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Tuesday December 09, 2008 16:13:31 -0600

An Exploration of Boundary Merging Between the UFO Culture, Parapsychology, and Intelligence Agencies

What started out as an investigative search for irrefutable proof of extraterrestrials and alleged crashed alien craft lead to the unearthing of an even more bizarre tale. Whilst the majority of information alleging extraterrestrial visitation remains highly speculative, what is apparent is a weird world of espionage and counter-intelligence (CI), which bleeds into an even stranger world of paranormal phenomena. There are many layers to this onion; the ET/crashed-craft tales are only the outer layer.

UFO Tales Part One "It's Alive!"

It’s the author’s contention that Intel factions built diverse and highly complex counter-intelligence strategies around an alleged incident in 1947, which was later to take on an almost mythological standing. A ‘modern myth’ perhaps, but one wherein lies at its core a much older story, a story which is intrinsically ensconced within the human psyche, yet unrealized, in the early days at least, by the military strategists. I’m certainly not alone in arguing this point. Did these strategists create a monster, a monster now out of control and running amuck by its own volition? But like Frankenstein’s monster, the life giving force which truly brought him into being was already prevalent. Not electricity in our modern monster’s case, but a cosmic narrative communicated by the Trickster / Transformer, out of which myths are born, legends created and cultures shaped.

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The Trickster

The Trickster character has been extensively documented over the years by anthropologists, social scientists and occult writers, amongst others. Tricksters are generally associated with de-structuring, boundary crossing and the blurring of distinctions. Shape-shifting, unruly and contradictory the Trickster is an adept at paradox. He dwells in the liminal realms – betwixt and between the conscious and unconsciousness mind, the rational and irrational, and haunts our dreams between sleep and waking. In his most exulted form he becomes the ‘messenger’ - Creator's helper, Trickster to Transformer.

Paul Radin writes, in his book "The Trickster," “Trickster is at one and the same time creator and destroyer, giver and negator, he who dupes others and who is always duped himself . . . He possesses no values, moral or social, is at the mercy of his passions and appetites, yet through his actions all values come into being.” [a]

Carl Jung, in an appendix in Radin’s volume, writes, “Trickster is both subhuman and superhuman, a bestial and divine being, whose most alarming characteristic is his unconsciousness . . . he is so unconscious of himself that his body is not a unity, and his two hands fight each other.”

The birth of the UFO culture:

On July 8th, 1947, the USA Army Air Forces* base located near Roswell, New Mexico, released a statement to the press saying that it had captured a crashed flying disk. The story was published in a number of local and national papers, and then was suddenly retracted.

Claims that the flying disk was actually a weather balloon were subsequently issued by the military. The story died and was mainly forgotten about, except for a group of fringe UFO enthusiasts. In 1978, an article appeared in the National Inquirer which reported a former intelligence officer, Major Jesse Marcel, claimed that he had recovered UFO debris near Roswell in 1947. UFO researcher, Stanton Friedman, met with Marcel and began investigating Marcel’s claims. In 1980 Charles Berlitz and William Moore further rekindled public interest when they published The Roswell Incident.

In an online article, written by Kal Korff promoting his 1997 book The Roswell UFO Crash: What They Don't Want You to Know, Korff discusses Marcel:

Major Jesse Marcel: The Hidden Truth

"In my book I publish for the first time excerpts from the military file of Jesse Marcel, excerpts which prove that although Marcel served his country honorably, he was not a credible witness and should not be considered as such. (Despite this fact, Stanton Friedman and other pro-UFO Roswell authors consider his every word to be gospel truth.)

The file is extremely incriminating, for it clearly demonstrates that Marcel had a penchant for exaggerating things while repeatedly trying to "write himself" into the history books. Ironically, Marcel's tendency to exaggerate was specifically noted in his military file by none other than the commander of the base at Roswell at that time, in a review of his performance that was signed just after the incident occurred.

Marcel claimed that he personally flew the UFO wreckage to Carswell AFB. He could not have done so, for he was never a pilot. Despite this, Marcel claimed in numerous interviews with Friedman and former National Enquirer reporter Bob Pratt that he was not only a pilot but had managed to shoot down five enemy aircraft! If so, this would have made Marcel an "ace," a distinction that certainly would have been noted in his military file. Instead, there's no record of this or even anything close, and in fact it was General Ramey who specifically noted in Marcel's file that because he was not a pilot, he would be severely limited in his career opportunities in the Air Force. It's no wonder, then, that Marcel would later "blame" Ramey for the "UFO cover-up" at Roswell.

