A reader writes: "Fascinating following your articles on Barack  Obama's 'birth' place etc. Would value your opinion regarding the recent  'disclosure' of his birth certificate!" Alan responds: Here we dive into murky waters!  Here's my quick response, written hurriedly in a library in Missouri. Use this as a base for your own research. This story is far from dead. (Use our search engine to view past articles.)

Here is where we have difficulty separating fact from fiction. I have problems with the Obama birth certificate. There are puzzling features, in the document itself and in the circumstances in which it was produced.

Obama has spent millions - estimated figures vary - fighting court cases trying to prevent people from making him produce a birth certificate. Why? It would be simpler - and a lot cheaper - just to have produced it in the first place. That's if it existed. That is very odd.

For example, when we toured America last year, we had to go into Canada. I carried my original birth certificate with me, showing my father was Canadian, just in case of any problems on the Canadian border. It was no great problem! Pat and I have often had to produce birth certificates, in circumstances far less important than qualifying to be elected president of the USA.

There are many other oddities about Obama's origin. For example (from memory - check out the facts on this) he went to Pakistan when he was about 20. At the time no US citizen could enter Pakistan. So what passport did he travel on?

Amongst the many thousands of nutcases who muddy the waters and make all kinds of unsubstantiated claims, there is  a serious core of people who truly doubt that Obama is qualified to serve as president -Pat and I for two!

I have seen a Utube film clip of the Kenyan ambassador, saying that Obama's birthplace in Kenya is becoming a tourist attraction. He repeats this, so there is no mistake about what he said..At Obama's election hundreds of thousands of Kenyans went wild, certainly claiming him as one of their own.

In August 2010, when Pat and I were touring America, we stayed with a married couple of unimpeachable (a word to play with!) reputation and integrity. The wife was of Hawaiin origin and a close relative had been Obama's good friend at school. She told me that all those who went to school with Obama well knew  that he was born in Kenya. After the election they all went quiet.

I was once a good investigative reporter. What this story needs is for a couple of people like me to be commissioned to go to Kenya, Hawaii and Indonesia - plus Chicago -to root around in the past. I do not think it would be too difficult to dig up some interesting facts. However, this might be a dangerous assignment. Powerful people are conniving to keep the truth hidden, in my opinion.

It is unlikely that the liberal media will ever wake up, do their job and investigate. Until someone with credibility does, this story stays mired in a fog of conjecture.

Hope this helps- best regards, in His name, Alan