Volume 5, Issue 4, page 8

smoldering, too, only to burst into flame
four months later after he made his second contact. Again it was in Nebraska and
this time he went up for a ride.

The normal appearing, English speaking
leader of the space ship crew put several
questions to Schmidt, the answers to which
had at least two effects: One was to convince Schmidt of their all - embracing
knowledge of earth affairs, and the other
to convince others of the reality of
Schmidt's experience.

He was asked what kind of cargo was
aboard the Pan-American plane that blew
up in flight half-way between San Francisco and Honolulu in November, 1957.
Schmidt didn't know the answer to this
one, hadn't even thought of it. But the
question was relayed to the National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena
in Washington, D.C. To the crowd at the
convention, Schmidt read the reply from
Major Keyhoe's research group. An investigator at the CAA hearing on the tragedy
testified that the plane had been carrying a shipment of two different types of
radioactive material! How, or why, or if
this material had caused the plane to explode or burn, was only conjectural. A
question like this, conveyed to a solid
organization like Keyhoe's NICAP, and
answered so dramatically, is just the kind
of thing that would help convince the
hard-headed that Schmidt's experience was
real. What we call "evidential material"
in psychic research.

Van Tassel then gave the convention
program a change of pace by calling on
Dan Fry. Dan complied with an excellent
talk ranging from the historical and the
philosophical to factual reports and analyses of recent sightings of Flying Saucers. This is the kind of talk which his
free-wheeling, technician's mind is so
capable of producing. Dan mentioned one
fruitless discussion he had with a rocket
propulsion scientist whose reason told him
that space travel was utterly impossible
by any other means.
"You wouldn't believe in a Flying
Saucer if it landed in yau: front yard,
would you?" asked Dan.
"No, I wouldn't," replied the scientist. "My reason would tell me that it
didn't exist."
Accompanying Schmidt on his national
lecture tour -- a project which was predicted for him by his space contact -- is the
retired Army officer, Maj. Wayne Aho. The
Major served in combat intelligence during World War II, and should have the
kind of training some of the leaders of
the Flying Saucer movement should possess:
cold, calculating intelligence that can
sift thru a mass of detail, rumor, and
fact -- and arrive at logical conclusions.

This kind of reasoning power is certainly needed to counterbalance the flumduddery of the "fanatics ", as Van Tassel
calls them. These are the over-eager,
misguided souls who either will not or
cannot distinguish between theij=p*ylogical cravings for glory on the ane
hand, and truly objective psychic phenomena on the other.

If Major Aho is as stable and dedicated as he sounds on the platform, his
military logic and organizing purpose may
help to penetrate successfully the government fog. He is director of Washington
Saucer Intelligence in the nation's capitol. His program is to urge more and more
people to write to more and more Congressmen urging the establishment of a
Congressional committee for receiving,
analyzing, and disbursing Flying Saucer
data.

As I listened to Aho talk, I remembered
vividly a conversation I'd had two days
before in Barstow with a national organizer of the American Federation of Government EMployees, fresh from Washington.
"If you want your message heard by a
Congressional committee," this experienced
union organizer said, "you have to be
backed by a large organization. If you
represent only a small group, your letter
will be read at a committee hearing. If
you represent a large group, you will be
invited to Washington to appear before
the commmttee in person to explain your
program and answer questions.
"One of the first questions the Congressman asks is, 'How many members?' If
you reply, 'Ten thousand', he multiplies
that quickly in his head by Thirtyfive thousand votes is a respectable number and he'll give you some time and attention. From surveys and from actual experience Congressman know that large organizations have their own bulletins and
magazines. Any legislator who helps a
large organization with its legislative
program will receive favorable mention in
its publication; and he can expect to be
gratefully remembered at the next election."
Here, then, are the cold mathematics
of political action at the national level
and the Flying Saucer groups might as
well face them. Apparently the hush-hush
policy on Flying Saucers was decided 10
years ago by the National Security Council, and has been carried out by the
President and the military since.

All in all my hat is off to George Van
Tassel for staging these annual space
conventions up here in the desert, and my
admiration goes to the thousands of the
faithful who every year endure the austerities of this arid location hour
after hour as the speakers tell their
stories.
010
"Life is funny," some say -- but you
can't stand off and be amused. You're
part of the act.
010
God has forever, but we have only now.
Same difference.
8 The ABERREE