Post by meldrew on Jan 27, 2011 16:33:12 GMT 1
www.topnewsreports.com/1234/jan11/report011.html
The NASA UFO Test Of 1997
By Lee Shargel
Jan. 25, 2011
“We want you to promote your book as the truth submerged in science fiction. This is just an experiment.” NASA Administrator.
My story began In 1996 when I wrote a book entitled, Voice in the Mirror. At the time I thought, wouldn’t it be interesting if the Hubble Telescope were to discover a planet where intelligent life existed. It took almost a year to complete and much research. As I became immersed in putting this story to paper, I wanted it to contain as much real science as possible in order to make the science fiction more believable. My research took me to Florida and the Kennedy Space Center where I was allowed to observe and videotape, firsthand, the interferometer test (flatness) of the primary mirror. My engineering experience came into play as I watched the test being performed. To my amazement and that of other engineers, it became apparent that the mirror had an enormous anomaly. It was not flat and would not, could not work. No one realized at the time, that I had any understanding whatsoever of what had occurred. But I knew precisely what had transpired. I thought what better way to expose this monumental error but to include this in my book.
My story needed more information regarding many of the wonders of the universe that were being transmitted by the Hubble to scientists on the ground so I obtained permission from NASA to visit the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. It was a wonderful visit that spanned several days. The scientists and technicians were actually enthralled with the scope of my book and afforded me the opportunity to look at and copy almost a thousand photos, many that have never been released to the public. While I was there I was invited to a meeting with a high level NASA administrator and several other gentlemen, some from the DOD. It was a very casual meeting at the outset but soon became increasingly serious. I was asked to take part in an experiment. One that would involve my book and the story I wanted to tell. It turns out that NASA had been very interested in the UFO community in a way that I would never have imagined. They wanted to use the belief in UFO’s, or NEV’s (Non-Earth Vehicles) as they referred to them, in order to gage reaction from that control group. I asked, “Reaction to what?”
They said they had numerous computer scenarios depicting the landing of a Non-Earth Vehicle in a public place under a variety of conditions and the outcome was always the same, chaos. They were now proposing a new scenario, one that could be postulated by me. Using my book as the foundation for this experiment, a lecture series with undeniable photos and supporting information supplied by others, I embarked on this seemingly preposterous endeavor.
The book was completed and an unsuspecting New Age publisher was found to publish the book. Now I needed to embark on a book and lecture tour. It was decided that a dress rehearsal was required so I was booked into a UFO convention in Philadelphia.
I was given a series of photos and three poster sized images of a UFO that supposedly was taken by a P-51 Mustang search plane out of Roswell, New Mexico. I was also given a set of NASA credentials proving that I was indeed, Doctor Lee Shargel. To my utter astonishment, I was a smash at the convention. My next foray into the world of UFO’s was as the featured guest on Art Bell’s Coast to Coast radio broadcast where I informed the world that an extra-terrestrial probe was accompanying the Hale-Bopp comet as it flew by planet earth in 1997.
The coup-de-grace was my being booked as the primary speaker at the largest meeting of UFO believers in the world. The International UFO Congress convention in Laughlin, Nevada. My preparations for a lecture was nothing less than spectacular. My friends at NASA, Goddard and the DOD were also there and later applauded my convincing presentation. They assured me that the experiment was yielding an immense amount of data. I continued with this charade until the unexpected occurred. The Heaven’s Gate cult suicides. At that point I was told that the experiment was a complete success. Then I was dropped like a hot potato.
My efforts to contact the people who had been, so to speak, handling me had vanished. It was as if they never existed. I tried everything to get an audience with them but I was told, “No one by that name is employed here.” I eventually gave up and made the decision to abandon any future forays into the world of UFO’s. I am still writing books and have had some success writing screenplays for motion pictures. I often wonder though, what experiments are being played out now, where and why?
------------
About the author: Lee Shargel is an author and screenwriter. He continues to write about the controversial subject of UFO's