Mixed in with a serious discussion of scientific illiteracy, anti-rationalism , anti-intellectualism is a prime example of this very sin , the utter failure to do what is first required to begin to follow a scientific process--go look at the evidence.

Practice Empirics, go examine the virtual mountains of evidence. The multiple multiple ground and air simultaneous observations of structured hard metallic objects recorded on radar , film and video, leaving physical traces --and lied about by a lying government.

Mr Kristof evidently doesn't know that a hundred witnesses watched a metallic disc in broad daylight as it hung over gate C-7 at Chicago's O'hare airport and then shot vertically blasting a hole through a cloudy overcast sky. That airline employees were threatened to remain silent---and the FAA resembled the three infamous reportorially disabled monkeys.

The airline employees were threatened (to force them to remain silent)--- and the FAA resembled the three infamous sensorily-disabled monkeys, who saw nothing, heard nothing and said nothing, as is evidenced by Kristof's skewed views of the new, post-O'Hare Airport UFO multi-verse in public interest, attitude and opinion, spawned by that signal event.

I predict that on some not-far-off future day, it will be asked by reporters (even for this formerly august newspaper of record):

"Why didn't we print this story and waited till another competitor did?

The Chicago Tribune!

Actually, this is an important question to ask now.

In our not too distant future, there will be a great harvest of journalist shame, reflecting upon (and redacting) their tragic reportorial failure. Equally noteworthy will be an abject failure of both the scientific and UFO research community on this subject.

It is a sad, dreary example that for all the prattle and rattle by UFO researchers congratulating themselves on the progress on persuading serious folk to take UFOs seriously, that the journalistic world evidences a near total ignorance of this phenomenon, the most highly classified subject within the US government.

A majority of reporters, like Kristof, know almost nothing and yet wear their own ignorance as a badge of honor.

And to those reporters who are reading this, doubting this, I say, shame on you, you have snickered and laughed your way past this long enough. It's a long time overdue that you got busy, got to work, paid your investigative dues, start asking questions and, most importantly, reporting facts.

One of you will finally did this! John Hilkevitch of the Chicago Tribune did it in January 2007. Halkevitch broke this, the biggest UFO story ever.

But this was merely the tip of the iceberg. Who will break the real story "wide-open", as the courageous columnist, Dorothy Kilgallen, used to say?

It could be you.

You'll have to demonstrate true investigative spirit, unlike Mr.Kristof who evidently hasn't done any serious reading or research on this subject yet preaches and pontificates on the subject as if he were an expert.

Roll up your sleeves, Kristof, challenge the editorial barriers, get to work, do some research. Do I hear Mr. Kristof protesting that there are no serious books?

Well, there are a hundred, at least. But I challenge Mr. Kristof to read just one of the two books referenced below.

Read them and weep, for the isolated world you think you exist in hasn't existed since The Forties, and it is time for the NY Times to deal with its long, long overdue obligation to report facts accurately, to its (albeit, dwindling) readership.

For Mr. Kristof's education and edification, I highly recommend the two following books: