Dear Dr. Harder,

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I am an APRO member and representative for Greece for about ten years now but I have been out of contact for quite a long time for reasons that are difficult to explain. During that period I was not idle in my country and I hope I have added a few Greek members in the APRO. At the same time I have published five books on the subject. The first is prepared already for its 6th edition and the later ones run into their 2nd and 3rd editions.

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One of the reasons for my long silence has something to do with the kind of research I am doing. I cannot explain it very well because it is rather complicated but the basic idea was to look for information not among common witnesses – though I do not refuse that line too – but where the knowledge is supposed to be better and more organized, that is in government and military channels. I cannot explain the mess I ran into without making this letter a whole book and I am not going to. There is a couple of particular problems that I want to discuss and ask for advice. I’ll try to be short.

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First case and problem:

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On September 23, 1976 one Greek Air Force jet took after two UFOs from a base in Peloponnesus. The UFOs kept at a distance of about 3 miles before they took on speed and disappeared. On September 25, 1976 two GAF jets took after another UFO in northern Greece from a base outside Salonica. The pilots were a captain and a major. The captain was the same one who had chased the previous UFOs in Peloponnesus, in southern Greece two days ago. The chase was again(?) in vain.

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Now, a few miles out of the base the two planes crashed. The captain was killed, the major used his parachute and was saved. The following comes from the formal investigation and the source is an Air Force officer, one of the first who reached the site:

The two planes were coming back for the landing late at night. They were flying at 300 feet (three hundred) between mountain ridges. One pilot did not notice the other’s tail light and a slight movement of his wing was enough to raze the cockpit of the other plane. The two jets collided and the captain was killed instantly. The major had the time to jump and save himself. A few days later he was promoted (I don’t know why) but he declined and asked to be transferred. After that we could not trace him.

Though that was the official explanation the accident was never publicized and never reached the press. Everything comes from other channels. As you may have noticed, the official explanation sounds false. Jet planes do not fly by eyesight in the night at 300 feet in a canyon and the second pilot could not jump after a collision at that height. Correct me if I am wrong. Sometime later I was invited to give a lecture about Greek cases and then two gentlemen came and introduced themselves. They were from the American Embassy and were asked from the Greek Central Intelligence Agency to act as observers. I got rather angry and explained everything about the case in public taking care not to mention it happened in Greece but everyone understood it. I mentioned other similar cases too and warned the authorities to come into the open or else… that was the gist of it. There was an uproar but let’s leave it here.

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The question now is this: I have in my possession, apart from names and other details, several parts from the crashed planes. The only available Geiger counter had a broken tube and we could not replace it. So we checked the metal pieces rather primitively with X-ray films. The first 36 and 48-hour exposed films came out black. That was positive. Then one week exposed film came out untouched, transparent. That was negative. New films with double sheets (special checking X-ray films) were positive again. Positive were also all the specimens we had buried for 36 hours at the site of the crash.

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Now what?

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We cannot do anything more without going into the open and we (I have friends who work with me, that’s why I say “we”) cannot do that since the authorities have said nothing about the crash. In our law we are already in a dangerous position. On the other hand I am well-known in my country and it’s difficult for them to touch me without making things worse. Can you suggest any solution? The only thing I can think is to have APRO or any foreign source to mention the case as unverified and without names so that we can say that we learned it from another country and take it into the open.

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Legally I am not permitted to disclose any information that is military in nature. I can legally repeat it and investigate it if it comes from another country. You can check for other details too, from Mr. Homer Karatzas, a field investigator of APRO in Salonica. He and his group discovered the sites. Is there any other suggestion? Also, do you think it would be useful to send you any metal parts for further checking and how could we do it safely?

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Second case and problem:

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This is a story even more complicated and I am still confused myself. It has to do with a certain area (Pentelikon mountain area) near Athens. We investigated the case for over ten years now and we are more confused than at the beginning. There are two focal points. One is a cave and its nearby area. The other is a nearby road with negative(?) gravity. The cars run easier uphill than downhill and the field is no electromagnetic. An expert tried to measure the inclination both with conventional and electronic instruments (through a computer) and found an unexplained mistake of 8 feet in measurements of 300 feet. Anyway both points have to present an unusual activity of sightings, including vehicles and beings from many different reliable witnesses through the years.

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The trouble started last year when we started to help a TV company to make a series about UFOs and that particular area. The series was censored and the area of the cave was closed to the public. Big earthmoving machines went inside and started to work. Guards were posted around preventing people from approaching. But they were civilians and they would not explain what they were doing and on what authority. The strange thing was that the cave was also an important archaeological site and it was strictly forbidden to dig there. Those people were using bulldozers and dynamite in the cave. They unearthed marble artifacts that were destroyed. We have photos to prove it.

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So we went and reported it to the authorities as an illegal digging. At first they became alarmed (at the Ministry of Culture and Sciences) but when they looked into it they said to us to forget everything. The order came from above. The police gave exactly the same answer. They even tried to intimidate some of us. So I went to the press. Before printing anything the reporter asked about “Pentagon”. They said no, it has nothing to do with us. It’s not a military affair.

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Well, that was permission clear enough, and not legally compulsory after all. The resulting article was highly inaccurate, had nothing to do with my words but it was very sensational. Crowds of people swarmed in the area. The work had to stop. A few days later the reporter was called to the Pentagon. Yes, now it was military and very very secret. The public had to be kept away by any means. They didn’t bother me. A colonel had visited me a few days ago for another UFO case and I had warned him at least what I would do if they tried to stop me. The case became known in many European countries and even von Däniken came to meet me and ask for details. The thing was getting out of hand and I had to stop before going too far.

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The whole thing is a mystery. I have been approached by armed forces officers and even from the American USAF base here but it seems that either they want to learn from me instead of informing me or they are scared and do not want to speak clearly. Also I had a very strange offer from the top official of one of the services of the US Navy in Athens, that is to have anything useful for my research up to two meters long, through the diplomatic mail. And then he disappeared and their offices were closed down. The offices were in the Athens Tower, our biggest building, but I prefer not to be more specific in a letter. There are many more details, but the letter is already becoming a book. So the question is: I am thinking of an open attack, in public. Do you have any advice on how to act in the first steps. The press cannot be of great help. They only care about politicians and they distort everything. That I know too well. Do not judge our press by your standards. We have no standards here. By the way my lawyer informed me that he cannot say what is legal or illegal where the military is concerned.

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Well, that’s about it for now. I know everything looks confused and it is but it is better than it looks. I wish I were writing in Greek. It would much more easier to express myself. Anyway, thanks for the time and everything. I would appreciate any advice on the matter.

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Yours truly,
George N. Balanos

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R.S.

P.S. This is the address of my new office. The old one that APRO uses is also valid.

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