By Jon Kelly UFO Examiner
Public response has been overwhelmingly positive towards ECETI Ranch’s legal bid to defeat what they describe as “discrimination, bias and harassment” from local county officials. Online fund raising website GoFundMe.com reports how the ECETI fund is expected to achieve 100% to target as of today. James Gilliland, founder of Enlightened Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence, described the “extreme gratitude” he felt having launched the effort only 48 hours earlier. The internationally famous UFO ranch is a popular destination for Canadians including Vancouver region residents seeking information about spiritual consciousness and phenomena in a harmonious setting that attracts scientists, celebrities, engineers and educators from around the world. Mr. Gilliland spoke to this reporter this morning and the 60 minute interview is now available as a new episode of The Secret Message Report – Podcast Edition.
Days Earlier
It was earlier this past weekend when the following notice was first posted online:
“ECETI Ranch is asking for your help to fight discrimination from County Officials.
“ECETI Ranch is currently facing challenges from the county to stay open to our friends and family for skywatching and small spiritual gatherings. We have been fighting this battle for over a year and faced demonstrated discrimination, bias and harassment from the land use commission and planning department of Klickitat County because our views are different that those shared by county officials. In addition to land use challenges we have also been told that none of our buildings (including our main residence) are allowed and/or permitted and we do not have the right to reside in any building on the property (regardless of necessary permits on file). We are also a working farm and committed to creating a sustainable lifestyle as a model for a more sustainable way of living.
“As a result of these ongoing challenges, we have had to hire an attorney specializing in these matters to represent us in this process. We have a court date scheduled for June. The legal fees for this battle are mounting and at this time we are not able to meet those financial needs as it has drained our available resources. We have been told that our legal fees are estimated to be $15,000 in order to resolve all aspects of these challenges. Our legal team has advised that we have a solid case and demonstrated bias from county officials but that it is not possible to fight this battle without the financial resources. We are confident we will be successful with financial contributions from our friends to make this possible.”
Confrontation
“They informed us that we didn’t have the right to gather or assemble. We don’t have the right to do any spiritual practices here,” explained James Gilliland, comparing the situation to “Nazi Germany” during his podcast interview. “We had a meeting with the county, with the planning commission and we had overwhelming support. Lots of people came in on our behalf. We had stacks and stacks of letters from people talking about how they’ve actually had some healing and awakening experiences, miracle healings that were spontaneous.”
Mr. Gilliland further cited the support of his local community noting that Trout Lake, Washington was “a ghost town when we first started up” but the situation had since changed for the better. “Now everybody’s thriving.”
Insecurities
Psychological dimensions to the conduct of local officials were highlighted in the following remarks. “Anything that would allow us to totally clean up our environment, to end us being enslaved through dependency, to bring health back and help us in our evolutionary process, to get back in touch with the Creator … or just to have the free time to educate ourselves is a threat.”
Story continues in the Vancouver UFO Examiner for Examiner.com.