THE STATEMENTS OF PROFESSOR PETIT, WHO JUST RETURNED FROM BELGIUM, WHERE HE INVESTIGATED THE RECENT CELESTIAL APPARITIONS.

THE  STATEMENTS  OF  PROFESSOR PETIT, WHO JUST RETURNED

FROM BELGIUM, WHERE HE INVESTIGATED THE RECENT CELESTIAL

APPARITIONS.

     "WHY I THINK THEY COME FROM SPACE."

     Among the scientists who rushed to Belgium to study the

grand show of  flying  saucers  which  was  seen  in  recent

months, Professor  Jean-Pierre Petit was one of the first to

arrive.  He was among the handful of Investigators  who  had

direct  contact  with  the pilots who encountered the UFO on

their radar screens.  To him, this is proof  that  the  UFOs

are  not an optical illusion.  But then the question arises,

where do they come from?  Professor Petit, along  with, many

other scientists, believes that they are of extraterrestrial

origin.  This   physicist, a   specialist   in  plasmas  and

cosmology, and a Director of the National  Science  Research

Center  of  France, has  just  published his views in a very

provocative book entitled Investigating  UFOs, published  by

Albin Michel.  In the book he explains the reasons we cannot

exclude  the possibility that the UFOs are piloted by beings

originating elsewhere in the universe.

     NOW WE KNOW  WHY  THE  PHOTOGRAPHS  TAKEN  OF UFOS  BY

AMATEURS ARE ALWAYS BAD.

Q:  Professor  Petit, given  the  fact  that the majority of

scientists refuse to study the UFO  phenomenon, doesn't  the

publication  of  your book automatically relegate you to the

domain of "fringe" science?

A:  Absolutely not.  I have been working  at  the  Marseille

Observatory for 15 years and I can assure you that nobody in

this research facility, which is part of the French National

Center  for  Science, considers me to be a fringe scientist.

I  publish  my  scientific  work  in  the  most  prestigious

scientific  journals  of theoretical physics, such as Modern

Physics Letters.  My most recent publication, which  treated

the subject of quasars, those objects located at the farthest

reaches of the universe and that we think may be the kernels

of  forming  galaxies, was  co-authored  by  the  astronomer

Maurice  Viton, who  is  on  the  staff  of  the   Marseille

Laboratory.

Q:  Do you consider yourself a rationalist?

A:  100%.  The reader will not find in my book any reference

to mysticism or the phenomena that we call paranormal.

Q:    But, in the libraries they put your book in with those

dealing with mysticism.

A:  That is based  on  the  fact  that  until  now  the  UFO

phenomenon  has  never  been treated in a scientific manner.

The literature that deals with this subject has always  been

mediocre.  Let's  hope that after a while my book will find

its true place, in the Science department.

Q:  Does the UFO constitute a scientific problem?

A:  Yes.  The work of physicists Meesen and Brenig, as  well

as  mine, shows  clearly that the UFO phenomenon is amenable

to a scientific and rigorous approach.

Q:  How can science explain the  sightings?  Don't  we  need

new scientific concepts?

A:    There  exist  aspects of the phenomenon which can be

approached with success by using quite conventional tools of

science.  Let me give you a precise example.  The people who

photographed the UFO were often very upset when they saw

that  the  film  they took did not correspond by a long shot

with what they had seen with their eyes.  We do not have any

photograph of the UFO taken from very  near, say  less  than

100 meters, simply  because  at such close range the object

does not show up on the negative.  During this  recent  wave

of  sightings in Belgium, many pictures were taken, but they

show nothing.  The physicist  Auguste  Meesen, Professor  at

the  University  of Louvain, has proposed an explanation for

this failure.  In certain conditions, infrared  rays  coming

from  an  object  have  the  ability  to totally inhibit the

chemical  reaction  that  permits  fixing an image on a negative.

Q:  Is this a theory?

A:  Not at all. It is a fact demonstrated by experiment

that has been known for a long time, but nobody up to now

has thought of it in connection with UFO photos.

Q:     So  the  UFOs  will  protect  themselves  from  being

photographed by emitting infrared rays?

