- Hello, and welcome to the new CNI News site on the World Wide Web. We've already put a lot into this site, but it's still a "work in progress," and you can anticipate many additions and improvements in the weeks and months ahead. Please come back often.
Though many, many people have contributed to this web site and the success of CNI News, I am primarily responsible for its current existence and future direction. I'd like to briefly tell you how CNI News came about -- which necessarily begins with how I got started in UFO research.
- How I Got Started in UFO Research
I first began to realize that claims of UFOs and human-alien contact might be serious business back in 1989. Back then, I had no inkling that I would soon become totally immersed in this unusual subject. In the summer of 1989, all I knew was that my examination of U.S. government secret-weapons policy had somehow brought me face to face with the possibility of U.S. government secrecy concerning UFOs. At the time, an "official UFO cover-up" seemed an outrageous idea to me. But it didn't take long to convince myself that there really are UFO secrets, and that thousands or perhaps millions of people have had mysterious close encounters that cry out for explanation instead of denial and derision. Why the secrecy? What is going on? I really wanted to know.Since then I've noted that a very large number of other people also began waking up to this strange and compelling subject at about the same time I did. Why so many people began to "get it" then, I don't know; nor can I really explain why my own interest exploded so suddenly. To my knowledge, I've never seen a genuine UFO, nor ever met an alien. But when I started taking this subject seriously, I took it very seriously indeed -- so much so that by mid-1990 I was devoting nearly all of my time to UFO-related research, lecturing and publishing.
In the summer of 1989 I had founded a private future-studies organization called the 2020 Group. I was (and still am) of the opinion that our world is moving rapidly toward a time of unprecedented turmoil and transformation. I wanted to understand what was driving these inexorable changes.
In 1989, I believed the most potent agent of change would be humankind's environmental misbehavior and our planet's potentially unpleasant responses to it. Today, I still think environmental issues are of paramount importance to the human future. But I also think that the reality of human Contact with Non-human Intelligent life -- CNI -- will probably be the greatest single force for global transformation in the coming century and beyond.
As this idea began to grow on me, I turned my whole attention to it. In the summer of 1990, I launched the Visitors Investigation Project as a department of the 2020 Group. Before long, this project became the whole focus of my daily work.
- My UFO Publications
- My first UFO publication was a 48-page monograph, now out of print, called "UFOs and the Alien Presence: Time for the Truth" (2020 Group, 1990). A year later, I published a book that is now in its fifth printing, called "UFOs and the Alien Presence: Six Viewpoints" (2020 Group, 1991; republished 1995 by Blue Water Publishing). Also in 1991, I scripted and hosted a 35-minute videotape titled "UFOs and the Alien Presence" (Spears/Thomas Entertainment) which continues to sell throughout the United States and in several foreign countries (although, sad to say, I get no royalties!).
In early 1994, I began limited distribution of a "talking head" video, and an audiotape of the same name, called "UFOs and the Global Situation" (2020 Group) -- limited because, although the content was good, the technical quality was quite poor. For over two years I wanted to remake that video at a much higher quality level, and finally I got my chance. With backing from a generous partner, I completed a totally new version of "UFOs and the Global Situation" (MPM Films/2020 Group) and began distributing it in August of 1996.
During all this time, I was gradually gaining a reputation on the UFO lecture circuit as well. Today I lecture frequently at major conferences and on many college and university campuses throughout the United States, and have also received several invitations to lecture in Europe.
- Bringing UFO Research and Education to Cyberspace
- In the fall of 1993, I gave a series of UFO lectures in northern California. Unknown to me at the time, two people named Ron Anastasia and Uschi Gerard were literally following me around from lecture to lecture. For them, this became a turning point. Somehow, my lectures convinced them that the UFO subject was too important to ignore, and they wanted to do something about it.
Ron and Uschi arrived in my home town of Santa Barbara, California, a few weeks after that lecture tour. When they first contacted me with their proposal to take UFO research and education online, I was already much too busy with other projects. Besides, I knew absolutely nothing about cyberspace, and nothing about them, either -- so I politely ignored them. But they were amazingly persistent. By the spring of 1994, they had managed to persuade me that it would be possible to do live public forums, research symposia and serious publishing on the UFO subject via the internet. The idea for an online institute was born. They wanted me to head it, and they would help launch it into cyberspace.
From the beginning we agreed that the term "UFO" was inadequate to describe the subject we wanted to address. We debated various alternatives and settled on the acronym "CNI," standing for Contact with Non-human Intelligence. "CNI studies" would be our focus, studies addressing all the ways humans might interact with other intelligent life, all the implications of such interaction, and all the forms such "other" intelligence might take.
We determined that this project would take several hundred thousand dollars to launch properly. But we soon discovered that raising such sums for such an idea was virtually unthinkable. Nonetheless, we did raise some money -- and we met with considerable enthusiasm and encouragement, too. So, knowing we were underfunded, we took a giant leap of faith and founded the Institute for the Study of Contact with Non-human Intelligence, or ISCNI, at America Online in December of 1994. At Ron and Uschi's insistence, I became president and CEO of this new organization.
- The Rise and Demise of ISCNI
- ISCNI was intended to be a membership-supported online educational institute. We created a founding faculty of several notable UFO researchers, including Linda Moulton Howe, John Carpenter and the late Karla Turner, as well as myself. We hosted many live chats with such well-known figures as Whitley Strieber, Kevin Randle, Katharina Wilson, Glenn Campbell, Keith Thompson, Salley Rayl, Marc Davenport and Leah Haley, and others. We developed highly energetic and popular message boards, library archives and a bookstore. And we established a news center and a weekly publication called CNI News.
