Untitled Document
Mr. Yvan Blanc's response, Geipan's representative,
to the invitation to the Strasbourg conference
Michel Padrines, organizer of the conference, had sent Mr. Yvan Blanc three messages inviting him to participate in this event, without receiving a reply. In desperation, I eventually wrote to him myself, as president of the UFO-science association. Here is my letter dated September 30, just days before the event began.
http://www.ufo-science.com/wpf/?page_id=111
Jean-Pierre Petit
Former Research Director, CNRS
President, UFO-science Association
17300 Rochefort
31401Mr. Yvan Blanc
DCT/DA/GEIPAN
Centre National d'Études Spatiales
8 Bd F. Buisson, 18 av. Edouard Belin, Toulouse Cedex 9Rochefort, September 30, 2010
Sir,
Mr. Michel Padrines is organizing an international congress in Strasbourg on October 16 and 17. He informed me that he had attempted to contact you three times without receiving a reply.
Given that the conference theme is "Astronomy-Space-OVNI Case," it seemed logical that you would participate, and I was therefore somewhat surprised by your lack of response to his invitations.
Mr. Nicollier, having received assurances that this conference "would remain on scientific grounds" and that any sectarian or delusional deviation would be avoided, has confirmed his attendance. As you can see in the attached text (Annex), presentations will focus on methodology, trace analysis, thermal and biological data, spectral acquisition, and vehicle modeling (MHD).
This last approach has been the subject of numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and international specialized conferences, not in "ufological" journals, and has also led to a doctoral thesis.
Most recently: The UFO-science team will present recent experimental results—regarding the wall confinement of a disc-shaped MHD craft via magnetic field gradient inversion—at the international conference in Korea on October 10 and 13, 2010, attended by over a thousand participants.
At this conference, the experimental research program of UFO-science, funded by members, will be discussed. This includes the construction in 2011 of a hypersonic wind tunnel where we aim to eliminate shock waves and turbulence using MHD—closely linking this research theme to the OVNI subject.
Given your position, it is difficult to imagine how you could be absent from such an event, and it is at Mr. Padrines’ request that I reiterate his invitation.
Building on an idea already implemented by Americans in the 1950s, we have initiated, over the past two years, a "hunt for an OVNI spectrum." To this end, we distributed three thousand diffraction gratings (500 lines per millimeter), presented as simple slides. Since the cost of such an item was very low (0.1 euro), we sent them to anyone who requested one. The map below shows the national scale of this first operation.
(Global scale:
).
We then developed a more convenient device: a self-adhesive grating suitable for attachment to a mobile phone lens. We currently have a batch of one thousand units being manufactured in China.
Self-adhesive grating, manufactured in China (UFOscience). Including production, packaging, and shipping, the cost of such an instrument should not exceed a few euros. The grating remains at 500 lines per millimeter. We will make these devices available to participants of the Strasbourg conference at a price allowing us to cover our costs.
However, the purpose of this operation is not commercial. No patent or design has been filed for this device. The goal is to distribute these tools to as many people as possible, so that we may have a chance in the near future to recover an actual OVNI spectrum.
You therefore have full freedom to collaborate in this effort, if you wish, by ordering these devices directly from China at manufacturing cost and distributing them through your preferred channel.
We have included one of these Chinese-made diffraction gratings with this letter.
Through Mr. Christian Nazet, we have maintained indirect contact with Professor Erling P. Strand’s team working at the Hessdalen site. As you know, a phenomenon manifests there, usually appearing as fleeting, mobile glows. We have developed a tracking system for such sources, which we call UFOcatch, and it is nearing operational status thanks to the work of Mr. Jean-Christophe Doré.
This system, based on a surveillance camera equipped with a fish-eye lens, automatically and rapidly directs a mobile unit, called a "lyre," toward any moving source, after applying filtering (e.g., to prevent UFOcatch from automatically tracking ordinary meteors). The device then performs an automatic zoom, centering the object in frame to eliminate nearby light sources that would degrade the signal-to-noise ratio—a crucial aspect in our view.
A spectrum is then captured and automatically analyzed.
Two UFOcatch units pointing at the same source allow recording of the 3D trajectory and speed.
This device will be presented at the Strasbourg conference, along with the test bench that enabled the experimental results to be presented in Korea.
