Govenor Fife Symington appeared on Larry King Live: 2008-11

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Govenor Fife Symington appeared on Larry King Live on Friday, July 13, 2007, during a discussion of UFOs, including the Phoenix Lights incident.

LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, was a UFO buzzing around the historic Apollo 11 moon mission?
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin tells us what he thinks he saw.

Arizona's former governor once dismissed the Phoenix lights that stunned hundreds of eyewitnesses 10 years ago. He'll explain why he now says they could not have been military flares.

Plus, the stories behind the close encounters former Presidents Jerry Ford and Jimmy Carter allegedly had.

And a return to Roswell, New Mexico, where the UFO controversy began 60 years ago with the man who says his father showed him debris from an alien spacecraft.

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CNN Larry King Live: Are UFOs Real?

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It's a topic that won't go away -- 60 years ago, July 1947, the small town of Roswell, New Mexico went from obscurity to global renown after reports that UFO had crashed there.

Today, people who suggest the possibility that life exists in other galaxies look to Roswell as a modern event that seems to back up the theories.

We welcome Dr. Jesse Marcel, Jr. here in Los Angeles. He was shown UFO debris by his father, Major Jesse Marcel. He's author of "The Roswell Legacy."

Stanton Friedman, one of the foremost experts on Roswell and UFOs.

And in Roswell, New Mexico is Julie Shuster, executive director of the International UFO Museum and Research Center at Roswell. Julie's father, Walter Haut, was the public information officer at Roswell Air Base. He put out the press release about the UFO.

Dr. Marcel, tell us about your dad.

DR. JESSE MARCEL, JR. WAS SHOWN UFO DEBRIS BY HIS FATHER, MAJOR JESSE MARCEL; AUTHOR OF "THE ROSWELL LEGACY": Well, he was the base intelligence officer for the 509th Bomb Group, which is the bomb group that dropped the atomic bomb on Japan that won the war for us.

KING: They were based at Roswell?

MARCEL: They were based at Roswell, at Roswell Army Air Field.

And as the intelligence officer, his job was to investigate unusual events. And a rancher found some strange debris on his ranch land some miles northwest of Roswell. He called the sheriff and brought some to the sheriff. The sheriff didn't know what this was. So the sheriff then called the base commander, Colonel Blanchard, to look into this. And since my dad was the intelligence officer, he sent he and a CIC agent out to the ranch -- CIC was a forerunner of the CIA at that time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Counter Intelligence Corps.

MARCEL: Counter Intelligence Corps.

And when my dad got out there, he found a large area of strange looking debris. This was not remains of a weather balloon or a radar tordid (ph), because the rancher found those before. So this is totally different from that.

So in order to determine what this was, he picked up a certain representative portion of the debris, brought it in to Roswell. Now, it just so happens our house was on the way to Roswell, to the base there. So even though it's late at night, maybe 1:00 in the morning, he came in, woke my mother and myself up.

KING: You were a kid?

MARCEL: I was a kid. Eleven years old at that time. And he will already spread some debris out on the kitchen floor.

And he says, "Look at this. I think this is parts of a flying saucer," or words to that effect. And being a child, I was not quite sure what a flying saucer was, but he was so excited I thought, well, you know, I'd better look at this.

So, he says look for --

KING: He was a major?

MARCEL: He was a major at that time.

And he said, "Look at this. There's (INAUDIBLE) electronic components like vacuum tubes and resistors. It wasn't anything like that at all. But it was strange. There was foil. There was --

KING: So what eventually happened?

Did he --

MARCEL: OK.

What he did, he -- we looked at this for a period of time, then he gathered it had back up and then brought it back to the air base that night. And constituently he flew us to General Ramey's office in Fort Worth. And when he came home later, he told my mother and myself never talk about this again, that it was a non-event, don't talk about it, period.

STANTON FRIEDMAN, LEADING EXPERT ON UFOS AND ROSWELL INCIDENT: General Ramey was head of the 8th Air Force and Jesse reported to his boss, Colonel Blanchard. He reported to General Ramey.

KING: And this proceeded to lead to a cover-up, in your opinion?

