In search of space aliens: His ideas are a mile high — and beyond
ET panel backer won't let critics bring him down
By Lisa Ryckman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published June 7, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Updated June 9, 2008 at 11:53 a.m.
Photo by Barry Gutierrez / The Rocky
Jeff Peckman says his goals are "clean air, healthy organic food, healthy buildings, harmony among the different populations on our planet - and the populations not from our planet."
Jeff Peckman is a 54-year-old who lives with his parents, promotes technology that supposedly creates harmony by manipulating electromagnetic fields and is behind an initiative to form a commission on extraterrestrials in Denver.
An easy target, to say the least: over the top, outside the box, off his rocker or ahead of his time?
"He's less ahead of his time if you put him in Boulder," said a friend, Jeff Mettais. "He's more ahead of his time in downtown Denver."
Peckman is derided, dismissed and deemed a doofus by detractors. But his family and friends consider him smart, funny and level-headed, a visionary who's not afraid to toss a spark into the tinderbox of public policy, even if he gets a little singed.
His projects - everything from technology called brain fingerprinting to an Oregon ballot initiative to label genetically engineered food to a proposed design for a building complex outside Rome - represent his desire to contribute to the greater good, done with absolute sincerity. And for every two strangers who consider Peckman a few cards shy of a deck, there's another who thinks he might be onto something.
"He's a very bright person, very energized," said Tom Frey, executive director of the Da Vinci Institute in Louisville, a nonprofit futurist think tank that lists Peckman as vice president of special projects.
Consider: In 2003, Peckman championed Initiative 101, which would have required the city to promote peacefulness. The campaign cost $2,000, and the initiative lost - with a respectable 32 percent of the vote.
"That is phenomenal," said Michael Mendocha, who has known Peckman for 30 years. "Somebody should be looking at this and saying, 'Let's harness this genius.' Jeff's got uncanny timing."
Pursuing his potential
In person, Peckman looks and sounds like your favorite college professor, the one who could get the whole class debating novel solutions to the world's problems. Tall and lanky with a full head of silvery hair and bright blue eyes, he favors button- down collars and gray suits and exudes a quiet intelligence mingled with a wry sense of humor.
"He doesn't take himself too seriously, but he's also very serious about life," Mettais said. "He's the most authentic and honest and sincere guy I know. He's the real deal. He's out there trying to make a positive difference."
Peckman's goals: "Clean air, healthy organic food, healthy buildings, harmony among the different populations on our planet - and the populations not from our planet," he said.
Peckman began venturing into uncharted territory as a 5- year-old, exploring the fields around his boyhood home in Paola, Kan., about 44 miles south of Kansas City.
The family eventually settled into an uneventful middle-class life in southwest Denver - dad Victor at work as a pipefitter, mom Lorene raising four kids at home, Sundays at church and dinner together in the evening. Peckman attended Goldrick Elementary, Kepner Middle School and Lincoln High School, where he had friends among the hippie kids and the jocks.
Even now, he remembers the moment in grade school when he was introduced to a concept that would shape his future.
"A friend ran up to us on the playground and said, 'My dad says you're using a tenth of your brain,'" he recalls. "I resolved almost immediately that I would develop my full mental potential. I saw a relationship between that and problems in the world and on the local level. I thought perhaps that's a cause - we aren't using our full human potential."
The way to do exactly that became clear after Peckman, then 18, attended a lecture on Transcendental Meditation, based on the teachings of the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. TM had such a profound effect on him - stress relief, renewed energy and focus - that Peckman became a teacher himself after a year at Mahareshi International University in Iowa. He married another TM teacher in 1978, and they spent the 28 years of their marriage traveling and teaching.
Promoting solutions
Peckman first popped into the public eye in 1998, when his name was put on the ballot as the U.S. Senate candidate for the Natural Law Party, a now-defunct group based on the Maharishi's teachings.
"Being a candidate, it's all about yourself. I don't like promoting myself. I like promoting solutions I know about," Peckman said.
