A Die-Hard Issue: CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90

Gerald K. Haines

An extraordinary 95 percent of all Americans have at least heard or read something about Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), and 57 percent believe they are real. (1) Former US Presidents Carter and Reagan claim to have seen a UFO. UFOlogists--a neologism for UFO buffs--and private UFO organizations are found throughout the United States. Many are convinced that the US Government, and particularly CIA, are engaged in a massive conspiracy and coverup of the issue. The idea that CIA has secretly concealed its research into UFOs has been a major theme of UFO buffs since the modern UFO phenomena emerged in the late 1940s. (2)

In late 1993, after being pressured by UFOlogists for the release of additional CIA information on UFOs, (3) DCI R. James Woolsey ordered another review of all Agency files on UFOs. Using CIA records compiled from that review, this study traces CIA interest and involvement in the UFO controversy from the late 1940s to 1990. It chronologically examines the Agency's efforts to solve the mystery of UFOs, its programs that had an impact on UFO sightings, and its attempts to conceal CIA involvement in the entire UFO issue. What emerges from this examination is that, while Agency concern over UFOs was substantial until the early 1950s, CIA has since paid only limited and peripheral attention to the phenomena.

Background

The emergence in 1947 of the Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union also saw the first wave of UFO sightings. The first report of a "flying saucer" over the United States came on 24 June 1947, when Kenneth Arnold, a private pilot and reputable businessman, while looking for a downed plane sighted nine disk-shaped objects near Mt. Rainier, Washington, traveling at an estimated speed of over 1,000 mph. Arnold's report was followed by a flood of additional sightings, including reports from military and civilian pilots and air traffic controllers all over the United States. (4) In 1948, Air Force Gen. Nathan Twining, head of the Air Technical Service Command, established Project SIGN (initially named Project SAUCER) to collect, collate, evaluate, and distribute within the government all information relating to such sightings, on the premise that UFOs might be real and of national security concern. (5)

The Technical Intelligence Division of the Air Material Command (AMC) at Wright Field (later Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) in Dayton, Ohio, assumed control of Project SIGN and began its work on 23 January 1948. Although at first fearful that the objects might be Soviet secret weapons, the Air Force soon concluded that UFOs were real but easily explained and not extraordinary. The Air Force report found that almost all sightings stemmed from one or more of three causes: mass hysteria and hallucination, hoax, or misinterpretation of known objects. Nevertheless, the report recommended continued military intelligence control over the investigation of all sightings and did not rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial phenomena. (6)

Amid mounting UFO sightings, the Air Force continued to collect and evaluate UFO data in the late 1940s under a new project, GRUDGE, which tried to alleviate public anxiety over UFOs via a public relations campaign designed to persuade the public that UFOs constituted nothing unusual or extraordinary. UFO sightings were explained as balloons, conventional aircraft, planets, meteors, optical illusions, solar reflections, or even "large hailstones." GRUDGE officials found no evidence in UFO sightings of advanced foreign weapons design or development, and they concluded that UFOs did not threaten US security. They recommended that the project be reduced in scope because the very existence of Air Force official interest encouraged people to believe in UFOs and contributed to a "war hysteria" atmosphere. On 27 December 1949, the Air Force announced the project's termination. (7)

With increased Cold War tensions, the Korean war, and continued UFO sightings, USAF Director of Intelligence Maj. Gen. Charles P. Cabell ordered a new UFO project in 1952. Project BLUE BOOK became the major Air Force effort to study the UFO phenomenon throughout the 1950s and 1960s. (8) The task of identifying and explaining UFOs continued to fall on the Air Material Command at Wright-Patterson. With a small staff, the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) tried to persuade the public that UFOs were not extraordinary. (9) Projects SIGN, GRUDGE, and BLUE BOOK set the tone for the official US Government position regarding UFOs for the next 30 years.

Early CIA Concerns, 1947-52

CIA closely monitored the Air Force effort, aware of the mounting number of sightings and increasingly concerned that UFOs might pose a potential security threat. (10) Given the distribution of the sightings, CIA officials in 1952 questioned whether they might reflect "midsummer madness.'' (11) Agency officials accepted the Air Force's conclusions about UFO reports, although they concluded that "since there is a remote possibility that they may be interplanetary aircraft, it is necessary to investigate each sighting." (12)

A massive buildup of sightings over the United States in 1952, especially in July, alarmed the Truman administration. On 19 and 20 July, radar scopes at Washington National Airport and Andrews Air Force Base tracked mysterious blips. On 27 July, the blips reappeared. The Air Force scrambled interceptor aircraft to investigate, but they found nothing. The incidents, however, caused headlines across the country. The White House wanted to know what was happening, and the Air Force quickly offered the explanation that the radar blips might be the result of "temperature inversions." Later, a Civil Aeronautics Administration investigation confirmed that such radar blips were quite common and were caused by temperature inversions. (13)

Although it had monitored UFO reports for at least three years, CIA reacted to the new rash of sightings by forming a special study group within the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI) and the Office of Current Intelligence (OCI) to review the situation. (14) Edward Tauss, acting chief of OSI's Weapons and Equipment Division, reported for the group that most UFO sightings could be easily explained. Nevertheless, he recommended that the Agency continue monitoring the problem, in coordination with ATIC. He also urged that CIA conceal its interest from the media and the public, "in view of their probable alarmist tendencies" to accept such interest as confirming the existence of UFOs. (15)

Upon receiving the report, Deputy Director for Intelligence (DDI) Robert Amory, Jr. assigned responsibility for the UFO investigations to OSI's Physics and Electronics Division, with A. Ray Gordon as the officer in charge. (16) Each branch in the division was to contribute to the investigation, and Gordon was to coordinate closely with ATIC. Amory, who asked the group to focus on the national security implications of UFOs, was relaying DCI Walter Bedell Smith's concerns. (17) Smith wanted to know whether or not the Air Force investigation of flying saucers was sufficiently objective and how much more money and manpower would be necessary to determine the cause of the small percentage of unexplained flying saucers. Smith believed "there was only one chance in 10,000 that the phenomenon posed a threat to the security of the country, but even that chance could not be taken." According to Smith, it was CIA's responsibility by statute to coordinate the intelligence effort required to solve the problem. Smith also wanted to know what use could be made of the UFO phenomenon in connection with US psychological warfare efforts. (18)

Led by Gordon, the CIA Study Group met with Air Force officials at Wright-Patterson and reviewed their data and findings. The Air Force claimed that 90 percent of the reported sightings were easily accounted for. The other 10 percent were characterized as "a number of incredible reports from credible observers." The Air Force rejected the theories that the sightings involved US or Soviet secret weapons development or that they involved "men from Mars"; there was no evidence to support these concepts. The Air Force briefers sought to explain these UFO reports as the misinterpretation of known objects or little understood natural phenomena. (19) Air Force and CIA officials agreed that outside knowledge of Agency interest in UFOs would make the problem more serious. (20) This concealment of CIA interest contributed greatly to later charges of a CIA conspiracy and coverup.

Amateur photographs of alleged UFOs

Passoria, New Jersey, 31 July 1952

Sheffield, England, 4 March 1962
& Minneapolis, Minnesota, 20 October 1960

The CIA Study Group also searched the Soviet press for UFO reports, but found none, causing the group to conclude that the absence of reports had to have been the result of deliberate Soviet Government policy. The group also envisioned the USSR's possible use of UFOs as a psychological warfare tool. In addition, they worried that, if the US air warning system should be deliberately overloaded by UFO sightings, the Soviets might gain a surprise advantage in any nuclear attack. (21)

Because of the tense Cold War situation and increased Soviet capabilities, the CIA Study Group saw serious national security concerns in the flying saucer situation. The group believed that the Soviets could use UFO reports to touch off mass hysteria and panic in the United States. The group also believed that the Soviets might use UFO sightings to overload the US air warning system so that it could not distinguish real targets from phantom UFOs. H. Marshall Chadwell, Assistant Director of OSI, added that he considered the problem of such importance "that it should be brought to the attention of the National Security Council, in order that a communitywide coordinated effort towards it solution may be initiated." (22)

Chadwell briefed DCI Smith on the subject of UFOs in December 1952. He urged action because he was convinced that "something was going on that must have immediate attention" and that "sightings of unexplained objects at great altitudes and traveling at high speeds in the vicinity of major US defense installations are of such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known types of aerial vehicles." He drafted a memorandum from the DCI to the National Security Council (NSC) and a proposed NSC Directive establishing the investigation of UFOs as a priority project throughout the intelligence and the defense research and development community. (23) Chadwell also urged Smith to establish an external research project of top-level scientists to study the problem of UFOs. (24) After this briefing, Smith directed DDI Amory to prepare a NSC Intelligence Directive (NSCID) for submission to the NSC on the need to continue the investigation of UFOs and to coordinate such investigations with the Air Force. (25)

The Robertson Panel, 1952-53

On 4 December 1952, the Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) took up the issue of UFOs. (26) Amory, as acting chairman, presented DCI Smith's request to the committee that it informally discuss the subject of UFOs. Chadwell then briefly reviewed the situation and the active program of the ATIC relating to UFOs. The committee agreed that the DCI should "enlist the services of selected scientists to review and appraise the available evidence in the light of pertinent scientific theories" and draft an NSCID on the subject. (27) Maj. Gen. John A. Samford, Director of Air Force Intelligence, offered full cooperation. (28)

At the same time, Chadwell looked into British efforts in this area. He learned the British also were active in studying the UFO phenomena. An eminent British scientist, R. V. Jones, headed a standing committee created in June 1951 on flying saucers. Jones' and his committee's conclusions on UFOs were similar to those of Agency officials: the sightings were not enemy aircraft but misrepresentations of natural phenomena. The British noted, however, that during a recent air show RAF pilots and senior military officials had observed a "perfect flying saucer." Given the press response, according to the officer, Jones was having a most difficult time trying to correct public opinion regarding UFOs. The public was convinced they were real. (29)

In January 1953, Chadwell and H. P. Robertson, a noted physicist from the California Institute of Technology, put together a distinguished panel of nonmilitary scientists to study the UFO issue. It included Robertson as chairman; Samuel A. Goudsmit, a nuclear physicist from the Brookhaven National Laboratories; Luis Alvarez, a high-energy physicist; Thornton Page, the deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Operations Research Office and an expert on radar and electronics; and Lloyd Berkner, a director of the Brookhaven National Laboratories and a specialist in geophysics. (30)

The charge to the panel was to review the available evidence on UFOs and to consider the possible dangers of the phenomena to US national security. The panel met from 14 to 17 January 1953. It reviewed Air Force data on UFO case histories and, after spending 12 hours studying the phenomena, declared that reasonable explanations could be suggested for most, if not all, sightings. For example, after reviewing motion-picture film taken of a UFO sighting near Tremonton, Utah, on 2 July 1952 and one near Great Falls, Montana, on 15 August 1950, the panel concluded that the images on the Tremonton film were caused by sunlight reflecting off seagulls and that the images at Great Falls were sunlight reflecting off the surface of two Air Force interceptors. (31)

The panel concluded unanimously that there was no evidence of a direct threat to national security in the UFO sightings. Nor could the panel find any evidence that the objects sighted might be extraterrestrials. It did find that continued emphasis on UFO reporting might threaten "the orderly functioning" of the government by clogging the channels of communication with irrelevant reports and by inducing "hysterical mass behavior" harmful to constituted authority. The panel also worried that potential enemies contemplating an attack on the United States might exploit the UFO phenomena and use them to disrupt US air defenses. (32)

To meet these problems, the panel recommended that the National Security Council debunk UFO reports and institute a policy of public education to reassure the public of the lack of evidence behind UFOs. It suggested using the mass media, advertising, business clubs, schools, and even the Disney corporation to get the message across. Reporting at the height of McCarthyism, the panel also recommended that such private UFO groups as the Civilian Flying Saucer Investigators in Los Angeles and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization in Wisconsin be monitored for subversive activities. (33)

The Robertson panel's conclusions were strikingly similar to those of the earlier Air Force project reports on SIGN and GRUDGE and to those of the CIA's own OSI Study Group. All investigative groups found that UFO reports indicated no direct threat to national security and no evidence of visits by extraterrestrials.

Following the Robertson panel findings, the Agency abandoned efforts to draft an NSCID on UFOs. (34) The Scientific Advisory Panel on UFOs (the Robertson panel) submitted its report to the IAC, the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, and the Chairman of the National Security Resources Board. CIA officials said no further consideration of the subject appeared warranted, although they continued to monitor sightings in the interest of national security. Philip Strong and Fred Durant from OSI also briefed the Office of National Estimates on the findings. (35) CIA officials wanted knowledge of any Agency interest in the subject of flying saucers carefully restricted, noting not only that the Robertson panel report was classified but also that any mention of CIA sponsorship of the panel was forbidden. This attitude would later cause the Agency major problems relating to its credibility. (36)

The 1950s: Fading CIA Interest in UFOs

After the report of the Robertson panel, Agency officials put the entire issue of UFOs on the back burner. In May 1953, Chadwell transferred chief responsibility for keeping abreast of UFOs to OSI's Physics and Electronic Division, while the Applied Science Division continued to provide any necessary support. (37) Todos M. Odarenko, chief of the Physics and Electronics Division, did not want to take on the problem, contending that it would require too much of his division's analytic and clerical time. Given the findings of the Robertson panel, he proposed to consider the project "inactive" and to devote only one analyst part-time and a file clerk to maintain a reference file of the activities of the Air Force and other agencies on UFOs. Neither the Navy nor the Army showed much interest in UFOs, according to Odarenko. (38)

A nonbeliever in UFOs, Odarenko sought to have his division relieved of the responsibility for monitoring UFO reports. In 1955, for example, he recommended that the entire project be terminated because no new information concerning UFOs had surfaced. Besides, he argued, his division was facing a serious budget reduction and could not spare the resources. (39) Chadwell and other Agency officials, however, continued to worry about UFOs. Of special concern were overseas reports of UFO sightings and claims that German engineers held by the Soviets were developing a "flying saucer" as a future weapon of war. (40)

To most US political and military leaders, the Soviet Union by the mid-1950s had become a dangerous opponent. Soviet progress in nuclear weapons and guided missiles was particularly alarming. In the summer of 1949, the USSR had detonated an atomic bomb. In August 1953, only nine months after the United States tested a hydrogen bomb, the Soviets detonated one. In the spring of 1953, a top secret RAND Corporation study also pointed out the vulnerability of SAC bases to a surprise attack by Soviet long-range bombers. Concern over the danger of a Soviet attack on the United States continued to grow, and UFO sightings added to the uneasiness of US policymakers.

Mounting reports of UFOs over eastern Europe and Afghanistan also prompted concern that the Soviets were making rapid progress in this area. CIA officials knew that the British and Canadians were already experimenting with "flying saucers." Project Y was a Canadian-British-US developmental operation to produce a nonconventional flying-saucer-type aircraft, and Agency officials feared the Soviets were testing similar devices. (41)

Adding to the concern was a flying saucer sighting by US Senator Richard Russell and his party while traveling on a train in the USSR in October 1955. After extensive interviews of Russell and his group, however, CIA officials concluded that Russell's sighting did not support the theory that the Soviets had developed saucerlike or unconventional aircraft. Herbert Scoville, Jr., the Assistant Director of OSI, wrote that the objects observed probably were normal jet aircraft in a steep climb. (42)

Wilton E. Lexow, head of the CIA's Applied Sciences Division, was also skeptical. He questioned why the Soviets were continuing to develop conventional-type aircraft if they had a "flying saucer." (43) Scoville asked Lexow to assume responsibility for fully assessing the capabilities and limitations of nonconventional aircraft and to maintain the OSI central file on the subject of UFOs.

CIA's U-2 and OXCART as UFOs

In November 1954, CIA had entered into the world of high technology with its U-2 overhead reconnaissance project. Working with Lockheed's Advanced Development facility in Burbank, California, known as the Skunk Works, and Kelly Johnson, an eminent aeronautical engineer, the Agency by August 1955 was testing a high-altitude experimental aircraft--the U-2. It could fly at 60,000 feet; in the mid-1950s, most commercial airliners flew between 10,000 feet and 20,000 feet. Consequently, once the U-2 started test flights, commercial pilots and air traffic controllers began reporting a large increase in UFO sightings. (44) (U)

The early U-2s were silver (they were later painted black) and reflected the rays from the sun, especially at sunrise and sunset. They often appeared as fiery objects to observers below. Air Force BLUE BOOK investigators aware of the secret U-2 flights tried to explain away such sightings by linking them to natural phenomena such as ice crystals and temperature inversions. By checking with the Agency's U-2 Project Staff in Washington, BLUE BOOK investigators were able to attribute many UFO sightings to U-2 flights. They were careful, however, not to reveal the true cause of the sighting to the public.

According to later estimates from CIA officials who worked on the U-2 project and the OXCART (SR-71, or Blackbird) project, over half of all UFO reports from the late 1950s through the 1960s were accounted for by manned reconnaissance flights (namely the U-2) over the United States. (45) This led the Air Force to make misleading and deceptive statements to the public in order to allay public fears and to protect an extraordinarily sensitive national security project. While perhaps justified, this deception added fuel to the later conspiracy theories and the coverup controversy of the 1970s. The percentage of what the Air Force considered unexplained UFO sightings fell to 5.9 percent in 1955 and to 4 percent in 1956. (46)

At the same time, pressure was building for the release of the Robertson panel report on UFOs. In 1956, Edward Ruppelt, former head of the Air Force BLUE BOOK project, publicly revealed the existence of the panel. A best-selling book by UFOlogist Donald Keyhoe, a retired Marine Corps major, advocated release of all government information relating to UFOs. Civilian UFO groups such as the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) immediately pushed for release of the Robertson panel report. (47) Under pressure, the Air Force approached CIA for permission to declassify and release the report. Despite such pressure, Philip Strong, Deputy Assistant Director of OSI, refused to declassify the report and declined to disclose CIA sponsorship of the panel. As an alternative, the Agency prepared a sanitized version of the report which deleted any reference to CIA and avoided mention of any psychological warfare potential in the UFO controversy. (48)

The demands, however, for more government information about UFOs did not let up. On 8 March 1958, Keyhoe, in an interview with Mike Wallace of CBS, claimed deep CIA involvement with UFOs and Agency sponsorship of the Robertson panel. This prompted a series of letters to the Agency from Keyhoe and Dr. Leon Davidson, a chemical engineer and UFOlogist. They demanded the release of the full Robertson panel report and confirmation of CIA involvement in the UFO issue. Davidson had convinced himself that the Agency, not the Air Force, carried most of the responsibility for UFO analysis and that "the activities of the US Government are responsible for the flying saucer sightings of the last decade." Indeed, because of the undisclosed U-2 and OXCART flights, Davidson was closer to the truth than he suspected. CI, nevertheless held firm to its policy of not revealing its role in UFO investigations and refused to declassify the full Robertson panel report. (49)

In a meeting with Air Force representatives to discuss how to handle future inquires such as Keyhoe's and Davidson's, Agency officials confirmed their opposition to the declassification of the full report and worried that Keyhoe had the ear of former DCI VAdm. Roscoe Hillenkoetter, who served on the board of governors of NICAP. They debated whether to have CIA General Counsel Lawrence R. Houston show Hillenkoetter the report as a possible way to defuse the situation. CIA officer Frank Chapin also hinted that Davidson might have ulterior motives, "some of them perhaps not in the best interest of this country," and suggested bringing in the FBI to investigate. (50) Although the record is unclear whether the FBI ever instituted an investigation of Davidson or Keyhoe, or whether Houston ever saw Hillenkoetter about the Robertson report, Hillenkoetter did resign from the NICAP in 1962. (51)

The Agency was also involved with Davidson and Keyhoe in two rather famous UFO cases in the 1950s, which helped contribute to a growing sense of public distrust of CIA with regard to UFOs. One focused on what was reported to have been a tape recording of a radio signal from a flying saucer; the other on reported photographs of a flying saucer. The "radio code" incident began innocently enough in 1955, when two elderly sisters in Chicago, Mildred and Marie Maier, reported in the Journal of Space Flight their experiences with UFOs, including the recording of a radio program in which an unidentified code was reportedly heard. The sisters taped the program and other ham radio operators also claimed to have heard the "space message." OSI became interested and asked the Scientific Contact Branch to obtain a copy of the recording. (52)

Field officers from the Contact Division (CD), one of whom was Dewelt Walker, made contact with the Maier sisters, who were "thrilled that the government was interested," and set up a time to meet with them. (53) In trying to secure the tape recording, the Agency officers reported that they had stumbled upon a scene from Arsenic and Old Lace. "The only thing lacking was the elderberry wine," Walker cabled Headquarters. After reviewing the sisters' scrapbook of clippings from their days on the stage, the officers secured a copy of the recording. (54) OSI analyzed the tape and found it was nothing more than Morse code from a US radio station.

The matter rested there until UFOlogist Leon Davidson talked with the Maier sisters in 1957. The sisters remembered they had talked with a Mr. Walker who said he was from the US Air Force. Davidson then wrote to a Mr. Walker, believing him to be a US Air Force Intelligence Officer from Wright-Patterson, to ask if the tape had been analyzed at ATIC. Dewelt Walker replied to Davidson that the tape had been forwarded to proper authorities for evaluation, and no information was available concerning the results. Not satisfied, and suspecting that Walker was really a CIA officer, Davidson next wrote DCI Allen Dulles demanding to learn what the coded message revealed and who Mr. Walker was. (55) The Agency, wanting to keep Walker's identity as a CIA employee secret, replied that another agency of the government had analyzed the tape in question and that Davidson would be hearing from the Air Force. (56) On 5 August, the Air Force wrote Davidson saying that Walker "was and is an Air Force Officer" and that the tape "was analyzed by another government organization." The Air Force letter confirmed that the recording contained only identifiable Morse code which came from a known US-licensed radio station. (57)

Davidson wrote Dulles again. This time he wanted to know the identity of the Morse operator and of the agency that had conducted the analysis. CIA and the Air Force were now in a quandary. The Agency had previously denied that it had actually analyzed the tape. The Air Force had also denied analyzing the tape and claimed that Walker was an Air Force officer. CIA officers, under cover, contacted Davidson in Chicago and promised to get the code translation and the identification of the transmitter, if possible. (58)

In another attempt to pacify Davidson, a CIA officer, again under cover and wearing his Air Force uniform, contacted Davidson in New York City. The CIA officer explained that there was no super agency involved and that Air Force policy was not to disclose who was doing what. While seeming to accept this argument, Davidson nevertheless pressed for disclosure of the recording message and the source. The officer agreed to see what he could do. (59) After checking with Headquarters, the CIA officer phoned Davidson to report that a thorough check had been made and, because the signal was of known US origin, the tape and the notes made at the time had been destroyed to conserve file space. (60)

Incensed over what he perceived was a runaround, Davidson told the CIA officer that "he and his agency, whichever it was, were acting like Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamster Union in destroying records which might indict them." (61) Believing that any more contact with Davidson would only encourage more speculation, the Contact Division washed its hands of the issue by reporting to the DCI and to ATIC that it would not respond to or try to contact Davidson again. (62) Thus, a minor, rather bizarre incident, handled poorly by both CIA and the Air Force, turned into a major flap that added fuel to the growing mystery surrounding UFOs and CIA's role in their investigation.

Another minor flap a few months later added to the growing questions surrounding the Agency's true role with regard to flying saucers. CIA's concern over secrecy again made matters worse. In 1958, Major Keyhoe charged that the Agency was deliberately asking eyewitnesses of UFOs not to make their sightings public. (63)

The incident stemmed from a November 1957 request from OSI to the CD to obtain from Ralph C. Mayher, a photographer for KYW-TV in Cleveland, Ohio, certain photographs he took in 1952 of an unidentified flying object. Harry Real, a CD officer, contacted Mayher and obtained copies of the photographs for analysis. On 12 December 1957, John Hazen, another CD officer, returned the five photographs of the alleged UFO to Mayher without comment. Mayher asked Hazen for the Agency's evaluation of the photos, explaining that he was trying to organize a TV program to brief the public on UFOs. He wanted to mention on the show that a US intelligence organization had viewed the photographs and thought them of interest. Although he advised Mayher not to take this approach, Hazen stated that Mayher was a US citizen and would have to make his own decision as to what to do. (64)

Keyhoe later contacted Mayher, who told him his story of CIA and the photographs. Keyhoe then asked the Agency to confirm Hazen's employment in writing, in an effort to expose CIA's role in UFO investigations. The Agency refused, despite the fact that CD field representatives were normally overt and carried credentials identifying their Agency association. DCI Dulles's aide, John S. Earman, merely sent Keyhoe a noncommittal letter noting that, because UFOs were of primary concern to the Department of the Air Force, the Agency had referred his letter to the Air Force for an appropriate response. Like the response to Davidson, the Agency reply to Keyhoe only fueled the speculation that the Agency was deeply involved in UFO sightings. Pressure for release of CIA information on UFOs continued to grow. (65)

Although CIA had a declining interest in UFO cases, it continued to monitor UFO sightings. Agency officials felt the need to keep informed on UFOs if only to alert the DCI to the more sensational UFO reports and flaps. (66)

The 1960s: Declining CIA Involvement and Mounting Controversy

In the early 1960s, Keyhoe, Davidson, and other UFOlogists maintained their assault on the Agency for release of UFO information. Davidson now claimed that CIA "was solely responsible for creating the Flying Saucer furor as a tool for cold war psychological warfare since 1951." Despite calls for Congressional hearings and the release of all materials relating to UFOs, little changed. (67)

In 1964, however, following high-level White House discussions on what to do if an alien intelligence was discovered in space and a new outbreak of UFO reports and sightings, DCI John McCone asked for an updated CIA evaluation of UFOs. Responding to McCone's request, OSI asked the CD to obtain various recent samples and reports of UFO sightings from NICAP. With Keyhoe, one of the founders, no longer active in the organization, CIA officers met with Richard H. Hall, the acting director. Hall gave the officers samples from the NICAP database on the most recent sightings. (68)

After OSI officers had reviewed the material, Donald F. Chamberlain, OSI Assistant Director, assured McCone that little had changed since the early 1950s. There was still no evidence that UFOs were a threat to the security of the United States or that they were of "foreign origin." Chamberlain told McCone that OSI still monitored UFO reports, including the official Air Force investigation, Project BLUE BOOK. (69)

At the same time that CIA was conducting this latest internal review of UFOs, public pressure forced the Air Force to establish a special ad hoc committee to review BLUE BOOK. Chaired by Dr. Brian O'Brien, a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the panel included Carl Sagan, the famous astronomer from Cornell University. Its report offered nothing new. It declared that UFOs did not threaten the national security and that it could find "no UFO case which represented technological or scientific advances outside of a terrestrial framework." The committee did recommend that UFOs be studied intensively, with a leading university acting as a coordinator for the project, to settle the issue conclusively. (70)

The House Armed Services Committee also held brief hearings on UFOs in 1966 that produced similar results. Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown assured the committee that most sightings were easily explained and that there was no evidence that "strangers from outer space" had been visiting Earth. He told the committee members, however, that the Air Force would keep an open mind and continue to investigate all UFO reports. (71)

Following the report of its O'Brien Committee, the House hearings on UFOs, and Dr. Robertson's disclosure on a CBS Reports program that CIA indeed had been involved in UFO analysis, the Air Force in July 1966 again approached the Agency for declassification of the entire Robertson panel report of 1953 and the full Durant report on the Robertson panel deliberations and findings. The Agency again refused to budge. Karl H. Weber, Deputy Director of OSI, wrote the Air Force that "We are most anxious that further publicity not be given to the information that the panel was sponsored by the CIA." Weber noted that there was already a sanitized version available to the public. (72) Weber's response was rather shortsighted and ill considered. It only drew more attention to the 13-year-old Robertson panel report and CIA's role in the investigation of UFOs. The science editor of The Saturday Review drew nationwide attention to the CIA's role in investigating UFOs when he published an article criticizing the "sanitized version" of the 1953 Robertson panel report and called for release of the entire document. (73)

Unknown to CIA officials, Dr. James E. McDonald, a noted atmospheric physicist from the University of Arizona, had already seen the Durant report on the Robertson panel proceedings at Wright-Patterson on 6 June 1966. When McDonald returned to Wright-Patterson on 30 June to copy the report, however, the Air Force refused to let him see it again, stating that it was a CIA classified document. Emerging as a UFO authority, McDonald publicly claimed that the CIA was behind the Air Force secrecy policies and coverup. He demanded the release of the full Robertson panel report and the Durant report. (74)

Bowing to public pressure and the recommendation of its own O'Brien Committee, the Air Force announced in August 1966 that it was seeking a contract with a leading university to undertake a program of intensive investigations of UFO sightings. The new program was designed to blunt continuing charges that the US Government had concealed what it knew about UFOs. On 7 October, the University of Colorado accepted a $325,000 contract with the Air Force for an 18-month study of flying saucers. Dr. Edward U. Condon, a physicist at Colorado and a former Director of the National Bureau of Standards, agreed to head the program. Pronouncing himself an "agnostic" on the subject of UFOs, Condon observed that he had an open mind on the question and thought that possible extraterritorial origins were "improbable but not impossible." (75) Brig. Gen. Edward Giller, USAF, and Dr. Thomas Ratchford from the Air Force Research and Development Office became the Air Force coordinators for the project.

