# U.S. sued to force protection from ETs **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 2, 1999, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746 "1999-09-02T04:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Contestant\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Contestant\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contestant_3)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/1 "1999-09-02T04:00:00Z")
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CITIZENS GROUP HAS UNDENIABLE EVIDENCE OF “ET” INVASION AND SUES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND ARIZONA FOR PROTECTION SEPTEMBER 1, 1999 PHOENIX – In a continuing effort to end government secrecy surrounding UFOs and contact with a non-human intelligence, Arizona attorney Peter A. Gersten filed papers today in U.S. District Court requiring the Federal government to protect the residents of Arizona from a “clandestine invasion.” Gersten, the Executive Director of the Phoenix-based Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, Inc. (CAUS), had filed an earlier lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act on January 22, 1999 against the Department of Defense (DOD). Today’s precedent-setting legal initiative comes under Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which requires the federal government to protect each of the fifty states against invasion. CAUS is an Arizona activist organization dedicated to ending the secrecy surrounding Earth’s contact with an “extraterrestrial intelligence.” The organization, Gersten said, sent letters to the country’s 50 Governors as well as Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Attorney General Janet Reno requesting they take immediate action to protect United States citizens against these intruders. Only three governors have replied. “It’s outrageous that this threat is continually ignored,” Gersten stated. “I can prove in a court of law, and beyond a reasonable doubt, that we are in contact with another form of intelligence. More importantly, one aspect of this contact poses a threat to our safety.” “Arizona will be a test case,” Gersten said. He cites the reported crash of an “unusual” craft in Paradise Valley in 1947, the Travis Walton disappearance in Snowflake in 1975, the infamous “Phoenix lights” seen throughout the state in 1997 and countless other reports during the past 52 years. “Arizona is definitely a targeted area for the clandestine intruders,” Gersten believes. The CAUS legal papers contend that the intruders are conducting nonconsensual physical acts including abductions, sexual abuse, assaults and unlawful imprisonment upon the citizens of the United States. CAUS is asking the federal court in Phoenix to compel both the Federal government and the State of Arizona to initiate an immediate study and investigation, and “to proceed to protect the citizens from the intruders” which, according to Gersten," would restore the full measure of independence, safety and security guaranteed by the federal government." For the full text of the complaint, as well as material related to it, visit the group’s website at [http://www.caus.org](http://www.caus.org) or contact Mr. Gersten at (480) 609-9120 (David - posted with the permission and encouragement of Mr. Peter Gersten) ## I say it’s about time…what say you other SDMBers? Contestant #3 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/2 "1999-09-02T04:21:00Z")
A nutcase files a lawsuit-news at eleven! ---
**Author:** ![E1skeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3da27b/32.png) [@E1skeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E1skeptic)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/3 "1999-09-02T05:56:00Z")
Gee! This sounds like serious stuff!!! Please make sure to tell your government to instruct your army to shoot only if the aliens look like this: [http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/prediction/51/images/alien/page1/ebe-1996.jpg](http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/prediction/51/images/alien/page1/ebe-1996.jpg) * * * Men will cease to commit atrocities only when they cease to believe absurdities. -Voltaire ---
**Author:** ![E1skeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3da27b/32.png) [@E1skeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E1skeptic)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/4 "1999-09-02T06:03:00Z")
Or we might end looking like this: [http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/prediction/51/images/alien/page1/mib1.jpg](http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/prediction/51/images/alien/page1/mib1.jpg) Note to **DavidB** : Please feel free to delete my posts if they are taking too much space. BTW, there was NO disclaimer or copyright notice related to this images, as they were supposedly, and I quote, “…collected over many years from sources such as newspapers, magazines, videos, tv programs and the net.” Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![EnigmaOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EnigmaOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnigmaOne)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/5 "1999-09-02T09:43:00Z")
{{{I say it’s about time…what say you other SDMBers?}}}—C#3 At least we know that Mr. Gersten is keeping up with the latest episodes of The X Files. * * * – **Kalél** _Common ¢ for all ages…_ “Well, there was that thing with the Cheese-Wiz…but I’m feeling _much_ better now!” – John Astin, _Night Court_ ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/6 "1999-09-02T14:09:00Z")