His resolve to enter the world of ballot initiatives began at the moment when he and other third-party candidates were forced to put their campaign literature on the floor during a big political event, while the major parties sat at tables.
"Here I am with my stuff, a whole range of solutions, and it's stuck in a box on the floor. I thought, ballot initiatives are the way to go if you want to engage people in thoughtful deliberation about anything."
His Initiative 101 was dubbed "Safety through Peace."
"What I was introducing was the discovery that stress does build up in people and overflows, becomes secondary stress in the whole environment, just like secondhand smoke. And then everybody's affected," he said. "Just as there are ways to reduce individual stress, there are ways to reduce collective stress. When you do that, you'll see all these stress-related social indicators decrease: crime, violence, accidents, fires, hospital admissions, drug use."
Depite being ridiculed and misunderstood, the initiative got more than 28,000 votes.
"People call him a peacenik and this and that," said his younger brother, Tony. "But what's wrong with somebody wanting to have a commission just to kick around ideas about how (it) can make the workplace and schools a little more peaceful? It's never been done before, so of course, there are going to be critics and cynics."
Peckman wrote Measure 27, a 2002 Oregon initiative that would have required the labeling of genetically engineered food. Although it lost, it was endorsed by Paul McCartney, Consumers Union and others.
He also acted as a design consultant for a proposed construction project outside of Rome using Sthapatya Ved, an ancient Indian science that promotes health and well-being in building and design.
What do the feds know?
The seeds of the ET commission were planted a year ago, after Peckman heard a lecture by Stan Romanek, of Colorado Springs, who claims to have compelling evidence of involvement with all manner of other- worldly things. Peckman spent months quietly researching the issue before creating the initiative, which he calls a way to bring the public up to speed on what the government knows.
"He's not the kind that sits out with his binoculars looking for UFOs and joins UFO groups," said his ex-wife, Kathryn, still a close friend. "Jeff is such a networker, and he pulls people together. He started looking at it as a current event. Jeff is pretty level-headed that way. He's come to believe that it's very feasible. He didn't think he'd be in the public eye when he started."
For the record: Peckman didn't shoot the infamous alien at the window - Romanek did. Peckman never said anything about an alien invasion. And he never told anybody about his initiative - it was discovered in the public record by Rocky reporter Daniel J. Chacon.
"He's not an attention-getter, and it's not that he's so passionate about it," Tony Peckman said. "Jeff's main objective is that the government should open some of the files. He came across people who had a lot of evidence, and he thought, 'Why shouldn't we see it?' "
Derision goes with the territory for someone who puts extra- terrestrials and Denver in the same sentence. It doesn't bother Peckman, who never takes it personally, no matter how personal it gets.
"He's not afraid of the backlash," said older brother Rod. "We joke about it: Who's going to call me a goofball or weirdo this week?"
It does bother his family that Peckman has been mocked for moving in with their elderly parents after his divorce a couple of years ago. "He's doing a real service to his parents," Kathryn said. "They have medical problems, and I don't know what they'd do without him there right now. And he's doing a startup business. It's a mutually supportive thing."
Peckman's startup involves "Metatron Technology," which supposedly reduces stressful effects of electromagnetic fields generated by power lines, computers, cell phones and other electrical or electronic devices.
"I love these subtle technologies that are just very cutting- edge, a little ahead of the knowledge quotient and the market," he said. "I like to be right there as it's making its entry into the public's awareness - and to help do that, if I can."
Peckman is confident that his latest initiative not only will get on the ballot but will pass. And in the meantime, he's fulfilled one goal: getting people talking about a new idea.
"(My family) probably all wish I would get a normal job, because they know I invest a lot of time in things like this and don't get paid much, if anything at all," Peckman said. "At the same time, it does make for interesting conversation."
ryckmanl@RockyMountainNews.com
The ballot initiative
Jeff Peckman needs the signatures of about 4,000 registered Denver voters to place his plan for an extraterrestrial affairs commission in Denver on the November ballot.
