Hello all,

This is my first post on this website. I have been researching nuclear weapons-related UFO activity since 1973, utilizing declassified USAF, FBI, and CIA documents, as well as the testimony of nearly 100 former/retired USAF personnel who worked with or guarded nuclear weapons. Since 1981, I have presented my findings at over 500 colleges and universities nationwide, including Stanford, in 1987.

My website is ufohastings.com.

Because I have been referenced in at least three other threads in this blog, although not always by name, I thought I would respond by starting a new one, in which I will address the comments made about my ufological work found elsewhere.

Dr. Plait has made no secret of his contempt for my research. This thread will be a test to learn whether he has a sense of fair play and will permit me to address the bloggers who post here.

First, allow me to introduce myself. I am an aging Air Force "brat", now 58-years old, living in Albuquerque, NM. I have been an amateur astronomer since 1966, went to college in 1968, majoring in astronomy--until I hit a brick wall called calculus--whereupon I retrained in photography. I received a BFA in same from Ohio University in 1972. Between 1986-88, I re-retrained in electron microscopy at Delta College, in CA, and worked as a laboratory analyst at Philips Semiconductors, in Albuquerque, between 1988-2002. In that capacity, I engaged in micron-level failure analysis work in support of approximately 200 electrical engineers who relied on my expertise relating to semiconductor manufacturing defects and anomalies.

On July 18, 2008, I appeared on Larry King Live, together with three former USAF officers who had UFO-related experiences while in the military. Synopses of those experiences may be found at my website.

I will begin this thread by requesting that the persons who respond to my posts first review some of my articles, especially "UFO Sightings at ICBM Sites and nuclear Weapons Storage Areas", accessible at ufohastings.com.

I also suggest that genuine UFO skeptics (as opposed to knee-jerk UFO debunkers) to review the website hosted by astronomer Dr. Bernard Haisch, ufoskeptic.com. Dr. Haish defines a skeptic as, “One who practices the method of suspended judgment, engages in rational and dispassionate reasoning as exemplified by the scientific method, shows willingness to consider alternative explanations without prejudice based on prior beliefs, and who seeks out evidence and carefully scrutinizes its validity.”

I further recommend that the UFO research of astrophysicist Dr. James McDonald, be googled. Dr. McDonald, who was invited to address the U.S. congress on his UFO research in 1968, once wrote, “From time to time in the history of science, situations have arisen in which a problem of ultimately enormous importance went begging for adequate attention simply because that problem appeared to involve phenomena so far outside the current bounds of scientific knowledge that it was not even regarded as a legitimate subject of serious scientific concern. That is precisely the situation in which the UFO problem now lies. One of the principal results of my own recent intensive study of the UFO enigma is this: I have become convinced that the scientific community, not only in this country but throughout the world, has been casually ignoring as nonsense a matter of extraordinary scientific importance.”

While acknowledging that the overwhelming majority of UFO sightings undoubtedly had prosaic explanations, and that a great many questions about the phenomenon remained unanswered, McDonald succinctly summarized his conclusions regarding the most credible of the unexplained cases: “My own present opinion, based on two years of careful study, is that UFOs are probably extraterrestrial devices engaged in something that might very tentatively be termed ‘surveillance’.”

After being granted access to the Air Force's Project Blue Book UFO files, McDonald wrote, “…There are hundreds of good cases in the Air Force files that should have led to top-level scientific scrutiny of [UFOs] years ago, yet these cases have been swept under the rug in a most disturbing way by Project Blue Book investigators and their consultants.”

Okay, enough for now. Assuming that the powers that be on this website aren't afraid to air the other side of the UFO story, by banning my posts, I look forward to educating and debating those who post here.

--Robert Hastings
ufohastings.com
hastings444@att.net