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		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;ParaNet BBS Archive&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;New page&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;[[Category:ParaNet]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{Infobox BBS&lt;br /&gt;
| image         = Archived-En.png&lt;br /&gt;
| file          = smith.txt&lt;br /&gt;
| author        = Unknown&lt;br /&gt;
| date          = Unknown&lt;br /&gt;
| subject       = &lt;br /&gt;
| orig_bbs      = Unknown&lt;br /&gt;
| bbs_main_page = [[ParaNet Main Page]]&lt;br /&gt;
| key_words     = ParaNet, UFO, Ufology&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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ParaNet File Number: 00219&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
DATE OF UPLOAD: July 12, 1989&lt;br /&gt;
ORIGIN OF UPLOAD: ParaNet Alpha/ParaNet Information Service&lt;br /&gt;
CONTRIBUTED BY: Dr. Willy Smith&lt;br /&gt;
========================================================&lt;br /&gt;
By Michael Corbin/ParaNet Administrator&lt;br /&gt;
     DENVER,  CO  -- Gulf Breeze, Florida has been the  scene  of&lt;br /&gt;
mysterious and unexplained UFO activity during the last couple of&lt;br /&gt;
years.   As the sightings mounted in frequency, the  town  became&lt;br /&gt;
embroiled  in the most complex controversy since the Billy  Meier&lt;br /&gt;
case  several  years ago.   This situation has  become  extremely&lt;br /&gt;
polarized  as the battle between the skeptics and  the  believers&lt;br /&gt;
rages on.&lt;br /&gt;
     Everything  centers around some of the most dramatic  photos&lt;br /&gt;
taken of what is alleged to be a UFO, which for months, continued&lt;br /&gt;
to buzz Ed Walters and virtually, as reported, harassed him while&lt;br /&gt;
he shot the photos.&lt;br /&gt;
     In November, 1987, while working at his desk in his home, Ed&lt;br /&gt;
sighted  a  UFO.  He quickly grabbed his Polaroid camera  from  a&lt;br /&gt;
closet  and ran outside and snapped the first series of  the  the&lt;br /&gt;
mysterious object.  Ed, not sure what to do, submitted the photos&lt;br /&gt;
to the Gulf Breeze Sentinel, a weekly town newspaper.  From  that&lt;br /&gt;
point onward, Ed was visited numerous times by the UFO whereby he&lt;br /&gt;
shot  more photographs under the supervision of MUFON.  To  date,&lt;br /&gt;
not  only have Polaroids been taken of this object, but there  is&lt;br /&gt;
also  stereo  photographs  and  some  video  tape  in   existence&lt;br /&gt;
detailing these encounters.&lt;br /&gt;
     Dr. Robert Nathan, a photo specialist for the Jet Propulsion&lt;br /&gt;
Laboratory  in  Pasadena, California received  these  photographs&lt;br /&gt;
from  the National Enquirer for study.  According to Dr.  Nathan,&lt;br /&gt;
he performed a &amp;quot;very cursory&amp;quot; examination of the photographs  and&lt;br /&gt;
found many flaws and problems with them which he states &amp;quot;shot the&lt;br /&gt;
case to hell&amp;quot; and convinced him that the photographs were hoaxed.&lt;br /&gt;
Dr.   Bruce  Maccabee,   a  Navy  photographic  specialist,  also&lt;br /&gt;
performed  a  very  detailed  analysis  of  the  photographs  and&lt;br /&gt;
rendered  an opinion that he felt that the photographs could  not&lt;br /&gt;
have  been hoaxed by someone of Ed&amp;#039;s abilities.   Due to the fact&lt;br /&gt;
that  Dr.  Maccabee  performed  such  a  detailed  study  of  the&lt;br /&gt;
photographs,  gives  his opinion a great deal of weight  for  the&lt;br /&gt;
acceptance   of  their  authenticity.    However,   according  to&lt;br /&gt;
different  investigative  groups on the hoax side  of  the  issue&lt;br /&gt;
refuse  to  accept any of Dr.  Maccabee&amp;#039;s findings  stating  that&lt;br /&gt;
there  has  been  a serious breakdown in the methodology  of  UFO&lt;br /&gt;
investigations by Dr. Maccabee and MUFON.&lt;br /&gt;
     ParaNet  has  rated  the Gulf Breeze  case  a  hoax.   After&lt;br /&gt;
performing  a  detailed  investigation  of  this  case,   ParaNet&lt;br /&gt;
continues  to rate it as a total hoax, basing it&amp;#039;s findings  upon&lt;br /&gt;
the  results of the investigation, and more so, upon  the  recent&lt;br /&gt;
findings  of a private laboratory which studied some of the  Gulf&lt;br /&gt;
Breeze  photographs  which clearly show a support  of  some  kind&lt;br /&gt;
holding  the  UFO up to be photographed.   Additionally,  it  was&lt;br /&gt;
found  that  the video taped film of the UFO, shown  on  national&lt;br /&gt;
television in the &amp;#039;Unsolved Mysteries&amp;#039; segment, shows the  strong&lt;br /&gt;
possibility  of  a support holding the UFO up while  filming  was&lt;br /&gt;
done from about 20 feet from the video camera.  This is evidenced&lt;br /&gt;
by  the appearance of a street lamp in the school yard  which  is&lt;br /&gt;