With all these assets, we hoped to attract thousands of paying members. After all, the price was quite low, and the offering was unique. In a short time, we attracted over 300 enthusiastic, paying members. And then we discovered what most educational institutions discover -- the cost of tuition does not cover the cost of operation. In fact, we found out that each new member actually made it less possible to make ends meet. Our costs kept going up along with our work load. Soon, we were feeling totally burned out. Our revenues could not meet our bills. Though ISCNI was a great idea, it was headed for business failure.
Meanwhile, though, two parts of ISCNI were making a good impression beyond the confines of America Online.
In the spring of 1995, the ISCNI News Center launched a promotional internet newsletter called the ISCNI*Flash. For a whole year, we offered the Flash for free -- in hopes of attracting more subscribers to the Institute -- and people loved it. At its peak, we delivered the Flash to over 3,000 internet addresses twice each month. We got RAVE reviews. I was especially pleased, because the Flash, like CNI News at AOL, was my baby from the beginning. I discovered that I really LIKE editing an online newsletter, and I wanted to make it the best of its kind in cyberspace.
The other part of ISCNI that was making a good impression in the wider world was our web site. Ron and Uschi had introduced me to the web in the summer of 1995. They insisted that we have a web site. At the time, I was so stressed that I thought they were nuts to demand yet another new project. I didn't even have a web browser. But then we got some luck.
Two outstanding people came forward to help build the web site. One was Dennis Oszuscik, a Chicago-based webmaster who offered us space on his server and a huge amount of technical support almost free of charge. The other was Larry Lowe, an old friend of mine with a strong interest in the UFO subject who had become an award-winning web site designer. Larry offered to design a unique home page for ISCNI on Dennis's server utilizing my content -- and voila, the ISCNI web site became a reality. Soon, I realized that I like the web almost as much as I like publishing an online newsletter.
- ISCNI Becomes CNI News
- So, while the prospects for ISCNI at America online gradually declined, our internet newsletter and web site were flourishing. But it was clear that the newsletter and web site could never reverse the financial woes of ISCNI. And so, after almost two years of activity on America Online, ISCNI's founders -- Ron, Uschi and myself -- made the hard decision to close doors as of September 30, 1996. In doing so, we mutually agreed that I would assume the right to restructure the web site and continue the internet newsletter, as long as I no longer used the name ISCNI. I therefore chose to rename both the web site and the newsletter CNI News.
Back in March of 1996, when ISCNI's founders were still groping for a way to save the institute, I had decided to see how many of our thousands of ISCNI*Flash readers would actually pay a small amount to keep receiving what many of them said was clearly the best UFO-related publication in cyberspace. When I announced that the Flash would become a subscription newsletter, most of our then-recipients said, "Thanks, but no thanks." This did not and does not surprise me. Many people simply don't recognize how much work goes into creating an online newsletter that is actually reliable, timely, well-written -- in short, uniquely excellent. Yes, lots of people don't get it. But, happily, quite a few people DO get it. And those people started sending in their subscription payments.
This was very good news to me, of course. If I could create a perfect job for myself, I think it would look a lot like being the editor of a successful, provocative, uniquely excellent online newsletter focussed on CNI phenomena. Well, as a matter of fact, the response to this newsletter is so positive that I have every intention of remaining editor of CNI News. It's a lot of work and doesn't begin to pay me anything like a real salary, yet. But I think it will, if I continue to improve it, build it, expand it, make it even more excellent. That's what I'll try to do. And I have hopes that the several hundred subscribers who signed up at first will soon become thousands. I do believe that will happen, and I feel excited and grateful.
- Thanks to Everyone Who's Helped
- It should be obvious by now that lots of people have helped in getting CNI News to the point we are today. To all these people, I offer deepest thanks and appreciation. To Ron Anastasia and Uschi Gerard, without whom ISCNI would never have happened; to Larry Lowe and Dennis Oszuscik, co-creators of our web site; to all the people who participated as faculty and volunteer staff at ISCNI, especially Linda Howe, John Carpenter, Karla Turner, Michelle LaVigne, Dolores Finney, Kim Anway, Mark Ruggles, Dan Drasin, Gerry Zeitlin, Eric Franklin, Jim Griffith and Steve Sidwell; and to those who have specifically helped create the news, especially Rebecca Schatte, who has offered invaluable support from the beginning. Thanks also to Gil Latimer, our current Media Watch editor, and to all those who contribute news stories week after week.
Thanks also to those whose financial generosity made ISCNI possible and thus launched me on the path that brings me here today. For the sake of their privacy, they remain anonymous, but I appreciate each one of them deeply.
Finally, I want to thank my wife, Debra Lindemann, who served as chief administrator of ISCNI for over a year and who is my true partner in life and work, and my daily comfort, love and inspiration.
- Thank YOU for Coming
- When all is said and done, this web site is only worth the effort if it makes a difference to you, and I thank you for your interest and support. Please come back often, and please tell others to visit too.
And if you haven't subscribed to CNI News yet, please do consider it! Just click here to find out more!
Once again, thanks for coming.
Sincerely
Michael Lindemann
Editor, CNI News
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