In February 1967, Giller contacted Arthur C. Lundahl, Director of CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC), and proposed an informal liaison through which NPIC could provide the Condon Committee with technical advice and services in examining photographs of alleged UFOs. Lundahl and DDI R. Jack Smith approved the arrangement as a way of "preserving a window" on the new effort. They wanted the CIA and NPIC to maintain a low profile, however, and to take no part in writing any conclusions for the committee. No work done for the committee by NPIC was to be formally acknowledged. (76)

Ratchford next requested that Condon and his committee be allowed to visit NPIC to discuss the technical aspects of the problem and to view the special equipment NPIC had for photoanalysis. On 20 February 1967, Condon and four members of his committee visited NPIC. Lundahl emphasized to the group that any NPIC work to assist the committee must not be identified as CIA work. Moreover, work performed by NPIC would be strictly of a technical nature. After receiving these guidelines, the group heard a series of briefings on the services and equipment not available elsewhere that CIA had used in its analysis of some UFO photography furnished by Ratchford. Condon and his committee were impressed. (77)

Condon and the same group met again in May 1967 at NPIC to hear an analysis of UFO photographs taken at Zanesville, Ohio. The analysis debunked that sighting. The committee was again impressed with the technical work performed, and Condon remarked that for the first time a scientific analysis of a UFO would stand up to investigation. (78) The group also discussed the committee's plans to call on US citizens for additional photographs and to issue guidelines for taking useful UFO photographs. In addition, CIA officials agreed that the Condon Committee could release the full Durant report with only minor deletions.

In April 1969, Condon and his committee released their report on UFOs. The report concluded that little, if anything, had come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years and that further extensive study of UFO sightings was unwarranted. It also recommended that the Air Force special unit, Project BLUE BOOK, be discontinued. It did not mention CIA participation in the Condon committee's investigation. (79) A special panel established by the National Academy of Sciences reviewed the Condon report and concurred with its conclusion that "no high priority in UFO investigations is warranted by data of the past two decades." It concluded its review by declaring, "On the basis of present knowledge, the least likely explanation of UFOs is the hypothesis of extraterrestrial visitations by intelligent beings." Following the recommendations of the Condon Committee and the National Academy of Sciences, the Secretary of the Air Force, Robert C. Seamans, Jr., announced on 17 December 1969 the termination of BLUE BOOK. (80)

The 1970s and 1980s: The UFO Issue Refuses To Die

The Condon report did not satisfy many UFOlogists, who considered it a coverup for CIA activities in UFO research. Additional sightings in the early 1970s fueled beliefs that the CIA was somehow involved in a vast conspiracy. On 7 June 1975, William Spaulding, head of a small UFO group, Ground Saucer Watch (GSW), wrote to CIA requesting a copy of the Robertson panel report and all records relating to UFOs. (81) Spaulding was convinced that the Agency was withholding major files on UFOs. Agency officials provided Spaulding with a copy of the Robertson panel report and of the Durant report. (82)

On 14 July 1975, Spaulding again wrote the Agency questioning the authenticity of the reports he had received and alleging a CIA coverup of its UFO activities. Gene Wilson, CIA's Information and Privacy Coordinator, replied in an attempt to satisfy Spaulding, "At no time prior to the formation of the Robertson Panel and subsequent to the issuance of the panel's report has CIA engaged in the study of the UFO phenomena." The Robertson panel report, according to Wilson, was "the summation of Agency interest and involvement in UFOs." Wilson also inferred that there were no additional documents in CIA's possession that related to UFOs. Wilson was ill informed. (83)

In September 1977, Spaulding and GSW, unconvinced by Wilson's response, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Agency that specifically requested all UFO documents in CIA's possession. Deluged by similar FOIA requests for Agency information on UFOs, CIA officials agreed, after much legal maneuvering, to conduct a "reasonable search" of CIA files for UFO materials. (84) Despite an Agency-wide unsympathetic attitude toward the suit, Agency officials, led by Launie Ziebell from the Office of General Counsel, conducted a thorough search for records pertaining to UFOs. Persistent, demanding, and even threatening at times, Ziebell and his group scoured the Agency. They even turned up an old UFO file under a secretary's desk. The search finally produced 355 documents totaling approximately 900 pages. On 14 December 1978, the Agency released all but 57 documents of about 100 pages to GSW. It withheld these 57 documents on national security grounds and to protect sources and methods. (85)

Although the released documents produced no smoking gun and revealed only a low-level Agency interest in the UFO phenomena after the Robertson panel report of 1953, the press treated the release in a sensational manner. The New York Times, for example, claimed that the declassified documents confirmed intensive government concern over UFOs and that the Agency was secretly involved in the surveillance of UFOs. (86) GSW then sued for the release of the withheld documents, claiming that the Agency was still holding out key information. (87) It was much like the John F. Kennedy assassination issue. No matter how much material the Agency released and no matter how dull and prosaic the information, people continued to believe in a Agency coverup and conspiracy.

DCI Stansfield Turner was so upset when he read The New York Times article that he asked his senior officers, "Are we in UFOs?" After reviewing the records, Don Wortman, Deputy Director for Administration, reported to Turner that there was "no organized Agency effort to do research in connection with UFO phenomena nor has there been an organized effort to collect intelligence on UFOs since the 1950s." Wortman assured Turner that the Agency records held only "sporadic instances of correspondence dealing with the subject," including various kinds of reports of UFO sightings. There was no Agency program to collect actively information on UFOs, and the material released to GSW had few deletions. (88) Thus assured, Turner had the General Counsel press for a summary judgment against the new lawsuit by GSW. In May 1980, the courts dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the Agency had conducted a thorough and adequate search in good faith. (89)

During the late 1970s and 1980s, the Agency continued its low-key interest in UFOs and UFO sightings. While most scientists now dismissed flying saucers reports as a quaint part of the 1950s and 1960s, some in the Agency and in the Intelligence Community shifted their interest to studying parapsychology and psychic phenomena associated with UFO sightings. CIA officials also looked at the UFO problem to determine what UFO sightings might tell them about Soviet progress in rockets and missiles and reviewed its counterintelligence aspects. Agency analysts from the Life Science Division of OSI and OSWR officially devoted a small amount of their time to issues relating to UFOs. These included counterintelligence concerns that the Soviets and the KGB were using US citizens and UFO groups to obtain information on sensitive US weapons development programs (such as the Stealth aircraft), the vulnerability of the US air-defense network to penetration by foreign missiles mimicking UFOs, and evidence of Soviet advanced technology associated with UFO sightings.

CIA also maintained Intelligence Community coordination with other agencies regarding their work in parapsychology, psychic phenomena, and "remote viewing" experiments. In general, the Agency took a conservative scientific view of these unconventional scientific issues. There was no formal or official UFO project within the Agency in the 1980s, and Agency officials purposely kept files on UFOs to a minimum to avoid creating records that might mislead the public if released. (90)

The 1980s also produced renewed charges that the Agency was still withholding documents relating to the 1947 Roswell incident, in which a flying saucer supposedly crashed in New Mexico, and the surfacing of documents which purportedly revealed the existence of a top secret US research and development intelligence operation responsible only to the President on UFOs in the late 1940s and early 1950s. UFOlogists had long argued that, following a flying saucer crash in New Mexico in 1947, the government not only recovered debris from the crashed saucer but also four or five alien bodies. According to some UFOlogists, the government clamped tight security around the project and has refused to divulge its investigation results and research ever since. (91) In September 1994, the US Air Force released a new report on the Roswell incident that concluded that the debris found in New Mexico in 1947 probably came from a once top secret balloon operation, Project MOGUL, designed to monitor the atmosphere for evidence of Soviet nuclear tests. (92)

Circa 1984, a series of documents surfaced which some UFOlogists said proved that President Truman created a top secret committee in 1947, Majestic-12, to secure the recovery of UFO wreckage from Roswell and any other UFO crash sight for scientific study and to examine any alien bodies recovered from such sites. Most if not all of these documents have proved to be fabrications. Yet the controversy persists. (93)

Like the JFK assassination conspiracy theories, the UFO issue probably will not go away soon, no matter what the Agency does or says. The belief that we are not alone in the universe is too emotionally appealing and the distrust of our government is too pervasive to make the issue amenable to traditional scientific studies of rational explanation and evidence.



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Notes
(1) See the 1973 Gallup Poll results printed in The New York Times, 29 November 1973, p. 45 and Philip J. Klass, UFOs: The Public Deceived (New York: Prometheus Books, 1983), p. 3.

(2) See Klass, UFOs, p. 3; James S. Gordon, "The UFO Experience," Atlantic Monthly (August 1991), pp. 82-92; David Michael Jacobs, The UFO Controversy in America (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975); Howard Blum, Out There: The Government's Secret Quest for Extraterrestrials (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990); Timothy Good, Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-Up (New York: William Morrow, 1987); and Whitley Strieber, Communion: The True Story (New York: Morrow, 1987).

(3) In September 1993 John Peterson, an acquaintance of Woolsey's, first approached the DCI with a package of heavily sanitized CIA material on UFOs released to UFOlogist Stanton T. Friedman. Peterson and Friedman wanted to know the reasons for the redactions. Woolsey agreed to look into the matter. See Richard J. Warshaw, Executive Assistant, note to author, 1 November 1994; Warshaw, note to John H. Wright, Information and Privacy Coordinator, 31 January 1994; and Wright, memorandum to Executive Secretariat, 2 March 1994. (Except where noted, all citations to CIA records in this article are to the records collected for the 1994 Agency-wide search that are held by the Executive Assistant to the DCI).

(4) See Hector Quintanilla, Jr., "The Investigation of UFOs," Vol. 10, No. 4, Studies in Intelligence (fall 1966): pp.95-110 and CIA, unsigned memorandum, "Flying Saucers," 14 August 1952. See also Good, Above Top Secret, p. 253. During World War II, US pilots reported "foo fighters" (bright lights trailing US aircraft). Fearing they might be Japanese or German secret weapons, OSS investigated but could find no concrete evidence of enemy weapons and often filed such reports in the "crackpot" category. The OSS also investigated possible sightings of German V-1 and V-2 rockets before their operational use during the war. See Jacobs, UFO Controversy, p. 33. The Central Intelligence Group, the predecessor of the CIA, also monitored reports of "ghost rockets" in Sweden in 1946. See CIG, Intelligence Report, 9 April 1947.

(5) Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 156 and Quintanilla, "The Investigation of UFOs," p. 97.

(6) See US Air Force, Air Material Command, "Unidentified Aerial Objects: Project SIGN, no. F-TR 2274, IA, February 1949, Records of the US Air Force Commands, Activities and Organizations, Record Group 341, National Archives, Washington, DC.

(7) See US Air Force, Projects GRUDGE and BLUEBOOK Reports 1- 12 (Washington, DC; National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, 1968) and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, pp. 50-54.

(8) See Cabell, memorandum to Commanding Generals Major Air Commands, "Reporting of Information on Unconventional Aircraft," 8 September 1950 and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 65.

(9) See Air Force, Projects GRUDGE and BLUE BOOK and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 67.

(10) See Edward Tauss, memorandum for Deputy Assistant Director, SI, "Flying Saucers," 1 August 1952. See also United Kingdom, Report by the "Flying Saucer" Working Party, "Unidentified Flying Objects," no date (approximately 1950).

(11) See Dr. Stone, OSI, memorandum to Dr. Willard Machle, OSI, 15 March 1949 and Ralph L. Clark, Acting Assistant Director, OSI, memorandum for DDI, "Recent Sightings of Unexplained Objects," 29 July 1952.

(12) Stone, memorandum to Machle. See also Clark, memorandum for DDI, 29 July 1952.

(13) See Klass, UFOs, p. 15. For a brief review of the Washington sightings see Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 269-271.

(14) See Ralph L. Clark, Acting Assistant Director, OSI, memorandum to DDI Robert Amory, Jr., 29 July 1952. OSI and OCI were in the Directorate of Intelligence. Established in 1948, OSI served as the CIA's focal point for the analysis of foreign scientific and technological developments. In 1980, OSI was merged into the Office of Science and Weapons Research. The Office of Current Intelligence (OCI), established on 15 January 1951 was to provide all-source current intelligence to the President and the National Security Council.

(15) Tauss, memorandum for Deputy Assistant Director, SI (Philip Strong), 1 August 1952.

(16) On 2 January 1952, DCI Walter Bedell Smith created a Deputy Directorate for Intelligence (DDI) composed of six overt CIA organizations--OSI, OCI, Office of Collection and Dissemination, Office National Estimates, Office of Research and Reports, and the Office of Intelligence Coordination--to produce intelligence analysis for US policymakers.

(17) See Minutes of Branch Chief's Meeting, 11 August 1952.

(18) Smith expressed his opinions at a meeting in the DCI Conference Room attended by his top officers. See Deputy Chief, Requirements Staff, FI, memorandum for Deputy Director, Plans, "Flying Saucers," 20 August 1952, Directorate of Operations Records, Information Management Staff, Job 86-00538R, Box 1.

(19) See CIA memorandum, unsigned, "Flying Saucers," 11 August 1952.

(20) See CIA, memorandum, unsigned, "Flying Saucers," 14 August 1952.

(21) See CIA, memorandum, unsigned, "Flying Saucers," 19 August 1952.

(22) See Chadwell, memorandum for Smith, 17 September 1952 and 24 September 1952, "Flying Saucers." See also Chadwell, memorandum for DCI Smith, 2 October 1952 and Klass, UFOs, pp. 23-26.

(23) Chadwell, memorandum for DCI with attachments, 2 December 1952. See also Klass, UFOs, pp. 26-27 and Chadwell, memorandum, 25 November 1952.

(24) See Chadwell, memorandum, 25 November 1952 and Chadwell, memorandum, "Approval in Principle - External Research Project Concerned with Unidentified Flying Objects," no date. See also Philip G. Strong, OSI, memorandum for the record, "Meeting with Dr. Julius A. Stratton, Executive Vice President and Provost, MIT and Dr. Max Millikan, Director of CENIS." Strong believed that in order to undertake such a review they would need the full backing and support of DCI Smith.

(25) See Chadwell, memorandum for DCI, ""Unidentified Flying Objects," 2 December 1952. See also Chadwell, memorandum for Amory, DDI, "Approval in Principle - External Research Project Concerned with Unidentified Flying Objects," no date.

(26) The IAC was created in 1947 to serve as a coordinating body in establishing intelligence requirements. Chaired by the DCI, the IAC included representatives from the Department of State, the Army, the Air Force, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the FBI, and the AEC.

(27) See Klass, UFOs, p. 27.

(28) See Richard D. Drain, Acting Secretary, IAC, "Minutes of Meeting held in Director's Conference Room, Administration Building, CIA," 4 December 1952.

(29) See Chadwell, memorandum for the record, "British Activity in the Field of UFOs," 18 December 1952.

(30) See Chadwell, memorandum for DCI, "Consultants for Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects," 9 January 1953; Curtis Peebles, Watch the Skies! A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994). pp. 73-90; and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, pp. 91-92.

(31) See Fred C. Durant III, Report on the Robertson Panel Meeting, January 1953. Durant, on contract with OSI and a past president of the American Rocket Society, attended the Robertson panel meetings and wrote a summary of the proceedings.

(32) See Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects (the Robertson Report), 17 January 1953 and the Durant report on the panel discussions.

(33) See Robertson Report and Durant Report. See also Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 337-38, Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 95, and Klass, UFO's, pp. 28-29.

(34) See Reber, memorandum to IAC, 18 February 1953.

(35) See Chadwell, memorandum for DDI, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 10 February 1953; Chadwell, letter to Robertson, 28 January 1953; and Reber, memorandum for IAC, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 18 February 1953. On briefing the ONE, see Durant, memorandum for the record, "Briefing of ONE Board on Unidentified Flying Objects," 30 January 1953 and CIA Summary disseminated to the field, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 6 February 1953.

(36) See Chadwell, letter to Julius A. Stratton, Provost MIT, 27 January 1953.

(37) See Chadwell, memorandum for Chief, Physics and Electronics Division/OSI (Todos M. Odarenko), "Unidentified Flying Objects," 27 May 1953.

(38) See Odarenko, memorandum to Chadwell, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 3 July 1953. See also Odarenko, memorandum to Chadwell, "Current Status of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOB) Project," 17 December 1953.

(39) See Odarenko, memorandum, "Unidentified Flying Objects," 8 August 1955.

(40) See FBIS, report, "Military Unconventional Aircraft," 18 August 1953 and various reports, "Military-Air, Unconventional Aircraft," 1953, 1954, 1955.

(41) Developed by the Canadian affiliate of Britain's A. V. Roe, Ltd., Project Y did produce a small-scale model that hovered a few feet off the ground. See Odarenko, memorandum to Chadwell, "Flying Saucer Type of Planes" 25 May 1954; Frederic C. E. Oder, memorandum to Odarenko, "USAF Project Y," 21 May 1954; and Odarenko, T. M. Nordbeck, Ops/SI, and Sidney Graybeal, ASD/SI, memorandum for the record, "Intelligence Responsibilities for Non-Conventional Types of Air Vehicles," 14 June 1954.

(42) See Reuben Efron, memorandum, "Observation of Flying Object Near Baku," 13 October 1955; Scoville, memorandum for the record, "Interview with Senator Richard B. Russell," 27 October 1955; and Wilton E. Lexow, memorandum for information, "Reported Sighting of Unconventional Aircraft," 19 October 1955.

(43) See Lexow, memorandum for information, "Reported Sighting of Unconventional Aircraft," 19 October 1955. See also Frank C. Bolser, memorandum for George C. Miller, Deputy Chief, SAD/SI, "Possible Soviet Flying Saucers, Check On;" Lexow, memorandum, "Possible Soviet Flying Saucers, Follow Up On," 17 December 1954; Lexow, memorandum, "Possible Soviet Flying Saucers," 1 December 1954; and A. H. Sullivan, Jr., memorandum, "Possible Soviet Flying Saucers," 24 November 1954.

(44) See Gregory W. Pedlow and Donald E. Welzenbach, The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974 (Washington, DC: CIA History Staff, 1992), pp. 72-73.

(45) See Pedlow and Welzenbach, Overhead Reconnaissance, pp. 72-73. This also was confirmed in a telephone interview between the author and John Parongosky, 26 July 1994. Parongosky oversaw the day-to-day affairs of the OXCART program.

(46) See Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 135.

(47) See Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 128-146; Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects (New York: Doubleday, 1956); Keyhoe, The Flying Saucer Conspiracy (New York: Holt, 1955); and Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, pp. 347-49.

(48) See Strong, letter to Lloyd W. Berkner; Strong, letter to Thorton Page; Strong, letter to Robertson; Strong, letter to Samuel Goudsmit; Strong, letter to Luis Alvarez, 20 December 1957; and Strong, memorandum for Major James F. Byrne, Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence Department of the Air Force, "Declassification of the `Report of the Scientific Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects,'" 20 December 1957. See also Berkner, letter to Strong, 20 November 1957 and Page, letter to Strong, 4 December 1957. The panel members were also reluctant to have their association with the Agency released.

(49) See Wilton E. Lexow, memorandum for the record, "Comments on Letters Dealing with Unidentified Flying Objects," 4 April 1958; J. S. Earman, letter to Major Lawrence J. Tacker, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Information Service, 4 April 1958; Davidson, letter to Berkner, 8 April 1958; Berkner, letter to Davidson, 18 April 1958; Berkner, letter to Strong, 21 April 1958; Davidson, letter to Tacker, 27 April 1958; Davidson, letter to Allen Dulles, 27 April 1958; Ruppelt, letter to Davidson, 7 May 1958; Strong, letter to Berkner, 8 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Berkner, 8 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Earman, 16 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Goudsmit, 18 May 1958; Davidson, letter to Page, 18 May 1958; and Tacker, letter to Davidson, 20 May 1958.

(50) See Lexow, memorandum for Chapin, 28 July 1958.

(51) See Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 346-47; Lexow, memorandum for the record, "Meeting with the Air Force Personnel Concerning Scientific Advisory Panel Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, dated 17 January 1953 (S)," 16 May 1958. See also La Rae L. Teel, Deputy Division Chief, ASD, memorandum for the record, "Meeting with Mr. Chapin on Replying to Leon Davidson's UFO Letter and Subsequent Telephone Conversation with Major Thacker, [sic]" 22 May 1958.

(52) See Edwin M. Ashcraft, Chief, Contact Division (Scientific), memorandum to Chief, Chicago Office, "Radio Code Recording," 4 March 1955 and Ashcraft, memorandum to Chief, Support Branch, OSI, 17 March 1955.

(53) The Contact Division was created to collect foreign intelligence information from sources within the United States. See the Directorate of Intelligence Historical Series, The Origin and Development of Contact Division, 11 July 1946­1 July 1965 (Washington, DC; CIA Historical Staff, June 1969).

(54) See George O. Forrest, Chief, Chicago Office, memorandum to Chief, Contact Division for Science, 11 March 1955.

(55) See Support Division (Connell), memorandum to Dewelt E. Walker, 25 April 1957.

(56) See J. Arnold Shaw, Assistant to the Director, letter to Davidson, 10 May 1957.

(57) See Support (Connell) memorandum to Lt. Col. V. Skakich, 27 August 1957 and Lamountain, memorandum to Support (Connell), 20 December 1957.

(58) See Lamountain, cable to Support (Connell), 31 July 1958.

(59) See Support (Connell) cable to Skakich, 3 October 1957 and Skakich, cable to Connell, 9 October 1957.

(60) See Skakich, cable to Connell, 9 October 1957.

(61) See R. P. B. Lohmann, memorandum for Chief, Contact Division, DO, 9 January 1958.

(62) See Support, cable to Skakich, 20 February 1958 and Connell (Support) cable to Lamountain, 19 December 1957.

(63) See Edwin M. Ashcraft, Chief, Contact Division, Office of Operations, memorandum for Austin Bricker, Jr., Assistant to the Director, "Inquiry by Major Donald E. Keyhoe on John Hazen's Association with the Agency," 22 January 1959.

(64) See John T. Hazen, memorandum to Chief, Contact Division, 12 December 1957. See also Ashcraft, memorandum to Cleveland Resident Agent, "Ralph E. Mayher," 20 December 1957. According to this memorandum, the photographs were viewed at "a high level and returned to us without comment." The Air Force held the original negatives. The CIA records were probably destroyed.

(65) The issue would resurface in the 1970s with the GSW FOIA court case.

(66) See Robert Amory, Jr., DDI, memorandum for Assistant Director/Scientific Intelligence, "Flying Saucers," 26 March 1956. See also Wallace R. Lamphire, Office of the Director, Planning and Coordination Staff, memorandum for Richard M. Bissell, Jr., "Unidentified Flying Saucers (UFO)," 11 June 1957; Philip Strong, memorandum for the Director, NPIC, "Reported Photography of Unidentified Flying Objects," 27 October 1958; Scoville, memorandum to Lawrence Houston, Legislative Counsel, "Reply to Honorable Joseph E. Garth," 12 July 1961; and Houston, letter to Garth, 13 July 1961.

(67) See, for example, Davidson, letter to Congressman Joseph Garth, 26 June 1961 and Carl Vinson, Chairman, House Committee on Armed Services, letter to Rep. Robert A. Everett, 2 September 1964.

(68) See Maxwell W. Hunter, staff member, National Aeronautics and Space Council, Executive Office of the President, memorandum for Robert F. Parkard, Office of International Scientific Affairs, Department of State, "Thoughts on the Space Alien Race Question," 18 July 1963, File SP 16, Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, National Archives. See also F. J. Sheridan, Chief, Washington Office, memorandum to Chief, Contact Division, "National Investigation Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP)," 25 January 1965.

(69) Chamberlain, memorandum for DCI, "Evaluation of UFOs," 26 January 1965.

(70) See Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 199 and US Air Force, Scientific Advisory Board, Ad Hoc Committee (O'Brien Committee) to Review Project BLUE BOOK, Special Report (Washington, DC: 1966). See also The New York Times, 14 August 1966, p. 70.

(71) See "Congress Reassured on Space Visits," The New York Times, 6 April 1966.

(72) Weber, letter to Col. Gerald E. Jorgensen, Chief, Community Relations Division, Office of Information, US Air Force, 15 August 1966. The Durant report was a detailed summary of the Robertson panel proceedings.

(73) See John Lear, "The Disputed CIA Document on UFOs," Saturday Review (September 3, 1966), p. 45. The Lear article was otherwise unsympathetic to UFO sightings and the possibility that extraterritorials were involved. The Air Force had been eager to provide Lear with the full report. See Walter L. Mackey, Executive Officer, memorandum for DCI, "Air Force Request to Declassify CIA Material on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO)," 1 September 1966.

(74) See Klass, UFOs, p. 40, Jacobs, The UFO Controversy, p. 214 and Everet Clark, "Physicist Scores `Saucer Status,'" The New York Times, 21 October 1966. See also James E. McDonald, "Statement on Unidentified Flying Objects," submitted to the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, 29 July 1968.

(75) Condon is quoted in Walter Sullivan, "3 Aides Selected in Saucer Inquiry," The New York Times, 8 October 1966. See also "An Outspoken Scientist, Edward Uhler Condon," The New York Times, 8 October 1966. Condon, an outgoing, gruff scientist, had earlier become embroiled in a controversy with the House Unamerican Activities Committee that claimed Condon was "one of the weakest links in our atomic security." See also Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 169-195.

(76) See Lundahl, memorandum for DDI, 7 February 1967.

(77) See memorandum for the record, "Visit of Dr. Condon to NPIC, 20 February 1967," 23 February 1967. See also the analysis of the photographs in memorandum for Lundahl, "Photo Analysis of UFO Photography," 17 February 1967.

(78) See memorandum for the record, "UFO Briefing for Dr. Edward Condon, 5 May 1967," 8 May 1967 and attached "Guidelines to UFO Photographers and UFO Photographic Information Sheet." See also Condon Committee, Press Release, 1 May 1967 and Klass, UFOs, p. 41. The Zaneville photographs turned out to be a hoax.

(79) See Edward U. Condon, Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (New York: Bantam Books, 1969) and Klass, UFOs, p. 41. The report contained the Durant report with only minor deletions.

(80) See Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense, News Release, "Air Force to Terminate Project BLUEBOOK," 17 December 1969. The Air Force retired BLUEBOOK records to the USAF Archives at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. In 1976 the Air Force turned over all BLUEBOOK files to the National Archives and Records Administration, which made them available to the public without major restrictions. Some names have been withheld from the documents. See Klass, UFOs, p. 6.