located  behind Ed&amp;#039;s house.  While the camera is taping the  UFO,&lt;br /&gt;
it moves in front of the street lamp.  At the precise moment that&lt;br /&gt;
the UFO is directly over the street lamp, the light from the lamp&lt;br /&gt;
blinks  out  and  as soon as the UFO passes from  it,  the  light&lt;br /&gt;
blinks  back on.  This, according to Dr. Nathan,  could  indicate&lt;br /&gt;
that the UFO is being supported on a pole while being held up for&lt;br /&gt;
photographing.&lt;br /&gt;
     As  everyone  knows,  Dr. Maccabee is considered  to  be  an&lt;br /&gt;
extremely credible scientist in the field.  In light of this most&lt;br /&gt;
recent  evidence, it leads one to wonder what could possibly  lie&lt;br /&gt;
behind  this if indeed it is a hoax?  Have all of the  scientific&lt;br /&gt;
objectives  been  met in this case?  Has MUFON  compromised  it&amp;#039;s&lt;br /&gt;
very  charter to study this phenomenon in a scientific manner  by&lt;br /&gt;
throwing all care to the wind in light of some agenda not visible&lt;br /&gt;
at  this time?  No one really knows, but here are some things  to&lt;br /&gt;
ponder.&lt;br /&gt;
     MUFON  has  been  embroiled in the most  extensive  and  far&lt;br /&gt;
reaching  shake  up  since it&amp;#039;s history.   Several  of  it&amp;#039;s  key&lt;br /&gt;
members  have  resigned  and it has  been  brought  to  ParaNet&amp;#039;s&lt;br /&gt;
attention  that anyone visibly opposed to the Gulf Breeze  case&amp;#039;s&lt;br /&gt;
authenticity  has been either removed or censored.  It  has  also&lt;br /&gt;
been learned that MUFON has a large part in a book contract which&lt;br /&gt;
has been awarded to Ed Walters detailing the Gulf Breeze case  by&lt;br /&gt;
Morrow  and Company, the publishers of Whitley Streiber&amp;#039;s  books,&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;Communion&amp;#039;  and  &amp;#039;Transformation&amp;#039;.   The  contract  is  in   the&lt;br /&gt;
neighborhood  of several hundred thousands of dollars.  There  is&lt;br /&gt;
also  a possibility of a television &amp;#039;mini-series&amp;#039;.  And the  list&lt;br /&gt;
goes on and on.&lt;br /&gt;
     Dr.  Willy Smith has been a MUFON investigator and  a  board&lt;br /&gt;
member  for  several years.  He is a degreed  physicist  and  has&lt;br /&gt;
operated  the famous &amp;#039;Unicat&amp;#039; project, incepted by Dr.  J.  Allen&lt;br /&gt;
Hynek to catalogue UFO reports that Dr. Hynek investigated during&lt;br /&gt;
his life as a major UFOlogist.  Dr. Smith is not buying the  Gulf&lt;br /&gt;
Breeze  case.   Recently,  MUFON  removed  Dr.  Smith  from  it&amp;#039;s&lt;br /&gt;
organization as Dr. Smith publicly denounced the authenticity  of&lt;br /&gt;
the case and the credibility of Ed Walters.&lt;br /&gt;
     The  story that follows is an article written by  Dr.  Willy&lt;br /&gt;
Smith  on the state of the UFOlogical community today.   It is  a&lt;br /&gt;
very  controversial  piece and will most certainly create a  fair&lt;br /&gt;
amount of discussion.   Dr. Smith wrote in December, 1988o and it&lt;br /&gt;
has never been released,  until now.   It represents Dr.  Smith&amp;#039;s&lt;br /&gt;
own  observations and opinions,  and does not necessarily reflect&lt;br /&gt;
the opinion of ParaNet or it&amp;#039;s staff,  however it is perhaps  &amp;#039;on&lt;br /&gt;
target&amp;#039;  in describing the problems that belie each of us in  our&lt;br /&gt;
quest  for  the truth.   It is time that we start  demanding  the&lt;br /&gt;
truth and get it.&lt;br /&gt;
     The  Gulf Breeze case is a good example.   Have all  of  the&lt;br /&gt;
scientific   avenues   been  totally  exhausted  before  such   a&lt;br /&gt;
conclusion was reached by MUFON?   Dr.  Smith tells ParaNet  that&lt;br /&gt;
Walt Andrus,  founder of MUFON, absolutely refuses to release the&lt;br /&gt;
original  photographs for an independent study.   ParaNet is also&lt;br /&gt;
in possession of a letter written by Ed&amp;#039;s attorney to  Dr.  Smith&lt;br /&gt;
stating  that  he would be sued in court if he attempted to  have&lt;br /&gt;
the  copies of the photographs that he has analyzed  without  the&lt;br /&gt;
Ed&amp;#039;s permission.   Yet,  when asked to provide them for analysis,&lt;br /&gt;
this avenue is completely closed.   If this case is so air tight,&lt;br /&gt;
what  have the proponents to hide from legitimate  investigators?&lt;br /&gt;
ParaNet  is  making  a  formal request to  have  the  photographs&lt;br /&gt;
analyzed by an independent laboratory.   We will keep you  posted&lt;br /&gt;
on the outcome of this request to MUFON.&lt;br /&gt;
     It  is  the hope of ParaNet to get a  discussion  going  and&lt;br /&gt;
perhaps a rebuttal on this piece from the persons that Dr.  Smith&lt;br /&gt;
names.&lt;br /&gt;
     What do you think?&lt;br /&gt;
     We want to know.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
-----------------------------------------------------------------&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