Following Mr. Nazet’s suggestion—whom Mr. Padrines, the organizer, authorized to provide his contact details—we reached out to Erling P. Strand, head of the Hessdalen research team, hoping he might attend the conference, despite the late invitation.
Otherwise, again following Mr. Nazet’s suggestion, we plan to visit him after the conference to discuss the potential of the UFOcatch acquisition system. It is expected that he will accompany us, with UFO-science covering his travel and accommodation expenses.
Hoping this letter finds a favorable response,
Sincerely yours,
Jean-Pierre Petit
Former Research Director, CNRS
President, UFO-science Association
The spirit of this conference – For over fifty years, the study of the OVNI phenomenon has remained confined within the boundaries of an ill-defined activity called "ufology." This despite the fact that the phenomenon has never diminished in scope and continues to display its numerous, deeply puzzling facets across the globe. This confinement in what amounts to a ghetto can be explained in various ways.
Certain aspects of the phenomenon remain extremely baffling and may, for example, be classified among "paranormal" phenomena, toward which my scientific community has a legendary allergy.
The vast majority of materials available to scientists, with very rare exceptions, consist solely of witness testimonies—always questionable—and sketches, photographs, and videos.
Supposedly scientific approaches are often tainted with highly speculative elements, leading many scientists to conclude that the OVNI phenomenon is not a viable subject of study, and that no concrete object exists upon which laboratories could base tangible research programs.
The methodology employed by certain groups, even when they enjoy a degree of official credibility, remains questionable, embryonic, or even marred by fatal methodological flaws.
Finally, within a broad community of individuals, the OVNI dossier and the questions it raises trigger powerful psycho-socio-immunological reactions, referred to by others as "cognitive dissonance," manifesting as a total, irrational rejection—comparable in every way to an allergic reaction.
In conclusion, for over fifty years:
The entire scientific community has turned away from the OVNI dossier, considering its study a waste of time and money. As a result, this field has effectively been taken over by non-scientists calling themselves "ufologists"—a term referring to no well-defined discipline, merely an activity that, at best, reduces to collecting testimonies and photographic or video documents. Nevertheless, these individuals have always been the first, the only ones, and continue to be the only ones who, with their meager resources (a notebook, a tape measure, a camera, a compass), attempt to gather information—even if meager and testimonial in nature—while far more sophisticated and relatively inexpensive tools could have been made available to them long ago.
Furthermore, within certain political and military spheres of some technologically advanced countries, it appears that information has been withheld for decades, supposedly to avoid causing public disorder or panic, particularly if such information were to support the idea that Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials for over half a century, and possibly much longer. It is also argued that releasing such information—documents, or even physical evidence—could completely destabilize terrestrial structures, including political, economic, religious, and scientific systems.
Conventional science immediately erects a barrier—the counterfire of physical impossibility—against the idea of traveling faster than light. Yet, if we look back at the history of science, it is evident that science has always undergone profound transformations, and what was impossible yesterday suddenly becomes possible today. The examples are countless. Every scientist worthy of the name must consider that today’s impossibility could, through a new paradigmatic leap, become tomorrow’s possibility.
Finally, the OVNI subject is the target of powerful disinformation currents, whose result is to discredit the entire dossier. With very rare exceptions, cinematic productions and literary works serve to relegate the phenomenon to the realm of new folklore. The term "science fiction" was created for this purpose (while today’s science is... yesterday’s science fiction). Some small groups gather around mentors who adopt guru-like attitudes. Sects have formed, such as the Raëlians. We cannot exclude the possibility that intelligence agencies either facilitated the emergence of such movements or created them outright, in order to mislead the public—easily achieved by playing on millennial fears or messianic expectations, or both simultaneously. The most common technique is amplifying disinformation: mixing real facts with fantastical elements designed to discredit specific aspects of the dossier.
It is also not impossible that the OVNI phenomenon itself conceals its own disinformation operations, in order to maintain a level of skepticism deemed protective within the population and to prevent a sudden, overwhelming awareness of extraterrestrial presence on Earth—potentially triggering upheavals of unprecedented, unpredictable, and paradigm-shifting proportions across religious, political, social, and economic domains.
