Larry W. Bryant’s UFOview

In our decades-long pursuit of UFO-E.T. Truth, we planetary citizens have the right not to be lied to by our elected and appointed officials.

In this regard, too often have some of those official insiders resorted to depriving us of our stakeholdership in what various world governments have learned about UFO-E.T. reality and in where (and why) they're suppressing that knowledge.

Now, finally, with the advent of the Denver-voters campaign to pass an ordinance for operating in that city an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission, we have a codified opportunity to reverse officialdom's stranglehold on UFO-E.T. Truth.

Let's seize this moment in history and apply it toward exponential advancement of UFO-E.T. awareness among all citizens of Earth. -- LARRY W. BRYANT (16 Aug 08); Director, Washington, D. C., Office of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy [see his blog at http://ufoview.posterous.com ]

[Editorial note: for a news analysis of the Denver project's debut, see Bryant's column in the June 2008 issue of "UFO Magazine."]

TO: Freedom of Information Manager
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Washington, DC 20511

FROM: Larry W. Bryant
3518 Martha Custis Drive
Alexandria, VA 22302

DATE: August 13, 2008

John J. Callahan -- a retired U. S. Federal Aviation Administration official (and now also one of several recent UFO-cover-up whistleblowers) -- has publicly revealed his and other FAA employees' participation in a 1987 special meeting at FAA headquarters in Washington, D. C., to discuss and evaluate certain official evidence of the intrusive UFO encounter experienced on Nov. 17, 1986, by the Japanese flight crew (No. 1628) of a 747 cargo jet during that night in Alaskan sky. Also taking part in the 1987 meeting were representatives from President Reagan's scientific staff and three personnel from the U. S. Central Intelligence Agency. At the meeting's conclusion, one of the CIA attenders announced, "This event never happened; we were never here; we're confiscating all this data . . .."

Accordingly, I hereby request that you furnish me a copy of the following CIA-received and CIA-generated records:

(1) As pertain to the convening, attendance roster, briefings, minutes, and all other related documentation of the above-identified meeting;

(2) As pertain to all other similar cases of airborne UFO encounters reportedly occurring since Nov. 17, 1986, to date.

Since I submit this request as a representative of the news media (principally as a columnist for the monthly newsstand periodical "UFO Magazine"), I ask that you waive all records-search/review fees incident to your fulfilling this request. For a sampling of my free-lance publication credits, see the author's blog at http://ufoview.posterous.com .

By snail-mail, I'm sending to you a signed printout of this e-formatted letter.


LARRY W. BRYANT
Director, Washington, D. C., Office of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy

Copies furnished to:

Editor, UFO Magazine

Chairman, Select Committee on Intelligence, U. S. Senate

Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology, U. S. House of Representatives

(Originally published in the July 2006 issue of UFO Magazine)

By Larry W. Bryant

"'It will be,' [1950's-era USAF chief of staff] General Twining said, 'a case where the cover-up is the disclosure and the disclosure is the cover-up.'" -- As quoted by the late Army Lt. Col. Philip J. Corso in his 1997 memoirs "The Day After Roswell," co-authored by William J. Birnes

As with scores of other Roswell Incident insiders, Philip J. Corso lost the race with the undertaker; but just barely -- for Corso's Roswellian legacy and its modern aftermath won't ever bite the dust of benign neglect.

Yes, ironically, his loss is becoming the body politic's self-perpetuating victory, as a sort of curse against those keepers of the Deepest Secret who feel we have no right to know -- and to confirm -- the full story as to how certain allegedly alien spacecraft debris journeyed, in July 1947, from desolate New Mexico ranch land to a new, cloned life amidst the high-tech devices that today's consumerism takes for granted: perfected devices owing their existence to the Corso-orchestrated, covert transfer to selected U. S. industrial giants of various "hardware from elsewhere," ranging from my little iMac's computer-chip circuits to Army helicopter aviators' night-vision goggles.

When UFOmagazine publisher and Corso's co-author William J. Birnes learned of my planned Corso-redux column, he e-mailed me the following capsulization of the Curse of Corso:

"In Corso's case, his advantage for [Gen. Arthur] Trudeau was that he was low-level and could fly below the radar. He was in Army R&D at the foreign technology desk for about 30 days and then essentially disappeared. He said that he became Trudeau's deputy. Actually, he became more of a courier, delivering Trudeau's messages to the industrial people that the Army wanted to fund. His wasn't an espionage or spy mission as much as it was a cover mission to get alien technology into the hands of mainstream defense industry engineers."

Specifically, Birnes was responding to my brand-new series of freedom-of-information foraging into how certain federal agencies view the image of UFO-E.T. reality revealed by the Trudeau-Corso team of intelligence/R&D experts (see sidebars for the related correspondence). You see, back in 1998, I'd embarked on a mission to acquire all relevant agency dossiers on Corso's activities, associations, and motivations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation coughed up a few dozen pages of documentation, some of it painting a less-than-rosy picture of the Corso persona.

Likewise, the FOIA folks at the U. S. Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Meade, Md., produced a modicum of previously unreleased documentation while (curiously) being unable to come up with Corso's DD Form 398 (Personal History Statement) summarizing the background events by which his application for a TOP SECRET security clearance was processed. (Note: From the Army's military personnel records center in St. Louis, I'd already received a copy of Corso's DA Form 66 (Officer Record Brief) logging his career-long assignment-and-training experience.)

But, when I queried the always-cagey FOIA office at the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, I hit a major snag: since Corso was still alive in early 1998, the Agency felt obliged to notify me that they'd need to have a privacy-release form from him in order to fully produce any "responsive records"; plus: they refused to grant me a waiver of all records-search fees incident to their processing my request. As to the former impasse, Corso never got around to furnishing me a signed release form (did he fear I'd find some derogatory data in his CIA dossier?); as to the latter impasse, my appeal of their fee-waiver denial failed -- casting me as yet another casualty in the 60-year-old UFOinfowar, and earning the Agency additional points in its relentless march toward winning the 2006 Rosemary Award presented by the public-interest group National Security Archive (housed at The George Washington University -- see: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/ ).

But, now with the passage of eight years (including Corso's death and my elevation to the columnar pages of this 20-year-old magazine), perhaps my literary corpse may rise from its premature burial to, once again (in the Agency's own words echoed by a FOIA-freed-up Aug. 14, 1973, memo), remind the Agency that they've "not heard the last from Mr. Bryant." (Refer, again, to the sidebar reproducing my May 4, 2006, FOIA request to the Agency.)

Had Corso cheated the undertaker by living for, say, eight more productive years, certain political events might have intervened to thwart his progress in helping tell the greatest story ever never told. For example, the Bush regime's penchant for excessive secrecy and for retaliatory action against whistleblowers not only would stifle Corso's further efforts toward exposing the Deepest Secret; its chilling effect also would close the access-and-accountability door via such Draconian measures as the recent bill drafted by Congress to discourage/punish leaks of classified information (even, presumably, information revealing serious wrongdoing by officialdom). As reported in the April 27, 2006, issue of "Dissent is Patriotic" (the e-newsletter published by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, headquartered in Northampton, Mass. -- http://www.bordc.org ), here's what might confront today's Corso and his cohorts in Truth-telling:

"The House of Representatives votes this week on an Intelligence bill that includes a little-known provision that would revoke pensions for intelligence employees who make unauthorized disclosures, and it would give arrest powers to CIA and NSA security forces. It's part of the CIA crackdown on government leaks, and opens the door for these international [and intra-Cosmos? -- LWB] spy agencies to conduct domestic intelligence gathering. Critics call the plan a step backwards, towards 'Nixon-era abuses.'"

