Garry Henderson says he was misquoted on astronaut sightings

Date: 27 NOV 1995 19:23:59 -0500
From: JamesOberg <jamesoberg@aol.com>
Newgroups: alt.paranet.ufo, sci.space.policy, sci.space.shuttle, sci.space
Subject: Re: Stories of Astronauts and UFOs

This is often presented as evidence for NASA UFO secrets .....

Garry Henderson Quotation on Secret Astronaut UFO Sightings.

     Dr. Garry C. Henderson has often been quoted in books and articles
about astronaut sightings of UFOs. He is said to be a "top NASA insider",
from General Dynamics Corporation, who knows "UFO secrets".

     Many years ago, when I first encountered his attributed assertions, I
did what any responsible researcher should have done -- I tracked him down
to follow up on his allegations and see if he could elaborate on them. In
the UFO field, I discovered, nobody else had thought it necessary to take
such an obvious step! The following is the text of a
reconstructed-from-notes transcript of our telephone conversation in
January 1978.

     ---   James Oberg,   September 1994

     JO: Dr. Henderson, you've been widely quoted as saying that "all of
our astronauts have seen UFOs but have been ordered not to discuss their
sightings with anyone," and that "NASA has actual photos of  these craft.
taken at close range by still and movie camera." Do you recall saying
this, and do you believe it?

     GH: I never said it and I don't believe it. That was a bad
misquotation that has haunted me over the years. For a while I tried to
think of what I could do to stop it but I gave up.

     JO: Then the quotation attributed to you does not reflect your actual
opinions on the subject of UFOs?

     GH: Not in the slightest.

     JO: How do you suppose the false quotation got started?

     GH: I have a good idea. I was visiting a UFO convention in Canada in
the late 1960s and was interviewed on a radio talk show. The host was
concentrating on leading questions, trying to make me sound like I was
saying something sensational. Later I heard that he claimed that I had
made the admission `off the air', during a station break, but I just
don't recall having done so -- and he could only have gotten that
impression through misunderstanding me.

     JO: The quotation has been reprinted now for many years. Has anyone
ever tried to track you down to verify the quotation and ask more
questions?

     GH: Nobody. You are the first to take the trouble.

     JO: Wouldn't you say that authors who rely on dubious material in UFO
pulp magazines, without making any effort to verify it, are doing the
public a great disservice? Are they honest?

     GH: Well, the public is certainly being misinformed, but I don't want
 to pass judgment on someone else's motives. I am surprised that anyone
believed that misquotation, though, considering the kinds of publications
it appeared in. And that's why I was never particularly  bothered by its
circulation. I felt that it was too wild to be believed.

     JO: Just to satisfy the paranoids, have you ever been under any
`pressure' to retract that statement or execute a `coverup'?

     GH: Oh no! As I said, until you called, nobody had ever noticed it. I
certainly would not retract something if it were true. But that quotation
attributed to me is entirely false.