The Belgian UFO wave: "backstage"

Part 1/2

Monsieur D'Amato's travels

By the end of October 97, a French friend slipped the following information in an E. mail addressed to me: "Did you know that a Mister Richard D'Amato, official envoy of the US Congress, came to Belgium a few month after the Belgian UFO wave to meet privately General De Brouwer (Belgian Air Force, Operations Section Commander) and the persons in charge of SOBEPS (Société Belge d'Etudes des Phénomènes Spaciaux)?" Well, no, I did know that...

I must add that my French correspondent, whom identity must remain secret, had always been a reliable source of information. Besides, he is not a "ufologist".

From this day, I tempted to obtain more data on this Mister Richard D'Amato. Once again, Internet proved to be a key tool and a very powerful one.

First, I decided to interrogate an Internet search engine by typing in the following keywords: "Richard C. D'Amato". I was quite surprised to notice that the search engine only provided me with very few entries. Four or five, no more.

The only entry dealing with "our man" was a digest of papers which mostly emanated from the reputable "Washington Post". The summary of papers is as follows:

[...] A secret Defence Intelligence Agency program that posed tough military questions to a handful of full-time, salaried psychics was kept alive for years at the insistence of a few senators and a congressional staff aide despite opposition from senior military intelligence officials.

[C. Richard] D'Amato, who was assigned to the committee staff by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), a former Appropriations Committee Chairman, confirmed in an interview yesterday that he kept the program alive because four to six senators had expressed unusual and sustained interest in its potential, and because similar psychic research was being pursued by the Soviet Union, China and "some of our European allies."

--Washington Post, Dec. 1, 1995

What can we conclude from this paper? First, it ascertains that Mister D'Amato worked for the US Congress. One also learns from it that he was "hired" by Senator Byrd to take part in a Congress Committee in charge of evaluating and "reconducting" a "psy" program from the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). Briefly, this resembles the so-called "Stargate Program" which involves psychic spies, in other words persons with unusual gifts such as "remote viewing"... Unbelievable, indeed! All of this is quite official, and mostly "sponsored" by the US tax payer!

Another interesting data is the allegation "...that he kept the program alive..." : So D'Amato himself admits that he worked to have the program renewed. Because he was appointed by the DIA or even by another higher decision "structure". This would explain why he was an official member of a Congress Commission.

The reference to similar projects being conducted by "some of our European allies" was also of interest to me. But the "priority" had to be given to D'Amato. Because there are numerous unanswered questions about him. For instance, why did this man, officially commissioned by the higher US Authorities, come to SOBEPS Office and especially visit General De Brouwer? Who is exactly D'Amato and why did the US Congress seem to pay so much attention to "the Belgian UFO wave" of 1989-1991. Why did Sen. Byrd choose D'Amato? Who is really Sen. Byrd? What is the role of the "psychical spies" in this story. We will know more soon.

Pursuing my administrative investigations, I succeeded in obtaining several documents of interest: e.g. the following list of the members of the Sub-Committee on Military Construction, under the authority of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. The responsible person for the Democrats is Hon. Robert C. Byrd. Under the 104th Congress, he even was the "chairman", i.e. the President.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY CONSTRUCTION

SD-140 Dirksen Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-7204
Clerk: Sid Ashworth
Minority Clerk: C. Richard D'Amato

Republicans (4)

Conrad Burns, Mont. - chairman
Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas
Lauch Faircloth, N.C.
Larry E. Craig, Idaho

Democrats (3)

Patty Murray, Wash. - ranking member
Harry Reid, Nev.
Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii

source: CQ NewsAlert
© 1996, Congressional Quarterly Inc. All rights reserved.

One can notice that Mr D'Amato held a "key" position in one of the sub-Committees on Appropriations. This was and stil is a very special sub-Committee! Indeed, Mr. D'Amato is a Consultant for the National and International Security Affairs! Quite normal altogether, since he is also a member of the staff of Sen. Byrd. All these qualifications make him a specialist of the US Army Intelligence Service. And this why he appears in this story.

Just by looking at the list of the members of two committees (Appropriations and Armed Services) during the 104th Congress, one can note that Richard C. D'Amato (a.k.a. "Dick" ) always holds very high positions.