The eternal paper chase inspired by Corso's bold expose of the Ultimate Cover-up now has become reenergized with my dispatch of a follow-up FOIA request to the INSCOM headquarters at Fort Meade (see the sidebar reproduction of my letter of May 7, 2006). This renewed quest for official Corso-ana centers on a bit of correspondence FOIA-released to me in 1998 by the INSCOM FOIA office. A woman whose name has been redacted from that material had sought from pertinent Army officials an investigation into whether Corso's published revelations amount to a breach of national security. In effect, the woman demanded to know: "Assuming that Corso has violated his secrecy oath, what are you guys going to do about it?" Well, Ms. Mystery Woman, we guys and gals here at UFO Magazine want to know their answer -- and more -- too. For starters, where are the records (and what do they say?) pertaining to any such investigation? If the Army chose not to investigate such a serious prospect, then does this inaction mean that ALL future UFO-coverup whistleblowers now have a free pass to reveal THEIR behind-the-curtain experiences and corroborative evidence? By continuing their inaction, are pertinent Army officials committing dereliction of a duty that we taxpayers pay them to perform? If so, shouldn't we be asking our congresscritters to investigate the investigators in this matter? (If you do write to your representative or a senator about this issue, please enclose a photocopy of this column -- and share their responses with me.)

If either the Army or the CIA insists on falling on its Sword of Denial by dishonoring my requester status as a "representative of the news media," then they should find no surprise in learning that my attorney is awaiting receipt of my retainer fee for his services toward challenging that denial in federal court.

Meantime, as we endure the snail pace of FOIA processing, let's pay unsilent tribute to the immortal Curse of Corso -- that self-described little man from a small town in western Pennsylvania who rose to majestic heights with a story still unfolding.
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SIDEBAR NO. 1:

TO: Chief, Department of the Army Control Office
Attention: DAMI-CIC-CC (Counterintelligence Operations)
Fort George G. Mead, MD 20755-5975

FROM: Larry W. Bryant
3518 Martha Custis Drive
Alexandria, VA 22302

DATE: May 7, 2006

When the late Lt. Col. Philip James Corso (U. S. Army - Retired) published his memoirs in 1997 (The Day After Roswell; Pocket Books), he revealed his role, circa 1961-63, in coordinating the U. S. Army/Air Force/Navy's technological exploitation of certain artifacts retrieved from the debris of a crash-landed "flying saucer" on ranch land near Roswell, N. M.

Because of that revelation (and related ones), a woman wrote to several military officials to express her concern that Corso's book constitutes the transmittal of highly classified national-security information to persons not officially authorized to receive, possess, and/or disseminate it for further public consumption. Of course, Corso, in his former role as a senior Army-intelligence and research-and-development analyst, may have viewed his "leakage" as nothing more than his belated exercise of declassification authority (assuming that he had possessed pertinent original-classification authority -- a rationalization mirroring that of President Bush's leakage of the Valerie Plame CIA information).

At any rate, as an independent writer focusing on national-security affairs (including the politics of UFOlogy), I want to help the public resolve all issues about Corso's conduct, associations, motivations, and accountability in this matter. In doing so, I hereby submit this letter as a formal, written freedom-of-information request that you send me a copy of all INSCOM-generated and INSCOM-received records pertaining to your command's response to the above-cited woman's notification letter (whose text is quoted below) -- said records to include any and all reports-of-investigation, transcripts of interviews, counterintelligence assessments, wiretapping authorizations and transcripts, physical-search warrants, surveillance reports, after-action reports, damage-control planning documents, and all related correspondence, memoranda for record, briefing papers, and minutes of meetings.

Since I submit this request as a "representative of the news media" in my capacity as a columnist for the newsstand periodical UFO Magazine, I ask that you waive all records-search fees incident to your fulfilling this request.

By snail-mail, I'm sending to you a signed printout of this e-formatted letter.


LARRY W. BRYANT

Copies furnished to:

Editor, UFO Magazine

Chairman, U. S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

TEXT OF THE SUBJECT NOTIFICATION LETTER OF MAY 29, 1997:

Commander
U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command
ATTN: Investigative Services
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060

Dear Commander:

By his own admission in his book "The Day After Roswell," Army Lt. Col. (Ret.) Philip J. Corso (see enclosed material) has been publicly revealing information obtained during the course of his R&D/intelligence work on highly classified projects and programs at the Pentagon during 1961--63. He cites no official clearance or legal authority for making these revelations about the Army's possession of certain artifacts and analyses generated by crash-landed "flying saucers" during the period 1947--74.

Therefore, I ask that your command investigate and report on the extent to which Corso's revelations constitute a breach of national security, and to explain to me what action the Army plans to take upon finding that he thus has shared classified information with persons unauthorized to receive it.

Sincerely,

[Notifier's identity was redacted in 1998 by the INSCOM FOIA office. -- L.W.B.]

Cc's to --

Director of Communications, Pocket Books (New York)
Commander, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (Fort Belvoir)
Director, Defense Intelligence Agency (Washington)
Commander, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (Bolling AFB, D.C.)
Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Headquarters, Department of the Air Force (the
Pentagon)
Director, Office of Naval Intelligence (the Pentagon)
Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (Washington)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

SIDEBAR NO. 2:

TO: Director
U. S. Central Intelligence Agency
ATTN: Information and Privacy Coordinator
Washington, DC 20505

FROM: Larry W. Bryant
3518 Martha Custis Drive
Alexandria, VA 22302

DATE: May 4, 2006

In his 1997 book "The Day After Roswell," UFO-coverup whistleblower Philip James Corso (Social Security No.: 194-01-8316; born: May 22, 1915; died: July 16, 1998 -- see enclosed copy of his obituary from the newsletter of the International UFO Museum and Research Center at Roswell, N.M.) recounts, in chapter 10 ("The U2 Program and Project Corona: Spies in Space"), how the CIA-managed, covert U2 flights over the Soviet Union were helping CIA analysts learn "about the Russian air defense system at the same time they were surveilling possible areas of alien spacecraft activity."

That revelation, coming as it does from a former, senior U. S. Army intelligence officer with a history of highly sensitive contributions to U. S. national security, not only sheds laserlike light upon the policymaking decisions, operations, and activities of the federal government; it also places your agency at the center of the perennially renewed international discussion as to what certain U. S. officials know (and when they knew it) about UFO reality.

And the UFO-reality revelation happens to be not the only Corso-related interaction with CIA interests. Within the U. S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's formerly classified, FOIA-released dossier on Corso's activities, several passages pertain to CIA awareness of them. One of these (partially redacted) passages occurs in a Feb. 11, 1965, FBI memorandum addressed to FBI Assistant Director C. D. DeLoach by Special Agent M. A. Jones; it reads: ". . . and CIA characterized Corso as a parasite who has never produced any intelligence through his own efforts, but who has profited from information developed by hundreds of dedicated Government agents and investigators." In another paragraph of the same memo, Mr. Jones notes: "The [FBI] Director indicated he wanted the FBI kept out of the resulting dispute between G-2 [Army Intelligence] and CIA. (100-420468)."

Of course, the piece de resistance in the Corso legacy consists of his whistleblowing two-page affidavit filed in June 1998 in the U. S. District Court for the District of Arizona -- via Citizens Against UFO Secrecy v. Department of the Army (Civil Action No. 98-0538 PHX ROS). Here's the text of the affidavit:

"I, [Lt.] Col. Philip J. Corso, do hereby swear, under the penalties of perjury, that the following statements are true:

"That at all times hereinafter mentioned, I was a member and officer of the defendant.

"That during my tenure with the defendant I was a member of President Eisenhower's National Security Council and former head of the Foreign Technology Desk at defendant's Research & Development department.

"That on or about July 6, 1947, while stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, I personally observed a four-foot non-human creature with bizarre-looking four-fingered hands, thin legs and feet, and an oversized incandescent-light-bulb-shaped head. The eye sockets were oversized and almond-shaped and pointed down to its tiny nose. The creature's skull was overgrown to the point where all its facial features were arranged frontally, occupying only a small circle on the lower part of the head. There were no eyebrows or any indications of facial hair. The creature had only a tiny flat slit for a mouth and it was completely closed, resembling more of a crease or indentation between the nose and the bottom of the chinless skull than a fully functioning orifice.

