John F. Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy

2009-08-01T02:39:59Z

President Kennedy

35th President

January 20, 1961 - November 22, 1963

"We seek a free flow of information... we are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."-John F. Kennedy, Nov. 21, 1963.

As with many other U.S. presidents, there was a report that Kennedy had sighted a UFO. The event occurred in 1963, while boating off Hyannisport on Cape Cod. The object was "disc-shaped, about 60 feet in diameter, with a gray top, and shiny bottom." It hovered above the water for 40 seconds, emitting a low pitched humming sound. Then it flew straight up in the air and was gone. Kennedy swore those present to keep the incident secret.

A former steward aboard Air Force One Bill Holden, was on board Air Force One with Kennedy flying to Europe in the summer of 1963. A UFO convention being held in Bonn Germany that month prompted Holden to bring up the subject of UFOs with the President.

Holden asked "What do you think about UFOs, Mr. President? According to the account Kennedy became quite serious thinking for a moment. "I'd like to tell the public about the UFO situation" he stated, " but my hands are tied." ( Marrs)

Later after telling his story, some questions arose as to whether Holden could have experienced the encounter with Kennedy as he claimed. Robert Collins, a researcher put some of Holden’s claims to his high level sources. They claimed that a loadmaster does not have access to the President and does not "start up a conversation" with the President. A check of an old personnel roster of people close to Kennedy was checked an Holden’s name did not appear.

Kennedy and Lundahl

Researchers like officer Robert Collins, a former member of the Air Force Office of Special Investigation, maintains that every President is briefed or "read in" about the extraterrestrial UFO situation. Where Kennedy was receiving his UFO information is not yet fully established, but there have been stories over the years.

One constant rumor that has circulated for many years is that the main source of UFO briefings given to President Kennedy were done by Arthur C. "Art" Lundahl. Lundahl was a high-ranking CIA employee described in White House papers as "perhaps the most distinguished authority in the United States on photographic intelligence...the top photographic intelligence officer in the United States government and, as such, he has been involved in the most important photographic problems affecting national security..."

Lundahl was renowned for his ability to explain complicated technical problems to laymen, presidents, and congressmen. He was characterized as one of the "most gifted and persuasive briefers in American history." President Eisenhower considered Lundahl to be one of his favorite briefers, providing him personal briefing the day after every U-2 flight. Eisenhower compared all other briefings he received to how they compared to the briefings given by Lundahl.

Eight days after Gary Powers and his U-2 were shot down by the U.S.S.R. Eisenhower, trying to justify his actions, sent Lundahl into the Senate to provide a classified briefing about the accomplishments of the U-2 program. When Lundahl was finished, he so impressed his audience he was given a standing ovation. Allan Dulles, Eisenhower’s DCI was so impressed his lighted pipe had fallen from his mouth into his lap. Lundahl later stated that during the extended applause he could see Allen’s jacket smoldering.

Kennedy’s and his CIA Director, John A. McCone, were equally impressed with Lundahl. McCone, Lundahl’s boss, described Lundahl’s accomplishments:

"Mr. Lundahl has made major contributions to the science of photographic intelligence and has had a leading role in the development of an interagency photographic intelligence organization which is credited with accomplishments of great national significance."

This photographic expertise, extending right back into World War 11 led the Navy to install Lundahl as the head of the Navy photo lab that originally analyzed the Utah UFO Pictures (Newhouse film).

This Naval analysis was shared with the January 1953 CIA sponsored Robertson UFO Panel. It was this work, in part, that enticed the CIA to "lure Lundahl away from the Navy in May 1953 to head its nascent Photographic Intelligence Center.(PDI)"

In December 1954, President Eisenhower approved the U-2 program. To handle the photos that would be produced, Lundahl leased 50,000 feet of office space above a Ford repair shop in the Stuart Building. This office space which came with few amenities would in May 1961, after Eisenhower signed National Security Directive 8, become the home of the famous National Photographic Interpretation Center where the most classified photos handled by the government were analyzed.

As a cover the location was in a rundown area of Washington northwest of the Capitol. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss, described the location, "Lundahl chuckled at the memory of Richard Nixon, Foster Dulles and other high officials rolling up in limousines for briefings on U-2 findings and having to step across rats and garbage to make it into the building."

Lundahl, also in 1954, developed computer-enhanced image processing - one of the key capabilities held by the CIA. At the CIA, Lundahl supervised the analysis of all the U-2 photographs. In addition, Lundahl was the CIA photo analyst who went into President Kennedy’s office to produce the photographic evidence to the President that the Cubans had installed nuclear missiles which could be easily launched at the United States.

Lundahl also had briefed President Eisenhower on U-2 photo and other photo reconnaissance developments. Usually Lundahl would brief Eisenhower in the oval office, but when a larger group was involved the photos would be shown in the cabinet room. On occasion Top Presidential Security advisor Andrew Goodpaster would ask for Lundahl to brief in the West Wing basement "with its maps and war-room atmosphere."

According to the CIA, one of Lundahl greatest moments came in a call from President Nixon to the Director of the CIA. Eisenhower had just had rallied from a fourth hearty attack and had asked for an update on reconnaissance. Lundahl put together a special package on the developments that had been made in reconnaissance since Eisenhower had been President and headed to see the former President in the hospital.

"Everything he wanted to know about," said Lundahl, "we had in spades." Eisenhower shook hands with Lundahl and his assistants and said it had been an exhilarating and enjoyable experience. Two weeks later Eisenhower was dead.

It wasn’t only photo reconnaissance that Lundahl had in spades. According to Lundahl friend Todd Zechel, the founder of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, Lundahl was also one of the foremost experts in the world on UFOs. A former CIA colleague of Lundahl’s stated that Lundahl briefed at least three Presidents his UFO expertise."

It is possible that Lundahl may even have briefed four presidents about UFOs as Lundahl had, according to the obituary written by the CIA, "enjoyed the confidence of US Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon."

In a visit to Arthur Lundahl’s home in Bethesda, Maryland, Zechel reported that 80% of the massive library were books on UFOs.