            THE DECLINE AND FALL OF AMERICAN UFOLOGY&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
                         Dr. Willy Smith&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
PREAMBLE&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The first version of this paper was prepared during December 1988&lt;br /&gt;
at the request of the prestigious British magazine Flying  Saucer&lt;br /&gt;
Review.   Understandably, American affairs have low  priority  in&lt;br /&gt;
Europe,  and thus the publication of this paper has been  delayed&lt;br /&gt;
while its import is rapidly decreasing.  This reason has  decided&lt;br /&gt;
me  to  revise the article and seek immediate publication  in  an&lt;br /&gt;
American magazine.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=================================================================&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
INTRODUCTION&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Only a few years back,  ufology in the United States was booming.&lt;br /&gt;
Several  major national organizations grouped under their banners&lt;br /&gt;
a  large  number  of  members who  were  interested  in  the  UFO&lt;br /&gt;
phenomenon  and  provided  ample financial support  and  a  ready&lt;br /&gt;
market for specialized publications.   In addition,  many smaller&lt;br /&gt;
groups were active enough in more localized geographical areas.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Two  of the major organizations, NICAP and APRO,  existed  almost&lt;br /&gt;
from  the beginning of public interest in flying saucers.   NICAP&lt;br /&gt;
was mainly organized by Major Donald E. Keyhoe (*) and  attracted&lt;br /&gt;
many   distinguished   members  formerly  associated   with   the&lt;br /&gt;
government and the military.   As the years went by, the backbone&lt;br /&gt;
of NICAP dispersed,  and the organization slowly but irreversibly&lt;br /&gt;
ceased  to  exist.   Some  files were acquired  by  CUFOS,  where&lt;br /&gt;
presumably they still are.   However,  not even  Dr.  Hynek,  who&lt;br /&gt;
allegedly  had paid for the files from his own funds,  could gain&lt;br /&gt;
access to them during the last two years of his life, so one must&lt;br /&gt;
consider them all but lost for future research.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The  other  society, APRO, was created and organized by  Jim  and&lt;br /&gt;
Coral  Lorenzen,  and attracted some of  the  best  investigators&lt;br /&gt;
abroad, such as Dr. Olavo Fontes in Brazil and Horacio  Gutierrez&lt;br /&gt;
Ganteaume  in  Venezuela.  There is no question  that  the  prime&lt;br /&gt;
mover  behind APRO was Coral, and as her health declined, so  did&lt;br /&gt;
the organization.  The library was dispersed through a secondhand&lt;br /&gt;
book  dealer, and as for the files proper, nobody seems  to  know&lt;br /&gt;
what happened to them after  Coral&amp;#039;s death in 1988.  Once  again,&lt;br /&gt;
valuable records have ceased to exist for all practical purposes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The  other  two  major organizations were MUFON  and  CUFOS,  the&lt;br /&gt;
former a splinter group from APRO centered around Walter  Andrus,&lt;br /&gt;
then  a  manager at Motorola, and the latter founded  by  Dr.  J.&lt;br /&gt;
Allen  Hynek  in  1973.  While Dr. Hynek attempted  to  create  a&lt;br /&gt;
credible  scientific  organization, the MUFON  emphasis  was  and&lt;br /&gt;
still  is at the grass-roots level, as it admits to its rank  and&lt;br /&gt;
file anyone able to pay the subscription rates.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
At  the beginning of the 80&amp;#039;s, essentially only MUFON  and  CUFOS&lt;br /&gt;
survived.   Walter  Andrus had organized his society  in  a  very&lt;br /&gt;
effective way, using the subscribers to the MUFON UFO JOURNAL  as&lt;br /&gt;
potential  but  untrained investigators and  creating  a  network&lt;br /&gt;
covering  the  whole  country.   On the  other  hand,  Dr.  Hynek&lt;br /&gt;
insisted that the CUFOS investigators should be competent, and  a&lt;br /&gt;
much  thinner  network was deployed under the able  direction  of&lt;br /&gt;
Allan Hendry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The  above  is  just background information,  but  essential  for&lt;br /&gt;
understanding  what  has happened to those organizations  in  the&lt;br /&gt;
last year or so.  Although both groups boast a Board of Directors&lt;br /&gt;
and  claim to have guidelines for what they are doing, the  truth&lt;br /&gt;
is  that  they are totally controlled by a  few  individuals  who&lt;br /&gt;
dictate policy and do as they please.  This fact is kept from the&lt;br /&gt;
membership at large, more interested in receiving the publication&lt;br /&gt;
on time than in its contents or internal politics.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As  is always the case for monolithic structures, the success  or&lt;br /&gt;