FREIDMAN: There's no question because General Ramey's --

KING: A cover-up of what?

FREIDMAN: Well, OK. Interesting question. I think alien spacecraft. And they put phony wreckage out. This is General Ramey. And here's his chief of staff --

KING: I want to show this.

FREIDMAN: -- Thomas Jefferson Dubose -- and I managed to locate General Dubose, by this time a retired general, mind you, many years later. And he told me that he took a call from Ramey's boss in Washington telling him, "Get the press off our back. I don't care how you do it. Send some of that wreckage up here today."

There's a great headline, Larry.

KING: That's a great headline.

FREIDMAN: He said, "Send some of that wreckage up here today with one of your colonel couriers and I don't want you to ever talk about it again, not even with your buddy, Roger Ramey. That's an order. Do I need to put it in writing?"

No, sir.

KING: I've done so many shows on this --

FREIDMAN: I know.

KING: -- over the years, as you know. We went out in UFO territory in Nevada.

Where was that?

Fifty-one, Area 51.

FREIDMAN: Yes, near Rachel, Nevada.

KING: And what has never been answered is why cover it up?

FREIDMAN: On my Web site --

KING: OK, let's say there's life in outer space.

FREIDMAN: That isn't the question -- KING: And let's say they came here. OK.

FREIDMAN: That isn't the question --

KING: Did they -- were they out to destroy us, what?

FREIDMAN: I have a paper on my Web site called "The UFO Why Questions," and that's the biggest one -- why the cover-up?

I give six reasons. You want to figure out how to work, they make wonderful delivery and defense systems. You've got wreckage. Rule number one for security -- I worked under security for 14 years, Larry -- is you can't tell your friends without telling your enemies. They listen to you, too, after all.

KING: So you're still working on this 40 years later?

You're still working on?

FREIDMAN: yes, believe it or not.

KING: All right, Julie --

FREIDMAN: (INAUDIBLE) --

KING: Hold on.

Julie Shuster is the executive director of the International UFO.

Your father was -- and a famous name, Walter Haut -- he was public information officer.

Was he asked to cover it up, too?

JULIE SHUSTER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL UFO MUSEUM AT ROSWELL: My father all along said that he issued the press release. And when he asked to see the debris, he said no.

He -- as far as the cover-up, part of -- being part of the cover- up, no, to my knowledge he was not.

KING: What did the press release say?

SHUSTER: The press release basically said -- and using his words, because I've heard it many, many times -- was we have in our possession a flying saucer. It's being flown to higher headquarters in Fort Worth. And his biggest regret on that press release was using the words "it's being flown to higher headquarters," because the media called from around the world saying how did they know how to fly it?

And he had to explain it was being put on aircraft.

and then he would, you know, that was his biggest thing. And he said -- but he would also add, but it was not of this Earth.

So that was basically his story. KING: That was the release

What did your father believe?

SHUSTER: My father believed it was not of this Earth. It was not a craft of ours. It was something unknown. And he used the words "not of this Earth." He was very emphatic about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told me that, too.

KING: Do you know why we have not heard of it -- or what's your guess, Jesse in, a long time?

MARCEL: Well, I'm not sure why we haven't heard about it because I think the American public is well enough informed about space to know about this, that they deserve to know that there's another life out there, that we're not the only ones. Because if we are, there's an awful lot of wasted space out there.

KING: We'll take a break and be back with more.

Our full show tonight devoted to UFOs.

We have a skeptic, as well. He'll be with us.

Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The strange wreckage that Brasile discovered spanned an area 300 yards wide by a mile long. That parcel of land, known to investigators as the debris field, is where some believe an extraterrestrial craft blew apart and fell to Earth.

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Disclosure - Governor Fife Symington

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COL. JOHN HAYNES, U.S. AIR FORCE: Over a period of time, dummies were dropped all around there. And I think it's logical to assume that the people there saw Air Force ambulances come out. They saw gurneys come out. They saw body bags come out because the dummies were put into the body bags to protect them. They saw people in pith helmets. They saw people in shorts out there brushing the bushes, looking for the remnants of the balloons.

And when you put all that stuff together and spin it, you find that it fits perfectly with many of the occurrences in Roswell during that era.

