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| 12.18.2007 | UFO talk in Japanese parliament makes worldwide headlines. |
| 12.17.2007 | Arthur C. Clarke "whishes" for aliens to show up. |
| 12.14.2007 | Nocturnal light maneuvers seen from Sophia Antipolis, France. |
| 12.13.2007 | Green ball twice in the night near Avignon, France. |
| 12.13.2007 | Blue cigar in the night near Beaucaire, France. |
At the Japanese parliament, a member of the opposition asked the government what its policy was to deal with UFOs. saying that work should begin urgently to try to confirm whether or not they exist, because reports of sightings are incessant.
The official answer he received was that there are no proof of alien visitors as far as the Japanese government know, and that many sighting reports turn out to be birds or other conventional objects. That was obviously not what the member of opposition had asked about, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura later admitted to reporters that it was the usual stereotype answer many countries give to such questions, and that personally, he "believed they were definitely real."
The exchange has little importance per se; but the world news agencies went into a frenzy, as they usually do when a government's spokeman says "aliens" or "UFOs". sometimes unable to understand exactly what the exchange was about, some news agencies headlined that the Japanese Government says that there are no UFOs, whereas others headlined that the Japanese Government said that we have alien visitors, ot that the Japanse Government was getting ready to fight a forthcoming invasion by extraterrestrials. The story was then picked up all over the world in various versions by newspapers, magazines, and TV channels, weeks long.
In his home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, world-famous Science Fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke listed three wishes on his 90th birthday: the world should embrace cleaner energy resources, peace should prevail in his adopted home Sri Lanka, and evidence of extraterrestrial beings sould appear.
Clarke was always ambiguous about UFO sighting reports, explaining in TV documentaries that people sometimes mistake a balloon for a UFO, yet introducing UFO witnesses and UFO cases without being able to provide any trivial explanation. A few years ago he made the headlines by stating there is vegetation visible on photographs of Mars, yet there are other explanations to that.
He said in his birthday speech: "I have always believed that we are not alone in this universe," to a small gathering of scientists, astronauts and government officials. He said the aliens should "call us or give us a sign." "We have no way of guessing when this might happen. I hope sooner rather than later."
I wish more public figures would refrain from pronouncing beliefs or disbeliefs and hoping and making wishes, and would do some decent research instead.
