A civilization which has a desire to survive will know that what it does not know can hurt it. The bullet that we do not see is the one that will kill us. The civilization that lulls itself into thinking that it has a handle on absolute knowledge is putting itself at risk to the unknown. When it comes to collecting intelligence we can never make assumptions. We must always be looking beyond the pale, watching our backside and keeping our eyes on the horizon for warning signs. To do otherwise is foolhardy and suicidal.

Our ability to watch our backside has been seriously eroded by the politics surrounding the UFO phenomenon. The blame for this situation can be placed upon our over-reliance on a singular and dated vision of science. The scientific establishment reckons that any alternative form of knowledge is a threat to its continued domination and so it fosters a climate of ridicule surrounding non-conforming ideas and phenomena. This is not a healthy situation. If there ever was a place for pluralism it should be in our intelligence gathering processes.

The thinking directed to the issue of anomalous phenomena has become so polarized and politicized that rationality has all but vanished. Rationality has been replaced by suspicion and vindictiveness in virtually all of the discourse surrounding this topic. Thus has our intelligence gathering ability been severely compromised. This constitutes a potentially enormous problem with which we apparently lack the will to cope.

Against this backdrop of irrationality and inaction, there is, nonetheless, an opportunity to take a small but perhaps significant step toward a greater understanding. There exists a microcosm wherein all of the problems noted above find a focussed and concrete expression. I am referring to the now notorious 'Aviary.' The Aviary is a group of individuals with significant government connections who have demonstrated a long-term interest in anomalous phenomena and who cloak themselves in secrecy.

I suggest a concerted public effort to examine the sources and methods of this group in order to bring it to a greater public accountability. The success or failure of this rather modest undertaking will be a test of our resolve to ever shed light and reason on the much larger problem confronting us. The primary strategy will simply be to confront the individuals and their government connections with our concerns and a demand for a public accounting. There will be a grass-roots effort to gather public support.

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rev. 5/6/98