* Here's the abbreviated version of his ballot initiative:
Shall the voters for the City and County of Denver adopt an Initiated Ordinance to require the creation of an extraterrestrial affairs commission to help ensure the health, safety, and cultural awareness of Denver residents and visitors in relation to potential encounters or interactions with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles, and fund such commission from grants, gifts and donations?
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June 7, 2008
8:25 a.m.
Suggest removal
gary writes:
So he is not a fruit cake??
Just the front man for the guy who is the fruit cake right??
Tell us more about the man that made the DVD!!
Let's see if Denver has 4,000 fruit cakes and will sign!
Guess is...there probably are..
"They are here among us!"
Nuff Said!
June 7, 2008
10:18 a.m.
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BlueSled writes:
This guy is a fruitcake and I'm freakin tired of the media giving him attention. It's like some BS CIA media push to make us forget about God.
June 7, 2008
12:28 p.m.
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happymike44 writes:
I think the aliens probed him one time to many.
But then again maybe it is time to stock up on bottled water and tin foil.
This guy is head of the tin foil hat brigade.
So does this water taste funny to anyone else or is it just me.
Cuckoo for cocoa puffs is more like it for this guy
How many 54 year old unmarried men still live at home with mamma do you know.
Well lets put it this way the nut sure does not fall far from that tree.
June 7, 2008
3:57 p.m.
Suggest removal
LarryWBryant writes:
== UFO-E.T.-Awareness History by Geography ==
From an article in yesterday's London Telegraph newspaper, I understand that a Denver-based radio station plans to launch programing in support of the E.T.-commission ballot initiative. If this development does occur between now and June 19th (the deadline for garnering the requisite 4,000 signatures to put the measure on this November's ballot), then Denver in effect will be competing with Roswell, N. M., for the title "Celestial City - USA."
Meantime: anyone anywhere, on (or off) planet Earth, may sign the supportive petition located at: http://www.petitiononline.com/etaffai... .
June 8, 2008
10:10 p.m.
Suggest removal
EastVail writes:
This guy needs to get a job and move out of his parents' house. What a mooching loser.
June 9, 2008
12:01 a.m.
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Geraldshort writes:
I have known Jeff for 40 years. I thought of him as my best friend until I met my wife. Jeff has always admired the brightest contributors to the improvement of humanity, people like Maharishi and Buckminster Fuller. It is only natural that he is following those other leaders in doing his part to help this world. Jeff is sincere in what he does. He is brilliant. His heart is mind are attuned to the infinite. He brings laughter, peace, and an expansion of knowledge to those who he comes in contact with.
June 9, 2008
9:57 a.m.
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Ztliano writes:
Maybe he's paying his parent's mortgage? Ever thought of that?
June 9, 2008
10:03 a.m.
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Cowboy63 writes:
Get a job; grow-up; move out of mom's basement (I help my elderly parents as well without free-loading off of them).
Don't we have better things to spend our tax dollars on?
June 9, 2008
10:10 a.m.
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LingLingfor_prez writes:
This is why drugs are bad..
June 9, 2008
10:10 a.m.
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LingLingfor_prez writes:
This is why drugs are bad..
June 9, 2008
10:11 a.m.
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Cowboy63 writes:
"Maybe he's paying his parent's mortgage? Ever thought of that?"
Yea... just like all the other adult-child-freeloaders out there.
June 9, 2008
10:28 a.m.
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temurlan writes:
Natural Law Party? How's this for a natural law? Kids move out of their parents house shortly after 18 yrs. Grown men living at home is just unnatural.
June 9, 2008
10:29 a.m.
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ghostchaser writes:
Hello....
Just like we have in the past, it needs to be pointed out that the "Evidence" that is being used to pass this initiative is not proof of anything.
There are so many different things that need the money that has already been or will be used for this that don't need any "Evidence", such as education, public safety, etc.... There is not enough money to support something that has been proposed because one man is scared because he saw what he thinks is an "Alien" in a video.
Thanks,
The Rocky Mountain Paranormal Team
rockymountainparanormal.com
www.denveretcommission.org
June 9, 2008
10:37 a.m.