A:  That is possible, but this emission  is  perhaps  simply

tied to the normal operation of the machines.

Q:    Would there be any way, then, to trick this protection

in order to obtain pictures despite the infrared radiation?

A:  Of course.  By using film sensitive to the infrared

portion of the spectrum.

Q:  If I understand you correctly, given that hundreds of

Belgians observed the UFOs from close  range  (some  of  the

UFOs were quite immobile above the rooftops of houses), if

this discovery had been made six months ago, we  could  have

the first precise pictures of this mysterious flying object?

A:  Exactly.

Q:  You haven't hesitated to use the term "machines."  In

your opinion, what are UFOs?

A:  Today, we can answer quite categorically that it is a

material  object.  At the beginning of the year a report was

sent to SOBEPS by the Chief of Staff of the  Belgian Air

Force, on the authority of the Minister of Defense.  Then,

on 22 June, 1990 this report was  supplemented by the

documents  gathered  by you for Paris Match, which consisted

of the recordings of five radars, three in  the  ground  and

two  on board the F-16 fighters which were sent to chase the

UFO. During this chase, which  lasted 75 minutes, the  two

F-16s managed three interceptions during which all of the

parameters of flight of the  object  were  determined.  This

study was  done with very  great  care by the Belgian

specialists before they divulged the  information, in  order

to  exclude  the possibility that there was a malfunction of

the radars or the computers.

Q:  Are they flying machines?

A:  Given the  speed  of  those  machines, more  than  1,800

kilometers  per  hour, they  could  not  have  been  weather

balloons.  Given the trajectory, it could not  have  been  a

meteorite  or  any  satellite  in the reentry phase of space

flight. Given the meteorological  conditions, it  could  not

have  been  either  natural phenomena or false radar echoes.

Given the accelerations that were measured -- 40 Gs --  this

could  not  have been an airplane.  Let's recall that one of

the machines accelerated in one second from 280 KPH to 1,830

KPH.

Q:    But  anti-missile  missiles, aren't  they  capable  of

accelerations of 100 Gs?

A:    Yes, but  in  fact there is at this moment no man made

machine that is capable of performing at mach 1.5  close  to

the  ground  because of heating due to the high air density.

And, in this case, there was no sonic boom.

Q:  It was witnesses on the ground who reported the  absence

of a sonic boom.  Can we trust them?

A:    The  question  of  witnesses  is  superfluous.  If the

breaching of the sound barrier at very low altitude had been

done with  aircraft  using  our  technology, it  would  have

caused  tens  of  thousands  of  windows to be broken in the

suburbs south of Brussels, above which the UFO was flying.

Q:  Were these only "paper" studies?

Q:  If I follow your argument, this machine did not come

from the Earth?

A:  An earthly origin would seem to me totally excluded.

Q:  But can't we imagine some ultra-secret prototype?

A:  The aeronautical engineer and physicist that I am

answers you, categorically, no.  We are actually incapable

of building a machine with such performance, and don't

forget that such phenomena have been observed for the last

35 years.

Q:  Was this the first time a UFO was observed on radar?

A:   Certainly not, but  this is the first interception

officially acknowledged.

Q:    But  the  breaking  of  the  sound  barrier without an

accompanying boom must result from physics that  we  don't

understand?

A:   As surprising as it must appear, no.  There is a theory

that I have elaborated as early as 1975.  Between  1965  and

1975, when I was experimenting in my fluid dynamics laboratory,

I was working on an electrical generator which

is now one of the principal gadgets in the Star Wars

technology.  We made shock waves by making electromagnetic

waves react in a gas.  I said to myself: If we can create

shock waves with electromagnetic fields, one should be  able

with the same fields to annihilate shock waves forming

around an object.  When an object moves faster than sound,

the air molecules have a tendency to pile up in front of the

object, without being able to move off to the side and out

of the way.  This forms a shock wave, which is noticed by an

observer on the ground as a "boom."  To prevent  this  shock

wave from forming it is only required that we help the air

molecules to escape by sucking in the air at the same time

that it is piling up.  The machine advances through the air

literally  making a vacuum in front of it. It is a

fundamental and exceedingly simple idea. It happens that we

can execute this aspiration of gas at a distance with the

help of well known electromagnetic forces called "the  force

of Laplace. The means of acting on a gas with electromagnetic

fields is known as  magnetohydrodynamics, or Mhd.

