Since I'm currently re-reading a Demon Haunted World, I figured I would post a video of Carl Sagan talking about UFOs and the Betty and Barney Hill Case. In case you didn't know, Carl Sagan has been a hero of mine for a long time.
<EMBED height=385 type=application/x-shockwave-flash width=480 src=http://www.youtube.com/v/nAUCr9OorXU?fs=1&hl=en_US allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></EMBED>
In the beginning Sagan was in fact interested in UFOs and did even consider possibility of ET visitation. I do remember reading that he attended some UFO conferences in his early days but of course he later changed his mind and considered the whole subject as the part of pseudoscience.
In recent Kit Moser's book "Carl Sagan: A Biography" there is also one section about this. I will retype:
"...Sagan had not always been such a se­vere critic of the UFO craze. He was a fan of science fiction and had not always held such a hardheaded view of the idea that visitors from other planets might be plying our skies. As a college student who had grown up on the fables of Burroughs, he had asked, Why not? He discussed his ideas with Muller, who listened good-humoredIy to the younger scientist's ideas. Amidst a spate of front-page newspaper stories about UFO sight­ings, Sagan even wrote a letter during the summer of 1952 to Dean Acheson, who was secretary of state at the time, suggesting the government should perhaps take precautions in case alien visitors may not be friendly, and inquiring what defense plans were in place.
As late as 1954, Sagan was still defending UFOs to Muller, who per­haps teasingly suggested that his friends the Soviets were sending mysteri­ous craft with astounding technological capabilities to hover over American soil. Sagan apparently took the remark seriously, refuting the concept point by point in a letter to Muller and defending the idea that the craft bore visitors from other worlds. It was his last known stand on that side of the issue. Soon thereafter, he changed his position to clear refutation, accompanied only by a wistful remnant of his former stance: "Too bad."<O
></O>
Everyone has committed some deed, made some remark, or held some-view in the past that in retrospect seems foolish, and Sagan must surely have felt a little embarrassed at his overly zealous youthful defenses of the concept of alien spacecraft crisscrossing Earthly skies. As he would later point out, "Keeping an open mind is a virtue—but, as the space engineer James Oberg once said, not so open that your brains fall out" (Sagan, 1996, p. 187).<O></O>
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I hope you will also find this part interesting - had to search for this on some of the older DVD's in my archive - here is the paste from now defunct mailing list Sky Open (posted in 2002):
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Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 13:46:46 EDT
Subject: [SO] Carl Sagan On Extraterrestrial Contact, 1995 (When Cosmic Cultures
Meet Letter)
The following letters and information are taken from "The Proceedings"
of the international conference "When Cosmic Cultures Meet" held
May 27-29, 1995 at the Sheraton Washington Hotel, Washington, D.C.
It is being submitted by conference attendee Sharon Pacione for general
informational purposes and to possibly stimulate enough interest to hold
another conference of this type in the near future. Personally, I think
that there are plenty of experiencers who would welcome such a
conference and I'm sure that with networking the way it is in 2002
compared to 1995, there would be a much larger turnout than the
approximately 250 attendees at the 1995 conference. You will see
from one of the letters below, that it was originally estimates that
900 people would attend this conference.
In the meantime, thought those reading this might be interested in Carl
Sagan's reply to his invitation to speak at this 1995 conference, When
Cosmic Cultures Meet.
FIRST LETTER: from C.B.Scott Jones, head of the Human Potential
Foundation, dated December 23, 1994 to Professor Carl Sagan.
Dear Professor Sagan:
You are invited to participate as a speaker in the international conference:
When Cosmic cultures Meet.
The object of the conference is to advance a dialog that will lead to
constructive action by the world's cultures concerning preparation for
the time when there is no ambiguity that cosmic cultures are meeting,
and one of the meeting places is Earth.
The above objective also tells us what the conference is not about. We
are not meeting to discuss the evidence, however compelling, that
cosmic cultures have already met. This is a separate important
continuing debate, and one that deserves its own venue.
However, we are looking to a time in the future when knowledge known
to governments will be made public and the issue will take on a different
aura of reality.
