Ever since President Barack Obama first took office (and even prior to his election), many in the field have speculated as to whether Obama might be “the one”.

In saying this, I’m not referring to anything similar to “Neo” from the popular Matrix films. Instead, I am making a reference to the long-sought President who could assemble an administration which may bring about ultimate disclosure of government files involving UFOs. With his first address to a joint Congress taking place as I write this, I can tell you one thing: don’t expect to hear President Obama discussing UFOs any time soon.

Still, perhaps there are other things I would rather he discuss anyway.

Before I go any further with the notion of Obama’s association with Ufology and possible disclosure, I first would like to give a brief overview of the matters at hand which have occupied his interests instead; since taking office, it is safe to say that our new President has had his hands full. Obama has ordered two more U.S. combat brigades into Afghanistan, deploying 17,000 troops to join the 36,000 that comprise US forces already in the theater. Here at home, he has also worked to issue a $787 bilion dollar spending package which includes some of the following:

* Tax provisions for payroll tax cuts, credits for first time buyers
* Relief funds to individual states
* Health, labor, and education programs
* Unemployment and low-wage assistance
* Housing and transportation systems

In addition, Obama has made fiscally-minded goals that include bringing the national deficit down to 3% ($546 billion) by 2014, as well establishing a lean federal budget aimed at helping restore consumer confidence.

But of course, speechwriters for tonight’s first address to a joint session of Congress were already working on gearing its themes toward health care and energy weeks ago. Topics on the table this evening were no doubt influenced earlier today by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s announcement regarding the lifespan of the current recession, which he says (hopes) won’t extend much further than the beginning of next year.

With all these important economic concerns being discussed—hopes that the areas of energy, health care, and education will be restored, as well as hopes that long term deficits will be lowered—we can hardly hope that President Obama will be concerned with disclosure of any government files regarding UFOs. Larry Lowe with the Phoenix UFO Examiner shares the following similar observations:

“Seasoned observers of the UFO/ET phenomenon and the political landscape in America wonder whether or not the exopolitical movement is sufficiently grounded in terrestrial political reality to be conducting such a program with any hope of success.  Given the number and magnitude of the crises facing Barack Obama and his administration, the last thing it needs is association with an issue that opens them to ridicule.”

This refers directly to Dr. Michael E. Salla, PhD, founder of the Exopolitics Institute, along with members such as Jeff Peckman who, following in the footsteps of exopolitical forerunners like Steven Bassett, are promoting the notion that Obama’s administration will indeed be the ones to disclose UFO information. To be realistic, he probably won’t have enough time to so much as even consider the notion during the majority of his four years in office, and even if he is elected again, depending on where our economy goes from here, it is hard to say whether Obama would be likely to pursue interest in disclosure in the future, either.

Therefore, those of us who maintain interest in UFOs and government cover-ups may not see any major progress during the Obama administration… but since I enjoy making money, having food, and a (fairly) stable society in which to live, I’m willing to forfeit ultimate disclosure—for now—in exchange for an administration focused on helping this country out of the present economic crisis. In fact, I say this now, and would say the same for any future administration, Liberal or Conservative, Democrat or Republican, upon which the American people must remain dependent if, God forbid, the economy were indeed to plummet further into the heart of a second great depression.

As a freelance journalist, lately I’ve spoken with many editors at fringe magazines and publications who work harder than anyone else at promoting and pushing the issues involving UFOs and the unexplained. Too many of them have lamented the hardships they face in the publishing industry with the present economy. Folks, the information they provide is of interest and importance to people like you and I; however, if a dwindling economy prevents these magazines and other publications from staying in business, how will we continue to exchange ANY ideas freely, let alone those having to do with aliens visiting the Earth?

Even this blog, the Gralien Report, is mostly a labor of love. I am not paid for the articles I write on this site, and the information I am able to bring you is, for the most part, done when I can afford to write, research, and provide it for your viewing. That being said, you are welcome to make charitable donations to my operation via the PayPal “donate” button on the right hand column near the top of this page, but in my mind, what is more important that money and donations is the exchange of ideas alone. I can’t express how many wonderful subjects and conversations I share daily via email with so many of you, and I urge you to please also consider contributing to your thoughts electronically via message forums and comment features, not only on this site, but at the multitude of other great sites available to us like UFO Mystic, UFO Magazine, Cryptomundo, Binnall of America, The LEMUR Discussion board, and other Web pages which promote the free exchange of ideas and the furthering of our knowledge of this world… and worlds which may exist beyond.

I must also include this: at about 9:49 PM EST, President Obama mentioned that “This country needs the talents of every American.” I ask each of you to please consider ways you can contribute your talents to the serious research and study of the unexplained in any way you can, whether it be contributing to your individual projects and sharing your research, or merely reading and supporting the work of other hard working journalists, bloggers, and authors in the field (or in any field, really… ideas exist far beyond the limits of what you or I might deem “paranormal”).

Another simple avenue to get your thoughts out there involves using social networking sites like Facebook. In Larry Lowe’s article “Is Facebook the Killer App for UFO Disclosure?”, he notes that, based on the way social networking sites were used during the recent Presidential election, “If a Facebook enabled constituancy can elect a President, it can enable disclosure.” Social networking sites, according to people like Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, say that MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and other applications seem trivial at a glance; especially to those in the journalism industry used to getting their stories from newspapers and prime-time news networks. However, as a journalist myself, I can tell you much of my information also comes via many of the blogs I mentioned earlier, often linked to my Google Reader account via RSS feeds (which, mind you, can just as easily be linked to your Facebook profile and uploaded as “notes” on your page). Lowe says that “Social networking applications are what the military would characterize as a ‘force multiplier’,” with potential to take ideas proposed by those in the exopolitics camp like Salla, Peckman and others, magnifying the effect of the ideas they push and thus turning them into instant “memes” (a term coined by Richard Dawkins dating back to 1976 which describes a culmination of several pop-culture elements, especially popular today with internet  culture).

As a final note, if you still don’t feel that you have an outlet for information that is important to you, feel free to email me at info@gralienreport.com, and I’ll do my best to include your ideas and stories when I can. After all, I’m always looking for decent news stories!

In the spirit of liberty and discovery, I remain humbly yours,

Micah A. Hanks

Editor, The Gralien Report