The lists of members are a bit long, but packed with valuable data. This is the reason why I think that they are worth being shown below. One name is remarkable: that of Sen. Storm Thurmond. He is the very same person who wrote the forewords in the first version of Colonel Philip Corso's book. At this time, Corso was not call "The Day After Roswell", yet. But here are the lists:

SENATE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES

Senator                 Position        Ofc.    Ph.#    Fax#   Principal Staff Contact

Strom Thurmond (R-SC)   SASC/Chair,SASC SR217 5972    1300   Tom Moore

Sam Nunn (D-GA)         SASC/RMM, SASC  SD303 3521    0072   Arnold Punaro

Trent Lott (R-MS)       SASC SCST/ST&S        SR487   6253    2262   Sam Adcock / 6825~

Kay Hutchinson (R-TX)   SASC SCST/ST&S        SH703   5922    0776   Ken Johnson

Richard Bryan (D-NV)    SASC SCST/ST&S        SR364   6244    1867   Tim Hay

John McCain (R-AZ)      SASC SCST       SR111 2235    8938   Chris Paul

Robert Byrd (D-WV)      SASC/RRM,SAC/De SH311 3954    8070   Dick D'Amato

William Cohen (R-ME)    SASC            SH322 2523    2693   Dale Gerry

Dan Coats (R-IN)        SASC            SR404 5623    1966   Pam Sellars / 5623~

Bob Smith (R-NH)        SASC            SD332 2841    1353   Tom Lankford /

Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID)  SASC            SD367 6142    5893   Glen Tait

John Warner (R-VA)      SASC            SR225   203     6295   Les Brownlee / 9356~ / SR228~

James Inhofe (R-OK)*    SASC            SR453 4721    ----   ---

Rick Santorum (R-PA)*   SASC            SDB40-2      6324    xxxx   ---

Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)    SASC            SH110 5521    2852   Patrick Von Bargen

Carl Levin (D-MI)       SASC            SR459 6221    1388   Mike Thomas / 6587~

Ted Kennedy (D-MA)      SASC            SR315 4543    2417   Gare Smith / 5112~

Joseph Liebermann(D-CT) SASC            SH316 4041    9750   Tom Parker / 8787~

Chuck Robb (D-VA)       SASC            SR493 4024    8689   J. J. Gertler / 8033~

John Glenn (D-OH)       SASC            SH503 3353    7983   Phil Upschulte / 3353~

Legends:
* = freshman member of 104th Congress
SCST = Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation
ST&S = Subcommittee on Science, Technology, & Space of SCST
SASC = Senate Armed Services Committee
SAC = Senate Appropriations Committee
De. = Defense Subcommittee of SAC
RMM = Ranking Minority Member
Wednesday 8 February 1995

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator                    Position                            Ofc.   Ph.#  Fax#   Staffer

Mark Hatfield (R-OR)      SAC/Chair, SAC                      SH711  3753  0276

Robert Byrd (D-WV)         SAC/RMM, SAC/Def SASC               SH311  3954  1689

Christopher Bond (R-MO)           SAC/Chair,VA-HUD-IA/Def             SR293  5721  8149   Brent Franzel

Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)           SAC/RMM, VA-HUD-IA                  S----  4654  8858   Kevin Kelley

Conrad Burns (R-MT)       SAC/VA-HUD-IA,SCST/Chair, ST&S      SD183  2644  8594   D. McClellan

Robert Bennett (R-UT)     SAC/VA-HUD-IA                       SD241  5444

Robert Kerrey (D-NE)      SAC/VA-HUD-IA                       SH303  6551  7645   Carolyn Fuller

Phil Gramm (R-TX)          SAC/VA-HUD-IA/Def                   SR370  2934  82856  D.Ribbentrop

Richard Shelby (R-AL)     SAC/VA-HUD-IA/Def                   SH509  5744

J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA) SAC/VA-HUD-IA/Def                   SH136  5824  2952   Jeff Martin/

Patrick Leahy (D-VT)       SAC/VA-HUD-IA/Def                   SR433  4242  3595   J.P. Dowd

Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)           SAC/VA-HUD-IA/Def                   SH506  4744  9707   Bruce King

Ted Stevens (R-AK)         SAC/VA-HUD-IA/Chair,Def,SCST/ST&S   SH522  3004  2354

Daniel Inouye (D-HI)       SAC/RMM, Def SCST                   SH722  3934  6747

Arlen Specter (R-PA)      SAC/Def                             SH530  4254  9029   Morrie Ruffin

Pete Domenici (R-NM)      SAC/Def                             SD427  6621  7371   Marco Gonzales

Thad Cochran (R-MS)        SAC/Def                             SR326  5054  9450   Jack Hoggard