The conference is not a trivial undertaking. A former president of the
United States while in office expressed the idea that contact with off
planet cultures constitutes a threat to the world, and that response
should be for the world to unite against such an eventuality.
Whether the above action was based upon knowledge or conjecture
is unknown. However, it would appear that attempts either to make
demons or angels of non-earth cultures and the consequences of
meeting with them should carefully be preceded by reflective
contemplation of ourselves and a future that includes a probable
meeting and living with cultures currently beyond our ken.
One of your fellow invited participants, Michael E. Zimmerman,
Professor of Philosophy at Tulane University, has recently commented
why many social leaders refuse to publicly discuss any aspect of the
subject of this conference. He observed that leaders fear that they will
lose social status because of the ridicule and skepticism usually
directed at people who take the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence,
and particularly contact with it, seriously. Additionally, some social
leaders cannot tolerate the possibility of superior non-earth intelligence,
because their identity is bound up with a patriarchal, anthropocentric
worldview that might not survive if faced with such intelligence. And
finally, still other leaders fear potentially calamitous social disruptions
that might follow if establishment figures were to confirm that
technologically advanced non-earth intelligence beings are visiting.
Dr. Zimmerman's assessment presents a real challence. How do we
get from where we are in a fear based, patriarchal dominant society
to where it seems reasonable to some of us to go? Throw in a dash
of the possibility that regardless of both the formidable obstacles our
culture presents, and the strong desire of some of us to do better, we
may learn that our options are rather limited because of the capabilities
and propensities of the visiting others.
Now you can understand why you have been invited as of the a select
group bringing a broad range of academic disciplines, professional and
personal attainments and courage to advance this dialog. Your
participation would be particularly important. No other scientist to our
knowledge has given this area as much consideration as you have.
The conference will be held May 26-29, 1995, in Washington, D.C.
The site is the Sheraton Washington hotel. Attendance is expected to
be approximately 900. The foundation will cover your travel and conference
expenses and offer a modest honorarium.
We will be pleased to discuss any aspect of the conference with you,
and look forward to an early decision on your part to join us in this path
finding undertaking.
The last time we communicated was back in July and August of 1993
when you were invited to participate in a roundtable discussion on
UFOs hosted by Laurance Rockefeller in Wyoming. One direct result
of that meeting has been a low profile effort with the White House
get them seriously to address the government classification policy
concerning UFO phenomena.
The Human Potential Foundation was co-founded in December 1989
by Senator Claiborne Pell and the undersigned to look into all aspects
of the human condition.
Sincerely,
C.B. Scott Jones
Attachment: List of invited participants
SECOND LETTER: Reply from Carl Sagan to C.B. Scott Jones
Dear Dr. Jones:
Thanks for your interesting invitation. As we have, in my view, no even
moderately suggestive evidence that humans are encountering or have
ever encountered a non-primate technical civilization, it seems premature
to plan a conference on the subject. As far as extraterrestrial civilizations
on planets of other stars are concerned, I think there is a quite compelling
argument that any contact we make will be with a civilization immensely
more advanced than we are, in which case the conference you propose
would be tantamount to ants planning a meeting on what to do should
they ever encounter humans.
With best wishes,
Cordially,
Carl Sagan
P.S. Nevertheless, I would appreciate being kept apprised of progress
in the planning of the meeting.
CS:lkp
cc: Laurence Rockefeller
THIRD LETTER: C.B. Scott Jones reply to Carl Sagan's letter
Dear Dr. Sagan:
Thanks for your reply to the invitation to participate in the When
Cosmic Cultures Meet Conference. I find your comments about the
conference stimulating and regret that you will not be with us in a
capacity to advance your unique and important perspective.
You noted the compelling argument that any contact we make will
be with a civilization immensely more advanced than we are, and in
which case the conference we are holding would be tantamount to
ants planning a meeting on what to do should they ever encounter
humans.
