Jan Harzan |
Jan
Harzan, the executive director at MUFON, was my guest. We did talk about the
organizational structure of MUFON but we didn’t go into depth simply because
such logistical details are of little real importance and not very interesting
to listen to. That finished, we talked about some of the best UFO sightings, Hangar One, and the idea that MUFON had
been infiltrated by members of the intelligence community as suggested by a
former state director. You can listen to the program here:
The
sighting Jan Harzan chose to talk about is one from Canada in 2013. This
involved a large, dumbbell-shaped object that emitted some sort of
electromagnetic signal. Although the witnesses, whose names are not provided,
managed to take video of the object, when they reviewed the video, the object
was not visible but some of the radiation emitted from it did seem to be
recorded. Analysis of that video is being made, but when I asked for names of
the witnesses, I was told about some of the scientists who had expressed an
interest in the video, and about those who had attended a conference that had
nothing to do with UFOs. Some of the attendees did think the video interesting
but I still didn’t learn who the witnesses were. Without that information, it
is difficult to validate the sighting. I was asked if I was calling the
witnesses liars, but how could I do that when I didn’t know who they were, what
they had actually said and if the details have been skewed by those reporting
them? This case is labeled as 74282 and more details are available at the MUFON
website. You find information about this here (if the link still works):
I
couldn’t remember if the tale of the “star soldier” had been part of the Hangar One series or one of the other nonsensical
“documentaries” that have been aired in the last couple of years so I didn’t
ask about it specifically. Turns out that it was part of Hangar One and you can read my take on it here:
I
did have a problem with Jan Harzan’s deflecting the blame for this series from
MUFON to the producers. Sure, I know producers have their own agendas and that often
it is in conflict with what some of those participating in the show have, but
when he suggested this wasn’t a documentary but something else, I thought that
was too much. Instead, he told me how many new members the series had produced
and how the financial situation at MUFON had improved. The point that was
missed was that Hangar One was being
broadcast as a documentary that obtained its information in the MUFON files,
and the star soldier was part of that whole process. The program was a
disservice to UFO research even if it had been financially rewarding to MUFON.
Next
week’s guest: Monte Shriver
Topic:
Aztec UFO Crash
Kevin - I noticed during Jan's description of his personal UFO experience as a child, at several points you were asking 'researcher' type of questions and at some point Jan appeared annoyed. Even asking - "don't you believe in ET?". I thought at the time this sort of reinforced the 'biased' state that many in the UFO realm exhibit and which you have pointed out as well. I also took his annoyance as his belief that - 'I saw a flying saucer therefore it must be ET'. Just wondering how you interpreted this exchange?
ReplyDeleteTake care
John