"Rather than the shelves being loaded with technical literature pertaining to photogrametry and geology - ostensibly, Lundahl’s main interest - at least 80% of the collection were books about UFOs. Lundahl had nearly every UFO book ever published. To Zechel this seemed to be an indication the CIA official took the subject very seriously- and perhaps that the Agency took it seriously as well."

Arthur Lundahl also had a long history of involvement in UFOs.

On February 29, 1967 Lundahl met with Dr. Edward Condon and four members of Condon team in change of the $300,000 U.S. Air Force contract to study reported UFO sightings. The "secret" meeting was according to official CIA documents of the event " to familiarize Dr. Condon and members of his team with selected photogrametric and photographic analysis capabilities of NPIC" headed by Lundahl.

This cooperation with the U.S.A.F. had been spelled out in a February 7, 1967 memorandum to the Deputy Director for Intelligence which reported that the U.S.A.F. had awarded a contract with the University of Colorado to investigate the UFO situation. The memo reported arrangements between Brigadier General Ed Giller (USAF) and Dr. Thomas Ratchford (AFOSR) with Arthur C. Lundahl.

In the meeting, Lundahl offered on behalf of the CIA to assist Dr. Condon in his investigation of UFO photographs, provided that at no time the CIA be linked to the analysis. In addition, the CIA would prepare no reports of their UFO photographic analysis. The NPIC would simply provide services of a technical nature, and equipment that couldn’t be obtained by Condon elsewhere.

The CIA would "have no part in writing whatever they might conclude on this UFO phenomena Lundahl told Dr. Condon and his assistants. "I might be able to preserve a CIA window on this program for whatever use DRS&T might want to make of it."

On March 24 NPIC provided Condon's people with a document entitled "Guidance to UFO Photographers." It listed a list of ten recommendations to photographers who might have an opportunity to photograph a UFO event, and an information sheet that the photographer should complete.

This document was prepared by NPIC and approved by Dr. Arthur C. Lundahl, Director of NPIC. On May 1, 1967, the Colorado Project issued a press release calling for "pictures of unidentified flying objects from private citizens." It provided a set of recommendations to the photographer, and a list of items of information that the photographer should prepare. This press release is simply a rewrite of the NPIC document.

NPIC was the top photographic lab in the country and in the world. Over the years it had been rumored that the top UFO photos, including the gun camera footage taken by U.S. Air Force aircraft since the late 40's had been analyzed here.

The lab was also the site of at least one famous UFO encounter. This occurred on July 6, 1959. Major Robert Friend, the acting head of the Aerial Phenomena division (Project Blue Book) had been called to the NPIC to evaluate a "discovery" that had been made. Three days later friend arrived to be met by two Navy commanders and several CIA intelligence officers. They recounted what some have called "the most dramatic event in the annals of government UFO investigation." The vast majority of the details of the events come from a CIA memo prepared by Arthur Lundahl who was present for the dramatic event.

The event had occurred at the end of a five year relationship between Navy Intelligence and a woman in South Elliot Maine, named Francis Swan. Beginning in the spring of 1954 Mrs. Swan claimed to have been in contact with an alien by the name of AFFA who was orbiting the earth in a spacecraft by the name of M-4.

One month prior to Lundahl’s involvement two Naval officers, liaison officers between Naval Intelligence and the CIA’s Photographic Interpretation Center, traveled to Eliot, Maine. There they watched Mrs. Swan become a communications link with AFFA as she had been doing for years. One of the officers, USN Commander Julius M. Larsen, wished to be able to communicate himself and asked Mrs. Swan if she could teach him. "He decided he would like to do automatic writing," said Mrs. Swan, "and would you show me how. I said sure. I just put my hand on his shoulder and he could write."

Arriving back in Washington, Larsen signed in at the guarded entrance of the NPIC, and headed for Lundahl’s office. Commander Larsen demonstrated the new talent he had learned from Mrs. Swan for Arthur Lundahl and another CIA employee Lt. Commander Robert Neasham. Neasham had worked at the Naval Photographic Interpretation Center with Lundahl in the early 1950's, and had worked on UFO photographic analysis cases with Lundahl for the 1953 Robertson Panel. Neasham, in fact actually testified in from of the committee, stating that their conclusion was that the objects in the Utah (Tremonton) film were extraterrestrial spacecraft.

Both men were reportedly open to the idea of extraterrestrial craft which is why Larsen approached them. There are no documents yet to support the idea, but, the trip to Eliot Maine may even have been planned and approved by Lundahl.

Larsen sat down and subsequently went into a trance. Lundahl and Neasham asked questions, and Larsen voiced the questions, and through automatic writing wrote out the answers.

Lt. Commander Neasham was very impressed at what was going on, so one of the questions he posed to AFFA was "It is very interesting that we are talking to someone we can see, but can we see proof of your existence?" Larsen switching from writing to speaking: "What kind of proof do you want?

Neasham asked, "Can we see you or your craft?"

"When do you want to see?" AFFA replied.

"Now," Neasham said.

"Go to the window," said AFFA.

The men in the room raced to the window "where they saw a UFO fly by (i.e. not stationary) a short distance away. As they later told Friend it was saucer shaped and brighter around the perimeter than in the center."

Checks with Washington Center Radar, according to Neasham, indicated that the radar returns from the part of the sky where the sighting had taken place "were blocked out" during the time of the sighting. The men involved were impressed enough to ask Friend to come to Washington as soon as possible for an important briefing. Arthur Lundahl wrote up a memo for the record to detail the events that had just occurred. It also included the names of the spacemen, their organization, their purpose. The document, according to Friend also included "times and places of several meetings called to investigate the case."

When Friend arrived from Wright Patterson at the Top Secret photographic lab where the first contact had been made. It was three days later, July 9, 1959. Lundahl and Neasham recounted the events of what had occurred a couple days earlier. Friend reviewed the memo that had been prepared by Lundahl. He suggested that Larsen try to make another contact with AFFA. Commander Larsen sat down and lapsed into a deep trance In an interview done years later Major Friend described what he saw:

"He was obviously in a trance. I saw it. There was no doubt about that in my mind. I could see his pulse quicken. I could see his Adams apple moving up and down rapidly. His handwriting was entirely different from his normal handwriting. The muscles in his torso did not appear to be strained, but the muscles in his arms were obviously stressed - as were the muscles around his neck - especially in his neck."