On the theoretical plane, these concepts date from the

1950s.  We were left to determine the optimum shape of

objects for this process.  I was extremely surprised to find

that this flying saucer had little in common with the  shape

of an airplane or missile, but that it had the shape of

spheres, cylinders and saucers. And I have invented an

object that I have called an Mhd Aerodyne, which devilishly

resembles a flying saucer!

Q:  Were these only "paper" studies?

A:  Not at all.  There have been computer simulations a

well as publications in international technical journals,

and two doctoral thesis demonstrating the feasibility of

supersonic flight without a "boom" by using Mhd.

Q:  Are these theories contested by other scientists?

A:  Absolutely not. And in this scientific environment as

soon as we notice an error or a weakness in a work we are

not afraid to call it out, loud and strong in the

scientific journals or in the popularized science magazines

such as Science et vie, Pour la science, La Reserche,

Science et avenir, etc.  For the last 25 years that I have

been doing research, and the 15 years that I have

concentrated on this thorny problem, none of these magazines

has ever published a commentary disparaging me.   Believe me,

the critics think twice before attacking a work of research.

When I first became interested in UFOs in 1976 a member of

the Academy of Science somehow imprudently declared during a

public  conference  that a machine could not fly through the

air with the help of electromagnetic  forces.  When it was

time for my reply, he was waiting for a response based on

theory, and was extremely surprised when we brought in a very

simple and clear experiment whose result contradicted his

proposition.  When one tosses criticisms too lightly, one risks

being ridiculed, and that is not pleasant for anybody.

Q:  This UFO which was chased by the F-16s in Belgium, could it

not be a very simple ultra secret American or Russian machine

functioning with electricity?

A:    To  manufacture  such a machine would require that the

engine develop an amount of power equivalent to that of a

large  nuclear power  generating plant.  And if there is

anything not amenable to miniaturization, it is a nuclear power

plant.  Conclusion: the machines seen in Belgium are not of

terrestrial origin.

Q:  Given the fantastic acceleration detected by the Belgian

F-16, no human could have been aboard, and the UFOs must have

been simple robots rather than a vehicle carrying a living

being.

A:  Even though the human body in a state of total immersion

can bear great acceleration, the 40 Gs gives us a problem.

But there is more to it.  Numerous eyewitness reports tell

of right angle turns taken at full speed. In this

particular case the acceleration becomes...infinite, and the

machine itself could not support the turn without vanishing.

I have tried to approach this question in a very speculative

manner in my book.  In this phase of strong acceleration,

physical phenomena more sophisticated than Mhd could take

such a turn.

Q:  How could you explain the absence of  debate  concerning

UFOs in the scientific community?

A:    Until  now, when  a  scientist  wanted  to  have  some

information  on  the  subject, he  could  only   find   very

superficial  or  trivial  books.  Also, the  contents of the

newsletters published by some French UFO research groups  is

not of a nature to encourage further interest by scientists.

Nor   could  a  scientist  be  favorably  impressed  by  the

publications  of  GEPAN  (Groupe  d'Etude   des   Phenomenes

Aerospatiaux   Non-identifies, a  UFO  study  group  created

within the French National Center for Space  Studies).  What

do  you  want, when  a scientist opens a book where the UFOs

are compared to fairies and elves, and to the  ministrations

of  the  Virgin  Mary?  He  will slam the book shut at once

But it is not simply because a subject is  polluted  by

persons with debatable competence that it should be brushed

aside.  With the reports of the Belgian military in hand we

now have the objective unarguable data that was formerly

absent in the files, and this should interest scientists.

