Citizen lawsuits might target NASA UFO photo fraud

March 18, 10:10 PMDenver UFO ExaminerJeff Peckman

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Claims that U.S. space agency NASA is defrauding American taxpayers could inspire a flood of lawsuits. But don’t expect high-priced lawyers or a Federal case. Instead, Americans with no legal training could be filing these lawsuits against NASA in small claims courts. The idea was recently proposed at the International UFO Congress. It is also likely to be brought up at the X-Conference 2009 in Gaithersburg, MD, during April 17-19.

Counties throughout the U.S. have “People’s Courts” which have been popularized on TV. This is where a citizen can file suit against another person, business, government or other entity, for an amount not to exceed some hundreds or thousands of dollars. Attorneys are not allowed to represent the plaintiff or the defendant in these courts.

In Denver County Court, a citizen can sue, “any public or governmental entity or employee of any public or government entity” for “fraud, misrepresentation, concealment, or deceit”. This includes actions accruing outside of Colorado.

NASA has stated that part of its official mission is to "Look for signs of life in other planetary systems". To accomplish that mission it gets over $17 billion a year in taxpayer funding. But a number of whistleblowers have stated that NASA alters or destroys photographic evidence of such signs. Then NASA asks for more money each year to keep looking for these signs of life while pretending that it hasn’t found any of the signs of extraterrestrial life that it has already photographed.

Former NASA astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell and other NASA employees have said for years that there is a government cover-up of the presence of extraterrestrial visitors to Earth. But a NASA spokesman countered Mitchell’s claims by stating, "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe.” UK computer hacker Gary McKinnon has also claimed that files he saw on NASA computers showed evidence of extraterrestrial life.

NASA is ripe for being targeted by citizen lawsuits. Citizens are angry over government waste. They are outraged at seeing their hard-earned taxes used for bailouts to companies like AIG, only so see million-dollar bonuses go to employees.

Harsh criticism has been directed at NASA's inspector general. The NASA IG was criticized for being unable to account for $565 billion in a 2008 audit and for not complying with the inspector general's mandate to root out "waste, fraud and abuse". The IG was also criticized for retaliating against whistle-blowers and failing to investigate safety violations, according to a Washington Post article. Additionally, in March 2009, a former NASA top official was indicted for steering million of dollars to a consulting client.

NASA has even claimed on its web site that, “We are honest and ethical in everything we do”. So it’s easy to see why Americans across the nation might accuse NASA for “fraud, misrepresentation, concealment and deceit”.

Citizens who seek action against NASA might succeed in small claims court. The process is quite simple. Some forms are filled out and a fee is paid. A court date is set. Both parties make their case in a short court session. The judge determines the outcome.

For example, in Denver it costs $31 to file a claim seeking damages of up to $500. It costs $55 to file a small claims lawsuit seeking damages between $500 and the maximum limit of $7,500. For many claims, you can request triple the actual damages but still not more than the maximum allowed in small claims court.

It might be determined that a plaintiff does not have legal standing to pursue the case against NASA.  The case might also be bumped up into Federal district court where NASA can have legal representation. A small claims lawsuit against NASA in one county does not prevent others from trying the same lawsuit in other counties.

Many people might not think they have a reason to pursue such a legal action. But the portion of NASA funding coming from Denver taxpayers alone amounts to over $30 million each year. That might seem small compared to the Federal budget and even the Denver city budget. But it’s almost daily news that city budgets like Denver are cutting $1 million here and there from programs to help the homeless, children, people with special needs, law enforcement and more.

NASA’s bloated and wasteful budget could be better spent locally to help individuals and communities. The alleged fraud NASA has engaged in by doctoring or destroying UFO photos is just a small piece of the bigger picture. But it’s a piece that citizens can use to get at least one government agency into the light of closer public scrutiny.

If enough American citizens use small claims courts to sue NASA, it might actually achieve what Congress has been incapable of achieving – a good example of real reform in government spending. Then maybe the Obama administration and Congress will follow the lead of the citizens.

See related articles:
Whistleblowers Evidence of NASA UFO Fraud Might Kill UK Hacker Case
CEO of NASA Contractor Lockheed Knew of Extraterrestrial UFO Visitors
Did UK Hacker Gary McKinnon Find NASA UFO Fraud?