Your Need to Know Video Special - Episode's 1 - 13

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Your Need to Know! Ep. 1 - UFO Briefing Document: UN Briefing Documents -The Best Available Evidence

Published on 6 Dec 2012

In this new series from Open Minds Antonio Huneeus takes a look at some of the most famous official investigations from around the world. The first in this series covers the UN Briefing documents in which Antonio was one of the people hired to craft by Laurence Rockefeller .

Your Need to Know! Ep. 2 - COMETA Report

  Published on 14 Dec 2012

This next part in our new series, "Your Need to Know", we cover the COMETA Report. The name COMETA in English stands for "Committee for in-depth studies". This report was carried out over a several year period at the Institute of Advanced Studies for National Defense, or IHEDN, a high-level French military think-tank.

Your Need to Know! Ep. 3 - Project Blue Book

Published on 21 Dec 2012

This next part in our new series, "Your Need to Know", we cover Project Blue Book. Blue Book was the result of two previous Air Force study projects, Sign and Grudge, in the late forties and lasted until early 1970. It's purpose was to determine if UFOs were a threat to national security, and to scientifically analyze UFO-related data. The project went through many changes, but there can be little doubt that it played a pivotal role in the official history of UFOs in the USA.

Your Need to Know! Ep. 4 - Italy's Fascist UFO Files

Published on 9 Jan 2013

This next part in our new series, "Your Need to Know", Antonio Huneeus examines Italy's Fascist UFO Files. These files were originally delivered in the mid-nineties to famed Italian ufologist and author Roberto Pinotti, and sent on stationary bearing the seal of the Kingdom's Senate and Agenza Stefani, the regime news agency in charge of disseminating Fascist propaganda. Forensic analysis was done on the documents and they were found to be originals and not photocopies. Andrea Bedetti, a historian and expert on Italy's Fascist era, found that the stationary, aeronautical terminology and vocabulary were all consistent with real documents from the period. These documents contained written testimony describing in detail several sightings along with hand-drawn pictures. It also discloses that Mussolini and Ciano, Italy's number one and number two leaders were informed right away about the phenomenon. These documents also talk of the alleged creation of the top secret "Cabinet RS/33", led by Marconi, and included some of Italy's most prominent astronomers, scientists and aeronautical engineers. As things went sour for Italy during the war, all the files from Cabinet RS/33 were supposedly shipped to Nazi Germany, where they might have influenced the Italian aeronautical engineer Belluzzo.

Your Need to Know Ep. 5 - The RAND Corporation

Published on 28 Mar 2013

This next part of our "Your Need to Know" series, Antonio Huneeus examines RAND Corporation's UFO document, titled UFO's: What to do? The RAND Corp was originally an outgrowth project of World War II, called Project RAND, in May of 1948 it separated from the Douglas Aircraft Company and became it's own independent, nonprofit organization.

George Kocher of the RAND Corporation, published this document in November of 1968, a few months after the University of Colorado completed it's Condon Report. The RAND Corp document is broken into five different essays, Historical Aspects, Astronomical Aspects, The Character of Reports, Phenomenological Aspects, and How to Proceed and Why. These essays explore the types of reports and sightings, how they are categorized, and a list of hypotheses that exist surrounding the phenomenon. The document also provides an example of a detailed UFO report form developed by the University of Colorado's study group.

Your Need to Know Ep. 6 - UFO Documents and the "FBI Vault"

Published on 10 Apr 2013

This next part of our "Your Need to Know" series, Antonio Huneeus examines the FBI Vault UFO Documents. The Vault was created in 2011 as a storehouse for commonly requested FBI documents already released under the Freedom of Information Act. Go to Vault.FBI.gov, and from there you can easily search a multitude of topics ranging from counterterrorism to unexplained phenomenon.

The FBI recently revealed on its website that the most searched document is a simple one page memo, called the "Guy Hottel Memo". Its contents were written on March 22, 1950, by Guy Hottel, a special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office, and allude to the crash and recovery of the Roswell UFO. The memo ends abruptly with a sentence stating that no further evaluations were attempted. Major news organizations reported on this document being newly released, but it was actually released under the Freedom of Information Act, and available since the 1970's. Bruce Maccabee was the first to obtain this document, and he believes it to be part of an elaborate hoax.

Your Need to Know Ep. 7 - Canada's Official UFO Studies

Published on 8 Jul 2013

The next episode in our series is titled Canada's Official UFO Studies. We will explore two of Canada's UFO reporting agencies: Project Magnet and Second Story, both established in the early 1950's. Also we will examine some details of the infamous Shag Harbor UFO incident. This case is one of the very few where a government agency formally acknowledges an unidentified flying object. It was determined that no known aircraft was involved in the incident, so the source remains unknown to this day.

Your Need to Know Ep. 8 - Australia's UFO Files

Published on 30 Aug 2013

The next episode in our series is Australia's UFO Files. The National Archives of Australia holds a number of records relating to UFOs, flying saucers and other unidentified aerial phenomena. The documents became available in August 2012 under Australia's 30-year rule. This rule orders the release of government documents 30 years after they were created. Most of these records date from the 1950's to the 70's, when public interest in UFOs was high and many sightings were reported to Commonwealth authorities.

