- "More than 80 million Americans believe the earth
has been visited by extraterrestrials"
- "More than 40 million Americans believe they have
seen or know someone who has seen an unidentified flying object."
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- Peter Jennings feels the answers to UFOs may be in these
statistics, a subject for his upcoming ABC Special "Seeing is Believing"
to air Feb. 24th. A ground making special itself as this will be the first
time the subject of UFOs has been taken on personally by a major network
anchor. Jennings said "This is one of the most interesting subjects
I've worked on" when he was taping for a Northwest Afternoon program
in Seattle February 16th in front of a small audience.
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- Investigative Reporter
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- The show provided a format which highlighted Peter Jenning's
broadcast career starting from the age of nine, his notable interviews
with foreign leaders and presidents, a clip of him stating tenaciously
to the American public "We are going to stay on the air until NASA
has told us what it knows" and a clip of him holding a piece of the
Berlin Wall. The program also commented on his recent trip to Iraq and
his first interview with Bill Gates just that morning. The show gave him
a chance to show himself, his witty humor behind his handsome smile and
indeed that he can even blush when a female audience member called him
"hot, suave, elegant and awesome". Everyone agrees with applause
which makes Peter turn even more red and smile. Yes, he is hot.
- He is also inquiring and a bit of his drive might be
indicative in his last special on the JFK Assassination. I believe Peter
Jennings doesn't want important information to be overlooked to leave future
generations wondering why media didn't responsibly ask the questions.
- When asked why a UFO special, Peter Jennings stated he
didn't know as much about this subject until about a year ago when he started
filming this special but "as I keep telling people I work for the
news division of ABC not the entertainment division and when 80 million
people are interested in something, I wanted to investigate."
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- On the show a sneak peek of his special was previewed
which showed UFO photos, a sighting case involving police and statements
from abductees. I was able to ask Peter Jennings if he himself has had
any personal sightings or experiences. Peter Jennings related no but stated
he raises an issue in his program that if he did have a sighting who would
he call? Who would he tell? He urgently pointed out the government would
say they are not in the business of UFOs and dismiss the call but might
be referred to a man called Peter Davenport. Peter Jennings then excitedly
announced Davenport's presence in the audience. Jennings has been working
on his special program and had previously contacted Peter Davenport, the
Director of the National UFO Reporting Center which was founded in 1972
by retired Seattle firefighter Robert Gribble.
- Davenport stated the ABC special on UFOs may be a "landmark
program" and significant in the sense it may allow people to feel
more comfortable to discuss this issue as he felt there was a certain degree
of suppression of this subject.
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- First Responders
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- Peter Jennings mentioned " Because so many of the
people we interviewed actually turned out to be the very kind of people
who in this day and age - the first responders we rely on - airline pilots,
both commercial and military, people who work in the police and I was very
struck by the seriousness of the people who believed in this and talk about
it.
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- I was also struck - and you see alot in the program -
how government failed, all the way from the 1940s when the first UFOs became
an issue, how government failed to take this seriously."
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- Jennings then stated Davenport at least may like that
they took the issue seriously and the people involved in UFOlogy seriously.
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- Without a doubt this is what every UFOlogist and interested
person in UFOs has been dreaming about - serious recognition on the "six-o'clock"
news.
- Groundbreaking and relieving that this breakthrough has
occurred in our lifetime. We can now sit our kids in front of the TV in
the same way our parents and grandparents watched the moon landing and
tell them they are watching something historical.
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- But something else happened that should be known.
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- The Handshake
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- When the film stopped rolling between segments, Peter
Jennings unexpectedly got up from his chair, walked across the stage over
to where Peter Davenport was sitting and respectfully shook Peter Davenport's
hand. Then he quickly sat down.
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- Wow. I think something happened here. Something monumental
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- A feeling that a wall between people and the media regarding
UFOs that has been in place for years just shattered
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- I believe at that very moment of the handshake, UFOlogy
was suddenly recognized by mainstream media and along with that to some
degree the importance of sightings and experiences of millions of people
was acknowleged.
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- I didn't hear a chorus of angels or see a beam of light
shine down from the heavens - it was after all a simple handshake but
I would like to think that whatever prompted the handshake, with an exchange
of kind words, there was a silent acknowlegement of respect for a fellow
reporter, perhaps a common feeling of understanding of our humanity or
even if you will an imagined cosmic cellular transfer of information.
In any manner, I believe our understanding of asking the question if we
are alone in the universe just got a helping hand.
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- Charlette LeFevre
- Director Seattle UFO/Paranormal Group
- Co-Director Seattle Museum of the Mysteries
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- ABC Special - UFOs Seeing Is Believing
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