Researcher Stanton Friedman joined Art Bell for a discussion about ufology, UFO skeptics, and the MJ-12 papers. Friedman recently attended a UFO conference in China, and indicated that the government there was showing signs of openness regarding the topic. In the United States, there still remains a number of reasons why mainstream science is not receptive to the UFO field. He listed them as: 1) Ignorance of the data 2) Fear of ridicule ('they'll think I'm a nut') 3) Ego - if aliens are here, why haven't they contacted important scientists? 4) It's impossible - distances from other stars are too far away.
He presented analysis of the MJ-12 papers, saying that the original documents such as the Truman/Forrestal memo were the "real thing" but that subsequent documents were probably fraudulent. Friedman also recounted how in 1952-3 there were numerous incidents where military pilots and their fighter planes simply disappeared during chases with UFOs.
He commented on the passing of UFO skeptic Philip Klass, calling him one of the most successful propagandists.Friedman also took a critical stance on Susan Clancy's new book Abducted (which claims that alien abductions are sleep paralysis episodes). There are often multiple witnesses to incidents, and in the Barney & Betty Hill case there were corroborative UFO sightings as well as radar data, he reported.
In the first hour, Art talks about UFO footage shot in Bulgaria, global warming, his favorite TV shows, and features Open Lines.