"I tried to ask some questions, but he did not respond to me. Others asked questions. He responded to only one man."

"I asked the man to whom the Navy officer was responding to ask AFFA if he would arrange a flyby."

"The officer’s arm jerkily wrote out, ‘The time is not right.’"

"That trance lasted 15-20 minutes. There was no tape recording. No one had come prepared to make contact."

"I was convince that there was something there. It didn’t make much difference whether they (the Navy commander and the woman in Maine) were in contact with some people from outer space or in contact with someone right here on earth. There was something there that we should have found out more about."

Major Friend returned to Wright Patterson and his duties running Project Blue book. He prepared a memo to his commanding general, that has never been recovered in government files. The general told Friend that he would take further charge of the case himself. He never heard another word about the case. The only thing that he knew from discussions he had with Lundahl prior to leaving Washington, is that another trance session was planned for July 11th.

Arthur Lundahl has never told the story of his full involvement of this story. Nor has he described what investigations were made by the CIA, and what the results were. When first confronted with the story Lundahl denied that he had even been involved. When evidence surfaced that he had been involved he admitted that he had been involved but nothing had happened. Lundahl refused to give many details saying that he was protecting Neasham from losing his job, and holding back details about Commander Larsen who made the alien contacts during the meeting, because he felt sorry for him.

The CIA contact with the alien AFFA became the focus of part of a document that surfaced in the 1980's claiming to be a briefing for President Jimmy Carter.

According to Zechel, a former radio operator for the Army Security Agency, Lundahl was good friends with President Kennedy, and briefed him not only on Soviet missiles in Cuba, but on the UFO situation. Checks done with officials records of the Kennedy administration confirm that Arthur Lundahl did have a fair amount of contact with Kennedy, and easily could have provided UFO briefings to the President. White House Records show a public meeting between Lundahl and Kennedy on March 27, 1963, a 33 minute off the record meeting on April 28, 1962, 18 minute off the record meeting September 7, 1962.

During the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962, Lundahl provided many briefings to the President about the offensive missiles found on CIA U-2 photographs. He showed these photos to the President and explained what the pictures showed in terms of the types of missiles that had been installed by the Cubans, what the level of readiness in terms of the missiles being used., and what other events were occurring in Cuba which might indicate Soviet and Cuban military plans.

There are also indications that many other meetings could have taken place based on evidence that is now available about President Kennedy. It was his custom to regularly bring women into the White House or into his hotel room while traveling. The names of these women were never recorded. Tape recorded conversations of the discussions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, shows that participants were asked to enter the White House grounds by the east gate used by the public, rather than the west gate where official visitors were accepted. This was done to hide the identity of key CIA advisors entering every day and arousing suspicions that something was occurring.

Another person close to President Kennedy who was a great fan of UFOs like Arthur Lundahl was Kennedy’s brother Robert Kennedy.

It is quite possible the two Kennedys discussed the UFO developments, or that Robert Kennedy used his position as Attorney general to help gather information about UFOs for his brother.

President Kennedy, like President Eisenhower, had stories that circulated about him going for a secret meeting to meet with the aliens. Timothy Cooper a UFO researcher, whose father while stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, played an active role in the investigation of a rash of UFO sightings in the White sands military missile range in the late 1940s.

Cooper claimed that a reliable source had informed him that JFK "did fly out to an air force base to personally watch an unidentified bogie track from an aircraft under tight security which got no press coverage sometime in 1962." Further Cooper stated that he had been told that Kennedy went to WSMR/Holloman AFB for a tour and a UFO briefing during his administration.

A second invitation to meet with the aliens came from George Adamski, a famous contactee from the 1950's. The story was told by Lou Zinsstag, who was Adamski’s Swiss representative for his "Get Acquainted Program." This was a program recommended by the space people to Adamski to inform the people of the space people’s existence. Zinsstag wrote in her book "George Adamski: The Untold Story."

"I still remember his White House story. He told me that he had been entrusted with a written invitation for President Kennedy to visit one of the space people’s huge mother ships at a secret airbase in Desert Hot Springs, California, for few days. In order to keep this visit absolutely secret, Adamski was to take the invitation directly to the White House through a side door. Still glowing with excitement and smiling happily, he explained how the row of cars in which his taxi was traveling had to stop because of a red light just in front of this particular door where a man he knew - a spaceman, he said - was standing ready to let him in. Adamski later learned that Kennedy had spent several hours at the airbase after having canceled an important trip to New York, and that he had a long talk with the ships crew, but that he had not been invited for a flight."

This story is almost impossible to check. A search in the White House Name file did not produce any George Adamski files or correspondence with President Kennedy. According to Madeleine Rodeffer, she had seen Adamski’s U.S. government ordnance card which would have given him access to restricted areas - such as the White House. Dr. Jacques Vallee also claimed that a man who had hosted Adamski on a speaking tour of Australia claimed Adamski was traveling on a passport with special privileges.

Adamski in a related matter claimed that President Kennedy had a secret meeting with him at the Willard Hotel, near the White House, in May 1963. The Willard Hotel is a famous hotel a little over a block from the White House on Pennsylvania Ave. Julia Ward

Howe wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic there, and Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his "I Have a Dream" speech at the Willard Hotel.

The ordnance card shown by Adamski to Lou Zinsstag gives some weight to the chance that this meeting may have occurred. Kennedy White House records show no meeting with George Adamski. Kennedy was involved, according to a July 1965 FBI document, in sex parties at the Hotel Carlyle in New York City. He therefore was therefore accustomed to using hotels for things other than over-night rests.

Adamski also claimed to have had a 15 minute meeting with Senator Margaret Chase-Smith (Maine). Senator Smith was the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee for Space Research at the time. There is a good chance that this meeting did occur because Senator Smith was also involved with Francis Swan, another contactee about who a letter was sent to President Eisenhower in 1954. This second contactee involvement would not have been known by Adamski, as it was never made public. It appeared that Senator Smith, a good friend of President Eisenhower, was very interested in the UFO phenomena.

