AUTHOR IN BIRDSLL1.UFO RESPONDS

ParaNet  Alpha  06/29  --  Phil Imbrogno, author of NIGHT SIEGE: THE HUDSON 
VALLEY  UFO,  has  responded  to  charges  levelled  in  the  ParaNet  file 
BIRDSLL1.UFO.  The  file,  submitted to ParaNet by its author, a former NSA  
employee  named  Jerry Birdsall, consisted of a statement in which Birdsall 
levelled  charges  tantamount  to  libel  at Imbrogno. While he didn't name 
Imbrogno  or  the  book  in  his  ParaNet release, Birdsall, referred to in 
NIGHT  SIEGE  as  "James Madison," told us in a face to face encounter that 
Imbrogno  had misinterpreted his actions, misquoted him, and otherwise dis-
torted the truth in his accounts of their interactions.

In  a  conversation  today,  Imbrogno  was  at first reticent to admit that 
Birdsall  was  the  James  Madison  referred  to, for obvious reasons. When 
assured  of  our  purposes, Imbrogno freely discussed his dealings with the 
former  NSA  SIGnals  INTelligence  specialist. He said that Birdsall first 
came  to  the  UFO  researcher  due  to  his  interest in the Hudson Valley 
sightings,  which  were  in  full swing at the time. According to Imbrogno, 
Birdsall  told him of his NSA employment "in a way that sounded like it was 
designed  to  impress  me  somehow,"  but told him that his interest was to 
obtain  funding  for  Imbrogno's  investigation  from  the Fund for UFO Re-
search,  of  which  Birdsall claimed to be a member. "He said he was a good 
friend  of  [FUFOR  Chairman] Bruce Maccabee, and that he could use his in-
fluence  to  get me funded." But it turned out that Maccabee and other Fund 
members  "barely  knew"  Birdsall, says Imbrogno, and FUFOR turned him down 
for funding.

While  not  specifically  referred to in the file, a central point seems to 
be  a  quote in NIGHT SIEGE, attributed to "James Madison": "The government 
has  been  known  to dispose of people for less" (referring to UFO research 
that  might  compromise government secrets). Imbrogno said he found it "ra-
ther  strange," but admitted that it could just as easily be interpreted as 
a  statement,  rather  than  as  a threat. "It was just strange coming from 
this guy who had made a big deal about his ties with the NSA."

Imbrogno  said  that  at  no  time in the book did he insist that "Madison" 
(Birdsall)  was  an agent assigned to monitor or sabotage his UFO research. 
He  said  he was merely suspicious of his activities, and thought them wor-
thy  of  note  in  his  book.  He  admitted that the book's editor may have 
"spiced  up"  one or two passages for dramatic value, but that the book was 
"90% accurate" in its portrayal of Birdsall.

"If  I  was  going to invent incidents involving a government agent just to 
sell  more  books,  do  you  think I'd design them around a real person who 
could  come  back and refute what I'd said?" asked Imbrogno. "Hell, no, I'd 
make the guy up out of thin air. Who could argue with me then?"

      --Jim Speiser