NEWS ADVISORY
For immediate release: Thursday, Nov. 1, 2007
For further information Contact: Leslie Kean 415 250 9791

UFO Close Encounters

The Reality as Seen by Former High Level Government and Military Officials
Pilots to Tell Their UFO Stories for the First Time

Group to call on US Government to Re-Open its Investigation

The American public is not alone when it comes to sighting what the US Air Force has labeled Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). So too have former governors, high level military and government officials, highly trained airplane pilots and aviation experts. The phenomenon is real. It happens worldwide. No one is sure about its nature. Experts from seven countries will divulge what they have discovered about UFOs at a November 12 panel discussion moderated by former Arizona Governor Fife Symington (R) at the National Press Club.

Just one year ago, pilots, mechanics and managers from United Airlines witnessed a metallic disc-shaped object hovering over the United Airlines Terminal at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. The clearly observed object shot straight up leaving a hole through the clouds. Despite the clear aviation safety issues involved, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) never investigated the incident and dismissed it as weather. This head-in-theclouds refusal to investigate stands in sharp contrast to efforts by governments of other countries to understand these incidents.

“I believe that our government should take an active role in investigating this very real phenomenon,” said Symington, who was a witness to the famed ‘Phoenix Lights” incident seen by hundreds in Arizona while he was governor. “This panel consists of some of the most qualified people in the world with direct experience in dealing with this issue, and they will bring incredible, irrefutable evidence, some never presented before, that we simply cannot dismiss or ignore,” he said.

The group, using previously classified documents, will discuss many well-documented cases, including two investigated by the US government. The first involves a Peruvian Air Force pilot who fired many rounds at a UFO which was not affected. The second was an Iranian Air Force pilot’s attempt to fire at a UFO, but whose control panel became inoperable. “This case is a classic that meets all the necessary conditions for a legitimate study of the UFO phenomenon,” stated the US Defense Intelligence Agency document on the Tehran incident.

Both pilots will come forward to speak about these events publicly for the first time.

WHO: Fife Symington, Former Arizona Governor, Moderator
Ray Bowyer, Captain, Aurigny Air Services, Channel Islands
Rodrigo Bravo, Captain and Pilot for the Aviation Army of Chile
General Wilfried De Brouwer, former Deputy Chief of Staff, Belgian Air Force (Ret.)
John Callahan, Chief of Accidents and Investigations for the FAA, 1980’s (Ret.)
Dr. Anthony Choy, founder, 2001, OIFAA, Peruvian Air Force
Jean-Claude Duboc, Captain, Air France (Ret.)
Charles I. Halt, Col. USAF (Ret.), Former Director, Inspections Directorate, DOD I.G.
General Parviz Jafari, Iranian Air Force (Ret.)
Jim Penniston, TSgt USAF (Ret.)
Dr. Claude Poher, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, founder, French GEPAN
Nick Pope, Ministry of Defence, UK, 1985-2006
Dr. Jean-Claude Ribes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France, 1963-98
Comandante Oscar Santa Maria, Peruvian Air Force (Ret.)

WHAT: Former Arizona Governor Fife Symington will moderate a distinguished panel of former
high-ranking government, aviation, and military officials from seven countries to discuss
close encounters with what the US Air Force describes as Unidentified Flying Objects
(UFOs). Representatives from France, England, Belgium, Chile, Peru, Iran and the US
will call for the US Government to join in an international dialogue and re-open its
investigation – which the Air Force shut down over 30 years ago – in cooperation with
other governments currently dealing with this unusual and controversial phenomenon.
While on active duty, the panelists have either witnessed a UFO incident or have
conducted an official investigation into UFO cases relevant to aviation safety and
national security.

WHEN: Monday, November 12, 2007
11:00 AM

WHERE: National Press Club Ballroom

Event open to credentialed media and Congressional staff only

CONTACT: James Fox, documentary filmmaker; director of the acclaimed film “Out of the Blue”
jamescfox [at] gmail.com 415 519 9631

Leslie Kean, investigative journalist with the Coalition for Freedom of Information
lkean [at] ix.netcom.com 415 250 9791