DON BERLINER
Born July 3, 1930, Columbus, Ohio, unmarried.
He had a B.Sc. in Business Administration (1953)
and one year post-graduate studies in Journalism,
Ohio University, 1958. From 1953-1954 he was a
public accountant. 1954-1957 a corporate
accountant. 1959-1962 a newspaper
reporter/photographer. 1962-1965 an assistant
editor, group of science newsletters.
1966-1968 NICAP. 1968-present free-lance
aerospace writer (300+ magazine articles, 32
books) Military service: Ohio Air National Guard,
1948-1951; USAF 1951-1952. UFO-related
accomplishments: 1952-1954, monitored UFO reports
collected by the Columbus, Ohio, Filter Center of
the Ground Observer Corps. 1960-1962, handled all
UFO-related calls as a reporter for the
Painesville, Ohio, Telegraph. 1963-1968, at NICAP
Headquarters, first as a volunteer, then a
part-time employee and finally a full-time
employee (1966), with responsibilities including
writing, research, press relations, lecturing and
operating the one-man Preliminary Sighting
Analysis Dept. Also assisted on The UFO
Evidence Report. Headed investigation teams
to Wanaque, NJ, and South Hill, VA. 1974, spent
one week at the Air Force Archives, Maxwell AFB,
Huntsville, AL, reviewing the Project Blue Book
case files. 1979, present for founding of
the Fund for UFO Research, later to become a Board
Member (1987) and Chairman (1998).
POSITION STATEMENT:
On the basis of the great collection of personal testimony by highly qualified observers, I have concluded that, in Jim McDonald’s phrase, the ETH is the least unlikely explanation for the otherwise unexplained sighting reports. Answers to the major questions—What are they? Whose are they? Whence cometh? Why are they here? What are they going to do next? And others…--can only be guessed at, which is not a productive use of time. No progress can be made on matters we can deal with until the major roadblocks to recognition of the subject’s legitimacy—the unjustified acceptance of the final results of Project Blue Book and the Condon Committee—can be overcome.
On the basis of the great collection of personal testimony by highly qualified observers, I have concluded that, in Jim McDonald’s phrase, the ETH is the least unlikely explanation for the otherwise unexplained sighting reports. Answers to the major questions—What are they? Whose are they? Whence cometh? Why are they here? What are they going to do next? And others…--can only be guessed at, which is not a productive use of time. No progress can be made on matters we can deal with until the major roadblocks to recognition of the subject’s legitimacy—the unjustified acceptance of the final results of Project Blue Book and the Condon Committee—can be overcome.