President Kennedy UFO Articles

2002-02-12T06:00:00Z

JFK, MJ-12 and Outer Space

February 12, 2002 New York City, New York - This past week in Manhattan, I met with reporter and author Jim Marrs to discuss U. S. government documents he was using for a television interview about MJ-12, also known as Majestic 12 or Majority 12. That Top Secret group of scientists, military officers and businessmen was allegedly appointed by President Harry S. Truman in 1947 to monitor and research the activity of extraterrestrial biological entities on the earth while simultaneously manipulating misinformation to keep all facts and physical evidence from the media and public "in the interest of national security." Jim's first book, Crossfire © 1989, was a national bestseller and used as a basis for Oliver Stone's feature film, JFK. Other books by Jim Marrs have included Alien Agenda © 1997 and Rule By Secrecy © 2000, each advancing insights about the interaction of one or more non-human intelligences with this planet since at least the Sumerian domination of Mesopotamia (modern day Iran and Iraq).

Jim and I also talked about my experiences back in the early 1980s after I had produced the television documentary A Strange Harvest for the CBS affiliate KMGH-TV in Denver, Colorado about the worldwide animal mutilation mystery linked to alien life forms. I had been told by two different government intelligence agents in two different parts of the United States that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated on November 22, 1963 on orders of the CIA because after a long and tense period of grievances that included the controversial pull back of American air cover at the Bay of Pigs, JFK - based on some firsthand knowledge from his service as a U. S. Naval intelligence officer - had demanded access to all files and images concerning an extraterrestrial presence on earth.

Jim showed me the following documents which first emerged in the MJ-12 research of Robert and Ryan Wood, father and son, who have been studying more than 2,000 alleged U.S. government documents from various sources since the early 1990s. See their website at bottom of this report.

June 28, 1961 National Security Memorandum
Referencing MJ-12,
Signed by President John F. Kennedy

On White House stationery dated June 28, 1961, this TOP SECRET National Security Memorandum was addressed to the Director, Central Intelligence Agency about the Subject: Review of MJ-12 Intelligence Operations as they relate to Cold War Psychological Warfare Plans. "I would like a brief summary from you at your earliest convenience. TOP SECRET" Signed John Kennedy, President of the United States.

November 12, 1963 Memorandum for the CIA Director
about UFO Intelligence Files

November 12, 1963 TOP SECRET Memorandum for CIA Director, from President John F. Kennedy.

This November 12, 1963 TOP SECRET Memorandum was written by President John F. Kennedy to the Director (blanked out), Central Intelligence Agency, eleven days before JFK was shot in his head and killed while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.

The subject of the memorandum was: Classification review of all UFO intelligence files affecting National Security.

The body of the memorandum reads:

"As I had discussed with you previously, I have initiated (blacked out) and have instructed James Webb to develop a program with the Soviet Union in joint space and lunar exploration. It would be very helpful if you would have the high threat cases reviewed with the purpose of identification of bona fide as opposed to classified CIA and USAF sources. It is important that we make a clear distinction between the knowns and unknowns in the event the Soviets try to mistake our extended cooperation as a cover for intelligence gathering of their defence and space programs.

When this data has been sorted out, I would like you to arrange a program of data sharing with NASA where Unknowns are a factor. This will help NASA mission directors in their defensive responsibilities.

I would like an interim report on the data review no later than February 1, 1964.

/S/ John F. Kennedy"

(Handwritten note next to signature space: "Response from Colby, (sic) Angelton has MJ directive 11/20/63")

Editor's Note: James Jesus Angleton was put in charge of the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) Special Counterintelligence Unit Z in 1944. Ten years later in 1954, Angleton was promoted
to Deputy Director and Chief of Counterintelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency where he worked for twenty years.

Another November 12, 1963 CONFIDENTIAL Memorandum from President John F. Kennedy to the NASA Administrator about Cooperation with the USSR on Outer Space Matters

November 12, 1963 CONFIDENTIAL National Security Action Memorandum No. 271 for NASA Administrator (James Webb) from John F. Kennedy. Source: National Archives.

Written on White House stationery and dated the same day as the TOP SECRET Memorandum written by President John F. Kennedy to the CIA Director about "Classification review of all
UFO intelligence files affecting National Security," this second memo to NASA about "Cooperation with the USSR on Outer Space Matters" reads as follows:

"I would like you to assume personally the initiative and central responsibility within the Government for the development of a program of substantive cooperation with the Soviet Union in the field of outer space, including the development of specific technical proposals. I assume that you will work closely with the Department of State and other agencies as appropriate.

"These proposals should be developed with a view to their possible discussion with the Soviet Union as a direct outcome of my September 20 proposal for broader cooperation between the United States and the USSR in outer space, including cooperation in lunar landing programs. All proposals or suggestions originating within the Government relating to this general subject will be referred to you for your consideration and evaluation.

"In addition to developing substantive proposals, I expect that you will assist the Secretary of State in exploring problems of procedure and timing connected with holding discussions with the Soviet Union and in proposing for my consideration the channels which would be most desirable from our point of view. In this connection the channel of contact developed by Dr. Dryden between NASA
and the Soviet Academy of Sciences has been quite effective, and I believe that we should continue to utilize it as appropriate as a means of continuing the dialogue between the scientists of both countries.

I would like an interim report on the progress of our planning by December 15."

President John F. Kennedy's signature on the November 12, 1963 memo to NASA and distribution list.

More Information
October 21, 1990

Nearly thirty years later after President Kennedy was assassinated, many alleged government documents about MJ-12, retrievals of crashed aerial vehicles, technology and extraterrestrial biological entities have surfaced from a variety of known and unknown sources. One unsigned document dated October 21, 1990 and marked "CONFIDENTIAL, 0 copies, No dissemination" emerged allegedly from a British and American think tank in England about a program to acclimate the public to "first-hand encounter" phenomenon and "crop circles." Jim Marrs has had a copy for several years and agreed its contents could be shared with the public, acknowledging that source verification is lacking.

"October 1990

TO: Policy Committee

Subject: Observations on Public Acclimation Program

"The metered release of information to the public through various unofficial channels continues to generate much interest and an increasing level of awareness, with little if any observable side-effects,
other than healthy skepticism on the part of some people.

We would like to suggest continuing the present approach, as it is making information available to those who are psychologically ready for it, without causing stress on those who are not ready.

