INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS AND RESOLUTIONS
Although this Briefing Document contains a small sample of UFO cases, the global nature of the phenomenon is shown by its geographical distribution. The cases studied include: Germany (foo fighters), Scandinavia (ghost rockets), several regions of the United States (Alaska, Washington, Washington, D.C., Texas, New Mexico, northern tier near Canadian border), England (Suffolk), Canada (Manitoba), Brazil, Spain (Canary Islands), Iran, France, Belgium and Russia. UFO cases can be easily found for the rest of the world.
While the air forces (and in some cases other military, intelligence, space, and/or scientific agencies) in these countries have dealt with the UFO problem at one time or another, there is little evidence of any long-standing open international cooperation effort. However, some examples of bilateral, regional and global approaches have been found.
I. 1975: Bilateral: USA-USSR
A curious clause about "unidentified objects" exists in an Agreement on Measures to Reduce the Risk of Nuclear War between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics. The Agreement was part of the policy of detente during the Nixon and early Brezhnev administrations. It was signed on September 30, 1971 by Secretary of State, William Rogers, and Foreign Minister, Andrei Gromyko.
The Agreement has nine articles on issues
such as informing each other "against the accidental or unauthorized use
of nuclear weapons under its control," notification in advance of missile
launches that go beyond the national territory of each country, and other
measures of cooperation in order to avert "the risk of outbreak of nuclear
war." Article 3 reads: "The Parties undertake to notify each other immediately
in the event of detection by missile warning systems of
unidentified objects [emphasis added], or in the event of
signs of interference with these systems or with related communications
facilities, if such occurrences could create a risk of outbreak of
nuclear war between the two countries."153
The interpretation of Article 3 as including the possibility of UFO incursions seems inescapable. It is indeed reassuring in view of the cases where UFOs hovered over military facilities with nuclear weapons (SAC bases in USA, NATO bases in England, missile bases in Russia). On the other hand, attorney Robert Bletchman has pointed out that "unidentified objects" (UOs) include non-UFO situations as well (such as an accidental overflight by a civilian aircraft or a terrorist attack), but in the final analysis,UOs do include UFOs. What degree of cooperation about UOs/UFOs existed between the USA and USSR (and currently with Russia), is hard to say, but Article 9 stated: "This Agreement shall be of unlimited duration."
II. 1977-78: Global: United Nations
In the mid-1970s, the Prime Minister of the new member state of Grenada, Sir Eric Gairy, began a lobbying initiative to incorporate the UFO problem in the United Nations agenda. Prime Minister Gairy and UN Ambassador Wellington Friday raised the UFO issue at a meeting of the thirty-second General Assembly Special Political Committee on November 28, 1977. Grenada was proposing the "establishment of an agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, coordinating and disseminating the results of research into Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) and related phenomena." 154
Grenada made further statements on
November 30 and December 6, 1977. As a result of this effort, at the 101st
plenary meeting on December 13, 1977, "the General Assembly adopted
Decision 32/424," which acknowledged "the draft resolution submitted by
Grenada" and further stated that: "3. The General Assembly requests the Secretary-General
to transmit the text of the draft resolution, together with the
above-mentioned statements, to Member States and to interested
specialized agencies, so that they may communicate their views to the
Secretary-General."155
Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim duly forwarded "Decision 32/424" to the Member States by a "note verbale" on March 13, 1978. However, only three governments responded (India, Luxembourg and Seychelles) and only two specialized agencies (International Civil Aviation Organization and UNESCO) replied with a flat "no comments to offer."156 Not deterred, Grenada launched a new offensive during the thirty-third General Assembly.
A group of recognized experts was brought to testify before a Hearing of the Special Political Committee on November 27, 1978. Besides Sir Eric Gairy and Wellington Friday, the Hearing included testimony by Drs. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallee, and a first-hand witness account by Lt. Col. Lawrence Coyne of the U.S. Army (Reserve) on the famous 1973 UFO-helicopter near collision case in Ohio (see Quotations, section on Military/Intelligence). A letter of endorsement by astronaut Gordon Cooper, who was then Vice-President of Research & Development of Walt Disney Enterprises, was also read into the record (see Quotations, section on Astronauts).
At the 87th plenary meeting of the General
Assembly on December 19, 1978, Decision 33/426 was adopted with the same
heading to the previous Decision 32-424 cited above, "Establishment of an
agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, coordinating
and disseminating the results of research into unidentified flying objects
and related phenomena." The "consensus text" informed in its Point 1 that
the General Assembly had "taken note" of the "draft resolutions submitted
by Grenada" and that: "2. The General Assembly invites interested Member States
to take appropriate steps to coordinate on a national level scientific
research and investigation into extraterrestrial life, including
unidentified flying objects, and to inform the Secretary-General of the
observations, research and evaluation of such activities.
"3.