Q:    The military has a reputation for being very silent in

general, and is particularly silent when the topic of UFOs

comes up, and has gone to the point of actually spreading

dis-information, as has been shown recently  by  investigator

Jean Sider in his work Ultra Top Secret--The UFOs Which

Bring Fear (Axis Mundi Editions).  How do you explain this

sudden about-face in the political scene, to a policy of

openness and honesty on the part of the Belgian Defense

Minister?

A:    Among the reasons for the reticence of military men to

divulge the information in their possession is the worry

that publication will cause hysteria.  Another reason may be

that Belgium is the only country in the world where, for 18

years, the subject of UFOs has been closely followed by real

scientists.  So an exceptional climate of confidence has

been developed.

Q:  And in France?

A:    France has been the scene of a dis-information campaign

which has lasted for 13 years under the name GEPAN.

Q:  We found enough documents and testimony in your book  to

support this opinion.  You show very well that GEPAN

functioned exactly like the famous Condon Commission created

in the USA at the end of the 1960s, and whose only aim was

to misdirect American public opinion on the UFO reports.

A:   By combining the activities of GEPAN with the low level

of communications from those in France who call themselves

"ufologists" (a term that does not say much) one has

created  an  absolutely  total lack of interest in the media

and in particular in the  research  community, toward  UFOs:

This explains the lack of attention to the Belgian wave here

in France.  Was the Belgian wave of sightings so

exceptional?  Since November 29, 1989 there have  been  tens

of  thousands of sightings, of which nearly 1,000 were close

observations from distances of around 200 meters which  have

been the object of inquiries by the Belgian National Police.

On  just  the night of November 29, 1989 between 5:30 pm and

9:00 pm, 30 different groups of witnesses  (Including  three

police  patrols and customs officials) observed the same two

objects.  These witnesses were located within a  rectangular

area  about  25  km  by 15 km, between Liege and Eupen.  The

similarity in their testimony allowed us to reconstruct  the

trajectory  of  the  UFO.  An interesting detail: they all

reported very slow movement.  A witness gave this precise

description:  "I  could  have followed it by walking."  In

particular, the object was seen in daylight at close range

by a Belgian soldier working in the weather service who saw

the object doing a leisurely turn over the  village  square.

We  also  number  among the witnesses a Major in the Belgian

Army and a theoretical physicist, Professor Brenig, who is a

colleague of Professor Prigogine.

Q:  Where could those extraterrestrial vehicles come from?

A voyage over hundreds of light years seems inconceivable.

A:    In  the  vision  of  the  universe  based on classical

physics, this objection is a very serious one.  But  how  is

the universe constructed?  What geometry does it have?

Given the classical view, we live in a  hyper-space  of  four

dimensions.  In 1967 the Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov

suggested that there is no "a" universe, but rather two

universes coexisting.  Which is to say, one universe

consisting of ordinary matter, and another consisting of

anti-matter.  This twin version is for me the first step

toward a theory permitting us to imagine moving through

great distances in the cosmos.  One way to visualize the

twin universes is to think of a cloth and its lining.  The

second  step  consists  of imagining that the twin universes

can somehow communicate with each other.  I  am  doing  some

theoretical  work  in  order to develop a mathematical model

for the transfer  of  matter  through  hyper-pace  from  one

universe to another universe.

Q:    You  mean  to  say that a "hyperspatial" vehicle could

suddenly and  brutally  find  itself  transferred  with  its

passengers to another part of the universe?

A:  More precisely, it could be an exchange between the same

equivalent volumes of space, one belonging to the "cloth"

and the other to its "lining."  For a witness, this would be

perceived  as a rough dematerialization.  The machine would

make its trip through this twin space from its planet

arriving at a place in the proximity of Earth.

Q:    But  to make this trip, won't there always be an equal

number of light years of distance to travel?

A:  Yes, if the "cloth and the lining" always  behaved  very

nicely, superimposing one upon the other with perfect

smoothness.  But this can't always be the case in  practice.

