Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 12:03:08 +0000

From: [email protected]

Dear Interested parties:

The E-mail which was originated by Don Robertson regarding STRANGE UNIVERSE has reached my desk. I would like to take this opportunity to respond to it. I hope that everyone reading this has an open mind and is GENUNINELY interested in the truth of how a show like STRANGE UNIVERSE is produced.

I have been working as a professional writer and producer for 21 years. I've won multiple EMMY awards and have been in the industry since I was 18 years old. Prior to STRANGE UNIVERSE, I worked on several paranormal shows including THE OTHER SIDE and THE PARANORMAL BORDERLINE. I was hired to work on the pilot of STRANGE UNIVERSE, and have been with the show from the very beginning. Therefore, I can offer a very clear perspective of how the show operates. ALthough I did not produce the specific segments mentioned, I have spoken to the key researchers and producers of those segments.

First off, we work our butts off to produce the best show that we can. It is a huge job to produce a daily TV series that has segments from all over the world. When I showed the E-mail to a few of my colleagues, we all got a good laugh at the idea that we are agents of disinformation. There is nothing sinister happening here. There are no men in black in sight; and no evil executives telling us what to say or what to do.

Rather, there are a group of professionals who try to present the best balanced stories that we can. WE DO NOT TAKE SIDES. Watch the show. We present different perspectives on our stories...the more controversial the subject matter, the more we make sure we present both sides. We are not here to say that any event is truth; we are not here to slam people. We let our viewers make the choice.

We also retain full creative and editorial control. We are not producing public service announcements about people, their ideas, their stories, etc. I can understand how disappointing it is to someone when we shoot hours of tape, and they only see a few moments on the screen; or, sometimes they end up edited out altogether. Do not take it personally. That is how things are done. Our stories are never longer than a few minutes. That's the format of the show. We are a nightly news-magazine; not a PBS documentary series.

I know and respect Dr. Roger Leir, Yvonne Smith and Jesse Long. I have worked with them, and I personally think they are doing good work. I understand their concerns, and their disappointment and frustration in how their segments turned out. I also know that for every person who is disappointed, there are thousands of people who are very happy that we are presenting the latest paranormal information on a nightly basis. We are a natural step in the positive process of getting the word out about phenomena.

I am very proud of a lot of the footage and work we have done, especially recently. Give us a break; we work 60-70 hours a week and are not getting rich doing this. We are a new show, with over 50 employees learning to work together and create something that will survive in the ratings and stay on the air. No viewers = No ratings = No more show. We constantly are adapting to the viewer response that we get. Incidentally, our latest independent focus groups listed alien abduction stories as their least favorite. People want video footage and specific information OVER people's personal experiences.

I respect and appreciate that anyone who has had a close encounter of the 3rd, 4th or 5th kind is going to be very touched by such an experience. I tend to believe people, and respect their right to share or keep such experiences to themselves. I encourage all of us to be compassionate and reasonable in considering each other's points of view, and perspectives.

So, if you don't like the show....don't watch it. If you have some good advice or feedback, E-mail it to me. But to believe that we intentionally hurt people, or are inaccurate, or are agents of disinformation is flat out wrong. I would not take up this much time in my busy day if those charges didn't sting. When you work as hard as we do, and care as much as we do, to get such feedback is very frustrating and disappointing. That's why I wanted to set the record straight. I would also encourage people to go straight to the source as opposed to passing around 2nd, 3rd and 4th hand information. That is how DISINFORMATION of the Ignorant kind is disseminated.

I would like to close by encouraging all of us to remain open hearted, open minded and to attempt to work together in presenting our information and experiences.

Respectfully yours, Scott Catamas Segment Producer for STRANGE UNIVERSE

P.S. This is my personal response; it is not the official response for STRANGE UNIVERSE.