"That in 1961, I came into possession of what I refer to as the 'Roswell File.' This file contained field reports, medical autopsy reports and technological debris from the crash [of] an extraterrestrial vehicle in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

"That I have personally read the medical autopsy reports which refer to the autopsy of the previously described creature that I saw in 1947 at Fort Riley, Kansas.

"That said autopsy reports indicated the autopsy was performed at Walter Reed [Army] Hospital, which was under the authority of the defendant at the time of the autopsy.

"That said autopsy report referred to the creature as an 'extraterrestrial biological entity.'"

Although the content of Corso's smoking-gun affidavit has yet to be echoed within the CIA's several hundred pages of UFO-related documentation already FOIA-released, or subject to future release/leakage, to the public, it nevertheless epitomizes (as do the "leaked," corroborative "Majestic-12" documents) the fact that the Roswell Incident remains the dead horse that never dies (or that never gets fully buried so long as whistleblowers of Corso's caliber keep surfacing and singing).

Assuming there exist any CIA-generated records pertaining (1) to Corso's activities during his days as, say, a research assistant in Sen. Strom Thurmond's office and/or (2) to the revelations in/aftermath of his memoirs (The Day After Roswell), I need to know -- and the public interest will benefit from my sharing that historical knowledge -- the contents of those records.

Accordingly, I hereby request, under terms of the U. S. Freedom of Information Act, that you send me a copy of all CIA-generated and CIA-received records pertaining to Lt. Col. Corso and his associations, activities, congressional testimony, and motivations.

Since I submit this request as an independent writer (and hence, in FOIA language, as a "representative of the news media") for such newsstand periodicals as FATE magazine and UFO magazine, I ask that you waive all records-search fees incident to your fulfilling this request.

By snail-mail, I'm sending to you a signed printout of this e-formatted letter.


LARRY W. BRYANT

Copies furnished to:

Editor, UFO Magazine ( http://www.ufomag.com )

Chairman, Committee on Government Reform - U. S. House of Representatives
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Larry W. Bryant directs the Washington, D. C., office of the public-interest group Citizens Against UFO Secrecy. His book "UFO Politics at the White House: Citizens Rally 'round Jimmy Carter's Promise" is available from Galde Press, Inc. ( http://www.galdepress.com ). He welcomes communication from the public at his e-mail address: overtci@cavtel.net .

(From the April 2007 issue of UFO Magazine)

By Larry W. Bryant

In chapter 14 ("Black Manta") of his seminal study of Roswellian intrigue -- Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51 (Villard Books -- 1998) -- author Phil Patton observes: "The world of ufology is as racked by jealousy and inbreeding as any academic discipline ever dreamed of being."

As one who knows all too well how easily you can find yourself entangled in the UFO-research community's internecine ideological warfare, I try, nowadays, to keep that knowledge in perspective. Shortly after Patton's book hit the bookshelves, the wife of a Methodist minister advised me: "Larry, don't fret over these spats -- even church boards-of-directors have been known to fight like spoiled kids over this or that policy or program." She might have added: just stay focused on what's important to your individual goals, and strive for teamwork when it's practical to do so.

Since then, I've come to realize that UFOlogy has one branch of inquiry that seems immune to infighting, one-upmanship, and dogmatic posturing: historical research.

Of course, the best practitioners of UFOlogical history-telling happen to be those who've contributed to that history. People like Richard Hall and Barry Greenwood, for example. But their number is aging and dwindling. They still need us -- and we need them. Alas, I have some sad -- but not unexpected -- news to report: Barry Greenwood of Stoneham, Mass., co-author of the 1984 classic "Clear Intent: The Government Cover-up of the UFO Experience," has suspended publication of his periodical "U.F.O. Historical Revue."

In his 10-page, swan-song issue (No. 12 -- September 2007), Greenwood laments that "This will be the last print number of UHR. Rising costs combined with virtually nonexistent subscriptions spell nonfeasibility." Further on, in his "Farewell for Now," he notes: "The UFO topic has been marginalized to the extent that we now see little mention of it in the popular press. Or for that matter, we see little of any kind of press outside that of the hard-core 'graybeards,' those over 50 who were there from early on, knocking out little publications like this one. So, for now, the 'Net' will be the medium of choice for new discoveries."

Greenwood's bowing out of the print side of UFOlogy needn't be all that sharp or final. We still have the (now-monthly) pages of UFO magazine to whet our appetite for that old-time feel of authority, timeless intellectual curiosity, and the grassroots sense of communal inquiry/activism. How about it, Barry: won't you consider an occasional (historical) contribution to this last bastion of periodical UFO literature? You know how much I revere your monumental collection of UFOlit -- one that for decades has rivaled my own. Please consider mining it for such gems as those you've shared with us in your Revue!

In the meantime, we can take solace in knowing that Dick Hall's Journal of UFO History (A Publication of the Donald E. Keyhoe Archives) now is entering its fourth year. In the January-February 2007 issue's editorial, he points out: "Quite a few of the older-generation activists (myself included) find little substantial current information to analyze, and so devote their time to creating a permanent historical record for future generations. This is a worthy activity deserving of your support. Leading the way is Fran Ridge's NICAP [successor to the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena] web site (http://www.nicap.org). Other very worthy projects have been listed in previous issues and will be in future issues." Dick's own web site is: http://www.hallrichard.com .

Echoing (somewhat) Greenwood's assessment, Hall's editorial adds that "The comparative absence of current 'classic' sightings and the influences of the Internet have changed UFO study altogether. I would say mostly for the worse. Wild speculation is rampant and scholarly research is rare."

However future scholars and historians may view the wealth of UFO history produced by Greenwood, Hall, Loren E. Gross, Wendy Connors, and just several others, we can draw comfort from knowing that the publisher of UFO magazine never will lose sight of the inestimable value of that material.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Larry W. Bryant's 2007 book "Conjuring Gretchen: The Saga of Virginia's Preacher-Hypnotist" (available from http://www.galdepress.com ) happens to contain only a smidgeon of UFO-related text). He welcomes readers' comments via his e-mail address: overtci@cavtel.net .

(From the June 2007 issue of UFO Magazine)

By Larry W. Bryant

Lest any readers of this column conclude that its author has a sole dimension when it comes to book-collecting (i.e., his substantial stock of UFOana), let him state, for the record, that his bibliophilia does have multiple levels of acquisition.

For example: somewhere squirreled away in my 800-square-foot home lies my 37-year-old collection of books, articles, and essays composed by persons who've spent time as a patient receiving "treatment" in a mental hospital. These published personal narratives from all walks of life, ranging from a pro-baseball player and a Hollywood star to writers and a clergyman, date back to the start of the 20th century.

As I earnestly pursued this material, I came to realize its permanent value to medical practitioners/researchers, mental-hygiene activists, and literary scholars. Canvassing libraries, used-book stores, and flea markets, I felt compelled to help preserve such an insightful, inspirational glimpse behind society's curtained subculture of the institutionalized. So, I embarked on a project to synopsize the contents of each item, whereby many a night I'd sit down, during or after supper, and commit my hand-written notes to 3- by-5-inch index cards. The goal: to produce a book-length annotated bibliography of my entire collection.

Eventually, I discovered that at least three other such bibliographies already had been published. Of course, that discovery dampened my enthusiasm for continuing the project, but I tried to tell myself: "Hey, those other surveys focused on the material's clinical value, whereas mine will highlight its literary value." Over the ensuing years, the project died of benign neglect -- but, to this day, I remain on the look-out for newly published memoirs of ex-mental patients.

That abandoned bibliography project had been cross-nurtured by an earlier seed for a similar one, which also begs for resumption -- and which brings us to why you should continue reading this column.