lack  thereof depends basically on the personal qualities of  the&lt;br /&gt;
leaders;  and  when  the founders grow old or  die,  a  slow  but&lt;br /&gt;
perceptible  decline  of the organizations is  initiated.   Often&lt;br /&gt;
enough  a deceptive steady state is maintained for years  because&lt;br /&gt;
nothing  occurs to shake the complacency of the leadership or  to&lt;br /&gt;
challenge  it.   But  then, one day, a  sudden  event  occurs,  a&lt;br /&gt;
controversial case is mishandled, and the ineffectual  leadership&lt;br /&gt;
faces  a  situation beyond its capabilities which  threatens  the&lt;br /&gt;
very existence of the organization.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A HARD LOOK AT CUFOS&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The  destiny  of  CUFOS is controlled  effectively  by  only  two&lt;br /&gt;
individuals:   Jerry Clark, the editor of the  INTERNATIONAL  UFO&lt;br /&gt;
REPORTER, and Mark Rodeghier, president (whatever that means) and&lt;br /&gt;
scientific  director  of CUFOS.   Oh yes,  there is  a  Board  of&lt;br /&gt;
Directors,  but they are not important enough to have their names&lt;br /&gt;
listed  on the publication&amp;#039;s masthead.   I discovered how  little&lt;br /&gt;
say  they  actually  have  when following  Dr.  Hynek&amp;#039;s  death  I&lt;br /&gt;
attempted,  very  naively,  to bring to their attention the  fact&lt;br /&gt;
that  CUFOS  was precipitously departing from what had  been  the&lt;br /&gt;
basic philosophy of its founder.   This is not meant to say  that&lt;br /&gt;
all  the persons on the CUFOS Board of &amp;quot;Directors&amp;quot; are bad  guys,&lt;br /&gt;
because some of them,  such as John P.  Timmerman,  are gentlemen&lt;br /&gt;
who find themselves incapable of influencing events,  for reasons&lt;br /&gt;
too complex to deal with here.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Jerry   Clark  has  a  dubious  pedigree  because  of  his   long&lt;br /&gt;
association with FATE Magazine, where he achieved the position of&lt;br /&gt;
full editor before being terminated when the publication  changed&lt;br /&gt;
ownership.  Perhaps the orientation of FATE will now change,  but&lt;br /&gt;
in the past it has been devoted mostly to the occult, offering  a&lt;br /&gt;
mixed  bag  of articles dealing with esoteric  subjects  such  as&lt;br /&gt;
astrology, witchcraft, and life after death.  Indeed, ufology was&lt;br /&gt;
treated  here and there, sometimes by Mr. Clark himself, but  the&lt;br /&gt;
articles have been slanted toward sensationalism and not science.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The  serious  problem with Mr. Clark,  besides  the  imponderable&lt;br /&gt;
influence  that  his relationship with FATE undoubtedly  had,  is&lt;br /&gt;
that  he can be swayed too easily, and not always for  the  right&lt;br /&gt;
reasons.   For instance, he has been strongly influenced  by  his&lt;br /&gt;
friendship  with Jenny Randles, resulting in publication  by  the&lt;br /&gt;
IUR of unjustified attacks against FSR which are written in vague&lt;br /&gt;
terms and not in a constructive manner amenable to rebuttal (Ref.&lt;br /&gt;
1).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Even  Dr. Hynek was not happy with his own choice of  editor  for&lt;br /&gt;
the  IUR (Ref. 2), and he told me during the last months  of  his&lt;br /&gt;
life  that  Clark was selected &amp;quot;because there was  nobody  else!&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
Not a very happy choice,  indeed,  as Mr.  Clark has been telling&lt;br /&gt;
all  who  care to hear how CUFOS had a turn for the better  after&lt;br /&gt;
the  departure of Dr.  Hynek,  having finally achieved  a  &amp;quot;truly&lt;br /&gt;
scientific  orientation&amp;quot;.   Well,  I guess one cannot expect  any&lt;br /&gt;
better from weekend ufologists.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Two issues have recently dominated the ufological picture in  the&lt;br /&gt;
United States.  The first is the MJ-12 documents, the second  the&lt;br /&gt;
Gulf Breeze sightings.  The official position of CUFOS on the MJ-&lt;br /&gt;
12  affair is that the documents are genuine (and they  might  be&lt;br /&gt;
right)  but this position seems to be based not on the  available&lt;br /&gt;
evidence,  but mostly on the feelings of the editor toward  Barry&lt;br /&gt;
Greenwood et al, who have taken the opposite view.  I don&amp;#039;t  have&lt;br /&gt;
enough  information about this topic to assume a posture, but  it&lt;br /&gt;
seems  to me that both proponents and detractors  should  realize&lt;br /&gt;
that the existence of MJ-12 and the genuineness of the  documents&lt;br /&gt;
are two separate issues.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On  the  other  hand,  I have expended a great deal of  time  and&lt;br /&gt;
