Rumors about secret UN UFO meeting - Update 03. 11. 08

On Friday, March 07, 2008, we received new information about Gilles Lorant by  UFO researcher Gildas Bourdais. 

Two days before, he was informed by attorney Michel Algrin, Administrator of COMETA that Gilles Lorant is not, and has never beeen, an auditor at the Institut des Hautes Etudes de Defense Nationale - The Institute of National Higher Defence Studies - (IHEDN)  contrary to one of his claims in his resume, which has been widely reproduced.

He asked me to quickly warn Lorant that IHEDN was going to sue him in the coming days, for usurpation of title - which mayresult, in France, in one year in jail and a penalty of 100,000 Euros.

Gilles Lorant has now retracted publicly, and confirmed that he is not and has never been an auditor at IHEDN.

As more and more pressure has been issued towards evidence of Mr. Lorant's credentials, FEA has made a new release about this whole issue. See: Statement of the FEA on their Website.

Gildas Bourdais writes: "I want to add this: the fact that a false claim of Gilles Loranthas been reveeled and confirmed does not mean necessarily that the rest of his story is false.

On the question of alleged meetings at the UN, where the question of UFOs would have been discussed, remains, to me, an open question. Let's see if some other source comes out.

On the "Exopolitics Website"  the problem with the so far known two sources ("Source A" and Lorant) is discussed.

Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:21:25 -0700 (PDT)

UN Denies Meetings Took Place... Have We Been Suckered?! (From: Ted Roe)

I do not have the ability to reply to everyone on this List but you may forward this if it is helpful. I became involved with this discussion on a private list and when I replied to a question regarding my opinion about Michael Salla's crediblity, that response was unscrupulously forwarded to Mr. Salla. Even though it was a private conversation Mr. Salla forced his way into the conversation and accused me of character assassination, sloppy research, etc... I warned him that spreading hearsay first without doing research to verify his claims was not the way to build credibility and his response fell far short of his claims of being an expert at conflict resolution. 

Neither myself nor NARCAP have any opinion about aliens or disclosures or UN meetings regarding UFOs though we do have some opinions about making unfounded commentary and the effects of wild claims on the credibility of those who are diligently engaged in careful research.

It is interesting how the story has morphed from Salla's original claim that a disclosure is imminent and an overt alien presence is anticipated in 2013 or 2017 to a claim by Msr Gilles Lorant whose claims are eerily reminiscent of Dr. Vallee's presentation to the UN in 1978 - a public presentation....

It is in the interest of reminding everyone how important it is to keep beliefs in check and follow the rules that are understood by science and journalists when it comes to making claims that I am participating in this discussion at all.

I contacted Dr. Vallee regarding this UN meeting and Msr Gilles Lorant's claims and have provided an introduction and his responses below. While I will engage responses to this list, I am not able to reply to the list in its entirety as Yahoo does not have a "reply all" capability and I use this email for work that does not involve NARCAP.

Ted Roe Executive Director NARCAP

(continued below)

Hello,

NARCAP EAC member Dr. Jacques Vallee has extensive experience with the UFO matter both inside and outside of government including the United Nations. So I contacted him regarding Michael Salla's claim of a "Secret UN meeting" regarding UFOS that allegedly took place in February of 2008. I asked Dr.Vallee specifically if he knew anything about Gilles Lorant and if he could shed any light on this story.

His comments are below.

To put it simply, Msr. Gilles Lorant is not what Michael Salla claims that he is. So now we are left with determining the true roots of this story. Michael Salla claims that it arose from the Pickering brothers so the question arises regarding where they acquired it and the veracity of their source. I contend, and I am sure that many experienced researchers will agree, that such materials need to be thoroughly verified before they are placed in the public domain.

We have watched this story shift from claims of impending "disclosure" and an overt alien presence in 2013 or 2017 to a description that seemed eerily reminicent of Dr. Vallee's own presentation to the United Nations in 1978. While the story has shifted several times, Michael Salla has yet to retract his various claims.

