In the 1997 "Phoenix lights" case, hundreds or possibly thousands of Arizona and Phoenix area residents reported a huge mile-long object with huge bright lights.

Many active duty and former U.S. military personnel have also reported encounters like this.

Erath County peace officers are just one of the latest groups to start thinking about their professional responsibilities for public safety in the context of UFOs.

Firefighters also have a role to play in handling the UFO situation.

In the 1992 firefighter training manual A FIRE OFFICER'S GUIDE TO DISASTER CONTROL published by Fire Engineering Books & Videos, authors and experienced firefighting experts William M. Kramer and Charles W. Bahme cover many aspects of this important public safety profession.

Along with conventional firefighter training, there is an interesting chapter titled "Disaster Control and UFOs."

Below are verbatim excerpts from that chapter. The capitalized and other subheadings below are those contained in the manual.

In this chapter we will now turn our attention to the very real threat posed by Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), whether they exist or not. The well-documented and highly publicized War of the Worlds radio drama by Orson Welles shows how even a perceived existence to alien creatures can cause very real disaster-like conditions and panic among a given populace.

In addition, if the apparent visits by alien beings and their space vehicles should pose any type of threat, it will, as always, be the fire service that is called upon to provide the first line of life-saving defense and disaster mitigation.

On April 25, 1991, radio station KSHE in St. Louis, Missouri, was fined $25,000 by the Federal Communications Commission for broadcasting a mock warning of a nuclear attack during the Persian Gulf War.

The seriousness with which the FCC treated this case is indicative of the very real panic that can be created from even illusionary or fictional phenomena. Certainly if these unexplainable events become more prevalent, the possibility of panic could be even greater; and again, the fire department will be the agency called upon to handle the situation.

Hence, as we near the year 2000 and move beyond, any comprehensive disaster plan should address the potential for panic and other deleterious effects that might befall a populated area when unexplainable phenomena occur.

We will see, as we continue our discussion in this chapter, that widespread blackouts, communication disruptions, and other potentially disastrous conditions have been linked directly to UFO sightings. Hence, fire service leaders who want to ensure that their disaster planning is complete will not neglect an appendix to outline those things that could be done in preparation for the occurrence of such phenomena.

Throughout this book, many of the references to actual events are based on the experiences of both of the authors. However, in this area of UFOs and their potential, we are relying largely on the research and experiences of Charles Bahme. Chuck has made a considerable study of this subject and is acquiring many publications and VCR tapes to augment his library on this and related phenomena.

His interest in UFOs was greatly heightened when Congress in 1969 adopted a law (14 CFR Ch. V Part 1211 - Extraterrestrial Exposure) which gave the NASA Administrator the arbitrary discretion to quarantine under armed guard any object, person, or other form of life which has been extraterrestrially exposed.

The very fact that our congressmen believed there was a necessity for such drastic authority made Chuck wonder if they had only our astronauts in mind when they adopted it. Could it be applied to anyone who has had a UFO encounter? Whether it has or not is not likely to be a topic for public dissemination.

UFO Discussion – Why Now?

The subject of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) was not included in previous editions of this book. The first edition was the HANDBOOK OF DISASTER CONTROL which Chuck personally published in 1952 following his release from active naval duty in the Korean War.

Although his services in the conflict as Security Coordinator for the Chief of Naval Operations involved the creation of a worldwide disaster control organization for the protection of the physical properties of the Navy, it must be admitted that the directives approved for this new organization did not reflect any significant concern for a flying saucer threat to its shore establishment. That was in the 1950s. Now that we are in the 1990s it is doubtful that the UFO potential would be brushed off so lightly by our military security forces.

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