Marcel claimed he had a bachelor's degree in physics and even named the universities he attended. However, when I checked with those institutions, I discovered that one of them he never attended, and he never finished his education at the other. Curiously, while Marcel blatantly lied to UFO researchers such as Friedman about his mythical educational background, he never dared make such false claims to the military. Indeed, in signed statements contained in Marcel's military file, he replies "none" when asked under oath if he had a college degree.

Does this tell us that Marcel knew his gullible UFO peers would never check on him anyway? Or did he even care? We don't know.” [1]

In 1984, the heat was turned up when Jamie Shandera, a close friend of William Moore, mysteriously received a roll of undeveloped film. On processing, the photos revealed classified documents which were to become known as the ‘MJ-12’ documents. The ‘12’ of the MJ-12 referred to twelve highly placed individuals, allegedly charged with managing an alien retrieval cover-up. The documents contain information relating to alien crashed craft, wreckage storage, military installations and scientific facilities and laboratories. The Majestic Twelve operation was allegedly created under an executive order on September 24th, 1947. The MJ panel was empowered to sequestrate all available evidence and data collected by the government, military and intelligence agencies pertaining to alien contact and technology.

Projects which have been dubiously linked to MJ-12 include: Project Sign, Project Grudge and Project Blue Book.

Public USAF [United States Air Forces] UFO studies were first initiated under Project Sign at the end of 1947, following widely-publicized UFO reports. Project Sign was initiated specifically at the request of General Nathan Twining, chief of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Sign was officially inconclusive regarding the cause of the sightings. It has been reported that according to Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, the first director of Project Blue Book, Sign's initial intelligence estimate, written in the late summer of 1948, concluded that the flying saucers were real craft, were not made by either the Russians or the United States, and were likely extraterrestrial in origin. This estimate was forwarded to the Pentagon, but subsequently ordered destroyed by General Hoyt Vandenberg, USAF Chief of Staff, due to a lack of physical proof. Vandenberg subsequently dismantled Sign.

Project Sign was succeeded at the end of 1948 by Project Grudge. Ruppelt evidently referred to the era of Project Grudge as the "dark ages" of early USAF UFO investigation. As might be expected, Grudge concluded that all UFOs were natural phenomena or other misinterpretations, although it also stated that 23 percent of the reports could not be explained. According to Ruppelt, by the end of 1951, several high-ranking, very influential USAF generals were so dissatisfied with the state of Air Force UFO investigations that they dismantled Project Grudge and replaced it with Project Blue Book in 1952.

The goal of Project Blue Book was to determine if UFOs were a potential threat to national security. Thousands of UFO reports were collected, analyzed and filed. As the result of the Condon Report, Project Blue Book was shut down in 1969. This project was the last publicly known UFO research project led by the USAF. By the time Project Blue Book ended in 1969, it had amassed some 12,618 UFO reports, and concluded that most were misidentifications of natural phenomena or conventional aircraft. A few were considered hoaxes. 701 of the reports were classified as unknown. The reports were archived and are available under the Freedom of Information Act, but names and other personal information of all witnesses have been redacted. A number of researchers postulate that only the mundane data contained within the files was handed over and released for the FOIA, and further suggest that the remaining, still highly classified documents are in the custody of one of the US Air Force's top military personnel.

Project Blue Book, at the very least, was certainly authentic. The FBI had this to say:

“Project Blue Book: This small file relates to an Air Force program for the investigation of Unidentified Flying Objects. The Secretary of the Air Force discontinued this program in 1969.”

In their UFO Fact Sheet they state that on December 17, 1969, the Secretary of the Air Force announced the termination of Project Blue Book, the Air Force program for the investigation of UFOs.

“The decision to discontinue UFO investigations was based on an evaluation of a report prepared by the University of Colorado entitled, “Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects;” a review of the University of Colorado’s report by the National Academy of Sciences; past UFO studies; and Air Force experience investigating UFO reports during the past two decades.

As a result of these investigations and studies, and experience gained from investigating UFO reports since 1948, the conclusions of Project Blue Book are: (1) no UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force has ever given any indication of threat to our national security; (2) there has been no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as “unidentified” represent technological developments or principals beyond the range of present day scientific knowledge; and (3) there has been no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as “unidentified” are extraterrestrial vehicles.” [2]

The FBI also commented on an investigation into the MJ-12 documents:

“Subject concerns an FBI inquiry into a possible unauthorized disclosure of classified information when a document marked "Top Secret" was made public. The investigation was closed after it was learned that the document was completely bogus.” [3]

The JASON's

A somewhat shadowy group known collectively as The JASON Group have been implicated with MJ-12. Although I’ve yet to find supporting evidence to link the JASONs with MJ-12, they are certainly worth a mention here.

