International Declaration to the United States Government
Facilitated by the Coalition for Freedom of Information
November 12, 2007
PREAMBLE: We, the signatories below, with backgrounds and careers in government, aviation, or the military, hereby present this declaration as a result of our common experience and purpose. While on active duty, each of us has either been a witness to an incident involving an unidentified flying object or has conducted an official investigation into UFO cases relevant to aviation safety, national security, or for the benefit of science.
We use the term "unidentified flying objects" (UFOs) simply to mean any airborne phenomena that cannot be identified or explained, a definition first used by the U.S. Air Force in the 1950's. We make no claim as to the nature or origin of these objects.
While most UFO sightings can be explained as misidentifications of known objects or natural phenomena, those governments that have studied them, including some with which these signatories have been on staff, have consistently found that a small percentage of sightings defy conventional explanation. Reports of these incidents often involve credible witnesses such as police officers, military personnel, pilots and air traffic controllers, and include solid, official documentation.
THEREFORE:
We believe that for reasons of both national security and flight safety, every country should make an effort to identify any object in its airspace. Especially after the attacks of 9/11 it is no longer satisfactory to ignore radar returns for which no transponder data are available and/or which cannot be associated with performances of existing aircraft and helicopters. While civil aviation radars and air traffic controllers mainly rely on secondary radar, military air defense radars should be configured such as to detect and track any object in the air, even when static or operating at very slow or very high speeds.
In this regard, we refer to the incident that occurred at O'Hare International Airport in November, 2006 when a metallic disc was observed hovering over the United Airlines terminal for several minutes. Since it was not detected on radar, the Federal Aviation Administration declined to investigate. The FAA also did not accept the many corroborating reports from United Airlines pilots and other personnel at face value, dismissing the sighting as "weather." We suggest that prejudice against the term 'UFO' and against reports of unknowns could lead officials to dismiss sightings that involve unconventional aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicles engaged in espionage or terrorist activity, especially when radar returns are not available. However, important sightings have also been ignored when radar is not a factor. Even though hundreds of citizens witnessed a massive triangular object traveling over Arizona in 1997, the U.S. government ignored inquiries from state officials about the incident, and never offered the public any explanation about this invasion of US airspace by a strange, unknown flying machine. We believe this kind of disengagement represents both a missed opportunity and a potential risk.
We maintain that a restive, concerned public has the right to be informed of the facts about UFO incidents that are well-documented and involve multiple witnesses. In addition, science lacks potentially important knowledge that may be gained by the study of these events involving objects demonstrating speeds, maneuvers or other characteristics that challenge our current scientific paradigm.
CALL-TO-ACTION:
We, the undersigned, ask the United States to join in cooperation with those governments which, recognizing the reality of unidentified flying objects and related aviation safety concerns, have already set up their own investigative agencies. Following in the footsteps of its now defunct Project Blue Book, we propose that the United States Air Force reopen its research effort, or that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration initiate such a research effort, to address the international concerns stated herein, provide needed reassurance and increase scientific understanding.
We call on the United States of America to engage with us and with currently active officials around the world to address this problem in an ongoing dialogue, beginning with the gathering of some of the signatories below in Washington, DC on this 12th of November, 2007.
SIGNED,
Vasily Alexeyev - Major General, Russian Air Force, Space Communications Center in Russia
Ricardo Bermudez S. - General, Brigada A'erea (Ret.); Former President of the CEFAA, Chile
Ray Bowyer - Captain, Aurigny Air Services, Channel Islands, UK
Wilfried De Brouwer - Major General, Deputy Chief of Staff Operations and Planning (Ret.)
Belgian Air Force
John Callahan - Division Chief of Accidents, Evaluations and Investigations, FAA (Ret.)
Don C. Donderi, Ph.D. - McGill University; Contract Researcher, Dept. of National Defence, Canada
Julio Cesar Chamorro Flores - Comandante Peruvian Air Force (Ret.); Founder of the OIFAA, 2001
Rodrigo Bravo Garrido - Officer Chilean Army, Military Pilot, Associate with CEFAA
Richard F. Haines, Ph.D. - Sr. NASA Research Scientist (Ret.)
Charles I. Halt - Col. USAF (Ret.), Former Director, Inspections Directorate, DOD I.G.
Parviz Jafari - General, Iranian Air Force (Ret)
Denis Letty - Major General, French Air Force (Ret.); Chairman of COMETA
Oscar Santa Maria - Commander and Fighter Pilot of the Peruvian Air Force (Ret).
Anthony Choy Montes - Lawyer, researcher with the OIFAA, Peruvian Air Force, 2001-2003
James Penniston - TSgt, US Air Force (Ret.)
Nick Pope - Ministry of Defence, UK, 1985-2006
Jean-Claude Ribes - Astronomer, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France, 1963-1998
Yves Sillard - Chair of the Steering Committee, GEIPAN in France
Fife Symington III - Governor of Arizona, 1991-1997 CONTACT: LESLIE KEAN WWW.FREEDOMOFINFO.ORG O0O