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)    SAC/Def                             SR120  2541  2499   Robin Cleveland

Connie Mack (R-FL)         SAC/Def                             SH517  5274  9365   Ross Lindholm

Tom Harkin (D-IA)          SAC/Def                             SH531  3254  7431   Sandy Thomas

Dale Bumpers (D-AR)        SAC/Def                             SD229  4843  6435   Bruce McDonald

Slade Gorton (R-WA)        SAC/SCST                            SH730  3441  9393   Terri Claffey

James Jeffords (R-VT)      SAC                                 SH513  5141

Judd Gregg (R-NH)          SAC                                 SR393  3324

Herb Kohl (D-WI)           SAC                                 SH330  5653  9787   Jeanne Bruns

Harry Reid (D-NV)          SAC                                 SH324  3542  7327   David Chartier

Patty Murray (D-WA)        SAC                                 SH302  2621  0238   Eric Ostrovsky

Legends:
SCST = Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation
ST&S = Subcommittee on Science, Technology, & Space of SCST
SASC = Senate Armed Services Committee
SAC = Senate Appropriations Committee
Def = Defense Subcommittee of SAC
VA-HUD-IA = Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, Housing & Urban Development, & Independent Agencies of SAC
RMM = Ranking Minority Member
date: Wednesday 8 February 1995

This document can be found on Internet at the following URL:
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/usr/fj04/homepage.html

All these data strongly support the view that D'Amato works for the highest US authority. The article published by the Washington Post and the Senate documents are consistent with the above assertion. However, the agency for which really worked (and still works?) D'Amato remains to be identified. CIA, DIA, NSC, FBI, NSA, ONI, OSI, AFI? Your bet is as good as mine.

At the beginning of my investigations, I was tempted to believe that D'Amato worked for the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). This conviction was based on the facts that: (i) he made noticeable efforts to maintain and renew a "Psy" budget line at the DIA; and (ii) "Dick" was a member of two Committees, the activities of which being related to the Army;. However, the National Security Council (NSC) could also be a reasonable bet. The NSC controls most, if not all, of the Intelligence Services of the USA. It is under the direct command of the President of the United States of America.

These are the reasons why I got in touch directly with Major Ed Dames, an ex-"psy-spy" now at the Stanford Institute. In the meantime, and without any arrangement, Jeff, the person responsible for the "Sciences" team at the UFOCOM, made a similar approach. He contacted Ingo Swan, one of the "big cheeses" of the "Stargate Program". As an anecdote, during tests run jointly by the CIA and DIA, Ingo Swan succeeded in describing very precisely a "top-secret" military installation given only its geographical coordinates. Jeff and I are very sceptical about this kind of stories and experiments. However, The Ingo Swan trail could have been helpful to channel our way towards D'Amato. But we never heard from Swan.

The person who provided us with a decisive argument to relate D'Amato with the NSC was Jess Marcel Jr... Yes, indeed! Jess Marcel Jr, the son of Captain Jess Marcel. This latter was an senior officer at Roswell, and he directly eye-witnessed the recovery of a machine which would have "crashed" close to the city of Roswell in 1947. We are living on a small planet, aren't we? And may be, our planet is even smaller than this...

On April 13, 1995, Dr. Jess Marcel Jr, made the following statement at a Conference held at Helena, Montana.

He claimed that he was invited in Washington, D.C., by a "Dick" D'Amato, who introduced himself (showing him official accreditation) as a staff member of Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a specialist of National Security and an "agent de liaison" at the NSC. This "very private" meeting took place on a day of July 1991.

Later on, Jess Marcel told Michaël Lindemann, a US investigator and the editor of the ISCNI*Flash, that D'Amato asked him to describe the objects, scraps and remains taken at Roswell by his father, exactly fifty years ago. He also wanted to know what did this event change in his life.

Dr. Jess Marcel also stated that, at one time during the meeting, D'Amato moved towards a table and took a book laying there. It was "Majestic" by Whitley Streiber. Showing him this book, he said: "This is not a invention"... And yet, it was supposed to be a fiction.

Dr. Marcel then asked a question to D'Amato, inquiring where now were the remains of the machine recovered in '47. D'Amato answered: "We, at the NSC, don't have any clue to answer this question".

Monsieur D'Amato concluded the interview by kindly requesting Dr. Marcel to keep him informed if some new elements came to his mind, or if he received - again - some unpleasant phone calls, or he felt harassed anyhow.