The JASONs are a select group of world class scientists who conduct studies for different parts of the U.S. government. The group is referred to as the "JASON Defense Advisory Group," or simply the "JASON Group." The group was established in the 1960’s to encourage a younger generation of scientists to get involved in advising the government.

For administrative purposes, JASON activities are run through the non-profit MITRE Corporation in McLean, Virginia that contracts with the defense department. Its sponsors include the Department of Defence (frequently DARPA and the U.S. Navy), the Department of Energy, and the U.S. intelligence community. [4]

The JASON page on Wikipedia explains the origins of the name:

“The name "JASON" is sometimes explained as an acronym, standing either for "July-August-September-October-November", the months in which the group would typically meet; or, tongue-in-cheek, for "Junior Achiever, Somewhat Older Now." But neither explanation is right and in fact, the name is not an acronym at all. It's simply a reference to the Greek myth, Jason. The wife of one of the founders thought the name given by the defense department, Project Sunrise, was unimaginative and suggested the group be named for a hero and his search.” [5]

JASON members are selected for their scientific brilliance. The members include: physicists, computer scientists, chemists, biologists, mathematicians; and all have security clearances. The JASONs also boast eleven Nobel Prize laureates.

MAJESTIC MJ-12

Returning to the MJ-12 documents: In 1989, William Moore publicly admitted that he might not have told the complete truth about his previous UFO activities, and is currently widely suspected of being complicit in hoaxing the now infamous MJ-12 documents. Recently an SSR contact informed us that his ‘insider source’ had suggested that the MJ-12 documents did in fact contain some top secret information. He writes:

“Part of the problem is that [redacted] has determined that the fake MJ-12 documents circulated by Rick [Doty] did actually contain some classified material. This classified material had previously been passed to the Russians.”

Richard C. Doty is a former agent for the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). In 1985, Doty was transferred to an AFOSI post in West Germany and assigned to counter-intelligence work. On returning to the States, he spent the last couple of years before his retirement, at Kirtland AFB.

It has been noted by several sources that William Moore was a friend and co-worker of Doty’s during the 80’s. The term ‘MJ Twelve’ allegedly first appeared on a one-page teletype message dated Nov. 17, 1980, pertaining to UFOs which Doty allegedly provided to Moore in early 1981, four years before Shandera mysteriously received the MJ-12 roll of film. As previously mentioned, there are a number of keen observers who propose that Moore and Doty were both complicit in a hoax. However, neither Moore nor Doty have admitted that they worked together to manufacture the original group of MJ-12 documents. Doty claims that his interest in Bill Moore was simply because Moore was in correspondence with certain Soviet scientists, in regard to UFOs and possibly other matters. It has been suggested that Doty instructed Moore as to what subjects he should bring up in his letters to these scientists. If they were both complicit in a hoax, it’s highly unlikely that they were working on their own. There is enough circumstantial evidence to conclude that Doty’s activities, at least, were officially sanctioned.

In 1988, CIA personnel met with Col. Richard Weaver and Col. Barry Hennessey, who Doty has claimed was once his superior officer. The CIA enquired about Doty’s activities.

Author George Hansen writes:

“…when I called Colonel Hennessey and inquired whether he had attended such a meeting, after a long, long, long pause, he responded with something like: "There wasn’t any reason to have such a meeting.” I did not press him and let the matter drop. I can only conclude that Hennessey was being intentionally misleading. Colonel Weaver later admitted to me that he had attended the meeting and was asked about Doty.” [b]

Starstream Research received an email on 3rd of July, 2006, from one of participants of the 1988 meeting. This was in response to an exchange between several people discussing an article published on the SSR website. The email was sent to correct speculative and sensitive material contained within that article. The article was later withdrawn from the website:

“The meeting you referenced with Col. Hennessey and Col. Weaver was unofficial in response to a personal request of an ex-CIA officer who had recently met with Doty and was startled by some of Doty's claims. I participated only as a friend of that ex-CIA
officer………the meeting ended amicably.”