(81) GSW was a small group of UFO buffs based in Phoenix, Arizona, and headed by William H. Spaulding.

(82) See Klass, UFOs, p. 8.

(83) See Wilson, letter to Spaulding, 26 March 1976 and GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78-859.

(84) GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78-859, p. 2.

(85) Author interview with Launie Ziebell, 23 June 1994 and author interview with OSI analyst, 21 July 1994. See also affidavits of George Owens, CIA Information and Privacy Act Coordinator; Karl H. Weber, OSI; Sidney D. Stembridge, Office of Security; and Rutledge P. Hazzard, DS&T; GSW v. CIA Civil Action Case 78-859 and Sayre Stevens, Deputy Director for National Foreign Assessment, memorandum for Thomas H. White, Assistant for Information, Information Review Committee, "FOIA Litigation Ground Saucer Watch," no date.

(86) See "CIA Papers Detail UFO Surveillance," The New York Times, 13 January 1979; Patrick Huyghe, "UFO Files: The Untold Story," The New York Times Magazine, 14 October 1979, p. 106; and Jerome Clark, "UFO Update," UFO Report, August 1979.

(87) Jerome Clark, "Latest UFO News Briefs From Around the World," UFO Update, August 1979 and GSW v. CIA Civil Action No. 78-859.

(88) See Wortman, memorandum for DCI Turner, "Your Question, `Are we in UFOs?' Annotated to The New York Times News Release Article," 18 January 1979.

(89) See GSW v. CIA Civil Action 78-859. See also Klass, UFOs, pp. 10-12.

(90) See John Brennan, memorandum for Richard Warshaw, Executive Assistant, DCI, "Requested Information on UFOs," 30 September 1993; Author interviews with OSWR analyst, 14 June 1994 and OSI analyst, 21 July 1994. This author found almost no documentation on Agency involvement with UFOs in the 1980s.

There is a DIA Psychic Center and the NSA studies parapsychology, that branch of psychology that deals with the investigation of such psychic phenomena as clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, and telepathy. The CIA reportedly is also a member of an Incident Response Team to investigate UFO landings, if one should occur. This team has never met. The lack of solid CIA documentation on Agency UFO-related activities in the 1980s leaves the entire issue somewhat murky for this period.

Much of the UFO literature presently focuses on contactees and abductees. See John E. Mack, Abduction, Human Encounters with Aliens (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1994) and Howard Blum, Out There (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990).

(91) See Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore, The Roswell Incident (New York: Berkeley Books, 1988); Moore, "The Roswell Incident: New Evidence in the Search for a Crashed UFO," (Burbank, California: Fair Witness Project, 1982), Publication Number 1201; and Klass, UFOs, pp. 280-281. In 1994 Congressman Steven H. Schiff (R-NM) called for an official study of the Roswell incident. The GAO is conducting a separate investigation of the incident. The CIA is not involved in the investigation. See Klass, UFOs, pp. 279-281; John H. Wright, Information and Privacy Coordinator, letter to Derek Skreen, 20 September 1993; and OSWR analyst interview. See also the made-for-TV film, Roswell, which appeared on cable TV on 31 July 1994 and Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 245-251.

(92) See John Diamond, "Air Force Probes 1947 UFO Claim Findings Are Down to Earth," 9 September 1994, Associated Press release; William J. Broad, "Wreckage of a `Spaceship': Of This Earth (and U.S.)," The New York Times, 18 September 1994, p. 1; and USAF Col. Richard L. Weaver and 1st Lt. James McAndrew, The Roswell Report, Fact Versus Fiction in New Mexico Desert (Washington, DC: GPO, 1995).

(93) See Good, Above Top Secret; Moore and S. T. Friedman, "Philip Klass and MJ-12: What are the Facts," (Burbank California: Fair-Witness Project, 1988), Publication Number 1290; Klass, "New Evidence of MJ-12 Hoax," Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 14 (Winter 1990); and Moore and Jaime H. Shandera, The MJ-12 Documents: An Analytical Report (Burbank, California: Fair-Witness Project, 1990), Publication Number 1500. Walter Bedell Smith supposedly replaced Forrestal on 1 August 1950 following Forrestal's death. All members listed were deceased when the MJ-12 "documents" surfaced in 1984. See Peebles, Watch the Skies, pp. 258-268.

Dr. Larry Bland, editor of The George C. Marshall Papers, discovered that one of the so-called Majestic-12 documents was a complete fraud. It contained the exact same language as a letter from Marshall to Presidential candidate Thomas Dewey regarding the "Magic" intercepts in 1944. The dates and names had been altered and "Magic" changed to "Majic." Moreover, it was a photocopy, not an original. No original MJ-12 documents have ever surfaced. Telephone conversation between the author and Bland, 29 August 1994

The A70 has been the site of the East 2 West Ufo Society Skywatches for many years now and has a strange mystique all of its own. Below is the complete article by Brian Allan of this famous Scottish incident.

An P-E-G Case Report

© Brian Allan 2000

Forward

My special and unreserved thanks goes to my friend, colleague, and paranormal researcher Malcolm Robinson for supplying invaluable original research material used in this article, particularly a transcript of Colin Wrights original hypnotic regression session. I also wish to express my thanks to Garry Woods for his willingness to be interviewed, recorded and once again relive this remarkable series of events. This particular incident unlike so many others is in some way ‘different’. There is an indefinable sense of ‘rightness’ about it, a feeling that something utterly bizarre and unearthly actually did happen.

This case like no other was a catalyst for many people, particularly for those who chose to sit on the fence refusing commitment to the idea of beings from other worlds visiting ours. That the purpose of these visits is totally altruistic is highly debatable, indeed, that the beings are from another world even more so. In this article I will attempt - based on new research into particle physics coupled with a highly controversial psychic experiment - to show that rather than being extraterrestrial, these humanoid creature are extradimensional and exploit this ability at will. Not only that, but governments the world over are aware of this and are attempting to simultaneously co-operate with them and develop our own version of their technology.

While I am convinced that this incident did happen, I have written this article primarily in the hope of stimulating debate in the minds of the general public. My research indicates that there other, less well charted regions of human consciousness and by presenting these alternative explanations for what occurred, perhaps I can cast some light into areas that we have previously regarded as magic.

The A70 Case Revisited

In 1992, at around 8pm on a quiet country road on the outskirts of Edinburgh, two ordinary men experienced an extraordinary event that has become enshrined in the annals of Scottish and world UFO mythology. The event, known as the A70 case, was the alleged abduction of the two men by extraterrestrials. Neither of the two men, Garry Wood and Colin Wright, expected anything out of the ordinary to occur when they set out on the fateful night of the 27th of August 1992. Their journey was from the south of Edinburgh on the A70 to the village of Tarbrax in East Lothian, a drive of some 15 miles. The journey, which normally takes around 30 minutes, was in connection with a domestic appliance repair. At around 10pm they drove through the clear summer’s night at about 40 mph chatting about family and other general issues. Rounding a blind corner, in the vicinity of the Harperrig reservoir Colin abruptly leaned forward exclaiming, “What the hell’s that?”

Garry peered through the windscreen, there ahead of the car; floating about 20ft above the road was a two-tiered disc shaped object. He remembers it being about 30ft wide, wider than the road, smooth, black and shiny with no windows or illumination. Garry, a motor mechanic by trade is familiar with mechanical devices and a range of metal finishes, found the appearance and finish of the object unusual. Wanting to get away as quickly as possible, he floored the accelerator urging their vehicle up to almost 70 mph. In Colin’s words, Garry was “Driving like a bloody madman”. As they passed below the hovering craft a shimmering curtain of light descended on the car, Garry describes it as like looking at a detuned TV set, just flickering lights. Instantly they were enveloped in total, complete darkness. Later under hypnosis Garry recalled standing (presumably) outside the car, it was still totally and utterly dark, not a hint of light, he could not even see the car; briefly he thought they had crashed and he was dead.

He blacked out for what subjectively felt like a few seconds, then abruptly he was awake and the car was veering all over the road. Garry could hear Colin shouting at him to watch out then thankfully, he was able to bring the car to a stop. They looked at each other in disbelief, what had happened? The cool night air was a relief as they gathered their wits. Setting off again, they arrived at their destination still discussing their bizarre encounter. Arriving at Tarbrax they pulled over at their friend’s house, Garry slipped his hand down to free the seat belt: it was already undone.

He was briefly puzzled but thought no more of it at that moment. Assuming the time to be around 10.40pm they unloaded the items from the car and carried them to the door of their friends house. They knocked on the door, several minutes went by, then they heard an upstairs window open and their friend’s head emerged. He enquired none to politely just what they were doing and informed them that it was quarter to one in the morning. Naturally they thought he was pulling their legs, but no, he was not, they had ‘lost’ two hours. The men had made the journey to Tarbrax several times and knew it normally took around thirty minutes. Entering the house in a state of some agitation, the men attempted to describe what they had seen; even sketching the craft they had witnessed hovering above the deserted stretch of road. It was well into the small hours when Garry and Colin left for Gilmerton on the outskirts of Edinburgh; not surprisingly they did not return by the same rout and neither man recalls much about the journey. When Malcolm Robinson originally interviewed the householders a few days after the event, they both agreed that Garry and Colin were both clearly agitated and from past experience knew neither man was prone to either lying or dramatics.

The following day Garry felt utterly drained of energy, more than just the result of his late night, he felt really worn out. The following few days did not help matters, he was not sleeping at all well, he experienced vivid, disturbing dreams and his sleeping patterns changed for the worse. Eventually consulting his doctor because of severe headaches, he was advised to have an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan, this proved negative. As an additional precaution in addition he underwent the uncomfortable procedure of a spinal tap but once again nothing untoward was diagnosed. Fearing ridicule, neither Garry nor Colin reported the incident to the police or media, they did however inform BUFORA (the British UFO Research Association). As a result of the event, Garry became engrossed in UFOlogy in an attempt at understanding what he had experienced. Eventually, heard of SPI and contacted them to arrange a meeting. This was arranged and after two preliminary meetings, Malcolm, SPI’s founder, suggested using the controversial technique of hypnotic regression to access what had occurred during this ‘missing time’. Although Garry and Colin had some misgivings, an initial session was arranged using Scottish hypnotherapist and psychic Helen Walters.

During the first session, Garry became very emotional and burst into tears, there was nothing specific, only vague images and impressions, later regression sessions were to prove much more revealing. In later sessions both men remembered sitting in the car, which was stopped in the middle of the road, small humanoid creatures, three to each side, opened both front doors. Colin recalls Garry being placed on a type of stretcher or carrier: none of the entities were supporting it; the ‘stretcher’ was free floating. Garry although he remembers none of this, does recall creatures approaching the car then a searing pain in his abdomen, as if his stomach muscles were being torn apart, as he says, “You know if you’ve been electrocuted, your muscles all cramp up and it’s really painful, you can’t let go, it was like that”.

For his part, Colin recalls walking up a ramp into the craft, which was lit by a dazzling white light. He remembers being in a circular corridor being led by one of the creatures. Although some of his recollections are hazy and seem to jump from scene to scene like a series of snapshots he distinctly recalls a room leading from the corridor. The room was utterly featureless except for an unusual chair; it was curiously curved, almost organic in shape. He was stripped naked and placed unresisting in the chair and subjected to some form of non-intrusive physical examination. He also remembers lying back in the chair looking at the ceiling, it was corrugated, translucent, there was soft, diffused lighting filtering through. This memory segued seamlessly into being naked in a transparent container made from a material rather like glass or Perspex; straps at the feet and ankles secured him. Outside the container he could clearly see other men and women, all naked and all in transparent containers like his. Blowing around outside the container was a mist rather like the ‘fog’ created by dry ice for stage and film visual effects. He also saw a number of tall, humanoid creatures, one was standing framed in a doorway opposite him, and another three were approaching the container in which he was imprisoned.

Abruptly the transparent material of his container began to frost up, he became alarmed and began to weep, no sooner had he done this than the frosting began to retreat, almost like film sequence running in reverse, until the material was once again perfectly clear. Colin nervously watched as an angular device rose from the floor. It was long and thin, like a rod with a small triangular head; two glowing red lights were set into one of the sides. There was a peculiar appendage about half way along the length of the device and the base was jointed at the floor. The entire machine moved up and down continuously and the appendage swung from left to right; although there was no pain, Colin thought it might be scanning him.

After Garry’s initial session his recall improved dramatically. Like Colin he described being in a featureless circular room lying on a flat table, he was unable to move although he does not recall being physically strapped down. He was aware of a black, lens shaped device in the centre of the room, the device was twisting and turning almost as if it were folding in on itself. It reminded Garry of a mobius strip. Although he had no idea of its function he heard it make a ‘whooshing’ noise as if air was being displaced. He had a further impression that the device was ‘tuning’ or stabilising itself. Prior to the steady whooshing sound he had the distinct feeling that the sound emitted by the device was ‘wrong’ and lopsided, almost as if it was in some way out of balance or synchronisation. The even whooshing noise indicated that it was now functioning normally. As he watched the device in fascination he suddenly became aware of a long, thin translucent arm extending over his chest towards his head, the arm abruptly dropped onto his chest near to his shoulder. This particular trauma affected Garry quite powerfully and he jerked out of the hypnotic trance his body convulsing. On another occasion, he remembers a hole forming in the floor; it was filled with a viscous liquid of some kind, like a gel. While he watched this, a small column rose from the floor, Garry described it as resembling a tin can. It continued to rise until it was around three feet above the floor; the device gave out a noise rather like an electric motor and began to rotate slowly. Part of the cylinder rose from the main body and extended towards him until it was level with his eyes.

The tip of he extension had two red, glowing dots, at this point Garry noticed the pool of liquid start to vibrate. From the liquid a tall, incredibly thin frail looking creature slowly, almost painfully, emerged. Although bearing a marked similarity to a traditional ‘grey’ it appeared emaciated, like a skeleton covered in skin. He remembers that the skin over its ribs looked discoloured and bruised. He later discovered that all the creatures had difficulty with the gravity and atmospheric pressure on, particularly the tall, thin translucent creatures that frequently tended to fall over. It was his impression that due to the bruised appearance of the creatures, the pool of gel was some form of therapeutic agent designed to treat the damage caused by their frequent falls. Bizarrely, he also recalled a small man apparently quite human dressed in a neat black suit complete with collar and tie who was watching the proceedings. He was standing among the entities all of which seemed quite deferential towards him.

In all, Wood remembers there being around 20 or 30 creatures present, the majority tall, a pallid grey colour and frail looking. One notable variation from this was a smaller, rather bizarre looking being with an odd heart shaped face. On its face were some strangely familiar markings, these comprised coloured facial stripes, three, diagonally on each cheek. These were reminiscent of the tribal markings normally associated with members of the Native American tribes. He looked at the creatures and mentally ‘asked’, “Why are you doing this”. The answer that appeared in his mind was surprising and not a little disturbing, one word: “Sanctuary”. While he was in telepathic communication with the creature he was able to ‘see’ fragments of its existence as if the process was a two way street, the creature found this amusing but could not prevent it. In a further mental communication the being ‘said,’ “In many was you are more advanced than us but you have been ‘capped’. Our existence is much like your own, we also have concerns and needs”. Just what ‘capped’ means is open to question, but it is quite given what had already been communicated that the inference was, our development either psychological, physical or both, has been deliberately slowed down. Were we likely to present a threat to someone or were we perhaps too immature to deal with the responsibility that our development would bring? Rather like handing a child a loaded gun…perhaps.

Garry is certain that at one point they were taken underground; from the table where he lay, he could see tunnels leading off from a huge, central chamber hewn form solid rock, there was also an enormous machine close to him, possibly it was another flying machine like the one he had witnessed above the road Perhaps Gary’s most worrying memory was seeing a young woman seated naked on the floor, facing the wall; one of the tall creatures was standing beside her. As Gary looked at her she turned her head towards him; her hair was in a loose shaggy perm with blond highlights. She was sitting shivering with her knees drawn up to her chin, her arms were wrapped around her knees cradling herself, she had been crying and was clearly in the same predicament as him. He is convinced that should they meet again he would recognise her instantly. It should be stressed that Gary is totally sincere in his belief and his sincerity shows, he certainly does not give the impression that he concocted the whole thing.

Following the alleged abduction and subsequent regressions, Gary and Colin dealt with their ordeal in different ways; Gary became deeply involved in the study of UFO’s and the paranormal to the extent of setting up his own research group. On occasions he has collaborated with another Scottish researcher, Ron Halliday. Colin on the other hand went in the other direction entirely and has effectively rejected the event and refuses to discuss the matter, but given the trauma associated with the incident this reaction is not totally unexpected. The Hypnotic Regression

What follows is a transcript of a session in an A70 related typical hypnotic regression supervised and conducted by Helen Walters:

Helen: “I want you to relive that night Colin, see it, feel it where are you?”

Colin: “Nowhere”.

Helen: “Where is nowhere”. Colin: “Just nowhere, complete blackness”.

Helen: “What are you looking at, what are you trying to see?”

Colin: “I feel I’m going up”.

Helen: “Going up?”

Colin: “Uh huh”.

Helen: “See it, feel it, can you hear anything”?

Colin: “Nothing” Helen: “See it Colin, nothing can harm you at this moment, listen to the sound of my voice”, Colin’s body jerked suddenly.

Colin: “ Creatures, I’m telling them to get lost”.

Helen: “Where are you”?

Colin: “I’m in a Bright room”.

Helen: “What are they doing”?

Colin: “They’re trying to undress me”.

Helen: “Tell me what’s happening Colin”.

Colin: “I’m sitting with no clothes on”.

Helen: “Where are you sitting”?

Colin: “A metal chair, it’s smooth and cold”.

Helen: “How do you feel”?

Colin: “Just cold”.

Helen: “Tell me what is happening Colin”?

Colin: “Something’s in my right eye”.

Helen: “What’s in your right eye”?

Colin: “I don’t know, it’s uncomfortable, like a red hot poker in the centre of my eye, it’s really sore”.

Helen: “Who is putting this hot poker I to your eye”?

Colin: “I can’t see anything”.

Helen: “Is your left eye open”?

Colin: “Uh huh”

Helen: “Why are you shaking your head”? At this point Colin was moving his head from side to side.

Colin: “I’m trying to get a good look at the thing, the thing that’s doing this to me to me”. Helen: “What’s Happening now”?

Colin: “Just took it out of my eye, my right eye’s really burning, my eye’s really watering, it’s gushing”.

Helen; “What kind of material was it, what did it feel like”?

Colin; “It felt like there was something clamped on it, that there was something going into my eye”.

Helen: “How did you get there Colin, how did you get there? I want you to relive your journey”

Colin: “The car is in a big, bright, metallic room”.

Helen: “How did it get there”?

Colin: “It was lifted”.

Helen: “How was it lifted”?

Colin: “I don’t know, I just feel it juddering and being lifted”.

Helen: “OK, go back to the beginning of your journey”.

Colin: “Just passing the reservoir on the left hand side, just passing the farmhouse on the right. Doesn’t make sense, there’s no road, nothing; the car is definitely off it. There seems to be some kind of force, there is nothing physical that I can see. I’m cold; I’m getting carried along at some rate”. Colin’s body gave a powerful twitch. “I’m in that chair again…something’s looking at me back in the corridor, it’s…it was…ahhh…it’s ugly”.

Helen: “Describe it Colin, describe the ugly thing”.

Colin: “It’s ugly and it’s lurking in that corridor, it comes and goes, it seems ancient to me. Ugly…it’s really badly deformed, I’m not scared of it any more”. Colin began to laugh. “It seems that this thing has been in a fight and it’s the loser. I think it’s trying to manipulate me”.

Helen: “In what way”?

Colin: “I don’t know, ii think I’m pissing it off because I’m not scared any more. I’m laughing at it, it’s weird it’s away”. Colin’s head turned to the right. “ I can hear a noise behind me, I can’t think of a word to describe it”. His body convulsed briefly. “I’m staring at a wee one”.

Helen: “A wee what”?

Colin: “ A wee creature, it’s not very happy with me, I don’t think I was supposed to look behind my chair for some reason. It’s looking at me with those black eyes but I’ll not give in”. Helen: “You won’t give in to what”?

Colin: “It’s trying to outstare me. It’s away; I don’t think it was very pleased with me. It just doesn’t want me to see what is behind me for some reason. If I try to do anything they’ll come round the corner and stop me”.

Helen: “What do you have on Colin”?

Colin: “Nothing, the chair is freezing, I keep wanting to get out of the chair but I bet it will be a big mistake”.

Helen: “Did they speak to you”?

Colin: “No, but I could tell it was pissed off. I’m looking at something, it looks like some sort of surgery tool, I think that’s what went into my eye”.

Helen: “Can you describe it”?

Colin: “It sort of comes down and bends to the left and then bends down again, it’s hard to describe. I’ve never see anything like it, it separates into four and there’s all just things hanging from it”.

Helen: “Move on from there Colin”. He convulsed again. “What’s happening Colin”?

Colin: “Two of them have got me by the feet and are dragging me toward a small archway”.

Helen “How did you get out of the chair”? Colin: “They grabbed me by the feet, I think I pushed them off”.

Helen: “What’s happening now”?

Colin: “They’re dragging me back to the car, they’re not fussy about hurting me”. More convulsions

Helen: “Where are you now”?

Colin: “Back in the car, back in the seat”.

Helen: “Do you have your clothes on”?

Colin: “Yes”.

Helen: “Go back to when you put your clothes on, what’s happening”?

Colin: “Putting my clothes on”.

Helen: “Who”?

Colin: “The wee aliens”.

Helen: “How many are there”?

Colin: “Four”. Again more convulsions. “There is a big alien in front of me doing something, my head is pounding. I don’t know if it’s giving me something or taking something out of my head. My mind goes black, then lighter, my head feels numb, it feels massive, it feels as if I’ve got a big forehead”. Colin’s hand came up and he rubbed forehead vigorously”

Helen: “What’s happening”?

Colin: “Shooting pain, I don’t know what they have done but it’s weird, my brain feels like it’s swollen and pushing my head out like it’s going to burst. I can’t handle this, it’s stopped, it’s weird”.

Helen: “Can you move on, where are you now”?

Colin: “Back on the road”.

Helen: “How did you get there”?

Colin: “Big bang then a thud”.

Helen: “Anyone in the car with you”?

Colin: “Gary’s looking at m, he’s bewildered, Garry’s asking me, did you see what I saw”?

Helen: “ Did you see Garry on your travels”?

Colin: “No, just now”.

View of Harperigg Reserviour taken from the A70 Photograph taken by Harry Sommerville.

As part of a recent BBC TV programme, Garry agreed to undergo a polygraph (lie detector) test supervised by Bud Hopkins an American UFO abduction guru and Professor Susan Greenwood a lecturer in psychology and presenter of ‘Brain Story’, a BBC series dealing with perception. While he was attached to the machine Prof. Greenwood asked Garry a series of leading question: he passed the test. Although this does not mean that he was actually abducted by alien beings, is does indicate that he believes something highly unusual occurred. It must be stressed that the use of polygraphs is a controversial issue, almost as much as hypnotic regression. It is claimed that the machine can be duped into accepting a response to a question as the truth when it is not. In the A70 incident this is entirely justified because there is one overall flaw in the evidence presented: the hypnotic regressions. A period of almost six months elapsed between the incident and the regressions, six months in which both men, because they were not conversant with the subject of UFO’s and UFOlogy, read all they could about the subject and the mythology surrounding the it, particularly Garry. This alone must render the disclosures as presented under regression unreliable, add to this the predisposition for the typical hypnotic subject to please the questioner by saying what is expected of them and the evidence begins to fall apart. Without these crucial statements what is left is the undeniable conviction of both men that a real event took place, an event that they cannot otherwise explain.

The machines currently in use today by various agencies are variations on a design devised in 1945 by John Edward Reid an American criminologist. All the devices rely on involuntary responses (emotional stress) generated by the body in response to direct questions, i.e. when telling a lie, in a normal person, breathing and blood pressure alter as does the galvanic response of the skin. Before the session begins the operator asks questions designed to act as a base line response and calibrates the machine accordingly, in other words he or she asks the subject to deliberately tell a lie. The machine however is not foolproof and various physiological elements can render the findings at best doubtful and at worst totally invalid. Examples of this are nervousness and mental disorders; likewise if the subject is a pathological liar then they will generate no change whatsoever in stress patterns when lying. Although widely used as an adjunct to criminal investigations, due to possible variations in response, evidence gathered from polygraph tests are not legally admissible as evidence. This is in no way intended to detract from Gary’s evidence or insinuate in any way that he fooled the machine, but merely to illustrate that polygraph derived testimony is not infallible.

The Alternatives

These then are the bare bones of the account, at the time no serious attempt was made to present the events in terms other than an extraterrestrial encounter. There are other equally valid explanations for what did or did not occur and none of them directly employ the ETH (Extraterrestrial Hypothesis) theory. The bottom line is: ‘something’ happened! Something so traumatic that both men unconsciously rationalised their experience in the only way that made sense to them, an alien abduction. The list of possibilities therefore include,

The events are a total fabrication or,

This was an actual alien abduction, or,

A MILAB, (Military Abduction) or,

An encounter with a powerful EM (electromagnetic) anomaly, or

A ‘time or dimension slip’, in other words a rip in the fabric of space / time.

The first of the possibilities, a fabrication, is very unlikely, neither man wanted or needed the notoriety such a claim would bring both to themselves and indirectly their families. Neither was there a likelihood of any financial reward, the obvious sincerity of the men, the subsequent hypnotic regressions and recent polygraph test also serves to rule out a deliberate and premeditated lie as a possibility.

The second, extraterrestrial intervention while possible is in the light of the other options less likely than it was previously. Certainly the incident bears all the hallmarks of many classic abduction cases and in common with these it contains a wealth of detail, the electrical malfunction of the car, the incongruous mist, humanoid ‘greys’ and other creatures, the medical examinations, the (possible) implants etc. etc. To be really effective though, one must first embrace the ETH as a reality to the exclusion of all the other possible explanations. While there are tens of thousands of people can and do accept this as a premise, there are equally tens of thousands more who do not.

The next alternative to alien abduction is a ‘MILAB’; this hypothesis while still remarkable is considerably more likely than the purely alien alternative. It is in many ways equally worrying, not least because the protagonists are not necessarily operating with the consent or authority of the British Government and are almost certainly working to their own, quite separate agenda, the potential for a political and military disaster is enormous. The likelihood of governments to target their own people for experimentation is far from unique; there are several instances where certain covert agencies in the United States, the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the NSA (National Security Agency) are typical examples, have perpetrated disgraceful covert experiments on specific ‘target’ groups of the American people. This was particularly true of experiments relating to experimental nerve agents designed for biological warfare, the prolonged effects of exposure to microwave radiation and cynical attempts to influence how people think using ‘psychotronic’ devices developed under ‘black’ projects ranging from Project Artichoke (originally sanctioned by former CIA chief Allen Dulles) to project MK-ULTRA which was officially terminated in the early 1970’s. Not surprisingly, this official termination did not end the project, for from it. This along with other covert enterprises, most notably the ill conceived ‘star wars’ project went ‘black’ and disappeared completely into the shadowy maze of the government / military /industrial complex. The manipulation of the ETH for government / military ends is both practical and logical, it is also likely that governments can and do set up ‘extraterrestrial’ close encounter incidents for their own ends, they have the funding, resources and technology to do so.

This is of course only a smokescreen to disguise possible inadvertent sightings during tests of their own experiments involving cutting edge, experimental military hardware. Perhaps to demonstrate some feigned interest, the police and media sidetrack and pay lip service to any reports made by the general public then quickly forget about it. What happened to Gary and Colin could easily fall under the heading of a classic MILAB scenario. In Scotland (and elsewhere) there are persistent rumours and sightings of large, totally silent triangular aircraft that have the uncanny ability to hover noiselessly one second then instantaneously accelerate away at remarkable velocities the next making no sound except a rush of air to mark their departure. There are also leaked stories of microwave inspired devices and machines designed to paralyse the human nervous system and render the affected person unconscious. These devices are used in covert mind control projects pioneered under the previously mentioned ‘MK-ULTRA’ using ‘psychotronic transmitters’.

