Tim Russert's UFO question: A step in acclimation?

When Tim Russert suddenly passed on last week, we saw that he will be remembered fondly by many professional associates in the news media and politics, as well as, of course, his family and friends.

As a respected journalist, and someone who many colleagues considered "a good guy," Russert's passing at a young age is widely regarded as a significant loss on many levels.

Although Russert usually dealt with politics and conventional current affairs, he made news himself at the Oct. 30, 2007, Democratic presidential candidates' debate when he asked Dennis Kucinich about an unidentified flying object Kucinich had reportedly seen.

Supporters of Kucinich complained that Russert was trying to make Kucinich look foolish or mentally quirky. Others thought that it was a dumb question when there were so many other important national issues to discuss. People interested in UFOs thought Russert might be making fun of the topic.

Did Russert pose the question to lighten up the questioning and bring in some humor?

The question was certainly no accident.

However, people who research and study, or are just interested in, the UFO phenomena wondered if there might be something more in Russert's question. What other reasons might Russert have had for the question?

Interestingly, in the same debate, Barack Obama was also asked about extraterrestrial beings and intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. He responded that he was more interested in people's lives in the United States.

It didn't stop there. After the debate and during further informal talks with the candidates, Chris Matthews of MSNBC brought up the same topics with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. After all, New Mexico was associated with UFOs and the so-called "the Roswell incident," Matthews noted.

Richardson then stated that he felt that the federal government should be more open about these kinds of subjects and that he had promoted Roswell as a New Mexico tourist destination.

Between Russert's and Matthews' questions on this topic in an intensely-watched presidential debate, the UFO subject was raised in a particularly unique and public way. This was unusual at the time. Most "mainstream media" personalities tended to regard the UFO topic as outside the realm of serious news coverage.

Approximately two months later, the Stephenville, Texas, UFO sightings story broke. And the approach of mainstream news media changed significantly.

STEPHENVILLE AND MEDIA COVERAGE

After small-town reporter Angelia Joiner of the Stephenville Empire-Tribune newspaper wrote that several reliable people had sighted something strange in the night sky over Erath County, the Associated Press ran a story on it in mid-January.

Before long, CNN's Larry King, NBC Today Show's Matt Lauer and other mainstream media outlets were talking seriously about the Stephenville case.

What had been a perceived by some as apparent humor or possibly ridicule by Tim Russert just two months before, was now the subject of serious and thoughtful media coverage.

But did Russert know something that others did not? Did he have any inside information about the UFO phenomena? Did someone suggest it to him to pose a question about UFOs? At present, we don't know the answers to these questions.

The fact remains that Russert's question brought the topic forward in the minds of millions of Americans. The Stephenville sightings that followed further prompted much serious thought about the UFO situation in the media and within the American and international public.

In recent months, Larry King has had many guests and several program segments about various aspects of UFOs and interesting related cases. Many have noticed that Larry and/or his program staff seem to have a particular focus on this ... or maybe they have found that the subject is just good for ratings.

The Stephenville case is widely regarded as a turning point in media coverage of this unusual subject. Instead of smirks and ridicule, the Stephenville sightings were often reported in a straightforward and professional way by local and national news media platforms – print, broadcast and online.

Part of this was because of the credibility of the Erath County witnesses: a pilot and business owner, a county constable, a local metalworker and many others. Reporter Angelia Joiner's professional reporting also seemed to contribute to the factual way the sightings were then reported by AP writer Angela K. Brown. This tone was maintained to a large degree in the U.S. and international news media.

These circumstances have now set the stage for continued professional and factual coverage of the UFO situation, something that many researchers believe is very helpful.

And, it could be that this kind of media attention, started last October by Russert and continuing through the Stephenville sightings, is also useful in the process of what some call "acclimation." This term is used to describe efforts to gradually, safely and responsibly prepare Americans and people around the world for more information about UFOs.

POLITICIANS AND PRESIDENTS

Another aspect of Russert's question in the context of a presidential debate is that the three candidates questioned are from from states with interesting connections to UFOs.

Kucinich is from Ohio, home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. According to some UFO research, Wright-Patterson AFB is where wreckage and possibly bodies from the Roswell incident were taken in the summer of 1947. Wright-Patterson is the base involved in testing and analyzing foreign aircraft materials and technology.

Richardson's state, of course, is home to probably the most well-known UFO case. Researchers say an object crash landed at a rural sheep ranch in July 1947. The rancher then took odd debris to the county sheriff's office. The sheriff contacted the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) located nearby, home to the only atomic bomb delivery wing of the Army Air Corps (later reorganized into the Air Force).

According to the Roswell story, the base intelligence officer and counter-intelligence personnel went out to the sheep ranch, investigated and reportedly may have concluded that a "flying saucer" had crashed there. The base public affairs officer then issued a press release to explain this, reportedly on orders from the base commanding officer.

Illinois Senator Obama tactfully avoided a UFO question put to him in the debate. His connection? Approximately one year earlier, Nov. 7, 2006, multiple highly-credible witnesses at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport reported seeing a gray, metallic, disc-shaped craft above the airport, which was reported in news media internationally.

According to witnesses, the object was estimated to be 6 feet to 24 feet in diameter, maintained a stationary position, had no lights, was silent and hovered just below the cloud deck, estimated to be 1,900 feet that day.

Russert's question was not the first occasion in which politicians have weighed in on the UFO topic.

President Ronald Reagan reportedly made a comment about Steven Spielberg's movie CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND being more accurate than many people were aware of. Reagan also delivered a speech to the United Nations how about how the human race might pull together in case of a threat from outside of Earth.

President Jimmy Carter, along with other witnesses aboard an aircraft, sighted a UFO in October 1969 and Carter completed a UFO witness report.

Former Arizona governor Fife Symington was quoted in a March 18, 2007, article as saying that he witnessed the huge "Phoenix Lights" craft above the Phoenix metropolitan area on March 13, 1997.

Symington was quoted as saying he witnessed a large triangular "craft of unknown origin" with lights. "It was dramatic. And it couldn't have been flares because it was too symmetrical. It had a geometric outline, a constant shape," he stated. Symington, a former Air Force officer, also said, "It was enormous and inexplicable. Who knows where it came from? A lot of people saw it, and I saw it too."

Whether he intended to or not, Russert moved the ball forward in increasing discussion about UFOs and the roles of media and government in the subject.

As his passing is celebrated by colleagues, friends and family, one day he might also be remembered for opening up the UFO subject to a larger audience in the context of conventional politics and current events.

This may be remembered as a unique and helpful step in the process of acclimation and disclosure about a puzzling, mysterious and perhaps surprising situation.

NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this article, you might also like my June 6 piece "In new TV series project, secret government team explores unusual phenomena". For more information and resources about these and other topics, please visit the Joint Recon Study Group and have a look around. You can read my novels online by clicking these links for MISSION INTO LIGHT and the sequel LIGHT'S HAND.