Hamish Mackenzie, The Sunday Express, June 16, 2002

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Summary: For almost two hours, one by one, more than 20 "eye-witnesses" - nuclear missile silo commanders and employees of large corporations - described their experiences to the assembled press.

On a raised platform beneath the galleried ceiling of the
prestigious National Press Club in Washington, DC, a group of
men and women, all experts in their chosen field, waited
patiently as the large hall filled with more than 150
journalists from newspapers and TV stations all around the
world.

For almost two hours, one by one, more than 20 "eye-witnesses" -
nuclear missile silo commanders and employees of large
corporations - described their experiences to the assembled
press. Some spoke of inexplicable encounters with unidentified
lights and objects in the air, others of the crashes of strange
craft of "unaccountable, un-elected and illegal projects". Yet
others even claimed to be involved with the "back-engineering of
advanced technology".


Many expressed frustration at their failure to be taken
seriously. All referred to a world-wide conspiracy to keep the
truth from governments and public alike. As each individual
spoke there was hushed attention, as each sat down applause
filled the room. At one point a cameraman for a US TV station
was heard to say: "Bloody hell, this is amazing - bloody hell."
and yet, since that day in May w001, the silence has been
deafening.

Last year, the Sunday Express was the first newspaper to publish
an article on the Disclosure Project, a US-Based UFO group whose
stated aim is to press the US Congress for an open hearing. The
group's founder, Dr Steven Greer, claims he is continuing to
gather "deep-insider witnesses" who, if released from their
security oaths, would tell Congress what they know about an
alleged cover-up of the existence of UFOs and extra-terrestrials
as well as the possession of their advanced life-changing
technology.

But one year on, the Project seems nowhere nearer achieving its
goal, despite positive feedback from US Senators and
overwhelming interest from the public via their website. Dr
Greer is now concentrating on a grassroots effort to spread the
word via a global network of representatives.

"This is the best chance we have had in 50 years to find out what
is really going on," say David Williams, on of the Disclosure
Projects UK representatives. Now an IT director in the finance
industry, he is a former crypto-analyst in the Royal Signals,
once based in Whitehall.

"While I was there I had Top Secret clearance, and the
continuous flow of UFO reports that crossed my desk intrigued
me." he says. "They came from everywhere, and I forwarded them
on to various MoD and Government departments.

"I don't know what happened to them after they left me. I have
been trying to find out ever since, and after the 2001 press
conference I decided to get involved with the Disclosure
Project. It only needs the wider public to realise that one of
the witnesses, someone like John Callahan is telling the truth
for the whole thing to be blown wide open."

John Callahan, a former senior investigator with the Accidents
and Investigations Branch of the US Federal Aviation Authority,
is a bluff and imposing presence. His story, like the man, is
hard to dismiss. At the press conference, he recalled how, on
November 18, 1986, the pilots of Japan Airlines Flight 1628,
flying over Alaska, reported they were seeing "a huge ball with
lights running around it... four times as big as a 747". The
sighting was significant because the object was simultaneously
being recorded on ground-based radar at Anchorage Air Traffic
Control. The flight crew and ground radar operators watched as
the UFO performed aerobatics and flew at speeds beyond the
capability of any known aircraft. At one point the captain
expressed concern at the effects the object appeared to be
having on his instruments.

After more than half an hour, the "strange craft" disappeared
and the 747 landed safely.

The following day Mr Callahan attended a hurriedly convened
meeting at the request of Admiral Engen, then Administrator of
the Federal Aviation Authority. This meeting was attend by all
of those directly involved and claimed Mr, Callahan, three
anonymous CIA men. He says these men confiscated all the audio,
radar recordings printouts and documents associated with the
previous day's events and "told us this had never happened and
we had never had this meeting." They never asked anyone if we
had copies, so I never told them I did."

There was a flurry of clicking cameras as Mr Callahan held up
numerous documents and invited the audience to inspect them
later. But many who were at the press conference were bemused at
the subsequent lack of publicity for the event.

"Perhaps the media were taken aback by the seriousness of what
they heard and just did not know how to handle it." David
Williams remarks. "It is surprising no one has even tried to
discredit the witnesses. Why have the big US corporations
[Lockheed Martin, Northrop, Boeing and others] named as part of
the cover-up, not objected and sued?" Only last month the US
newspaper Florida Today contributed to the continuing
speculation on how an event "with testimony designed to be so
compelling the [national] media couldn't possibly freeze it out"
had been left in the cold.