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KING: Remaining with us, Dr. Jesse Marcel, Jr. Stanton Friedman and Julie Shuster. By the way, Dr. Marcel wrote "The Roswell Legacy."

The forward was written by Stanton Friedman.

Joining us now, Michael Shermer, the publisher of "Skeptic" magazine. "Skeptic" did a whole issue, or a major part of an issue, on Roswell a couple of years back.

And James Fox, filmmaker, executive producer of the feature length documentary, "Out of the Blue: The Definitive Investigation of the UFO Phenomenon." That documentary is narrated by our good friend, Peter Coyote and was just released on DVD.

Is that the one where -- in which Presidents Carter and Ford discuss their sightings?

JAMES FOX, FILMMAKER WHO EXECUTIVE PRODUCED THE AWARD-WINNING, FEATURE-LENGTH DOCUMENTARY OUT OF THE BLUE: THE DEFINITIVE INVESTIGATION OF THE UFO PHENOMENON: Yes.

KING: What do they say?

FOX: Jimmy Carter said he actually saw a UFO and he describes -- he was with, I think, 10 witnesses and --

KING: He was on a plane, right?

FOX: No, he was actually standing outside in Georgia, I believe. And that was when he was a Congressman. And he said it just shot off --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was governor.

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FOX: Governor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was governor.

FOX: Governor. I'm so sorry. Excuse me. He was governor. And it shot off at a high rate of speed and disappeared.

KING: And Ford?

FOX: Ford was involved -- it was a very major sighting. It was the equivalent sighting that happened over at the State of Arizona that has actually happened over in Chicago, what was it, 1966, Stanton Friedman?

FREIDMAN: I'm not sure.

FOX: I think it was 1966. But the Air Force came forward with some swamp gas explanation and Ford --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was Michigan.

FOX: -- pushed for -- Michigan, yes. Ford pushed for Congressional hearings and he admitted that on (INAUDIBLE) -- KING: And that's out in DVD now, right?

FOX: yes.

CNN
Transcript
CNN LARRY KING LIVE
Are UFOs Real?
Arizona's former governor once dismissed the Phoenix lights that stunned hundreds of eyewitnesses 10 years ago. He'll explain why he now says they could not have been military flares.

Aired July 13, 2007 - 21:00 ET

On the Net:
Governor Fife Symington - http://www.fifesymington.com/

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John Fife Symington III (born August 12, 1945 in New York City) was the Republican governor of the U.S. state of Arizona from 1991 until his resignation in 1997.

Background

Symington comes from a distinguished Maryland family; he is a great-grandson of steel magnate Henry Clay Frick, and his father J. Fife Symington Jr. (1910-2007) was United States ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago 1969-1971. His cousin, Stuart Symington, was a U.S. Senator from Missouri and father of James Wadsworth Symington, a U.S. Representative from that state. He is married to the former Ann Olin Pritzlaff, an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church and an heiress of the Olin family. They have five children and four grandchildren.

He attended the prestigious Gilman School in Baltimore, then attended Harvard University, graduating in 1968 with a degree in Dutch art history and was a member of the Porcellian Club. He served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War, stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Maricopa County, Arizona. He remained in Arizona and became involved in real estate development, founding his own company, the Symington Company, in 1976.

He was charged in a 1996 indictment; 1997 superseding indictment for false statements to federally insured financial institutions, wire fraud, attempted extortion and false statements in bankruptcy proceeding, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1014, 1343, 1951, 152, 2(a) and 2(b).

Governorship

Symington ran for governor of Arizona in 1990, taking 44% of the vote in the Republican primary in a field of four candidates. He ran against Democrat Terry Goddard, the former mayor of Phoenix, in the November general election. The presence of four write-in candidates resulted in Symington and Goddard being virtually tied, with Symington ahead by only 4,300 votes. Arizona had adopted runoff voting in general elections if no candidate receives 50% of the vote. This came after the controversial Evan Mecham had been elected governor in 1986 with only 43% of the vote. As a result, a runoff was held on February 26, 1991; which Symington won with 52% of the vote (Arizona returned to plurality voting in 1992).