In order to try to make some very abstract mathematical

ideas simple, what we in the technical jargon call

"fluctuation  of gauge," I will continue to use the image of

the cloth and Its lining.  The American Cosmologist  Misner

has  considered  the case of a very turbulent cosmic fabric,

both folded upon itself and creased.  From time to time  the

cloth will be perfectly flat, but the lining creased or

puckered.  In such an instance, the distance from  one  part

of  the  twin  universe  to  the  other  will be drastically

shortened, making a voyage realistically short.  Another

situation  could  arise in which the voyage would be

lengthened by a factor of 10 or 100 or 1,000, making  the

voyage even less practical than it is now.

Q:    So  it  is this phenomenon that explains the otherwise

incomprehensible wave of UFOs? They would take advantage  of

the moment when the trip would be the shortest?

A:   By my way of thinking, the UFO waves would be tied to a

"turbulence in the gauge" of the universe.  The voyage would

only be possible when the "meteocosmic" conditions are good.

The  visitors  would  have  limited time to make their

investigation on our planet and would have to re-embark

precipitously in order to avoid the closing of the hole

in  hyperspace, otherwise  they would be stuck here on Earth

for a period of time that could be very long.  This  way  of

creasing  the  cloth of space like the folds of an accordion

would not necessarily be  isotropic, and  I  strongly  doubt

that  it is:  when the lining is creased in one direction or

plane, the cloth is stretched in  the  perpendicular  plane.

Different   types   of  extraterrestrials  originating  from

planets in different locations in  the  heavens  would  thus

manage  to live and operate without ever meeting each other,

at least until they meet  on  the  Earth.  It  is  quite  an

amusing  idea  that  the  Earth  might  be used as a sort of

cosmic mailbox by extraterrestrial entities, who would  find

this as the means to communicate with each other!

Q:    How  do  you  explain  the lack of contact between the

visiting extraterrestrials and us?

A:    When  two  civilizations  that  are   very   different

culturally and technologically meet, history teaches us that

with  rare  exceptions  (such  as  Japan)  the more advanced

literally dissolves the other.  The introduction of exterior

knowledge is comparable to a viral attack.  In the  majority

of  cases, this  parasitic  information totally disorganizes

the infected social body, which dies.

Q:   From the point of view of the alien visitors, this lack

of contact with us may be due to their behavior as concerned

ethnologists  who  wish  to  avoid  destroying the object of

their studies.  But in your book you insist that there Is  a

phenomenon  shared  by the majority of terrestrial that you

call the "Immunological reflex."

A: Yes.  It is a rejection, pure and simple.  There are  two

possible  ways  to  react  when we receive information which

challenges our most deeply held values. The first is  simply

to   reject.  We  say  to  ourselves:  It  is  wrong, it is

impossible.  The   second   evasion   Is   very   subtle. We

"folklorize"    the    dissonant    Information.  And   this

folklorization can be accomplished In two ways.  One way  is

to treat the subject with humor or ridicule, and it leads to

themes  such as ET (the movie) or "Little green men," (which

have never been reported  by  witnesses).  The  other  takes

life in a more dramatic way, such as the movie "The Creature

from Outer Space," or television series like The Invaders.

The  "immunologic reaction" of scientists is negation of the

phenomenon, pure and simple.

Q:  Have you thought of a scenario depicting the  result  of

direct contact between us and extraterrestrials?

A:    Let's  imagine  that  one  of  these famous triangular

machines that was seen in 90% of the cases In Belgium  lands

in a field.  What is going to happen?  The owner of the farm

will  call  the  police.  Then  the  police  will  call  the

military.  They will send observers, who will report to  the

government.  As  a  simple precautionary measure, the police

will cordon off the area in a radius of 100 meters.  In  the

hours  that  follow, curious  members  of  the  public  will

arrive, crating  a  fantastic   traffic   jam.  Within   the

government, there  is  a crisis meeting of the Cabinet.  The

members of the Cabinet hesitate, being unsure of what course

of action  to  take.  If  the  machine  finally  takes  off,

everything  returns to normal order.  But If It stays there,

who, exactly, must establish contact, and  how?  Would  that

be  the concern of the Ministry for National Defense, or the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs, or the Tourist Office, or  all