In 1994, the USAF commissioned a full report on the Roswell incident, hoping to put the matter to bed once and for all. Col. Richard Weaver was placed in charge of collating the materiel and writing the report. The official USAF tasking was directed by the March 1, 1994, memorandum from SAF/AA:
:

“DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
WASHlNGTON D.C. 10330.1ooc
OiC,CL OF 7-e SEC’E7’P”

MEMORANDUM FOR DISTRIBUTION
1 March 1994

SUBJECT: GAO Review on Records Management Procedures Dealing with Weather Balloons, Unknown Aircraft, and Similar Crash Incidents

(GAO Code 701034) - ACTION MEMORANDUM
References: (a) 23 Feb 94 DoDAG Memorandum, Subj. same as above

(b) 15 Feb 94 GAO Memorandum of Review Notification

The Department of Defense and other executive branch agencies are undergoing a review by the GAO concerning whether the US government has “met its responsibility in the handling, retention, and subsequent disposition of official records concerning the investigation and reporting of air vehicle and other crash incidents similar to the reported crash of a weather balloon near Roswell, New Mexico in July 1947.” To fulfill the Air Force portion of this review, addressees, as applicable, are requested to:

(a) identify pertinent directives concerning records retention and disposition;

(b) identify pertinent directives concerning reporting air vehicle crashes, investigations, and wreckage/debris retention and disposition;

(c) identify rvly records (unclassified or classified) related to air vehicle (aircraft, lighter-than-aircraft, rocket/missile, or other) impacts or crashes in New Mexico from 20 June to 31 July 1947; identify record groups and/or other indexes associated with these records for further review; and

(d) Provide copies of pertinent directives (including any changes of policies on retention and disposition) and records (i.e., item c above) to SAF/AAZ. 1720 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1720.

Please provide your responses (interim or final) by 14 Mar 94. Contact Col Weaver or Lt Col Butler at DSN 223-2013/1 or commercial (703) 693-201311 if there are any questions.” [6]

The conclusion: The Air Force research found no indication that the incident near Roswell in 1947, involved any type of extraterrestrial craft.

Project MOGUL

James McAndrew, 1ST LT, USAFR writes in the Introduction to the report:

“As this study makes abundantly clear, the Declassification and Review Team found no evidence of any extraterrestrial craft or alien flight crew. In fact, what they did find had been declassified for more than twenty years-a shadowy, formerly Top Secret project, code-named MOGUL."

Project MOGUL resulted from two important post-World War II priorities set by the Commanding General of the Army Air Forces, Henry H. “Hap” Arnold. These were to continue the cooperative wartime relationship between civilian research institutions and the military, and to maintain America’s technological superiority, especially with respect to guarding against a bolt from the blue-in other words, a devastating surprise attack.
MOGUL addressed both of these concerns.

Developed partly under contract with leading scientific institutions-such as New York University (NYU), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Columbia University, and the University of California at Los Angeles - MOGUL’s objective was to develop a long-range system capable of detecting Soviet nuclear detonations and ballistic missile launches.

Army Air Forces officials assembled an expert group of military and civilian scientists to carry out the project. The group included Dr. W. Maurice Ewing of Columbia University, a preeminent geophysicist and oceanographer; Dr. Athelstan F. Spilhaus, the Director of Research at NYU who later advised five presidents on scientific and cultural matters; Dr. James Peoples, the Air Force’s civilian project scientist and later editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research; Albert P. Crary, also a civilian Air Force scientist, known for significant contributions to Antarctic research; and Charles B. Moore, Project Engineer at NYU and an atmospheric physicist who pioneered the use of giant plastic research balloons still widely used today. Col. Marcellus Duffy, a respected Air Force pilot and scientific administrator, led the project. Capt. Albert C. Trakowski, a young Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, followed Duffy in the leadership role.

Determining whether the Soviets were testing nuclear devices was of the highest national priority; it demanded the utmost secrecy if the information gained was to be useful. When the Soviets exploded their first atomic device in August 1949, the experimental Project MOGUL was not in operation. However, the explosion was detected by a specially equipped Air Force B-29 aircraft. Accordingly, MOGUL was conducted under stringent security-secluded laboratories, code words, maximum security clearances, and strictest enforcement of need-to-know rules.

Nevertheless, while the nature of the project remained shrouded in secrecy, some of its operations obviously could not. The deployment of giant trains of balloons-over thirty research balloons and experimental sensors strung together and stretching more than 600 feet-could be neither disguised nor hidden from the public. Moreover, operational necessity required that these balloons be launched during daylight hours. It was therefore not surprising that these balloons were often mistaken for UFOs. In fact, MOGUL recovery crews often listened to broadcasts of UFO reports to assist them in their tracking operations. Additionally, the balloons were undirected, leading to such amusing events as the one reported by the New York Times in which a secret M~GIJL balloon “floated blithely over the rooftops of Flatbush causing general public excitement before it came to rest on top of a [Brooklyn] tavern."