Your Need to Know Ep. 9 - Chile's UFO Files

Published on 8 Oct 2013

The next episode in our series covers Chile's government organization CEFAA -- [Comite De Estudios De Fenomenos Aeros Anomalos] translated into English, "The Committee for the Study of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena."

Chile is one of the few countries around the world that has a government-backed UFO research organization. In Spanish UFOs are referred to as OVNIs. [Objecto Volador No Identificado] In 1997 the country publicly recognized it was experiencing UFO sightings and that the phenomenon was real. Some incidents could not be explained by natural phenomena and could not be identified as any type of man-made object.

Your Need to Know Ep. 10 - Brazil's UFO Files

Published on 29 Nov 2013

The next episode in our series covers Brazil's UFO investigations. The government of Brazil has openly acknowledged the topic since the 1950's and has released a number of UFO files from their investigations. From 1969 up until 1972 Brazil had an official UFO research organization called The System for the Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (SIOANI). It'd investigation were open to the public, and they would often work with civilian UFO researchers. However, when the US closed their UFO investigation program, Project Blue Book, the Brazilians soon followed their lead and closed SOIANI in 1972.

Your Need to Know Ep. 11 - Uruguay's UFO Files

Published on 28 Mar 2014

In this episode we will explore Uruguay's UFO investigations. Uruguay is one of the smallest countries in South America and witnesses have reported phenomenon in Uruguay since 1947. It is one of the countries where the military seems to be more open-minded towards the UFO phenomenon. In 1979 the President of Uruguay established the 'Commission for Receiving and Investigating Complaints of Unidentified Flying Objects' or CRIDOVNI as an official department of the Uruguayan Air Force. The commission receives, researches and investigates UFO sightings as part of their routine activity and they openly explore the possibility of extraterrestrial origins.

Your Need to Know  Ep. 12 - Peru's UFO Files

Published on 8 Jul 2014

Peru has long been recognized as a UFO hotspot by Ufologists and researchers alike. Some believe that archeological wonders such as the Nazca lines and Machu Picchu are evidence that ancient astronauts visited the area and are possibly still visiting today. On top of its rich archeological connection and a large populace that holds an interest in the phenomenon, Peru stands out as a country that takes UFO sightings very seriously.

Your Need to Know Ep. 13 - China's Shocking UFO History 

Published on 1 Oct 2014

It has always been difficult for westerners to coordinate with UFO researchers in eastern countries. However, China has amazing UFO cases, and the Chinese government has helped UFO researchers get their findings to the public. This episode of Your Need to Know covers some of those great Chinese UFO cases, and reviews how modern UFO research, with the aid of the Chinese government, began.

Archives of the Alien Variety?

By Nick Redfern

It’s amazing what you can find when you go looking into the seldom-studied archives of certain government, military, and intelligence agencies. A perfect case in point being a certain, brief wave of encounters of the UFO kind that reached the eyes and ears of the old British Air Ministry in the clearly-defined period of August to September 1963. Each and every one of the cases referred to below (and many more from this same time frame) can be found in the depths of Britain’s National Archives, but have seldom received the publicity they deserve. So, it’s time to change that…
An event occurred at Beckenham, Kent, England, in late August 1963 that bore all the hallmarks of an encounter with one of the fabled Foo Fighters of the Second World War. And, notably, the witness had a military background: he had served during the hostilities of 1939-45 with an anti-aircraft detachment and until 1961 was attached to a territorial unit of the British Army.
As Mr. W. Hooper informed the Air Ministry:
“At 0150 hrs on Tuesday the 27th August I was awakened by my wife to see what appeared to be something in flames falling from the sky, slightly N.W. of my house. This object appeared to be a ball of incandescent gas, red and black and was about a foot in diameter, and gave the impression of intense heat. It dropped like a stone from approximately 1000 ft to 500 ft, then stayed still for about 2-3 seconds, then started moving at an incredible speed in a Northerly direction and was out of sight in a matter of about 4 seconds. As it went away the wind brought a slight humming sound to us and the red and black appearance turned slightly yellow.”
He continued: “I would be grateful if you could throw any light on the matter for me and would like especially to know if you had anything showing on your radar screens at the time I have stated. I am convinced that the object was powered as it travelled against the wind, and think what we saw may have been some sort of exhaust gas or flame.”