The present approach is also proving helpful to those who are having first-hand encounters. It is providing them with a context in which to put experiences they cannot otherwise explain or understand. Having some conception of this phenomenon is an enormous psychological relief to these people - and helps them get on with their lives, as best as possible. Providing information which helps people to cope will become increasingly important as the percentage of the population having these encounters continues to rise. Some assistance in this area can be expected by various civilian support groups, which have been formed by interested parties.

Over time, it may be appropriate to increase the accuracy and the consistency of information in circulation. Possibly, as the public gets more comfortable with IAC sightings (Identified Aerial Craft and/or Identified Alien Craft) and 'crop circles,' additional types of information can be released. It appears most of the research community is running one to two years or more ahead of the mainstream media. this gives some timeframe for possible disclosures to the general public - while providing advance details to those who are ready for it now. Having a certain number of informed citizens could well prove to be an invaluable resource in the face of unpredictable future events. Indeed, history may record that it was these aware people who set aside their differences and worked together most to help humanity, their country and their government in the changing times and challenges ahead."

Kennedy Administration on Alien race Question

2009-08-01T03:16:40Z

Memorandum From Maxwell W. Hunter II of the National Aeronautics and Space Council (Executive Office of the President) to Robert F. Packard of the Office of International Scientific Affairs

Washington, July 18, 1963.

Thoughts on the Space Alien Race Question

During recent discussions the question has occasionally, though rarely, arisen that perhaps we should consider the policy question of what to do if an alien intelligence is discovered in space. Some discussion of this occurred, as you will recall, during deliberations on BNSP Task I. This memo contains some miscellaneous thoughts on the question.

The consensus of scientific view says, with quite good reasons, that the possibility of running across an alien intelligent race in our solar system is negligible. This is due primarily to the presumed unsuitability of conditions upon other planets to support life as we know it. The flying saucer advocates claim, of course, that the scientific viewpoint is nonsense, and that there is overwhelming evidence of such beings. In my own mind, I find it difficult to side with the flying saucer advocates, but the almost total impossibility envisioned by most scientists also is disturbing. Therefore, I present the problem in current perspective, as I see it.

Up until a few decades ago it seemed very improbable that intelligent life existed anywhere outside of the solar system. The chief reasons for this were a combination of scientific theory, scientific knowledge, and religious belief. The most widely accepted scientific theory as to the formation of the solar planetary system held that it was a result of the near collision of two stars. Since such a precise near miss of two stars would be an extremely rare event, it followed that there would be very few other planetary systems in the universe and, indeed, perhaps this was the only one. Religious belief said, furthermore, that life was a gift bestowed by God. This was a relatively undisputed point since no scientific data existed to bridge the gap between non-living and living materials.

The situation today is vastly changed in these respects. The most widely held theory of stellar formation would predict the formation of planetary systems to be a natural consequence of stellar evolution. On this basis, most stars would possess planetary systems, and the number of habitable planets in our galaxy would be tremendous. Our biggest telescopes cannot resolve planets at the distances even of the nearest stars, so no direct confirmation is yet available. In my own mind, however, the wide prevalence of multiple stars is an overwhelming hint in support of this theory. In addition, the biological sciences have almost completely traced a series of natural occurrences, which lead from inanimate molecules to elementary living viruses. Thus, we have the current scientific theory and data not only that there are a huge number of planets in the galaxy, but that life is quite likely to arise spontaneously on a large number of these. This, of course, does not necessarily imply intelligent life. Modern theology is not necessarily incompatible with this. The description in Genesis of the Creation certainly is a better picture of the current theory than of a stellar collision, and since God only spent seven days on this system, He has clearly had lots of time to create many more systems.

Even granting a probable existence of much life in the galaxy, there is still the question of whether another intelligent race exists in our solar system. There are, of course, two methods of its establishment in our system. One of these is that it originated on some other planet, for instance, Mars. Some of the spectacular markings of Mars have been interpreted as indicating intelligence. In particular, the famous "Canali" are rather narrow, and always run from one prominent marking to another, frequently with round splotches at intersections. As far as I know, no one has discovered a "Canali" which goes nowhere. This has quite understandably stimulated much conversation. In fact, a number of decades ago, when scientists thought that any life on other stellar systems was very remote, they seemed to feel that intelligent life probably existed on our other planets. Some of the discussions about life on Mars at the turn of the century seem to indicate a strong urge to want to find intelligent life elsewhere. Today, the situation is completely reversed, and although intelligent life is considered quite probable among the stars, it is held to be quite unlikely within the solar system. We seem more eager to listen with Ozma than to look closely at Canali.

One school of flying saucer advocates claims that the Martians have been mining our moon for natural resources for some time. At first thought, one would think they would rather mine earth. It is interesting to speculate, however, upon space flight from the point of view of a Martian. The escape speed of Mars is only 16,500 fps, and, of course, braking speed on our moon is less than 10,000 fps. Thus, Martians looking at earth would tend to view it the same way Terrestrials look at Jupiter. Our moon might not be less work to get to, since atmospheric braking to earth is possible, but would be very much easier to return from, while the energy requirements to go to and return from the surface of the earth might well be so high as to discourage interest, at least initially. Interestingly enough, even a normal high energy chemical rocket could make a trip from Mars to our moon at favorable times while carrying almost 10% of its gross weight in payload. Space flight starting from Mars, then, is a much easier prospect than starting from Terra. If a suitable refueling base had been painfully established on our moon, the operation could be done quite commendably with merely chemical energy. (The aforementioned high energy chemical rocket could carry at favorable times almost 50% payload back to Mars.) Of course, many flying saucer advocates claim that the discovery of both Martian moons within a week in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century indicates that they are large artificial space stations, otherwise they would have been found earlier. If we were to discover Martians on the moon, it would result in surprisingly little readjustment of our scientific thinking. The biggest question would be why they were there rather than among the Asteroids.

