Aliens from outer space are real, believers insist
12/29/93
THE BALTIMORE SUN

    FRESNO, Calif. -- There's no other way to say it: Tony Presser
and Joe Thor believe in aliens from outer space.
     Not just a vague suspicion that "something is out there."
     They are true enthusiasts in a global subculture with millions
of fellow believers, computer data bases, books and a mishmash of
theories.
     The theories explain everything from strange lights in the sky to
secret military bases to the John F. Kennedy assassination to the
origin of modern man and Jesus Christ to cattle mutilations.
     Mr. Thor, a Fresno businessman, says he has seen an extra-
terrestrial close up. Mr. Presser, a College of the Sequoias instructor,
says today's human beings are a crossbreed of extra-terrestrials and
cave men.
     But the strangest part may be that Mr. Thor and Mr. Presser
appear to be just what they say: two regular guys, family men, sane
and solid citizens who believe in aliens and a U.S. government
cover-up.
     "I'm a level-headed guy," Mr. Thor says. "Maybe a little impulsive
sometimes, but I'm a responsible person. I know it sounds unbelievable,
but there's just too much evidence to dismiss."
     Mr. Thor, 39, has an industrial engineering degree from Fresno
State University. He owns a local print shop and a computer service.
     He says that he has always been interested in unidentified
flying objects but that last year his curiosity was sparked by a
television show about reported UFO sightings, an alleged cover-up
of alien visits and research at a secret Air Force base in the
desert north of Las Vegas.
     Deciding to see for himself, Mr. Presser says he drove there, parked
the car on a mountain above the remote base and waited.
     Mr. Thor says he saw strange distant lights in the night and strange
shadows across the moon that may have been alien spacecraft but that a
near encounter convinced him.
     According to Mr. Thor, a base security guard in a four-wheel-drive
vehicle drove by in the dark about 20 yards away. The vehicle's dome
light was on and the guard did not see Mr. Thor in the darkness.
     In the passenger seat, sitting upright, was -- well --
something not human, says Mr. Thor.
     "You'll probably think I'm crazy, but it was a female creature,
maybe half-human, with blond hair and big dark eyes and a wide
face," he says.
     "You know, your typical alien."
     He says he is open to all possibilities -- secret Air Force aircraft
prototypes, meteors, unusual weather phenomena -- but his close
encounters have made him a believer.
     "I wouldn't believe in this stuff if I hadn't seen it myself,"
he says.
     Mr. Thor says his motivation for learning the truth about
"Area 51" or "Dreamland" -- the reported alien section of Nellis
Air Force Base -- has to do with the public's right to know about
government activities and the benefits to mankind from interaction
with advanced beings.
     "What could we learn? How could it affect us? Could we solve
world hunger and war and diseases with their help?"
     Mr. Presser, 54, an English and journalism instructor, has
believed for years in the existence of extra-terrestrials and their
ancient interaction with humans.
     Mr. Presser, who also says he has seen strange lights in the
sky, cites biblical passages, in part, as support for theories that
say mankind is a genetic manipulation of extra-terrestrials and
Adam and Eve.
     He talks about the history of reported human contact with
extra-terrestrials -- from the "ancient astronaut theory" that says
aliens have been visiting this planet for thousands of years to
modern-day encounters that began with an Air Force pilot reporting
a flying saucer in 1947 to the reported 10th planet in the solar
system as the home of some aliens.
     "There are flakes, and there are genuine researchers who
present evidence backing up their claims," Mr. Presser says.
     "There's just too much here to say everyone is lying."
     In this subculture -- sane or insane depending on your
perspective -- the theories seem endless: Christ is a creation of
aliens; the Secret Service assassinated John F. Kennedy because he
was about to expose the government's cover-up of aliens; livestock
and humans are being mutilated in alien medical experiments.
     And then there are the bizarre ones.
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  SLMR 2.1a  The New World Order is OUT OF ORDER!