Spies, Lies and Polygraph Tape: Truth and Consequences

"Intelligence requires secrets. Secrecy is under assault."

BY GARY S BEKKUM

In a climate where many U.S. Government Agencies are under fire for spying on American citizens, Starstream Research investigates the secrecy behind UFO-related 'counterintelligence' being conducted over the Internet.

"It is even more important not to reveal methods as these potentially can be applied to multiple sources."

We were being 'lectured' by an unnamed Senior Intelligence Official about an investigation series we had titled "Exempt from Legal Recourse: Spies, Lies and Polygraph Tape."

Our stories were an attempt to alert the public to government interest in the UFO community and, if we were lucky, explain a few mysterious discrepancies between accounts sourced from various government employees, both past and present.

At the heart of the investigation was an alleged government secret identified only as "The Core Story."

We never named our government sources. The most sensitive information remained on background. We did manage to obtain confirmation from private individuals of more than one nation.

We knew we were in danger of trafficking in rumor. The "core story" festered an agenda that reeked of counterintelligence.

In case you ever wonder about your tax dollars, and how they are spent for counterintelligence, we suggest a brief virtual trip to the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive at

http://www.ncix.gov/index.html

where you can download free motivational messages in the form of posters and calendars.

One poster featured at the site depicts a stop sign emblazed with "Spies, Terrorists, Thieves, Saboteurs, Cheats, Hackers." A caption next to the poster provides this explanation:

"Reckless drivers won't obey stop signs if they think they won't get caught. Neither will spies, terrorists, or others who would steal our nations secrets or harm our society. Our new poster reminds us that practicing sound counterintelligence and implementing proven safeguards--physical, electronic, and procedural--will make our enemies think twice before attempting their treachery."

Speaking of treachery, we were asked about our national loyalties by a representative of a DARPA contractor. We were also told by another source that the exposure of the "core story" had registered loud and clear on someone's 'counterintelligence' radar, at least to the extent that we were suspected us of being plants. A well known private investigator with three-letter agency ties questioned the motivation behind our activities.

There was never a shortage of paranoia in the fertile valley of disinformation we uncovered. When a close source was accused of being an agent of a foreign power, albeit a friendly foreign power, we mused about the conundrum of journalists investigating spies, and spies posing as journalists.

If you aren't confused at this point, you should be. We certainly are.

"The Consequences of Permissive Neglect," an article featured in the CIA's "Studies in Intelligence," written by James B. Bruce, blames the media for complicity in the leaking of classified information.

"The principle sources of intelligence information for U.S. newspapers, magazines, television, books, and the Internet are unauthorized disclosures of classified information. Press leaks reveal, individually and cumulatively, much about how secret intelligence works. And by implication, how to defeat it."

The Bruce article made a strong case for "gaining better control over unauthorized disclosures that appear in the press."

According to Bruce, "Nearly all of the compelling evidence in support of the argument that leaks are causing serious damage is available only in the classified domain."

From the point of view of our on-going investigation, aimed at exposing the incestuous relationship between the Intelligence Community and UFO believers, this clearly presented a problem. How can we move an investigation forward when we cannot be certain whether or not our efforts are under scrutiny for legitimate reasons -- involving the exposure of sources and methods -- when there is little chance of being offered 'official' evidence?

President George W. Bush had told the press, "Any sources and methods of intelligence will remain guarded in secret. My administration will not talk about how we gather intelligence, if we gather intelligence, and what the intelligence says."

We were not alone in feeling the pressure. Journalists across the nation were convinced they had come under fire from the Bush Administration.

James Bruce had admonished the Intelligence Community, warning, "The press has become a major source for sensitive information for our adversaries about U.S. intelligence -- what it knows, what it does, and how it does it ... Foreign intelligence services and terrorists are close and voracious readers of the U.S. press."

We wondered why an investigation of the imaginary realm inhabited by believers in extraterrestrial technology had been viewed as a threat to real intelligence, defined as substantive content, activities, operations, and sources and methods.

One item that did have potential 'threat value' for the Intelligence Community was our reporting of FBI interest in the Internet activities commonly called "the soap opera."

At the end of the day -- once we had thrown out anything related to the UFO community, extraterrestrial secrets, tales of human and alien exchange programs, and other science fiction tales better paraded before the public on the Art Bell Show -- we were left with a handful of old CIA documents and a group of present and former intelligence officers interacting with citizens digging for state secrets.

One unnamed source confirmed that the "core story" -- a plastic narrative that morphed with every hand willing to carry the message -- had been discussed at the highest levels of the Intelligence Community.

Never mind that the "core story" -- if it really existed -- would certainly have been a national secret.

James Bruce had been clear as day about why national secrets could not be passed into the hands of journalists:

"Classified intelligence disclosed in the press is the effective equivalent of intelligence gathered through foreign espionage ... The public exposure of significant intelligence often damages intelligence effectiveness by compromising valuable U.S. sources and methods."

Pulitzer prize winning reporter Dana Priest of the Washington Post was asked by a PBS Frontline Special titled "News Wars" about withholding information that might cause "serious damage to national security."

"We don't do this frivolously," Priest replied, "And as much as I hate having information myself that I am not going to publish, because that is so antithetical to how I've thought of myself since I became a journalist, that's life ... We tried to figure out a way to get as much information to the public as we could without damaging national security."

It would appear that we are now being placed in a similar position. Unless, of course, we are spies.

--- to be continued ---

Copyright (c) 2007 Gary S. Bekkum and Starstream Research. All rights reserved.