In fact, if we were not as scientifically sure of ourselves as we are, three recent events would be hailed as broad hints of intelligent life on the moon. (1) The discovery of hot gasses emanating from the crater Alphonsus when the moon was supposedly dead. This would be considered evidence of civilization and, since Alphonsus is close to the visible edge, interpreted to mean that the other side of the moon was teeming with population, which had begun to spill around to this side. (2) The infra-red scans which show hot spots. These would be interpreted as indications of cities or at least mining camps. (3) The fact that no lunar or planetary probe of significance has been successful, in spite of major efforts on the part of two very successful earth orbit faring nations. It would be supposed that someone was denying us deep space. (The other-side-of-the-moon pictures from Lunik III show no details of consequence, and the same can be said of the data from Mariner II compared to what we had already known about Venus from earth-based measurements.) Should the Martians have colonized the moon without discovering nuclear energy, then they represent no real problem, and our current national policy would be made to order for the situation. If all of this were true, of course, I would expect the Martians to be scared to death of what they have seen recently on this planet, and would expect that the highest priority development program in the solar system is being conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission of Mars.

Even if we are secure in our belief that intelligent life never would develop on Mars or some other solar planet, there is still the question of visitors to the solar system from other stellar systems. This is normally written off as an extremely low probability, due to the tremendous distances between stars, and the Einstein limitation on travel faster than the speed of light. Therefore, even if there are a large number of intelligent life forms in the galaxy, and even if they are continuously searching for other races, the frequency of investigation of any stellar system would be only once in many thousands of years and contact would rarely, if ever, be achieved. It might never be achieved, since presumably intelligent races die out. (What happened to the planet whose pieces now are spread around the Asteroid Belt? Or, for that matter, why is Uranus lying on its side?) I am not sure that this travel restriction is quite as infallible as it sounds. I believe that it is possible with what we now know about nuclear energy to envision ships driven at half to three-quarters of the speed of light. This, since the galaxy is 100,000 light-years across, still does not make a search of the entire galaxy feasible within the life span of the average man. But suppose some race under pressure of population explosion were expanding as fast as technically feasible from star to star throughout the galaxy. If their ships averaged half the speed of light, and if, on the average, they stopped every 10 light-years for a twenty-year stay at a stellar system to deposit colonists, refuel, and build extra ships, they would only take two hundred thousand years, starting at the center of the galaxy, to spread throughout the whole system. Since the earliest known remains of man have recently been dated at approximately one million seven hundred thousand years, a sustained drive for merely two hundred thousand years may not be unreasonable. Of course, if we were to run across representatives of this kind of interstellar race, they would not be nearly as tame as the previously hypothesized chemical Martians, and our policy would need to be revised accordingly. Fortunately, travel time restrictions would inhibit their ability to bring all forces to bear, in case we should develop differences of viewpoint.

The third possibility, scientifically abhorrent, is that the Einstein theory may only be an approximation, and an alien race which actually travels faster than light exists. If we were to meet such a race, our policy had better be to negotiate fast, because the implications of their far better understanding and control of the fundamental forces of nature would be obvious. If all the scientific speculation were to turn out wrong and we were to stumble across an alien race, we would want to know as quickly as possible which of the three types I have indicated it was, as our diplomatic policy would damned well be influenced by the results.

Conclusions

Although all plausible scientific thinking suggests that we will not find any other intelligence race, the probability that we will is finite, and perhaps should not be completely ignored. Were we to find one, the question of whether it was a race with primitive chemical space flight, space flight equivalent to our best understanding of nuclear energy, or space flight based on physics beyond Einstein should be ascertained as rapidly as possible, since our policies would be affected in the most drastically possible way. In any event, a policy of the immediate burying of all Terrestrial hatchets would likely be in order. Even if we only found tame chemical Martians, or merely the debris from some intergalactic survey mission, it would be a good idea to proceed on the assumption that the human race would finally have found a bigger problem than the ones it has created for itself. There likely is nothing to be done at the moment to prepare for these possibilities (the only body of writing on the subject available in an emergency is science fiction), because no one of consequence is going to take this rubbish seriously unless it happens. At that point, our policy will be determined in the traditional manner of grand panic.

Maxwell W. Hunter, II

Original Kennedy UFO Letter Sells on E-Bay

2009-08-01T03:23:15Z

An original letter signed by former Senator Robert Kennedy has just sold on the Ebay auction site. The letter written to a Mrs. Anne Epple of New York City, was written to address the UFO subject. The letter was dated September 10, 1966, and sold for $220.28.

The Epple letter becomes the second known letter written by Robert Kennedy on the UFO subject.

The United States Senate

Washington D.C.

September 10, 1966

Dear Mrs. Epple,

Thank you for your thoughtful letter on "unidentified flying objects".

Many reputable scientists also believe that there must be other beings in the universe. Dr. Harlow Shapley, for one, has stated that there is a high probability that there is other life in the universe. To believe that there is other life in the universe is not, however, to believe that "UFO's" are manned vehicles. One explanation of this phenomenon, in addition to those you mentioned, connects the lights that are seen with the gaseous tails of comets. A careful analysis of sighting to date has not given us any indication that "UFO's" are manned.

I appreciate hearing from you on this matter and look forward to hearing from you again.

Sincerely,

(Signature)

Robert F. Kennedy

The newly discovered letter is similar in content and style to another letter received on May 9, 1968 that Senator Kennedy sent to Gray Barker. At the time Barker was the publisher of Saucer News. In the Gray letter Senator Kennedy stated that he stated his interest in the UFO phenomena. He stated, “I am a card carrying member of the Amalgamated Flying Saucers Association. Therefore, like many other people in our country I am interested in the phenomenon of flying saucers.”

UFO researchers like Dick Hall and Robert Barrow ( who both claim to have additional Kennedy letters in their collections) still hold reservations about the authenticity of the Barker letter from Kennedy, and maybe for good reason. Written almost two years after the Epple letter, one finds the type style almost amateurish compared to the earlier letter.

Dick hall was very blunt about his belief the Barker letter was undoubtedly a hoax. In an August 2, 2002 posting to the UFO Updates Board Hall wrote.

"There are other Kennedy letters and additional letters from Members of Congress in various collections, including mine. I'm willing to bet the Gray Barker letter is a hoax, which of course was one of his specialties. Robert Kennedy support Gabriel Green? Fat chance!"

Barrow recalled that his letters from Kennedy showed a man who came across as sceptical about UFOs. There were also not as spectacular as the ones shown below. "My Kennedy letters," wrote Barrow, " were brief and not nearly as intriguing as the ones that have come to light so far."

