UFOs - Leslie Kean [67]
We wanted to demonstrate that the UFO phenomenon is real and is not the result of fantasy. I was astonished to discover, and now know for certain, that silent and completely unknown objects sometimes penetrate our airspace with flying capabilities that are impossible to replicate on Earth. And these objects appear to be operated by some kind of intelligence. The COMETA Report shows, in a straightforward manner, that the extraterrestrial hypothesis is the most rational explanation, although of course it has not been proven.
Since the release of the report, I have often quoted General Thouverez, commander of the French air defense force, who in 2002 acknowledged that unknown objects could sometimes be seen in the sky over France and that consequently, it was our responsibility to study them seriously.3
Because of statements like this, my co-authors and I believed it was important to submit the COMETA Report to the highest authorities of the state, and we forwarded it to the prime minister and to the military cabinet of the president. In the interests of informing the public, we also published the report in France. At the time of its release, France had reduced the efforts of its national UFO agency at CNES considerably, with only two staff members remaining. After the release of our report, the agency was resurrected and renamed GEIPAN, a process likely facilitated by the support of our group. The COMETA Report has since received worldwide recognition in spite of some virulent denigration by certain people, and when read carefully its findings are impossible to ignore.
We advocated strong international cooperation on UFO investigations, with the United States, in particular, and continue to do so. The sightings in November 2006 above O’Hare Airport near Chicago and over Guernsey in April 2007, which were reported by pilots and air traffic controllers, reinforced our determination not to give up this effort. We now hope that as we continue to collect reports from many colleagues around the world, we will facilitate greater understanding leading to a unified international effort that will determine the true nature and origin of UFOs. We are ready in our country to play a significant role in such an effort.
CHAPTER 14
France and the UFO Question
by Jean-Jacques Velasco
Jean-Jacques Velasco was in charge of the French government’s UFO agency for more than twenty years. Although he began his investigations after the close of Project Blue Book, he worked for the French government consistently for about the same length of time as J. Allen Hynek worked for ours. He remained focused and dedicated, as did Hynek, becoming one of the more knowledgeable figures about UFOs in the world. Velasco was an engineer working on the development of French satellites at CNES when he became involved with the new agency studying unidentified aerospace phenomena the year it was founded, 1977, by Yves Sillard. Six years later, he was placed in charge of that agency.
Throughout his tenure, Velasco worked openly within the French national space agency on UFO investigations and was not burdened by a complex, restrictive military framework. He remains actively involved with UFO case studies today and is the author of several books on the subject.
For twenty-one years,1 from 1983 to 2004, I was the director of the French program to investigate and analyze unidentified aerospace phenomena. Working within the framework of an official mission with specific responsibilities, I had imposed on myself, as was my duty, great reserve in expressing any interpretations or conclusions on the UFO question. Now, all of that has changed. After these many decades of acquired knowledge and experience, I am no longer restricted and can express my personal conclusions with complete freedom of conscience. Therefore, I have chosen to speak here more freely and with more openness than in my previous publications.
First, it is possible