effort  in  studying  the alleged  Gulf  Breeze  sightings.   The&lt;br /&gt;
validity of the case is based on a collection of Polaroid photos,&lt;br /&gt;
which at the moment of this writing are unconditionally  accepted&lt;br /&gt;
as genuine--I believe--by only a few persons:  Walt Andrus (MUFON&lt;br /&gt;
International  Director),  Lt.  Col.  Donald Ware et  al.  (local&lt;br /&gt;
investigators),   Budd  Hopkins  (abduction  expert),  Dr.  Bruce&lt;br /&gt;
Maccabee (physicist), and Dan Wright (a MUFON henchman who really&lt;br /&gt;
doesn&amp;#039;t count).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is my considered opinion that overwhelming evidence exists  to&lt;br /&gt;
label  this  case  a  hoax,  but CUFOS has  been  vacillating  on&lt;br /&gt;
publishing  any  of that evidence,  in spite of the fact  that  a&lt;br /&gt;
capable CUFOS investigator, Robert Boyd, has been involved in the&lt;br /&gt;
case  since  the very beginning.   Why?   Because  two  of  Jerry&lt;br /&gt;
Clark&amp;#039;s  friends  have taken the other tack:   Budd  Hopkins,  of&lt;br /&gt;
controversial  abduction  fame,   by  his  own  admission  not  a&lt;br /&gt;
photographic expert,  but who after only a cursory examination of&lt;br /&gt;
the  photos proclaimed them genuine,  &amp;quot;the best  ever  obtained&amp;quot;.&lt;br /&gt;
And  Dr.  Bruce Maccabee,  certainly a photographic  expert,  who&lt;br /&gt;
suddenly seems blind to the blatant negative evidence existing in&lt;br /&gt;
the photos and who has engaged in a massive disinformation effort&lt;br /&gt;
(Ref.  3  and  Ref.  9) pathetically attempting to validate  what&lt;br /&gt;
cannot  be  validated.   Friendship is admirable but  should  not&lt;br /&gt;
obfuscate  reason,  and when our friends err,  it is part of  the&lt;br /&gt;
obligation of friendship to bring them back to their senses, even&lt;br /&gt;
if painfully.  Apparently, Mr. Clark has a different opinion, but&lt;br /&gt;
historically  silence  has  never mollified  guilt;  and  as  the&lt;br /&gt;
Piltdown hoax has shown,  the passage of time makes things  worse&lt;br /&gt;
for those who conspired to hide the truth (Ref. 10).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As  for Mark Rodeghier,  he has yet to obtain his Ph.D.,  as  Dr.&lt;br /&gt;
Hynek  had  hoped  when he appointed him Scientific  Director  of&lt;br /&gt;
CUFOS.  Nonetheless, he could have become an effective leader had&lt;br /&gt;
he  developed  the  strong  personality  that  such  a   position&lt;br /&gt;
requires.   Clearly,  this is not the case, and in all matters he&lt;br /&gt;
yields to Jerry.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This  has  been deplorable in the specific instance of  the  Gulf&lt;br /&gt;
Breeze incidents, and Rodeghier&amp;#039;s lack of resolve has resulted in&lt;br /&gt;
unmitigated  thrashing of CUFOS and his leadership from the pages&lt;br /&gt;
of the MUFON UFO Journal,  not only by Walter Andrus (Ref. 4) but&lt;br /&gt;
also  by Ed Walters,  the dubious and supposedly  anonymous  Gulf&lt;br /&gt;
Breeze photographer (Ref. 5).  To top it off, lately the pages of&lt;br /&gt;
the  IUR  to  disclose Dr.  Maccabee&amp;#039;s adamant opposition  to  an&lt;br /&gt;
independent  computer  analysis of the  suspected  photos,  which&lt;br /&gt;
would have resolved the issue once and for all.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Undoubtedly the IUR readership feels that something is missing in&lt;br /&gt;
the  publication,  that  the  selection of the  articles  is  not&lt;br /&gt;
determined  by a firmly established policy but by the predominant&lt;br /&gt;
wind,   and  that  Dr.   Hynek&amp;#039;s  ideals  of  serious  scientific&lt;br /&gt;
orientation have been betrayed.   Although the exact  circulation&lt;br /&gt;
of  the  IUR is not known,  a secret maintained at the  price  of&lt;br /&gt;
higher  postage rates,  the publication delays seem to indicate a&lt;br /&gt;
decreasing  readership and a not very promising future for CUFOS.&lt;br /&gt;
For  the  memory  of Dr.  Hynek,  whose  philosophy  I  share,  I&lt;br /&gt;
sincerely  hope to be proved wrong,  and that one of  these  days&lt;br /&gt;
Mark  Rodeghier  will  overcome his timidity and give  us  all  a&lt;br /&gt;
surprise.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
AND A HARDER LOOK AT MUFON&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the picture I have sketched of CUFOS doesn&amp;#039;t look bright,  the&lt;br /&gt;
reality of MUFON is still worse.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As stated above,  Walter Andrus used to be a good manager; and if&lt;br /&gt;
he had limited himself to administrative tasks,  MUFON could have&lt;br /&gt;
fulfilled  its  destiny.   Unfortunately,  this has not been  the&lt;br /&gt;
case.  The many capable individuals in MUFON, such as Ray Fowler,&lt;br /&gt;
Walter  Webb,  Richard Hall and Marge Christensen don&amp;#039;t  seem  to&lt;br /&gt;
