The Rise and Fall of Skywatch International
I had become a member and president of Skywatch International in 1997 while living in Phoenix upon the request of (ret) Col. Steve Wilson. I was in agreement with Wilson's aims for Skywatch International and his attempts to establish an alternative to MUFON. I actually started a skywatch group in Phoenix at the time. I recorded this in my ufogate file years ago: Colonel (USAF Ret.) Steve Wilson entry 11/9/1996 The Colonel, like Dan W., has a web site called “Skywatch International”. The Colonel was reached by e-mail. He is retired after forty years in the Air Force. Claims he was head of Project Pounce for MAJI (MJ-12) that conducted alien disc crash-retrieval operations. Knows General Miller. Wilson is also dying of cancer. Has seen the subterrene in operation. Is familiar with the entire underground complex. Had a Magic “Q” Clearance. Published a report on aliens on his Web site that came from another Colonel with a Majic “Q” Starraker clearance. His own was 27 levels above top secret. (Probable hoax) The Colonel should have actually had a "Majic" Clearance and not a "Magic" clearance (for civilians). As time went by and his claims became more preposterous, I labeled his background as dubious. Though he sent me a copy of his DD 214 service record, his serial #, last name, place of birth, and all signficant data had been blacked out and it could have been anyone's record. I have a list of whistleblowers I have interviewed going back to the 1980s and some of them, like Wilson, were questionable. He was to appear at our first Skywatch conference in Phoenix in 1997, but he was dying of cancer and we received word of his demise before the conference in November 1997. He was going to present us with "proof". I re-established Skywatch with two other officers who had become VPs. A little later, Jim Hickman became one of the V.P.s My goal for Skywatch was to make it a pro-active organization, to actually form skywatch groups who would actually, you guessed it, "skywatch". However, that was easier planned than done and even though I had a number of state directors, it did not work out. I reorganized it so that we would have functional directors rather than geographical. We had a Director of Communications and a Director of Memberships, and other directors. That worked for a while and the functions grew and we actually composed a newsletter, a database, and other rudimentary instruments to aid growth, but it stalled. The Skyopen mailing list had, at one time, exceeded a thousand members. Then, in 2004, I was presented an opportunity which required me to resign my position from Skywatch. I was sent a letter indicating future problems that Skywatch would have, but it was written as if they were already happening. In fact, the mysterious letter had information in it that later convinced me that it could have come from the future! I asked Jim Hickman to take the reigns of Skywatch as he volunteered and had already had experience as a VP though he had left once before. He re-incorporated it and established the new Skywatch with a growing Board of Advisors, newletter, and ran an active mailing list until yesterday! Then he disbanded Skywatch for reasons best known to him. I am not going to attempt to revive Skywatch at this time as times have changed and we need something much more than Skywatch and that is why I conceived of the Astrosciences Institute (as seen on my website) which is my grander vision for the future. Whether that is actually established or not, it is an idea that I have planted in hopes of a brighter future for humanity despite the many challenges to our continued survival on this beautiful but overconsumed planet. This is far from a complete account of the efforts to establish a new organization in the world. It will not be the last such effort. Thanks to all who contributed to the life of Skywatch over the years. R.I.P. (Skywatch International, 1996 - 2006) [NOTE: Bill has invited those who get the message to join his Astrosciences email group. There's a subscribe button about halfway down his index page. Bill Hamilton
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