Earth has witnessed numerous "ethnocide" events throughout history, resulting from abrupt contact between civilizations too far apart in technological and cultural development. Discreet ethnocide is still at work in many regions of the world, destroying forever cultural and artistic traces, entire cultural and linguistic systems, fragments of history, and even precious medical and pharmacological knowledge, among populations previously untouched by "modern civilization."
In the recent years, France and England have made public archives, admittedly devoid of scientifically or technically exploitable information. As always, these are purely testimonial materials. Recently, it was revealed that a prominent political figure, Winston Churchill, had formally prohibited the release of testimony from a bomber crew who, during World War II, had made a close encounter with an OVNI—an object of metallic appearance with performance capabilities incompatible with contemporary technology. The stated reason from the Prime Minister was to avoid alarming the British public, already anxious over the threat of German invasion.
The way French media reported this news is significant of the complete discredit afflicting the OVNI dossier in French press circles. On TF1, the journalist began his announcement by saying:
- We knew the statesman, the war leader. But we didn’t know that Winston Churchill was also interested in science fiction.
What must be considered is that such a presentation reflects no deliberate, coordinated policy, but rather the journalist’s own ingrained framing, shaped over years, which prevents any other form of presentation of such news.
By organizing an international conference on the theme "Astronomy - Space - OVNI Phenomenon" in Strasbourg on October 16 and 17, 2010, I wished to attempt a review of the activities carried out by certain scientists in relation to the OVNI phenomenon.
The recent discovery of exoplanets—now numbering five hundred and growing exponentially—will be discussed.
Professor Chandra Wicramasinghe, Director of the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology and exobiologist, will present the current state of research on the possibility of organized and intelligent life in the universe, where we estimate the number of planets capable of sustaining life at 100 billion billion (a million within our own galaxy, the Milky Way).
Nick Pope, former Director of the UK Ministry of Defence’s UFO Office, will speak on "The UK Government’s UFO Files" – Jean-Charles Duboc, Jack Krine, Daniel Michau, experienced professional pilots, both civilian and military, will testify to their own encounters with the OVNI phenomenon.
Stanton Friedman, from Canada, Nuclear Physicist, will deliver a lecture titled "Flying Saucers and Science" – Claude Nicollier, astronaut, will speak about space missions conducted under NASA’s leadership, particularly the Hubble Space Telescope rescue mission, in which he actively participated as part of the Atlantis, Discovery, Columbia, and Endeavour mission teams.
Jesse Marcel Jr., Colonel in the US Army, Chief Medical Officer of Montana, son of Major Marcel, one of the key figures in the Roswell incident, will present his book: "The Legacy of Roswell" – Jean-Jacques Vélasco, former Director of SEPRA ("Service d'Expertise des Phénomènes de Rentrées Atmosphériques"), will present his conclusions after thirty years of work and reflection on the OVNI subject.
Jean-Pierre Petit, former Research Director at CNRS, will demonstrate, based on his publications since 1975, that observing objects capable of supersonic or even hypersonic flight in dense air is in no way incompatible with the hypothesis of their materiality, thanks to what is known as MHD. He will report on three presentations delivered at the 2008 MHD International Conference in Vilnius, the Imperial College cosmology conference in the same year, and the AIAA conference in Bremen in 2009. He will also present the latest findings, delivered just days earlier at the international MHD conference in Jeju (Korea), on experimental MHD work conducted in collaboration with Jean-Christophe Doré, within a research program on disc-shaped MHD vehicles—otherwise known as MHD flying saucers. He will also, during a six-hour session dedicated to presenting the work of the group he leads, UFO-science, discuss the current crisis in physics, astrophysics, and contemporary cosmology, as well as the emergence of new perspectives suggesting an imminent paradigm shift.
Jean-Christophe Doré will present the automatic OVNI tracking station UFOcatch, which he designed, built, and will demonstrate live in the conference hall. He will explain how a network of such stations monitoring the sky could detect the presence of any unusual object, record its trajectory parameters, and precisely locate its potential point of contact with the ground. (This system could also be used for detecting meteorites or satellite debris.) UFOcatch, using its fish-eye lens to scan the entire sky, is designed to automatically focus on detected objects, perform an automatic zoom, and record their spectrum. Indeed, any detection of a characteristic spectral line in an OVNI spectrum, not present in Earth’s atmosphere, would rule out a meteorological phenomenon. The Strasbourg conference will be an opportunity to present and sell, at a unit price of ten euros, one thousand self-adhesive diffraction gratings, suitable for immediate attachment to mobile phone lenses—also designed by J.C. Doré and currently being manufactured in China through Ms. Qin Jie.