Fifty years ago -- for his inaugural (June 1957) issue of Flying Saucers magazine -- the late, former science-fiction publisher-editor Ray Palmer ignited a pulp-paper trail of public inquiry, debate, and entertainment that lasted about 20 years. (If you even can find a copy of that first issue, expect to pay as much as $100 for it; the cover price at the 1950s newsstand? -- 35 cents.)

In the last issue -- No. 92 (June 1976); 75 cents per copy -- Palmer devoted a lengthy editorial to the economic folly of continuing Flying Saucers as a separate publication, announcing its forthcoming merger with his older, Fortean-focused periodical, SEARCH. Not long afterwards, SEARCH folded.

Back in the late 1960s, as the proud owner of every issue of Flying Saucers, I asked myself: "What if I were to do an annotated bibliography of this soon-to-be classic in UFO literature? Would there be a market for it?" In my late twenties at the time, I had every reason to jump right in. For one thing, it would be good writing practice. It also would help me create a higher "author's profile" for myself (even though the booklet might never arrive at a commercial printing press). And it would help promote and preserve the historic value of Palmer's pet project. So, I dug out my trusty pack of 3-by-5 cards and began, issue by issue, to index and comment upon each major article/column/letter-to-editor.

Alas, a marital breakup (an inescapable fact-of-life among UFOlogists, doncha know?), a job relocation, and other pressing factors of economic survival intervened to put this project on the back burner with the other one. And there it remains.

Now, I need your input on the burning question: in this age of self-publication and print-on-demand-publication technology, should I reopen the FS-mag project and thereby help fulfill its preservation promise? Please e-mail me your thoughts/suggestions on this prospect (at: overtci@cavtel.net).

Meantime, should you ever run across a bargain-priced memoir of an ex-mental hospital patient, please let me know -- especially if the memoirist also happens to have been a UFOlogist.

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Larry W. Bryant's latest distraction from matters UFOlogical consists of his e-serialized book "The Bu$ch-Cheezey Impeachment Chronicles" -- available at the Web site of http://www.bushbusiness.com/Bryant_OP.htm .

(Originally published in the November 2006 issue of UFO Magazine)

By Larry W. Bryant

When the UFO mystery finally gets solved, imagine how valuable will be
the several privately owned, comprehensive collections of UFO
literature that dot the East Coast. In my own case, my scores of
books, pamphlets, magazines, reports, government documents, and
newspaper clippings are augmented by what I regard as the world's
largest collection of UFO-related cartoons.

I use that superlative because of my having merged my own 45-year-old
[now 47 as of July 2008] collection with photocopies of the collection
once maintained at the Washington, D. C., headquarters of the
now-defunct National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena
(NICAP). Now, what we're talking about here are three 2-inch-thick
three-ring binders full of cartoons and comic strips, each cartoon
mounted on a single sheet of white paper and documented when possible
with date and place of publication. Then, of course, the collection
is rounded out by a classic 1968 paperback anthology called "UFO -- Ho
Ho! Cartoons for Flying Saucer Lovers" (Popular Library, 1968) by
Joseph Farris, which contains about a hundred cartoons ranging from
UFO hardware to depictions of exobiology.

My collection is driven by a sense that, besides its comic relief in
what can be a somber subject, the UFO-related cartoon serves as a
barometer of public concern or public indifference, depending on the
cartoonist's message and on your interpretation. That public-issue
aspect ranges over such elements of the UFO controversy as alien
hardware or the flying-saucer-type craft and their effects on
earth-bound percipients; exobiology or the premise that some UFOs are
somebody else's spaceships piloted by the now-cliche representation of
wiry little green men; cosmic xenophobia or fear of the presence of
unknown, superior entities behind the alleged UFO visitations; the
science-fiction themes of invasion from outer space and monsterism, as
well as the anthropocentric rendition of human values and motivations
ascribed to the invaders; and government cover-up and foul-up of the
UFO experience.

One of the earliest items in my collection represents a subgenre that
I call reverse-imaging -- the act of depicting Martians perplexed over
the notion that THEY are not alone in the universe. This particular
cartoon comes from one of the syndicated series, titled "Grin and Bear
It," and it shows a deelybopper-clad member of the "Mars National
Observatory" lecturing three of his colleagues as he points to a photo
of Planet Earth: "It's possible there may be life on Earth! . . .
Those mysterious lines don't look like canals to me! . . . They look
like freeways!" This reversal or O'Henry-type of message appears in
another undocumented cartoon gleaned from the NICAP files: two
earth-grown astronauts, having just embarked from their rocketship
upon an alien world, have encountered in the desolate landscape a lone
being who in the cartoonist's language of French is explaining, "Je
suis moi-meme un etranger." ("I am a stranger also.")

Then we have, from another syndicated cartoonist, "The Strange World
of Mr. Mum," which shows an antenna-topped, multilimbed creature
perusing an alien newspaper as he lingers next to an Earth-based
vending stand labeled "Out-of-Town Papers." Two different cartoons,
one from Canada's Winnipeg Tribune, show an alien, his spaceship
landed on the earth's surface, inside a telephone booth asking the
operator for long distance.

Famous Chicago Sun-Times syndicate Bill Mauldin penned on August 15,
1965, an earth-orbiting saucer with its two occupants peering down
with the comment, "A planet three-quarters covered with water couldn't
possibly support life."

And perhaps the ultimate twist occurred on June 1, 1963, when Saturday
Review magazine showed two needle-nosed, needle-craniumed critters
peering out from the gondola of their hot-air balloon, one of them
opining, "I'll bet we're thousands of years ahead of any other
civilization."

Even the field of UFO abductions fails to escape the light hand of the
cartoon master, as witness a full-page, four-frame item from the May
1964 issue of Playboy magazine: an earthling is seen strolling past a
newly painted lamp post in the park next to a large clump of trees. A
Wet Paint sign entices the man to touch the post, whereupon, to the
glee of a gigantic, multiarmed alien peering from behind the trees,
the man finds his hands stuck to the post.

As the poor fellow struggles to free himself, the alien proceeds to
grab him and place him into a large Mason-type collection jar with
breathing holes punched in the lid. In the process, one of the
alien's arms bears a paint brush, which is used to cover up the
smeared paint. The final frame shows a little old lady eying the sign
as the walks her dog into the area, the alien's space-helmet antenna
barely visible behind the tree clump.

Along the same vein, on June 24, 1964, the syndicated cartoon
character Ziggy is shown inspecting a trap consisting of a box propped
up by a forked stick from which leads a string into the inside of a
landed saucer. The bait beneath the box reflects the earthman's
supposedly irresistible delicacy: a hamburger with a bag of
french-fries and a soda pop.

That scene recalls one of my earliest specimens clipped from The New
Yorker magazine back on May 28, 1955. In the clearing of an earth
valley, a saucer hovers above a family of aliens disembarked for the
purpose of setting up a picnic. As the little visitors go about their
chores, complete with a blanket spread on the ground with an opened
picnic basket, a group of armed U. S. soldiers concealed by bushes in
the foreground looks on in expectation of a confrontation. One of the
soldiers announces: "This isn't going to be as tough as we figured."

One of the most frequent sources of UFO-related cartoons was the old
Saturday Evening Post. During the Air Force's UFO public-relations
debacle in 1966 when such glib official explanations for UFO reality
as swamp gas met with derision from the news media, the Post offered
two perspectives. The first shows a group of 1930-vintage aborigines
frantically pointing skyward at a circling biplane.

At the center of the group, an unimpressed witch doctor, his arms
folded haughtily across his chest, sneers, "Swamp gas." The other
cartoon shows an American astronaut sitting on a moon rock, his
spaceship in the background and the earth shining brightly in the
distance. He's asking a squat little alien who has come up to him for
a chat: "Come on, level with me. Have you people been buzzing our
swamps?"

Of course, America has no corner on UFO humor. Even the former Soviet
Union's Sputnik magazine occasionally joins the game. The August 1967
issue, for example, has a four-frame item starting off with a
fisherman dozing in his rowboat on a lake. The next frame shows a
flying saucer plunging into the water next to the rowboat, rudely
awakening the fisherman, who, in frame number three, proceeds to
return to his half-sleep state. The fourth frame shows the fisherman
startled once again -- this time because his fishing rod has snared an
alien from the sunken saucer.