ROFL! Ooooh, they have “UNDENIABLE EVIDENCE” – just ask 'em! After all: “It’s outrageous that this threat is continually ignored,” Gersten stated. “I can prove in a court of law, and beyond a reasonable doubt, that we are in contact with another form of intelligence. More importantly, one aspect of this contact poses a threat to our safety.” I’d love to get this guy up on the witness stand. That would be a laugh-riot! The court could make up its costs by selling tickets. Interestingly, this is the same guy (Gersten, not C3) who posted a message an Internet message (July 24) saying he expected the U.S. District Court in Phoenix to dismiss his FOIA lawsuit against the Defense Dept. He added, “If and when this lawsuit is dismissed, CAUS will have exhausted all reasonable judicial remedies. It will then be time to attempt any and all extrajudicial remedies.” Any and all? He didn’t explain what these remedies would be, but you have to wonder a bit about nutcases who say they are going to use “any and all extrajudicial remedies.” A few UFO nuts with similar views tried to poison some goverment officials a few years back… * * * “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” – William Kingdon Clifford ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/7 "1999-09-02T14:52:00Z")
I’m with David B–if this comes to trial, I will be glued to Court TV for the funniest show since MST3K went off the air! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 1999, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/8 "1999-09-03T05:19:00Z")
This case will be dismissed faster than you can say “Area 51.” 🙂 While a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is decided as if all the facts alleged are true (as if!), the complaint still fails: the courts can’t (or at least don’t) order the government to use the military against an enemy because that’s considered to be a wholly political question. It seems to me that what the plaintiffs here really want is not a victory in the lawsuit but discovery – court orders compelling the government to produce all those “hidden” documents that the UFO conspiracy theorists think will prove them right. ---
**Author:** ![AuraSeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@AuraSeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuraSeer)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 1999, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/9 "1999-09-03T05:24:00Z")
Even if the plaintiff is 100% correct in all his assertions, I don’t believe that the suit could make any difference. If the military were involved in some mass coverup, to the extent that it’s even a secret from the President (a la _Independence Day_), it’s a stretch to believe they’d hand everything over, just because some judge said so. ---
**Author:** ![LongHrn99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e4f/32.png) [@LongHrn99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongHrn99)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 1999, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/10 "1999-09-03T05:42:00Z")
Not that it matters, even if the government could prove their case so well that even good old C3 no longer believed, there would always be someone else who was an even bigger die-hard alien invasion believer that would continue the nonsense. The only way to stop it would for the government to admit that they were doing alien testing and the like (which, incidentally, I DON’T believe in). But would THAT satisfy them? I doubt it; those same fanatics will move on to believe in some other fantasy, and the whole cycle will begin again. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/11 "1999-09-02T20:41:00Z")
Thanks, Connie! I haven’t laughed that hard in days. (BTW, Flora, did you ever read rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc? I used to be a regular there.) * * * I’m not flying fast, just orbiting low. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Barr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rich\_Barr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Barr)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 1999, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/12 "1999-09-02T22:41:00Z")
On the suject of stupid legal tricks… A number of years ago, some dingleberry filed suit in Federal District Court (the Middle District of Pennsylvania, I believe) againt…Satan. (The big red guy with the pitchfork, that is, not the Satan who posts on these messageboards.) (I assume they aren’t the same people.) It seemed Satan had been treating the guy poorly, or something like that. (The case name is Mayo v. Satan. I don’t remember the rest of the citation.) The District Judge dismissed the suit…on the grounds that the plaintiff couldn’t show the court had jurisdiction over the defendant. As I recall, the Judge specifically denied that Satan was a resident of Pennsylvania. Do YOUR states have a judicial determination that Satan doesn’t live there? * * * Rich Barr [massivemaple@hotmail.com](mailto:massivemaple@hotmail.com) AOL Instant Messenger: Hrttannl ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 1999, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/13 "1999-09-03T02:07:00Z")
According to his profile, Satan DOES live in my state. Maybe I should get me a lawyer … ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 1999, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/14 "1999-09-03T14:50:00Z")
