Bush Administration Continues Tradition of UFO Cover-ups

At the close of "The Top Secret UFO Project," R. J. Thomas' parody of UFO documentaries, it is mentioned that "The Jasper Incident," a UFO-themed, film-within-the-film, was shown to President Bush at the White House in early 2004. The next day, the president told the press that he found the film very entertaining, but said that no spaceships were ever seen or seized by the government, and that anyone who believes in flying saucers is out of his mind.

The epilogue is a joke, a spoof of the fact that Bush, like most of Washington, is in no hurry to tell the world about the truth about UFOs. Bush was a ten-year-old boy when the town of Jasper, Colorado, experienced a series of UFO encounters, but, as the president today, he must continue the tradition of keeping Jasper's secret (and all other known UFO stories) in the closet.

"The president promised to make UFO information available to the public," Mr. Thomas said. "He was campaigning for his first term and made it sound, very matter of factly, that he would do it right off the bat."

On July 28, 2000, Charles Huffer, a former U. S. Army Security Agent, approached Bush, then the governor of Texas, and running mate Dick Cheney in Springdale, Arkansas. "Would you finally tell us what is going on with UFOs?" Huffer asked Bush. The governor replied, "Sure I will." The question and Bush's answer were seen on ABC News, Nightline, and CNN.

On the videotape, Mr. Bush is clearly seen stating that release of the UFO information would be the first thing he would do.

That was six years ago, and neither the president or vice-president have responded directly to Mr. Huffer's follow-up on their campaign promise.

And they certainly weren't going to give away any information about the Jasper UFO Incident of 1956.

Based on Thomas' 2004 novella of the same name, "The Top Secret UFO Project" chronicles the UFO-related events experienced by Jasper, a tiny Colorado hamlet some seventy-five miles south of Denver. According to the film, the town dealt with one unusual event after another in the summer of 1956. After a farmer spotted a flying saucer zipping over his property, scientists rushed into Jasper to investigate, reporters rushed in looking for stories, and government officials rushed in to keep it a secret from the world.

Billed as "the movie the government does not want you to see," "The Top Secret UFO Project," is a parody of the cheesy UFO documentaries of the 1970s like "Overlords of the UFO," and of TV programs like "In Search Of."

Mr. Thomas plays a documentary filmmaker who, in 2003, discovered (by accident) some top secret government films pertaining to the Jasper Incident of 1956. This inspired him to make a documentary about Jasper's UFO story, and to discover the truth behind what really happened that mysterious summer in Colorado.

And does Bush really know anything we don't?

"I should send a copy of the DVD to the president," Mr. Thomas said. "Maybe it will get him thinking about releasing UFO information. Or at least he'll be happy to see his name mentioned in the epilogue."

"The Top Secret UFO Project" is available on DVD at BooksAndSuchMart.com.

"The Top Secret UFO Project (DVD Promo)" is available for viewing on Google Video.com.