Greenwood/1989_09_n21.pdf

Also check out these very relevant blog posts by Dr. Kevin Randle:

Del Rio UFO Crash and MJ-12

MJ-12 is DEAD

In conclusion, while I am gratified that the collective testimony of the ex-USAF nuclear missile launch officers and ex-missile guard at the Citizen Hearing was well-received by the former members of congress and the media, it remains problematic that a forum used for such authentic, important revelations was also a conduit for the kind of water-muddying nonsense offered up by others.

If Steve Bassett views himself as some valiant leader in the fight for governmental honesty on the UFO topic—and he certainly does—it should be noted that others see him as a thoroughly reckless, narcissistic, self-aggrandizer whose credo is "The end justifies the means".

That type of thinking has derailed legitimate revolutions throughout human history and the fact that Bassett remains oblivious to this makes him all the more an impediment to the process of true, meaningful Disclosure.

One of the links below, a radio interview, lays bare his view on vetting witnesses, which is to say he won't. Consequently, as in the past, future Bassett events will undoubtedly be a confused jumble of credible, valuable information mixed up with wholly unsubstantiated, over-the-top claims paraded as tantalizing glimpses of The Real, Inside Story of UFOs.

No wonder the skeptics scoff. Surely the public deserves better.

Important Links:

“Operation Bird Droppings”

“OBD Update 1”

“OBD Update 2”

This interview makes clear Bassett’s unwillingness to “separate the wheat from the chaff” by vetting his witnesses. (Scroll down To player; begin at 1:14:40)

Continue Reading . . .

See Also:

UFOs Disabling Nuclear Missiles: Former Senator Says Veterans’ Testimony is the “Smoking Gun” Confirming a U.S. Government Cover-up

"A Major Design flaw in the Upcoming Citizen Hearing on [UFO] Disclosure . . ."

The Idiocy of the Disclosure Movement

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