With nearly 30,000 flight hours under his belt, Jim Courant’s qualifications as a major passenger airline captain are solid. So is his conviction that the UFO phenomenon is real.

“I got the proof that I was after,” Courant says. “That’s the part I won’t discuss. But obviously something has kept me in this, taking the chances I’ve taken.”

The nature of the proof that he found isn’t all that Courant won’t discuss. Concerned about professional repercussions, he declines to confirm the name of his airline. Nor will he reveal the identities of some high level officials who he says have confirmed the extraterrestrial presence in conversations with him.

There are a few names that he will drop, however.

Astronaut Gordon Cooper, whose own unambiguous UFO encounter is a matter of public record, was a friend of Courant’s. He’s also traded stories with astronaut Edgar Mitchell, whose 2009 statement at the National Press Building calling for the U.S. government to come clean on the topic of UFOs garnered such fleeting media attention.

The short shrift Mitchell received in the press gives Courant little cause for optimism that future media events will turn the tide.

Media obscura

“A national hero and the sixth man to walk on the moon says that your government and others have been in contact with ETs for 67 years. That’s an incredible statement. It was buried on page seven the next day in the NY Post. Then Rush Limbaugh got in on the act.”

Courant’s frustration with the trickle-down effect of what X-Conference organizer Steve Bassett calls the “truth embargo” is obvious when he’s asked to comment on the effectiveness of the disclosure movement.

“I’d like to say that Steve is getting somewhere with what he’s trying to do,” Courant says. “But the internet is the new sheriff in town. There’s so much B.S. that it’s made it tough for people to know what to believe.”

Saying that he’s ready to unload his 5,000-volume library of UFO books, Courant talks with the road-weary circumspection of someone who’s told his story countless times, and who’s taken a few hits for the telling.

“It’s ruined my social life,” says Courant, who is divorced and lives in the Carolinas.

According to Courant, it’s not unheard of for cockpit personnel to turn in pilots who express an interest in UFOs. This can trigger everything from psych tests to what are called “line checks” (in-flight performance evaluations) which, if they go badly, can result in dismissal. The best way to avoid trouble, Courant says, is to steer clear of the topic while in uniform and, even when out of uniform, never to mention your employer’s name in any context that involves UFOs

Special thanks to technorati.com