Alien Lore 49 - Walter Cronkite's UFO Encounter

Walter Cronkite was America's trusted and avuncular newsman for many years. He was there for JFK's assassination and a few years later he reported on the U.S. moon landing. I remember polls saying that he could have taken a shot at the Presidency himself.

We knew him all those years, but we never knew the private person. He managed to work the TV news business for many years without being involved in scandals, and without revealing much about himself.

In 1973, CBS was working on a documentary about UFOs. UFOs and aliens had reached a high point in popularity that had been climbing ever since the Roswell incident. Books, magazines, and movies about UFOs were appearing constantly.

In 1973 (this is pre-cable, friends, where even major cities had three television stations), CBS was the king of the hill and everything they did was watched (literally) by the whole world. The "special" was to be hosted by CBS News reporters, but Cronkite would do the interviews.

The story is verbatim from Bill Knell of Paranormal News.

"I was presenting several seminars a month on the subject and had already been involved with the media. Although I hadn't written any books, several articles I wrote were used by various newspapers and magazines around the world. As it happened, Walter Cronkite read a small piece that I wrote for a now-defunct UFO publication. The topic of the article was the Air Force cover-up of UFO information and a few cases I had investigated. Cronkite was making a list of people he wanted to interview for the CBS special and the article interested him. In 1973, I received a letter from CBS News indicating their interest in my work. After a few phone calls, I was able to meet and speak with the man himself! On a cool New York day in late September of 1973, I sat down and had an informal lunch with Walter Cronkite. By then, I had learned not to be star-struck by anyone. Because of my father's position as an officer in the Air Force, I had met a lot of important people. Still, I was in awe of this News Giant! The funny thing was that his manner was so gentle and laid-back that within a few minutes I was completely at ease. I guess that was his gift and the thing that made him such a successful news anchor.

"As we lunched, Cronkite told me about the TV Special and indicated that he wanted to interview me. He wanted a younger person's perspective on the phenomenon. Most of the UFO researchers in those days were older and had taken up the topic as a Retirement project. Cronkite was very interested in some of the Air Force stories I had collected. He was especially interested in the fact that I had grown-up in an Air Force family as a person interested in researching UFOs. After about 30 minutes of talking, Cronkite said to me, "Let me tell you my UFO story." For the next five minutes I sat in stunned silence as he told me what had happened. In the 1950s Cronkite was part of a pool of News Reporters brought out to a small South Pacific island to watch the test of a new Air Force missile. After a short inspection of the new system by the reporters, they were lead to an area that was a safe distance from the launch site. The missile was mounted on a specially-built launcher that was attached to a cement base. It was obvious that the area had been quickly built just for the test. The details about the missile were going to be given to the reporters in the form of hand-out sheets and press releases after the test.

"Cronkite mentioned that he and the other reporters had been warned that photography of the missile test and any audio transmissions or recordings by the press were forbidden. They would have to give a written account of the event. Just as the test was ready to proceed, everyone was writing as fast as they could. As Air Force Security personnel walked around the perimeter of the test area with guard dogs and the news reporters watched, the missile was fired-up and about to be released. Just then, a large disc-type UFO appeared on the scene. Cronkite guessed that the object was about 50-60 feet in diameter, a dull grey color and had no visible means of propulsion. Because the noise of activity around him and the missile engine was so loud, he couldn't tell whether the disc made any noise. He did not notice any coming directly from the object. As Air Force guards ran toward the UFO with their dogs, the disc hovered about 30 feet off of the ground. It suddenly sent out a blue beam of light which struck the missile, a guard and a dog all at the same time. The
missile was frozen in mid-air about 70 feet from the launcher as it had taken off. A guard was frozen in mid-step and a dog frozen in mid-air as it had jumped at the disc. Cronkite reminded me that this all happened within the space of about five minutes or less.