The truth is that one has been putting this sort of "pressure" on Dr. Jeff Marcel for years.

Regarding this story, an investigator named James Easton wrote: "[On 30 July], I was speaking with Graham Birdsall of Quest International and editor of UFO Magazine (UK) and I asked if he had ever heard of this claim. Like myself, it was news to him. As he was due to telephone Stanton Friedman the following day concerning the "Santilli affair" I suggested that Stanton may be interested to hear of this.The following evening, Graham confirmed he had mentioned this toStanton and was somewhat taken aback to hear Stanton confirm that not only had he heard of this meeting, he was there! There was one other unnamed person also present.
Stanton was very surprised that Dr. Marcel had released the name of Mr. D'Amato and said that D'Amato had indicated that he would not confirm this meeting had taken place.
The following day, Graham told me that he had just been speaking to Timothy Good and had mentioned this meeting to him. Tim was also very surprised to hear of this.
For the last few years, both in Washington and in London, Tim had met with Dick D'Amato in confidence.Tim was introduced to D'Amato by Whitley Strieber and confirmed that these events are relevant to Strieber's latest book, "Breakthrough." Again, Tim did not expect to hear D'Amato publicly identified and said that some of the content of his next book refers to these meetings and their implications, but that he had not identified D'Amato. As this information was now in the public domain, he would consequently be doing so."

This meting is also mentioned in a paper written by Dr. Richard J. Boylan, a US psychologist and ufologist. The title of the paper is: "Birds of a Feather No Longer: Policy Split Divides 'Aviary' UFO-Secrecy Group".

Here is a very interesting excerpt:
"Dick D'Amato, National and International Security Specialist for Senator Robert Byrd and a member of the National Security Council, stated in 1991 that an incredibly powerful "black arm" of the government has been keeping UFO information secret and has also been illegally spending enormous sums of money in this operation."

To summarize, Richard C. D'Amato is a man "who knows". Interestingly enough, the whole story started with a short message dealing with the visit of a Richard D'Amato, commissioned by the US Senate. But after some dozens of hours of investigation, phone calls, fax and E mail exchanged, this person was identified as a member of NSC, a specialist in National and International Security working for Sen. Byrd (Committee for Appropriations) and a "big cheese" who promoted the renewal of a DIA budget attributed to a "Psy" program of the Stargate type. Furthermore D'Amato probably met with Whitley Streiber, Dr Jess Marcel Jr., Stanton Friedman, Timothy Good, SOBEPS members and Gen. De Brouwer.

Concerning these two last persons or group of persons, I had nothing in my hands which confirmed their meeting with D'Amato in Belgium. How could I verify these data?

If D'Amato had been officially delegated by the US Congress, several Belgian Senior Officers (Defence Secretary, Senate, SGR, etc...) should have been kept informed. Furthermore, this kind of visit, the purpose of which can be termed "exotic", should have left some traces in the memories if not in official documents. It is reasonable to assume that the Chief Officer responsible for the section "Opérations" at the Belgian Air Force (FAe) can only welcome a member of the Senate Staff (tied with the Intelligence Services) under the approval of the Defence Ministry and very likely under that of the Defence Minister. At this time, the Belgian Defence Minister was Mr Guy Coëme and his military counsellor was Lieutenant- General Michel Mandl.

I have true respect for Mr. Coëme because he suffered from several misfortunes, related both to his private and public lives, keeping high morality without showing-off. To him, Belgian people owe the "transparence" related to the events of 1989-91. To him also, SOBEPS owes its close collaboration with the Army. To him again, and to Gen. De Brouwer, we all owe the feeling that we have come closer to clarification...

With this state of mind, I wrote the following letter (note: translated from French) to the residence of the Minister Guy Coëme:

"Dear Mister Minister, First of all, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Thierry Wathelet, I am 32 and I am currently preparing a first book dealing with the question of UFOs. I am not a UFOlogist, but merely a citizen who has been investigating this phenomenon for some four years now.

[...] At present, I am completing a chapter on the Belgian "UFO wave 1989-1991" and I found myself in front of questions that you may certainly better answer than I may.

At the end of the Belgian wave, the US Senate supposedly sent a delegate, a Mister Richard C. D'Amato, with the mission to meet with Gen. De Brouwer (note: he was a Colonel at this time) and, on the day before, several responsible people at SOBEPS. Could you tell me, Mister Minister, if this visit was an official one, and, if it was, what were the objectives?

