SOURCE: La Cró®©£a de Hoy
DATE: 05/17/2004
SEDENA AND THE UFO QUESTION
by Raul Trejo Delarbre
Perhaps we shall never know the cause behind the images recorded by the Mexican Air Force on March 5, 2004 over Campeche and which Televisa broadly displayed a week ago. The quality of the video that caused so much interest is poor. Above all, the hypotheses turned into certainties by those who seek confirmation of extraterrestrial visitation in each manifestation of infrequent events, have negated any possibility of a scientific discussion of these facts.
The existence or non-existence of otehr worlds has been the subject of countless discussions and ruminations. The ease with which this matter is invested with esoteric allusions, and with a sometimes successful commercialization of bewilderment, makes its public examination particularly difficult.
It is therefore noteworthy that when it had the recorded testimony of a phenomenon that it could not explain, the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) did not seek an opinion based on scientific research.
There exist within our country research groups on atmospheric and astronomic matters made up of academicians of acknowledged international merit. Rather than appealing to them, SEDENA, responsible for the national security of all Mexicans, turned to a journalist known for his convictions regarding the extraterrestrial origin of UFOs.
Jaime Maussᮧs interest in such matters goes back years. He has offered considerable evidence of is tenacity in broadcasting what he believes are expressions of life from other planets on our own. Such work may merit diverging opinions. But regardless, it is clear that Maussᮠhas already formed a point of view about the meaning of UFOs. For this reason, his opinion is not the most objective when it comes to ruling on the meaning of a video such as the one recorded by the Air Force, and much less when it comes to broadcasting said material. However, from among all of the scientific, media, professional or esoteric options possible, SEDENA sought out Maussᮮ
[In the video] can be seen the infrared camera images installed on a military twin-engine aircraft engaged in a patrol mission between Chiapas and Campeche. After radar reported the presence of what appeared to be other aircraft, the crew was perplexed by the fact that they could not see them unaided. For that reason they employed the infrared camera whose recording we have come to know through TV.
SEDENA then sought Maussᮧs counsel. The journalists webpage says: "On April 20, Lic. Jaime Maussá® was summoned to the headquarters of the National Defense for an initial encounter with the high command of our country's armed forces in order to brief him on the specifics of the case and two days later, he was given a video copy of the encounter of the MERLIN C26/A aircraft of the Mexican Air Force in order to undertake all pertiennt investigations and subsequent transmission to the public opinion of the various information media in our country and the world at large. All of this with the approval of Gen. Ricardo Clemente, head of the Mexican Armed Forces (the secretary's full name is Gerardo Clemente Ricardo Vega Garcí¡©.
Maussá® broadcast the video, presenting it as confirmation of the hypotheses which have made him a celebrity. It is not his behavior that is odd -- rather, it is that of the Secretariat of Defense.
Consulted by the media, scientists such as astronomer José ¤e la Herrá® suggested that the objects picked up on the recording could have been meteorite fragments. Others, such as José ¤e Jes?ranco, director of the UNAM's Insitute of Astronomy, stated that it could have been "an atmospheric phenomenon known as ball lightning." In any event, none of them have had the opportunity to inspect the recording because SEDENA only turned over to the aformentioned journalist.
Faced with questions about its behavior, National Defense has chosen secrecy and censure. In a letter sent to La Jornada to protest the sarcastic treatment given by one of the newspaper's cartoonists to the cited news item, Brig.Gen. D.E.M. Efren Martí®¥z Guzmᮬ Defense General Director of Social Communication, explains that when they had the video in their hands, the Secretariat's officials had "two options: either file it away as secret or turn it over to a person knowledgeable of the subejct, in an effort to keep the matter from becoming a joke."
Since that did not happen, and SEDENA's behavior has merited suspicion, General Martinez Guzmá® considers that the chapter: "teaches us that nothing at all be provided in subsequent occasions, especially when the information was provided in good faith and only for the public's awareness."
Ra?ejo Delarbre
rtrejod@infosel.net.mx
http://raultrejo.tripod.com
Source:
http://www.cronica.com.mx/