three  simultaneously?  While  these  grave  discussions are

taking  place  In  the  halls  of  government, thousands  of

journalists   have   set  up  camp  In  the  acres  of  land

surrounding the landing site.  Along the security perimeter,

cameramen are elbow to elbow trying to catch  the  scoop  of

the  Century.  On all the Little access roads the columns of

the curious cross each other on the way to the new center of

pilgrimage.  In the opposite direction you can  see  a  true

Exodus, with  multitudes  fleeing.  Uncontrolled rumors race

through  the  planet  in  every   direction, Like   electric

discharges.  The  area  of  the  landing site Is filled with

entrepreneurs and hucksters, seeking to make a  profit  from

the   situation.  The  Vatican organizes a colloquium to

determine  if Christ  died  for the aliens, too.  Little by

little the knowledge of the alien presence filters into  the

public  consciousness  and  produces  a  nationwide state of

shock.  People leave  their  work.  The  professor  and  his

students  question  each  other.  The  astronomers  ask  one

another If it is still worth the trouble to look Into  their

telescopes.  The stock market goes crazy.

Q:    It  is  truly  a  catastrophic  scenario  that you are

proposing.

A:  I simply wanted  to  make  you  realize  the  incredible

impact  that  this  alien presence would provoke even before

contact had taken place.  Our society  Is  not  prepared  to

meet  face  to  face with such an event, and this applies to

every country, not just France.  And the thick silence  that

officialdom  has  maintained has not made the situation more

tolerable. What Is actually happening on  this  planet?  Our

societies   doubt  more  and  more  the  validity  of  their

political systems  and  ideologies.  One  feels  that  whole

populations  are  ready to throw themselves toward the first

"savior," the first demagogue, who appears on the scene.

Q:  Listening to you, it would seem more in the interest  of

public order if this contact could be avoided.

A:   In fact, the event in Belgium is a contact.  Everything

happened as if the machine that was intercepted on the night

of  March  30-31, 1990  had  patiently  waited, openly   and

deliberately, for  the  radar  to have locked on. This  real

event, which  is  very  difficult  to   contest, marks   the

transition from the hypothetical visitation by aliens to the

real  visitation. It  can  force  movement  within  both the

political and scientific  worlds, and  unblock  imaginations

and  unleash  creative new solutions.  And I am not speaking

merely of scientific and  technological aspects.  When  man

realizes  that  he Is not alone In the universe, this simple

fact  will be sufficient motivation to create  philosophical

and ethical  ideas  without  precedent  in our Intellectual

history.

Q:  As one who is  firmly  convinced  of the  existence  of

extraterrestrial  civilizations, you  must  be thrilled by a

project  such  as  SETI  (Search   for   Extra   Terrestrial

Intelligence), whose  aim  It  is  to communicate with other

worlds.

A-  The SETI program consists of trying to receive with  the

help  of  antennas  radio  signals  sent  by other planetary

civilizations.  So It turns out to be necessary to paint the

antenna at the source of the signals, but by  definition  we

don't  know  the  source  or location.  As of now, about 200

stars have been listened  to  In  this  way.  No  luck.  The

members  of a radio astronomy symposium that met recently in

the Alps  calculated  that  for  us  to have  a  chance   f

intercepting  one  signal  we would be required to listen to

200,000 stars.  This would require a  network  of  listening

devices  so  large  that the cost would be astronomical  The

problem is that the radio waves move at the speed of  Light

When  we consider the vast distance across space, this is an

extremely slow speed.  And incidentally, if we are  ever  to

intercept  a  message, the  signal would have to be directed

very precisely toward us.  The fact is, Our antennas are not

able to detect signals sent from  a  simple  omnidirectional

antenna tens of light years distant, such as for example the

transmitters  for the French radio stations.  All this makes

the issue of a project such as SETI extremely problematical

it is highly probable that  the  program, now  called  "Mega

SETi," will end up as a failure.  But on the other hand  the

scientists  are  violently  hostile  to any appropriation of

money to benefit research on UFOs, a subject which  they  do

not  consider  serious.  Yet  the  research  done on the UFO

problem  has  already  borne  fruit  --  contrary   to   the

experience with SETi.  This is certainly a paradox

Q:    The  Belgian  wave  of sightings is over, and we can't

predict either when or where the next wave  will  occur   So

how, according to you, should UFO research be organized?

