______________________________________________________________________ ***PLEASE CIRCULATE*PLEASE COPY*PLEASE SIGN THE ROSWELL-DECLARATION*** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE INTERNATIONAL ROSWELL INITIATIVE - UPDATE FEBRUARY 10, 1995 An Open Letter to All Those With an Interest in the UFO Phenomenon: - Part 2 - The Roswell case does not stand alone as the only solid evidence of a coverup of UFO information by the U.S. government. In 1980, after having filed numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, a group known as Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS) learned of 156 UFO-related documents held by the National Security Agency (NSA) and of internal references to a large number of UFO-related documents held by other agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). While this was an interesting revelation, researchers believe that it would not be possible through FOIA requests to find even references to the most important UFO documents (such as those relating to Roswell). This information would, presumably, be buried much deeper. The members of CAUS proceeded with a FOIA request for the 156 NSA UFO documents, but were denied access to all of them. They subsequently filed an appeal in federal court and lost. Interestingly, the National Security Agency did not even allow the judge in the hearing, Gerhardt Gessell of the First Federal Court, District of Columbia, to view the 156 UFO documents. Instead, the NSA submitted a special 21-page "top secret plus" affidavit to the judge, giving its arguments for withholding the documents. An unusual action from a government that officially denies having any knowledge about the existence of UFOs! It is important to realize that the vast majority of people employed by the U.S. government, even those with top secret clearances, would not have access to classified UFO information such as the 156 NSA UFO documents. In all probability, most of these government employees, like the rest of us, would like to know the truth about UFOs and extraterrestrial intelligence. Furthermore, it is doubtful whether any members of Congress have access to such information and, given the size of the government bureaucracy and high degree of compartmentalization that exists within it, it is conceivable that even the President has not been fully briefed on the subject. For obvious reasons, it is necessary that the military services and the intelligence agencies impose a certain amount of secrecy. In recent decades, however, many observers say that the use of government secrecy has become excessive. Secrecy is tantamount to power and, like power, lends itself to abuse. Behind the shield of secrecy, it is possible for an agency or service to avoid scrutiny and essentially operate outside the law. Accountability to the taxpayers, and to the Congress, can be conveniently avoided. Perhaps this is a major reason the U.S. annual "black budget" (government spending on secret programs) has climbed to a staggering $25 billion a year. The 1995 budget for the National Security Agency alone is projected at $3.5 billion according to the publication Defense Week. Secrecy, like power, is not readily relinquished. Traditionally, those in power tend to vehemently resist change of any type, including change that would be in the public interest. Anything that might upset the status quo is perceived as a potential threat to entrenched position or power. For example, the November 11, 1994, New York Times reported that an Executive Order signed by President Clinton declassifying nearly 44 million pages of secret documents, some dating back to 1917, was delayed nearly a year because of resistance from military and intelligence officials. The New York Times article also reported that although 22 years ago President Nixon promised "immediate and systematic declassification" of Vietnam War documents, nearly five million pages of those documents are still being withheld at the demand of military and intelligence officials. In view of this kind of obsession with secrecy on the part of the government, obtaining the release of information that has been as closely guarded as NSA and CIA UFO documents or the files on Roswell is not going to be an easy task. Fortunately, a number of politicians, including President Clinton, are aware of the problem of excessive secrecy and have pledged to do something about it. There are also some politicians known to have an interest in the subject of UFOs, but few have had the courage to speak out. One notable exception is former Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater. Senator Goldwater agreed to do a pre-taped interview for the Larry King special on UFOs, broadcast on October 1, 1994. In reference to government-held information on UFOs, Senator Goldwater stated, "I think the government does know." He went on to say, "...I think that at Wright Patterson Field, if you could get into certain places, you'd find out what the Air Force and the government does know about UFOs. Reportedly, a spaceship