ET Commission opponents have landed: Aliens, go home

"Invasion of the ballot snatchers." That's what the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society calls Jeff Peckman's proposal to have Denver create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission -- a proposal that will go to Denver voters on the August ballot. "The more research we do, the more furious we get," RMPR's Bryan...

By Patricia Calhoun

April 28, 2010

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"Invasion of the ballot snatchers." That's what the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society calls Jeff Peckman's proposal to have Denver create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission -- a proposal that will go to Denver voters on the August ballot.

"The more research we do, the more furious we get," RMPR's Bryan Bonner says of Peckman's initiative, which his group takes apart on a new website, www.DenverETcommission.org.

For starters, because it's the only non-partisan measure on the August ballot, "it's going to cost $100,000," Bonner points out. That's because only voters who've registered as Democrats and Republicans can vote in the contested primary races, but because of Peckman's proposal, every registered voter in Denver, regardless of affiliation, must get the chance to vote on whether the city needs an ET commission.

And cost isn't their only concern. There's what being known as a haven for ET might do to the city's reputation, and then the supposed science behind the the measure.

"We're here to try to show the truth to people," Bonner says. "Our big push is to tell people to vote 'no.' Not 'Don't vote,' but, 'Vote no.'"

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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