Bigelow's contact contingency planning (1999)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 8 January 1999 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Beings & bodies (topic) |
| People | Robert Bigelow, Jacques Vallée, John Petersen, Chuck Schumer, Mike Rounds |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 137 |
| Year | 1999 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1999 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 6 |
According to Jacques Vallée's journals, at a meeting of the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) science board on 9 January 1999, Robert Bigelow reviewed the institute's "Day After" work and argued for its own contingency plan in case it turned out that humans were "cohabiting on the Earth with non-human entities that controlled our destiny".[1]
Background
Bigelow had raised "day after" questions at NIDS since 1996, and futurist John Petersen of the Arlington Institute had presented scenarios to the board. Vallée wrote that Bigelow took the full board through the history of these efforts, from an initial appeal to the military onwards.[1]
The Roper poll
Later in 1999 NIDS commissioned the Roper organisation to survey a national sample of 1,971 Americans, interviewed at home, about how they would react to undeniable proof that extraterrestrials existed and were visiting Earth. A June 1999 NIDS press release said about one in four thought most people would "totally freak out and panic", and noted that a 1960 Brookings Institution report and a 1968 RAND paper had predicted profound social effects. NIDS also compared the poll with an online survey and, through John Alexander, surveyed about 1,000 religious bodies, finding that theologians did not expect their faith to be threatened.[1]
Later echoes
Disclosure planning resurfaced in the 2023 UAP Disclosure Act proposed by Senators Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds, parts of which were included in the defence authorization act for 2024.[2]
People and topics
- Robert Bigelow — Businessman who founded NIDS and Bigelow Aerospace and ran the AAWSAP contract.
- Jacques Vallée — Computer scientist and astronomer, author of the Forbidden Science journals and a central figure in UFO research.
- NIDS — Robert Bigelow's research institute (1995–2004) that studied UFOs and other anomalies.
- John Petersen — Futurist who founded the Arlington Institute.
- Arlington Institute — The futurist think tank founded by John Petersen in 1989.
- Non-human intelligence — A term for intelligent beings of non-human origin, used in UAP legislation.
- UAP Disclosure Act — A 2023 Senate proposal by Chuck Schumer and Mike Rounds to release UAP records.
- Chuck Schumer — Senate Democratic leader who co-wrote the 2023 UAP Disclosure Act.
- Mike Rounds — South Dakota senator who co-wrote the UAP Disclosure Act.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
On the Timeline
- Jim Westwood's MJ-12 disinformation theory (1 January 1999) — A former CIA consultant suggests the MJ-12 briefing document was a fake to fool the KGB.
- CAUS Phoenix Lights lawsuit (22 January 1999) — A civilian group sues for records on the Phoenix Lights.
See every 1999 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Keith Basterfield, "NIDS and the 'Day After' scenarios", UFOs – scientific research (Dec 2019) · ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com · archived copy
- National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Forbidden Science — the journals of Jacques Vallée (Anomaly Archives) · anomalyarchives.org · archived copy
- Forbidden Science series — Anomalist Books · anomalistbooks.com · archived copy
- National Institute for Discovery Science — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com · ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com · archived copy
Further reading
- AATIP / AAWSAP — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Robert Bigelow — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Harold E. Puthoff — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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