In another episode, MOGUL balloon recovery technicians directed a B-17 bomber, which was tracking one of the tests, to buzz and scare off a curious oil rig crew that was about to “capture” a balloon train that had fallen near Roswell. The ruse worked. However, too much activity was going on for the project to remain completely hidden. A MOGUL project officer later noted, “It was like having an elephant in your backyard and hoping no one would notice.

"These occurrences were typical, leading the recovery crews to describe themselves as 'Balloonatics,' due to the predicaments in which the wandering balloons sometimes placed them, but the information the balloons were attempting to obtain was vital.” [7]

As speculated within the report, the findings did not go down too well with the UFO hardliners, most claiming the report was simply more USG disinformation. It is of interest of course that Colonel Weaver was the man picked for the job. As already established, Colonel Weaver is a close work colleague of Colonel Hennessey’s. They both attended the 1988 meeting with the CIA regarding Rick Doty. If the Air Force commissioned Roswell Report was a direct or even partial result of a CIA enquiry into Doty’s activities, and the MJ-12 documents, why did it take six years to initiate the report? One has to wonder why Doty was completely omitted from the report.

Author George Hansen writes:

“Rick Doty’s saga is long and convoluted. Through the 1980s he was briefly mentioned in the UFO literature, but by 1989 the focus had intensified. That year several researchers made revelations. Particularly important were Linda Moulton Howe’s book An Alien Harvest, Robert Hastings’ exposé of William L. Moore, Moore’s subsequent confession, and a one-page report by Philip J. Klass. Richard C. Doty and William L. Moore (coauthor of The Roswell Incident) are intimately tied to Roswell and the MJ-12 papers. Doty’s activities must be considered in conjunction with those of Moore. In June 1989, researcher Robert Hastings published an exposé of William L. Moore in the MUFON UFO journal. It contained some devastating findings. Hastings reported that Moore had posed as a government agent during his interactions with Lee Graham, a researcher who has had a long-time interest in UFOs and in experimental aircraft. Graham is known for his openness and integrity, and he has voluntarily provided colleagues of mine with massive amounts of documents to support his statements.” [c]

During a recent series of private emails, which found their way to a larger on-line list, the question of Doty’s relationship with Col. Hennessey arose.

A colleague at Star Stream Research wrote to a member of the Intel community on 27th June 2006:

[To name redacted]

I want to give you the opportunity to offer your point of view re: Mr Smith’s ‘evidence’ that you approved of or otherwise ‘authorized’ the naming of John Barry Hennessey.”**

** Author’s note: In connection to Doty’s past claims that Hennessey was/is 'Falcon' of the Aviary.

On 27th June 2006 [name redacted] replied:

“It was Doty who claimed Col. Hennessey was the Falcon, and it was Doty who claimed Col. Hennessey had provided him (Doty) with UFO documents for release to the public. My opinion is that Doty personally forged these documents, that he used the Falcon name to cover his tracks, and that he had absolutely no professional or personal relationship with Col. Hennessey.”

On 27th June 2006 Mr. Smith responds:

“There is a set of facts as I have laid them out. [name redacted] is not disputing those facts. That there may have been some collusion between Rick [Doty] and his superiors in the Air Force is not an entirely unreasonable interpretation of those facts.

It is possible that the entire mythos of government involvement with phenomenology is entirely the work of one deformed mind. I don’t think that is the most reasonable interpretation of what we know. Clearly Rick was not the only actor in the Bennewitz affair. All agree that there was at least one high level Pentagon/CI person involved. What was perpetrated on Bennewitz has since been perpetrated on the entire country, with Rick’s continuing involvement. The Air Force created this monster. The CIA was left with the task of trying to clean up the mess.”

Indeed. The monster’s on the loose and the Trickster is riding him!

Go to Part Two: "Paranoia, suspicion and allegations abound"

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REFERENCES:

[a] Radin, Paul. The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology. 1956. New York: Schecken, 1971. p xxiii.
[b] Hansen, George P. The Trickster and the Paranormal. Xlibris Corporation. 2001.p233.
[c] Hansen, George P. The Trickster and the Paranormal. p226.

LINKS:

[1] http://www.ufomind.com/misc/1997/aug/d14-001.shtml
[2] http://foia.fbi.gov/filelink.html?file=/bluebook/bluebook.pdf
[3] http://foia.fbi.gov/filelink.html?file=/majestic/majestic.pdf
[4] www.mitre.org
[5] http://help.com/wiki/1312362/jason-defense-advisory-group/
[6]http://www.gl.iit.edu/wadc/history/roswell/Report/pt01a.pdf
[7] http://www.gl.iit.edu/wadc/history/roswell/Report/pt01a.pdf

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Last modified: 12/04/2007 01:38:18 PM