Both the buyer and seller of the new Kennedy letter were contacted by this author, but neither responded to the chance to discuss their transaction.

Senator Robert Kennedy Skeptical

2009-08-01T03:30:15Z

Newly discovered letters written by the late Senator and Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy show clearly that Kennedy was skeptical about UFOs, and about the possibility of any United States Air Force cover up.

The three newly uncovered letters were written in 1965 to researcher Robert E. Barrow, formally with the Air Force, and a writer of articles in UFO magazines in the 1970s.

“I have noted from time to time public discussions about UFO’s and the basis for such phenomena,” wrote Senator Kennedy. “From the evidence available to date, I do not believe that UFO phenomena are caused by vehicles of extraterrestrial origin.”

Kennedy stated, however, “Not enough is known about UFO sightings,” and conceded that some “reputable witnesses” had been involved. This led Mr. Barrow to write back and offer Kennedy a copy of “UFO Evidence Report,” which had been put out by the UFO research organization NICAP. Kennedy replied that he had already seen the publication.

When Barrow wrote Kennedy about whether the Senator believed the Air Force was covering up, Kennedy was direct and to the point.

“I have looked into this matter in detail,” wrote Kennedy. “I do not believe that the Air Force is censoring any information of interest to the public on so-called “Unidentified Flying Objects.”

The new letters are significant because they totally counter a previously published May 1968 letter by researcher Gray Barker, where Kennedy expressed sincere interest in UFOs. Many researchers have questioned this letter for years.

Kennedy’s skeptical views found in these new letters is also important in light of documents recently leaked into the UFO community claiming the Kennedy assassination was due in large part to an order given by Kennedy shortly before his death for all UFO files.

Robert Kennedy UFO Story

2009-08-01T03:37:16Z

Thanks to the efforts of History Channel and John Greenwald a clear picture of the UFO beliefs of Robert Kennedy has finally emerged. Robert, who was the Attorney General in his brother’s administration , has often been written up in UFO lore as being a key student of Ufology.

Over the years letters related to UFOs have circulated with purported Kennedy signatures. The letters claimed that Kennedy had anything from a slight interest in the subject, to one letter where Kennedy supposedly stated that he was a card-carrying member of the Amalgamated Flying Saucers Association.

In the summer of 2005 John Greenwald, the webmaster of www.blackvault.com (a web site that specializes in government documents connected to the UFO subject), visited the Kennedy presidential library and returned to his home in California with over two dozen Kennedy UFO letters.

These letters, recovered mostly from the Kennedy Outer Space files, do indeed show an interest by Robert Kennedy in the UFO story as it was being portrayed in the media in the mid 1960s. “I am keeping myself abreast of information developed on this subject.”[i] Without exception, however, the Kennedy letters show a man who has concluded there is no cover-up and UFOs are not extraterrestrial.

Most of the letters were answered with a couple different form letters with small variations. In many cases Kennedy handwrites part or in one case the entire reply. This is very usual as most high-ranking government officials used secretaries or assistants to answer mail – especially UFO mail.

In many of the letters Kennedy quoted astronomer Dr. Harlow Shapley at the Harvard Observatory that “there is a high probability that there must be other beings in the universe.” However, Kennedy made it clear that he did not believe that that ET life had arrived on earth.

“From the evidence to date,” Kennedy told many letter writers, “I do not believe that UFO phenomena are caused by vehicles of extraterrestrial origin. ”[ii] Furthermore, Kennedy agreed with the material the Air Force was putting out on UFOs, “I have looked into the matter and do not believe that the Air Force is censoring any information of interest to the public of so-called ‘Unidentified flying objects.’”[iii]

Some writers pushed Kennedy to back a congressional hearing into the accumulated UFO evidence. Kennedy agreed that if needed the hearing should be open to the public. “If it were desirable to hold congressional hearings on the question of unidentified flying objects, I would certainly agree that they should be open to the public.”[iv]

Kennedy however, was skeptical of the need for any such congressional actions. “Based on the information available to me from NASA and the Air Force, I do not believe that Congressional hearings on this subject would serve a useful purpose at this time.”[v]

[i] Robert Kennedy to Robert Barrow, October 2, 1965

[ii] Robert Kennedy to Ralph Rankow, February 23, 1965

[iii] Robert Kennedy to Bob Barrow October 2, 1965

[iv] Kennedy to Ralph Rankow, August 15, 1965

[v] Robert Kennedy to Ralph Rankow, August 30, 1965

President Kennedy on Secrecy

2009-08-01T03:52:52Z

The President And The Press: Address Before The American Newspaper Publishers Association, April 27, 1961

President John F. Kennedy
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:

I appreciate very much your generous invitation to be here tonight.

You bear heavy responsibilities these days and an article I read some time ago reminded me of how particularly heavily the burdens of present day events bear upon your profession.

You may remember that in 1851 the New York Herald Tribune under the sponsorship and publishing of Horace Greeley, employed as its London correspondent an obscure journalist by the name of Karl Marx.

We are told that foreign correspondent Marx, stone broke, and with a family ill and undernourished, constantly appealed to Greeley and managing editor Charles Dana for an increase in his munificent salary of $5 per installment, a salary which he and Engels ungratefully labeled as the "lousiest petty bourgeois cheating."

But when all his financial appeals were refused, Marx looked around for other means of livelihood and fame, eventually terminating his relationship with the Tribune and devoting his talents full time to the cause that would bequeath the world the seeds of Leninism, Stalinism, revolution and the cold war.

If only this capitalistic New York newspaper had treated him more kindly; if only Marx had remained a foreign correspondent, history might have been different. And I hope all publishers will bear this lesson in mind the next time they receive a poverty-stricken appeal for a small increase in the expense account from an obscure newspaper man.

I have selected as the title of my remarks tonight "The President and the Press." Some may suggest that this would be more naturally worded "The President Versus the Press." But those are not my sentiments tonight.

It is true, however, that when a well-known diplomat from another country demanded recently that our State Department repudiate certain newspaper attacks on his colleague it was unnecessary for us to reply that this Administration was not responsible for the press, for the press had already made it clear that it was not responsible for this Administration.

