At the UFO Updates Facebook page, Alex Sarmiento posed the following question yesterday:
"The Mount Rushmore of ufology would consist of...?"
I suppose it depends on how you view "ufology." Should it be the most popular figures in the history of ufology? The most significant in terms of actual research? The craziest? A combination of all three?
I guess we should look at the real Mount Rushmore. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum chose Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt largely for their role in preserving the United States and expanding its territory. If we were to apply that rationale to ufology, then I think the choices become obvious, at least to me.
1. Donald E. Keyhoe - The man who more or less started it all.
2. George Adamski - The most recognizable of the Contactees; the undercurrents of his influence can still be felt.
3. Stanton Friedman - The most prolific UFO showman ever, and the man who brought the Roswell incident to the fore and then became its public face.
4. Steven Greer - His Disclosure Project and subsequent Exopolitics movement have changed the subculture of ufology.
One can trace a direct line in terms of development between the conspiracy-minded Keyhoe to the even more conspiracy-minded Greer, and include Adamski and Friedman along the way.
That would be my Mount Rushmore of ufology, for good and ill. What about yours?
Paul Kimball