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HolierThanThou writes:
Although I'd like to see some proof, I reckon the odds of aliens visiting Denver are better than being blown up by a terrorist.
If you're happy to see 6 weeks of your pay being wasted every year for shadow boxing with "terrorists" then what's your problem with spending a few pennies for an alien welcoming committee?
June 9, 2008
11:13 a.m.
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Abductee writes:
To BlueSled and others who are truly out of touch with reality---God created the people on other planets, too!
June 9, 2008
11:46 a.m.
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MissSio writes:
The only thing funnier than this guy's ideas about aliens is the comments in here. I mean really, it's a CIA conspiracy to make us forget about god? That's fragging HILARIOUS!
June 9, 2008
11:48 a.m.
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DeimosJB writes:
Come on RMN, why is this story getting more page time than, say, any reforms, real or perceived, since Raul Castro has taken over Cuba's reigns, or the National Debt, or any other story that might have merit? I have my suspicions that the intelligence of the readers is partly to blame, but I have my suspicions that the intelligence of the RMN columnists is also of paramount importance.
June 9, 2008
12:01 p.m.
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bubbabeers writes:
yet you took the time to read and comment on this story DeimosJB :)
June 9, 2008
12:08 p.m.
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meatwad writes:
that's what slow days at work do to ya
June 9, 2008
12:13 p.m.
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MissSio writes:
wag the dog maybe, DJB? Get us all riled up and interested in crap so we don't pay attention to what's REALLY happening, what's really important. (begin sarcasm) What's Britney up to today? And Paris, what is she wearing today? oooo I gotta know! The R. Kelly trial... And did you hear!?! Angelina Jolie is having TWINS!!!11! (end sarcasm) Getting your real news from RMN is ok for local stories. But when it comes to national issues, you'd get the same quality info from FAUX news... and that ain't sayin' much.
June 9, 2008
12:37 p.m.
Suggest removal
ItsJustme writes:
More like Rainman than a fruitcake, to me.
The initiative says "fund such commission from grants, gifts and donations" So, drop the grants and start soliciting gifts and donations and start the "commission" up yourself. You don't need Denver's help if you're really serious. Otherwise, you're just trying to force others to pay for your grand scheme.
June 9, 2008
1:10 p.m.
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tchoupitoulas writes:
Okay....he is half a century old and still lives at home with his parents. Enough said.
June 9, 2008
1:48 p.m.
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bira44 writes:
I think Peckman and the Boulder Poop Nazi should get together. If aliens are among us undoubtedly they need to eliminate their space waste.
The Poop Nazi could find and record each instance with his handy GPS unit, Peckman could peacefully plot the trends, and the two of them could then figure out how to build crop circles so the aliens could have an easier time landing and pooping on earth.
June 9, 2008
2 p.m.
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happymike44 writes:
Well when the aliens arrive I wonder who they will eat first.
Wonder if they have pepto bismal for aliens.
But then again Kang and Kudos will probably enslave us and then that is the end of life on this planet.
The possiblity is when they meet us they will simply put that ramp right through our planet to the new space galleria mall next to gork.But then again Jeff Might need to make himself a new tin foil hat.
So he can stop hearing the mind control of the C.I.A. holding his brain hostage lmao.
June 9, 2008
2:28 p.m.
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temurlan writes:
Is it just me or is three different RMN articles in the same day about this a bit much. Come on!
June 9, 2008
2:35 p.m.
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cwilder4911 writes:
For all of you who are laughing here is a more serious side to the subject. My husband is a retired intelligence research analyst who spent many years in D.C. He has seen UFOs on at least two occasions over the white house. Together we have seen UFOs on numerous occasions, even being forced off the road on Hwy 80 east of Rawlins.
For all of you who believe in God, that is great, but when you come face to face with Him and his angels, you might not be so willing to praise Him.
It is about time someone like Jeff stood up and said what is really going on, but I am afraid it might be too late already.
June 9, 2008
2:41 p.m.