"Suddenly, the missile exploded! After that, the disc vanished. The guard and dog looked alright, but were quickly taken away by medical personnel always present at tests in case anyone became injured. At the same time, guards rapidly ushered the reporters into a concrete observation bunker. After about thirty minutes of sitting in that hot box, they were brought out into the air again and addressed by an Air Force Colonel. The officer told them, "It was all part of the test." Obviously making it up as he went along, the Colonel said that the event was "staged" to test media reaction to UFOs. He reinforced the usual line to the reporters that Flying Saucers were probably not extra-terrestrial, but what people were actually seeing was secret planes being tested by the Air Force. This test was designed to show the media how "shocking" it could be to suddenly view a new technology. Well, Cronkite was certain that what he viewed was a new technology, but he was also sure it was not an Earthly one. He didn't believe the Air Force explanation then, and he still didn't believe it at the time when he told me the story. After the event, reporters were told that since it was a test of media reaction to new technology, they could not report on it! But, they would be compensated later with exclusive stories on new Air Force projects (a promise that was never kept). Being as private as he was, Cronkite never did share with me his own beliefs about UFOs beyond the story he told me. I was so happy to have heard the story that I was afraid to ask anything further.

"The CBS UFO Special was filmed shortly after my meeting with Cronkite and I was included in it for just a few minutes. During the filming, I became aware that Cronkite had not shared his story with most of the other UFO investigators or witnesses. After the special aired I called one of Cronkite's staff members and asked him if he had ever heard the UFO story. He told me he had. Cronkite had only shared it with a few key people and it was NOT covered or even mentioned in the Special. I wondered why Cronkite had chosen to tell me the story without telling everyone? The staff members told me that most of the others were so busy telling him about themselves that he just never bothered. "

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More On Jackie Gleason & The Greys

I bumped into this old headline, following up on the piece here about President Nixon and Gleason's Alien adventure. . .
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Good News, Bad News: Rummy Is Going To Take A Powder But He May Be Replaced By That Sawed-Off Republicrat Sen. "Crazy" Joe Liberman

White House officials expect Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to quit early next year, following the elections and new government in Iraq, according to a story in the New York Daily News.

Rummy's deputy Gordon England heads the short list to replace him. The bad news: there are rumors that sawed-off ferret-faced Republicrat Sen. Joe Lieberman is on the list too.

Rummy wanted out a year ago, but both he and The President didn't want it to look like he was being run out on a rail. "They didn't want to give the critics the satisfaction that their piling on was what got rid of him," a Bush adviser said.

The article goes on to say that Bush has told friends that Rumsfeld is a political liability.
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Howard Stern: Let's Put Saddam Back In Office!

"We give Saddam Hussein a nice shave, hand him back his old uniform, and put him back in office."

Howard Stern says in Esquire's What I've Learned feature. . .

"Let him tame that f- place. We need this guy. He's the only one who can calm everybody down. Who else is going to do that? This guy was unbelievable. "

"Sure, he had to zap a few guys on their [testicles] to get them in line, but, man, look at what he did. He was no problem. In fact, he kept the Iranians at bay. He helped keep the balance over there. He was more afraid of the Taliban than we are."

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The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XV::::::::New Rumsfeld Poems From The Dec. 6, 2005 Defense Dept. Briefing

1 Why Don't We Try To Do This

Why don't we try to do this:
To have one question per person
And ask the question of one person.
In that way, more people
Will have an opportunity to ask a question.

2 They Are

It is considerably more difficult today
For terrorist networks to recruit,
To raise money,
To move across national boundaries,
To communicate with each other,
To conduct terrorist raids.

That's not to say that
They're not able to do it.

They are.

3 The Way Our System Works

You can have some schools
That think one way
And some schools that think another way.
And, of course, there are consequences to (laughs)
To what they think.

But that's fair enough, too.
That's the way our system works.

4 Progress

It's a tough business,
And it'll take some time.

And they'll be two steps forward
And a half a step back from time to time.

And everyone will throw up their hands and say,
"Henny Penny, the sky's falling.