have  a  hand  in  determining  policy  and  have   progressively&lt;br /&gt;
withdrawn from the limelight.  Perhaps they feel that nothing can&lt;br /&gt;
be done,  and as one of the many dissatisfied persons has put it,&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Walt  owns MUFON&amp;quot;.   Instead of seeking the advice of all  those&lt;br /&gt;
consultants that Andrus claims are available to the organization,&lt;br /&gt;
he  rarely  if  ever consults them;  and when  the  expertise  is&lt;br /&gt;
volunteered, he ignores it if it does not satisfy his desires.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In  fact,  many  respected ufologists have resigned  from  MUFON,&lt;br /&gt;
while   others--including  myself  and  Robert  Boyd--have   been&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;expelled&amp;quot;  because  of  their refusal to endorse the  fake  Gulf&lt;br /&gt;
Breeze  photographs.   In  recent weeks the  split  has  possibly&lt;br /&gt;
become  irreversible  due  mainly  to the issues  raised  by  the&lt;br /&gt;
controversial  viewpoints of John Lear,  which may or may not  be&lt;br /&gt;
presented in July at the Reno MUFON Symposium.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Walter  Andrus  has surrounded himself with  persons  willing  to&lt;br /&gt;
dance  to his tune,  provided that they are given positions  that&lt;br /&gt;
they   (and   perhaps   nobody  else)  perceive   as   important.&lt;br /&gt;
Outstanding  among  these,  we find Dan  Wright,  a  bureaucratic&lt;br /&gt;
employee from Michigan, whose ambition has allowed him to rise in&lt;br /&gt;
the  ranks  in  spite of his  obvious  shortcomings.   As  Deputy&lt;br /&gt;
Director of Investigations, or a similar resounding title, he has&lt;br /&gt;
undermined   the   seriousness   of   MUFON   investigations   by&lt;br /&gt;
establishing   absurd  rules  which  consider  that  having   the&lt;br /&gt;
appropriate   forms   completed  is  more  important   than   the&lt;br /&gt;
investigative process itself.   The worst thing about Mr.  Wright&lt;br /&gt;
is  his  lack of ufological knowledge  and  experience,  and  his&lt;br /&gt;
unshakable  belief that he is favored with both.   Again,  I have&lt;br /&gt;
firsthand experience with this, because in my naivete I attempted&lt;br /&gt;
to  educate him about the complexities of the evaluation  of  UFO&lt;br /&gt;
reports.   I  soon  discovered that his only emphasis was on  the&lt;br /&gt;
number  of  reports sent to MUFON headquarters to  be  placed  in&lt;br /&gt;
dusty filing cabinets, out of circulation forever.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The  capital sin committed by MUFON is related to the Gulf Breeze&lt;br /&gt;
sightings.   The distressing part of the Gulf Breeze saga is  not&lt;br /&gt;
whether  the photos are real or a hoax but the extremes to  which&lt;br /&gt;
both the investigators and Walt Andrus have resorted to  maintain&lt;br /&gt;
the  illusion of a true and extraordinary case which was properly&lt;br /&gt;
investigated.  To narrate in detail the many incidents would take&lt;br /&gt;
too  much space (see Ref.  7) so I will limit myself to the  most&lt;br /&gt;
outrageous  breaches  of accepted  investigative  procedures  and&lt;br /&gt;
established scientific discourse.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1)  Censorship.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Walt Andrus, as well as the local investigators (Don Ware et al.)&lt;br /&gt;
have  systematically suppressed all negative evidence,  or simply&lt;br /&gt;
not  followed  leads  that could affect the  credibility  of  the&lt;br /&gt;
witness.   None of the many scientific papers that I submitted to&lt;br /&gt;
the MUFON Journal have been published or even acknowledged.  Only&lt;br /&gt;
due to the extreme pressure exerted by Richard Hall did a  single&lt;br /&gt;
negative  article  of less than 5 pages (Ref.  8) appear  in  the&lt;br /&gt;
pages of the MUFON Journal.  The rebuttal by the chief proponent,&lt;br /&gt;
Dr.  Bruce Maccabee (Ref.  9),  took 18 pages of text plus photos&lt;br /&gt;
and  tables,  skillfully  dodging  the  fundamental  issues,  and&lt;br /&gt;
containing  so  many  errors of fact that they  make  a  suitable&lt;br /&gt;
response  difficult,  if  not impossible,  within  the  editorial&lt;br /&gt;
constraints.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
2)  Lack of confidentiality.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The local investigators (mainly Lt.  Col. Ware and Col. Reid) did&lt;br /&gt;
not   hesitate   to  release  confidential  analyses   of   other&lt;br /&gt;
investigators (like myself),  to the witnesses, thus allowing Mr.&lt;br /&gt;
Walters to correct his errors and change his story in an  attempt&lt;br /&gt;
to nullify the negative evidence.  An interesting example of this&lt;br /&gt;
