Part 2

He also said he had photographed and filmed UFOs that
resembled hub-caps; tape-recorded their noises, which resembled
sound effects from old science-fiction films; conversed with
female UFOnauts, who taught him cosmic truths; flew aboard a
UFO into space, where he photographed God's "eye" and the
Apollo-Soyuz docking of 1975; and traveled by saucer into the
future, where he saw the ruins of San Francisco after an
earthquake.

But Meier's "evidence" dissolved under scrutiny,
ufologists say. Ufologist Spaulding used a computer to clarify
blurry details in Meier's photos and, he said, detected threads
holding the "UFOs" aloft - evidence that they were small models
suspended near the camera. Also, critics said, the photos of
quake-ravaged San Francisco turned out to be copies of an
artist's rendering from the September 1977 issue of Geo
magazine. And in Meier's 8mm movies of UFOs, the objects sway
back and forth as though they were lightweight models bobbing in
the breeze.

Yet the Meier story has survived partly because of the
relentless advocacy of his American backers, the Arizona
ufologists Lt. Col. Wendelle Stevens (US Air Force, retired),
Tom Welch and Lee and Brit Elders. Years ago, they obtained the
legal rights to market Meier's photos and other memorabilia,
threatened to sue anyone who used the material without permis-
sion and built a small publishing industry, Genesis III. The
publishing arm sells books and videocassettes (for as much
as $29 apiece) about Meier's adventures.

Now they've landed a much bigger fish: royalties from
Kinder's 206-page book, published May 26th. They're sharing
royalties in return forgiving Kinder access to Meier's photos and
other documents.

Much money may be made by all: Kinder will take 50
percent of the royalties, then the rest will be divided
among Meier, Stevens, the Elderses and Welch.

Sales have gone "extremely well," Kinder said. The best-
seller list is in sight, said the book's backer, New York
publishing whiz-kid Morgan Entrekin, who paid Kinder an advance
of more than $100,000. Bay Area bookstore owners say its selling
moderately.

The book has infuriated many ufologists who think it lends
an undeserved patina of respectability to a vulgar hoax,
although Kinder doesn't reach a specific conclusion about
Meier's claims. "Face it, you're in it for the money like the
rest of the writers of superficial paranormal literature,"
Spaulding said in a bitter letter to Kinder.

"It's been a real ordeal trying to fend off the entire UFO
community," joked Kinder, 40. "There were times when I would
look at Meier and think, `He's nothing but a clever con man.'
There were other times would I would look at Meier and think,
`Here is a sincere and warm individual who has experienced
something far above his understanding and intellectual capabilities
and is trying to deal with it.'"

The Elderses say they've received threatening letters
and phone calls and that Meier has been the target of
several assassination attempts. They're not disturbed by
evidence that Meier faked photos of, for example, the San
Francisco earthquake; in fact, they haven't even discussed it
with Meier, Lee Elders said. His wife insists that just because
Meier faked "one or two things" doesn't mean all his photos are
phony.

To Lee Elders, the best evidence for Meier's contentions is
an analysis of metal samples from an alleged UFO. The analysis
was conducted by Marcel Vogel, formerly a chemist at an IBM
research center in San Jose. In the New York Times Book Review,
a full page ad for "Light Years" quotes Vogel as saying the
metallic composition was one "we could not achieve...on this
planet."

However, the book doesn't mention that Vogel is a very, very
imaginative fellow. In fact, he also has claimed the ability to
communicate psychically with plants.
End of part 2



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