Lately, I've noticed a new subgenre of UFO-related cartoons, those
that help advertise a product or service. For example, in 1978 two
nighttime campers are preparing to turn in to their tent. One of them
is pouring a cup of coffee outside, looking away from the tent, over
which hovers a huge saucer with a series of mechanical tweezers
snatching up earthly artifacts from the countryside. As the camper in
the tent peers up in horror at the impending abduction, the
coffee-pourer is responding: "My insurance company? New England
Life, of course. Why?"

A New York Times ad in 1985 shows a middle-aged suburbanite in his
backyard being addressed by an eager little alien debarked from a
landed saucer: "We've come to learn more about your Enviro-Spray."
Then there's a 1986 Sony Corporation ad showing in one frame a woman
on a golf green being videotaped by her husband as she lets go with
her putt, while, in the left-side frame, a father-son-family-dog trio
is having fun as the father aims his video camera at a hovering saucer
with occupant smiling for the camera.

Once in a while, a UFO cartoon falls flat, either because the drawing
fails to measure up to the reader's expectations or because the
message gets lost in delivery. Such is the case with the winning
entry in the U. S. Defense Intelligence Agency's January 1984
"Security Poster of the Month" contest. It shows a four-drawer
records safe with its bottom drawer partially opened. That drawer is
experiencing a collision from a single-occupant flying saucer. The
textual message declares, "Security is no accident . . . it has to be
practiced!" Maybe they should hold a contest on how best to interpret
the UFO graphics of this poster.

Not too long ago, one of my e-mail correspondents, upon learning of
the manuscript of this essay, sent me the following query: "About 15
years ago I clipped a cartoon from a daily newspaper -- forget which,
forget when -- which I promptly lost in my mountain of [mess].

"I've always regretted it, because it was so 'right on.'

"It was a teacher at a blackboard explaining the difference between
evolution and creation. He's pointing to the corner of the blackboard
with his teacher's stick to a goofy UFO drawn in chalk, saying: 'And
this is MY theory!'

"Do you know anyone who collects UFO cartoons who might have that one on file?"

Unfortunately, if the above-sought item does repose somewhere in my
files, I'm going to have the same problem as my correspondent's, since
I reside in the World's Largest Filing Cabinet.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Larry W. Bryant directs the Washington, D. C., office of the
public-interest group Citizens Against UFO Secrecy. His book "UFO
Politics at the White House: Citizens Rally 'round Jimmy Carter's
Promise" is available from Galde Press, Inc. (
http://www.galdepress.com ). He welcomes communication from the
public at his e-mail address: overtci@cavtel.net .

_________________________________

[LWB Update for July 26, 2008: Having recently commissioned artist
Harry Finley ( http://www.finleyart.com ) to produce three UFOtoons
based on my own ideas for them, I'm attaching them here, as per my
license from him (the copyright owner), for your entertainment and
inspiration. Please let me know if you'd like to see more of the same
some time in the future.]

     

Click here to download:

Item_3.6_The_Joke_I.zip (106 KB)

(Originally published in the October 2007 issue of UFO Magazine)

By Larry W. Bryant

Over the past several years, the world of UFOlit-publishing has received a technological injection of vital fluid -- enough to keep the presses rolling for generations to come as this niche attracts new and old writers alike in their quest to find loving homes for their memoirs, UFO-encounter case studies, bibliographic analyses, novelizations, and polemical pronouncements.

I'm talking about the cultural revolution engendered by combining the Internet's transmittability of files with the printing industry's development of print-on-demand (POD) publication. We all know that anyone with a computer and access to the Internet can become an instant publisher -- via creating one's own web site, contributing to others' web logs, submitting commentary to various newspapers' web sites' forums, etc.

For example: for the past several months now, I've been serializing my book-length satire The Bu$ch-Cheezey Impeachment Chronicles upon the web site of http://www.bushbusiness.com/Bryant_OP.htm . And, several years ago, my first book's 20-some-year-old manuscript finally saw the light of day when Arlington, Va.-based POD publisher Invisible College Press brought it out as UFO Politics at the White House: Citizens Rally 'round Jimmy Carter's Promise (now in the updated 2005 edition from Galde Press, Inc.). If we still were living in the mid-eighties, neither I nor many of you yet-to-be-published book authors would succeed in overcoming all the obstacles to conventional publishing of UFO literature. (If only Ben Franklin could see us now!)

When you peruse recent issues of Bob Girard's Arcturus Books' catalog, you'll note the growing trend toward POD publishing of UFO tomes. It seems that, unless you're a Whitley Strieber (with agent), you'll be pounding futilely upon the cold, closed doors of the mega-sales book publishers if you possess anything short of the ultimate UFO-book manuscript. Sure, you can go the route of total self-publication -- forking out hard cash to a printing company, housing your own shelf stock, selling copies by mail, paying for your own advertising, etc. -- but you may not have the stomach (or up-front funding) for such a labor-intensive and time-consuming ordeal.

Enter the POD genie. Your wish becomes the book buyer's fulfillment: (s)he can order as few as one copy or as many as hundreds, and -- ta-da! -- off they'll come from the press in a couple of weeks' time. You'll have to enter into a formal contract with the publisher, but you'll have lots more control over the process and over your rights than were you to deal with a conventional publisher. And you'll be paying no commission fees to an agent. The saved time will help you stay busy cranking out other POD-prospect projects. Of course, you might get lucky in having your POD-published book attract the attention of an agent or of a conventional publishing house -- especially if your sales record reaches the thousands.

Peruse a couple of the newsstand's writers magazines to compile your own list of POD companies to approach. At the high end of the service-fee scale, Amazon.com's subsidiary booksurge.com levies a hefty processing fee; whereas, at the low end, lulu.com charges next to nothing. In between, you'll find that such niche publishers as invispress.com and anomalistbooks.com would better serve your literary rapport and advertising needs than would most other POD outfits. Of course, depending on your own editorial prowess and on the availability of funding, I'd urge you to retain the services of a professional ghost-writer/book doctor to polish your material into final form before submitting it for POD publication.

If you happen to have an out-of-print book crying out for reprinting and/or updating, I can assure you of Anomalist Books' track record in doing just that (e. g., as with their reprinting of a series of books by the late D. Scott Rogo).

Imagine: POD from cradle to grave. Who knew!?

[LWB Update for July 15, 2008: As you ponder the POD alternative, you'll note that it can achieve symbiosis with the ease of today's new blogging software. For example, with the advent of such user-friendly blog-hosting sites as offered (for free, by the way) by http://posterous.com, the leap from cybertext to printed-bound text (and vice versa) has become shorter. By establishing your own blog keyed to your already-published work or to selected works-in-progress, you'll not only have a tool for attracting prospective agents but also a worldwide-access resource for publicizing your work and building a writerly platform for the future.]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Larry W. Bryant's second book, "Conjuring Gretchen: The Saga of Virginia's Preacher-Hypnotist," has bypassed the POD system by being published, in the summer of 2007, by a small press in Lakeville, Minn. -- http://www.galdepress.com . He remains reachable at his e-mail address: overtci@cavtel.net .