Psychotronics were developed by intelligence agencies in both of the superpowers based on earlier, less reliable methods. The US originally attempted mind control using ‘narcohypnosis’, a technique employing certain hallucinogenic drugs, hypnosis and altered states of consciousness. Early forms of mind control employed by the former Soviet Union are less clearly defined due to the obsessive secrecy employed by the communist regime in power at the time. This policy was obviously re-enforced by the minimal civil rights implemented by the then Russian totalitarian state. Nonetheless, the former USSR did have programmes designed to investigate and develop possible methods of mind control, there can be little doubt that in many ways they emulated American techniques. For both powers, testing these methods in-house on ‘volunteers’ from the armed forces is one thing, but for various reasons, probably psychological, tests on selected unsuspecting members of the general public, the abductees, may be more valid due to the trauma experienced.

The means and will to perpetrate MILABS are in place and the desire to use them as a research tool is likewise present. The techniques employed to convince the unfortunate abductees rely on conscious altering techniques, chemicals, well-understood processes within the human brain and probably bio-electronic implants. Everyone’s brain is ‘hard wired’ in a similar fashion and if a given input is applied, the brain will respond in a fairly predictable manner and produce the desired images, memories and impressions. It is quite possible that repeat abductees are monitored on a regular basis to assess how well the experiment /implant /programming is progressing, and as a result experience abductions regularly. Another factor tying this to the A70 case is the appearance of a human being, the man wearing a black suit, this is common in many reported a MILAB’s. Not necessarily a man wearing a suit, but the presence of human beings interspersed with the aliens, humans who appear to be either in control of the proceedings or immune from them. It should be borne in mind that this incident and the regressions occurred years before the SF film ‘Men In Black’ was made. The shared mythology of grim faced, rather threatening Men in Black and UFO’s has been linked to sightings in various countries around the world. According to all reports, they always appear unannounced at the home of people who have had a UFO experience, particularly if the person involved managed to get a really good view of one of the objects and /or its occupants. Once they arrive, they make it abundantly clear through either thinly veiled threats or appeals to the person’s sense of national loyalty, usually both, that the person should forget the incident, or their (the MIB’s) appearance ever took place. MIB’s are also recorded as a facet of UFO sightings, but normally they appear to threaten /cajole after the incident, it is most unusual for them to be observed during the actual abduction.

The third option, an encounter with an EM field, is much more complex and subtle, not least due to the subjective impressions of the experiencers. In the A70 incident there are a number of factors to be taken into account. First, the source of natural EM fields, the area of the abduction is close to a natural geological fault in the Pentland Hills, which is an excellent source of EM radiation. If the tectonic plates flex or twist as a result of a micro-tremor a powerful discharge is created and pulsed to the surface. Next, the proximity of the Harperrig Reservoir; due to their ionising properties reservoirs and other stretches of water are another major factor in EM induced hallucinations. This gives rise to two possible scenarios, both based on the premise that the men and their vehicle had passed through such an EM field on the road to Tarbrax. The least likely of these two scenarios would involve both of the men being rendered unconscious, the car electrics malfunctioning and the vehicle stopping. Some time elapses and the men regain consciousness, the car engine restarts and they proceed and discover they have ‘lost’ two hours. For various reasons, not least the presence of other traffic, this is impractical, although the fact that the engine spontaneously restarts introduces another factor into the equation and it is a puzzle that is worth examining. If the engine restarts because the ignition key is turned by one of the car’s occupants, then this at least makes sense, but if it just abruptly begins running without the aid of a starter, then this is something quite different. In fact, as we shall see, when we consider the possibilities opened up by quantum physics, this introduces factors involving time and the ability to halt it, because if the engine was somehow halted in mid cycle then this would go some way to explaining other phenomena reported by abductees.

The second and much more conventional explanation is; when they entered the magnetic field they suffered a paroxysm or epileptoform seizure, these could well be subclinical (i.e. not requiring medical treatment), temporal micro-seizures but in effect caused the men to perform and function as if on autopilot. These micro-seizures interfere with the consolidation of incoming information to the brain. ‘The condition causes electrical spikes and transients in the brain, leading to sudden tingling in digits, fingers and nose, flashes of light – hallucinations - coloured balls of light etc. Hearing sounds, ringing, buzzing, hearing ones name being called. Strange intense smells, pleasant and unpleasant and dizziness with no obvious cause’. [J Gilroy - Basic Neurology - Pergammon Press 1973]. In this scenario they could drive around for some time totally unaware of their surroundings, or conversely, Gary may have parked the vehicle and they just sat there. When the effects wore off, Gary restarted the car and resumed the journey coming fully awake seconds after setting off and causing the car to swerve violently, although seemingly unlikely this scenario is not unique and is medically possible. The same or similar experiences have also been reported by persons suffering for the onset of migraines or migraines at (once again) sub-clinical levels (Gary’s severe headache), the effects of this include:

Noises, ‘hisses and rumbling, intense smells’, [extracted from ‘Migraine’ by Oliver Sacks pub. Picador 1973] Enhancement of Visual Threshold i.e.’ bright lights and increased illumination’ [Ibid] Sonic Enhancement; ‘faint sounds are unusually enhanced and thus misinterpreted’, [Ibid] Mosaic Vision; normal images become progressively degraded from normal through crystalline and iridescent, to grainy and almost cubist, [Ibid] Still Vision; a rapid flicker of still images like a film run very slowly, at 6–12Hz. Or ‘no life’ all is still and dead, time is ‘fractured’, this is known as ‘Cinematic Vision’ to neurologists. [Ibid]

Lilliputian Hallucinations; e.g. a male 38 years old reported seeing small grey humanoids crowding into his room. He was not afraid because they ignored him. Such hallucinations are typically followed by feelings of curiosity or amusement. Elementary Hallucinations include; blobs of light, stars and complex geometrical shapes. The electrical malfunctions lodge in the lower cortex, and visual and tactile regions of the sensory cortex, the condition can last for half an hour. Another effect created by this condition is of a blinding light, which moves outward across the visual field and can last for 20 minutes’ [Ibid]

The effects of EM fields on areas of the brain and particularly with people who are EH (Electrically Hypersensitive) can and does cause all manner of unusual and undesirable neurological and physiological symptoms including, ‘visions, hallucinations, fear, anxiety, being OOB (out of body), unconsciousness, feelings of being touched and watched etc’. This therefore demonstrates how external EM stimuli can and does affect the normal operation of the human brain by interfering with inherent bioelectrical processes within specific areas of the brain cortex.

The fourth and last possibility, that of experiencing a dimensional slip, although at first sight a complete outsider, is, when examined closely and current research into ‘string theory’ is taken into account suddenly becomes a distinct possibility, even a probability. Although theoretically possible in terms of quantum mechanics it was not until a recent unconnected series of amateur experiments revealed the distinct possibility of such contact. The theory is based on parallel universes and dimensions existing alongside our own, normally invisible and inaccessible, but during specific sets of circumstances the two interface with one another and a point of contact is established allowing transfer between the two realities.

‘Our universe seems to have four dimensions: three of space (up-down, left-right, forward-backward) and one of time. Although we can barely imagine extra dimensions, mathematicians and physicists have long analysed the properties of theoretical spaces that hare any number of dimensions’ [Graham P Collins, staff writer on ‘The Universes Unseen Dimension’, ‘Scientific American’ Aug 2000]. ‘Amazingly, in the past two years physicists have begun seriously examining the idea: that everything we can see in our universe is confined to a three dimensional ‘membrane’ that lies within a higher dimensional realm. The physicists may soon be able to detect and verify the existence of reality’s extra dimensions, which could extend over distances as large as a millimetre. Experiments are already looking for the extra dimensions effect on gravity. If the theory is correct, up-coming high-energy experiments in Europe could see unusual processes involving quantum gravity, such as the creation of transitory minute ‘black holes’. The theory is based on some of the most recent developments in string theory and would solve some long-standing puzzles of particle physics and cosmology’. [Nima Arkani-Hamed, Savas Dimopoulos and George Dvali, The Universes Unseen Dimensions, Scientific American Aug 2000].

The exotic concept of ‘string theory’ and multidimensions actually arise from attempts to understand the most familiar of forces: gravity. More than three centuries after Sir Isaac Newton proposed his law of gravitation, physics still does not explain why gravity is so much weaker than all the other forces’ [Ibid]. The ‘strings’ and ‘superstrings’ mentioned in these quotes are at the heart of this revolutionary concept. In particle physics, at the very core of the atom, along with the neutrons, protons, leptons and quarks etc there are ‘strings’, sometimes called ‘superstrings’. During experiments using particle accelerators, physicists noticed that one particular class of sub-atomic particle, the quark, never appear singly, but invariably in groups of two and three. Sometimes they are in a row and on other occasions turn in on themselves to form loops. These loops and rows vibrate at different frequencies. To give an idea of the scale: a string is to an atom as an atom is to the universe.

‘They are the basis of all matter, but the mathematics of superstrings gives nonsense answers unless space contains some extra dimensions beyond the usual three, or four including time. These extra dimensions were believed to be too tiny to worry about, smaller than a virus to the same degree as an ant is smaller than the universe. Any motion in an extra dimension would return to its staring point in too short a time to be measured. Experiments designed to detect such tiny dimensions would require energy far exceeding that available in the most powerful currently available atom smashers. In 1996, Dr Joseph Lykken of the Fermi National Accelerator in Batavia, Illinois, USA suggested that superstrings might have affects detectable at much lower energies. If so, other physicists calculated last year (1998), the hidden superstring dimensions could be bigger than originally thought. In fact hidden dimensions could be as much as the size of a small ant – about 1mm across.

Hardly huge you will agree, and there is a universe in there. But the visible universe is huge only in the familiar three dimensions of space. In additional dimensions the universe would be thin, the way a sheet of paper is thick in two dimensions and thin in another. In the hidden dimensions the visible universe’s thickness would measure on the order of one ten millionth of a billionth of a millimetre. So countless such universes could fit in the extra dimensions. According to Dr Lykken, “The specific laws of physics would be different in each of these universes or ‘branes’ (membranes), Their law of gravity would be the same as ours, but everything else would be different…but maybe they could form galaxies stars galaxies and planets” such parallel 3-D universes, or three-branes might contain unusual forms of matter, possibly forming stars, planets and strange people – all less than a millimetre from the home brane of the sun There’s no danger of bumping into alien universes however. Nobody can reach out and touch, or see, or send laser beams carrying messages to parallel braneworlds because light and matter are confined to each brane. “We are built of particles that cannot fall off and probe the extra dimensions,” said physicist, professor Dr Nemanja Kaloper of Stanford University’. [Tom Sigfried, (science writer) Dallas Morning Post, 5th July 1999]

The really bizarre thing about them is their properties. In other words, sometimes they are there and sometimes not, so, where do they go? Physicists have calculated that they enter a different state of existence in effect another dimension. Thus far, using string theory equations they have located the existence nine possible dimensions but can only rationalise five of them. Another explanation for parallel universes is based on the concept of ‘dark matter’ ‘Another example is the mystery in cosmology of what constitutes ‘dark matter’ the invisible gravitating substance than seems to make up 90% of the mass of the universe. This dark matter may reside in parallel universes. Such matter would affect our universe through gravity and is necessarily ‘dark’ because out species of is stuck to our membrane, so photons cannon travel across the void from the parallel matter to our eyes’ [Nima Arkani-Hamed, Savas Dimopoulos and George Dvali, The Universes Unseen Dimensions, Scientific American Aug 2000].

In other words, the parallel universes and dimensions may coexist with our own but are invisible to us by nature of a) their structure and b) the frequency at which they function. This leads to the theory that ‘extraterrestrials’ are in fact ‘extradimensionals’, perhaps even reflections of us existing in a separate dimension. They glimpses we occasionally have of them are distorted by probable temporal difference between the two realities.

In. this scenario the EM field may have created the portal and Gary and Colin either ‘fell through’, or the entities used or created a weakness in space /time to travel from their dimension. In this instance time would have no meaning at all, in effect the two men were in limbo until either rejected by the other dimensions, a reflex action as instinctive and involuntary as the human body rejects a virus, or, deliberately sent back into this time frame. Whether the visions both men recalled under hypnosis were memories of the beings inhabiting these alternate dimensions or fantasies culled from their subconscious is at the very core of this debate. It has been suggested by various groups of researchers that the entities described by both men during the regressions are in fact denizens of these alternate dimensions.

This falls into line with the train of thought that UFO’s and their occupants are a trans-dimensional phenomena rather than an extraterrestrial one. These concepts are based on how some UFO’s act and perform when observed, i.e. instantaneous movement, vanishing and re-appearing in the blink of an eye etc. In fact both of these explanations may contain part of the answer; it has been claimed recently by an amateur research body, ‘The Scole Group’ that under certain circumstances it is possible to forge a link between the two (or more) dimensions. During their five-year project, the Scole Group using mediums and psychics claim to achieve contact with discarnate intelligences from the ‘other side’, the ‘spirit world’ or for this propose, another dimension. Whether one accepts the reality and conclusions of these findings, some of the results do deserve close attention particularly in relation to the appearance of one of these entities. Once the mystical trappings are swept away, what one of their experiments using video cameras and a device called a ‘double psychomanteum’, revealed the image of a being the group decided to call ‘Blue’. (A ‘psychomanteum’ is an arrangement of mirrors or other reflective polished surfaces e.g. copper or brass).

Those attempting to either communicate with the dead or consult oracles have used this system for centuries, the user sits gazing into the mirror and according to the theory, the image of the spirit /oracle appears. Because of the mirrors, they dubbed this experiment ‘Project Alice’. ‘Gradually the line turned sideways and the square screen came into view, now seen from the front. The amazing thing was that as the screen rotated it had an image on it. This was a very clear view of an ‘animated interdimensional friend’ whose features, to say the least were not exactly our own. This friend has been named ‘Blue’. We leave you to decode whether the image is thought provoking. The group has no doubts. For them this was a fantastic result, which has been achieved, in fully lighted conditions’ [‘The Scole Experiment’, pp138 Grant and Jane Solomon pub Piatkus 2000].‘Further experiments did produce an array of images. There were things that looked like shrimps, an orange and yellow flower unfolding, a comet, eyes, lips even a beak. Another image resembled a rotating doorway’ [Ibid] Whether one accepts the validity of this type of phenomenon is entirely subjective, however, in this instance a video camera was mounted to replace the human being and allowed to record any images that appeared in the mirror. On this occasion ‘Blue’ appeared, during other sessions recorded a few days later, pinkish images of what may be planets suspended in space and pyramid shaped objects were captured on tape.

All very good except for one item: ‘Blue’. The entity which the group rather ingenuously named ‘Blue’ is to all intents and purposes a ‘Grey’, the ubiquitous occupant /pilot of UFO’s. The similarity is quite obvious, the elongated face, large, black, slanted eyes no discernable mouth or nose, the likeness is unmistakable. What then did the Scole Group record, the inhabitant of another reality/galaxy/dimension or an extraterrestrial? If they did achieve an astonishing breakthrough then perhaps this is proof that other dimensions actually exist alongside our own and are accessible. The basis for their experiments was the intention to demonstrate scientific proof of an afterlife, it would be foolish to dismiss the project out of hand as superstitious nonsense, this is akin to ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater’. Irrespective of their motives, if the video images captured by the group are of an interdimensional entity then it is feasible that Garry and Colin actually did find themselves, briefly, literally ‘out of this world’ in circumstances generated by the deliberate manipulation of space /time.

This concept also throws the standard idea of interstellar and intergalactic travel by means of ‘nuts and bolts’ vehicles into disarray and leads to other questions, i.e. are all genuine anomalous sightings recorded in the skies and on the surface of planet Earth the result of interdimensional visitations, or does the method of ‘travel’ involve dipping into an alternate universe. One of the theoretical methods of transport involves literally taking two points in space and drawing then together, actually folding space and passing directly across between the two folded sections. In effect what was described in Frank Herbert’s classic book ‘Dune’ as “The art of travelling without moving”. Or in line with contemporary theorising are controlled miniature black holes being used to punch holes in the very fabric of reality as we comprehend it and permit interdimensional travel? It is therefore quite possible that in physical terms, the ‘UFO’ (if that is what it was) never actually moved from the spot where Garry and Colin were abducted, instead it merely ‘phased’ itself out from our point in relative space/time into one of its own choosing. Correspondingly, their return, along with that of their car, was achieved by ‘phasing’ back into our continuum and releasing them, truly, the art of travelling without moving.

Footnote

What follows is a verbatim account from a recorded interview made on the Sunday the 25th of October 2000 between Garry Woods, my colleague Bill Devlin and myself. NB This interview was not conducted under hypnosis.

Assuming the results of the Scole experiments to be genuine, and the findings of particle physicists based in solid foundations, then the practise of spiritualism takes on a fresh and quite unexpected look. The prayers used in traditional spiritualism date from the 1950’s when, in order to deflect charges of witchcraft and sequent prosecution under arcane legislation, prayers were incorporated into services. The actual prayers are unnecessary as are invocations of God’s blessing; the real miracle lies in the talents of the mediums who produce the effects. Whether they believe that their talent comes from above is neither here nor there, all that matters is that it works. It is therefore possible that to produce these effects, mediums are capable of retuning or realigning their minds to a different frequency and cutting between the dimensions to make contact with…something, acting as conduits for two-way communication. There is no reason that, once the mechanics of this are understood, devices could not be developed to facilitate this communication and even permit transportation.

The car driven by Garry on the night of the event car, the silent witness in this affair also was adversely affected by what transpired, I asked him about this and other matters raised in the interview.

BA: “ I know you must be pissed off with the constant questions over the years, them and the same answers, but if possible could you try to forget it and pretend it’s the first time you’ve discussed this with anyone, will you try this”?

Garry: “Aye ok”.

BA: “How did you deal with the after effects of the incident”?

Garry: “After what happened, Colin and I went back looking in the area and found stuff that had been in the car, dusters, rags and bits and pieces, as if someone had been raking around in the car. After this my car started growing a white ‘foost’, [a vernacular expression for fungus or dust] all over it. (The car was an almost new Vauxhall Astra). You know the kind of thing that develops on battery terminals, like crystallisation, but all over the car. I was always at the car removing this growth, rubbing down the paintwork and repainting it. I couldn’t understand it. I know cars, it’s my job, I’m an ambulance mechanic. I thought maybe it’s a bad earth, so I changed the earths but it made no difference. I tried everything but it made no difference, inside the boot, it was everywhere, this white crystallisation”.

Garry also mentioned a dream experienced by both men,

Garry: “I spoke with Colin at great length, talking even before we talked to Malcolm (Robinson), the only thing we had in common was, like, we both sort of had a dream, I don’t know, like we were away for ten years, and we came back and our family had all changed and everything like that. I know this sounds a bit…daft, but that’s kind of like the way that he thought and I thought”.

BA: “Did you actually dream this while actually asleep or was it a general feeling”?

Garry: “ No, it was just a feeling, really odd, a feeling”.

BA: “How did Colin deal with the situation”?

Garry: “Well, Colin at first was interested in it, talked to a few neighbours and so on, then he said he didn’t want to carry on with it, he knew what he saw and now he wanted to get on with his life. I tried to give him books on it but he said he didn’t want to go into it any more, but if I found out anything to let him know. He still come and sees me, we’re still mates”.

BA: “Do you think Colin be prepared to talk about it”?

Garry: “Yes, probably, I could ask him for you if you want”.

BA: “Fine that would be fine, Garry, about the girl you saw in the craft, what about her, what became of her, did you see her again”.

Garry: “I don’t know how this must sound, but all I could think of was getting out of there. I wasn’t interested in her, I didn’t care what happened to her, all I could think about was me, I wasn’t thinking how could I help her, all I was bothering about was me. I would have murdered, killed, anything to get away from there, I just wanted away”

BA: “The hypnosis sessions, did the information come directly from the hypnosis or immediately after”?

Garry: “Yeah, aye, ahha, Colin would talk under hypnosis, I wasn’t as good a subject, I seemed to find it more difficult”.

BA: “The actual experiences of being underground, OK, obviously I wasn’t privy to the original sessions, why do you think you were underground”?

Garry: “The things I saw underground, I saw a big craft in a big, huge open space under the ground.

BA: “: Was it the same as the craft you’d seen”?

Garry: “Ummm, it’s very vague in my mind and it was just like tunnels, dark tunnels”.

BA: “It’s possible that this underground situation might not necessarily be on earth…it could have been anywhere…off this planet…could have been somewhere entirely different”

Garry, “Well, the creatures I saw…I saw different things, the thing I remember is a being, right in my face. It said to me, I’ve got a life, a life like yours but different, things happen to us, but what’s got to be done’s got to be done”.

BA: “Did they ever tell you why they were doing what they were doing”?

Garry: Well, ah, it asked me for something and I was crying, I said, I can’t help you I’ve got a wife and children and this and that, and what it said it wanted was sanctuary”.

BA: That was in some of the stuff I got from Malcolm, yes, sanctuary. When they asked for sanctuary did they think that you…that we could supply this sanctuary”?

Garry: “I don’t know…ummm, it’s all…it said, your not living like you should be living, that’s what it told me, you’re not living like you should be living”’

BA: “Did it elaborate on that”?

Garry: “It said we were more advanced than them, it what way I don’t know, it said something about we were all capped, in what way I don’t know”.

BA: “Capped, as in stopped from developing”?

Garry: “Capped, I don’t know. They had a lot of trouble with the pressure because the big ones kept falling over but the wee ones weren’t”.

BA: “Like the gravity was too intense for them”?

Garry: “Like heavy pressure on them, they couldn’t handle it”.

BA: “Yes, ok”.

Garry: “Like pressure, I was two objects going away from my chest, just two objects going away…up in the…”.

BA: “You were lying down at this time”?

Garry: “ Aye, I was lying down and I saw two objects getting lifted away, physical objects lifted away. They turned me round, moved me, they were interested in my left leg. What it was, it sounds daft but these things were happy to see me, it was like they were glad, I don’t know but that’s what it seemed like”

BA: “Did they hurt you, do you think they went out of their way to hurt you or it was just incidental to what they were doing”?

Garry: “Between me and you I wasn’t terrible worried, I used to run out of my bed screaming at night, you can ask my wife.

BA: “ Was this prior to this or after”?

Garry: “After, it happened, I would get out of bed screaming at night, I would run out of the house, I would hug the covers. Kim [Garry’s wife] would say “You idiot, get back into bed”. What helped me; it’s why I’m in the nick [condition] I am today and have a better quality of life, is through Helen Walters and the hypnosis. If it wasn’t for that I’d still be scared.

BA: “So she helped you get it out, externalise it”?

Garry: “Whatever she did made me realise that whatever was done, whatever took place isn’t going to hurt me, that’s what I realise now and that’s why I’m not so scared now”.

BA: “The procedures they [the abductors] carried out on you, were they invasive”?

Garry: “It’s hard to…it’s…something took up the full width of my ear, it was buzzing, like interference, it was the full width of my mind and it was buzzing. There was this thing on the other side like a flap and there were two eyes on it. In this place there was like an object up on the wall and it was watching me and it was something horrible, I didn’t know what it was”.

BA: “Malcolm mentioned a lens type thing in the room with you”.

Garry: “Aye, yes, the black lens thing, about seven feet wide and it was the shape of a black eye and there were four packs, one there and there”. [Using his hands, Garry indicated the general shape of an eye with equidistant four objects framing it] “They were like, you know how you get a box of chocolates and some have lines on then the packs, they were like that? They were making this object fold in on itself like a black liquid and it would start spinning round and making a perfect ‘whooshing noise’. I’m used to listening to engines running and this was a perfect noise, a perfect like, whooshing noise”.

BA: “Whooshing, a whooshing noise,… like air being moved”?

Garry: “Aye, well like something, like it was all off balance then spot on like it was running perfect. They turned me round again and there was like a circular hole in the floor and there was a gel like substance like wallpaper paste, a clear gel and I saw something moving in it and one of these creatures climbed out of the gel. At this point I jumped out of the hypnosis. Now, some of these creatures looked like…they were bruised and had to be in this gel stuff, you know if you’re in water, it’s a good shock absorber say you were in a liquid it was in a vacuum. In a liquid you could move in dimensional arcs without being splattered, you know? I think this gel stuff was something to do with that”

BA: “You mean you thought it was something to do with protecting against ‘G’ force”?

Garry: “Yes like that, but it was connected with healing as well”.

BA: “What else do you remember”?

Garry: “I was taken to this place and I saw these things”. [Garry sketched out odd, almost sperm shaped objects]. “I saw these things like they were really, really thin and they had a funny shaped head and there were lots of them and they kept coming towards me, bending on themselves and going away. Now, this place I was in, it was like a red mist and these things were swimming in the red mist and all these things kept coming, big ones and wee ones and they were all looking at me and then they were like, you know, an eel would do and they were all coming up looking. They would fold back on themselves and head away. I think these things; you know how you get tadpoles and frogs? Well. I think these things were these bigger things, the tall things. [For clarification, I pressed Garry on this point: according to him, the reference to frogs and tadpoles is an earthly comparison to a pre-adult stage in the development of the tall, frail, translucent entities. We also discussed similarities between what Garry described and the phenomena of ‘Rods’, allegedly ultra fast, thin, eel like entities captured fleetingly on individual frames of film and videotape by researchers in Mexico].

BA: “ Garry do these images come separately like snapshots or do they flow smoothly into one another”?

Garry: “Like snapshots, even with the hypnosis it wasn’t clear, it jumped around”.

BA: “What about other hypnotic sessions”?

Garry: “Aye, I remember in one of the sessions…these things were strong…and they could move, oh yes they could move. This thing looked into my life, one thing I will state, right, put this on record, I meet people who know me and I don’t know who they are, its like certain sections of my life, years, are missing out of my memory, I can back this up with some of my friends. This thing looked into my life”.

BA: “Do you think it stole your memory”?

Garry: “Well, no, it never stole my memory, it looked into my life and I looked into it’s [life] and it couldn’t stop me… and it thought it was funny, it just…it thought it was funny. Then it said to me “I’ve a life like you but different, things happen to us” Like it was showing me. I don’t remember what it did show me, but it did, it did look into my life. And it couldn’t stop me looking into its and it didn’t like it. It had a problem with it because I think in didn’t know I could do what I was doing to it. I was in a state, fear and this thing was you know trying to calm me down, like I was really freaking out. I would have done what I had to do to get away from there, I’d have stabbed, murdered, anything to get away. I remember rocks; somewhere they took us, like rocks. Have you ever seen slate? Jagged, all these rocks were like that, like slate sticking up. These things were standing there behind the rocks, like they were waiting for us coming there. I also remember floating like you’ve no control over where you’re going. You can’t do anything because you’re just everywhere, no co-ordination, no control at all. I remember that because I was panicking.

There was another thing, later. Kim (his wife) took a seizure and I had to take the boys to her mothers. I was working and I couldn’t look after them, so I took them to her mums. It was half six at night I was heading back with the boys and I was worried, I was in deep despair, really worried and I was panicking and crying to myself. Then there was this huge big, like thing, like a flash over the car, everything in the car, the whiteness, like magnesium white started to come in all over the car. It poured in all round us and the boys were screaming and…ahhh, I remember at the side of the road, stopped at the side of the road and I asked Garry (his oldest son) what he thought and he said “It was like being in heaven”. The youngest lad, he was being sick, but Garry, that’s what Garry actually said. … “It was like being in heaven… like being in heaven”….

Source & References:

Editor: Harry Sommerville, Director of East 2 West Ufo Society.

