False stereotypes – like
the supposed lack of credibility of both UFO witnesses and investigations –
have dogged the UFO field forever. The new, long-awaited, two-hour documentary
by James Fox, “I Know What I Saw,” broadcast on the History Channel in October,
should dispel that misleading stereotype for good.
Posted by: Antonio Huneeus November 23, 2009 3 Comments 3,200 Views
False stereotypes – like
the supposed lack of credibility of both UFO witnesses and investigations –
have dogged the UFO field forever. The new, long-awaited, two-hour documentary
by James Fox, “I Know What I Saw,” broadcast on the History Channel in October,
should dispel that misleading stereotype for good.
The film was primarily
based on the panel that Fox, and journalist Leslie Kean of the Coalition for
Freedom of Information, assembled at the National Press Club (NPC) in
Washington, D.C. on Nov. 12, 2007. The 14 speakers included two retired
generals and several other military officers, a former governor, civil pilots
and government scientists from seven countries (Belgium, Chile, France, Iran,
Peru, U.K. and the U.S.). It was one of the most credible UFO panels ever
assembled.
James Fox and the panelists
en route to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on Nov 12th, 2007.
(image credit: www.iknowwhatisawthemovie.com)
James Fox, who already made
a name in the field with his previous “Out of the Blue” documentary, begins “I
Know What I Saw” with the famous Phoenix Lights of March 13, 1997. The latest
film’s title, in fact, comes from one of the witnesses.
Fife Symington, the Arizona
governor in 1997, was also a witness of the huge, structured craft that crossed
the Phoenix metropolitan area that March evening. Symington, who served as
moderator for the NPC Panel, reveals in the documentary why he took the
questionable decision of ridiculing the incident publicly. He says he was
afraid the incident could lead to panic and distract the conduct of state
government and business. Former presidential candidate and current Arizona
Senator John McCain, in a radio interview and a written letter, also stresses
in the documentary that the explanation for the Phoenix Lights has not been
established.
The film then moves on to
the equally famous incidents at the Rendlesham Forest and Bentwaters Air Force
Base in Suffolk, England, in late December, 1980. Col. Charles Halt, the deputy
base commander, and U.S. Air Force Sgt. Jim Penniston appeared on the NPC
Panel. And, the film also includes interviews with Sgt. Nevills (who was on the
patrol with Halt) and others. While the Bentwaters case is well known and was
already discussed in “Out of the Blue,” Fox takes the original witnesses back
to the Rendlesham Forest and then asks an expert in cryptology to try to
decipher the symbols that Penniston jotted down in a small notebook on the
first night when he and airman John Burroughs witnessed a UFO land in the
forest. The expert can’t specifically decipher the alien symbols, but his comments
are thought-provoking.
Among the number of
important cases discussed by “I Know What I Saw” are the famous Iranian
dogfight of September, 1976, the Belgian wave of 1990, the Japan Airlines
radar-visual case in Alaska in November, 1986, as well as other airliner
sightings in England and France. The more recent sightings in Stephenville,
Texas, in January, 2008, are also discussed.
Two scientists who
participated in the French Space Agency (CNES) UFO investigation, doctors
Claude Poher and Jean-Claude Ribes, attended the NPC Panel. Fox and Kean also
traveled to Paris to interview the current director of that program, Jacques
Patenet, as well as Ret. Gen. Denis Letty, who coordinated the semi-official
COMETA Report. This last group of retired French military and intelligence
officers and government scientists issued in 1999 a very strong report
endorsing the reality of UFOs, and the resulting defense implications.
Leslie Kean with General
Letty of COMETA and James Fox in Paris, Jan 2008. (image credit:
www.iknowwhatisawthemovie.com)
Some critics may object
that most of the cases presented by Fox were already well known and have been
treated in his previous documentary, and other productions. Others may say that
he didn’t go far enough because there were no discussions of Roswell,
abductions, crop circles and many other issues. But these criticisms miss the
point.
What Fox intended to do,
both with the 2007 National Press Club Panel and in his new documentary, was to
nail once and for all the issue of credibility and UFOs. He succeeded very well
in his endeavor. Presented on camera were retired generals Wilfred De Brouwer
from Belgium and Parviz Jafari of Iran, space agency officials from France,
military and civil pilots, radar controllers and government scientists (there
were also brief interviews with Jimmy Carter and astronaut Gordon Cooper).
These people were all
involved with UFOs either as witnesses or investigators in an official
capacity, and all the cases presented defy any explanation other than the fact
we are dealing with an advanced technology and presence of unknown origin and
purpose. If you believe that there is a lack of credibility to prove the UFO
phenomenon, then you will have to revise your thoughts after seeing James Fox’s
powerful “I Know What I Saw” documentary – unless you have a completely closed
mind.
Note: You can purchase the
unrated “I Know What I Saw” DVD on the History Channel’s website at www.shop.history.com.
ABOUT ANTONIO
HUNEEUS
Open Minds Investigative
Reporter J. Antonio Huneeus has covered the UFO field from an international
perspective for over 30 years. His articles have appeared in dozens of
publications in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Japan. He was also the
co-author of the Laurance Rockefeller-funded “UFO Briefing Document – The Best
Available Evidence” and edited the book “A Study Guide to UFOs, Psychic &
Paranormal Phenomena in the USSR.” Huneeus studied French at the Sorbonne
University in Paris and Journalism at the University of Chile in Santiago in
the 1970s. He has lectured at dozens of UFO Conferences all over the world and
been interviewed by many media outlets including The Washington Post, the Sy-Fy
and History Channels, Nippon-TV, etc. He received the “Ufologist of the Year”
award at the National UFO Conference in Miami Beach in 1990 and the “Courage in
Journalism” award at the X-Conference in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in 2007.
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