10:00AM 2.25.05 
      The Peter Jennings Special on UFOs has been aired and is having a noticeable impact on research into the subject.  This website is ranked in the top 30 on Google using UFO as the keyword.  This means that whenever interest spikes in the public over UFOs it is directly reflected in our statistics, and our visits have dramatically increased since the show was aired.  Initial response in related discussion groups is tepid, with the "I've seen all this before" dominating the posts.  Well yes, anyone involved in the study of UFOs will have seen most of what Jennings presented, but was he preaching to the choir only? 
       It is, of course, too early to get ratings on this program and normally even a high viewer count would not reflect any evidence that the show was a success.  In this case there is an exception to this.   Just the fact that it was presented on a major network, by a respected journalist, and in a prime time slot makes it a success on these facts alone.  As an experienced researcher in this field I too was aware of all the sightings, etc. presented in the show but tried to view it with the mindset of a person with no real knowledge of the field.  I am talking about those who either don't care, are only mildly interested, and the majority who are rightly confused by it all.  I will reserve my review on the special until the dust has settled. 

4:00PM 2.25.05 
       Not seeing the forest for the trees is quite an appropriate comment to summarize the discussions I have seen after the Peter Jennings UFO Special.  Seen it all before have you?  Rehashing the same ol' same ol' is it?  The show was anti-UFO, or it was too pro-UFO, Peter Jennings does believe in UFOs, or Peter Jennings does not believe in UFOs, he was fair and balanced, he was sticking his neck out, or he was covering his butt.  It's all there, take your pick, or pick your flavor, the UFO community is not without its different opinions on this one, which can be said to be true on just about every area of this field.  But what only few seem to understand is that this open dialogue and opinion sharing on the subject of UFOs is found almost exclusively within the UFO community itself.  Outside that community UFOs are relegated to carnival sideshow status, until now. 
       Finally a major television network takes the step the UFO community has been clamoring for; the airing of the UFO question in a public forum.  Sure we, in this field, have heard about Kenneth Arnold, the Phoenix Lights, and Roswell.  And we have seen the eyewitness testimony of first responders, and heard the opinions of scientist, some of more times than we wish to count.  But how much of this have we seen on a major network in a prime time slot, hosted by a respected news anchor?  Think about it.

