Conservative and liberal talk-show hosts alike practically hooted in derision this summer when the US Air Force declared that "alien bodies" reportedly retrieved from Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 were nothing more than crash test dummies.

It was a relatively stunned media silence, however, that greeted remarkable "alien" news of another kind that also made memorable the summer of '97.

Phillip J. Corso, Colonel, US Army (Ret.) went on the record to assert that the Army derived computer microchips, fiber optic cable and even bullet-proof Kevlar from research their scientists conducted upon the wreckage of the Roswell crash.

In The Day After Roswell (published by Pocket Books), Corso detailed how, while he was assigned to the Foreign Technology desk at the Army's Research and Development Division in 1961, he was ordered to systematically assess the potential uses of items found in the Roswell wreckage.

He received that order, he claims, from no one less than Lt. Gen. Arthur G. Trudeau, then the director of R&D for the Army.

Trudeau has passed away, but not before working, Corso says, to assure that the Army "back engineered" microchips, fiber optics and other technologies out of the Roswell craft. Trudeau and Corso then collaborated in "seeding" this technology into key American industries where it was then brought into general production.

According to noted novelist and UFO witness Whitley Strieber, the US Air Force "practically melted down" in the wake of Corso's revelations.

Yet William J. Birnes, who assisted Corso in the task of writing his memoirs, asserted in a recent interview in UFO magazine that The Day After Roswell is now well-stocked in the Pentagon bookstore. He also observes that Corso recently received a friendly reception at Kirtland AFB (long associated with UFO stories) during a book signing party.

At present, however, Corso is finding that his health does not permit public appearances. As a result, Bill Birnes is making public talks in his stead. It is with much pleasure, therefore, that The Eclectic Viewpoint will welcome Mr. Birnes for his first public address in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex.

In his speech and ensuing question-and-answer session, Birnes will provide unparalleled background to the startling information contained in Corso's memoir and relate the story of their collaboration. Also, thanks to Ted Loman of UFOAZ television, we will be showing a short video of one of the few interviews granted by Colonel Corso.

Based in Venice, California, Birnes is a professional writer, editor, agent and publisher with numerous non-fiction books to his credit.

Among his most recent titles are such works as Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer (HarperCollins, 1995) and the true crime story Green Ice (Kensington, 1998).

Birnes, a former professor of linguistics, brings to his job an extremely wide acquaintance with the national media and the manner in which it handles controversial information.

That background will no doubt prove quite useful as he continues to work with Corso on a new book slated for 1998 publication to be titled The Day After Dallas: Inside the Warren Commission.

From his position as mid-husband to the birth of Corso's first book, Birnes is in an excellent position to provide needed perspective — on Corso's military career, on the events behind the stories he relates, and on the story of the book's very publication.

When the book was released in June, this year, the national press largely responded as did the caterpillar sitting on a toadstool in Alice in Wonderland, with a collective "Who are you?"

As it turns out, Corso distinguished himself early in his career as an intelligence officer ferreting out Communist agents in post WWII Rome. That experience ultimately led him to positions of confidence working directly with President Eisenhower and Senator Strom Thurmond.

It was, in fact, Corso's tenure as an aide to Thurmond — after retiring in 1963 — that enabled him to obtain a foreword from the senator in the book's first edition. Thurmond praised Corso for his patriotism, valor and hard work in defense of our country's freedoms.

Curiously, after publication of The Day After Roswell, Thurmond immediately disassociated himself from Corso and the book, stating that he did not know the book would deal with the subject of UFOs.

Perhaps Thurmond himself was unprepared to deal with this book's amazing contents. Or did he just get cold feet?

To judge for yourself, take this unique opportunity to meet Bill Birnes and ask him your own, most probing questions.

— Ed Conroy