Untitled Document
Direct 8
May 19, 2009
My readers will be treated to a show about UFOs in which I participated.
Broadcast on May 22 at 10:30 PM
It follows a long series of media appearances, which have been uniformly disastrous over almost thirty years. The most recent one was the show in Bern, "L'Arène de France," on March 21, 2007, always in the eternal "magazine style."
Then there was the failure with Guillaume Durand's show, early 2009 (resulting in one of the worst).
When Damien Hamouchi called me on the phone, my first reaction was to refuse to participate in another TV show. But he insisted. I made a few requests regarding the composition of the set, and he agreed. Such openness is rare among journalists. We recorded on April 29, 2009.
I had advised Hamouchi to take two "heavyweight" witnesses: Jack Krine (and his nice mustache) who still made a remarkable observation with his wingman during a night flight in a Mirage III. I also spoke to Hamouchi about Daniel Michau, with whom I fly in a helicopter in Belgium.
I had mentioned Michau's testimony in the book "UFOs and Science: The Adventurers of Research," which we decided not to reissue, because it described research projects we were no longer able to carry out. It is absolutely extraordinary ("stunning" would be the right word) and, if you don't know its content, you can discover it during the show.
We recorded two hours of show. Obviously, there will be cuts during editing, and Hamouchi will have done his best to keep the essence of each person's performance. Still, I had the idea of suggesting that my friend Jean-Stéphane Beetschen, an infographics designer, with some of his colleagues, reconstitute this fantastic observation in computer animation. It was done. Don't miss this sequence, made with Michau's help, which he fully validates. More shocking, you can't get.
In short: In the 1970s, Daniel Michau, a young lieutenant, and his co-pilot, in an Alouette as small as a mosquito, flying in good weather at 300 meters above ground, were overtaken by a craft "the size of a zeppelin," traveling at 8,000 km/h. How do we know the speed? Because the radar operators at the Caen Carpiquet base, toward which they were heading, also saw this monstrous object cross their scope. In this case, one could speak of "a radar-confirmed visual observation."
These two files allow us to discuss the behavior (perfectly understandable) of pilots who have seen UFOs (civilian or military). The reactions of the time (1970s): not to talk about it, not to file a report. Indeed, when you see the observation made by Michau and his colleague, telling about it and submitting such a report through your hierarchy is equivalent to being considered a madman (madmen, since there were four witnesses: two in the helicopter and two in front of the radar scope). Michau and the base commander decided together to keep this matter quiet. Same for Krine, at the time.
Krine, off-microphone: "We talked about it among pilots, but that's all. There were actually quite a few who had similar things to tell."
I don't know if Hamouchi will be able to keep these elements in the editing. There will certainly be things that are cut, because the material was ... too rich.
Also on the set: Christel Seval, advantageously replacing the ever-present sociologist Pierre Lagrange. Seval is the author of several books, including "Contact and Impact" published by JMG.
Hamouchi also invited Julien Geffray, secretary of UFO-science, who discussed the scientific data collection work that could be done, particularly using networked sensors. For this purpose, Julien had prepared a short video dossier on "field collections" and "spectroscopic sensors."
Also present at my request: Gilles Pinon, retired rear admiral, author and co-signer of a letter addressed in 2008 to the Presidency of the Republic.
Patrice de Mazery, author-director of the excellent documentary broadcast in 2008: "UFOs, the Army Investigates," which Hamouchi will produce excerpts of.
Let's add files prepared by the director himself.
After leaving the recording of this show, all participants concluded: this time, there are the elements to compose a quality show, on different levels. Of course, Hamouchi will have to cut 40% of what was recorded. It was expected and inevitable. But we can hope the result will be of good quality. I have watched other shows he has hosted and produced, in particular one where Stéphane Allix was present, and I found his work to be good.
Absence of representatives from the CNES (Patenet has been retired since December 2008, and his successor, Yves Blanc, is presumably taking up his functions at the CNES).
Refusal, to our great regret, of representatives from the Cometa group to participate in the show.
In passing, I take this announcement, which will probably be read by the majority of my correspondents, to say that I am going to Pertuis today (May 19, 2009) to help negotiate the pending shipments of my book. As planned, there have been a few hundred orders, coming from the "unconditional fans of JPP," then it has become scarce, with only a few orders per day, as with the UFO-science book. So it has gone as planned. There remains to process these first shipments, a task handled by a friend who is on site, whom I am going to help right away.
Let those who have ordered the book be a bit patient: I will do my best to resolve everything as quickly as possible.
Same for the correspondence, Savoir sans Frontières, and the reactions to the files on my site. There will be a good week of fluctuation. I am leaving with a mobile phone with which I will try to manage this. But anyway, this summer will be the definitive return to France.