LWB Note (July 12, 2008): The following excerpt comprises chapter 7 of my book "UFO Politics at the White House: Citizens Rally 'round Jimmy Carter's Promise" (2005 edition, published by Galde Press, Inc. -- http://www.galdepress.com). As you peruse my commentary preceding the Letter No. 1-27, you might wish to re-read Item 2.3 of this blog ("An Exercise in Naval Contemplation," which as of this posting appears to be the most frequently viewed item). Today, by the way, I've sent the draft of my related column to the editor of UFO magazine, under the title "Who's Steering America's UFO Ship of State?" Look for its appearance at your local newsstand sometime this autumn.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

== Chapter 7. Jimmy Carter's Naval (UFO) Intelligence ==

When it was posted upon the internet, this chapter presaged a paradigm-shifting press conference held May 9, 2001, at the National Press Club Building in Washington, D. C. -- subject: official evidence of UFO-E.T. reality, as disclosed by persons privy to that evidence. Some of the event's speakers formerly served with the Navy. (For a round-up of the ensuing media coverage, visit the web site of researcher Paul Nahay: http://pnahay.home.sprynet.com/ ; click on "Paul's UFO Page.") Certain U. S. Navy agencies/officials have been up to their necks in managing and sustaining the UFO cover-up -- a fact probably not lost on former Navy officer Jimmy Carter. [LWB]

1-27. -- Dear Mr. President:

I am a 34-year-old NESEP (Naval Enlisted Scientific Education Program) Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy serving in the restricted line, 1610, (Cryptologic Officer) and am writing only as a private citizen. I was formerly an EM 1 (SS) in the Nuclear Power program and have served as an Assistant Weapons Officer on an SSBN. I proudly hail from Valdosta, Ga.

For eight active years, plus six years of enthusiastic interest, I have followed the UFO phenomena as close as my duties have allowed. In that time, I have investigated a few minor cases; I have lectured in favor of more public awareness and understanding of the matter; I have listened to many different peoples' experiences with the phenomena and have actively corresponded with many of the creditable personalities presently working on a solution to this mystery.

I am aware of the article which appeared in the June 8th, 1976, National Enquirer, and I understand that it was probably one of the many low key interviews conducted during your campaign. The article indicated that you had experienced the UFO phenomena and that you would release any and all information on UFO's which our Government holds, should you be elected. However, the only information the Air Force has ever publicly admitted it had has been released, and no other Department has ever let itself become associated with the matter, at least in the public eye.

There are many who have for years believed, and some still do, that the Air Forces' Project Blue Book was a cover-up for some other Air Force project, studies being conducted by the National Science Foundation, NASA, or some other Government supported agency. There are others who are beginning to see that this was and is probably not the case. This is in itself somewhat disappointing in that not looking into this phenomena may be as foolhardy as attempting to explain all such experiences away as figments of the imagination.

I have heard of sightings which were experienced aboard Navy ships, on board Naval Stations, and by Navy personnel on their off duty time. I have heard of cases where Air Force Officers would speak quite freely of UFO's over cocktails but would at the same time state that to mention such officially would probably jeopardize or end their career. These things happen but the information seldom reaches the people studying UFO's.

In May of 1976, two young French scientists, in search of an explanation as to why some of the reported UFO's could accelerate through or apparently travel faster than sound without a sonic boom, conceived a workable theory allowing for this observed phenomena, a proof that the marriage of science and UFO research can be viable and productive. With no support of such efforts in this country, we will find ourselves playing "catch-up" again in the future, as we did in the 60's with the space program.

I believe that our Government not only needs to make any and all UFO data available, but, further, that official statements should be brought forward declassifying all such data in all forms. Such statements extending to the point of lifting debriefing restrictions on all Department of Defense personnel and other Government Officials who have any knowledge of any data or experiences involved with UFO's or similar anomalies. Further, that any one having such information be invited to bring it forward, and should doubt exist as to the information's possible National Security impact, that they forward that information through their respective intelligence service, who would sanitize it for release to interested investigative bodies.

Such an official attitude would prevent ships' OOD's from saying "Let's not enter this mess in the deck log" and would help generate an acceptance of this phenomena such that much more than 10 percent of the experiences which occur would come forward for review and data base formulation. Such declarations would hopefully bring reams of new reports, which would be a monumental task to sort through, but would be welcome information to aid in the solution of this problem.

In my past duties, and in particular in my present duties, I have become fully aware of this Government's capability of maintaining the classification of information of a National Security nature. In any case I am aware that there may be valuable information concerning UFO's in official documents, logs, and messages that would probably not be released cursorily. Specifically, there are classified instructions within the Departments of Defense and other Departments which require holding back such information which might be found in U.S. Navy ships' deck logs, CIC logs, and/or other records of all classifications.

Through their own efforts, The Center for UFO Studies, of Evanston, Illinois, has made some inroads for "work load permitting" cooperation from some Government agencies. An effort which could be and should be widely expanded through Government action, allowing quick breakthroughs to Department of Defense levels, who could be most helpful, considering their assets.

I propose, in addition to releasing information, that some Department or agency, closely allied to the intelligence services, assign at least one person, with some knowledge of the UFO phenomena, to screening information which may come through the various agencies and further be tasked with reviewing those channels of communications which may produce UFO related information. In addition, this office could become the liaison between the Government and the public, saving some embarrassment, when, as I feel it must, the public brings this subject back to official door steps.

Over the nearly thirty years of UFO history, the phenomena has remained highly and emotionally argued in the scientific community. Only a few parallels in history can compare with the controversy thus far evoked by this enigma. To present, our self-indulged task has moved very slowly forward due to the pressure of ridicule, official disclaim, and unsubstantiated fear, and, thus, so our future looks without some form of understanding, cooperation, and encouragement. We of the UFO community but ask for that understanding, cooperation, and encouragement.

Steven M. Greer, M.D., America's high-profile, indefatigable proponent for full, official UFO-E.T. disclosure ( http://www.disclosureproject.org ), spoke before an audience of 400-plus Denverites on July 9, 2008, resulting in an article in the next day's edition of the Rocky Mountain News about the event ("E.T. Vote Put on Hold" -- http://tinyurl.com/6avsat ). ).

The newspaper's web site offers readers a comments section about the piece. So far, 99 percent of the commentary posted there has a single thing in common: the mob-rule instinct for mounting ad-hominem attacks upon the bearers of news that some of the reported UFO encounters represent hardware from elsewhere.

Here's an example: "Peckman [the chief coordinator of the proposed ballot initiative to create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission in Denver] and his ilk are morons and I give them the Philip J. Klass curse: . . .." As you peruse the comments section, you'll note that -- surprise! -- most of the more caustic comments emanate from those posters with the most obscure screennames.

For my part, I've posted the following comment:

== Greer-ing up for Maximum Disclosure ==

By LarryWBryant

While the Denver E.T.-commission ballot initiative's certification remains "on hold" until next spring, the garnering of voters' signatures on the signature petition continues apace. The same goes for the supportive online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/etaffair/petition.html . Indeed, the number of countries represented by those signatories continues to grow as more citizens of Earth become aware of the project.

Too many Denverites, alas, remain on the platform as the UFO-E.T.-awareness/disclosure train is chugging from the station. Come on, folks: kick the knee-jerk habit of willful ignorance/fear/disdain and hop aboard this people's quest for greater knowledge, accountability, and enlightenment.

(from the August 2004 issue of FATE Magazine ( http://www.fatemag.com ) -- reprinted here with permission of the copyright holder, Galde Press, Inc.)

By Larry W. Bryant

Imagine yourself entering a U. S. federal courtroom to do pro se litigative battle for the principle of greater official UFOIA (UFO freedom of information and accountability). Further imagine yourself with no legal credentials whatsoever, no hope of winning even half of your case, and no hope of garnering much support from the UFO-research community.

But little ol' hopeless you decide to press on anyway, armed with the conviction that if YOU won't mount the challenge, then who will?

The actual challenge in question -- which reached its 20th anniversary on July 7, 2003 -- came as a surprise to all concerned: the respondent (the secretary of the Air Force), the assigned judge (the late Oliver Gasch of the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia), and the "jury" (the world of UFOlogy and beyond).

And the challenger/petitioner happens to be one Larry W. Bryant, director of the Washington, D. C., office of the public-interest group Citizens Against UFO Secrecy.

Show Us the Bodies!

My vehicle for this act of "imagination" (to use Gasch's descriptor) consisted of a "Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Extraterrestrial."

