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   SUBJECT: MEIER A SECOND OPINION                              FILE: UFO1013   
      
      
   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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