"We were disappointed by not surprised by the limited coverage."
says Dr Greer, an accident and emergency doctor who now devotes
all his time to the Project. "So we took our message direct to
the people - local radio, TV and well-attended public meetings."
Since the press conference, it has emerged that Dr Greer is not
alone in seeking to persuade the US Government to support
disclosure.

Charles Huffer, a US-based UFO researcher, met the then
campaigning Governor George Bush in 2000. Live on CNN, Huffer
secured a promise from Bush that when in office he would 'get
right on to" the UFO issue and tell the people what was really
going on. Once in power this campaign promise has been ignored
and last year one of Huffer's supporters went on hunger strike in
protest.

This year US business development consultant Stephen Bassett
plans to run as an independent in the 8th Congressional District
of Maryland on the UFO disclosure ticket. The election, in
November, is expected to be hotly contested. Bassett's objective
is to win sufficient votes to have a say in bringing the issue
before Congress.

But interest among the general public has also been
considerable. The Projects press conference was broadcast and
watched live over the Internet by almost a quarter of a million
people. "it was the largest Webcast in history." says Dr Greer.

Since then a further million have downloaded a recording of the
even from the Disclosure Project website, which has received
more than six million hits since May last year. Dr Greer reports
that more than 100 new witnesses have come forward, several from
the UK.

"This is not surprising." says Denis Plunkett, head of the
British Flying Saucer Bureau, still an active organisation though
wrongly reported last year to have closed down. "For 50 years I
have been receiving reports from military personnel and police
officers. Most did not want any publicity, they were just trying
to understand what they had seen."

When asked if the Sunday Express could interview a UK witness,
Dr Greer said: "We do not want to reveal any of our new
witnesses now. There will be another press conference later in
the year, which we are planning to broadcast on cable and
satellite TV."

One concern for many observers has been that the Project may not
be as rigorous as it needs to be when screening witnesses. And
there does appear to have been some dissension within the ranks.
Some witnesses feel that the more exotic stories, such as
contact with aliens, should have been excluded.

"There is enough out there - unusual aerial craft that need
explanation." said a source who did not want to be named. And at
least one prominent witness has requested that his name be
withdrawn from the Project as he feels some of the conclusions
being drawn from the testimonies are "a step too far". Edgar
Mitchell, the Apollo 11 astronaut, and one of the few men have
set foot on the moon, is no longer a Disclosure Project witness,
though he continues to support its aids. "I still believe that
governments should open their files on the UFO subject, but we
don't seem to be much closer to that, though likely it will
happen sooner or later." he told the Sunday Express.

"I am not a 'witness' of UFO events either in space or on Earth.
I don't have any first-hand experience but I have discussed the
subject with some 'old timers' who do have first-hand
knowledge."

One of the big tests of the Disclosure Project in the future
will be the quality of the new witnesses and its openness to the
sort of scrutiny it is claiming should be direct at others. The
history of UFO sightings has been tarnished by fabrication - not
just by people seeking attention but even by UFO researchers. In
the past few months, a prominent group has admitted planting
false information to discredit others in an apparent attempt to
prove that the whole UFO phenomenon can be dismissed.

"Is it possible we have been scammed by some witnesses? Yes. Do
I think it likely? No." says Dr Greer, his hackles rising. "We are
not the CIA, we can't afford to run $50,000 background checks on
everyone. Our objectives are to disclose the truth to the public
and persuade Congress to hold an open hearing.

"Over 20,000 letters have gone out from constituents all over
the US to their Congressmen. We have received numerous
expressions of serious interest from Senators. Only last week I
had a Congressman ring and ask us to give him a private
briefing.

"To get a Congressional hearing one of three things will have to
happen," Dr Greer continues. "The media will have to call for it,
or the public need to be heard asking for it, or there has to be
a massive, undeniable UFO event."

What is clear is that a large number of individuals have come
forward and made statements whose implications, if true, are
profound. If the witnesses are who they say they are - and are
found to be lying - then we should be very concerned about the
type of individuals who fly our planes, control air traffic, man
the missile silos and protect our communities.

If on the other hand, the witnesses are telling the truth then -
no matter how extraordinary - this is a serious issue. "If we
believe them,' says David Williams, "then we have to accept that
we are not alone. Someone is covering u8p and we should want to
know why.

"We may have been deceived by some of our witnesses, but not by
all of them." he continues. "There are too many people who have
seen something they can't explain. Those trying to keep the
secrets rely upon most of us being too busy with our lives to be
bothered. But more and more people are getting interested, and
one day there will be enough to demand that governments tell us
what the know."

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