As I plodded through the law library near my home, I asked myself a key question: by what means might I extend my litigative foot-in-the-door of officialdom's UFO sanctum? The question almost answered itself. I started with a proven tactic in problem-solving: First, define the problem. Easy enough. The anniversary of the Roswell incident was just a few weeks away, and all I had to do was to focus on its core elements. I chose the one that had received too little serious attention (up to then) from the mainstream news media: the current whereabouts of the USAF-retrieved alien bodies. If the anecdotal crashed-saucer reports then being collected by UFOlogist Leonard H. Stringfield had any merit whatsoever, then perhaps a best-case selection of them would help show the court just how close he was getting to the "smoking gun" of the bodies' whereabouts.

As I awaited receipt of Len's synopsis of his six key cases, I continued by research in preparation for the petition. I learned that the centuries-old Latin term "habeas corpus" means "you may have the body" -- a legal motion meant to bring the accused and/or detained person before a judge to determine the reason and lawfulness for his detention. I chose the suffix "extraterrestrial" for at least two reasons (a) to help modernize this ancient artifact of common law by bringing it into the realm of "metalaw (a.k.a. "space law"); and (b) to add a catchy, quotable tag to a household legal term.

"And just what about those 'alien bodies'?" you ask. "Don't they have to be ALIVE in order to qualify for this special discovery procedure?" That same question occurred to me, of course; but my brief, superficial research into habeas corpus case law could find no requirement that the "body" at issue be currently alive. Besides, who really knew, at this point, how many of the retrieved UFOnauts had failed to survive their violent arrival on terra firma? So I proceeded on the assumption that the U. S. government had no legal right to withhold the bodies (alive or dead) from the custody and care of their bereaved family members.

To bolster my legal standing for initiating this lawsuit, I introduced a novel rationale: by this petition, I sought to perform, on behalf of the detained space aliens, a "citizen's DISarrest" -- by which the court would reverse the government's illegal action. The logic worked for me: if a witness to a felony can perform a citizen's arrest of the felon, then why can't a witness to (or reporter of) an illegal governmental arrest take action to nullify that arrest? But would this logic work for the court?

Preparing the Petition

My research and theory-development now complete -- and my notes now organized and reviewed -- I was ready for the petition's drafting stage. Instead of settling down before my desk at home, or upon a table at the local library, I chose as my drafting venue the spare, captive interior of a Greyhound bus -- on my way to visit relatives in Newport News, Va., about 200 miles from Alexandria.

Within an hour or so, I'd devised a format that seemed to have enough official style to elicit more than a casual glance from its intended recipients.

Upon my arrival in Newport News, I realized that this handwritten draft soon was to take on a life of its own. Curiously, that life may have had more of an impact upon conventional jurisprudence than upon organized UFOlogy.

Back home in Alexandria, I set about typing the draft into its final form, using my trusty Royal- standard manual typewriter. Then I assembled its three exhibits, as follows:

A. The now-famous March 22, 1950, memorandum to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover from the Washington, D. C., Field Office's special-agent-in-charge (Guy Hottel) -- included in the petition as documentary evidence that the U. S. government possesses at least three crash-landed "flying saucers" and their deceased, apparently alien crew of three occupants per saucer. (My 1988 freedom-of-information lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation succeeded in revealing that this originally suppressed account originated via a "local law-enforcement" officer's relaying details to an Air Force investigator; alas, the bureau insists that to reveal either person's identity would violate their privacy.)

B. The September 25, 1980, letter to researcher Richard H. Hall from the Army's counterintelligence director at the Pentagon, admitting that back in the 1950s his office had operated a UFO-related project (albeit ostensibly informal and loosely recorded) called the "Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit."

C. The first page of a heavily censored TOP SECRET "in camera" affidavit submitted by NSA officials in response to the 1980 FOIA suit of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy vs. National Security Agency, which I included to demonstrate to the court the government's continuing secrecy policies on UFO information.

Next came the process of serving the petition upon the Air Force and of filing the original copy with the court's clerk via U. S. mail. I thus managed to accomplish both chores without venturing beyond my own neighborhood.

As I said earlier, the petition project had surprises for all concerned, including me. My chief surprise centered on the court's decision to accept the case as if it had originated from a major law firm or from a seasoned practitioner of constitutional law. And the surprise would continue all the way into the formal, David-vs.-Goliath hearing convened by Judge Gasch on that fateful day of July 28, 1983.

Before the hearing, I'd notified various news media about its scheduling. Reporters, print and broadcast, arrived on time to fill the several dozen seats available in Gasch's small courtroom. My late brother, in the company of another Baltimore artist (Beverly Linley, a certified courtroom sketch artist), claimed a front-row seat for the proceedings.

At the courtroom's entrance, I fielded a couple of reporters' questions just as the government's platoon of litigators began arriving. Chief among them was one Royce C. Lamberth, the assistant U. S. attorney assigned to my case. Upon realizing my identity, he self-confidently handed me an eight-page, double-spaced document, which turned out to the government's motion to have the petition summarily dismissed.

If It Please the Court

As H-hour (hearing hour) approached, I gingerly accepted Lamberth's document and strolled past the crowd of spectators toward my seat at the petitioner's table a few yards in front of the judge's bench. There, I added the document to my own folder of papers and proceeded to do a little observing of my own. My adrenaline level rose as I noticed a couple of uniformed USAF field-grade officers taking up their post just 20 feet or so opposite mine. "Sent here from the Pentagon's lawyer pool," I concluded.

"Oyez, oyez!" The honorable court called itself to order. Whereupon we all rose as Senior Judge Gasch entered, took his seat, and gazed blandly upon the fully packed pews.

He addressed me: "Mr Bryant?" And I responded by fully identifying myself and explaining that I'd just been handed the government's response to my petition -- and that I'd had no chance to peruse it. He graciously asked if I'd like to take a few minutes to read through the document. I replied, "Yes, sir, I certainly would."

Ad so it had come to this: there I sat surrounded by seasoned professionals in civil litigation, by news reporters hardened by realities of inside-the-Beltway politicking, and by curious onlookers seeking a circus atmosphere perhaps at my expense. To minimize the chances of my falling prey to that latter group, I resolved to keep my eyes glued to Lamberth's document, daring not to disturb, in any way, the hush that descended upon the assemblage as I went through the motions of digesting the government's motion. "Just focus on the task at hand," I counseled myself, "and let the process play itself out."

After several minutes reading and flipping through the pages, I stood and faced the judge -- much as if I were a high-school student trying to justify to the principal my habitual tardiness or some other misdemeanor. "Your honor, it looks as though the government's objecting to the petition on the grounds that I lack 'legal standing' to bring this case before you," I gallantly protested. But even though I was unable at the moment to prove that the court had jurisdiction over the government's alleged sequestering/mishandling of the confiscated alien bodies, and though I was also unable to prove I had the bodies' commission to represent them in this proceeding, I nevertheless explained that the whole purpose of the petition was to arrive at that determination (i. e., to perform a citizen's disarrest under the presumption, based on Stringfield's expose monograph, that the sought-for-bodies existed SOMEWHERE within official U. S. confines, and to gain access to those bodies and/or their survivors for the purpose of preserving their habeas-corpus rights).

Upon hearing my term "citizen's disarrest," Gasch asked me to explain. And I tried to do so by describing this corollary to the legal authority allowing any citizen to arrest the perpetrator of a felony: if the citizen does indeed have that power, then the reverse should apply -- the citizen's power to compel the government to cease its unlawful detention of a given entity. But Gasch shook his head over such a novel premise. With that, I decided that the inevitable outcome lay only a few steps away -- toward Mr. Lamberth's table.

Even so, I continued to stand my ground by trying to let Stringfield's document speak for itself as the "smoking gun" evidence that should persuade any judge to grant my petition on behalf of the detained "space aliens." Here, Gasch chided me -- first by pointing out that Len's document had an incorrect format/authentication for his acceptance as formal evidence, and then by asking me, "Do you have anything besides smoke?" My response might have been useful in a grand-jury proceeding (which has the authority to receive and evaluate hearsay evidence), but here it was destined to fall on deaf ears. I pointed out that certain current and former military persons privy to crashed-UFO lore and to retrieved UFOnauts chose not to come forward because they had yet to be released from their oaths of secrecy.

