Prime Time Replay:
Dennis Stacy
Omni Contributing Editor
on the 50th Anniversary Celebration
in Roswell, NM
MsgId: *high_strangeness(1)
Date: Tue Jul 8 20:54:20 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 168.100.204.58
We're pleased to announce tonight's special, impromptu presentation of High Strangeness. We have the honor of interviewing OMNI contributing editor Dennis Stacy, who's just returned from the UFO bash of the century -- the huge anniversary celebration of the alleged alien crash in Roswell, New Mexico. While events that transpired at Roswell almost exactly 50 years ago are still open to debate, the party in its honor was "out there" for the world to see. The Roswell fest may not tell us much about aliens, abductions, or government conspiracies, but it certainly makes a powerful statement about the state of American culture, American spirituality, American kitsch. You may have missed Woodstock, but, thanks to Stacy's coverage in OMNI's Roswell File, and his appearance tonight, you needn't miss this.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(2)
Date: Tue Jul 8 21:52:21 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
Hi, Pam, Omni!
MsgId: *high_strangeness(6)
Date: Tue Jul 8 21:57:55 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
Dennis, for the UFO-challenged, I'm wondering if you can give us just a bit of context. Why did the denizens of the field plan this story in the first place?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(7)
Date: Tue Jul 8 21:58:59 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
Excuse me --the brain of a journalist all the way, even in my typos. Why did they plan this huge UFO PARTY?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(8)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:00:19 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
Roswell, New Mexico, was home in 1947 to the 509th Bomb group, the world's only atomic air wing at the time. And it was near here, over the July 4th weekend, 1947, that a flying supposedly crashed and was recovered by the 509th.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(9)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:01:42 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
So this sighting, above all others, is worthy of a celebration? I guess everyone agreed. It was a huge media event. Can you tell us a about your experience? Start from the beginning, please.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(10)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:02:37 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
That would be flying *saucer,* and of course this would be the 50th anniversary of same. There were hopes (and hypes) of turning the occasion into some sort of desert Woodstock, but that fell apart in the wake of the Heaven's Gate suicides. Which is probably a good thing. Otherwise, people would probably have died from heat stroke -- it was that hot!
MsgId: *high_strangeness(11)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:04:31 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
Well, in the absence of a desert Woodstock, what was the scene you found when you arrived?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(12)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:05:15 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
As so often happens, it was more a media event than anything else. There were people there, to be sure, and an entertaining line up of speakers, but often you would go to an event to find the press (an estimated 300 from 15 countries) outnumbering the general public. You could have driven into Roswell and gotten a room anywhere, depite rumors that hotels for 100 miles around were booked up six months earlier.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(13)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:07:45 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
So it sounds as if those who planned the party didn't get what they hoped for --an overriding statement, a symbol and another watershed even in the field of ufology. Were they disappointed?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(14)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:08:37 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
Some of the local attractions were obligatory -- the UFO Enigma Museum, the International UFO Museum and Research Center, and any of at least four crash sites. We opted for the one on the Hub Corn ranch, about 25 miles north of town, as Philip Corso was being interviewed live there by CNN at the time.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(15)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:11:40 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
What does the lack of excitement on the part of the public tell you about our society's level of credulity? Are people really as swept away by the Roswell myth as it sometimes seems they are?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(16)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:12:12 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
There wasn't much newsy in the way of news to report, except for the media who hadn't been there before. Many major players in the UFO field, Stanton friedman, John Mack, Whitley Strieber, Keven Randle, etc., pretty much gace their canned speeches.The news event of the week was an anouncement by Paul Davids that conclusive proof of extraterrestrial visitation would be announced at a 9am press conference on July 4th.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(17)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:14:17 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
Can you tell us a bit about that announcement? What did he say?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(18)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:18:39 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
It was the sort of press conference that could only take place in the rarified, overestimated world of ufology. First, there was no press conference! The scientist who reported the discovery -- a Rusell VernonClark of the University of California, San Diego, was whisked out the back door of the auditorium before the assembled media could ask him a single question. His data seemed intriguing, if they stand up to peer review. Basically he presented evidence that a reported fragment from the Roswell crash indeed displayed "off-world" isotopic ratios of certain trace elements that would not be expected were they of earthly origin. But you don't call a press conference of that supposed magnitude and then duck out the back door.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(19)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:20:48 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
In other words, the so-called evidence was no evidence at all?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(21)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:23:27 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
Well, it was *some* evidence, and definitely interesting, if true. Trouble is, ufology goes about this stuff assbackwards. You do the studies, repeat them, have the announcement peer-reviewed, then publich the article and call the press conference. You don't call the press conference first and then refuse to face the music.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(22)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:23:45 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
This brings to mind the phrase, "isotopic, isoshmopic." Dennis, you make this party sound like one of the most overblown works of hype to hit the airwaves in years. What does this tell you about the state of ufology? It almost seems like an act of desperation.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(23)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:28:09 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
Well, it would be an act of desperation if ufology were unified enough to pull off the sort of vast conspiracy or operation they are always accusing the Air Force and federal government of so nimbly balancing with one arm tied behind their back. The fact is that ufology is so fractious and rudderless -- there is no agreed upon 'universal' spokesperson -- that virtually anything goes. In many cases, it means: what can you get away with? Philip Corso's recent alleged 'memoir/opus' being but the most recent egregious example.The "press conference" was simply high folly.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(25)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:30:16 EDT 1997
From: At: 168.100.204.58
Dennis, tell the disenfranchised what Corso did, please.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(26)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:36:09 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
Corso, a retired Army Colonel, was in the Army's Foreign technology desk at the Pentagon. In the early 50s, he served on Eisenhower's National Security Council. There is no doubt the man is who he says he is. What's at dispute are his claims, made in "The Day After Roswell," that he seeded recovered Roswell debris to various American industrial giants, resulting in the development of the laser, intergrated circuitry, night-viewing goggles, bullet-proof vests, the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Evil Soviet Empire, and God only knows what else. In short, he makes himself out to be the single most important individual of the 20th century -- without a shred of proof.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(27)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:38:15 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
Dennis, does all this --ALL of it-- send any message about the state of ufology, and the claims currently made by the movers and shakes of the field?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(28)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:43:25 EDT 1997
From: Dennis At: 206.127.4.82
*Some* are swallowing Corso's revised history, not only of ufology, but of the world. Others are asking for salt, others still are rejecting it out of hand, on its face. Two out of three is healthy behavior. Unfortunately, we're also seeing a strong knee-jerk out of hand rejection to the latest Air Force report on Roswell, which hardly anyone has had the time to read and digest yet. Corso, I think, can be easily tossed to the wolves. Roswell as a whole is a different matter altogether. Too many within ufology have put all their eggs within a single rickety basket, I'm afraid.
MsgId: *high_strangeness(29)
Date: Tue Jul 8 22:45:55 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
Go on ...I want to hear you conclude this line of thought. Where does the ufo movement go from here?
MsgId: *high_strangeness(31)
Date: Tue Jul 8 23:02:01 EDT 1997
From: OMNI_Moderator At: 168.100.204.58
It seems as if Dennis Stacy has been shunted off-line. We'll wait a few more minutes for his response. Whether he concludes or not, I think we all find his honest depiction of this "Mother of all UFO Parties" illuminating. Next time there's an anniversary, Dennis, perhaps you'll stay home and watch the X-Files, instead. Thank you and good-night.
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