OPENING REMARKS by John M. Cogswell This event, which I hope will become an annual one, brings together people who have become familiar with the writings of Zecharia Sitchin and who have begun to wonder: What if he is right? And if he is right, and the past is a clue to our future, how do we make more people aware of the significance of his find- ings? This Studies Day will enable us to hear not only Zecharia Sitchin, but several other speakers, each one an expert in a par- ticular field of work and study, whose own endeavors have been influenced, inspired or enhanced by the writings of Zecharia; and it will be my pleasure to introduce them to you in the course of this Day. If you are anything like I am, you stumbled into this subject by accident, then read every book you could find and, in the pro- cess, became haunted for a month or so as the paradigm common to the larger part of our culture became thoroughly shattered. Some- where in the process, you learned about Zecharia Sitchin and then read one or more of his books. You have reached that stage where you are waiting for his next book to find out some more about the truth of our past. Following my completion of The ]2th Planet sometime in 1992, my curiosity compelled me to track down Zecharia and speak with him. I found his phone number in the New York City Direc- tory, called him, and congratulated him on having written so well in 1976. That phone call was the genesis of a personal friendship between Zecharia and me and six international expeditions. In 1993 Zecharia was persuaded to accompany an Egyptian tour, and then five more tours to the Sinai, Jordan, Peru, Mexico, Greece and Crete, all of which focused on the studies of Zecharia. I have been fortunate enough to have attended all six trips and, as a result, have been privileged: * to hear his many lectures during our travel expeditions; * to discuss numerous subjects of interest with Zecharia; * to find meaning in terms which previously blew over me like so much wind-terms like Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Hittites, Dorians, Olmecs, Incas, Toltecs, Az- tecs, Mayans and many others. * to be assured of Zecharia's absolute sincerity and integrity; and * to be continually amazed at the breadth of Zecharia's knowl- edge and insight which even surpasses my wonderment that he is able to read at least I I different languages, including most of the languages of our early civilizations. I have witnessed Zecharia's excitement upon making new dis- coveries during our trips and have pressed him enough to pry as much as one can from this uniquely private man whose love of books, writings and the truth has enabled him to contribute so much, so thoroughly and so objectively to our knowledge of our past, and allowed those of us whose curiosity is unfathomable to seemingly have some answers to the big questions most people know nothing about. Prying anything personal from Zecharia is a major task for, frequently, his response is "no more questions today." Nonethe- less, I have been persistent and want to share a few tidbits of in- formation that I have discovered about Zecharia. Zecharia's story started when he was nine years old in He- brew class in Palestine. He and his classmates were studying Noah, who he was and how he was told to build the ark. The opening biblical verse on the subject is a favorite of many Sunday school teachers because it says that those were the days when there were giants upon the earth, that their intermarriage with the daughters of man was mankind's downfall and that's why mankind was pun- ished by the flood. When they got to that part of the story, Zecharia raised his hand and addressed the teacher saying, "Excuse me, my teacher, why do you say 'giants' when the word in the Bible is Nephilim which comes from the root 'Naphal' which means 'to come down,' and it says that those were the days when the Nephilim, those who come down from heaven to earth, not giants, were upon the earth?" Zecharia was expecting to be complimented for his knowledge of Hebrew but instead was told to "Sit down and do not question the Bible!" What the Hebrew teacher did not know was that this criti- cism, instead of the expected compliment, would motivate Zecharia to dedicate the large part of his adult life to learn the truth about our origins. He studied and studied, traveled and traveled and talked and talked until one day his wife, Rina, said, "Isn't it time, Zecharia, that you stop talking about this subject and start writing?" Zecharia, being ajoumalist by trade, was used to writing articles, not books. Yet he took Rina's suggestion to heart and the result was The ]2th Planet in 1976. When he began, he thought it would be his only book, but he has now written a total of seven and, even today, has plans for more. If you ask Zecharia what he calls himself, he will say that he is not an author-he is not a Biblical scholar - he is not an ar- chaeologist - he is not a linguist. He is a little bit of all of these, but mostly, he is a reporter because of his ability to report to us today what people thousands of years ago knew and witnessed and believed in. Anyone who knows Zecharia and is interested in this subject could talk much longer in extolling the academic virtues and in- tegrity of this unusual and especially intelligent man - Zecharia Sitchin - who many of us believe will one day receive a Nobel Prize. It gives me great pleasure to introduce Zecharia in this first assembly called Sitchin Studies Day. And I know, as you listen to Zecharia and read and study his books and those of others who have pursued related subjects, that your interest in life and fasci- nation with who you are and where you came from and possibly where you are going will grow and grow.