A:    Obviously, there  is  long term work to undertake.  We

will use the Mhd model to make concrete  experimental  tests

of  the  ideas of the theoreticians.  On the other hand  the

UFO phenomenon forces us to place into question all  of  our

ideas  about the universe, and even physics itself   it is a

fantastic  "thought  experiment,"  a   true   challenge   to

research, and it will be necessary to create within the CNRS

a  UFO  study  group  consisting  of high level researchers

mathematicians, physicists, chemists, biochemists,

psychologists, sociologists and  so  forth.  in  conjunction

with that, we will need to build a real UFO "trap," not only

to  capture  one, but to gather the knowledge that will leak

out.  The methodology in Belgium  consisted  of  filling  an

airplane  with  every sort of apparatus, and having it ready

to take off to study  the  UFO.  This  happened  during  the

sightings On the Easter weekend, but, unfortunately, the UFO

failed  to  cooperate and join the meeting.  But this method

should be systematically carried out throughout the world.

Q:  Aren't you interested in the marks found on  the  ground

at the site of alleged landings?

A:   Yes, of course!  During the last 35 years some private,

non-profit groups,  to whom we must give  recognition, have

with  pitifully meager means and in a totally honest manner

gathered a minimal collection of information about landings.

For these people the creation of GEPAN had been  an  immense

hope, but they were quickly disappointed.

     Within  CNRS  there  should be created a quick response

team to investigate landing traces using all known means of

analysis, physical  or  biochemical, and  to  simultaneously

mobilize psychologists specializing in the interrogation  of

witnesses.

     We  know  of  only one case of ground traces  connected

with the close range observation of a UFO landing, which has

been subjected to serious study: the case in Trans en

Provence, thanks to the work of Professor Bounias of INRA

who incidentally has never been particularly  interested  in

the   UFO   phenomenon.  This   quite complete study  has

demonstrated  the  existence  of traumatization of the

vegetation, remarkably  well correlated with the distance of

the traces from the point of the landing.  The cause of the

trauma remains unknown to this day.  This type of study

should have been carried out long ago.  Other than

biochemistry, there  exist  various  other means of physical

analysis which should be done  systematically. An analysis

with  magnetic  nuclear resonance, for example  would permit

us to know the nature of the magnetic field which irradiated

the ground.  The problem is simple:  do we or do we not want

to discover the key to the mystery of the UFOs?

     The cost of the creation and maintenance of a team of

persons  capable  of  responding  to  all reports of alleged

landing spots would be relatively modest  in  comparison to

the  general research budget.  Especially if this team could

be reinforced by a volunteer network of ufologists.  These

volunteers  could  receive  special  training and work in

cooperation  with the police to perform preliminary

investigation to screen out the false reports.  If we would

trust those people with a minimum of equipment, they  could

take  measures to preserve and protect the site prior to the

arrival  of  the  researchers, and   could   also   make   a

preliminary written report.

Q:   In  actuality, it  appears that we are waiting for the

scientific community to mobilize?

A:  In this case, one researcher has  learned  very  quickly

the importance of the problem.  He is Andrei Sakharov   This

is how he ended his Nobel Prize acceptance speech:

     "Thousands of years ago, the human tribe suffered great

privations in its struggle for life.  Even then it was not

only important to know how to handle a club, but also to

have the ability to think intelligently, to take into

consideration the collective  knowledge and experience

hoarded by the tribe, and to develop the basis of

cooperation with other tribes. Today, the human race must

confront an analogous ordeal.  Several other civilizations

could exist in the infinity of space, among which might be

societies more established and wise and more 'accomplished'

than ours. I support a cosmological hypothesis in Which the

development of the universe repeats itself over and over,

infinitely, but following certain essential characteristics.

These other alien civilizations, some of whom are 'highly

accomplished, ' are inscribed an infinite number of times on

the pages 'preceding' and 'following' us in the Book of the

Universe."  This was written in 1975.

                             END