During his first term, Symington was the subject of an investigation over his involvement with Southwest Savings and Loan, a failed Phoenix thrift. He was later cleared, and won reelection handily in 1994.

Later, he was indicted on charges of extortion and making false financial statements, and of bank fraud. He was convicted of bank fraud in 1997. The Arizona state constitution does not allow convicted felons to hold office, so Symington was forced to resign.

This conviction, however, was overturned in 1999 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Six days into jury deliberations, the trial judge had granted the government's motion to dismiss a juror because she was leaning toward acquittal and the other jurors complained that she was keeping them from reaching a unanimous verdict. The appeals court ruled that the dismissal violated Symington's right to a fair trial.

He was subsequently pardoned by President Clinton near the end of his presidency in January 2001. The pardon terminated the federal government's seven year battle with the former governor. Coincidentally, Symington once rescued Bill Clinton from a potential drowning. During their college years (Symington at Harvard and Clinton at Georgetown), Clinton got caught in a strong tide and Symington rescued Clinton from a near drowning.

Post-governorship

After leaving office, Symington undertook some culinary pursuits. After graduating from the Scottsdale Culinary Institute/Cordon Bleu, he helped found the Arizona Culinary Institute, a professional cooking school that teaches the classic French method. Symington is a founding partner of The Symington Group, a venture capital and strategic business/political consulting firm.

On February 4, 2005, in an interview with the Arizona Republic, Symington expressed interest in running for governor in 2006 against Democrat Janet Napolitano, setting the state political landscape abuzz. However, three months later, on May 5, he withdrew his name from consideration, saying that he wanted to focus his energy on The Symington Group. In an interview with KPHO-TV in Phoenix, Symington said, "I've been thinking about it, doing a lot of soul searching, talking to a lot of friends. But for me, I've done that. ...I don't want to run for governor again."

In November 2006, Symington lost a bid to become the GOP Chair of his local legislative district. The defeat in this district, which also happens to be the home district of John McCain (whose support he had), was the first electoral defeat of Symington's career.

In 2007, Fife said that he had witnessed one of the "crafts of unknown origin" during the 1997 Phoenix Lights event, but noted that he didn't go public with the information.

Former Arizona Governor says he saw a UFO during the 1997 Phoenix Lights

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On the 12th of November 2007 former Arizona Governor Fife Symington moderated a distinguished panel of former high-ranking government, aviation and military officials from seven countries who discussed encounters with UFOs and official investigations. The event at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. was organized by filmmaker James Fox and journalist Leslie Kean.

Exopolitik.org
James Fox - Best UFO Movie - 'Out Of The Blue'

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In an interview with The Daily Courier in Prescott, Fife said:

I'm a pilot and I know just about every machine that flies. It was bigger than anything that I've ever seen. It remains a great mystery. Other people saw it, responsible people. I don't know why people would ridicule it.

It was enormous and inexplicable. Who knows where it came from? A lot of people saw it, and I saw it too. It was dramatic. And it couldn't have been flares because it was too symmetrical. It had a geometric outline, a constant shape.

However, when he was Governor in 1997, Symington promised he would look into the mass sighting, but then quickly ridiculed it at a press conference where he had his chief of staff dress up in an alien costume, telling reporters that they had found the culprit. His explanation today is that as a public official he felt a responsibility to avoid public panic and therefore tried to introduce some levity into the situation.

On November 9, 2007, Symington appeared with a panel of guests discussing their UFO experiences on Larry King Live. A few days later, on November 12, Symington acted as moderator for a UFO press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Other speakers included U.S./foreign military witnesses/public officials involved in some major UFO cases, such as the 1980 Rendlesham Forest Incident, 1990 Belgium UFO incident, and 1976 Tehran UFO Incident, and heads of some official foreign government UFO investigations, such as Nick Pope in the U.K. and Claude Poher of France. They said the phenomenon was quite real, should be taken seriously, and urged that the U.S. reopen its public UFO investigation.

Symington also appeared as a witness of the Phoenix Lights in an updated version of the 2002 UFO documentary Out of the Blue by filmmaker James Fox. Fox helped organize the witness panels for both the Larry King show and followup National Press Club event.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia