Gen. Wesley Clark comments on UFOs
Gen. Wesley K. Clark is a retired four-star Army general. At the peak of his career from 1997-2000 he was NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and Commander-in-Chief, United States European Command.
He graduated first in his class from West Point in 1966 and was a Rhode's Scholar at Oxford University from 1966 to 1968. This only briefly touches on his educational and military background, but indicates he was one of the nation's top generals and one very sharp guy.
Most people, however, know Gen. Clark as a Democratic candidate for President in 2003-2004. During a campaign event Sept. 27, 2003, in New Castle, New Hampshire, before about 50 people, Clark stated his belief that humans will someday be able to travel faster than the speed of light (FTL travel), putting no limit on how far we will be able to explore in space.
Clark's remarks were prompted by a question from Dr. Jay Buckey, who was an astronaut on the space shuttle. He asked what Clark envisioned for America's space program after the Columbia shuttle tragedy. Clark said he was a great believer in the space program and wanted a vision well beyond that of a new shuttle or space plane. He hoped mankind would eventually leave this planet and explore space beyond the solar system. Clark thought such a vision could probably require a lifetime of research and development in various fields of science and technology. Then at the end of his remarks, Clark dropped a bombshell when he said the following:
"We need to look at the realms of applied and higher mathematics. I still believe in E = mc squared. But I can't believe that in all of human history, we'll never ever be able to go beyond the speed of light to reach where we want to go. I happen to believe that mankind can do it. I've argued with physicists about it. I've argued with best friends about it. I just have to believe it. It's my only faith-based initiative."
The mass media then mocked Clark for his remarks, claiming that Clark said he believed in "time travel." But Clark never said any such thing, only that he believed we would one day travel faster than light. [Check the audio (NEW) and transcript.]
What was the basis of Clark's unusual belief, which flies in the face of conventional scientific wisdom? Some of us speculated that maybe Clark, as a top general, had been briefed on the subject of UFOs, knew them to be real extraterrestrial craft, and therefore already knew that FTL travel was very likely possible.