Hopefully the information below will enlighten Michael Salla and others who may be taking this story to heart and he will make a public retraction of this story, cite the fraudulent claims of Gilles Lorant and take steps to protect his credibility.

This type of situation is unfortunate and underscores the need for caution and for verification of information before publishing it. Credibility is everything in this field and it is very, very easy to damage one's own credibility beyond repair.

Ted Roe

---

From NARCAP EAC member Dr. Jacques Vallee:

Dear Ted:

My friends in France can find no trace of Lorant at CNRS. He now claims he was an "auditor" at IHEDN but is now beyond the age limit.

You'll notice that the story speaks of "the Secret UN Meeting" even though it appears to have been a routine mid-level gathering (non-secret) to prepare an administrative conference.

The manipulation is becoming obvious. My advice is to stay away from it.

It seems to me this story is falling apart but the structure is very interesting -- along the lines of a psywar rumor process or what is known around the Internet as a "meme war":

1. You make up a really intriguing story that seems very legitimate by including respected names: UN, French Ambassador, DSK etc. and precise dates.

2. You leave it full of holes so that people will come up with questions, thus revealing who is interested and why.

3. You imply great secrecy, thus dangling new bits of mystery.

4. You slowly retract the story (since a lot of it was made up in the first place out of pure imagination) but you point to a legitimate-looking person (Lorant) who was there.

5. The legitimate-looking person (whose credentials don't check out) "reveals" more details but does not confirm the earlier story, thus gaining additional credibility and "dangling" new information.

6. Legitimate journalists reinforce the apparent story by trying to follow this new trail.

7. You throw in new intriguing names like Ted Kennedy and John McCain through new anonymous sources "who could be in danger if they revealed their names..." thus seducing more recognizable researchers into revealing their interest...

8. You use the Internet to circulate the whole mess to an increasing circle of people, hoping to create a mass effect.

9. At that point, any official denial of the story (or part of it) sounds like a cover-up or skeptical reaction, enabling you to claim that you are the victim of disinformation, etc. etc. All very clever.

Feel free to circulate my analysis. I'd like to know what other people think of this.

Jacques Vallee

Ted:

Oddly enough, some of the arguments of the alleged UN report are similar (although exaggerated) to the testimony I presented quite officially before the political committee of the UN in 1978, along with Dr. Hynek, Claude Poher, Gordon Cooper, Stanton Friedman and a few others in attendance. The meeting was non-secret (it was in fact open to the public and press) and widely reprinted.

Therefore I don't even grasp what Messrs. Salla, Lorant etc. are claiming in terms of new information, or why there would be such a pretense of great urgency and secrecy.

Last minute information: Gilles Lorant has been forced to resign from the FEA in France and has confessed that he was not and had never been associated with the IHEDN, which told him in no uncertain terms he would be brought into Court (such false claims and misrepresentation expose you to 100,000 euro fines, plus time in jail in France) unless he made it clear he had no such status.

So the whole thing has collapsed.

Jacques Vallee

Update 03. 17. 08

From: Gildas Bourdais 

Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 11:28:39 +0100

Subject: Gilles Lorant Did Not Meet UN Staffers

To all,

Michel Ribardiere, of the French group FEA (Federation Europeenne Airplane) has authorized me to reveal publicly that Gilles Lorant told him that he had not met with the two UN diplomats in charge of the UFO question! This new revelation comes after his admission that he had never been an auditor at IHEDN, nor a member of CNRS.

Consequently, it seems to me, all the testimony of Gilles Lorant about alleged UN meetings is now in deep doubt.

As for his alleged career as an Air Force pilot, that's another question which remains to be clarified. BTW, I don't recall having said to anyone that Lorant had participated in any high level military meeting. If someone believes that I said that, it must be a misunderstanding.

All that does not mean, in my opinion, that the UN meetings did not take place. But it is true that the demise of Lorant as a witness does not help to try to know more about them. It does not mean that Lorant has been an actor in a dark plot of disinformation, as some people are suggesting now. For me, this is unfounded speculation. Having met myself with Lorant several times, I really doubt that.

Gildas Bourdais