Could you, Mister Minister, give me some information on the above point? I just remember that media mentioned it but you know that journalists exhibit a clear trend to "adapt" the news to their need... Your help might prove to be valuable to understand what exactly went on at this time. Your willingness to open the related files was, at that time, a world "première". This behavior was also in complete opposition with that of Mr. Poncelet who just officially closed this file on the basis of two documents, one of which being erroneous. I am also quite surprised to notice that there is no official reaction of the US authorities following the accusation originating from our Defence Minister. At that time, USA were conducting tests on "top-secret" aeroplanes above Belgium. He even gave the name of the planes: it was LoFLYTE. Mister Minister, what do you think of this assertion?

My request is that of an historian, not that of a columnist. I hope you may help me in my investigations.

Looking forward to hearing from you, I remain, Mister Minister, sincerely yours."

Sometimes later, Monsieur Coëme kindly answered my letter. He said that he would have been delighted to help me. However, we were dealing with an old story and he had kept no personal files on these events, which still should be available from the Defence Ministry.

Yes, indeed... Mr Coëme did not provide me with new data. I was still unable to confirm the visit of Mr. D’Amato at SOBEPS, and his meeting with Gen. De Brouwer.

Several months ago, I obtained the electronic address of Gen. De Brouwer. At the beginning of my investigations, the idea to get in touch with him came to my mind. I wrote to him to ask his felling on the recent "Belgian wave". He never answered, therefore I though that it was not disturbing him once again.

My last chance to get a confirmation of D’Amato’s visit was at the SOBEPS association, the activity of which was prominent during the Belgian wave and central to the UFO question between 1989 and 1992. The relationships between the people responsible for the SOBEPS association and I were not always smooth. Who was right or wrong is of no importance. Also, with respect to our potential interest in the LoFLYTE affair, I decided that it was time to look further than our differences. This was made possible only because Michel Bougard, the director of the SOBEPS, shared the same feelings.

I therefore sent a fax to Mr. Bougard’s house, asking him to confirm (or not) D’Amato’s visit. A kind answer came pretty fast: "Indeed, I hereby confirm that we received Mr. R. C. D'Amato at the SOBEPS, on July 1992". M. Bougard also stated that he did not attend the meeting with D’Amato, but that several colleagues did. He told me that he was going to ask Pr. Meessen, Lucien Clerbaut (Secretary General) and Patrick Ferryn, and keep me informed.

Mr Bougard held his words. A few days later, with the kind authorization from his colleagues, he sent me the following data that were passed on to him by Mrs. Clerebaut et Ferryn (Pr. Meessen will reply later):

Mr Richard D'Amato came to visit SOBEPS Office, Avenue Janson, in Bruxelles, on July 9, 1992. He introduced himself as "an official envoy", delegated by a group of US Senators who were interested in the observations made in Belgium, and in the putative relationship of these with what they called "Black Programs". Supposedly, D'Amato came to determine whether the observed phenomenon should be attributed to flying objects, the existence of which being hidden to US people. His card mentioned: C. Richard D'Amato, Counsel for International and National Security Policies, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate.

According to the persons who attended the meeting, D'Amato appeared to know very little about the "UFO" context, generally speaking. His data on Roswell seemed to be exactly those presented on TV and in the newspapers to the average US citizen.

Any way, we got it! The confirmation that D’Amato came at SOBEPS was given to us by a very reliable source. Furthermore, the willingness of the SOBEPS to open their files (an exceptional fact amongst "serious" UFOlogists, allowed me to double-check previous data. Indeed, Monsieur D’Amato played the same tune at SOBEPS than that he played to Dr. Jess Marcel Jr., the son of the Intelligence Officer of Roswell Base, exactly one year before.

What has been written by Dr Richard Boylan should therefore be true... What has been claimed by Friedman, Good and others seems to be corroborated by the people at SOBEPS and especially Mr Bougard.

I have to say that, at this point of the story, nobody except two of my fellows, Jeff & Stéphane Kucharski, knew about my investigation. Even my request addressed to SOBEPS was voluntarily imprecise. Later on, to acknowledge the help of the SOBEPS, I faxed more data on my investigation to Mr Bougard.

Sometime later, Pr. Meessen also shed some light on the meeting with D’Amato. We exchanged numerous E. mails which constituted at this time one of the most valuable contribution brought by an UFOlogist to my investigation on this phenomenon.

