1. Mr. Friedman, you are a physicist with a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in nuclear physics from the University of Chicago, and have worked for the 'who's who' of American companies, including McDonnell Douglas, General Electric, and General Motors. How did such a reputable scientist come to be involved in the UFO phenomenon?
As a reputable physicist I am convinced one should have facts in hand before expressing an opinion. Most who scoff at UFOs haven’t looked at the evidence. Once I discovered Project Blue Book Special Report 14 with more than 240 charts, tables, graphs, and maps about 3201 UFO sightings and compared the facts with the lies of the Secretary of the Air Force in the grossly misleading press release, I realized that some UFOs were alien spacecraft and that the US government was covering up. These conclusions were reinforced as I got more and more information. UFO debunkers follow 4 basic rules: A. What the public doesn’t know, I won’t tell them. B. Don’t bother me with the facts, my mind is made up. C If one can’t attack the data, attack the people, it is easier. And D. Do one’s research by proclamation. Investigation is too much trouble and most people won’t know the difference.
I must be doing something right as I have had only 11 hecklers (2 of whom were drunk) at more than 700 lectures, many to professional groups besides more than 600 colleges. I would have had that many if I spoke about sports, religion, or politics.
Do note that there are 4 important relevant aspects to my background:
1. I have worked on a number of advanced research and development programs concerned with far out propulsion systems such as fission rockets, fusion rockets, nuclear aircraft, and nuclear powerplants for space. I can deal effectively with the silly arguments that one can’t get here from there.
2. I worked under security for 14 years and have visited 20 document archives. I know much more about security than those who proclaim secrets can’t be kept. Of course they can be. I give examples in my new book “Flying Saucers and Science”.
3. Because I have had to respond to more than 40,000 questions after my lectures, in class discussions, on hundreds of radio and TV programs, I have had to think seriously about the many “Why” Questions. The normal response is Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.
4. I am very much at home on the stage and having been a high school debater learned long ago that it is necessary to know about both sides of the question. I have won a number of public debates about UFOs including at the Oxford University Debating Society and on Coast to Coast Radio.
2. Only the yellow press was reporting on UFOs, but in recent years, reliable media such as CNN and the History Channel (with the high-rated TV series 'The UFO Files' and 'The UFO Hunters') have also been reporting on UFOs. What do you think was the reason?
In my lectures I discuss 5 large scale scientific studies. The press and the scientific community have failed in their responsibility to deal with facts and data about UFOs. They don’t talk about the studies or the dozen or so PhD theses that have been done including Dr. Herbert Strentz’s on Press coverage of the subject. I usually get good coverage. The cable channels have recognized that there is enormous public interest in the UFO subject. The Chicago Tribune front page story on January 1, 2007, about the O’Hare Airport sightings of November, 2006, got more hits on their website (over a Million) than any other story they have run about anything. And it led the list for several days, which has never happened before. Newspapers are losing circulation and finally realized, as I have known for the 41 years I have been lecturing, that the public is interested in responsible coverage of the subject. I had crowds as big as 2000 40 years ago.
3. One of your favorite topics in your books is the secret about 'Majestic 12'. Many people say that this group never existed; what is your response to your critics?
Look at the evidence. Some people believe the Earth is flat. I have spent an enormous amount of effort reviewing the anti-arguments, dealing with all of them and visiting 20 archives, talking to families of the members, noting the many facts that turned out to be true in the 3 primary documents, but weren’t known before hand. Look at my 2005 2nd Edition of “TOP SECRET/MAJIC” with its new 5000 word afterword and my many MUFON and other MJ-12 papers including, for example, my review of Kevin Randle’s grossly misleading book “Case MJ-12”. It is on my website. I should also point out that there are a myriad of phony MJ-12 documents. But I point out the factual reasons why they are phony. The question isn’t are all MJ-12 documents legitimate, but are any? Just as with UFOs, the question isn’t are “all UFOs ET spacecraft?” The proper question is “Are any?”. Both answers are YES. I stick by the Eisenhower Briefing document, the Truman Forestall Memo, the Cutler Twining memo. It is funny how the critics ignore the fact, for example, that debunker Phil Klass paid me $1000 for proving him wrong about the typeface on the CT Memo. There is a Chapter updating the MJ-12 question in my new book “Flying Saucers and Science”
4. You have also written a book about the possible abduction of Betty and Barney Hill. Do you believe the abduction phenomenon is real? For most scientists, it is acceptable to believe that intelligent lifeforms exist somewhere in the universe, but they don’t believe that these lifeforms are visiting Earth and abducting humans.
I have co-authored a book “Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience” with Kathleen Marden, Betty’s niece, who has all of Betty’s tapes, correspondence etc. Of course I had met Betty and Barney way back in 1968, 3 months before Barney’s death, and Betty many times since. I was the first to publish about the star map, etc. It is not a “possible” abduction, but a real one. I am convinced that some Earthlings have been abducted by some aliens. Each case must be taken on its own merits. I don’t much care about beliefs based on top of the head bias, prejudice and ignorance. Let’s deal with evidence and data.
5. Can you give us a preview of your new book that will be released in June 2008?
I have chapters on the major large scale scientific studies, on data concerning interstellar travel, possible origins of aliens, opinion polls, press coverage, the SETI nonsense (SETI stands for Silly Effort To Investigate), the silliness of Science Fiction vs. UFOs, The Cosmic Watergate, the UFO Why Questions, Updates on Roswell and MJ-12, what it all means. Lots of things will make some people angry. But I have a responsibility to follow the evidence and tell it like it is.
6. The French space organization CNES has released their UFO Files, and the British government has done the same. Is there a different position between European governments and the US government regarding UFOs?
The Project Blue Book files have been available on 92 reels of microfilm for more than 30 years. Remember that USAF General Carroll Bolender made clear that reports of UFOs which could affect national security were not part of the Blue Book System. These would have been the best cases. We haven’t seen those reports. My research indicates that neither the French nor the UK Ministry of Defense files contain really highly classified material. We do have 160 pages of NSA UFO reports on which all but one or two lines is covered with Wite-Out. We have a number of CIA UFO reports on which one can read all of eight words. We have proof that pilots were ordered in 1952 to shoot down UFOs if they didn’t land when instructed to do so. I have heard 7 different accounts of planes not returning from trying to intercept UFOs. We don’t see documents about these. It is clear that the US government recovered at least 2 crashed flying saucers in New Mexico in 1947 (see my “Crash at Corona”) That data has been withheld. I would expect the French and UK have both withheld information from the sophisticated systems such as air defense radar, Crash retrievals, airplanes destroyed by UFOs etc.
7. Do you think NASA will ever imitate CNES? Many NASA astronauts, like Ed Mitchell and Gordon Cooper, were UFO believers, and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin has said in an interview that he saw a UFO.
I have seen no evidence of NASA admitting it has been involved in ufology. It does do classified work, but has been very successful in avoiding discussion, unlike CNES. Of course the US navy has also avoided any discussion about the many UFO sightings on board Navy ships. I have no reason to expect NASA to come clean.
Thank you very much for the interview.
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