Irrelevant, declared Lamberth in his oral rejoinder. Sidestepping the whole issue of disclosability and possible discovery, he adhered to the game plan articulated in his document: attack my lack of standing and then move on to more nearly terrestrial concerns within the court's docket.

Just a few minutes later, Gasch granted the government's motion to have the petition denied, thus closing another early chapter in America's UFO-oriented citizenry's struggle for greater UFO freedom of information and accountability.

Media Interest

But in the Court of Public Opinion, the jury is still deliberating, fueled by a firestorm of news media interest in the case. During the weeks leading up to, and shortly after, the hearing before Judge Gasch, reports from far and wide weighed in on the novelty and audacity of the lawsuit. Here's a sampling:

* Reuter's News Wire Service: "Writ Filed Seeking UFO Alien Remains"; July 14, 1983, Washington. Written by reporter Chris Hansen, this short dispatch became the initial print-media treatment of the petition, resulting in a pickup via Mutual Radio News and, on July 14, via TV broadcast of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.

* Associated Press (AP) News Wire Service: "Suit Says Air Force Holding ETs"; July 15, Washington.

* USA Today: "UFO Buffs Are up in the Air about . . . a Petition for a Writ . . ."; July 15, Washington. A front-page, breaking-news item based on the research of reporter Carol Atwater.

* Scripps-Howard News Service (Washington office): Reporter Lance Gay's write-up gets carried in the Cincinnati Post for July 15 under the title "Air Force Keeping E.T. on Ice, Citizen Charges." That front-page banner headline offers this lead-in: "The Pentagon has been given 60 days to come up with the body of E.T." The piece erroneously refers to the petition as the "writ" itself; the term writ applies to a documentary order issued by the judge upon his approval of the petition. Note: in the paper's late edition for July 15, Post staffer Anne Cohen localized the story with this front-page headline: "E.T.'s on Ice, and Cincinnati [Ohio] Man Knows Why" (referring to Cincinnatian Len Stringfield, who was sought out for commentary about his own research).

* United Press International (UPI) News Wire Service, as published on July 15 by the Trentonian (Trenton, N. J.): "Group Sues for Release of ETs Captured by Feds." The story misidentifies the petitioner as "JOHN Bryant," who is quoted from a telephone interview as saying, "What our petition aims to do, simply, is to perform a 'citizen's disarrest' -- to make the government account, formally and fully, for their capture of one or more UFO crewmen that have had the misfortune of falling into U. S. military hands."

* Washington Post: "Human Loses Suit for Space Hostages," written by Paul M. Barrett on July 29, reviewing the petition's status hearing before Judge Gasch.

* Journal of the American Bar Association (Chicago): For her October 1983 issue, ABA Journal editor Lynn Reaves produced "E.T., Please Call (Writer Loses UFO Secrecy Suit)"; a review of the issues, personalities, and plans associated with the petition's development and aftermath.

* Omni magazine (New York): In his "UFO Updates" section for June 1984, science writer Patrick Huyghe quotes Judge Gasch, from a telephone interview, as saying the case "was imaginative, and it did create quite a bit of interest."

Aftermath

Besides responding to various domestic media contacts, I had to juggle several queries ranging from Europe to Japan. Numerous radio talk-show producers sought me out as a guest. But, as with any media feeding frenzy, their interest quickly waned with the passage of time and mundane events. Unlike the Washington Post's coverage of the Watergate scandal, no editor, producer, or "think tank" organization (not to mention the ostriches in Congress) chose to undertake an in-depth investigation of the issue. No key UFOgate whistleblowers emerged to fan the dying embers of that courtroom drama hosted by Judge Gasch. No (living) E.T. hostage managed to escape from federal captivity in order to seek justice and freedom. All we have left is this partial history of the case that could've become the gateway to compelled government disclosure.

Partial, because we have little input from the government's side. You might be wondering: just how seriously did the Air Force take the petition? Besides arranging for two of his legal eagles to attend Gasch's hearing, Air Force secretary Verne Orr also had his public affairs office geared up for developments on the news-media side.

Curious about that behind-the-scenes activity, I fired off an FOIA request for a copy of all USAF records generated in response to the petition.

As I'd expected, the USAF attorney-client-privileged records were denied me on grounds of their being exempt from release. The Air Force did furnish, however, a copy of several excerpts from its Pentagon public affairs log sheets on "significant [media] queries" about the case. In the process, they denied me access to an intra-agency memo whose release, they asserted, would reveal the "deliberative process of the Air Force." Upon my appeal of that denial, they capitulated -- thus confirming that their censorial attitude would result in a public-relations backfire.

Here's how the July 26 memo, written by AF spokesman Capt. Johnny Whitaker to his superiors, starts out:

"Per Lt. Col. Houston, AF/JA, the case isn't going away as easily as we'd hoped. It doesn't appear the court is going to routinely dismiss it as a 'crank' or 'nut' case."

For those legal scholars, sociopolitical historians, and UFOlogists desiring more details about the petition itself, you can find a photocopy of the entire document (Civil Action No. 83-1932) published as an appendix to the book "UFO Crash at Aztec," by William S. Steinman (1987).

At this point, you might ask: "So, Larry, what have you gained from this doomed-from-the-start exercise?" My answer: besides the obvious litigative, activist, and reportorial experience, I've gained a renewed appreciation for, and commitment to, the principle that government authority (particularly as regards policies and practices shrouded in excess secrecy) must remain accountable to inquiry and oversight from the general public. If that means more UFO-related lawsuits and more archival mining of official UFO data and more ferreting-out of potential UFO-coverup whistleblowers in the Cosmic Watergate -- then bring 'em on!

For the time being, let's count the habeas-corpus-E.T. petition as just another lost opportunity to hold the government accountable for what it knows (and when it knew it) about UFO reality. One of researcher William L. Moore's contacts within the UFO sanctum supposedly made the following remark about the outcome of the petition case: "What if he'd won!" -- implying that maybe the keepers of the Ultimate Secret had no damage-control plan for coping with that astronomical long shot.

"What if . . ." indeed, Bill. And what a great way to begin (and end) an essay like this one!
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After pursuing a series of UFO-related lawsuits under the U. S. Freedom of Information Act and the U. S. Constitution's First Amendment during the years since the petition's fate, UFO researcher Larry W. Bryant moved on to retirement in Alexandria, Va., where he writes from the e-mail address of overtci@cavtel.net . His 2001 book "UFO Politics at the White House: Citizens Rally 'round Jimmy Carter's Promise" now has been expanded into the 2005 edition published by Galde Press, Inc. ( http://www.galdepress.com ). His debut into UFOlogical independent writing occurred with FATE's publication in February 1964 of his article "A Hard Look at UFO News Management."

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LWB Update Note: Where Are They Now?

Today (July 10, 2008), Judge Lamberth, from a small but cushy courtroom in the annex to the U. S. district court building at Constitution Avenue and 4th Street, N. W., serves as chief judge of the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court, hearing cases involving the more mundane form of alien creature -- i. e., the occasional suspected/potential terrorist.

The case's star witness-in-absentia -- Len Stringfield -- died several years later, leaving behind his legacy of UFO-crash-retrieval reports for those willing to pick up where he left off.

And Maureen O'Boyle, then anchor of the now-defunct syndicated tabloid-TV show "A Current Affair," probably has grandchildren by now and has forgotten about her narration of the program's coverage of the case.

The late James H. Heller, the attorney who handled my mid-1980 First Amendment case against my former employer (via Bryant v. Weinberger, et al.) once remarked to me that my habeas-corpus-E.T. case still engenders discussion amongst Washington litigators who happen to stumble across it.