Here is what Pr. Meessen wrote (note: translated from the French):

"M. Wathelet,

I thank you for your recent E. mail and the precise answers it contains. I will discuss this point latter since I would like to focus first on the most important topic: Mister D’Amato’s visit.

M. Clerebaut explained me over the phone that Mr. D'Amato wished to meet me, to obtain additional data on the Belgian wave. He asked whether I could meet him, on such day at such time at the SOBEPS Office. I agreed. The meeting lasted for the whole afternoon. Mrs. Clerebaut & Ferryn also attended the discussion, but they did not talk too much.

M. Richard C. D'Amato introduced himself as Sen. Robert C. Byrd counsellor, who was heading at this time the "Senate Committee on Appropriations". It is a very powerful organization since it is responsible for the attribution (dispatching) of the military budget. Mr. D'Amato explained that this visit was included within a &qotvoyage (trip) to Europe"... he never said that he was "officially delegated by the US Congress US", as stated by your French friend. However, I could not believe that D’Amato’s visit was only motivated by a personal interest in the Belgian wave. Rather, Mr. Byrd might have asked him to get data on the SOBEPS, its personal and its research methods. This did not disturb me. On the contrary, I appreciated that he took the information directly from us, after "knockin' on the door".

I also knew that he would wrote a report that he would drop somewhere. This only was of importance to me since it provided me with a unique possibility to pass on a message to the readers! The meeting took place on July 1992. D’Amato therefore certainly knew about the Belgian wave, at least as it was presented through the media to US "observers" in Belgium. At the position he held, one does not travel without having prepared the trip! Though he did not read the SOBEPS report published in 1991, he very likely benefited (at least) from a "briefing". Anyway, this did not matter since his only presence sufficed to demonstrate that he was interested in the UFO phenomenon, in the SOBEPS studies and in the data obtained by the Belgian F-16.

I described to him our major observations in such a way he could really understand the exceptional extent of the Belgian wave, the high reliability of the eye-witnesses, and the capacities of the observed flying objects which could not be explained in the light of our technological capabilities and scientific knowledge. I also told him that I was conducting personal investigations and that I wanted to know what has been seen on the Belgian Army radars. As a scientist, I think that I would have betrayed my responsibilities if I would not have requested these data. He probably realized how seriously we took the study of the observations (the facts) and their interpretation. Mr. D’Amato listened to me with a real attention. Though he was more a specialist of political, military and judiciary questions than a scientist, I felt that D’Amato caught fairly well the "message" that I wished to have him passed on. I do not recall that he asked questions, but I know that I led the discussion to reach the goals that were mine.

The "official" approach of the UFO phenomenon by US political and military authorities is inappropriate and must be modified!

Here is what I wanted him to understand and to bear in mind, at least on a person to person basis. To reveal the content of this meeting would not have come to my mind. Not because it deals with "secret affairs" but because it is often more efficient to work "in the shade". Given the current situation, it seems that avoiding the propagation of misinterpretations may be useful, especially if they may eventually be regarded as hoaxes.[...]

In front of D'Amato, I added that, undoubtedly, the highest political and military US authorities have all investigation means allowing them to be well-informed of the UFO characteristics and the extraordinary nature of this technology. They should therefore be aware that this technology was coming neither from USA nor from any other country in the world. I told him the following: I understand that, in 1947 and in the beginning of the fifties (when the Robertson Committee released a "semi-official" opinion), USA were essentially interested in conducting secret studies of the UFO phenomenon to gain potential military advantage. However, one has to acknowledge that today situation is not the same. Because there is a continuous flux of observations, and because the E.T. nature of the phenomenon becomes more and more convincing in the light of a thorough analysis of the observations, we are now facing scientific and human interrogations of the utmost importance. We are not only dealing with a National Security issue. The issue belongs to Mankind and affects our future in the long term. Nobody is allowed to disguize the truth.

The day will come when we will learn that the political and military US authorities have been lying intentionally for long years. This is not the choice of a single man, but that of several people. On the long run, neither the power of the weapons, neither that of money, nor the power of the power itself (under all its aspects) can "win". The "essencial values" have to be protected. USA claim they are the land - and the protectors - of freedom and democracy, but it will become known that they have been voluntarily misleading us. Whatever the reasons that will be put forwards, the responsible persons will have to take the consequences of this policy upon themselves. This political system will loose all credit. Still, USA could initiate a "new deal" in term of UFO which may proved to be more profitable to them in the long run than will be their current attitude consisting in fooling everybody on this planet. "Where there is a will, there is a way"!.

