"From Don
Schmitt:
'It would seem like
I've been here before... Asking my friends and colleagues to accept my
sincerest apology for my participation in the recent event in Mexico City . I accept full responsibility for the fact
that I allowed myself to be drawn into this situation, albeit with the best of
intentions, I sacrificed my better judgement by being overly trusting when I
should have known better. As one strives to make up for the mistakes of the
past, there are times that emotions cause one to outrun their headlights. In my
case, I ran it right off the road. Through the years I have worked hard to earn
back your respect and confidence in my work only to presently jeopardize it
all. For that I am especially remorseful. I am afraid that after spending
almost half of my life devoted to one specific investigation, I allowed the
allure of final resolution cloud my skeptical nature to be replaced by a false
vision of hope. I now realize that the image in the slides is a mummy as
specified by the display placard. At this time I consider the matter concluded
and intend on moving forward. My only desire is that you try to understand that
I never wilfully did anything to mislead or misrepresent what I thought was the
truth and I only acted with the best of objectives. Still, if I have offended
or hurt anyone through my participation in this event, you have my deepest
apology and have every right to hold it against me. When the truth finally was
made known to all of us, I realized that I could only blame myself for not only
failing you, but more sadly, failing myself. I must do better. And with God's
help and your understanding, I promise I will.
Sincerely,
Donald R.
Schmitt'."
That's a very dignified, honest and noble thing he's said
and I wish Don all the best. I hope he can move on and rebuild his life after
this disaster. People who denounced the slides from day one, like Philip Mantle
and Kevin Randle, have been completely vindicated. Here's a radio show with
both of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoDF0OcTY_o.
At the time I thought they were being excessively cynical, but obviously their
attitude was justified in the light of subsequent events.
During the weeks leading up to the Be Witness pageant in Mexico
I became somewhat obsessed with the Roswell Slides, see the background links
below. I took a very similar line to Richard Dolan, I was enthusiastic just in
case they were the real deal, but never let go of the possibility that the
slides might not be extraterrestrial. I don't regret anything I've done; it's
easy for anyone to repudiate previous actions with retrospect. However I think
I addressed the possibility in a positive and level headed way. It was a bit of
a gamble, like getting on a ship. The ship might sail away and sink with you on
it, yet it might sail to a beautiful new world and leave you standing on the
quay. The UFO community is right now resonating with the sound of questions:
"How!?"... "Who!?"... "Why!?"... The
"how" questions are ones I'll have to leave for another day; not all
the information thereof has come out yet. As for the "who", I'm also
not going to comment at present. Lots of fingers are pointing right now, but I
don't know who is to blame for this. Clearly some people got involved without
intending any harm and were perhaps misled by others who were deliberate
deceivers, for whatever purpose. Perhaps when more information comes to light
we'll know the answers. As for the "why", I do speculate, especially
in Programme 9 of The Poker, see
background links below, and in an upcoming UFO
Truth magazine article, that this could be an attempt at disinformation. If
so then we can only try to break through it with our own information. The
Roswell Slides will not go away; we have yet to experience the full Skeptic
backlash. Right now though I want to leave this train wreck behind me and move
on; I'm not alone there. So I hope sincerely that this will be my last word on
the matter.
See here for
background: http://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/the-poker-programme-9.html.
Hiya Ben, on your rumination there about this being disinfo, remember me mentioning that this could - just might - have been a very elaborate ruse to belittle the WHOLE ufo community? If so, is Maussan et al on the payroll? This would befit the elaborate disinfo campaigns the powers could concoct.
ReplyDeleteHi Tino, I've exchanged emails with Maussan and he came across as an honest chap. I hope not. I think he's somewhat over-enthusiastic and not discerning enoug. It's probably not necessary to pay him.
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ReplyDeleteHi Ben, I recommend this article, on debunking the infamous BeWitness hoax/scam! Cheers
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/roswell-slides-ufo-researcher-apologises-5680059
Thanks, Floren
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