I would liked to thank Brian Allan for his kind permission to use this article on the East 2 West Ufo Society website and here in this newsletter. You can visit Brians own website at http://www.p-e-g.co.uk Brian runs PEG the help of his wife Ann. Brian J Allan, author of 'The View From The Abyss' ISBN#1-4241-1933-2 and 'Rosslyn, Between two Worlds' ISBN#0-9786249-1-2

By James Bartley © 2004

I have had the opportunity to observe at fairly close quarters how the media and the mainstream UFO research community has treated the subject of Alien Abductions. The media has by and large dismissed the subject out of hand as being frivolous and unworthy of serious study. This is due in large part to the CIA's infiltration and ownership of numerous media outlets. There are countless journalists who are paid "Assets" of the CIA and other Intelligence agencies. Nowadays many "Educational" programs on cable television are used to discredit the testimony of alien abductees and to debunk sightings of UFOs and non-human beings.

UFO Witnesses and Alien Abductees are dismissed as "UFO Believers" in the mainstream print and electronic media in the same way that private investigators and former government "Whistleblowers" who reveal government corruption and wrongdoing are dismissed out of hand as "Conspiracist." Words used as Weapons. Its an age-old psychological warfare tactic that has been utilized repeatedly against UFO witnesses and especially alien abductees. I have come to expect this from the Corporate Media.

Within the UFO community are a number of self-styled "experts" who have arrogated for themselves the right to speak and lecture on behalf of alien abductees everywhere. Yet, a close study of their work reveals serious flaws in their methodology. Reports of Reptilian beings sexually assaulting human women (and on occasion human men) are not given much credence by these self-styled abduction experts. Nor are reports of the kidnapping, debriefing, training and the utilization of alien abductees in covert operations by the United States Military taken seriously by the "Big Name-Big Shot" researchers. Abductee testimony describing these kinds of events are consistently and persistently ignored by the well-known researchers, most of whom I might add, aren't even abductees themselves. Is there an invisible line these well known researchers have been advised not to cross?

If so many people have reported those types of experiences over the years, then why are we still being hammered about the head with the familiar hypothesis that’s "it's all about a hybridization program by the Grey Aliens?" To me, the "Grey Hybridization Syndrome" is to the Drac-Reptilian Overlordship what the Vietnam War was to the CIA's Secret War in Laos. Vietnam was a sideshow. A bloody horrible sideshow to be sure but a sideshow nonetheless which provided a convenient cover for the massive drug trafficking out of the Golden Triangle area of Southeast Asia. Likewise, the fact that so much emphasis has been placed on the Grey Hybridization scenario obscures the primary role played by "hybrids" of Drac or reptilian ancestry who have over a great period of time, become the un-official rulers of the surface of planet Earth. This is not meant to marginalize or downplay the reality of the experiences of my fellow abductees who only remember experiences with the Greys and have been shown Grey-human hybrid babies.

If one wants to discuss hybrids then there is no better starting point then to study the minds and methods of serial murderers, serial rapists and pedophiles because a disproportionate number of the latter are Drac or reptilian hybrids. ("Dracs" refers to the ancient gargoyle species) Due to their Drac or reptilian genetics, they lack the kind of frontal lobe capacity, which acts as a safety net that prevents most people from acting out in a sexually sadistic manner. It should therefore come as no surprise that the so-called "Elite" of this planet often indulge in such practices as Incest, Pedophilism, human sacrifice and the institutionalized global trafficking of human sex slaves.

Even within the UFO research community there are a number of Drac or reptilian hybrids that promote the alien space brothers philosophy. Some of these Drac or reptilian hybrids are what I call "astral operators" who use their abilities to psychically spy on others or even to astrally rape and sodomize women, usually when the latter are sleeping.

Take my word for it: If someone presents themselves as an expert on reptilians and all they write or lecture about is bland generalities about "The Inner Earth" and "The Golden Age of Reptilianism" when the reptilians supposedly taught advanced sciences to Mankind and also helped to develop Mankind's Spirituality, just know that you, the listener are being fed "Chickenfeed." When you hear these things coming from lecturers I strongly advise you to look at the speaker's facial structure. Does the speaker have "hooded eyelids?" Does he have a pronounced ridge over his eyebrows? Are his eyes sunk deep into his eye sockets? Does his head unnaturally droop forward almost as if he's got an extra vertebrae in his neck? Does he have the ability to manipulate a woman's Kundalini from across a dinner table or across a room and cause her libido to skyrocket? All of these things should be common knowledge to other so-called researchers but unfortunately they are not. The reason for that is they can't see the forest for the trees.

The UFO research community is awash with disinformation artists, perps and disrupters of all kinds. Lets take the subject of military abductions, commonly referred to as MILABS. There is much disinformation about this subject as well. One person who is on the lecture circuit speaking about MILABS is a person who channels ASHTAR. My nickname for ASHTAR is REPTAR. This person's personal story is an amalgam of the stories of several other women who have had alien abductions and MILAB experiences. This person has assimilated the latter's information, repackaged it and now presents herself as not only an alien abductee but a MILAB as well.

She has been fed disinformation by the likes of Ed Dames for years now. What is curious is this person doesn't seem to be cognizant of the obscure nuances of the Alien Abductee or MILAB experience. She only seems to know about subjects, which have been previously written about or lectured on. Within the experiences of legitimate abductees and MILABS are countless obscure details that are unforgettable for the person who experienced them. These experiences may not linger in their conscious memory but when the subject is brought up by someone else, the legitimate abductee will almost always recognize these nuances within their own life experiences and will blurt out "that happened to me!" Yet, most of these details remain undocumented and only surface during private conversations with other abductees and MILABS.

To give just one example, I had a long series of conversations with Leah Haley during last years Eureka Springs UFO Conference in Arkansas. Leah is a living legend and a personal friend of mine and has spoken publicly about her many Alien and MILAB encounters. Throughout the whole weekend we kept triggering each other with stories from our own lives that would have left a non-abductee completely baffled and "out of the loop." We were speaking a language unique to people like us. It’s a language of commonality and shared experiences.

I have been the beneficiary of confidences shared by many abductees and MILABS. They have told me things that are not found in the literature. So it strikes me as odd that this gal mentioned above who is now lecturing at UFO and Conspiracy conferences about MILABS and Mind Control doesn't seem to be aware of these little known nuances that have been tucked away in the minds of legitimate Abductees and MILABS. I don't doubt that this gal, I'll call her Rhonda, has been subjected to some form of Mind Control or Behavior Modification herself. She serves the useful purpose of spreading disinformation and confusion about the subject and has been a source of grief for many MILABS in the past with her clumsy efforts at exposing MILAB encounters. These efforts usually led to more harassment and more manipulation meted out to the MILABS foolish enough to go along with her.

I have witnessed how Rhonda has marginalized and dismissed out of hand the testimony of other abductees. In my presence she told a female abductee friend of mine "I already know what you're going to say, anything you've ever experienced, I already know about." She thus violated rule # 1: You don't invalidate the experiences and memories of others without first doing your homework. The irony is that the gal she said this to have had more varied and wide-ranging experiences than Rhonda can ever conceive of. Rhonda was schooled in the old "Grey Hybrid" hypothesis by some of the big name non-abductee researchers and she probably wouldn't have been able to make heads or tails of the experiences of the gal whom she so callously dismissed.

Now Rhonda has presented herself as an expert on MILABS and Mind Control. What is being left out of almost all the writings on MILABS is the fact that just as the Aliens have utilized the inherent astral capabilities of abductees, the deep black military has also utilized the astral and psychic capabilities of MILABS.

In a future work I will elaborate on this concept but suffice it to say for now, MILABS used as "Astral Operators" can be made to perform as a "multi-task platform." They cannot only remotely view a distant location; they can act as a psychic "comm-link" to numerous other astral operators on the same "op." MILABS in the Astral Operator Mode have been used to identify targets on the ground that are subsequently taken out with smart munitions like J-DAMS. MILABS used as Astral Operators have identified the locations of groups of Taliban and Al-Qaeda members living in underground tunnel complexes in Afghanistan such as those built by former CIA asset Osama Bin Laden's family construction firm. Once these underground hideouts had been conclusively identified by MILABS, the precise location of the tunnel complexes are attacked with "Bunker Busters" delivered by strike aircraft. Likewise, special operations forces are sometimes sent to reconnoiter tunnel systems previously identified as Taliban and Al-Qaeda hiding places by MILABS. Of course the pilots delivering the smart munitions and the bunker busters, as well as the spec ops troops entering the cave and tunnel systems would never dream that some of the Intel obtained for their missions came from MILABS. That’s a given.

MILABS working as Astral Operators can provide instantaneous feedback to their controllers and can be diverted to other targets instantaneously. From the military controllers point of view, MILABS don't have the inherent deficiencies that say, spy satellites have. MILABS don't have to be launched out of Vandenberg AFB and sent into a polar orbit and wait for a particular region of the Earth to pass below them before they can be utilized. Has any of this been written or mentioned by anyone else in the lecture circuit? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a crashing sound?

Yet, what I have briefly described is just a small sampling of the sort of taskings military controllers mete out to MILABS under their control. How would you feel if you were made to direct an air strike against an Afghani or Iraqi village? How would you feel if some of the terrain in Afghanistan or the Balkans shown on television is identical to some of the places you were sent to on these MILAB OPS, both in the astral and in the physical state? (Truth to tell, there are some MILABS who glory in the role of Mind Controlled Asset but thankfully they seem to be in the minority.)

What I've described isn't even the half of it. What’s even more important is how the military controls the life of the MILAB in areas such as finance, employment, family relationships and inter-personal relationships with others outside the family. Remember, these people still have a life to lead. Joe and Jane Couch Potato can just sit and watch cable television all day and munch out on Cheetos. They are: Fat, Dumb and Happy. They don't have to worry if they start hearing popping noises in their ceiling or start seeing little black balls floating around their living room, or hear high pitched noises inside their head, or ponder the meaning of very vivid "training dream" the night before or suddenly find themselves in an underground tram or subway station with dozens of other people in the middle of the night. Or at any rate at a time when they are supposed to be in bed and sleeping.

I've known of MILAB cases where the MILAB was told by their military controllers that they were going to be moving to a new house shortly in a different neighborhood when all the "facts" like finances or the lack thereof, militated against such a move. And yet within a relatively short period of time, a sequence of events unfolded that made it possible for the family to move to the new location. Oftentimes the MILAB is "shown" this new location months or even years before the move. Such is the control that the Military can exert over the lives of MILABS.

I'm only discussing MILABS here. I'm not comparing them to any other "Project People" that are caught up in some other kind of government sponsored Mind Control program. There is a marked tendency amongst the Mind Control Research and Mind Control Survivor Crowd to dismiss out of hand any data or witness testimony that sounds dissimilar to their own experiences or understanding. This is a curious and self-defeating mindset. Its patently absurd to suggest that there is only a handful of Mind Control projects underway. The reality is that there are numerous mind control programs going on in parallel with one another. Indeed its not uncommon for controllers of one type of project person, to try to "access" someone else who is involved in another project in another part of the country. There are indications that there may be an over-arching "umbrella" that ultimately controls most if not all Mind Control programs. If so it has to be connected with the New World Order and the coming Global Dictatorship.

I encourage all abductees and MILABS to first look within for your answers. Become your own private Intelligence Agency. You, the person undergoing these experiences probably know more about what’s going on than most people on the lecture circuit for no other reason than you haven't been contaminated with all the distortions and falsehoods that are extant within the UFO and Mind Control Research Community. You, the abductee or MILAB can be the source of inspiration and guidance for your family members undergoing these experiences. Every one of you has the capability to become a leader in your own right. Don't wait for some big shot researcher to come around and tell you that your experiences are invalid. Make up your own mind about the subject. After all, you are the one that’s experiencing the alien abductions or the MILAB experiences. Become your own best expert. I found out a long time ago that it doesn't pay to have a "herd-mentality" where the subject of alien abductions are concerned. In the end, the only person you will be answerable to is yourself.
~James Bartley

Mainstream ufology needs to re-invent itself. The concepts, beliefs and fundamental assumptions that have driven it over its first half-century of existence are due for a major overhaul. Mainstream ufology ­ espousing one or another form of the Extra-Terrestrial Hypothesis or ETH ­ would be wise to acknowledge its cultural and historical roots as a bit of Forties and Fifties Americana. This is currently being extended beyond its shelf-life.

One potential re-invention is "earth lights" research: the study of glowing, polymorphous forms by night ­ either stationary or aerobatic, ranging from inches to several yards across - and shiny metallic or pitch-black forms by day. (The term "earth lights" is simply a nickname to distinguish the phenomena from ideas of ET craft.) To the earth lights researcher, most UFO reports are just that ­ reports. Only a very small percentage relate to anomalous phenomena, and of that small percentage, it is likely that most will be earth lights. It is possible, if unlikely, that a small portion relates to ET.

Like Aesop's tortoise, earth lights research has passed other ufological hares, now attracting significant funding and the interest of mainstream The informed, cutting-edge scientific hypotheses it provokes show up the ETH for the intellectual dinosaur it is. Moreover, it can offer more than just anecdotal evidence ­ a trend that looks set to outstrip any other ufological approach.

Charles Fort was among the first to note that strange "meteors" appeared coincidentally with earthquakes. It was not until the 1960s, however, that ufologist John Keel and French researcher Ferdinand Lagarde linked the appearance of unusual lights with areas of geological faulting and magnetic anomaly. In 1975, Andrew York and I mapped occurrences of recorded strange phenomena over a number of centuries in Fortean Times. Meteorological anomalies such as "strange lightning" and reported UFOs had their greatest incidence over the faulted regions of the county. Two years later, Michael Persinger, a neuroscientist and geologist at Laurentian University in Canada, together with Gyslaine Lafrenière, published a study of the United States which similarly indicated a correlation between higher levels of reported UFO activity and the locations of earthquake epicentres.

Persinger and Lafrenière saw UFOs as electromagnetic phenomena arising from the tremendous energy associated with the constantly rising and falling tectonic stress in the Earth's crust, whether or not full-blown earthquakes occurred. They visualised fields of forces operating evenly and quietly over large regions which could become focused at any given time in a few small areas of particular geological resistance or instability such as fault lines, mineral deposits, unyielding rock outcrops, hills, mountains and so on. They likened this to the energies in the atmosphere being equally capable of producing a gentle breeze over a wide area or a localised ferocity like a tornado. "The existence of man upon a thin shell beneath which mammoth forces constantly operate, cannot be over-emphasised," they argued. This was the first outing of what has come to be known as the Tectonic Strain Theory, or TST.

Harley Rutledge, a physics professor at Southeast Missouri State University, conducted field investigation of an outbreak of lights that began in 1973 around Piedmont. The results of this were published in Project Identification in 1981.

In 1986, Persinger with John Derr, a leading US geologist, studied an earlier outbreak of lights in the Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington State. Firewardens on the reservation saw huge orange lightballs floating above rocks, as well as smaller "ping-pong balls" of light bounding along ridges. Glowing clouds and subterranean rumblings were also noted during this period. The firewardens took photographs of the lights and triangulated the positions using radios. Scientific observations followed: Derr and Persinger showed that the Yakima lights were seen most often in the vicinity of the fault-riddled ridges that cut across the reservation and with Satus Peak, the general area of a surface rupture and one of the stronger earthquakes in the region during the 13 years covered by the study.

Successive reporting of lights occurred in the seven months preceding the biggest earthquake of the studied period. Regional seismic activity also increased during the times in 1972 and 1976 when most sightings were reported. (The irony of the Yakima case is that the reservation is adjacent to the part of the Cascades Mountains where pilot Kenneth Arnold saw the flight of nine glittering objects in 1947 that initiated the flying saucer era. In fact, Arnold landed his plane at Yakima airfield shortly after his

encounter.)

But it was the outbreak of lights at Hessdalen, a valley 70 miles (112km) south-east of Trondheim in Norway, that really switched on the earth lights.

>From about November 1981, people living in the mineral-rich area began

seeing unexplained lights. These appeared as white and yellow-white spheres, 'bullets' with pointed end downwards and inverted "Christmas tree" shapes.

Strong, localised flashes in the sky were also observed and there were reports of underground rumbling. By the summer of 1983, hundreds of reports of strange lights had been made by the inhabitants of Hessdalen, so Norwegian and Swedish UFO groups formed Project Hessdalen. From 21 January to 26 February 1984, the project continuously monitored the valley using a range of instrumentation, including radar, and succeeded in obtaining photographs of strange lights plus a number of instrumental readings. Such work then continued sporadically over a few years.

Jeroen Kumeling

by Dr. Greg Little

In part 1 of this series, the Gulf Breeze UFO Hoax was summarized with the conclusions of this sordid affair being twofold. First, the flap at Gulf Breeze was started by a series of hoaxes that certainly fooled many of the then-current key figures in ufology. But it also seems likely that the subsequent intense interest by many people who wanted to become involved in investigating Gulf Breeze led to formal psychological studies performed by the military, probably the Office of Naval Research. Even the Gulf Breeze supporters claimed that military helicopters often suspended and dropped flares to "trick them" into reporting UFOs. The key point is that after the hoax was perpetrated and a huge public interest was created, there was some involvement by the military, although the precise nature of it can only be speculated upon.

Part 2 presented a synopsis of field research conducted by Dr. Harley Rutledge, chair of the Department of Physics at Southeast Missouri State University, from 1973-80 in the region of southeast Missouri. Rutledge published his findings in his 1981 book, Project Identification: The First Scientific Field Study of the UFO Phenomena (sic). It is clear from Project Identification that the entire region of southeast Missouri was hit with a UFO flap in the 1970's that was witnessed by probably thousands of people, studied by a large team of university-based scientists as it was happening, and verified again and again as a genuine, unknown phenomemon. Rutledge, a physicist, strongly asserted that at least some of the reports were cause by manifestations of plasma. But oddly he reported that the plasma manifestations often interacted with the observers and him personally.

My wife is from New Madrid, Missouri and from 1976 to the present I have spent a great deal of time in that area. In 1982 I was in New Madrid, Missouri for a weekend, where I was writing a chapter for my 1984 book, The Archetype Experience. In the book, I mentioned an incident that occurred during that particular visit where a close "acquaintance" related a missing time episode to me. The event took place during a deer hunting day trip in woods near the Mississippi River. Not related in the book were this individual's stories about seeing inexplicable lights flirting around above the river and these same lights being seen by many other people "landing" on islands in the river and rapidly taking off. Essentially the lights shot instantly into the sky.

Last month (April 2010) I managed to obtain 5 more reports from the New Madrid area, most of which took place in the mid-1970s. One report occurred in 1993, however, and it involved about a dozen people. None of these cases have been previously detailed.

Two more highly credible witnesses told of lights on the remote and uninhabited islands in the Mississippi River about 10-miles north of New Madrid. In both cases these lights were glowing orbs that landed and then were seen to dart back into the sky. Based on the descriptions, there is no craft that could have moved as the witnesses described. Three other credible people (including a former teacher and a former bank President) told me about watching a bizarre disk-shaped craft silently glide directly over them near downtown New Madrid late at night in 1973. The "craft" had a rotating rim with varying colored lights and was estimated as about 50-feet in diameter and was only a few hundred feet in the air. The object was solid because it blocked the stars and sky as it moved. Another witness I interviewed, who was then a teenager, saw the same object from another area of the town and immediately assumed that it was some sort of military craft, but the complete silence of the moving object was baffling to him. The two adults related that the craft was completely "other-worldly" and they dismissed the idea that what they had seen could have possibly been some sort of experimental aircraft. They decided to not mention it then for fear of ridicule and because it looked like something from another world.

The most bizarre report I heard came from a mother and daughter who gave nearly identical accounts of an event in 1993. They were driving home at night from a basketball game that took place about 30 miles south of New Madrid. After stopping at a restaurant, they were followed in their car by a line of other cars returning back to New Madrid. As they were driving on a rural back road through farmland with treelines at the edges of the fields, they spotted an intense orange light in the middle of the road several hundred yards in front of them. They slowed the car and got to within a hundred yards of the light form, stopped, and got out of the car. The orange glow was now visible as a disk-shaped object with a rim of rotating lights, changing from orange, to green, to amber, and white. It was hovering just over the road in complete silence and was larger than a car. As they stood and watched the odd object, the line of cars following behind them also stopped and many others got out of their cars to watch. After a few minutes, the object seemed to rotate slightly and an orange ball of light shot out of a side making no sound whatsoever. Immediately the object rose up and shot off the road and disappeared over a treeline in the distance. The many witnesses talked about the event among themselves but no formal report was made.

In 2003 another intense UFO flap took place further west in Missouri. The many reports that were made to the National UFO Reporting Center, the military, local authorities, and media were very similar to the earlier reports in southeast Missouri. Most of the sightings were of odd balls of light but some witnesses saw rotating disks with lights spinning around the rim of the object. While many of these recent reports were identical to the 1970's sightings, it is clear that the military was often in the vicinity, verified either through helicopters or jets being seen. Similarly, as Rutledge reported from the 1970's investigations he conducted in the Piedmont region, on many occasions miltary helicopters and fighter jets were associated with the phenomenon he was studying. The implication of the military presence isn't clear but two possibilities immediately come to mind. Either the military was "causing" some of the reports or they were trying to investigate the phenomenon. Rutledge also came to that same conclusion, but after consulting with the military, he assumed they too were studying the phenomenon—not creating it.

Military Experiments?

My first hunch in such cases is the possibility that some sort of experimental aircraft is undergoing testing. While many ufologists immediately dismiss experimental aircraft as the cause of some of their most intriguing cases, that is sometimes behind some UFO reports and can often be a very interesting conclusion in itself. For example, decades ago I interviewed 3 witnesses who saw a triangle-shaped, black object silently glide over their heads as they sat outside one dark evening in Millington, Tennessee. After getting the details, I obtained a then-current copy of "Janes: All the world's aircraft" and copied a specific page. The house where the witnesses were located was about a half-mile from a runway at what was then the largest active inland naval air station in the U.S. The base has huge hangars, large enough to completely enclose the largest aircraft in existence. I showed the rendering of the "top secret" plane I copied from Jane's to the witnesses and all three immediately agreed that was what they saw. It was a B2 bomber prototype. Apparently the plane was flown to the huge base at night and the witnesses' description of the object making "no sound" implies it was gliding in with minimal power to land—and using no lights. Over the years I have concluded that many UFO reports are truly "Unidentified Flying Objects" to the witnesses, but they are certainly known to some agency or group within the military. I found something similar in my investigations of the black unmarked helicopters often observed over farmer's fields —and often linked to mutilations. It was information supplied from two separate sources that solved this mystery for me. One of the individuals was an active General in the National Guard and the other a physician who served as Medical Officer on DEA missions to South America. Both of these people told me about their missions and how they were conducted. At the time they told me these details I was working in criminal justice for various government agencies. In brief, unmarked military helicopters do fly all over vast rural areas at night, as well as in many other countries. The operations are essentially continual and ongoing, depending on weather and funding. There is sophisticated imaging equipment in these craft, which are capable of running in a nearly silent mode. The imaging and software utilized by the computers that process the imaging data are capable of seeing through roofs and walls and identifying halide lights, heat sources, and even identifying individual marijuana plants growing along streams, in fields, and inside structures. Those who are convinced that the military is doing mutilations for some sort of research simply reject the drug detecting use of the unmarked helicopters. And that's just fine with the people who are involved with the drug eradication program. (A program that has enough small "victories" to encourage continued funding and near complete failure to make a significant impact—which also encourages expansion of the program.) I have previously dealt with the mutilation aspect of the unmarked helicopters, which I see as having nothing whatsoever to do with UFOs.

Returning to the Piedmont UFO cases, I have tried to make sense of the cases that are NOT simply anomalous lights: disk-like objects seen by witnesses, rotating lights, hovering oval objects that shoot out balls of of light, and so on. There are some "lighter-than-air" craft that exist; for example, dirgibles that are disk like and experimental blimps of differing shapes. But the truth is that these do not explain what the witnesses were seeing, no matter how far the evidence can be stretched. And these lighter-than-air craft that I have managed to find were not in development back in the early 1970s nor has anything else emerged that even remotely matches the reports. Thus, I do not think that the saucer-shaped forms with the rotating and pulsing lights are experimental craft. As to precisely why military jets and helicopters sometimes zoomed into the area where Rutledge and his team were actively investigating a current UFO observation, the answer seems obvious. The military was doing the same thing that Rutledge was doing: trying to determine what the unknown lights and objects actually were. There are several other reasons why I say that this conclusion is obvious, and those reasons will emerge in a later article. However, people who know how to search government document repository libraries can find what is going on if they are willing to sift through mountains of non-digital government journals, obscure government-sponsored research reports, and military journals.

Yakima, Washington Research

Washington State has certainly had its share of UFO reports and virtually everyone interested in the phenomenon is aware that the whole flying saucer craze was started by Kenneth Arnold's 1947 encounter, which actually took place not too far from Yakima. A long series of "UFO-like" reports, in many ways similar to the Piedmont UFO reports, took place on the Yakama Reservation, not far from the city of Yakima located in south-central Washington State (the tribe name and city name are different by one letter). While the number of these reports peaked in 1972-74, the phenomenon continues to this day. Also notable is the fact that highly scientific research on the Yakima phenomenon began during the peak years, and the research continues despite some setbacks. Although there have been fewer scientists involved in the Yakima studies, in some ways the research is more important than that at Piedmont.

The Yakama Tribe, like many others, has legends and an oral history that seemingly takes the UFO-like activity on their reservation well back into time. For example, they have stories of "little people" known as "stick Indians" and legends of light forms. However, the earliest documented UFO report that I can find from Yakima comes from 1957. The report was gathered by Greg Long in an interview of Larry George, who was then stationed in a no longer existing fire lookout on Simcoe Butte on the southern extreme of the 1.3 million acre reservation. George was scanning the forests for fires when he saw a light in the sky, about the size of Venus, suddenly dip into a canyon. During the next years George had more sightings, but the vast majority of reports came in the early 1970s. Another article by Long, published in the July/August 1994 IUR Journal, related that fire lookout Dorothea Strum was reporting the strange lights as early as 1960.

Most of the reports were made by fire lookouts stationed at three key locations on the reservation. One particular ridge on the lands, called Toppenish Ridge, was a focal point of the reports. In general, most reports described glowing orbs of light, often orange in color, that moved up and down the ridges formed by the faults. Other reports involve red, white, green, blue, and yellow balls of light. The light forms would change shape and color, move erratically, and sometimes shoot beams of light to the ground. From 1972 to 1978, Bill Vogel collected 92 written sighting reports, but in a 1978 article in the Tri-City Herald, Vogel stated that in 1975-76 there were two or three reports made each night. In another article published by the Yakima Herald-Republic in 1978, Vogel said that virtually all of the people engaged in fire lookout posts had seen the anomalous lights. On the few occasions where the lights were in close proximity to the observers, they had odd sensations and curious experiences.

One large volume on the ensuing research at Yakima was published by CUFOS in 1990. The book, titled "Examing the Earthlight Theory: The Yakima UFO Microcosm," was written by UFO researcher Greg Long. In the book, Long relates that in 1972 Vogel contacted J. Allen Hynek who met with Vogel in April at Toppenish Ridge. The lights had actually become a problem for the fire watchers as they sometimes would be mistaken as a fire. Hynek then made a request to the tribe for permission to study the phenomenon. The Tribal Council granted the request and engineer David Akers from Seattle was asked to organize and conduct the research. Akers set up a variety of instruments and finished a two-week study for Hynek's organization. However Akers has continued research into the anomalous lights at Yakima until only recently, when the Tribe decided that it was time to discontinue the formal study. Akers maintains a research website on Yakima and is associated with a worldwide scientific group devoted to studying anomalous lights. Reports are now made through a voluntary system set up by Akers.

