Open Minds UAP News

Antonio Huneeus, Behind the Scenes at the UFO Hearing

Open Minds journalist, Antonio Huneeus, was one of the UFO experts testifying at the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure. Now that he is back, we will get a behind the scenes look at the Hearing. Former congressman Mike Gravel, after hearing the testimony, suggested that the United Nations be the hub for international UFO investigations. Antonio was present in the late 1970’s when this was attempted in the past. We will discuss how this idea could be rekindled, and what it would take to get the ball rolling again.

Lee Speigel, Citizen Hearing on Disclosure and UFOs

Lee Speigel, reporter for the Huffington Post, live blogged the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure last week. This was a mock-congressional hearing with former members of the congress listening to five days worth of testimony from UFO witnesses and researchers. We got some insight into the testimony presented, and how the former congress members seemed to be very persuaded by the information. Read Lee's stories here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-speigel/ Visit the Citizen Hearing on Disclsoure website here: http://www.citizenhearing.org/

Scott Ramsey, New Aztec UFO Crash Evidence

Scott Ramsey began his investigation into an alleged crash of a UFO near Aztec, New Mexico over 25 years ago. Skeptical at first, and assuming he would demonstrate there was nothing to it, compelling bits of information eventually led him to believe the case was worth taking seriously. Ramsey, along with his wife, Suzanne, and with the help of many others, has painstakingly followed every clue. Now in his book, The Aztec Incident: Recovery at Hart Canyon, we can finally read the details of his rigorous investigation. This book truly is necessary material to review for anyone who is interested in alleged UFO crash cases. You can read more about the book, and get your own copy here: http://www.theaztecincident.com/

Ryan Sprague, UFO Journalist and Playwright

Ryan Sprague has been a writer for Open Minds UFO for several years. He is also a playwright in New York City. He is currently writing a play based on the events of the third night in the Rendlesham Forest incident, in which a man claims a UFO landed and aliens talked with military personnel. We will talk to Ryan about his play and about his latest Open Minds Magazine story. It is a famous case of an alleged abduction near the Brooklyn Bridge in 1989 that was witnessed by several other people. For more about Ryan’s play, visit the Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/RendleshamPlay 

Gary Whitta, Hollywood Screenwriter

Gary is a former videogame journalist and Editor-in-Chief of PC Gamer magazine. He is now a screenwriter for film and television, comic-book author and podcaster. Whitta’s first major screenplay was for the movie The Book of Eli, starring Denzel Washington. His latest screenplay is co-written with M. Night Shyamalan. This sci-fi adventure flick, titled After Earth, stars Will Smith and his son Jaden, and is directed by Shyamalan. It is set to premiere in June. We talk to Whitta about his new movie, science fiction, and, of course, extraterrestrials. For more on After Earth, visit the movie’s official website at: www.afterearth.com

Dr. Bruce Maccabee, The FBI UFO Connection

Dr. Bruce Maccabee is a retired optical physicist, and has been one of the premier UFO researchers in the last few decades. His accomplishments in this field are too long to list here, but in particular, Dr. Maccabee was the first to receive the FBI’s UFO files via a FOIA request in the late 1970s. A FBI story on a memo in these files has been getting a lot of attention lately. In this story, the FBI referenced having released the UFO memo in the 70s, they were referring to Dr. Maccabee. Even though this is the case, no one in the media has bothered talking to Dr. Maccabee about the memo, so we are. We will talk about how the media has gotten this story wrong, Dr. Maccabee’s opinion of this now infamous “Hottel” UFO memo, and what insights the FBI’s UFO files give us into their investigations into the subject. For more on Dr. Maccabee’s work, visit his website at: http://brumac.8k.com. 

Trish and Rob MacGregor, Aliens in the Backyard

The MacGregors have been professional writers for 25 years. They have mined numerous synchronicities and have fruitfully used the knowledge derived from them. One synchronicity after another led to their many non-fiction books on dreams, psychic development, astrology, yoga, the tarot, divination, and animal symbolism. They are also novelists. Rob wrote Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and six other original Indiana Jones novels, which have sold millions of copies.  He won the coveted Edgar Award for Prophecy Rock, a YA mystery, and its sequel, Hawk Moon, was an Edgar finalist. Trish, writing as T.J. MacGregor, won the Edgar in 2003 for best original paperback, for Out of Sight. Her 33 novels books have been translated into 14  languages. We will be talking about their latest non-fiction book, Aliens in the Backyard: UFO Encounters, Abduction & Synchronicity. In it they focus on 4 abduction encounters, and the synchronicities the witnesses have begun to experience. For more on the MacGregors and their books, visit their website at: www.synchrosecrets.com

Joan Bird, Montana UFOs and Extraterrestrials

Joan Bird is the author of a new book titled, Montana UFOs and Extraterrestrials. This book critically examines famous UFO events in Montana, including reported contact with extrarrestrials. It draws on recently declassfied government documents, historic reports, and first-hand interviews. Joan holds a Ph.D. in zoology, and worked as a freelance nature interpretation writer. She is now a columnist for Crone Magazine. She is a long time member of the Institute for Noetic Sciences, and will also share her unique perspectives on UFO disclosure and the connections between consciousness and Ufology. For more information on Joan and her book, visit: http://www.riverbendpublishing.com/montana-ufos-and-extraterrestrials.html.

Prof. Ted Peters, Astrobiology Meets Ufology

Astrobiologists and Ufologists are not typically seen together at the same BBQs. Why? Each argues that the other is not attending to the evidence. NASA’s Astrobiological Roadmap asks three research questions: What is the origin of life? Is there a second genesis of life? How will life expand from Earth to elsewhere? SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Life Institute) is listening for radio signals emitted from extra-solar civilizations. This is hard-nosed science. Yet, ufologists also believe they are employing scientific methods such as scrupulous investigation of sightings, hypnotic regression, statistical analysis, and such. Ufologists revere science. Why, then, is there tension if not outright hostility between the fields?  Ted Peters is the author of UFOs—God’s Chariots?, first published in 1977. Its penetrating cultural analysis of the UFO phenomenon remains definitive. He teaches systematic theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He co-edits the journal, Theology and Science, at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. He has recently served as consultant to NASA and SETI on astro-ethics. He is the author of GOD—The World’s Future (Fortress, rev. ed. 2000); Science, Theology and Ethics (Ashgate 2003); and co-author of A Theological and Scientific Commentary on Darwin’s Origin of Species (Abingdon 2009). The Peters ETI Religious Crisis Survey can be found at Counterbalance on the web: http://www.counterbalance.org/etsurv/index-frame.html.

Kathleen Marden, Abduction Commonalities Study

Kathleen Marden is a scientific ufologist whose interest in the topic started at a young age. Kathleen is the niece of Betty Hill who along with her husband Barney experienced the first widely publicized abduction. Along with her colleague Denise Stoner, Kathleen has put together a study on the commonalities between abduction experiencers. Their findings are very interesting and will be the topic of our discussion. Kathleen Marden earned her B.A. in Social Work at the University of New Hampshire in 1971. Thereafter, she entered into graduate studies in Education at the University of Cincinnati, and later, at U.N.H. She began her professional career as a social worker and eventually entered the field of education. She left her job in 1990, and decided to pursue a career as a UFO investigator, researcher and writer. She taught adult education classes on UFO and abduction history, and for 10 years volunteered as the Mutual UFO Network's Director of Field Investigator Training. She is currently a UFO & abduction writer and lecturer investigating some of the very substantial cases in the annals of UFO and abduction history. She was recently appointed as MUFON's Director of Abduction Studies. Visit Kathleen’s website at: http://www.kathleen-marden.com