I know nothing of ant consciousness, but assume that they operate
on instinct rather than the cognitive processes associated with holding
a planning meeting. In any event it appears that the Army Ant
(Dorylinae) and the Fire Ant (Solenopsis geminata) have worked
themselves into rather impressive and protected niches, and when
present in numbers are prudently avoided by humans who have
knowledge of their capabilities. Who knows, maybe the galactic
reputation of Earthlings is comparable to the junk yard dog: don't
mess with him. Even if we are not the toughest son of a bitch in
the cosmos, we could take the ant strategy. After all, there are
billions and billions of us.
We will keep you apprised of the Conference progress. If you would
like to attend we would be pleased to have you as a guest of the
Foundation.
Cordially,
C.B. Scott Jones
P.S. I can imagine the excitement when Jill Tarter and the SETI crew
get a message and then realize that there is no protocol for the next
step because they had previously agreed that it was to premature to
think about such things.
cc. Laurance Rockefeller
Note: Carl Sagan did not attend the conference. Some of the
presenters that did and the subject on which they spoke are:
Professor George S. Robinson: Homo Alterios Spatialis: A
Transgenic Odyssey
Michael Hesemann: Man's Greatest Challenge
James J. Hurtak, Ph.D.: Extraterrestrial/Ultraterrestrial Paradigms
James W. Deardorff: Coping With The Cosmic Culture Gap
Dave Hunt: A Reason To Fear
Richard J. Boylan, Ph.D.: Effects on Human Consciousness and
Spirituality of World Announcement of ET Presence: Paradigm Shift
Par Excellence
R. Leo Sprinkle, Ph.D.: I AM Becoming A Cosmic Citizen
James Moore, Ph.D.: Are Aliens Likely to be Altruists?
William J. Baldwin, D.D.S., Ph.D.: Spirit Releasement Therapy and
the Dark E.T.s
Charles T. Tart Ph.D.: Cosmic Contact from the Perspective of
Enlightenment
Puma Q. Singona: Other Dimensional Beings in Inca Cultures
Dennis Rohatyn, Ph.D.: The Myth of Merger
Paula Underwood, MA: Who Are the Human Beings: In Search of
Commonalty
Ruth Montgomery: Let's Have the Facts
Zecharia Sitchin: The Past Holds the Key to the Future
Donald M. Ware: Telepathic Communications and UFO Phenomena
John Hunter Gray, Ph.D.: Thoughts On Fear, Extraterrestrials, and
Healthy Minds
elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D.: Expanding Our World View To Other
Dimensions
James J. Funaro: On The Cultural Impact of Extraterrestrial Contact,
With Special Attention To Religion As An Adaptive Response
Jerome C. Glenn: So What Do We Do Now? Ten Points to Consider
John E. Mack, M.D.: Studying Intrusions From the Subtle Realm:
How Can We Deepen Our Knowledge
Keith Farrell: If We Can't Talk To Each Other, How Can We Expect To
Talk To Them?
Michael Michaud: A Unique Moment in Human History
The Panels: Fear, Hope and Future
Fear Panel: Baldwin, Funaro, Hunt, Underwood
Hope Panel: Montgomery, Ware, Boylan, Sprinkle
Future Panel: Petersen, Glenn, Sitchin
Epilogue: A Special Search for Knowledge
The When Cosmic Cultures Meet Conference was Dedicated:
"To all of those in each country and culture who are keepers of the
secrets and sacred knowledge about the ubiquitousness of life in all
dimensions throughout the Universe, and to their counterparts in all
these dimensions.
Is it a common understanding that we are not prepared for contact?
If this is the case, does that condition serve the highest good for all?
If these answers are unsure, and that appears to be the case, what
action or inaction is now appropriate to more firmly establish
movement toward the time when each is honored for its existence
and unique place in the Universal plan?
We do not presume to know what the appropriate response to the
present condition should be, but challenge all keepers of these secrets
and sacred knowledge to look again into the Source of your being and
seek guidance.
It does appear that our shared interests and vision of the future is
clouded by the consequences of a policy or rvelatory gradualism. At
a minimum, is it not time for a quickened dialogue?"
Submitted by:
Sharon Pacione
July 24, 2002
Wdestiny44@...
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Best Wishes
)