Suggest removal
elkman writes:
cwilder4911
Lay off the watermellon wine and maybe you and your husband can stay on the road. If there were ufo above the white house, the whole world would know about it.
June 9, 2008
3:26 p.m.
Suggest removal
OhBrother writes:
Ohhhh brother...does his mother still do his laundry and make his lunch? Hear me out, I will give him the BOD with living at home to help his folks but if mom is still making his grilled cheese without crust then anything he says holds as much merit as a 5yr old.
I'm not saying this guy is wrong, or an idiot but it's hard to take a man seriously when he is siping a juice box and eating a fruit rollup that mommy gave him for snack. He could have the most brilliant mind the world has ever witnesed and also have some real great ideas that need to be heard, I'm still skeptical of any 54 yr old that lives in his parents basment.
June 9, 2008
3:52 p.m.
Suggest removal
OhBrother writes:
a few more things-just thoughts
the "labeling of genetically engineered food" measure he was attempting to get cleared sounds good, why did that take a back seat to UFO stuff?
is he wealthy? again-don't really need a answer but if he has money and CHOOSES to live at home and help his elderly parents and do his business thing then that's a lot different then being broke because you spend all your money on these grand ideas that never actually go anywhere.
if his x wife thinks he is so great, why did they divorce? ( not saying they should disclose personal problems but must be a reason and I wonder if it has anything ot do with current situation )
IF and I mean, if in any way this guy is part of any online group regarding warcraft, 2nd life or magic the gathering then the only thing he should be receiving is a beating, plain and simple. This isn't some sort of rule in dungeons and dragons that were talking about updating, this would be a real committee using real tax dollars.
June 13, 2008
5:34 p.m.
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Quanta writes:
Too bad all ye purveyors of ill-will missed the point of the article. If you would have read with an open mind, you would have seen that in Jeff Peckman we have someone who's committed to making the world a better place. (To think...!)
Perhaps those of you who have to spew out your page rage against peace and yes, a deeper intelligence, should learn to read things more literally - and think more abstractly.
Why not take this little quiz:
1) Did the RMN report anywhere in the article that Jeff would be asking Denver voters for any of their tax dollars? 1) yes, or 2) no
2) Did this report in any way tell us why Jeff was married for 28 years? 1) yes, or 2) no
3) Do you believe living with one's family at any point in one's life after age 21 is immoral or otherwise unthinkable? 1) yes, or 2) no
4) Do you believe it's impossible to enjoy the kind of conversation to which Jeff refers in the last paragraph? 1) yes, or 2) no
SCORING: If you answered "no" to the above questions, keep your mind (and your eyes) open, because there's much more love and light to come from Jeff and others like him.
If you answered "yes" to the above questions, then either learn to read and think, because here's still time to become a bigger person - or not, and go get back on your hamster wheels.
June 13, 2008
5:40 p.m.
Suggest removal
Quanta writes:
Question 2 above should read "Did this report in any way tell us why Jeff was married *only* 28 years?" in response to the prior post, presuming Peckman's wife "divorced" him. (Put your thinking caps on - you can make one out of tin-foil! Are you sure they got a divorce?)
July 1, 2008
5:53 p.m.
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envoypeace writes:
This might help shed some light on what is going on behing this initiative: http://www.netro.ca/disclosure/npccme...
July 25, 2008
8:52 a.m.
Suggest removal
ghostchaser writes:
"The Denver "Alien" Agenda! A UFO "Debriefing" Hosted by the Rocky Mountain Paranormal
Research Society."
Come join the gang from the RMPRS on Sat. July 26th for a lecture covering the recent
events of "UFOs" and "Aliens" in Colorado and Denver. The lecture takes a critical look
at a proposed "ET Commission" ballot initiative, the "evidence" being presented in
support of the commission and the people behind the initiative that is being presented to
the city council of Denver.
When: Sat. July 26th, 1pm - 5pm
Where: John Collins United Methodist Church
2320 S. Bannock St
Denver, CO 80223