So this is what happened at the meeting at the SOBEPS Office. This may not be exactly what you were expecting. I do not recall the exact words of our talk (note: with D'Amato), but I can ascertain that the above described ideas were central to our discussion. Mr. Ferryn followed what I said in English, and two days ago, he confirmed to me that he indeed remembers the above conversation. He was the person who drove Mr. D'Amato from and back to his hotel. What they discussed together remained unknown to me. However, from what I recently learnt, Mr. D'Amato acted as someone who knew very little about the UFO phenomenon. All he said about it was already known. He asked questions about the SOBEPS, as a person who wished to better appreciate our Society. We had nothing to hide. On the contrary, we had a message to deliver. Some of the allegations that you "harvested" might be re-examined in the light of the above "feeling".

Shortly after Mr. D'Amato's visit at SOBEPS, I met with Gen. W. De Brouwer. He spontaneously told me that D'Amato came the day after (note his visit at the SOBEPS Office). The key point of our meeting seemed to be his wish to obtain a copy of the radar recordings performed by the Belgian F-16, during the night of March 30th to 31st. Gen. De Brouwer did not passed these recordings onto "Dick". However, he assured D'Amato that he could have them provided an "official" request was sent by US authorities. This request never came! It was only a "tactical" game.

Quotation ends.

The letter from Professor Meessen was far longer. However, the other topics presented in his mail were of private or general nature. At the end of the letter, Pr. Meessen wrote that he would not oppose the publication of this letter provided he could read first all quotations. Quite normal, honestly.

Later on, however, Mr Bougard told me that this visit and the related talks were perceived differently by the three persons from the SOBEPS. Relating all view points and apprehensions seemed pertinent to him.

Indeed, Mrs. Clerebaut et Ferryn appear to have a slightly divergent opinion regarding D’Amato’s visit. I would like to acknowledge this difference of "perception". Essentially, we will retain that Mrs. Clerbaut (secretary general) and Ferryn (co- founder of SOBEPS) remember that some references to the "blacks programs" were made, and that the visit had some "official" character. Pr. Meessen has a more "lukewarm" attitude.

In my opinion, D'Amato made a major goof when he met with Gen. De Brouwer. He asked for a copy of the data recorded by the FAe F-16. This was in opposition with the "etiquette". D’Amato indeed knew that Gen. De Brouwer could not provide him with these data. Was this some sort of "yankee" arrogance or a more intentional manoeuvre? Here again, I agree with Pr. Meessen to term pure "strategy" these unofficially "official" movements.

I would also believe that D’Amato’s attitude constitutes a message addressed to us, saying: "We (the highest Official US Institutions) are very interested in the UFO phenomenon because we are not at the origin of it".

D'Amato pretends that he is looking for clues to prove that there is an incredibly powerful "dark force" in the USA which would master a "mysterious" technology, allowing them to disregard the borders and the authority of the US government.

Strangely enough, it seems to me that Mr D'Amato should be well-informed and probably better informed than everybody else. Thanks to the position of his boss, Sen. Byrd, he has full access to the best of the US “ Hi-Tech ” companies and research laboratories! He has also strong ties with all intelligence services in the USA! He has permanent contact with all services depending on the Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministries. And he is regarded as a US specialist in these domains, as exemplified by the fact that he gave a talk at the Annual Meeting of Political Sciences, held at the Truman Auditorium of the Sheraton hotel on August 1997. Amongst the speakers, there were people from the Defence Department, the Navy, US Representatives, and several University Professor (including Stanford). The main topics were related with Strategy, National and International Security, NATO, International Politics, etc...

Furthermore, it is difficult to admit that the technology essential to build UFO can be developed in such a way that none of the best secret services in the world heard about it. Just think of the necessary infrastructure! Private companies would have to contribute to it. You also need factories, hundreds of people, large energy supply, and an incredible amount of money... So, where does this technology come from? Is this so "big" that people can defy the power of the US government and that of the president of the USA?

In the paper from Dr. Boylan, a citation of which is given above, there are some data on a company which could be a good "choice" to deal with "Advanced Technology". Its name is "EG&G". Interestingly enough, did you know that EG&G set up a plant in Belgium? When? In 1989, of course! Where? Very close to Bruxelles airport. Why there? Because EG&G controls a small air company which they used only for their own transportation. We have to admit that this is quite surprising, haven't we?