The Peter Jennings UFO Special
My thoughts
2.26.05

            As the opinions on the Peter Jennings UFO Special roll in there appears a mind-boggling consistency to them.  Like a group of sixth graders forced to spend a day in a first grade classroom, the whining is incessant.  There is nothing new here, we have seen it all before, they missed this point or that point, or this was so simplistic.  There are a few, however, who feel it was worthwhile for the amount of exposure it received.   It is this point that blunts the sharp criticism and points to the fact that the UFO community, as a whole, should concentrate its discussion on that.  With this in mind let us consider the relevant points. 
            First, the study of UFOs is not rocket science, it is way beyond such primitive thought.  Dr Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist, featured toward the end of the program, implied correctly that we are short-sighted in our basic concept of UFOs.  He pointed out that in trying to understand how these space craft could travel such distances to get to Earth from distant stars, the theorists have projected a mindset that we are dealing with a technology hundreds of years ahead of ours.  He then posed the possibility that we may be dealing with a culture, not hundreds, but millions of years ahead of us technologically.  And, in truth, this is one of the greatest hurdles the human mind must overcome to even approach any level of acceptance of UFOs. 
            We are told from childhood that, other than the church's ethereal god, mankind is the highest form of intelligent life in the universe, and in this age science really holds the key to knowledge.  Our educational system teaches that the wonder we call life is nothing more than a series of accidents and that science is searching for the time and location where the first accident happened.  Our churches teach that it all just happened and that we can't see, feel, hear, smell or touch the being that made it happen; he's just there.  Considering many are exposed to both sides of the issue, with equal fervor from both camps, confusion is rampant and even an intellectual purgatory called theistic evolution is there for those who develop a split personality over the whole thing.  Enter a highly advanced culture from another world to the equation, displaying technology far beyond anything even on our drawing boards, just flying around in our skies eluding our fastest jets, and performing impossible aerial maneuvers and the confusion meter goes off the scale.
            Roswell is the Holy Grail to most in the UFO community.  To the public Roswell is a series on cable television  based on some strange occurrence that happened years ago, or a campy roadside museum where you can buy plastic alien dolls with glowing eyes.  Blue Book is the government cover-up of UFOs to the UFO community.  The Blue Book is where you find the value of automobiles to most others.  UFOs are considered very real, but very much ignored by the government and everybody else, by the UFO community.  UFOs are the stuff of science fiction movies, comic books, and late night conspiracy documentaries to the average person.  Though millions profess a belief in them only a few give them any serious thought. 
            Now we have experienced a "bolt out of the blue" with the UFO phenomenon making a giant leap from late night and weekend cable slots to a two-hour prime time major network special.  The narrator was not an actor from a sci-fi series, but a highly respected network news anchor.  Yes, it was simplistic, but what would you really want in a show like this, presented to an audience, which for the most part is clueless about UFOs?  It had debunkers, but if the network hadn't presented the opposing point of view could it have claimed any sense of balance?  And, of course there were events left out, and certain facts about those included were not completely correct, but has there ever been a "perfect" UFO documentary? 
            There are even comments about the level of commercial advertising and, yes, some of it was reminiscent of something one might see during a monster truck rally, but consider the subject matter.  You advertise on a program and you give your tacit support to the content of that program.  This is exactly why the advertisers are targeted when people wish to express their displeasure over something they have seen on television.   But it wasn't all second tier; the commercials breaks were, thankfully, kept to a minimum and it obviously paid the bills. 
            This brings us to the previously mentioned simplistic nature of the presentation, relying mainly on the direct testimony from eyewitnesses and a few, not exactly "Star Wars level", animation sequences, with a lot of repeats.  Advertising is the main consideration in the budget allocated for any project of this type.  It didn't win the ratings battle for the night, coming in third, and this had to be considered.  Low audience means low budget, low budget means low tech animation.  But, would glitz have made the points any clearer, or was subtlety actually better for presenting such an important subject?  This is a matter of judgment best left to the experts.
            In 2001 the UFO Disclosure Project presented a group of witnesses claiming knowledge of the existence of UFOs at the National Press Club.  They called for a public hearing before, and investigation by, Congress of the UFO phenomenon.  It looked promising, but the UFO Disclosure Project suddenly changed direction and went off on a search for a magic energy machine, which they apparently haven't found yet.  This is a shame, because if they had been successful in their original mission they would have brought this issue into the light of public scrutiny.  And, no doubt, the UFO community would have thrown its entire weight into promoting such a public airing. 
            This was the last event, of any relevance, to throw light on this subject, but it was dim; a few scattered news stories and that light went out almost immediately.  For all practical purposes the general public went completely unaware of this.  There hasn't been a drought of information on the UFO phenomenon in the public arena; it has never even sprinkled on this desert.  Suddenly we see a cloudburst in the form of a network special presenting scores of very credible witnesses, from first responders, to airline pilots and military officials, and very real witnesses, including an entire family that just oozed sincerity.  There were many major sightings covered with witnesses to the events logically and calmly presenting their sides.  Project Blue Book was exposed as nothing more than a tool to discredit the UFO phenomenon and the amazing conversion of its star investigator from a dedicated debunker to a public advocate for disclosure is shown.  Roswell is given a thorough going over with eyewitness believers and skeptics alike, being well represented, and ending with the key figure in the investigation recanting the testimony he was forced to give in the beginning, debunking the crash scenario as a weather balloon. 
            The most important thing to consider is how believable was the presentation?  Did it pass the smell test?  Though many find fault with it, it would probably be hard to find anyone who would deny it had at least 'some' good points.  And where was the fringe, the stock footage of the foil hat crowd, and characters with alien costumes at UFO conventions that are the almost obligatory scenes we see in most UFO shows?  No, this was presented exactly as it was billed, as a news-related documentary, with a sufficient level of journalistic integrity throughout.  On balance, it was definitively more pro-UFO than an effort at debunking, and it appeared that strong evidence and testimony on given events were presented ahead, and clearly weakened the points, of the detractors that followed. 
            Important facts were presented such as the 80 million Americans who believe this earth has been visited by beings from another world and the 40 million Americans who claim to have witnessed, or are acquainted with someone who has seen a UFO, not to mention the 20% who believe that abductions have occurred.  They didn't say "mistakenly" believed, or attempt to cast a shadow over these statistics, they presented them as legitimate facts.  The tone of the entire special was not questioning the existence of UFOs, for the most part, but the lack of proper investigation into their very obvious presence.  This was excellent for the advancement of public awareness of the UFO phenomenon. 
            We, meaning those investigators who are prominent in this field, and the millions who follow this research with dedication, now have an opportunity to catch the tide of interest this presentation has generated.  Grousing about details and parts gone missing seems to equate with looking a gift horse in the mouth.  There is no better way to do this than by yelling your support for further efforts from ABC, and inciting the other networks to follow their example.  A seldom considered reality is that your local stations are particularly vulnerable to input from their viewers, and for good reason; they don't get that much feedback.  Just a few contacts from viewers can get the attention of the newsroom on any issue.  This gives you a dual advantage.  If you write, call, fax, or email networks to make a suggestion, or praise an effort, and then contact the newsroom of the local affiliate of the network, you have doubled that impact.  And considering the special did point out that the government is highly suspect in cover-up; why not rattle their cages for good measure?  Here are a few links to help you:

You can send your comments on the show directly to Peter Jennings or ABC News here:

Tell Peter Jennings What You Think

Tell ABC What You Think

When sending your comments to local newsrooms include your address
so they know you viewing their station from the local area

The MAP - Media Email Directory

Media sources from the USA, Kidon Media-Link

Media Guide

The Rumor Mill News Agency List

Media Email Addresses

When writing to Congress, or any politician, the most effective method is by US Mail
with your return address so they know you are a constituent in their District. 
Faxes and emails are generally ignored, or simply round filed.

Congress.org -- Write to Congress, the President and State Legislators

The skeptics and detractors are dominating the discussion:

UFO Show A Travesty

Jennings Special - Embarrassing Even For Prime Time

Jennings' Studio Portions Re-Shot In A Hurry?

Peter Jennings and UFOs: Spinning and Deceiving

Whitley Strieber Weighs In
The Scum Rises: Peter Jennings on UFOs - Whitley Strieber

Rense.com has some comments on the special
and some interesting news stories that surfaced around it:

ABC's "Seeing Is Believing" UFO Special Comments Rense.com

UFOs Stories Get More Media Coverage After UFO Special

There are a number of online discussions ongoing on this special.  Here are just a few:

The Free Republic

Crop Circle News Articles Forum

Science Technology Services Forum

Above Top Secret - Aliens & UFOs

Unexplained Mysteries Discussion Forums

World Of The Strange - Forums

The DVD or VHS of this special is available for pre-ordering:
ABC NEWS STORE

We will post the comments of any who wish to do so on any of these subjects here:
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