Stanton Friedman -Transcript

 

When pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing several strange aircrafts in 1947, UFOs, or flying saucers, entered the public realm. Since then, UFOs have become mainstream. All over the world, UFOs have astounded and mystified the public, while creating heated debate and controversy.

For over fifty years, Fredericton’s Stanton Friedman has been investigating UFOs and the possibility of their existence. In that time he has become one of the most respected and recognizable UFO investigators in the world.

CNN Clip

Larry King: Stanton how do you respond to James’ differing?

Stanton Friedman: I think that he started out with the conclusion that there are no flying saucers, there are no alien spacecraft, anyone who thinks they’ve seen one is simply mistaken. He’s a competent pilot, he knows.  But he ought to talk to the guys at NARCAP…

VO

But long before Friedman appeared on shows like Larry King Live, his focus was nuclear physics. He earned his master’s degree in 1956 at the University of Chicago. He then went on to work for companies like General Electric, Westinghouse, and General Motors.

Friedman sound up

They were exciting programs, they were classified; nuclear airplanes, fission rockets, fusion rockets, nuclear power plants for space. And some of them were quite large, and I was working on nuclear airplanes for General Electric just outside Cincinnati. In 1958, we spent a hundred million dollars; employed thirty five hundred people full time, eleven hundred of whom were engineers and scientists. So it wasn’t just a paper study in other words, it was a massive effort.

VO

Friedman’s interest in flying saucers began in 1958, when he came across a book about the subject of UFOs

Friedman sound up

I was ordering books from a discount book place in New York and I needed one more book so I wouldn’t have to pay shipping. I’m a cheapskate, really, when you get down to it. So there was one: The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by air force captain Edward Rupelt. It said he had been head of Project Bluebook in the early 50’s. That was marked down from $2.95 to $1.00; hard cover book, shows you how times have changed.

VO

In 1967, after 9 years of investigation and research, Friedman made his first public lecture in Pittsburgh. He has done over 700 lectures since then, and has made many radio and T.V appearances.

In the late 70’s, Friedman began investigating a UFO case that would put him in the international spotlight; a case simply known as the Roswell incident.

The legend of the Roswell incident began in early July 1947, when the army base in Roswell, New Mexico told the media that they had found wreckage of a flying saucer. The army quickly changed their story, however, and claimed that the so-called flying saucer was just a crashed weather balloon. The whole incident was quickly forgotten, until Friedman got a tip from a TV station manager about thirty years later.

Friedman sound up

Out of the blue he says “you know the guy you ought to talk to is Jesse Marcel. And me being the great investigator I am, said “who’s he?”  His answer floored me. He said “Oh he handled wreckage from one of those saucers your interested in when he was in the military.”

VO

Friedman was able to get Marcel to come forward with his story. After a year and a half of investigation, he was able to locate a total of sixty two witnesses connected with the incident; some of whom claimed to have seen  wreckage and even alien bodies.

In 1980, a book based on Friedman’s investigation was published…and the story of Roswell lives on today.

Friedman sound up

It’s the ultimate story. We not only see flying saucers in the sky; but they crash. And we recover the wreckage and the bodies and there’s a government cover up. What could be a bigger story than that?

VO

Other popular cases Friedman has investigated include the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, and the majestic 12 documents. Friedman will add to his resume in June when his new book is released to go with the four he has already written.

Friedman sound up

Basically what we’ve done is take stupid things said by smart people and shown the consequences to their resistance to new ideas, new things. Some of them are pretty tragic actually.

VO

Friedman, born an American, has been living in Fredericton for about thirty years.So what do other residents think of Friedman and the subject of UFOs?

Streeter #1 sound up

I think it’s pretty cool that we have a well known scientist for UFOs, stuff like that, right here in the Maritimes.

Streeter #2 sound up

Well I think it’s definitely a possibility that there are extraterrestrials. I very much doubt that we are alone in the universe, really, when you take a look at all the systems, clusters, and what not, there’s bound to be something else out there.

Streeter #3 sound up

I really don’t know, and I don’t think we do know. I wouldn’t find it shocking to believe that they actually exist, that there are alien races. I find it a little harder to believe that they’ve visited our planet.

Friedman sound up

My goal is to make people aware of the fact that man is not at the top of the heap, that we are not alone, that we should get rid of our arrogance, coupled with our ignorance. We need to grow up, and use our knowledge of science for the betterment of man.