"Cometa" redirects here. For the noctuid moth genus Cometa, see Acronicta, for the HVDC, see Cometa ( HVDC).

COMETA was a high-level French UFO study organisation from the late 1990s, composed of high-ranking officers and officials, some having held command posts in the armed forces and aerospace industry. The name "COMETA" in English stands for "Committee for in-depth studies." The study was carried out over several years by an independent group of mostly former "auditors" at the Institute of Advanced Studies for National Defence, or IHEDN, a high-level French military think-tank, and by various other experts.

The group was responsible for the 'COMETA Report' (1999) on UFOs and their possible implications for defence in France. The report concluded that about 5% of the UFO cases they studied were utterly inexplicable and the best hypothesis to explain them was the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH). The authors also accused the United States government of engaging in a massive cover-up of the evidence.

The 'COMETA Report' was not solicited by the French government, although before its public release, it was first sent to French President Jacques Chirac and to Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. Immediately afterward, a French weekly news and leisure magazine called VSD referred to it as an "official report", though technically this wasn't the case since COMETA was the work of a private, non-profit, ufological study group. Skeptic Claude Maugé wrote about this: "By letter dated 23 February General Bastien, of the Special Staff of the President of the Republic, wrote: 'To answer your question, this ‘report’ compiled by members of an association organised under the law of 1901 (ruling most non-commercial private associations in France) did not respond to any official request and does not have any special status'." ^[1].

The report drew largely on the research of GEPAN / SEPRA, a section of the French space agency CNES, unique in being the only official French government-sponsored organisation to investigate UFOs.^[2]. The birth of GEPAN / SEPRA in the mid-1970s was in large part due to the intense wave of high strangeness UFO sightings in France in 1954.^[3]

English version of COMETA Report

COMETA Report membership[link]

The COMETA Report was prefaced by General Bernard Norlain of the Air Force, former Director of IHEDN. The preamble was by André Lebeau, former President of the National Center for Space Studies (Centre National D’études Spatiales), or CNES. The authors of the report were an association of experts, many of whom were or had been auditors (defence and intelligence analysts) of IHEDN. The group was presided over by General Denis Letty of the Air Force, another former auditor of IHEDN.

Other members included:

• General Bruno Lemoine, Air Force (former auditor of IHEDN)
• Admiral Marc Merlo, (former auditor of IHEDN)
• Michel Algrin, Doctor in Political Sciences, attorney at law (former auditor of IHEDN)
• General Pierre Bescond, engineer for armaments (former auditor of IHEDN)
• Denis Blancher, Chief National Police superintendent at the Ministry of the Interior
• Christian Marchal, chief engineer of the National Corps des Mines and Research Director at the National Office of Aeronautical Research (ONERA)
• General Alain Orszag, Ph.D. in physics, armaments engineer

Outside contributors included Jean-Jacques Velasco, head of SEPRA at CNES, François Louange, President of Fleximage, specializing in photo analysis, and General Joseph Domange, of the Air Force, general delegate of the Association of Auditors at IHEDN.

Although members of COMETA consisted mostly of ex-members of IHEDN, IHEDN made it clear that it had nothing to do with this report. As Claude Maugé wrote in his article: "According to Lieutenant-Colonel Pierre Bayle, head of the Communication Service of IHEDN, 'The Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defence wishes to make it clear that statements made by these individuals only engage them, and them alone, and are in no way a reflection of the thoughts of IHEDN, which has no special element of information on this topic.'" ^[1].

References[link]

v t e UFOs and ufology Index of ufology articles Notable incidents List of aircraft-UFO incidents List of UFO sightings in outer space Aurora (1897) Roswell (1947) Washington (1952) Tehran (1976) Rendlesham Forest (1980) Japan Air Lines (1986) Belgian UFO wave (1990) Phoenix Lights (1997) 21st century Mexico (2004) Tinley Park Lights (2004-2006) O'Hare Airport (2006) Alderney (2007) Stephenville (2008) Turkey (2008) Wales (2008) Norway (2009) Harbour Mille (2010) Vancouver, Washington (2011) Sightings by country Argentina Australia Belarus Belgium Brazil Canada China France Indonesia Iran Iraq Italy Mexico New Zealand Norway Philippines Portugal Russia South Africa Spain (Canary Islands) Sweden United Kingdom United States Hypothesis and studies UFO hypotheses (Extraterrestrial hypothesis) Project Blue Book Condon Report COMETA Report List of notable studies in ufology Identification studies of UFOs Types Black triangle Fastwalkers Flying saucer Foo fighter Ghost rockets Green fireballs Mystery airship UFO conspiracy theory Majestic 12 Area 51 Bob Lazar Men in Black Project Serpo Disclosure Project Culture UFO Culture UFO religion List of UFO religions UFOs in fiction Involvement Government responses Organizations Ufologists Abduction Contactee Topics Declassification of UFO documents Skeptics List of skeptics and skeptical organizations Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Diego Luna
Luna at the Deauville American Films Festival, 2010
Born	Diego Luna Alexander (1979-12-29) December 29, 1979 (age 32) Mexico City, Mexico
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Camila Sodi (m. 2008) «start: (2008)»"Marriage: Camila Sodi to Diego Luna" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Diego_Luna)

