point in our history. Perhaps not. But most likely, there’s something supremely important locked up in the UFO phenomenon that could be transformative for all of us. It’s time now, finally, to open our eyes and find out what that might be.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I’d like to thank the eighteen distinguished contributors whose pieces form the essential core of this book, and who made it all possible. It has been a privilege to work with this exceptional group. My deepest thanks to each of them for their trust and for their diligent work on many drafts. These men have courageously gone on the record about the reality of UFOs, and I hope others in comparable positions will now be moved to do the same.
I extend a special appreciation to John Podesta for his eloquent foreword and for his ongoing public support of the Coalition for Freedom of Information (CFi). His brilliance and honesty are inspiring. Others made major contributions to the text: Yves Sillard of GEIPAN wrote an important commentary, and Andre Amond, J. Dori Callahan, Julio Chamorro, Anthony Choy, Jean-Pierre Fartek, Will Miller, and Robert Salas provided interviews and helpful material. I am very grateful to former Arizona governor Fife Symington III for his encouragement, which helped launch the book.
Phyllis Wender, my agent from the Gersh Agency in New York, believed in this project from the outset. I thank her wholeheartedly for her appreciation of the approach embodied by the book and her unwavering determination to see it published. Her wise advice has been indispensable, and her assistant Lynn Hyde also deserves my thanks. At the Crown Publishing Group, I am indebted to Shaye Areheart for her vision, leadership, and commitment to the book, and to my enthusiastic editor, Kate Kennedy, who guided me throughout the lengthy publishing process and made many significant editorial contributions that improved the manuscript.
A special thanks goes to my close friend Budd Hopkins for providing daily, steady support as I dealt with the myriad personal and professional challenges inherent in producing this book. He dutifully read and reread every word of the manuscript at its various inceptions and offered many perceptive edits and suggestions. I’m also grateful to David M. Jacobs, Paul McKim, and Lloyd Garrison for reading parts of the manuscript and providing useful feedback.
I cannot overlook two key colleagues who profoundly influenced my life before I was unexpectedly confronted with the issue of UFOs. Burma activist and writer Alan Clements inspired me with his compassionate activism and commitment to a people’s struggle, and opened up a new world to me. Investigative reporter Dennis Bernstein, host of
At the beginning of my UFO explorations, Ralph Steiner helped me navigate and offered much reassurance, Stephen Bassett was supportive, and Clifford Stone, Steven Greer, and Grant Cameron provided me with hundreds of government documents released through the Freedom of Information Act. I thank
I am very grateful to Larry Landsman, my partner in the CFi, for opening so many doors for me, and for his consistent advice and comradeship over all these years. Without Larry, this book would never have been born. I also appreciate the invaluable education provided by Ed Rothschild, senior public affairs strategist with the Podesta Group. And I extend my thanks to James Fox, Stan Gordon, Lee Helfrich, and Jeff Sagansky and the team at Break Thru Films for the meaningful opportunities they provided me.
Many skilled investigators have spent decades collecting data on UFOs, and I relied on their work continuously throughout the book. I pay special tribute to veteran researcher Richard Hall, who died of cancer in 2009, and who was always available to answer my questions. Along with others already mentioned, I’m also personally indebted to researchers Jerome Clark, Peter Davenport, Richard Dolan, Stanton Friedman, A. J. Gevaerd, Timothy Good, Bernard Haisch, Bruce Maccabee, Mark Rodeghier, Ted Roe, Brad Sparks, Peter Sturrock, Rob Swiatek, and Nancy Talbott.
Pituka Heilbron and Andrea Soares Berrios spent much time translating both text and many e-mails. Thanks also to Jean-Luc Rivera and Oscar Zambrano for translations, and to Jean-Claude Ribes, Valery Uvarov, Ruben Uriarte, and Andre Morin. Others assisted with various aspects of the book: Yvan Blanc, Joaquim Fernandes, Kelly Fox, Seth Keal, Phil Imbrogno, Charles Miller, Gustavo Rodriguez, Susan Stanley, and Bernard Thouanel; and at Crown, thanks to Mark Birkey, Jill Browning, Lenny Henderson, Kyle Kolker, Elizabeth Rendfleisch, Kira Walton, and Campbell Wharton.
Finally, I thank my mother, Ellen S. Kean, and my father, Hamilton F. Kean, for their steadfast, unconditional support and genuine enthusiasm for this project, despite the taboo nature of its subject matter. Thanks for having faith in me.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
RAY BOWYER has been a flight calibration inspection pilot, and continues as a commercially qualified airline pilot. He has flown for ten airlines operating in Europe and the Middle East, including Jersey European, Channel Express, Regionair, BusinessAir, and Farner Air. From 1999 to 2008, he was a Line Captain for Aurigny Air Services in the Channel Islands, flying inter-island and international routes based in Guernsey. He currently flies as a captain for a Channel Island–based corporation throughout Europe and has a total flying time of 7,000 hours.
WILFRIED DE BROUWER spent twenty years as a fighter pilot in the Belgian Air Force. He was then appointed to the Strategic Planning Branch of NATO in 1983, while a Colonel. After that, he became Wing Commander of the Belgian Air Force Transport Wing and, in 1989, chief of the Operations Division in the Air Staff. Promoted to Major General in 1991, De Brouwer served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Belgian Air Force. Beginning in 1995, after retiring from the Air Force, he worked for more than ten years as a consultant for the United Nations to improve the UN Logistics rapid-response capabilities during emergencies.
JOHN J. CALLAHAN has over thirty years of experience at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) specializing in the air traffic control centers. As Automation Branch Chief, he supervised the design, programming, testing, and implementation of all air traffic control facilities software programs. From 1981 to 1988, he was Division Chief for Accidents, Evaluations, and Investigations at Washington Headquarters, where he was responsible for the quality of air traffic service provided to FAA users. After retiring, Callahan was employed as a Senior Analyst for Washington Consulting Group and Chief Executive Officer for Crown Communications Consulting Company. He now owns and operates Liberty Tax Service in Culpeper, Virginia.
RAYMOND DUVALL is Morse-Alumni Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. His co-edited publications include
RODRIGO BRAVO GARRIDO is a captain and pilot for the Aviation Army of Chile. In 2000, at age twenty-four, he was assigned to conduct an internal study titled “Introduction to Anomalous Aerial Phenomenon and Their Considerations for Aerospace Security,” involving previous case reports of military planes’ encounters with UAP. He has since continued this research and now works in cooperation with the Committee for the Study of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena (CEFAA), a branch of the General Administration of Civil Aeronautics, Chile’s equivalent of our