The results of the research have led Akers to have a disdain for using the term "UFO" to describe the Yakima phenomenon, because to most people it immediately implies something extraterrestrial. But the anomalous lights are certainly unidentified and very real, at least in the sense that they can be seen, photographed, and measured in various ways. In some cases the lights appeared to follow some of the many fault lines on Toppenish Ridge, but the vast research that has been done shows that the lights have been seen nearly everywhere in that region. Akers has also found that unusual magnetic phenomena are associated with the lights.

For example, a 2001 study conducted by Akers reported on the results of a 12-hour magnetometer recoding made from the Satus Fire Lookout on the Yakama Reservation. The study found numerous inexplicable magnetic pulses lasting from 30 mSec to 15 sec. The pulses showed a "patterned symmetry" with characteristics of some sort of an unknown "mechanical origin." Akers related that no anomalous lights were observed during the study but that there were similarities between the collected data and similar data recorded during anomalous light displays elsewhere. A total of "845 pulse events of unknown origin" were recorded. Akers noted that the pulses were not typical of natural phenomena or seismic forces. Akers also wrote that it would be "very easy to classify these signals as 'machine made' as opposed to 'natural' origins."

Greg Long's 1990 book on Yakima concludes that the phenomenon greatly diminished after Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980, and that the plasma and related tectonic strain theories did appear to have at least some validity with the Yakima reports. However, Akers has written me stating that the phenomenon does appear to have lessened somewhat, but has continued to the present. And today, there are many reports coming from the region, especially around Mt. Adams. The lower number of reports may well be due to fewer people looking.

The Yakima reports also include a handful of "close encounters" with humanoids, odd mental phenomena, and strange creatures. And there are many cases that appear to show that the lights interacted with the observers, precisely as was the case at Piedmont. In essence, what the Yakima research certainly demonstrates is that something very real does manifest and we have yet to determine precisely what that is. My long-term hunch, which remains my best hypothesis, is that a plasma-like energy is involved. I detailed this idea in both my 1990 book, People of the Web, and in the 1994 book, Grand Illusions, as well as in sections in Ronald Story's Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters. The plasma theory will be the topic of a coming feature, and it involves the magnetic anomalies found by Akers' 2001 study.

My Own Investigations At Toppenish and Where It Points

In the mid-1990s, I spent many weeks in Washington State doing consulting work for the state including at least 3 weeks at Yakima, where I had several nightly vigils watching the focal point of the activity—Toppenish Ridge. I also visited newspapers and libraries and gathered as many newspaper articles and reports as possible and talked to a lot of people. I saw nothing whatsoever unusual there at night. However, what I did find came as a surprise, the type of surprise that occurred before digital cameras were invented and we had to have film developed. One of the things that I did was take about a dozen 35mm photos of Toppenish Ridge during the daytime. Appearing in all of those photos, and significantly on none of the other photos on the same roll of film, were opague blobs of amorphous white light. The blobs were not at all similar to modern "orbs" but were well-defined shapes and in most photos the background of the ridge or sky was visible "through" them. According to the professional university photo lab I was using back then, they were not developing defects but were just curious anomalies that they couldn't explain. I also took 8 consecutive photos through a window of a plane as I was flying from Seattle to Yakima. There was a low and dense cloud cover beneath the plane but the top of Mt. Rainier could be seen and that was what I wanted to photograph. After developing those photos I was surprised. The 8 photos showed a dark orange "blob" that progressively moved from under the plane to the top of Mt. Rainier. It was intriguing to me then, but at the time I was diligently working on other matters. All of these anomalous images will be released later.

One of the most unpopular UFO theories of all time was actually proposed by Kenneth Arnold himself and curiously can be found cited in the now-declassified 1949 government Project Sign UFO report. Naturalist Ivan T. Sanderson and writer Vincent Gaddis also were proponents of this unpopular idea. But the major name associated with this seemingly bizarre theory is Trevor James Constable. It goes by several variant names but it is best known as the "Space Animal" or "Space Critter" theory. Kenneth Arnold wrote that UFOs are "groups and masses of living organisms that are as much a part of our atmosphere and space as the life we find in the oceans." Sanderson wrote that it was "the most probable explanation" of UFOs. Constable, however, gave the most detailed explanation writing that they "are amoebalike life-forms existing in the plasma state. They are not solid, liquid, or gas. Rather, they exist in the fourth state of matter—plasma—as living heat-substance..." He went on to relate that they are in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic energy spectrum and thus, are typically invisible.

As a section in Ronald Story's Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters relates, "The space animal theory has never captured the public imagination, and it has not been seriously considered by most UFO researchers." Indeed. Rutledge's research has also been largely ignored because there isn't much in it that pointed to an extraterrestrial presence. There were no crashed saucers. No tales spun 35 years later by witnesses who either were not there or have false memories. No conspiracy. Yakima remains only a curiosity to UFO researchers because it too doesn't point to something extraterrestrial. No crashed saucers there, either. In mainstream ufology, Yakima and Piedmont are used as evidence that scientific research has proven the existence of UFOs, but this statement is then used as a springboard to give credence to assertions that do "capture the imagination" of the public. There are few books on "space critters" that have or ever will sell well, and it's quite difficult to tie government conspiracy ideas, the use of "alien" technology, or crashed saucer tales into it. Conspiracy, faked saucer photos, hoaxed crash cases, faked documents, and tales of secret alien research do sell and make great tv shows.

The really interesting question in this unpopular idea of plasma forms with an intelligence is, at least to me, how to explain the more bizarre aspects of ufology—the things that appear to involve mystical, occult, or supernatural events. How, for example, are abductions explained?

“The higher the degree of strangeness in an event, the greater its information yield is likely to be.”

- French cyberneticist, Joel de Rosnay

In Brazil during the 1950's worldwide "UFO Flap" comes a report of one of the most bizarre accounts on record—the seduction of Antonio Villas Boas. The first recorded incident of a UFO abduction in the modern age happened to the 23 year old Brazilian on October 15, 1957. It also stands as a well documented "physical" case with doctors examining the effects after his encounters.

Researcher Bruce Rux relates, "reluctant to tell his story, Boas was convinced by Dr. Olavo T. Fontes, Professor of Medicine at the National School of Medicine of Brazil and also an APRO representative, to publicly relate what happened, which he did on February 22 of the following year to Fontes, journalist Joas Martins, and a Brazilian military intelligence agent. Boas had been found to be suffering from radiation poisoning, and Fontes was curious. Among the symptoms were 'pains throughout the body, nausea, headaches, loss of appetite, ceaslessly burning sensations in the eyes, cutaneous lesions at the slightest of light bruising...which went on appearing for months, looking like small reddish nodules, harder than the skin around them and protuberant, painful when touched, each with a small central orifice yielding a yellowish thin waterish discharge.' The skin surrounding the wounds presented 'a hyperchromatic violet-tinged area.' The military intelligence man interrogated Boas, and he was subjected to a battery of physical and psychological tests. The most conservative of UFOlogists accept his abduction as an actual occurrence."

While the actual abduction occurred on the 15th, his strange encounters began ten days earlier. A little after 11 PM on October 5, Boas spotted a bright white light in the sky as he opened the window to get some air. Later that night after sleeping for awhile Boas awoke and looked again to find the same light still there, moving toward him as he looked at it. Frightened, he slammed the shutters, waking his brother, who watched with some astonishment as the bright light played through the shutters awhile before leaving.

Boas lived on his family's farm. They had several fields and plantations, which they farmed at night to beat the heat in the daytime. On the 14th, around 9-10 PM, Boas again with his brother, were out tilling the fields, when they both witnessed an extremely bright light a little over three hundred feet above their heads. Boas, leaving his brother behind, set out to investigate. As he got closer it "suddenly darted away at tremendous speed to the opposite end of the field. He approached it again, and again it darted away, back to where it had started from. This maneuver was repeated 'no less than twenty times.' At last discouraged, Boas returned to his brother."

Boas said, "The light kept still for a few moments longer in the distance. Now and again it seemed to throw forth rays in all directions, the same as the setting sun, sparkling. Then it suddenly disappeared, as if it had been turned off. I am not quite sure if this is what actually happened, for I cannot remember if I kept looking in the same direction all the time. Maybe for a few seconds I glanced elsewhere so it may have lifted up and disappeared before I had the time to look back again."

The next night he worked the fields alone, and when he was at the same spot he and his brother had witnessed the light the night before, he saw a reddish light in the sky which zoomed toward him at remarkable speed, "so quickly that it was on top of me before I could make up my mind what to do about it." About 160 feet above his head, it stopped suddenly. This light was so intense that he couldn't see his tractor's headlights through it at 1 AM. Boas said it looked like "a large elongated egg" with several technical features about it. Three legs extended from beneath it, and as it settled to land, Boas ran to his tractor in terror. When he reached it, the tractor and its lights died. Making his escape out the other side and running toward the house, his arm was grabbed by "a small figure (it only reached to my shoulder) in strange clothes, which he violently shoved away. Three more small figures surrounded him and lifted him off the ground by the arms.

Inside the Craft: The Encounter

Boas described these creatures in great detail, "All...of them wore a very tight-fitting siren-suit, made of soft, thick, unevenly striped gray material. This garment reached right up to their necks where it was joined to a kind of helmet made of a grey material that looked stiffer and was strengthened back at nose level. Their helmets hide everything except their eyes, which were protected by two round glasses, like the lenses in ordinary glasses. Through them, the men looked at me, and their eyes seemed to be much smaller than ours, though I believe that may have been the effect of the lenses. All of them had light-colored eyes that looked blue to me, but this I cannot vouch for. Above their eyes, those helmets looked so tall that they corresponded to what the double of the size of a normal head should be. Probably there was something else hidden under those helmets, placed on top of their heads, but nothing could be seen from the outside. Right on top, from the middle of their heads, there sprouted three round silvery metal tubes (I can't tell whether they were made of metal or of rubber) which were a little narrower than a common garden hose. The tubes, which were placed one in the middle and one on each side of their heads, were smooth and bent backward and downward, toward the back. There they fitted into their clothes; how I cannot say, but one went down the center, where the backbone is, and the other two, one on each side, fitted under the shoulders at about four inches from the armpits—nearly at the sides, where the back begins. I didn't notice anything at all, no hump or lump to show where the tubes were attached, nor any box or contrivance hidden under their clothes.

"Their sleeves were narrow and tight-fitting to the wrists where they were followed by thick five-fingered gloves of the same color, that must have somewhat hindered their movements. As to this, I noticed that the men weren't able to double their fingers altogether, so as to touch the palms of their hands with the tips of their fingers. The difficulty did not prevent them from catching and holding me firmly, nor from deftly (later) manipulating the rubber tubes for extracting my blood. Those overalls must have been a kind of uniform, for all the members of the crew wore a red badge the size of a pineapple slice on their chests, and sometimes it reflected a shiny light. Not a light of its own, but reflections such as those given by the rear lights of a car, when another car lights it up from behind. From this center badge there came a strip of silvery material (or it might have been flattened metal) which joined onto a broad tight-fitting claspless belt, the color of which I can't remember. No pocket could be seen anywhere, and I don't remember seeing any buttons either. The trousers were also tight-fitting over the buttocks, thighs, and legs, as there was not a wrinkle nor a crease to be seen. There was no visible hem between the trousers and shoes, which were actually a continuation of the former, being part of the self-same garment. The soles of their shoes, were different from ours: They were thick, about two or three inches thick, and a little turned up (or arched up) in front, so that the tips looked like those described in the fairy tales of old, though the general appearance was that of common tennis shoes. From what I saw later, they must have fitted loosely, for they were larger than the feet they covered. In spite of this the men's gait was free and easy, and their movements were swift indeed. Perhaps the closed siren-suit they wore did interfere slightly with their movements because they kept walking very stiffly. They were all about my height (1.64 meters tall, in shoes), perhaps a little shorter because of those helmets, except for one of them, the one who had caught hold of me out there—this one did not even reach my chin. All seemed strong but not so strong that had I fought with one of them one at a time I should have been afraid of losing. I believe that in a free-for-all fight I could face any single one of them on an equal base."

It's interesting to note the similarities between Boas' descriptions of the creatures clothing and that of fairies. "The 'unevenly striped' uniforms sound not unlike the sort parti-colored clothing design one might expect on an elf, or perhaps an evil jester," researcher Bruce Rux speculates, "even with bent 'hoses' sticking out of the head like tasseled bells on jesters' caps."

At this point, while resisting as best he could, Boas found himself being pulled up a flexible metallic rolling ladder into a hatchway, which closed behind them "so neatly that no seam was visible to the naked eye." Now he found himself inside a small square room, bare of furnishings, brightly lit—"the same as broad daylight"—by recessed square lights in the smooth metallic walls. Suddenly an opening appeared, from the seamless wall, and Boas was led into another room. "The only furnishings visible was an oddly shaped table that stood at one side of the room surrounded by several backless swivel chairs (something like barstools). They were all made of the same white metal. The table as well as the stools were one-legged, narrowing toward the floor where they were either fixed (such as the table) to it or linked to a moveable ring held fast by three hinges jutting out on each side and riveted to that floor (such as the stools, so that those sitting on them could turn in every direction)."

His abductors then grabbed and held him in place while communicating in sounds that had "no resemblance whatever to human speech...I can think of no attempt to describe those sounds, so different were they from anything I have ever heard before...Those sounds still make me shiver when I think of them! It isn't even possible for me to reproduce them...my vocal organs are not made for it." He compares the sounds to animal grunts, "some...longer, others shorter, sometimes containing several different sounds at the same time, at other times ending in a tremor."

Curiously, these creatures then began undressing him, despite his constant opposition. "They obviously couldn't understand me, but they stopped and stared at me as if trying to make me understand that they were being polite. Besides, though they had to employ force, they never at any time hurt me badly, and they did not even tear my clothes, with the exception of my shirt perhaps." Stripped naked, they rubbed him all over with a thick clear odorless liquid, and then was prompted in another room with red inscriptions over the door, "like scribbles of a kind entirely unknown to us", he would recount. "Soon two of the figures joined him, carrying apparatuses with which they took some blood from his chin, leaving small scars that were later noticed by the doctors at the hospital but that caused him no pain and only minimal discomfort."-(Rux)

The Succubus

Boas says he was left alone for about an hour and made himself comfortable on a large, featureless foam rubber-like gray bed or couch in the middle of the room, with no legs. From holes in the wall from about the height of his head came tufts of gray smoke that quickly dissolved. At first, Boas felt nauseated and as though he was being suffocated. Then he rushed to one corner of the room, vomited, and after that his breathing was easier. A little while later a door opened and in walked a naked woman! Ralph Blum:"Villas Boas speculated that the clear liquid was an aphrodisiac; to my mind the 'logic' of the story suggests that it was a germicide of some kind; and that the 'smoke' was a chemical that permitted the alien to breathe without her helmet (the rest of the crew wore helmets throughout the encounter). It could be that the blood was relevant to some criteria of interbreeding."

"She came in slowly, unhurriedly, perhaps a little amused at the amazement she saw written on my face. I starred, open-mouthed ... she was beautiful, though of a different type of beauty compared with that of the women I have known. Her hair was blonde, nearly white (like hair dyed in peroxide)—it was smooth, not very thick, with a part in the center and she had big blue eyes, rather longer than round, for they slanted outward, like those pencil-drawn girls made to look like Arabian princesses, that look as if they were slit ... except that they were natural; there was no makeup. Her nose was straight, not pointed, not turned-up, nor too big. The contour of her face was different, though, because she had very high, prominent cheekbones that made her face narrowed to a peak, so that all of a sudden it ended in a pointed chin, which gave the lower part of her face a very pointed look. Her lips were very thin, nearly invisible in fact. Her ears, which I only saw later, were small and did not seem different from ordinary ears. Her high cheekbones gave one the impression that there was a broken bone somewhere underneath, but as I discovered later, they were soft and fleshy to the touch, so they did not seem to made of bone. Her body was much more beautiful than any I had ever seen before. It was slim, and her breasts stood up high and well-separated. Her waistline was thin, her belly flat, her hips well-developed, and her thighs were large. Her feet were small, her hands long and narrow. Her fingers and nails were normal. She was much shorter than I am, her head only reached my shoulder ... Her skin was white (as that of our fair woman here) and she was full of freckles on her arms. I didn't notice any perfume ... except for a natural female odor ... And another thing I noticed was the hair in her armpits was bright red, nearly the color of blood." Bruce Rux points out that "a later recounting of Boas's story included the mention that her pubic hair was also bright red, which may have omitted from the original publication of Boas' encounter due to the sexual mores of the time. Details of his encounter which followed were not published either, but apparently he did discuss them—albeit with some embarrassment—when relating his story to Dr. Fontes and Mr. Martins."

Boas recounts that the woman came toward him "in silence looking at me all the while as if she wanted something from me." Pressing herself to him, he understood what her purpose was. "I began to get excited ... I ended up forgetting everything and held the woman close to me, corresponding to her favors with greater ones of my own." Apparently, they had two sexual encounters and performed a variety of acts together for about an hour, after which the woman pulled away to leave. "[A]ll they wanted [was] a good stallion to improve their stock," Boas would say. He said that he enjoyed the encounter, even if the woman refused to kiss. Bruce Rux remarked that after all, he had just thrown up. Instead the "woman" preferred to bite his chin, while making sounds, that in Boas' mind, sounded like "animal growls." She never spoke. When they were finished , one of the other creatures entered and called out to the woman. "But before leaving, she pointed to her belly, and smilingly (as well as she could smile) pointed to the sky—southward, I should say. Then she went away. I interpreted the signs as meaning to say that she intended to return and take me with her to wherever it was she lived." He seem to be concerned, or even afraid about the last, "for he took the meaning quite seriously and wasn't sure if he was anxious to leave his familiar surroundings or his family," Rux writes.

After fetching the woman, the creature returned Boas' clothes. He was led back to the room with the stools and table, were the crew sat and communicated with each other in their strange way, ignoring him. He felt altogether calm, "for I knew no harm would come to me." Now he had a chance to take stalk of his surroundings, and he tried to remember all he could. He noticed that the walls were smooth, metal and hard, with no windows anywhere. Noticing a box with a glass top that had the appearance of an "alarm clock," he attempted to conceal it. Noticing this, one of the crew seized it instantly and shoved him back. Jacques Vallee said that Boas described the clock as having one hand and several marks that would correspond to the 3, 6, 9, and 12 of an ordinary clock. However, although time passed, the hand did not move, and Antonio concluded that it was no clock.

"The symbolism in this remark by Villas-Boas is clear", Vallee injects. "We are reminded of the fairy tales ... of the country where time does not pass, and of that great poet who had in his room a huge white clock without hands, bearing the word 'It is later than you think.'"

The creatures continued to lead him through the ship, pointing out various interesting features which Boas described at length with a remarkable amount of detail. Boas stressed that there was no doubt in his mind whatsoever that he was aboard a metal craft. The tour finally over, one of the figures gestured him down the ladder, then pointed to itself, to the ground, "and then in a southerly direction in the sky," the same direction the woman had pointed. Boas was signaled to step back, and the ladder retracted, the ship rose, the tripod landing struts retracted—once again, so smoothly that once in place no sign of the opening through which they had emerged was visible—and stopped a little over a hundred feet above his head, "[growing] increasingly brighter. The buzz formed by the dislocation of air grew louder, and the revolving saucer began to rotate at a terrific speed, while the light turned to many shades of color, finally settling on a bright red. As this happened the machine abruptly changed direction by turning unexpectantly and producing a larger noise, a kind of 'shock' ... When this was over, the strange airship darted of suddenly like a bullet southward, holding itself slightly askew, at such a heady speed that it disappeared from sight in a few seconds."

It was about 5:30 in the morning when Boas returned to his tractor, by his reckoning four and a quarter hours from the time he had been picked up. He discovered the tractor had been sabotaged, presumably during the scuffle, meaning that his abductors were smart enough to know he would try escaping and that they had knowledge of how a tractor works: the battery wires had been detached. For about three months after his encounter, Boas suffered various mild medical ailments such as those described above, and excessive sleepiness, a trait commonly found in subsequent abduction cases.

Antonio Villas withdrew from public life to continue his studies, receiving a law degree and becoming a practising attorney in the city of Formosa, Gojas. He died in 1992 in the city of Ubera, in Brazil's Triangulo Minero.

Fear, Sanity, and Crossing the Line

By Michael Swords

We are intrigued by the UFO phenomenon. We are amused, excited, fixated by it. Some of us reject it, some loudly, violently. The violence betrays an excitement as well. Some of us sympathetically study and critique it. And some go "all the way" and cross the line. They arise in the mornings emotionally living in a world visited now and often by occupants of UFOs.

This latter group is very different from the rest of the entire spectrum of violent debunkers to deeply interested and sympathetic UFOlogists (and also most thrill-seeking camp-followers). Oddly, the debunkers and the sympaths have something much more in common with one another than the sympaths care to admit: neither of them will really, fully, emotionally, cross the line.

Why not? Is there something in common which produces the debunker's violence and the sympath's arm's length "objectivity?" Perhaps there is . . . an emotional something rather than an empirical one.

I would like to contribute something to that interesting psychosocial mystery, but do it in an oblique manner. I would like to do it in the words of C. S. Lewis, the great Christian theologian, as well as science fiction author. The materials below are from Perelandra, written in 1944. Other than omitting some irrelevant (for our purposes) interspersed phrasing and sentences, I have changed one word: Lewis' "eldila" (an extraterrestrial angelic being, which might be good or bad) for "extraterrestrial." I leave in the part about the "angels" and spirits, as it applies to the matter-at-hand of current UFOlogical ideas, and crossing the line. I will also leave out the name of the character to be visited by the storyteller, and you can for "X" substitute the name of your favorite contactee/abductee or crossed-the-line UFOlogist. We enter Lewis' story as he walks across the English countryside to visit his friend "X" who has told him that he has seen and communicated with these extraterrestrial beings.

"I kept on telling myself that it would be perfectly delightful to spend a night with X and also kept on feeling that I was not enjoying the prospect as much as I ought to. It was the 'extraterrestrials' that were my trouble .

. . to have met an extraterrestrial, to have spoken with something whose life [may] be practically unending . . .

"Much worse [was] my growing conviction that . . . the 'extraterrestrials'

were not leaving him alone. Little things in his conversation, little mannerisms, accidental allusions which he made and then drew back with an awkward apology, all suggested that he was keeping strange company; that there were--well, Visitors--at that cottage.

"As I plodded along the empty, unfenced road which runs across the middle of the common I tried to dispel my growing sense of malaise by analyzing it.

What, after all, was I afraid of? The moment I had put this question I regretted it. I was shocked to find that mentally I had used the word "afraid." Up till then I had tried to pretend that I was feeling only distaste, or embarrassment, or even boredom. But the mere word afraid had let the cat out of the bag. I realized now that my emotion was neither more, nor less, nor other, than Fear. And I realized that I was afraid of two things--afraid that sooner or later I myself might meet an 'extraterrestrial', and afraid that I might get 'drawn in'. I suppose everyone knows this fear of getting 'drawn in'--the moment at which a man realizes that what had seemed mere speculations are on the point of landing him in the Communist Party or the Christian Church--the sense that a door has just slammed and left him on the inside.

"As to my intense wish never to come into contact with the 'extraterrestrials' myself, I am not sure whether I can make you understand it. It was something more than a prudent desire to avoid creatures alien in kind, very powerful, and very intelligent. The truth was that all I heard about them served to connect two things which one's mind tends to keep separate, and that connecting gave one a sort of shock. We tend to think about non-human intelligence's in two distinct categories which we label 'scientific' and 'supernatural' respectively. We think, in one mood, of Mr.

Wells' Martians, or his Selenites. In quite a different mood we let our minds loose on the possibility of angels, ghosts, fairies, and the like. But the very moment we are compelled to recognize a creature in either class as real the distinction begins to be blurred: and when it is a creature like 'these extraterrestrials' the distinction vanishes altogether. These things [do not come and go as do] animals--to that extent one [may have] to classify them with the second group; but they have some kind of material vehicle whose presence could (in principle) be scientifically verified. To that extent they belonged to the first group. The distinction between natural and supernatural, in fact, [is breaking] down; and when it does so, one realizes how great a comfort it had been--how it had eased the burden of intolerable strangeness which this universe imposes upon us by dividing it into two halves and encouraging the mind to never think of both in the same context. What price we may have paid for this comfort in the way of false security and accepted confusion of thought is another matter."

As Lewis plods onward toward X's cottage and the threat of emotional acceptance and being drawn in, he lives the CSICOPian nightmare of being forced more and more to confront the unincluded and be pushed across the line.

"My only sensible course was to turn back at once and get safe home, before I lost my memory or became hysterical, and to put myself in the hands of a doctor [a Ph.D. in a 'respectable university', no doubt]. It was sheer madness to go on."

Or to risk looking through the telescope.

"This was upon me now. I staggered on into the cold and the darkness, already half convinced that I must be entering what is called Madness. But each moment my opinion about sanity changed. Had it ever been more than a convention--a comfortable set of blinkers, an agreed code of wishful thinking, which excluded from our view the full strangeness and malevolence of the universe we are compelled to inhabit?"

Lewis is almost ready to cross the line.

Debunkers and sympaths walk Lewis' dark road with somewhat different attitudes and emotions, but in the end they both sense the precipice and back away--one screaming and back-turned for "home," one wary and hesitant in limbo. Those who have leapt into the dark precipice, who have been "drawn in," are fundamentally changed, and may not recognize their profound difference from their wary friends, or realize the power of the barrier which separates them. They may "talk UFOlogy" but do so from parallel universes only partly intersecting. One must continue to hold back and talk science; the other may not anymore see the need to.

Where are you on Lewis' path? Is there a "correct" place to be, or merely a preferred one? And, can we understand one another, or at least tolerate? It may be "easy" to be taken up involuntarily and hurled across the line into the precipice, but it is (it seems) a very difficult matter to voluntarily allow oneself to be drawn in without such "assistance."

The above is from a Roman Catholic who has crossed the precipice toward God, afterlife, soul, and angels, but who remains a wary watcher at the Edge of UFOs and their Inhabitants. The author and one of his brothers also saw, along with several human occupants of West Virginia's Kanawha Valley a reasonably good Close Encounter of the First Kind. CEIs are, short of something like Father Gill's "distant" CEIII, the ultimate UFO tease. They can pixy-lead you "away from home" but not all the way to Fairyland. A CEI is an incomplete form of knowledge, just at the right emotional distance to allow one to know what one saw and stay safely on this side of the precipice . . . but not run away.

Conspire.com

PART 1

Jacques Vallee hesitated before agreeing to be interviewed about the subject for which he's most famous: UFOs. It's not that he's reluctant to discuss the topic, or tussle with the skeptics. After all, he's written close to a dozen books on UFOs, several of them best-sellers, analyzing a notoriously ethereal subject as a hard-headed physical scientist, folklorist, and sociologist. He believes there is more than enough solid evidence to make a compelling case for the existence of UFOs, and he doesn't shy away from an honest debate.

It's the hard-core believers who give Vallee pause. Anyone who has observed the semi-academic cockpit known as "UFOlogy" knows that close encounters of the UFO expert kind shed little light and much heat, dogma and territorial sniping. Vallee's views about UFOs are far more exotic and far stranger than what he calls the reigning "nuts and bolts" approach to the subject. Consequently, he's been attacked by believers so often that he jokingly refers to himself a "heretic among heretics." As Vallee puts it, "I will be disappointed if UFOs turn out to be nothing more than spaceships."

In his recent autobiographical book, Forbidden Science, Vallee summed up his views about the provenance of UFOs, a viewpoint that he's developed through decades of research: "The UFO Phenomenon exists. It has been with us throughout history. It is physical in nature and it remains unexplained in terms of contemporary science. It represents a level of consciousness that we have not yet recognized, and which is able to manipulate dimensions beyond time and space as we understand them." So much for anti-gravity-powered starships ferrying Big Brothers from outer space. Vallee thinks UFOs are likely "windows" to other dimensions manipulated by intelligent, often mischievous, always enigmatic beings we have yet to understand. (60 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time covers Vallee's theories in detail.)