Diego Luna (born December 29, 1979) is a Mexican actor known for his childhood telenovela work, a starring role in the film Y tu mamá también, and supporting roles in American films. He is also known for his roles in Rudo y Cursi and Milk. Together with Romola Garai, he starred the film Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. Luna also had minor roles in Frida and Before Night Falls. He also provides Spanish language narration for the National Geographic Channel documentary Great Migrations.

Personal life[link]

Luna was born Diego Luna Alexander in Mexico City; the son of Fiona Alexander, an English costume designer,^[1] and Alejandro Luna, a Mexican set designer^[2] who is one of the most acclaimed living theatre, cinema, and opera set designers in Mexico. His mother died in a car accident when he was two years old.^[3] She had worked in the film industry and had made sure that this was a life Luna would be immersed in. His father also reinforced the importance of theater and the arts in his life. In Luna's youth, he would bring him to the sets and mentor him in all different aspects of his art, furthering his desire to become an actor and uphold a family tradition.

Luna wed Mexican actress Camila Sodi on February 5, 2008 and their son Jerónimo was born in Los Angeles on August 9, 2008.^[4] They welcomed daughter Fiona, named after Luna's late mother, on July 1, 2010 in Mexico City.^[5]

Luna co-founded the organization and film festival Ambulante A.C.^[6] along with his friend Gael Garcia Bernal. The organization works to bring documentary films to places where they are rarely shown. Ambulante was awarded the Washington Office on Latin America's prestigious Human Rights Award in 2011^[7].

Career[link]

Luna at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.

From an early age, Luna began acting in television, film, and theatre. His first television role was in the 1991 movie El Último Fin de Año. His next role was in the telenovela El Abuelo y Yo (1992) alongside his childhood best friend, Gael García Bernal, in 1995 he played the role of Laura León' troubled son Quique in the Mexican soap opera El premio mayor. Luna had his big break in 2001 when he was cast in the critically acclaimed Y tu mamá también , once again alongside García Bernal.

He is currently making a name for himself in the United States market, having starred alongside Bon Jovi in Vampires: Los Muertos (2002) and the Academy Award-winning Frida (2002). He was also in the western Open Range, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, The Terminal, and Criminal. In 2008, he appeared in the Harvey Milk biopic Milk playing Milk's emotionally unstable lover Jack Lira.

Luna and Gael García Bernal own Canana Productions. The company recently joined with Golden Phoenix Productions owned by producer Tom Golden of Hot Springs, Arkansas, to jointly produce a number of television documentaries about the unsolved murders of more than 300 women in the border city of Ciudad Juárez.^{[citation needed]} For the fourth time Luna reunites with fellow friend Gael García Bernal, this time in the American Spanish-language comedy film Casa de Mi Padre opposite Will Ferrell.^[8] In 2011, Luna played the male lead in Katy Perry's music video, The One That Got Away.^[9]

Filmography[link]

Director[link]

• Abel (2010)
• J.C. Chávez (2007)

Films[link]

• Elysium (2013)
• Casa de Mi Padre (2012)
• Contraband (2012)
• In the Playground (2010)
• Sólo quiero caminar (2009)
• Milk (2008)
• Rudo y Cursi (2008)
• Mister Lonely (2007)
• El Búfalo de la Noche (2007)
• JC Chávez (directorial debut, 2007)
• Toto (2006)
• Fade to Black (2006)
• Sólo Dios Sabe (2005)
• Amapola (2005)
• Criminal (2004)
• The Terminal (2004)
• Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004)
• Nicotina (2003)
• Open Range (2003)
• Carambola (2003)
• Soldados de Salamina (2003)
• Vampires: Los Muertos (2002)
• Frida (2002)
• Ciudades Oscuras (2002)
• Todos los Aviones del Mundo (2001)
• Atlético San Pancho (2001)
• Y tu mamá también (2001)
• Before Night Falls (2000)
• Todo el Poder (1999)
• Un Dulce Olor a Muerte (1999)
• El Cometa (1999)
• Un Hilito de Sangre (1995)
• Morena (1995)
• Ámbar (1994)
• El Último Fin de Año (1991)
• Antonieta (1982)

Soap operas[link]

• La Vida en el Espejo (1999)
• El Amor de mi Vida (1998)
• El Premio Mayor (1995)
• El Abuelo y Yo (1992)

Music Videos[link]

• The One That Got Away (Katy Perry song) (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Diego Luna at the Internet Movie Database
• Diego Luna on Twitter
• Diego Luna on Myspace
• Diego Luna photo