Anyway, we are now far away from the questionable speculations reported in the media which have led allegedly the Belgian Defence Secretary to close the "Belgian wave" file. Later on, I learnt that this was not true; just a misinterpretation (?) of these media.... Thus, Ministry Poncelet never mentioned anything about the LoFLYTE! LoFLYTE...? Neeeh, it is not a "black program". It is a common project involving the Defence Department and several private companies. This is crystal clear! But may be, the truth cannot be told... Hence, the whole file must be re-open. Should it must not, then I want to know why it must be closed. Monsieur D'Amato did not come to Belgium for a scientific study on temperature inversion. And Chief Renkin, of the "Gendarmerie" did not see a LoFLYTE but something completely different...

Now, imagine that this whole story could be a controlled released of information, "distilled" drop after drop, to acclimate ourselves to new concepts... And would it be possible that Mr. D'Amato, when he met with Gen. De Brouwer, told him that NORAD and Space Command were under "Red Alert" during the Belgian wave? Indeed the military Radar at Glons is part of the NATO strategic device for air control. It is therefore difficult to understand that the US controllers, somewhere in Colorado, did not pay attention to the data recorded by this radar. Unfortunately, I cannot check and warrant this piece of information. It is one of the few of that kind that you'll red in my book.

Another hypothesis may be that Mr D'Amato came to gather data for the Senate, the NSC (and therefore for the US President). There are several clues to indicate that this is still his job today. D'Amato tries to identify the people who are developing a quot;private" technology "in the back" of the Congress and of the President. In this respect, how should we interpret the joke made by President Clinton during his visit to Belfast for Christmas on December 1995? Remarkably, this joke was published as an official press release from the White House.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(Belfast, Northern Ireland) For Immediate Release November 30, 1995
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AND THE FIRST LADY AT THE LIGHTING OF THE CITY CHRISTMAS TREE
Belfast City Hall Belfast, Northern Ireland 7:36 P.M. (L)

"[...] And to all of you who have not lost your sense of humor, I say thank you. I got a letter from 13-year-old Ryan from Belfast. Now, Ryan, if you're out in the crowd tonight, here's the answer to your question. No, as far as I know, an alien spacecraft did not crash in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. (Laughter.) And, Ryan, if the United States Air Force did recover alien bodies, they didn't tell me about it, either, and I want to know. (Applause.) [...]"

Knowing how carefully the talks from Presidents are built, especially those from the US President, one can ascertain that this sentence is not ingenuous. To whom it was addressed remains unclear.... But everybody knows that when the President wants it, NSC does it!

There are people who know but refuse to talk. It is an indisputable fact. For their defence, one can say that it might be dangerous to release new pieces of information as long as most of the citizens will prefer "to believe rather than to know". In a school, the teacher always adapt his instruction to fit the average capabilities of his students...

So what, Monsieur D'Amato, your "friends" did find something really bizarre in 1947. But was it so important that all related projects could not depend on political variations or electoral caprices? Was it both so huge and frightening that an investigation committee was set up to study this strange stuff and develop new technologies from it, just in case... To keep their hands free, and to avoid alarming the citizens, these people might have turned away enormous resources, have benefited and may still benefit today from protections. A sort of State within the States.... Indeed, this looks like what you claim here and there... Surprisingly enough, a US TV series, which has become a "cult" series, tells exactly the same story! Do you know someone called Chris Carter? Is the truth really else where? If someone wanted us to believe it, it is exactly the right way to do it!

All these facts are crucial to the evaluation of the UFO phenomenon. Good questions were asked. Facts were established. Double checks were exposed here, and other will be brought to your attention in the following chapters.

Is it possible, indeed, to evaluate the role of D'Amato without taking in account the peculiarities of his main "boss": Sen. Byrd. In this respect, it is possible - but not proven - that D'Amato could also be the spokesman of one of the more important Internet access provider: America On Line (AOL). If he is, he would then also be the person who proposed to "release" some personal data concerning the AOL subscribers. For the sake of developing the electronic business, he said, adding that this would be done in full accordance with the current laws. AOL has millions of subscribers around the world. Because all data transferred to and from Internet are systematically recorded within the computers of the provider, one can get a very accurate view of Monsieur D'Amato's main interests, goals, opinions and character... Besides, the fact that this company decided to "sell" private data on their customers is certainly not agreeable to everybody.

Good to know that anyway! But what follows is not less interesting...

PART 2/2: Senator Robert C. Byrd