landed. It was all hushed up...I called Curtis LeMay and I said, `General, I know we have a room at Wright Patterson where you put all this secret stuff. Could I go in there?' I've never heard him get mad, but he got madder than hell at me, cussed me out, and said, `Don't ever ask me that question again!'" On numerous occasions, Senator Goldwater has publicly mentioned his experience with General LeMay and his belief in a government coverup concerning UFOs. However, he had never mentioned Roswell specifically until July 1994. At that time, in response to a letter about the Roswell Initiative, Senator Goldwater wrote, "You touch something very close to me, by your letter. Roswell has long been a point of great interest to me, since the first UFOs turned up." Of great surprise to Roswell researchers, he stated, "Butch Blanchard was a very close friend of mine. I worked with him in the Air Force...." (General William "Butch" Blanchard was the officer who, as a Colonel and Commander of the 509th Bomb Group at Roswell Army Air Field in 1947, issued the press release that a crashed disk [UFO] had been recovered.) With respect to "getting the things about Roswell that you would like," he stated, "I tried diligently to get them from General LeMay, and the only cussing out he ever gave me was when I very vociferously asked him for information." Senator Goldwater was the Republican party's presidential candidate in 1964 (against Lyndon Johnson), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for eight years, chairman of the Senate Armed Service's Committee for four years, and a major general in the Air Force Reserves. Many consider Senator Goldwater one of the most distinguished, respected, and honest U.S. statesmen of this century. He retired from public service in 1987 after having served 30 years in the U.S. Senate. If, as the Roswell evidence indicates, information confirming the existence of other intelligent life in the universe is being withheld from the people of the world by a few privileged individuals in the U.S. government, such withholding is a crime against all humanity and a gross misuse of the power entrusted to those individuals. It is, in effect, a form of censorship on a nonmilitary and a non-national security issue. The question must be asked: What gives these individuals the right to keep this information to themselves, thereby depriving the rest of the world of knowledge of almost inconceivable magnitude and consequence? Do these individuals consider themselves, by virtue of some divine providence or other abstract rationale, so above the rest of us that only they are entitled to or are capable of handling this information? Such arrogance and elitism by the officials of any government, much less a government based upon the principles of democracy and individual rights, is a gross injustice against not only its own people, but all people. At issue is knowledge so profound that it affects our very perspective on man's place in the universe. While the organizers of the Roswell Initiative feel that it is highly probable that the U.S. government is withholding such information, the primary goal of the initiative is to get the matter into the open so that the truth can be conclusively determined, one way or the other. It is hoped, therefore, that all individuals, no matter what their opinion on the subject, will support this effort. There has never before been a grassroots movement of such magnitude on this issue, and there may never be again. This effort could represent the best chance that we will ever have of learning the truth about this matter. Despite an overwhelmingly positive response, the battle is far from won. Too many people, while supporting this cause in principle, are unwilling to get involved. It is critical, therefore, that all individuals who do support this effort participate by signing a copy of the Roswell Declaration and distributing it to others. One of the most basic philosophical and scientific questions contemplated by modern man is, "Are we alone?" If the Roswell premise is correct, as we believe it to be, and we are successful in what we are trying to accomplish, that question will be answered with absolute finality, once and for all. People all over the world will be able to look up at the firmament of the night sky with its millions of stars and feel an even greater sense of wonder about what is out there. Sincerely, Kent Jeffrey, Coordinator Help to bring this historic initiative to success and sign the Roswell-Declaration. ------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________________________________ Please send signed Declarations to either organization: MUFON; 103 Oldtowne Road; Seguin, TX 78155. U.S.A. CUFOS; 2457W. Peterson Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60659, U.S.A. FUFOR; PostOffice Box 277, Mt.Rainier, Maryland 20712, U.S.A. Or to: Kent Jeffrey, 37 Porteous Ave., Fairfax, CA 94930, U.S.A. Joachim Koch, Stadtrandstr. 550 g, 13589 Berlin, Germany ______________________________________________________________________