Everything's terrible.
The glass is half empty."
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Links to fourteen selected earlier Secretary Rumsfeld poems on All This Is That:
Poem: Clarity By Donald Rumsfeld
Poem: Those Glass Boxes By Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
The Poetry Of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Part 3::::::That's Life
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Part IV::::::The Digital Revolution
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Part V:::::A Confession
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VI:::::Predicting The Future
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VIII::::::Litany: What I Don't Do
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld IX::::::Accuracy
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld X:::::::::Where Is Osama bin Laden?
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XI:::::::::Existence, Evidence, Absence
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XII:::::::::The Pause
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XIII:::::::::It Hasn't Happened
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XIV::::::::The Unknown
New Rumsfeld Poems From The Dec. 6, 2005 Defense Dept. Briefing

poem: Zombie Breakdown

The undead walk
Sloughing tendrils of putrified flesh
And the living
Are made of cardboard

The border between
Being and nothingness is erased
The dead and not dead yet
Straddle a razor-thin margin

The dead reactivate
And flicker on to rampage
Shattered people and things
Litter the streets in their wake

The armies disintegrate
Soldiers gone A.W.O.L.
And the rest band with warlords
To plunder and protect the chosen




Rumor and speculation circle
Besieged pockets of life
Are the zombies a government experiment
Gone terribly wrong or terribly right?

Human activity can be accomplished
Unconsciously without memory or perception
And a one track mind keeps the focus
On consuming human flesh

The virus has no known cure
Lopping off the infected area
Won't stop the transmogrification
Into the living dead

Zombies can't open doorknobs or latches
Or climb stairs or walls
Zombies are weak on their own
But in concert with other zombies

The threat is unveiled
Legions of shuffling tireless flesh-eating machines attack
And soon you're one of them
Fee Fie Foe Fum.
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Alien Lore No. 48 - New Mexico, UFOS, and Hootch

New Mexico has had far more than its share of Aliens and UFO sightings. Clovis, Socorro, "Chloe” near Taos, Dulce, and the big kahuna, Roswell. The Roswell Story blew everything else out of the water.

The Clovis Journal has an interesting and humorous article today, partly dealing with Roswell envy. Bob Huber writes:

"But before these sagas got completely out of hand, the community of Roswell, in a grand gesture of conciliation, topped all space fantasies by exploiting its “Roswell Story,” a simple, ageless fable about a crashed spacecraft brimming with smooshed aliens, brass bands, confetti, Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, and a top secret military cover up aimed at erasing an entire year in which absolutely nothing important took place."

The New York Times reported yesterday:

"The problem is more complex than mere alcohol consumption. New Hampshire leads the nation in drinking, with 4 gallons a year per person, far more than New Mexico's 2.4 gallons. But New Hampshire's alcohol-related road fatality rate is less than half of New Mexico's. "

Is there a link between all the gargle they put away in New Mexico and all those UFOs and aliens running around? Probably not. Those stolid New Hampshirites, putting away almost twice the amount as New Mexicans, report very few aliens and UFOs.
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It Was 72 Years Ago Today That Prohibition Ended

Seventy-two years ago today (12-5-1933), the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, which repealed the 18th Amendment and ended an era of national prohibition of alcohol.

The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began in the early 19th century, when Americans concerned about the adverse effects of drinking formed temperance societies. By the 1890's, these groups were a powerful political force on the state level and began calling for national liquor abstinence. Several states outlawed the manufacture or sale of alcohol within their own borders.

In December 1917, the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. The amendment did not officially take effect until January 29, 1920.In the meantime, Congress passed the Volstead Act on October 28, 1919, which added federal enforcement of these laws. Al Capone became a millionaire, and America was dry those first few years of The Great Depression.
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The Naked Bible

It seems like All This Is That has stepped into the seamier side of life these last few days. Why should we stop now?!

A German church youth group is publishing a 2006 calendar with 12 photos depicting erotic scenes from the Bible, the pictures shown here of a bare-breasted Delilah shearing Samson, and a naked Eve offering up an apple.

Anne Rohmer, 21, wears garters and stockings as the prostitute Rahab (mentioned in both New and Old Testaments). "We wanted to represent the Bible in a different way and to interest young people," she told Reuters.

Bernd Grasser, pastor of the church in Nuremberg where the calendar is being sold, was enthusiastic about the project which is detailed on their web site (in German).