Possibly anticipating that Whitehall would offer a totally down-to-earth explanation for what occurred, Mr. Hooper closed his letter thus: “I hope you will not try and persuade me that the object was a meteorological balloon as these as far as I know could not possibly travel against the wind.”
In this particular case, Air Intelligence once again asserted that a solution had been found. Mr. Hooper, came back the conclusion, had been fooled by a “fireball.” That the UFO had hovered in the air for two to three seconds was ignored by Air Intelligence; as was the fact that Mr. Hooper’s anti-aircraft work during the Second World War would have given him first-class observational skills.
Three weeks later, on 16 September 1963, Flight Lieutenant A.J. Brown of RAF Middleton St. George, near Darlington, England received details of an encounter with an unidentified aerial intruder reported by one O. Filon of County Durham. Undercover of a Restricted memorandum forwarded to Whitehall, Flt. Lt. Brown mailed a copy of Mr. Filon’s report, which read thus:
“At approximately 10.25 p.m. last night (sun. 15th) my son called me into his bedroom. He pointed out a light looking exactly like a star. It was moving towards us in what appeared a very slow fashion. I at first took it to be a plane but the light was too bright and it appeared to be at a great height. The light then appeared to be zig-zagging. Not as an aircraft would, i.e. with a bank or curve at each new leg of flight but with an immediate change of direction.

“When almost overhead the light underwent a course change of approx. 90 degrees. The line of flight was again constant and it headed away in an E.S.E. direction. After a short time it appeared stationary. This was for maybe three to four minutes. The light suddenly appeared to go out, then just for a fraction of a second it seemed to be dark blue, then it was gone.

 

“The only conclusion I can make out is that it was moving outwards! The whole thing lasted for approx. 15 mins. and was seen by my wife, my son and myself.”
And again, there was the crucial factor so present in the overwhelming majority of those cases discussed thus far: “I would like to point out that during the war I was a radar operator, a trained supervisor, one of six selected for the whole of the M.E. Command.”
Needless to say, the Air Ministry again dismissed the case. “The man saw a satellite,” Air Intelligence informed the office at Whitehall that handled UFO reports from the general public.

Barely a week after, a UFO incident took place at Peterborough, England, that involved both civilian and military witnesses. The facts were set forth in a two-page Restricted report from Sergeant T.G.M. Kendall at RAF Wittering, Northants., who graphically relayed to the Air Ministry what took place; and since this particular report is of some significance, I reproduce its contents in total:
“Sir, I have the honour to report the following facts for your consideration. I was NCO in charge [of the] Operations Room at 2240 hours on 26th September, 1963 when I received a telephone call from Mr. STRICKSON of [witness’s address] who, in company with Mr. QUANTRELL of the same address, saw what he considered to be two unidentified flying objects. The objects were in view in the first instance from 2000-2100 hours.
“During that time two orange coloured balls of light travelled from the South to the East in a zig-zag fashion, then were seen again moving from West to East. They were then seen to orbit overhead for some ten minutes during which time three or four objects left the two first mentioned and then rejoined them. Mr. Strickson was not able to estimate the range or the altitude of the sightings, but considered them to be higher than an aeroplane but lower than a star.



“I received a further call from Mr. Strickson at 2250 hours reporting two objects blue in colour, higher than the previous sighting, and travelling very quickly. At 2320 hours Mr. Strickson informed me of two sightings which had taken place at 2305 hours when two objects were seen to move west to east in close formation one behind the other, the one in front being appreciably brighter than the one behind.
“At 2330, 2340 and 2350 hours, I received calls from S.A.C.W. [Author’s Note: Senior Aircraftswoman] Marshall, the Duty PBX Operator, who had seen a bright orange light moving north to south which had turned south in the first instance and subsequently orbited overhead. At one time she thought that she had heard engines but was not sure.
“As a result of these calls, I joined S.A.C.W. Marshall outside the PBX building and saw at 0010 and 0020 hours two orange lights approx. 30 seconds apart which appeared from W.S.W. at a constant altitude heading approx. 100 degrees, flying what I considered to be a left hand race track pattern.
“I lost sight of the objects as they described a descending left hand turn onto the reciprocal of the visible leg. The sightings were exactly 10 minutes apart and speed, direction and altitude appeared to be constant. Flying Officer Gastrell was Duty Operations Officer when these sightings were reported. On his instructions I informed the Duty Operations Officer No.3 Group of the various reports. He in turn contacted the Duty Operations Officer at Air Ministry.
“The Duty Operations Officer at Air Ministry required a full report to be submitted to Air Ministry D.D.I. Tech [Author’s Note: Deputy Directorate of Intelligence, Technical] giving full particulars of all witnesses. A met. Report giving the conditions at two specimen times during the period of sightings is attached to this report. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient Servant, T.G.M. Kendall, Sergeant.”
Once again the Air Ministry quickly came up with a solution. All of the witnesses (including trained military observers) had been fooled by an air-to-air refuelling operation. However, an examination of the files pertaining to the case show that, in reality, this was simply the Ministry’s best “guesstimate,” as no such refuelling operation was ever officially confirmed as having taken place.
The cases cited above are just three of many that caught the attention of the Air Ministry in August and September 1963; yet they were all dismissed as of no consequence – even though the witnesses were serving or retired military personnel.
A case of the government of the day merely wanting to be rid of the UFO controversy because it was embarrassed by the fact that it didn’t have a full understanding of the matter? An attempt to play-down officialdom’s shocking knowledge of visitations to our world from something unearthly? Or something else? Fifty years later, it’s unlikely we’ll ever have solid answers...