The General Assembly requests the Secretary-General to transmit the
statements of the delegation of Grenada and the relevant documentation
to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, so that it may
consider them at its session in 1979."157
Point 4 finally stated that the Outer Space Committee would permit Grenada "to present its views" in 1979 and the Committee's deliberation would be included in its report to the thirty-fourth General Assembly. The Grenada initiative was gradually opening the door to UFO cooperative international investigation, but unfortunately the effort came to an abrupt halt when the Gairy government was overthrown by a Marxist revolution led by Maurice Bishop. The new government launched a publicity campaign to discredit Gairy as a believer in voodoo and flying saucers. Decision 33/426 was never implemented, but its mere existence provides a useful framework for any future initiative on the matter.
III. 1990-93: Regional: European
Parliament
As a result of all the activity registered during the UFO wave in Belgium, the European deputy, Mr. Di Rupo, who served as Minister of Education for Wallonia (the French-speaking region of Belgium where the wave occurred), proposed a motion in 1990 to set up a "European UFO Observation Center" under the aegis of the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology (CERT). The Di Rupo motion proposed that this Center "should collect together the isolated observations made by members of the public and by military and scientific institutions and organize programmes of scientific observation." 158
The matter was eventually entrusted to
another Eurodeputy, Professor Tullio Regge, an Italian member of the
European Parliament with a Ph.D. in physics, who released a "Draft Report"
on August 17, 1993. Professor Regge sought the advice of Jean-Jacques
Velasco, who heads SEPRA (Service for Assessment of Atmospheric Re-entry
Phenomena) at the French National Center for Space Research (CNES) in
Toulouse, as the only official European organization with experience in
UFO investigations. The section titled "Motion for a Resolution" further
stated that: "The European Parliament... proposed that SEPRA be
regarded as a responsible partner of the EC [European Community] so far
as UFOs are concerned and that it be given a statute enabling it to
carry out inquiries throughout the Community's territory. Any additional
costs which might arise as a result of SEPRA's increased role must be
covered by agreements between the French government and the other EC
Member States or, where necessary and with the approval of the
governments involved, directly between SEPRA and other EC research
institutes or organizations."159
The section titled "Explanatory Statement"
in Regge's report, consisted of a 7-page discussion of the UFO subject
covering the following scientific, sociological and political items: "Military secrets;
Alien civilizations;
Supertechnologies;
The role of the mass
media;
Various explanations;
Link between show business and
sightings;
Analogy with group religious
experiences;
The recent spate of sightings in
Belgium;
Unknown atmospheric
phenomena;
Interviews with
witnesses;
Air forces in the EC;
Conclusions."
The tone of the report was very cautious
and did not endorse the extraterrestrial hypothesis. However, the report
did recognize that a small percentage of UFO cases remain unexplained and
warrant further scientific attention. The section on "Various
explanations" concluded: "A second conclusion is that the few remaining
inexplicable sightings (about 4%) must for the time being be regarded as
UFOs (unidentified flying objects) in the literal sense of the term. The
lack, perhaps temporary or accidental, of an explanation in no way allow
us to regard a sighting as certain proof or even an indication that
aliens exist, with technological capabilities vastly superior to our
own. However, scientists still have a duty to continue researching into
these events in order to arrive at a satisfactory explan-
ation."160
Regge's final conclusion was to propose
that SEPRA expand its UFO activities to cover all the EC Member
States: "It might be worthwhile, however, setting up a central
office to compile and collate information concerning UFOs throughout the
EC. Such an office could help, first and foremost, to stem the flood of
uncontrolled rumors that confuse the public and become a point of
reference when, as very frequently happens, sightings are reported...
Lastly, the office could have an invaluable role to play in exploring
the existence and nature of rare meteorological phenomena and could draw
on the support of existing organizations. Given that SEPRA has acquired
considerable experience in this field, the logical and economical
solution would be to assign it a Community-wide role and Community
status, thereby enabling it to conduct investigations and disseminate
information through the EC."161
Unfortunately, the European Parliament did not have the necessary votes to implement and fund Professor Regge's recommendations and so the matter lies essentially dormant for the time being. As with the General Assembly Decision 33/426, however, the Regge motion for a European UFO Center linked to SEPRA remains as a potentially useful framework should the political will change in the future.
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FOOTNOTES
153. United States Treaties
and Other International Agreements, Volume 22, Part 2, 1971, "Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics, Measures to Reduce the Risk of Nuclear War
Outbreak."
154. United Nations Office of Public
Information, "Special Political Committee Begins Debate on UFO Item,"
November 28, 1977.
155. United Nations General
Assembly, Thirty-third session, Agenda item 126, "Establishment of an
Agency or a Department of the United Nations for Undertaking,
Co-ordinating and Disseminating the Results of Research into Unidentified
Flying Objects and Related Phenomena," Report of the Secretary-General,
October 6, 1978.
156. Ibid.
157. United Nations General Assembly, Thirty-third Session,
"Decisions adopted on the reports of the Special Political
Committee."
158. European Parliament, "Draft Report
of the Committee on Energy, Research and Technology on the proposal to set
up a European centre for sightings of unidentified flying objects
(B3-1990/90)," Rapporteur: Mr. Tullio Regge, August 17, 1993.
159. Ibid.
160. Ibid.
162. Ibid.