Richardson called this a "matter of significant concern" and threatened to cite specific firms unless they demonstrate progress. To avoid blackouts, many utilities nationwide are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to review and upgrade their systems. The importance of the electric system to the rest of the economy is obvious.
In a recent report of the North American Electric Reliability Council, it said that North American utililties "are well on their way to being Y2K ready." Don Meyer, a spokesman for the U.S. Senate's special committee on Y2K issues, said members were "comfortable" with the report because it "shows the industry is making significant progress" But are they going to make the deadlines? "The bulk of their work is still ahead of them," Meyer said. He was also concerned by the report's note that 20 out of 66 nuclear-generation facilities in the country are expected to miss the remediation deadline.
Firmage began his career in Salt Lake City at 17 by founding Serius Corp., a company selling object-based programming tools for PC developers, then went to Novell in 1993 for an estimated $24 million. The son of a University of Utah law professor, he became Novell's vice president of strategic planning. He left Novell and co-founded USWeb in 1995 with other Novell executives.
"I've done a lot in my life," Firmage says. "I have a lot to be thankful for and proud of. I also have shown that I'm rational and level-headed." He says his priorities shifted 15 months ago after an encounter at his Los Gatos, Calif., home with a "remarkable being, clothed in brilliant white light." He calls them teachers, not aliens, he says. Since that experience, Firmage has been investigating and publicizing what he says is the existence of UFO phenomena.
Oct. 15 -- Mrs. Chris Stevens of Woodstock, Ga., said she saw a UFO hovering near Kennesaw Mountain, which was gray in color and at first was shaped like an isosceles triangle. As it moved away, it changed shaped into that of a disc.
Nov. 8 -- MUFON of Georgia reports that a Dahlonega, Ga., man, driving on Hwy. 400 near the Dawson-Forsythe county line, noticed a group of cylinder-shaped objects that flew down in front of his truck. He slowed and watched them for 10 minutes. It was at 6 a.m. He saw 30 to 40 dark-colored objects that were 6"-16" in size. They darted back and forth, getting as close as 20 feet away from his truck and as low to the pavement as 6-12 feet. He also saw way up in the overcast sky six or seven round, large, white lights performing similar maneuvers.
Sept. 2 -- At 7:45 p.m., members of a church youth group in Rolla, Mo., were in a parking lot when they observed a "bright and shiny... elliptical" UFO that "split into two equal parts" and appeared to move quickly through the sky.
Sept. 28 -- A ring-shaped UFO was seen through Chile. Witnesses in Islan and Tierra described it as a white cloud-like ring which descended behind a hill, whereupon different colors of bright light flashed from behind that hill.
Alternative Perceptions is a quarterly paranormal/UFO newsletter from Tennessee. You can e-mail Brent at apfiles@hotmail.com or write to him at 326 Haggard Street, Waynesboro, TN 38485.
Kaye Studstrup of Salt Lake City, Utah, was on her way to a reverse speech class given by David J. Oats on Friday, Jan. 22 at 6:19 p.m., when she saw a star-like object in the sky that had a green glow to it. The object shot across the sky, then stopped and fell straight down behind the mountains. "It was about as big as a quarter from our viewpoint," says Kaye. She adds that reverse speech is a "very interesting subject."