Warm greetings, I'd like to offer some reflections on the First
Annual Exopolitics conference which was a great success in every
way. The approximately 700 registrants filled most of the lecture
rooms to capacity and it was a great feeling to be in a venue where
so many people shared similar interests in the extraterrestrial
presence. There was a tremendous exchange of information and
networking, and it was personally satisfying to see that so many
people in this area are well grounded and well balanced. This helped
tremendously in counteracting the dominant perception that people
interested in ETs/UFOs are fringe and not worth listening to. It was
a time for coming out of the closet and being confident about the
collective power of those present to shape the future in the Capital
of the most powerful nation on Earth.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to go to as many of the
sessions as I would have liked and could only catch small segments
of presentations here and there. The most compelling presenter in my
view was clearly Steven Greer who has a tremendous capacity to
inspire and give detailed information on how the secret management
system is set up, and on the key individuals in it. What most
interested me was his account of the famous 'briefing' he gave of
the CIA Director James Woolsey who was out of the loop when it came
to ETs. It dovetailed exactly with my own research into what was
going on so it was gratifying to hear first hand confirmation that
even the most senior officials can be out of the loop, and there's
little they can do about it. He really is a dynamic presenter and
helped give people confidence that the system can be changed despite
all the challenges that lie ahead.

Another of the presenters who captivated the conference's attention
was Phillip Corso, Jr., whose stories about his fathers knowledge of
exotic technologies and black projects enthralled the audience.
Corso's description of 'time loops' and how these result in time
folding in on itself rang very true, so there's definitely something
there to research further. Richard Hoagland was another that
captivated the audience with his detailed knowledge of Mars and the
covering up of life and artifacts on Mars by NASA and JPL. He
predicted an impending official disclosure about life on Mars which
seemed a very plausible prediction based on recent geo-political
events.

The conference was a wonderful way of launching Exopolitics as a
serious academic field, and I'm very glad I made the decision to
throw caution into the wind and start writing and researching in
this area. It was synchronicity that Stephen Basset's idea for an
Exopolitics Conference was realized around the same time as the
publication of my Exopolitics book. Stephen did a great job in
putting together such a big event given the risks involved in
booking a major hotel for a conference which would be the first of
its kind. I'm sure he will continue to be a major figure in the rise
of exopolitics; and of course I'll be doing my part in making sure
exopolitics deserves serious attention.

As far as my own presentation was concerned, it was a chance for me
to show the audience how a political scientist would deal with all
the available information to present a fairly detailed analysis of
how the ET management system operates. Among the highlights for me
were showing how the political strategy for responding to the ET
presence was basically flawed since it addresses a
fictional 'external threat', rather than responding to a very
real 'internal threat'. It was the first time in my knowledge that
someone had publically challenged the strategic foundations of non-
disclosure of the ET presence, rather than questioning its legal or
moral foundations which has been the norm. Another highlight was
discussing how the 'black budget' used for funding the
compartmentalised projects was based on congressional legislation
and therefore quite legal despite its enormous size and
the 'quesionable ethical activities' used in raising revenue. To
check out my black budget paper and what's going on, go to
www.american.edu/salla

In all the conference marked a transition, a coming of age where all
assembled realized that Exopolitics was now a new field and would
form the rubric for a new stage in the struggle to create a more
transparent and accountable system for dealing with the
extraterrestrial presence. It also helped make it clear that the
more we organize and work together, the more likely we can make a
strong impact on the system, and bring about policies more to our
liking. I'm sure the next conference will be even bigger and will
sell out so I'd definitely mark it in your calender and be sure to
enrol early to make your bookings for 2005.

In peace

Michael Salla, PhD
www.exopolitics.org