\<\< Gersten stated. “I can prove in a court of law, and beyond a reasonable doubt, that we are in contact with another form of intelligence.” \>\> Man, oh, man, I agree with Gersten on that. No question in my mind that we are in contacts with other forms of intelligence. Gersten himself, for example, is another form of intelligence than anyone I’ve worked with. There are a number of other posters on this board (I can’t mention names or I’d get thrown into the BBQ Pit) who are **definitely** alternate forms of intelligence. I used the word “intelligence” fairly loosely, of course. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 1999, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/15 "1999-09-04T00:43:00Z")
Zorak, Moltar & Brak, attourneys-at-law. Oh, C3; please go back to the funny farm! They have your bed all turned down for you, and a whole 60mgs. of Thorazine JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT! With your milk and cookies! ---
**Author:** ![Contestant\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Contestant\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contestant_3)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 1999, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/16 "1999-09-04T02:12:00Z")
Gee, what am I thinking? The U.S. Government witholding evidence?..nah…I must be paranoid right?..next thing you know I’ll be claiming the feds withheld evidence concerning the Waco incident! * * * Contestant #3 ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 1999, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/17 "1999-09-04T03:14:00Z")
According to “The Devil and Daniel Webster”, Satan acknowledged his United States citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![Brother\_Haus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Brother\_Haus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brother_Haus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 1999, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/18 "1999-09-04T08:00:00Z")
**David B’s** earlier post reminds of the 1938 court case of a woman being tried for murder. The defenses position was that she was _insane_. Why? Because she smoked Marijuana. And how did people know that Marijuana made someone _insane_? Here you GO: > [@](#): > > Commissioner Anslinger told the Congressmen at the hearings, and I quote, “Marihuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users **insanity** , criminality, and death.” That was the Government testimony to support the marijuana prohibition from the Commissioner. Marijuana smoking produces insanity. That comes from Harry Anslinger, Commissioner of the Federal Bereau of Norcotics, 1937. The Expert Witness for the Defense was a pharmacologist from Temple University. How did he become the the ‘Expert’? Well, he was the only one to agree with Comm. Anslinger during Anslinger’s conference to discuss Marijuana. So, here is what the ‘Expert witness’ said about Marijuana at the trial- > [@](#): > > “What have you done with the drug?” And he said, and I quote, “I’ve experimented with the dogs, I have written something about it and” – are you ready – “I have used the drug myself.” > What do you ask him next? “Doctor, when you used the drug, what happened?” > > With all the press present at this flamboyant murder trial in Newark New Jersey, in 1938, the pharmacologist said, and I quote, in response to the question “When you used the drug, what happened?”, his exact response was: “_After two puffs on a marijuana cigarette, I was turned into a bat._” > > He wasn’t done yet. He testified that he **flew around the room for fifteen minutes** and then found himself at the bottom of a two-hundred-foot high ink well. It’s all true!! Here’s the link for the whole report- [www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm](http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm) It’s called the “History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States”. I urge everyone interested to read this report. It was written and read to the California Judges Association 1995 annual conference, by Charles Whitebread, Professor of Law, USC Law School. ## “I’ve never seen any UFO’s, have you Bobby-Sue?” “Yup! I see them all the time.” I am not **weird** , I’m just _normle_ challenged. ---
**Author:** ![E1skeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3da27b/32.png) [@E1skeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E1skeptic)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 1999, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/19 "1999-09-04T10:07:00Z")
Hey **Brother Haus** , if you’re interested in impossibly ridiculous but true Court cases like that one, try reading “ **Galileo’s Revenge** ”. You might like it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 1999, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746/20 "1999-09-04T16:45:00Z")
there was a court decision in Ontario recently where a fellow was trying to sue various people (including Bill Clinton and the CIA) for covering up the fact that he, the plaintiff, was a Martian. The statement of claim was struck on the basis that, taking it at its face value, the plaintiff had no standing - only human beings and corporations have standing to sue in the Ontario courts. The plaintiff had admitted he was not a human being. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-sued-to-force-protection-from-ets/16746.md?page=2)