Nevertheless, my purpose here tonight is not to deliver the usual assault on the so-called one party press. On the contrary, in recent months I have rarely heard any complaints about political bias in the press except from a few Republicans. Nor is it my purpose tonight to discuss or defend the televising of Presidential press conferences. I think it is highly beneficial to have some 20,000,000 Americans regularly sit in on these conferences to observe, if I may say so, the incisive, the intelligent and the courteous qualities displayed by your Washington correspondents.

Nor, finally, are these remarks intended to examine the proper degree of privacy which the press should allow to any President and his family.

If in the last few months your White House reporters and photographers have been attending church services with regularity, that has surely done them no harm.

On the other hand, I realize that your staff and wire service photographers may be complaining that they do not enjoy the same green privileges at the local golf courses that they once did.

It is true that my predecessor did not object as I do to pictures of one's golfing skill in action. But neither on the other hand did he ever bean a Secret Service man.

My topic tonight is a more sober one of concern to publishers as well as editors.

I want to talk about our common responsibilities in the face of a common danger. The events of recent weeks may have helped to illuminate that challenge for some; but the dimensions of its threat have loomed large on the horizon for many years. Whatever our hopes may be for the future--for reducing this threat or living with it--there is no escaping either the gravity or the totality of its challenge to our survival and to our security--a challenge that confronts us in unaccustomed ways in every sphere of human activity.

This deadly challenge imposes upon our society two requirements of direct concern both to the press and to the President--two requirements that may seem almost contradictory in tone, but which must be reconciled and fulfilled if we are to meet this national peril. I refer, first, to the need for a far greater public information; and, second, to the need for far greater official secrecy.

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.

But I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards, and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. In time of war, the government and the press have customarily joined in an effort based largely on self-discipline, to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In time of "clear and present danger," the courts have held that even the privileged rights of the First Amendment must yield to the public's need for national security.

Today no war has been declared--and however fierce the struggle may be, it may never be declared in the traditional fashion. Our way of life is under attack. Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe. The survival of our friends is in danger. And yet no war has been declared, no borders have been crossed by marching troops, no missiles have been fired.

If the press is awaiting a declaration of war before it imposes the self-discipline of combat conditions, then I can only say that no war ever posed a greater threat to our security. If you are awaiting a finding of "clear and present danger," then I can only say that the danger has never been more clear and its presence has never been more imminent.

It requires a change in outlook, a change in tactics, a change in missions--by the government, by the people, by every businessman or labor leader, and by every newspaper. For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.

Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.

Nevertheless, every democracy recognizes the necessary restraints of national security--and the question remains whether those restraints need to be more strictly observed if we are to oppose this kind of attack as well as outright invasion.

For the facts of the matter are that this nation's foes have openly boasted of acquiring through our newspapers information they would otherwise hire agents to acquire through theft, bribery or espionage; that details of this nation's covert preparations to counter the enemy's covert operations have been available to every newspaper reader, friend and foe alike; that the size, the strength, the location and the nature of our forces and weapons, and our plans and strategy for their use, have all been pinpointed in the press and other news media to a degree sufficient to satisfy any foreign power; and that, in at least in one case, the publication of details concerning a secret mechanism whereby satellites were followed required its alteration at the expense of considerable time and money.

The newspapers which printed these stories were loyal, patriotic, responsible and well-meaning. Had we been engaged in open warfare, they undoubtedly would not have published such items. But in the absence of open warfare, they recognized only the tests of journalism and not the tests of national security. And my question tonight is whether additional tests should not now be adopted.

The question is for you alone to answer. No public official should answer it for you. No governmental plan should impose its restraints against your will. But I would be failing in my duty to the nation, in considering all of the responsibilities that we now bear and all of the means at hand to meet those responsibilities, if I did not commend this problem to your attention, and urge its thoughtful consideration.

On many earlier occasions, I have said--and your newspapers have constantly said--that these are times that appeal to every citizen's sense of sacrifice and self-discipline. They call out to every citizen to weigh his rights and comforts against his obligations to the common good. I cannot now believe that those citizens who serve in the newspaper business consider themselves exempt from that appeal.

I have no intention of establishing a new Office of War Information to govern the flow of news. I am not suggesting any new forms of censorship or any new types of security classifications. I have no easy answer to the dilemma that I have posed, and would not seek to impose it if I had one. But I am asking the members of the newspaper profession and the industry in this country to reexamine their own responsibilities, to consider the degree and the nature of the present danger, and to heed the duty of self-restraint which that danger imposes upon us all.

Every newspaper now asks itself, with respect to every story: "Is it news?" All I suggest is that you add the question: "Is it in the interest of the national security?" And I hope that every group in America--unions and businessmen and public officials at every level-- will ask the same question of their endeavors, and subject their actions to the same exacting tests.

And should the press of America consider and recommend the voluntary assumption of specific new steps or machinery, I can assure you that we will cooperate whole-heartedly with those recommendations.

Perhaps there will be no recommendations. Perhaps there is no answer to the dilemma faced by a free and open society in a cold and secret war. In times of peace, any discussion of this subject, and any action that results, are both painful and without precedent. But this is a time of peace and peril which knows no precedent in history.

It is the unprecedented nature of this challenge that also gives rise to your second obligation--an obligation which I share. And that is our obligation to inform and alert the American people--to make certain that they possess all the facts that they need, and understand them as well--the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our program and the choices that we face.

No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary. I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.

I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers--I welcome it. This Administration intends to be candid about its errors; for as a wise man once said: "An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them.

Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed--and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment-- the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution- -not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants"--but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.

This means greater coverage and analysis of international news--for it is no longer far away and foreign but close at hand and local. It means greater attention to improved understanding of the news as well as improved transmission. And it means, finally, that government at all levels, must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrowest limits of national security--and we intend to do it.

III

It was early in the Seventeenth Century that Francis Bacon remarked on three recent inventions already transforming the world: the compass, gunpowder and the printing press. Now the links between the nations first forged by the compass have made us all citizens of the world, the hopes and threats of one becoming the hopes and threats of us all. In that one world's efforts to live together, the evolution of gunpowder to its ultimate limit has warned mankind of the terrible consequences of failure.

And so it is to the printing press--to the recorder of man's deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news--that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.