is  that  the  &amp;quot;craft&amp;quot;  shown in the initial  photos  is  grossly&lt;br /&gt;
asymmetric,  but was replaced by a symmetric one at a later date.&lt;br /&gt;
Incredibly, this change has been attributed to the alleged extra-&lt;br /&gt;
terrestrials,  rather  than  an improvement of  Ed&amp;#039;s  techniques!&lt;br /&gt;
Yet,  those  same investigators created an issue when I disclosed&lt;br /&gt;
the  name  of Mr.  Walters (a.k.a.  Mr.  Hanson)  at  a  lecture,&lt;br /&gt;
ignoring the fact that his TWO names are common knowledge in Gulf&lt;br /&gt;
Breeze.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
3)  Failure to disclose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Last, but the most important irregularity:  only Dr. Maccabee has&lt;br /&gt;
had  unrestricted  and  free  access  to  the  original  Polaroid&lt;br /&gt;
photographs.   It  has been well documented that all requests for&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;independent  examination&amp;quot;,  including the use of computer  image&lt;br /&gt;
enhancement,  have been simply ignored.  Since the basic tenet of&lt;br /&gt;
scientific  investigation is duplication by independent  parties,&lt;br /&gt;
if  we are to invoke science the ORIGINAL photographs  have to be&lt;br /&gt;
made available.   This has not been the case,  and probably  will&lt;br /&gt;
never  be.   Having detected many shortcomings using  photographs&lt;br /&gt;
many generations removed from the Polaroid originals, I seriously&lt;br /&gt;
wonder  what is in them that MUFON and the proponents do not want&lt;br /&gt;
others  to  see.   Perhaps  the  lack of  agreement  between  Mr.&lt;br /&gt;
Walters&amp;#039; story and the manufacturer numbers on the  reverse?   Or&lt;br /&gt;
the fact that apparently some of those numbers have been tampered&lt;br /&gt;
with?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
WHAT IS IN THE FUTURE?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Very little,  if we don&amp;#039;t do something about it.   It seems  that&lt;br /&gt;
ufology in the United States is changing, and not for the better.&lt;br /&gt;
The  ideals that inspired the early pioneers in the field seem to&lt;br /&gt;
have disappeared,  and the present day publications only  reflect&lt;br /&gt;
the  personal  ambitions of those who write them.   I  find  this&lt;br /&gt;
depressing,   and  also  intolerable,   because  in  science  the&lt;br /&gt;
overwhelming  driving  force  has  to be the  search  for  truth.&lt;br /&gt;
Unfortunately,  the  leadership of CUFOS seems to have  forgotten&lt;br /&gt;
what  the goal is,  while the MUFON leaders cannot remember  what&lt;br /&gt;
they never knew.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I   often   wonder   why  MUFON   continues   the   pretense   of&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;investigating&amp;quot; cases,  just to file them away.   When the UNICAT&lt;br /&gt;
Project agreed to joint efforts with MUFON, it was with the clear&lt;br /&gt;
understanding   that  MUFON  would  make  the  &amp;quot;hidden&amp;quot;   reports&lt;br /&gt;
available  to  us  in  exchange for free  access  to  the  UNICAT&lt;br /&gt;
database.   Neither of those things ever happened:   I was unable&lt;br /&gt;
to obtain a single investigation report from Walt Andrus,  and no&lt;br /&gt;
inquiries  were ever made to the database.   The reasons are  now&lt;br /&gt;
clear  to me:   Walt Andrus (that is,  MUFON) has no interest  in&lt;br /&gt;
solving the problem posed by the UFO phenomenon.   In fact,  such&lt;br /&gt;
an   occurrence  would  mark  the  end  of  MUFON  as  a   viable&lt;br /&gt;
organization:   why would anyone buy the MUFON UFO Journal or the&lt;br /&gt;
IUR if the mystery has been solved?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As for CUFOS, the weekend ufologists are set in their ways not to&lt;br /&gt;
share information with others,  in spite of the fact that this is&lt;br /&gt;
contrary  to the philosophy established by Dr.  Hynek,  for  whom&lt;br /&gt;
divulging and exchanging knowledge was of fundamental importance.&lt;br /&gt;
Their  files,   or  whatever  still  remains  of  them,  are  not&lt;br /&gt;
accessible  to  anyone,  much  less to me  because  of  my  close&lt;br /&gt;
relationship with Dr. Hynek.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
MUFON is at the breaking point, and perhaps this is the moment to&lt;br /&gt;
offer  some creative thoughts.   Ufology in the United States  is&lt;br /&gt;
stagnant  because  of  the  lack  of  leadership  in  the  extant&lt;br /&gt;
organizations.   They  live  in  the past,  controlled by  a  few&lt;br /&gt;
persons  who,  bound  by canons of loyalty to  old  friends,  are&lt;br /&gt;
unable to recognize when those friends--also set in their  ways--&lt;br /&gt;
are  violating  the rigid principles of  scientific  methodology.&lt;br /&gt;
Those  false  leaders have reached the point where  the  decisive&lt;br /&gt;