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Alien Lore No. 47 - President Harry S. Truman Inspected A UFO Crash in 1947

Click image to enlarge...

Note: This material comes from two files in the UFO spaces on the internet. Neither of the files is attributed. I have always been interested in HST as a President, since I was conceived in the last weeks of his administration...

A British politician says the U.S. government recovered the bodies of four extraterrestrials and the wreckage of their starship in 1947. He claims to have the secret report that proves it! As you may or may not know, President Truman is not the only President to have a UFO encounter. This one seemed to have spooked The President sufficiently that he ended up establishing the notorious black-op Majestic 12.

"The United States has been involved in a massive cover-up of alien contact for better than 40 years," said the politician, who asked to remain anonymous when he gave copies of the document to reporters in the House of Lords. "This is bigger than any mere Watergate," he added. "This is a cosmic Watergate - and it's time the truth was told."

The papers, signed by President Harry Truman (who saw the deceased aliens), were addressed to the most powerful figures in Britain. Then Prime Minister Clement Atlee got a copy, as did Winston Churchill, King George VI, the Queen Mother and leaders of the House of Lords.

The leaders' reactions reportedly ranged from shock and amazement to outright fear. The document itself stressed the need to keep the recovery operation a secret to avoid "a massive religious backlash and worldwide panic." It went on to describe the extraterrestrials in chilling detail.

"Four small human-like beings apparently ejected from the craft before it exploded and crashed in America's southwest," said the report. "All four were dead and decomposed due to predators and exposure to the elements before their discovery. The beings were between four and f ive feet tall. They wore tight-fitting silver jumpsuits. Their heads were disproportionately large, with oversized brown eyes, slanted in t he head. Their noses and mouth were mere slits. They had small holes for ears."

The document went on to say that pieces of the starship were strewn for miles. Analysis showed the fragments to be a strong and lightweight metal but were otherwise inconclusive. The report did not pinpoint the location of the crash, nor did it say where the bodies and fragments were taken. But, as you know from earlier postings, the likeliest destination was Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio - where the bodies of four more humaniods were taken after another crash 10 years later. There has also been much speculation that the bodies ended up at Area 51, near Rachel, Nevada.

The U.S. Government has never confirmed either crash, however, UFO experts are convinced that both wreckage and bodies have been preserved. In fact a super-secret government agency, code-named PI 40 [jb note: so secret, I'd never heard of them until today], keeps tabs on alien visitors and briefs U.S. Presidents on past and present UFO developments.

Gerber Pasche, the founder and president of the Swiss UFO watchdog group, Alien Encounter, was appalled to learn of the cover-up. He told reporters that the governments of the United States and Britain should be held accountable - and tried in the court of world opinion. "The irony of all this is that everybody knows what's going on - we've known for years," he said. "Space aliens exist and have a deep and abiding interest in our planet. This is a concern of all mankind - not just superpower leaders."
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People You Never Thought You'd See Naked

Click here.

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Condoleeza And Redford: The Rig Was Rockin'!

The annual Kennedy Center Honors were celebrated last night in Washington. The left and the right forgot about the White House disasters for a night to pay tribute to Robert Redford, Tony Bennett, Julie Harris, Tina Turner, and the ballerina Suzanne Farrell. The five were honored for their lifetime contributions to the arts.

At a dinner for 300 hosted on Saturday by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, even the jaded and well-oiled politicians seemed awe-struck meeting these entertainment icons.

The gossip mill cranked into full gear following the event. Secretary of State Rice and Actor-Producer-Director Redford were seen in numerous close embraces. One reporter at the event said "They were smoldering. They couldn't keep their hands off each other. It got so hot and heavy that other people at their table became extremely uncomfortable." Their departure from the soiree was reportedly like the notorious Angie Dickinson car scene in De Palma's Dressed To Kill.

Another scribe reported seeing the couple emerge from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington this morning "looking extremely disheveled and very happy." He noted further that as Secretary Rice got into a limousine, she and Redford embraced and kissed for several minutes, oblivious to the honking of taxis and limousines behind them.
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