Mathieu Ader, also a member of the UFO-science team, will discuss various systems for collecting physical and biological data at an OVNI landing site: laser fluorescence, analysis of plant pigments. The large-scale diffusion program of diffraction gratings in slide form will also be addressed. To date, UFO-Science has already circulated 3,000 of these units among the general public across more than 17 countries.
Xavier Lafont, from UFO-science, will demonstrate live in the hall the persistence of thermal traces—this technique can be used to locate the ground contact point of an OVNI, whose trajectory was previously detected and recorded by a network of UFOcatch stations.
Christel Seval (UFO-science) will discuss the psycho-sociological aspects related to the OVNI phenomenon, previously presented in her book "Contact and Impact."
Malcolm Robinson ("The Best OVNI Observations in Scotland"), Vicence Puletto ("Is Human History a Springboard for a Leap into the Future?"), Antonio de Comite ("OVNI Disclosure of the Third Millennium"), who have all contributed to OVNI research, will complete these presentations.
Hervé Laurent will close the conference by discussing the impact of the phenomenon on religious beliefs.
The goal of this congress is not to turn it into a forum where everyone expresses mere opinions. It is also impossible, within just two days, to address all facets of the OVNI phenomenon, none of which can be dismissed as insignificant.
We simply aim to focus presentations on specific domains where scientists have carried out concrete actions, producing tangible results, leading to publications in peer-reviewed journals (not in simple ufological journals) and communications at high-level conferences (not at ufology conferences). In short, we aim to build a bridge between the OVNI phenomenon and contemporary, proven science.
The analytical methods presented will also remain firmly rooted in current scientific knowledge, purely out of pragmatic concern. However, this should not prevent participants from establishing personal contacts and engaging in exchanges on their own terms, outside official sessions.
We hope this conference will also serve as an opportunity to establish partnerships, particularly for the international development of systems currently limited to prototype stages.
Michel Padrines
As of October 11, 2011, Mr. Yvan Blanc responded as follows:
Zlozinski is a member of Geipan’s steering committee. The committee’s composition can be accessed on the website:
http://rr0.org/org/eu/fr/cnes/geipan/COPEIPAN.html
MEMBERS OF THE GEIPAN STEERING COMMITTEE AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2007
Y. SILLARD Chair
L. BARRUE DGGN (National Gendarmerie)
B. RIVIERE DGPN (National Police)
F. SCHROTTENLOHER (Air Force General Staff)
T. ORTEGA CNOA (National Order of Architects)
F. ERYES DGA (Military Research)
J. BEQUIGNON (Civil Security)
R. ROSSO DGAC (Civil Aviation)
G. LE BARS (Meteo-France)
I. de LAMBERTERIE CNRS (Specialty: Law)
J. ZLOTNICKI CNRS (Specialty: MHD-Tectonics)
P. BERNAUD (École Centrale)
D. ASSEMAT (CNES)
P. TREFOURET (CNES)
J. ARNOULD (CNES)
Mr. Zlotnicki’s specialty, mentioned in the letter, is accessible on his webpage:
http://wwwobs.univ-bpclermont.fr/lmv/pperm/zlotnicki_j/index.php
Where it states:
"Electromagnetic phenomena associated with volcanic and seismic risks. Study of natural hazards. Investigation of geological structures using electromagnetic methods."
We asked Mr. Padrines to invite a representative of the Norwegian Hessdalen team. Mr. Padrines and I had agreed that travel and accommodation costs would be shared between the conference organizing committee and UFO-science. I personally wrote to Professor Erling Strand, who replied he could not attend at that date. However, his collaborator Bjorn Hauge, author of an article presenting his analysis of a spectrum taken at the site, replied that he could come and expressed interest in a UFOcatch presentation.
Unfortunately, the day before the conference, Mr. Hauge informed Mr. Padrines that he had fallen ill and could not attend in Strasbourg.
