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Starting on Tax Day, April 15, the Sci Fi Channel began a new series of specials delving into mysterious topics such as UFOs, government coverups, hauntings and psychic phenomena. Each episode in the series, entitled ÒTuesday Declassified,Ó features an hour-long investigation into a single topic, allowing for more in-depth treatment than in the previous ÒSightingsÓ series, which featured numerous shorts in an hour-long magazine format.
The series began 8-11 p.m. with a triple whammy. First ÒUFO ChroniclesÓ featured a series of investigative reports of contacts, abductions, landings and sightings through testimony of witnesses, photos and video. Then came ÒAlien Gods,Ó an examination of UFOs in religious art and ancient scriptures plus modern UFO cults from Heaven's Gate to the Raelians. The third and final episode was ÒThe Secret,Ó an examination of leaked government files that prove a cover-up of UFO information and purport to show that the government is hiding crashed flying saucers and their occupants.
ÒAlien GodsÓ provided a view of UFO religions seldom seen by the general public. Although their beliefs and rituals may seem bizarre at first glance, their adherents came off as sincere and intelligent.
An interview with Raelian founder Paul Vorilhon showed the man to be forthright and apparently sincere, even when making outrageous claims such that he is JesusÕ brother (he says they were both cloned from the same genes) and that immortality can be achieved by cloning oneÕs body and then transferring all oneÕs memories into it, going from body to body ad infinitum.
Members of the Unarius Academy of Science, founded by Ruth Norman in 1954, were shown parading in Hollywood-style futuristic garb performing rituals as if out of an old episode of Star Trek. A Unarian spokesman said they believe spirits from outer space, as well as from the lost civilizations of Atlantis and Lemuria, channeled through Norman and others to help guide humanity.
The third and final episode provided an overview of the famous Majestic or MJ-12 documents purportedly leaked to filmmaker Jaime Shandera in 1984 and a more recent batch of MJ-12 documents
leaked to UFO investigator Timothy Cooper in 1992. As most UFO students know by now, the original MJ-12 documents describe the formation of a secret group of 12 prominent men immediately after the Roswell crash in 1947. Deceiving the public was written into the documents from the beginning as standard operating procedure.
The new documents given to Cooper include an Òoperations manualÓ giving directions on how to handle alien artifacts. It includes descriptions of fiber optic cables and printed circuit boards, technology that was unknown when the documents were supposedly written. Although debate still rages over the documentsÕ authenticity, physicist Stanton Friedman claims on the series that he personally saw and handled some of the original documents and that file numbers and even typos point to their authenticity.
This coming Tuesday, April 22, ÒTuesday DeclassifiedÓ focuses on spiritual phenomena, starting at 7 p.m. with Ghost Stories, exploring famous ghost encounters in history and in modern times, followed by California's Most Haunted Ñ five documented stories of the paranormal, including footage of apparent spirits ø and An Unknown Encounter, a two-hour special featuring Barry Conrad's famed ghost footage from the infamous "San Pedro Haunting."
Coming up on April 29 is Miracles, hosted by Lee Majors, a worldwide look into such extraordinary wonders as spontaneous healings and unexplained life-altering events. Then comes the two-hour movie Crop Circles: Quest for Truth, by Academy Award-nominated director William Gazecki who also directed Waco: The Rules of Engagement. The movie explores prevailing theories about the origin and nature of crop circles and their possible implications for the future.
Hal McKenzie, (mcke8344@cox.net),
is a veteran journalist and a contributing editor of World Tribune.com and www.cosmictribune.com.