No other UFO researcher has contributed more to an admittedly controversial field. But Vallee commands a measure of respect that must leave his colleagues feeling a bit envious. Even Philip Klass, the avionics expert and the media's favorite UFO-debunker, calls Vallee "one of the more distinguished members of the pro-UFO community." Vallee, he adds, "is one of the brighter physical scientists who believes in UFOs."

Vallee moved to America from his native France in the early 1960s, as young astronomer-turned-computer scientist. Vallee pioneered the use of computers to analyze and categorize the UFO phenomenon, and his 1965 book, Anatomy of a Phenomenon, is still considered one of the most scholarly books on UFOs ever written. At Northwestern University, Vallee assisted Prof. J. Allen Hynek, the academic consultant on the Air Force's infamous Project Bluebook, now seen by most saucer students as either a half-hearted government effort to address the UFO craze of the 1950s and 1960s or a full-blown coverup. While working with Hynek, Vallee and his wife, Janine, compiled the first-ever computer database of UFO sightings.

In 1969, Vallee published another groundbreaking book, Passport to Magonia, in which he collected a body of folkloric "myths" that read remarkably like modern UFO encounters, from Celtic tales of fairyland abductions to Biblical passages and medieval chronicles of "visitors" from beyond. Building on Carl Jung's thesis that UFOs are a sociological phenomenon, a product of the collective unconscious, Vallee forever left behind the space-bound E.T. theorists. But his folklorist's approach to the problem would influence a number of later researchers and writers who continue to echo his ideas about other-dimensional forms of consciousness. Best-selling author Whitley Strieber, Harvard "abductee psychologist" John Mack, and journalist Keith Thompson (author of Angels and Aliens all owe a debt to Vallee. Stephen Spielberg paid homage to Vallee in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, basing his French scientist character (played by Francois Truffaut) on the real French UFO theorist.

We recently had lunch with Vallee in San Francisco at restaurant around the corner from the offices of his high-technology venture capital firm. Part 1 of that interview covers Vallee's theories about UFOs and his belief that science can penetrate mystery of flying disks and alien beings. In Part 2, which we'll publish later this month, Vallee discusses the second sphere of his researches: The connection between the UFO phenomenon and the religious impulse. Vallee believes that the intelligence guiding UFOs is a kind of control mechanism, an invisible hand shaping the development of human consciousness over a period of eons. In the second installment he also talks about the theory that from time to time governments have manipulated public opinion through UFO mythology--in some instances constructing elaborate hoaxes for propagandistic purposes.
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60GCAT: Why are Americans obsessed with the idea that outer space aliens are the pilots of UFOs?

Vallee: I think Americans, if they are interested in the subject, are very literal. They want to kick the tires, which is a good American thing to do. They want to do reverse engineering on the propulsion system. And when I tell them, "Look, maybe those things don't have a propulsion system," you get a strange reaction. Just like, if you remember, in Close Encounters, the Truffaut character keeps going around saying this is a sociological phenomenon, not just physical. And he has a lot of trouble getting that idea across.

60GCAT: At one point you subscribed to the theory that UFOs might be extraterrestrial in origin. . . .

Vallee: When I met Stephen Spielberg, I argued with him that the subject was even more interesting if it wasn't extraterrestrials. If it was real, physical, but not ET. So he said, "You're probably right, but that's not what the public is expecting--this is Hollywood and I want to give people something that's close to what they expect." Which is fair.

60GCAT: So what do we know for sure about the nature of UFOs?

Vallee: There is a phenomenon. We don't know where it comes from. It's characterized by its physical [traces]. Eighty percent of all the cases have trivial explanations. But I'm talking about the core phenomena. It seems to involve a lot of energy in a small space; it seems to involve pulsed microwaves, among other things. There isn't much that is known about the effect of pulsed microwaves on the brain, so it's quite possible that some of the stories that you get from people are essentially induced hallucinations in sincere witnesses--the witnesses are not lying. They really have been exposed to something genuine but there is no way to go back to what that thing was, based on their description, because their brain has been affected by proximity to that energy.

Having said that, I have plenty of colleagues in science and technology I respect who tell me this could be a natural phenomenon--this could be an undiscovered form of energy in the atmosphere. We don't know much about the effect of electromagnetic fields on the nervous system. We're going to be discovering that as we go. So, it's quite possible that there could be a phenomenon like that, a very spontaneous thing. Or it could be artificial. If it's artificial it could come from another form of consciousness, which may or may not be extraterrestrial. It's a big universe out there. Who are we to say where it comes from? We can only speculate on that point.

60GCAT: How can we use our own comparatively backward technology to investigate this mystery?

Vallee: Where I think that technology can be of help is in looking for patterns. And I did as much of that as anybody else. I built, with my wife, the first computer database of UFO sightings. But where I think computers could be used much better is in applying artificial intelligence, reason, and inference to eliminating the reports that have natural causes. I developed a software prototype of that, which was called OVNIBASE, which I turned over to the French CNES; presumably they are developing a next version of it, and running it on their database.

60GCAT: What about other technologies that can help us analyze evidence better than we could, say, 10 years ago?

Vallee: Digital enhancement of photographs is very useful. In my book, Confrontations, I mention the photograph that I brought back from Costa Rica, which was unusual because the object was over a lake [Lago de Cote], so there was a uniform black background. Everything is known about the aircraft that took the photo. At the time the picture was taken [in 1971], nobody on the plane had seen the object. It was only after the film was developed that the object was discovered. The camera used was exceptional: It produced a very large negative--ten inches, very detailed. You can see cows in the field. The time is known; the latitude, longitude and attitude of the aircraft is known. So we spent a lot of time analyzing that photograph, without being able to find any obvious natural answer to the object. It seems to be a very large, solid thing.

I obtained the negative from the government of Costa Rica--if you don't have the negative, analysis is a waste of time. I also obtained the negative of the picture taken before and the picture after, all uncut. I took negatives to a friend of mine in France who works for a firm that digitally analyzes satellite photographs. They digitized the entire thing, and then analyzed it to the extent that they could, and could not find an explanation for the object.

60GCAT: It's hard for Americans to grasp the idea that UFOs might be a manifestation the other-dimensional. . . .

Vallee: You have to keep an open mind. What I try to do is what any cop would do: I try to listen to the witnesses instead of printing my own theories. Theories are a dime a dozen. They don't do any good. It's much more useful, I think, just to listen to what people are telling you, and I've been trying to do that not just in the U.S., but also in Europe and other places I've visited, like Brazil and Argentina, and try to look for patterns.

60GCAT: You're a bit of a controversial figure among UFO researchers, mainly because you entertain theories more exotic than the UFOs-are-from-outer-space paradigm.

Vallee: I've antagonized a number of the believers in UFOs. Number one, because I'm not ready to jump to any conclusion that it's necessarily extraterrestrial--we're not smart enough to know what they are at this point. And the research has not been done. I certainly remember enough of my training in astronomy to tell you that the universe is big enough to have other forms of life than us; at least we hope that it does. But so far we cannot prove it. So we cannot see how they would come here--they probably would be much advanced with respect to our physics, and they would have found a way to do it. But that does not explain UFOs.

I've also antagonized a lot of people because I think that the way abductions are being handled is wrong. It's not only wrong scientifically, it's wrong morally and ethically. I've been telling people, don't let anyone hypnotize you if you've seen a strange light in the sky. I think a lot of those people prominent in the press and in the National Enquirer and in the talk shows and so on are creating abductees under hypnosis. They are hypnotizing everybody who's ever had a strange experience and telling them they are abductees by suggestion. And they are doing that in good faith. They don't realize what they are doing. But to my way of thinking, that's unethical.

60GCAT: What do you think of John Mack, the Harvard psychologist who believes that alien abductions are a real phenomenon? Of course, he uses hypnosis on his patients to liberate "repressed memories" of those abductions.

Vallee: I respect him for his courage in addressing the issue, but I don't agree with his methods.

I've taken some witnesses who wanted to be hypnotized, taken them to specialists in two cases out of maybe 70 cases of abductions that I've studied. And usually the specialists tell me that hypnosis is not necessarily the best way of helping these people. Nor is it the best way to recover memories. It may help in very specific cases. But I've never hypnotized anybody--I'm not qualified to do it.

60GCAT: How did you first become interested in UFOs and paranormal phenomena?

Vallee: I started out wanting to do astronomy and I ruined essentially a perfectly good career in science by becoming interested in computers. This was in France in the early days of computing and the earliest days of satellites and space exploration. So I took some of the earliest computer courses at French universities.

My first job was at Paris observatory, tracking satellites. And we started tracking objects that were not satellites, were fairly elusive, and so we decided that we would pay attention to those objects even though they were not on the schedule of normal satellites. And one night we got eleven data points on one of these objects--it was very bright. It was also retrograde. This was at a time when there was no rocket powerful enough to launch a retrograde satellite, a satellite that goes around opposite to the rotation of the earth, where you obviously need to overcome the earth's gravity going the other direction. You have to reach escape velocity in the direction opposite the rotation of the earth, which takes a lot more energy than the direct direction. And the man in charge of the project confiscated the tape and erased it the next morning.

So that's really what got me interested. Because up to then I thought, Scientists don't seem to be interested in UFOs, astronomers don't report anything unusual in the sky, so there probably isn't anything to it. Effectively, I was in the same position that most scientists are in today--you trust your colleagues, and because you don't see any reports from credible, technical witnesses, you assume that there is nothing. And there I was with a technical report--I don't know what it was. It wasn't a flying saucer--it didn't land close to the observatory. But still, it was a mystery. And instead of looking at the data and preserving the data, we were destroying it.

60GCAT: Why did he destroy it?

Vallee: Just fear of ridicule. He thought that the Americans would laugh at us, if we sent it--all of the data on satellites was being concentrated in the U.S. And we were exchanging our data with international bodies. And he just didn't want Paris observatory to look silly by reporting some thing that he could not identify in the sky. [This was in] 1961. Later I found out that other observatories had made exactly the same observation, and that in fact American tracking stations had photographed the same thing and could not identify it either. It was a first magnitude object: it was as bright as [the star] Sirius. You couldn't miss it. It didn't reappear in successive weeks. It's just a little anecdote, but to me that fact that we destroyed it was more important than what we saw. And that reopened the whole question for me: Are there things that scientists are observing and not talking about? And then I started extending a small network of scientists, which is still active, and found that there was a lot of data that was never published. In fact, the best data has never been published. I think a great deal of the misunderstanding about UFOs among scientists is that the scientists have never had access to the best data.

60GCAT: Why has the best data never been published?

Vallee: I talk to a lot of technical companies where the executives are aware of my interests, and I've had a lot of reports under seal of confidentiality from people in science and in business who had seen things. About a year ago, a vice president at IBM took me aside after a conference and said, "Are you the same Jacques Vallee who is interested in UFOs?" And he described a perfectly classic UFO close encounter story that he and his family had in upstate New York. This is not something that is going to be in the National Enquirer.

I met a man who is president of a technical company in Silicon Valley; he wanted to tell me about his experiences. He had been a very-high ranking naval officer in command of a large ship, and he had three experiences with UFOs, two of them in the service in very sensitive positions--and at one time when he was a test pilot. He has never reported any of the encounters, even when he was a pilot. I said, "Weren't you under obligation to report it?" And he said, "Maybe I was, but if they have the slightest doubt about what you are seeing up there, you are [considered to be] crazy--they won't let you near the cockpit of an experimental plane." And he said, "If you're a pilot, you want to fly. You don't want to spend the next month filling out forms for a bunch of psychiatrics." Which is what will happen. I think any pilot will tell you the same thing, you know, over a beer. So those are the cases that I'm interested in. The cases that have not been reported in the press, haven't been distorted in the retelling. When I have time, I follow up on those cases with my own resources basically out of curiosity, with no preconceived idea.

60GCAT: But skeptics always argue that even though there may be anecdotal evidence, there's no hard scientific data. . . .

Vallee: There is plenty of data--and it should be analyzed further. But I do not think it's going to be a propeller from a flying saucer. I think it is going to be things that would be interesting if you could find a pattern to the material. I'm skeptical about stories of crashed saucers; I have an open mind about it, but I've heard those stories for so many years and they never really amount to anything tangible. Also, I am skeptical for another reason: We build technologies now that are extremely reliable where there is the need. How often does your hard disk crash? I mean, if you keep your computer for 15 years, eventually the hard disk is going to crash. But you don't expect that to happen. If you were going to build a technology that takes you across interstellar space, it would have to be extremely reliable.

60GCAT: In your books, you detail the hard data turned up in European investigations.

Vallee: There is a small unit of the CNES, which is the French equivalent of NASA, that has permission to investigate any cases of UFOs. They were set up in the mid-'70s and they've been going ever since. They found a number of cases that couldn't be explained, and some cases were never published with all the data. Cases where there were traces on the ground, where there was evidence of heat, evidence of radiation, including pulsed microwave radiation, and evidence of plants being affected. Again, that doesn't prove anything. It just proves that there was something there. It doesn't tell you what it was. But it certainly is a valid technical issue.

This data doesn't tell you if the phenomenon is natural or not, because it doesn't tell you enough about the conditions where that happened. And that's where I think a lot more research should be done. People have come to me saying, "Look, I was a pilot or in a radar station in Alaska, and we were tracking UFOs--we recorded the data, and I was a pilot and followed one of those things and got gun camera footage of it. When I landed there was a guy waiting for me, in blue jeans and a sweater, who said, 'You didn't see anything up there.'" Meanwhile, a guy with a screwdriver is unhooking the camera from the fuselage. Usually witnesses have no idea where those guys come from. But somebody has a lot of data; and I think that this hard data should be turned over to science, certainly the stuff from 20 years ago--I mean, how classified can it be? By now, we should have known if it was an enemy, so we should turn over the data to the scientific community. Let the skeptics analyze it from their point of view and let anyone else analyze it from their point of view. That's the way science should be done.


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PART 2


EDITOR'S REVELATION: In Part 1 of our interview with UFO sleuth/computer conferencing pioneer Jacques Vallee, we looked at some of the scientific evidence bolstering the contention that UFOs are a real, measurable phenomenon. In Part 2, below, Vallee continues this theme as he talks about his samples of "liquid sky"--the metallic debris occasionally seen ejected from flying disks.
Then hold on to your propeller beanie as we depart four-dimensional time space and look at some of Vallee's more exotic theories about the origin of UFOs. As Vallee puts it, "The UFO phenomenon exists. It has been with us throughout history. It is physical in nature and it remains unexplained in terms of contemporary science. It represents a level of consciousness that we have not yet recognized, and which is able to manipulate dimensions beyond time and space as we understand them. It affects our own consciousness in ways that we do not grasp fully, and it generally behaves as a control system."

Vallee refers to this complex system of control--which is shaping human society over the course of thousands of years--as an "interface of reality with consciousness." It sounds a lot like Arthur C. Clarke's science fictional theme in 2001: A Space Odyssey--an alien intelligence subtly directing the course of human development, toward mysterious ends. Talk about your cosmic conspiracies!

But Vallee also has controversial ideas about human-made UFO conspiracies. "I was investigating some cases that were physically real," he says, "but they were hoaxes--yet not hoaxes on the part of the witnesses."

The two most stunning cases of faked UFO events that Vallee has uncovered occurred rather recently in the history of saucer sightings. In 1980, a strange object purportedly "crashed" in England's Rendlesham Forest, a few miles away from an American Air Force Base. Dozens of military personnel were dispatched into the forest, without weapons, before the supposed crash of a luminous object. After the incident conflicting stories leaked to the press and to civilian investigators, some of the leaks apparently originating from the front office of the military base. Vallee's conclusion--controversial among UFO believers who insist that aliens touched down in Rendlesham Forest--is that "the event had all the earmarks of being staged for the benefit of the witnesses, perhaps so that their psychological reactions could be studied."

Even more bizarre is the information turned up by French investigators in the wake of a bizarre 1979 abduction case. An unemployed young man named Franck Fontaine disappeared outside of his apartment one morning, reportedly after his friends saw him enveloped in a luminous fog. After a week of frenzied press coverage and a fruitless search by the authorities, Fontaine turned up in a field outside the apartment--with no memory of his unusual experience. His friends insisted he had been abducted by a UFO, and police investigators, though they doubted that claim, found no other satisfactory explanation.

But as Vallee reports, investigators from GEPAN, the French government's aerial phenomena study group, were led to an official in the French Ministry of Defense who willingly described the so-called UFO abduction as an "Exercise of General Synthesis." What happened to Fontaine? "We put him to sleep and he was put under an altered state of high suggestibility," replied the official. When asked if the "exercise" was intended to test the investigative abilities of local law enforcement agencies, the official said, "That would be a fair way to describe it." Then he added, ominously, "If this operation had been completed, the next phase would have been far worse." As Vallee notes in his best-selling book, Revelations, "It would be fair to assume that the [Fontaine] operation could have been a test, perhaps a prelude to an experiment of wider scope."

Vallee says he knows the name of the French official, an Air Force officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

So what on earth--to pick an appropriate planet--is going on? Vallee has several theories that might explain such UFO flimflam. The military may be experimenting with psychological warfare techniques, as the Germans did in World War I, when they projected images of the Virgin Mary on banks of smoke in an effort to spook the French into saying their Rosaries instead of killing Germans. Vallee also thinks that sham UFO reports might be used as cover for tests of new military stealth technology.

But the most troubling "deception theory" Vallee poses is that from time to time, the target of UFO hoaxes might be the general public, or a segment thereof.

"In some cases," he says, "the community of ufologists may simply be used in a sociological experiment because they are a convenient group of people to test, to see how they react to different rumors."

Sounds a bit improbable, but Vallee's research into the growth of UFO "contactee" cults is suggests that such manipulation occurs. In his book, Messengers of Deception, Vallee explored the rise of a new kind of religious movement throughout the world: the UFO Messiah cults, in which believers await the coming of bubble-headed saviors in saucers. You can find these groups in Europe and the Americas, in increasing numbers. Want a glimpse of this otherworldly subculture? Just buzz into any of the alt.alien Usenet groups or enter the magic word "UFO" into any World Wide Web search engine and see how fast you're channeled into one of the most heavily trodden alternate dimensions of online obsession since Big Brother went digital.

Listen to "Seth," the channeled alien being from beyond; hear the Venusian commander known as Val Thor, who parks his spaceship on Lake Mead near Las Vegas as if it were an extraterrestrial houseboat (when he's not advising the Pentagon); heed the warnings of the well-heeled "Rael," who speaks through a French contactee and runs a worldwide organization.

According to Vallee, the French press has recently reported that the notorious Order of the Solar Temple--in the news last year after 53 members committed suicide in Switzerland and Canada--told its followers that the highest levels of initiation involved meetings with extraterrestrial beings. The cult used holographic projectors purchased in the United States to fool its members. "As you may recall," says Vallee, "members of the cult were educated people and professionals--not crazy kids on drugs."

So without further ado, we present Part 2 of the Jacques Vallee interview:


Liquid Sky

60GCAT: Let's talk about some of the other forms of hard evidence that scientists can look at when studying the UFO problem. For instance, chunks of molten metal, the so-called "liquid sky" samples.

Vallee: On their own, these metal samples are not compelling evidence. But the existence of this material does show that there is data that scientists can look at. When we received the Bogota, Columbia, sample [supposedly the remnants of a plume of liquid slag ejected from a flying disk over the University of Bogota in the mid-1970s] we sawed off one little corner for analysis. It turned out to be mostly aluminum. Again, this doesn't prove anything: you could make a hunk of this stuff in your backyard by pouring molten metal into a pool of water. Metallurgically, the Bogota sample is not that unusual--except that it has gone through a violent heating, not just up to a boiling point, but beyond. My point has always been that it is interesting to see what patterns emerge from analysis of enough of these samples. If you kept picking up specimens like that, it might move your research into a particular direction.

60GCAT: One theory is that this liquid metal is part of the UFOs' propulsion system.

Vallee: There are [man-made] motors that use liquid metal--usually mercury--for liquid contact. But the temperatures necessary for molten aluminum and other metals would have to be quite extreme.

60GCAT: What about liquid sky samples that are of a slightly more exotic makeup than the aluminum slag?

Vallee: The only one that's unusual is the one that Prof. Peter Sturrock (a plasma physicist at Stanford University) has. It comes from Ubatuba, Brazil. In the early 1930s, an object exploded over a beach in Ubatuba. [In 1957, an alleged fragment from the explosion turned up; its precise origin is uncertain.] Subsequent analysis at the University and Colorado and Stanford confirmed that the material was magnesium and magnesium oxide, with a very minute amount of impurities. If the metal really did originate in the 1930s, it would be very unusual because given the technology of the day, someone would have had to go to a lot of trouble to get it that pure.

The Cosmic Database

60GCAT: Let's talk about some of the implications of your research. If the UFO phenomenon is real, but is not aliens from outer space, we're talking about new ways of thinking about reality and cosmology, aren't we?

Vallee: Yes. In that sense, phenomenon is much more important than visitors from another planet would be. Because it fundamentally challenges the nature of reality. If UFOs are a physical reality, they certainly violate everything we think we know about reality. There are reliable reports of material UFOs that become immaterial and disappear on the spot.

60GCAT: Your theories about UFOs and other "paranormal" phenomena involve your metaphor of the "informational universe," where time and space and whatever other dimensions there might be act as a kind of cosmic computer database. What do you mean by that?

Vallee: You can get a consistent representation of reality if you look at the world as a collection of events, or 'instances' (as the philosophy of Occasionalism did in the eleventh century), rather than as a collection of material objects moving in 3-dimensional space as time flows. In virtual reality, of course, you can't tell the difference. In the real world information and energy are actually the same physical quantity. In a universe viewed as 'informational events' you should expect coincidences, telepathy, time travel, multiple realities--all those things that seem impossible in the 4-D energy universe. To me that's why puzzles like UFOs are interesting. I don't have a personal theory to "explain" them, but I see them as an opportunity to pose new questions. If it's true that information resides in the questions we ask, coming up with novel problems may be more important than having answers, at this stage of our very limited understanding of the universe.

60GCAT: So reality is like a computer database in that the right search word or "incantation" might cause a piece of information--a UFO or ghost or other anomaly--to materialize.

Vallee: If you think of [reality] as the software for the universe, all it would take is for someone to change a comma in the program and the chair you are sitting in wouldn't be a chair at all. The major benefit from this model is that it handles anomalies very well. Coincidences would be a normal expectation. If you address a database with a request for anything with the word "pool" you will get ads for sunscreen, lotions, billiard balls and an investment prospectus or two. In parapsychology gifted subjects may be forcing similar coincidences between separate locations or separate minds. One way of testing the theory, by the way, is to create massive informational anomalies and see what happens when they collapse. You could enhance remote viewing experiments, for instance, by loading the site with large quantities of data about highly unlikely events or situations, then quickly erase that data to collapse the singularity.

60GCAT: Of course, now we're talking about the intersection of science and mysticism. Do you consider yourself a mystical person?

Vallee: I have never been comfortable with an arbitrary separation of the world into the physical universe (which is presumably what science studies) and the psychological, social and psychic side of life. To me that arbitrary separation is the major weakness of our intellectual system.

Most scientists who decide to study astronomy at an early age, as I did, are probably motivated by something akin to a mystical desire to understand the night sky and to embrace the larger issues. As time goes on, of course, that desire gets eroded and trivialized. In my case I managed to keep that curiosity fresh because although I haven't had a "mystical" experience in a religious sense, I have always suspected that there was another level of consciousness and that it was accessible to the human mind. I have found similar feelings among many Net programmers, who were drawn to networking by the impression of operating outside the normal constraints of time and space, something akin to what mystics describe, although of course much more mundane.

The Controllers

60GCAT: You've said that UFOs represent a form of alien intelligence that is actively manipulating human society. How and toward what end?

Vallee: A new computer analysis of historical trends, compiled in the 1970s, led me to plot a striking graph of "waves" of UFO activity that was anything but periodic. Fred Beckman and Dr. Price Williams of UCLA pointed out that it resembled a schedule of reinforcement typical of a learning or training process: the phenomenon was more akin to a control system than to an exploratory task force of alien travelers. There are many control systems around us, and some are a part of nature: ecology, climate, etc. Some are man-made: the process of education, the thermostat in your home. If the UFO phenomenon represents a control system, can we test it to determine if it is natural or artificial, open or closed? This is one of the interesting questions about the phenomenon that has never been answered.

Chariots of the Frauds

60GCAT: Speaking of control systems, some of your other avenues of UFO research have led you to suggest that from time to time human agencies--governments, cults, and other groups interested in manipulating people's beliefs--have engineered UFO deceptions and hoaxes. Now we're really getting conspiratorial. . . .

Vallee: I think the place where ufology--the way it has developed today--meets with my interest in communications, and my interest in networks is in deception and manipulation. I think that is an area of which people should be aware. Because I think a lot of the things that are being discussed today, among people who believe in UFOs, are either mythical or a part of manipulation of some sort, which could include the stories of little aliens and the hybrids and abductions and so forth. A lot of that may be either material that cults have injected into the culture because it suits their own fantasy about the end of the world or the millennium and all that.

Or, in a more sinister sense, in some of the cases I've investigated, the deception hides a mind-control experiment. Anybody who is aware of technology today should know that we have much more than a stealth fighter flying around. We have capabilities, theoretical or practical, to make all types of things. There is a massive development of nonlethal platforms going on that those platforms have to be tested somewhere, they have to be disguised as something else from time to time. There has been massive development of RPVs--remotely piloted vehicles--some of which are disk-shaped. There is massive development of low observable technologies that are used for reconnaissance and can be used for all sorts of other things. And in many cases, the UFO stories are not simply fantasies in the minds of a few witnesses, but may have been planted as part of a cover for some very terrestrial technologies that we are developing.

'Messengers of Deception?'

60GCAT: The UMMO cult, which you discuss at length in your books, Revelations and Messengers of Deception, has an impressive history of elaborate deception. Tell us about it.

Vallee: I think that the UMMO myth was started by a small group of people, essentially cultists. What was intriguing about UMMO was all its pseudo-scientific revelations [supposedly handed down to earthling scientists like Vallee from UMMO-ites, beings who hail from a planet 14.6 light years away from our sun]. But these supposed revelations were not within the state of the art. They didn't come up with proof of Fermat's theorem or something like that, it was just perfectly good science fiction.

60GCAT: What about the French theory that UMMO was a psychological experiment?

Vallee: Yeah, they thought that the cult had been used or was manipulated by the KGB. Because for one thing, some of their ideas--some of the data that was supposedly channeled from the UMMO organization in the sky was very advanced cosmology. Very advanced cosmology about twin universes involving some data that was not stupid--it came straight out of the notes of Andre Sakarav, including some of the unpublished notes of Sakarav, some things that Sakarav was known to have worked on, but had not published. And so some people--and I don't know who's right--felt that somebody had to have access to those notes, to inspire those messages, perhaps the KGB. It wasn't just ordinary science fiction; it was somebody who knew what some of the more advanced cosmologists were thinking.

60GCAT: Why would the KGB or any intelligence agency perpetrate such an arcane hoax?

Vallee: Well, let me tell you a little story. About fifteen years ago there was a group that suddenly appeared in San Francisco. They had a big party downtown. And they invited everybody who was anybody in parapsychology. And they made a little speech saying, "We have all this money from somebody who wants to do good and help research, we know that there isn't much money in parapsychology; we will entertain proposals for research, give us your best ideas; we will send it to a panel who will review it and we will fund the best research." After the party, a lot of people rushed home to their computers and typed in all their best ideas, sent it on--but the organization never existed, was never heard from again. Somebody was fishing.