basis  for their editorial policies is not the search for  truth,&lt;br /&gt;
but  publishing  what sells regardless of its lack of  scientific&lt;br /&gt;
value.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
What  is  needed  is a new  organization,  formed  by  a  younger&lt;br /&gt;
generation more committed to scientific research than to making a&lt;br /&gt;
profit at the expense of truth.  I sincerely hope that a few such&lt;br /&gt;
individuals  exist out there and that they will be able to form a&lt;br /&gt;
new and more honest organization.   Needless to say,  the  UNICAT&lt;br /&gt;
Project is prepared to provide support and assistance.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Dr. Willy Smith&lt;br /&gt;
UNICAT Project&lt;br /&gt;
May 1989&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
POST SCRIPTUM&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As  I  am  not  naive anymore,  I am quite  aware  that  what  is&lt;br /&gt;
published  in the MUFON UFO Journal and the IUR pages is  heavily&lt;br /&gt;
dependent  on politics.   Thus,  I foresee that this article will&lt;br /&gt;
bring  a vitriolic attack from those named in  it.   Very  likely&lt;br /&gt;
their  frustration  will be vented in the only way they  seem  to&lt;br /&gt;
know  well:   attempting  a  destructive critique of  the  UNICAT&lt;br /&gt;
Project.  So be it.  My associates and I are open to constructive&lt;br /&gt;
criticism,  which  is  always welcome.   Not  welcome  are  those&lt;br /&gt;
critics  whose main objection to the UNICAT Project is their fear&lt;br /&gt;
that we may be approaching basic results, and whose arguments are&lt;br /&gt;
invariably  based on lack of accurate information about  what  we&lt;br /&gt;
do.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
                           REFERENCES&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
1.  Fuller, Paul; in IUR Vol. 13, No. 3, May/June 1988, p.4.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
2.   Hynek,  J.  Allen;  LETTER TO THE EDITOR FROM THE EDITOR-IN-&lt;br /&gt;
CHIEF, IUR Vol. 10, No. 4, July/August 1985.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
3.  Maccabee, Bruce;  A HISTORY OF THE GULF BREEZE, FLA, SIGHTING&lt;br /&gt;
EVENTS,  in the 1988 MUFON Symposium  Proceedings,  Lincoln,  NE,&lt;br /&gt;
June  24-26,  1988.   (Note:   material  covered by the  author&amp;#039;s&lt;br /&gt;
presentation at the symposium was essentially different.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
4.   Andrus,  Walter et al.;  &amp;quot;The Gulf Breeze, FL., Photographic&lt;br /&gt;
Case&amp;quot;, Part IV, in MUFON Journal No. 243, July, 1988, p.9.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
5.   Walters,  Ed; &amp;quot;Ed Responds&amp;quot;, in MUFON Journal No. 244, Sept.&lt;br /&gt;
1988, p.3.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
6.   Walters,  Ed;  letter to the Editor,  in IUR Vol.  13, No.5,&lt;br /&gt;
Sept./Oct. 1988, p.23.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
7.   Smith,  Willy;  &amp;quot;The Gulf Breeze Saga&amp;quot;,  paper presented  on&lt;br /&gt;
September  17,  1988 at the National UFO  Conference,  Cleveland,&lt;br /&gt;
Ohio (Available from R.D.  Boyd, P.O. Box 66404, Mobile, AL, USA,&lt;br /&gt;
$6.00 including postage).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
8.   Hall,  R.  and Smith,  W.; &amp;quot;Balancing the Scale:  Unanswered&lt;br /&gt;
Questions  about Gulf Breeze&amp;quot;,  in MUFON Journal  No.  248,  Dec.&lt;br /&gt;
1988, p.3.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
9.   Maccabee,  Bruce;  &amp;quot;The Scale Remains Unbalanced&amp;quot;,  in MUFON&lt;br /&gt;
Journal No. 252, Special Gulf Breeze Issue, April 1989, pp. 3-24.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
10.   Gould,  Stephen  Jay;  HEN&amp;#039;S TEETH AND HORSE&amp;#039;S  TOES,  W.W.&lt;br /&gt;
Norton and Co., 1983, p.201.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=================================================================&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Prepared by Michael Corbin&lt;br /&gt;
ParaNet Administrator&lt;br /&gt;
=================================================================&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/pre&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 Stephen  Jay;  HEN&amp;#039;S TEETH AND HORSE&amp;#039;S  TOES,  W.W.&lt;br /&gt;
Norton and Co., 1983, p.201.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=================================================================&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Prepared by Michael Corbin&lt;br /&gt;
ParaNet Administrator&lt;br /&gt;
=================================================================&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Maintenance script</name></author>
	</entry>
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