So having a cover as a group sometimes, a completely weird group, can be a convenient way of getting technical intelligence. It's a good way of doing technological assessment. So some of those weird groups could be used for that. Now, that doesn't explain why they would do it for ten years. In the case of UMMO, why would you go on? I think that UMMO became sort of a goal in itself. It became self-propagating. because so many people got drawn to it, psychologically. They started writing things about each other and it became a self-sustaining myth. They're still sending me stuff. There is an index, catalogs; for some people it's become their entire life. Increasingly, we're seeing those kinds of cults appearing in net space, cyberspace.

60GCAT: Is there something about online communications that helps foster myths and deceptions?

Vallee: Because we live in a world where with communications media based on digital networks, a small group of people can have a tremendous impact on the belief of the masses. And we also live in a world where the belief of the masses is a strategic weapon. We have H-bombs but we can't use them. We have neutron bombs, but we can't use them. But if we found a way of influencing the beliefs of masses of people, that would have great strategic impact. The big problems in the world are the problems of fundamentalism and religion--whether it's Islamic or in other forms of religion. Those are the great destabilizing forces in the world today. Well, belief in Extraterrestrials coming here to save us can be induced in large masses of people with the technical means that exist today.

The potential for contagion of absurd beliefs is a real one. In the hands of people who might deliberately use the Internet to create an epidemic of irrationalism we might see the emergence of a whole new class of very dangerous, powerful cults with all the trappings of high technology.

And I think somebody has to pay attention to that angle. So I was led to that by finding-- I was investigating some cases that were physically real, but were hoaxes--but not hoaxes on the part of the witnesses. And the story about the object had in fact been planted.

The Bentwaters case [in which American servicemen at an Air Force base in England observed a disk-shaped craft land in the forest] is a classic. At the landing site, they had a mix of ordinary guards, officers, sentries and so on--they all had orders to go to the site under a scenario. And that's not what would of happened if the encounter were real--if a strange object landed on the base you wouldn't be sending out a hundred people without weapons. The thing has all the earmarks of being staged for the benefit of the witnesses, so that they could be studied and the reactions of the different psychological types and of different ranks could be studied. And when you think about it, it's not that weird. If you were in charge of a project like that, you'd have to test it in conditions where nobody is danger and you can get the data you need. In cases like this one--not many but a few of them--that I investigated, I had to conclude that these were tests of virtual reality projectors.

Psy-Ops from 'Beyond'

60GCAT: So there might be military applications for this technology of deception?

Vallee: Our gods have always come from the sky. And how would a god come from the sky today? He would come down in some kind of space ship. He couldn't just appear out of the clouds, I mean, that won't work. Although in World War I the Germans were using psychological warfare by projecting photographs, slides, along French lines. And I'm sure the French were doing the same thing to the Germans. And there are very sophisticated devices now being used in psychological warfare to create holograms, to create visions to influence people. It might not work with you and me today if we go out today and see something in the skies, it might not destabilize us. But if we were under a lot of stress--if you've been fighting for a month on some little island, and all of the sudden something like that happens--

I remember seeing a letter to the U.S. Air Force from a man who was finally reporting something he had seen during World War II in the Pacific. He said he was on top of a little island lookout point. They were expecting a Japanese attack. They had been fighting intensely on and off for several weeks. They were fairly isolated. They saw an object in the sky that was absolutely physical, that circled the island, was a disk, no means of propulsion, no noise. It circled the island and went off. And he said he had never reported it, not even to his wife. The reason he didn't report it at the time was that his men were under such stress that he wouldn't want them to think that their commander might be flipping. So the same kind of psychological means that won't work with ordinary people and ordinary things might work in exceptional cases.

60GCAT: And therefore cultists and UFO true believers--who are under a kind of ideological stress--might be seen as ideal targets for such manipulation.

Vallee: In some cases the UFO community may be simply used in a sociological experiment because they are a convenient group of people to see how they would react to different rumors. [Suppose the government loses a nuclear weapon over a foreign country.] You still have to go and recover that thing. And you can't tell people what you're doing, so you have to be able to very quickly plant a story. You might plant a story that this was a flying saucer from Venus. That would be so ridiculous that scientists wouldn't go check. You might have a few journalists there, but you can tell them whatever you want, and you can give them photographs of whatever. And so all you need is to distract everybody for two or three days, time to bring the equipment, get everything out, recover whatever was scattered and go away. I think there are cases where exactly that has happened. And those are sort of the great UFO stories that people still tell around campfire.

But I think there was no UFO there. I think the UFO story was invented-- I was saying earlier it's healthy to be skeptical. I respect people who have a skeptical argument there. Jim Oberg, who is a specialist in the Russian space program, pointed out to me that some of the sightings that I published from the Soviet Union--a strange yellowish crescent seen going through the sky by many people in the Soviet Union--that those were rocket tests that were illegal under the Salt agreement; and obviously, they couldn't hide it in the sky. . . so the government planted the story that there was a flying saucer, and that got into the newspapers.

Again, the UFO research community is a useful laboratory in which to observe the effects of propaganda and disinformation, since it is driven in large part by an intent to expose "the coverup." This creates an opportunity for people to masquerade as good guys and "reveal" all sorts of unverifiable rumors. They meet with a receptive audience because the context is one of "independent inquiry of original, bold, nonconformist ideas. Does that mean we should necessarily believe the man who claims he was in NATO intelligence and saw a classified document about the four humanoid races that live on the moon? I don't think so.

Image by Rooney. via Flickr

by Nigel Watson

Betty and Barney Hill's abduction by aliens in the early hours of 20 September, 1961, is the most convincing case of its kind. Their story of being medically examined onboard a flying saucer prefigured the ever-more traumatic and frequent visitations by the grey alien abductors from the 1970s onwards.
Unlike the fantastic stories of the contactees of the 1950s, who had philosophical conversations with blond-haired Space Brothers as they went on unlikely trips to Venus and Mars, the Hills' reported an encounter that fitted the notion that extraterrestrials were conducting a systematic and scientific reconnaissance of our planet.

In summary their original experience comprised of the following:

Sighting of a UFO that followed their car as they were driving from Niagara Falls to their home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the night of 19 September, 1961.

Barney stopped the car and using binoculars saw figures inside the UFO.

In a panic Barney drove away from the UFO.

They heard a beeping sound.

When they heard the same beeping sound again they were driving 35 miles south of the sighting location.

They had no recollection of what happened to them between the two sets of beeping sounds.

They got home at about 5am on the morning of 20 September, 1961.

Afterwards they experienced continued anxiety and ill-defined fears that made them seek answers to what really happened to them.

Pictures

Betty thought that if they had seen an extraterrestrial spacecraft then they could have been exposed to some form of radioactivity or cosmic rays. For this reason when Barney unloaded the car she insisted that he put their belongings on the back porch for a couple of days. They also felt very dirty and had long showers to get rid of this feeling. Indeed, the concern about what the craft might have done to their health was the main reason why she reported their sighting.

The only official investigation into their UFO sighting on that fateful night was conducted by Major Paul W. Henderson who spoke to the Hill's by telephone a few hours after their encounter. It took Project Blue Book two years to produce a final report on their sighting. Dated 27 SEptember, 1963, it claimed that there was insufficient evidence to determine what caused their sighting. It guesses that they probably saw Jupiter or it was caused by something similar.

Only two days after the sighting Betty visited her local library to find out more about UFOs. On obtaining Major Donald Keyhoe's book The Flying Saucer Conspiracy, she read it in one sitting and wrote to him about their sighting on 26 September, 1961.

The realization that they had been abducted came to them relatively slowly. The first indications came when Betty Hill had a series of nightmares running from 29 Sept to 3 October, 1961. She dreamt that alien men took them to a landed craft in the nearby woods and conducted medical examinations on them, before returning them to the car. These dreams outlined what they later recalled under hypnotic regression. Betty tended to think these dreams might have been memories of real events, but Barney just thought they were vivid dreams.

A meeting that was to have a great deal of importance for the whole case occurred on 25 November, 1961, when two UFO investigators associated with NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), Robert Hohman and C.D. Jackson interviewed the Hill's for 12 hours. Also in attendance was Major James McDonald an Air Force Intelligence Officer based at Pease Air Force Base. Some UFOlogists have suggested some dark and sinister meanings to his presence, but he was an old friend of Barney's. Indeed, they socialized with many people who worked at the air base. During the meeting the investigators tried piecing together the journey and it was now that they discovered that the journey was two hours longer than expected. Betty claims that they already knew that they could not account for the whole of their journey and that this meeting merely confirmed that there was a period of missing time. The Hills spoke about the sighting of the humanoids but not about Betty's dreams. During the interview they are worried by the idea that they had hallucinated the whole experience, and for the first time Major McDonald says they might consider hypnosis to get to the root of the matter. Since he was unable to recommend any hypnotists this avenue of investigation was left alone for the time being.

This version of events is undermined by John and Anne Spencer in their book Fifty Years of UFOs. They show that Fuller edited out the line 'We are considering the possibility of a competent psychiatrist who uses hypnotism' in Betty's original letter to Keyhoe. It seems that Fuller had done this to give the impression that hypnotism was a 'last resort' to finally pin down the details of the case. He probably did this to add some drama to the story and it does make you wonder what other details he changed for dramatic effect. When Spencer spoke to Fuller about the case in 1989, Fuller said that he had taped several two-hour long trance sessions with the Hills. It was his claim that no one could have a full understanding of the case without listening to these tapes, but he had no intention of publicly releasing these tapes. This does not sound like an healthy approach to investigating such a controversial case. It also reminds us that Fuller was first and foremost a journalist looking for stories, and that the Hill case was never fully investigated in any serious fashion throughout the 1960s and at best in a fragmentary manner in the following decades.

In the months after the encounter Barney's health deteriorated but it was not until the first half of 1964 that Boston psychiatrist and neurologist Dr Benjamin Simon conducted the hypnotic regression sessions that were to fully reveal their abduction experience.

What they recalled under hypnosis was virtually identical to the nightmares Betty had a few days after the encounter. The main elements of their abduction during their missing period of time were:

They went down a back road that was blocked by 11 or 12 aliens who were approximately 5ft 4in. (1.6m) tall. These humanoids had no ears but had slit-like mouths, small noses, cat-like eyes that seemed to extend to the side of their heads, and broad foreheads that tapered down to a small chin.

They were taken to a nearby landed UFO.

Inside the UFO they were put into separate rooms where they were stripped and put on examination tables.

The aliens inserted a long needle into Betty's naval, she's told it is a pregnancy test.

A cup-like instrument was placed over Barney's groin. Later, he had a ring of warts where this was placed. Some UFOlogists claim that the aliens used this device to obtain sperm samples from Barney. Betty always denied this.

Betty spoke to one of the aliens. He showed her a Star Map. She tried taking away a book full of strange writing, but she was not allowed to take it away.

When Betty is returned to their car she sees Barney sitting inside it, in a kind of daze.




Although they were hypnotized separately they certainly had time to discuss what had happened to them between themselves, and with other UFOfologists in the two year period between the experience and the regression session. From very early on Betty understandably read as much as she could about the subject that influenced and shaped what she 'recalled' as a real abduction experience. Betty's sister had also seen a UFO in 1957 so they were not entirely UFO 'virgins'.

There has been considerable speculation about the stresses the Hills were under at the time. They were an inter-racial couple at a time when such relationships were frowned upon. Barney worried about his children from a previous marriage, and his job as a postal worker involved a considerable amount of commuting. Betty was a social worker and both of them were actively involved in civil rights campaigns. They had gone on their fateful trip on a whim without taking much money with them, and they were heading home at night to avoid bad weather.

At this stage we could just dismiss their abduction recollections as a fantasy that was triggered by Jupiter or any other kind of light in the sky. Yet, there are several other supporting pieces of evidence that we have to consider.

Betty Hill claims that at 2.14am on the 20 September, 1961, Pease Air Force Base picked up a UFO on radar and that they sent out two aircraft to investigate it. What the pilots saw, according to Betty, has remained classified ever since.

A local newspaper reporter confirmed that UFOs had been tracked on radar that night, but he lost his notes and would not reveal the source of his information. The only real information we have about what Jacques Vallee claims is detection by military radar of the Hill's UFO is contained in the Blue Book file no. 100-1-61:

During a casual conversation on 22 Sept 61 between Major Gardiner B. Reynolds, 100th B S DC01and Captain Robert O. Daughaday, Commander 1917-2 AACS DIT, Pease AFB, N.H., it was revealed that a strange incident occurred at 0214 local on 20 Sept. No importance was attached to the incident at the time.



We have to ask what they mean by a 'slight incident'? Was it just a strange blip on the screen or something more substantial? From the casual way this is reported it does not sound like it was something that would cause them to scramble a couple of aircraft. Even if something was seen or tracked on radar it does not mean they tracked the same object that the Hills' said they saw.

After their encounter they found six, strange, shiny spots the size of a dollar on the car's trunk. Betty thought they might have been radioactive so she ran a compass over them. The compass needle moved erratically when Betty did this test, but when Barney tried it the needle acted normally. Whether these spots were radioactive or not it was presumed that they were caused when they heard the strange beeping sounds, which seemed to come from the trunk of their car.

A more mundane explanation is given by Karl Pflock who notes that when the Hill's got home they found the lid of the trunk was not closed properly. This could have happened just before Barney's first close encounter with the UFO when he took a hand gun out of the car's trunk. In his panic stricken state he could easily have left the lid unlatched, thereby causing the strange sounds when the car roared away.

Following the encounter the top of Barney's toe caps were found to be scuffed. This would substantiate his statement that he was dragged by his arms towards the landed UFO when he was abducted.

The dress Betty wore during the abduction was found to be covered in a pink powder. When this was shaken off it left pink stains behind. She also found the hem and seams torn. The patterned, purple dress has been kept in her closet and over the years she cut sections off it to satisfy the requests of laboratories throughout the world. So far no one has provided any evidence that it is of exceptional, let alone extraterrestrial origin.

Even weirder Betty claimed that six to eight weeks after their encounter they returned home to find a pile of leaves on their kitchen table. They had just been back to the mountains searching for the location of their encounter to see if it triggered any memories. When cleaning up the mess she found the blue ear rings she had been wearing the night of the encounter. She quite reasonably wondered how she lost them and how they got in their home. What this indicated to her was that the aliens had stolen her ear rings and they knew where they lived.

The most powerful piece of evidence to support their claims was the notorious Star Map. Working in conjunction with Betty, amateur astronomer Marjorie Fish created a three-dimensional map of the star system that matched the Star Chart seen onboard the flying saucer. This seemed to indicate that the aliens originated from the double star system of Zeta Reticuli. Sceptics have convincingly argued that Betty's Star Map consists of vague dots and lines that could be matched with an whole range of stellar systems. At a more basic level would the pilots of a highly sophisticated spaceship carry such a useless Star Map?

The bottom line is that the main evidence for this abduction comes from the testimony of the Hills that comes from a combination of nightmares and accounts given under hypnotic regression. They came across as sincere and truthful people to everyone who interviewed and met them. Though this was undermined by Betty's many subsequent claims of psychic events, and sightings of hundreds of UFOs many of which could be easily explained.

There are also several inconsistencies in their abduction story. They showed extreme anxiety when recounting the incident, yet Betty said to the 'leader' alien as she was leaving the spaceship: 'This is the most wonderful experience of my life. I hope you'll come back. I got a lot of friends who would love to meet you.' (9) Other inconsistencies occur in the description of the aliens. Betty at first described them as having Jimmy Durante noses but this was dropped in later recollections. Barney said they communicated via some form of telepathy whilst Betty's aliens spoke to her in English. The aliens also seemed to have selected areas of knowledge and ignorance. For example, they were puzzled by Barney's false teeth yet had an otherwise good knowledge of human anatomy.

There are several fantasy or folkloric elements to the encounter. Like visitors to the fairy otherworld Betty is not allowed to take away a souvenir as physical proof of her experience. And, the Kalendrier des Bergiers, a fifteenth century French calendar shows demons torturing people by inserting long needles into their stomachs.

Barney was intensely aware of his racial background and it is significant that he thought he saw an evil Nazi alien looking at him when he originally viewed the UFO through binoculars. On these slim grounds this has led some to speculate that this proved their encounter was with a craft built under an alliance of the CIA, Nazis and the aliens.

Martin Kottmeyer and Peter Rogerson in their many contributions to Magonia magazine have looked in detail at how science fiction films and television, UFO literature and beliefs, combined with the Hills' own psychological stresses and the 'mood' of the time (fears generated by the Cold War, atomic doom, civil unrest, the Space Race) all helped shape the Hill abduction experience.

To other UFOlogists such explanations are even more fanciful than the explanation that they met aliens from outer space or from another dimension. Whatever the theories and controversy, the Hill case has made a permanent impact on the way we perceive alien abductions today.



Betty and Barney Hill One of the most renowned incidences of alleged alien abduction occurred on September 19, 1961on US Route 3 near the village of Lancaster. Barney and Betty Hill of Portsmouth, New Hampshire were traveling home after a vacation in Canada when they saw a moving light in the sky. Every now and then they would stop and check on the unusual light that seemed to "fly" an erratic course.

They drove on towards the White Mountains, noting that the object as now much larger and following a parallel course to their car.

Approaching Indian Head, the light appeared directly ahead of them. Barney Hill left the engine running and got out of the car to observe the strange object with a pair of binoculars. He observed what he described as "5 to 11 figures moving behind a double row of windows". Betty Hill, who was observing her husband from her side of the car, heard her husband repeating, "I don't believe it! I don't believe it! This is ridiculous!" She, however, was unable to see the figures or the descent of the UFO. The object was now approximately 70-feet overhead and about 100-feet distant when Barney Hill ran back to the car exclaiming, "They are going to capture us!” He got back in the car and drove away at a 'break-neck' speed. During this time Betty Hill was still unable to see the object but her husband thought that it was directly over the car. They heard a loud beeping noise, similar to the sound of a "tuning fork", and then they felt very drowsy.

When they awoke, they found themselves driving near Ashland, two hours later. Ashland is 35- miles south of Indian Head, a twenty thirty minute drive. They continued their drive home, feeling somewhat uneasy and confused about their missing two hours.

The next day they reported their experience to officials at Pease Air Force Base. A few days later, an investigator from the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) documented both of their stories.

Their experience was far from over. Within ten days of the incident, Betty Hill began having recurring nightmares in which 8 to 11 "men"

would stand in the middle of the road and stop the Hills' car. They would then be led into a disk-shaped craft and examined. Samples of hair and skin would be taken. Continued anxiety led both of the Hill to seek the help of Dr. Benjamin Simon, a Boston psychiatrist who specialized in treating personality disorders and amnesia through hypnotherapy.

Their treatment lasted for six months. With time regression hypnosis, many details of their encounter were revealed. The detail in which both Hills described their abductors and the subsequent examination matched closely to each other as well as to Betty Hill's nightmares. Betty Hill, under posthypnotic suggestion, was able to draw a "star map" detailing the origin of the alien abductors. The amazing configuration of Betty's map was not to be realized for some years.An astronomical investigation, based on information that was not available in 1961, produced a controversial match between Betty's "star map" and a cluster of previously unknown stars near two stars called Zeta Reticuli.


The above story represents the typical sanitized version 'Betty and Barney Hill' story often viewed on television specials and the Internet. Of course there is more to the story than oft mentioned:

With the object hovering about 50 feet away, Barney stopped the car, south of Indian Head, and had a look for himself. He described the craft as a large, glowing pancake. Looking closer, Barney thought the ship must have been some type of secret military craft, and commented "How interesting, there is the military pilot, and he is looking at me!" He saw there were others looking at him through other windows, and became terrified that they might try to kill him and his wife for seeing what he considered a top secret military aircraft. Barney and Betty both got back in the car and raced like a bat out of hell to get away from the thing. As they drove they heard a strange beeping noise coming from the trunk, which seemed to make them feel drowsy. After the beeping started a second time, they became fully alert and found themselves a few miles south of where they had seen the object. Unable to recall exactly what they had experienced. the two continued home feeling a bit befuddled.

Expecting to be home by before 3:00 A.M. the Hills were shocked to find that it was 5:30 A.M. when they arrived. Betty called her sister the next day, who heightened Betty's fear by suggesting some type of radiation may have been involved. Wrongly suggesting that a compass could detect radiation, Betty went to the car and discovered " a dozen or more shiny circles scattered on the surface of the trunk, each perfectly circular and about the size of a silver dollar." The compass did not move when placed on other areas of the car, but began to spin wildly when placed on one of the shiny spots. Convinced that something odd had indeed happened to them, the Hills filed a report of the UFO with Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, just 36 hours after the incident. In recent years the Hills story gained some more substantiation when it was learned that, according to Report No. 100 - 1 - 61 of the SAC 100th Bomb Wing, Pease radar had registered an "unknown" at exactly the same time the Hills had their run in with the UFO.

In October 1961, the Hills met with a member of the UFO investigative group called NICAP. His name was Walter Webb, chief lecturer for the Boston Museum of Sciences' Charles Hayden Planetarium. Webb, though highly skeptical, stated:

I was impressed that the Hills underplayed the dramatic aspects of the case. They were not trying to sensationalize. They did not seek publicity.

It was through Webb that the Hills realized that they had lost more than two hours during their trip. Something more than just a UFO encounter must have occurred to explain the "missing time". Soon after the encounter, both Hills began experiencing physical and psychological effects from the experience. Betty had nightmares in which she found herself being taken aboard the UFO and examined by small, humanoid beings. Barney began to suffer from high blood pressure, ulcers, exhaustion, and a strange circle of warts around his groin area. Both underwent extensive medical examinations by specialists in 1962 and eventually were referred to Dr. Benjamin Simon, a respected psychiatrist and neurologist with an extensive background in hypnosis therapy.

Dr. Simon began a six month series of hypnosis therapy at the Hills own expense, beginning in late 1963. Both Betty and Barney told virtually identical stories while under hypnosis. They were now able to recall that their car stalled and was soon surrounded by a band of little 'men' dressed in tight fitting black uniforms and that they were taken aboard the craft. Barney was terrified, saying he felt like a "rabbit before a predator". He described the ships leader as looking like a "German Nazi" wearing a shiny black jacket, scarf and cap. (Actual quote: "...another figure has an EVIL face... he looks like a German Nazi... His eyes! His eyes. I've never seen eyes like that before." )

Betty said a long needle was inserted into her stomach as part of a "pregnancy test" while Barney said a circular device was painfully attached to his groin. Following Betty's examination she was given a brief tour of the craft, and when she asked where the aliens were from she was shown a star map. After being told that they would not be able to remember their abduction, the pair were released back to their car, and the UFO, appearing like a huge, bright orange ball, flew away.

Even though the Hills encounter was circulated among their friends and a couple of UFO publications, the story was generally unknown to the public until 1966, when Look magazine published a two part excerpt of a book by John G. Fuller entitled The Interupted Journey. Fuller’s book soon became a national best seller, and the story became even more popular when, in 1975 NBC-TV made a move called The UFO Incident, starring James Earl Jones as Barney Hill and Estelle Parsons as Betty. Barney Hill died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1969, while Betty went on and became a celebrity in the UFO community.

Some saw the Hill story as a confirmation of alien visitation, while the vast majority of the public was content to just be entertained by this new form of science fiction. Reverend John D. Swanson of Christ church in Portsmouth wrote:

First let it be said that I do not and can not doubt the veracity of the Hill's account, and I believe in the factual reality of their experience. Anyone who has spoken with them has heard the recordings while they were hypnotized, and has examined the evidence, cannot doubt that what they described did in actuality happen.

While for certain there are those who have doubts about the Hills story, from accusing them of outright fabrication to recalling dreams while under hypnosis, there is no denying certain facts about the case. Pease Air Force Base did pick up an unidentified flying object at the exact time and location that the Hills claimed. There was also the circular, magnetically charged marks on the trunk of the car. Also, while the Hills were hypnotized separately, their stories remained consistent down to the smallest of details. Betty’s description of a needle being inserted into her belly was unheard of at that time, but is now commonly used in to remove a woman’s eggs for in-vitro fertilization.

Scott Corrales

Some early UFO cases involving occupants, such as those in the '50s and '60s, involved more often than not creatures that resembled human beings in most respects. The more notorious "contactee" experiences provided a wealth of god-like, fair-haired saucernauts claiming to be our kindly elder brothers from outer space, visiting Earth to show us the error of our ways.

In the Grey-and-Reptoid-haunted 1980's, 1990's, and today, it is almost heretical to suggest that any other possible form of occupant can emerge from a UFO. But human ufonauts remain an intriguing part of the picture, and their very existence has suggested very disturbing possibilities to certain investigators.

In 1967, South American UFO researcher Luis Anglada Font, an ex-WW II fighter pilot and former intelligence operative, published a well-written compilation of U.S. and European cases entitled "La Realidad Ovni Atraves de los Siglos" ("UFOs Throughout the Centuries"), in which he turned his military man's eye upon a problem that distressed him greatly: he had no doubt as to the fact that UFOs and their occupants were real, but what was to be made of the humans who are often seen aboard UFOs or involved in some sort of activity with the ufonauts?

Anglada stated in his book: "They come to our planet from satellites forming a stepladder in space, stealthily-with some exceptions-covering the Earth at amazing speeds....I get the impression that they know us better than we think, and I believe that they have a 'fifth column' that moves among us, and this is one of the factors that concerns me."

What exactly is a "fifth column"? Simply stated, it is any group that secretly sympathizes with an enemy, aiding and abetting their cause in ways that range from espionage to terrorism. Anglada's thesis was that UFOs were far from being sanguine, and that their ultimate goal was the subversion of humankind, although perhaps by not as blunt a method as outright hostility. This group of underminers would be humans in league with the ufonauts and sympathetic to their ultimate aims.

We know more about the phenomenon than we did back in 1967, to be sure, and the paragraph from Anglada's book could easily be dismissed as cold war paranoia. Certainly, even Dr. Olavo Fontes, APROs Brazilian consultant and the key researcher of the Villas-Boas case, believed in a "military" objective to UFO activity, regarding the infamous attack on the Itaipu garrison (1965) as the opening round in a massive UFO invasion of Northern Brazil1.

But in 1989, Spanish UFO investigator J.J. Ben¡tez investigated a case which took place in the south of Spain involving the materialization of two large, brilliant figures that turned into human beings before the eyes of frightened teenagers. The "humans" were a male and female, dressed in street clothes appropriate for the time and place. They calmly walked along the beach and vanished into a crowd, while a UFO display filled the heavens above. The witnesses stuck around to see them return hours later, capturing with a Super-8 camera their unusual manner of walking2. The trail of footprints left by the male and female led straight into the water.

The incident caused the researcher to give his book, in which this case was featured, an ironic name: La Quinta Columna (The Fifth Column). The evidence presented by Luis Anglada in his argument was based on the mysterious disappearances of humans and "breeding experiments," such as those in the Villas-Boas case.

Humans were being abducted in order to breed an "invasion force" that would be human and acclimated to the alien's home planet. He suggested that not all the force would consist of conscripts-some would be youthful volunteers, who, attracted by the prospect of adventure, would choose to throw their lot in with the ufonauts.

Despite the "space opera" ring that such a claim leaves in our ears, the truth is that humans have been reported in some landmark cases. In September, 1972, a driver near the town of Palenque in the Dominican Republic was flagged down by a trio of aliens in grey form-fitting uniforms and with lemon-hued skins. An egg-shaped UFO was in the background, and the driver became understandably concerned for his safety.

One of the aliens approached him and engaged him in perfect Spanish, telling him that he had once been as human as he was, having been rescued by the aliens from nearly drowning in the high seas ten years previously. His human name had been Freddy Miller, and he had successfully adapted to living on the aliens' homeworld.

Jacques Vallee mentions a case in his book Dimensions which occurred in Temple, OK, in 1966. A flight instructor saw a brilliant machine parked on a shoulder on the interstate, got out of his car to take a snapshot of it, and noticed a "man in military fatigues...a plain old G.I. mechanic"carrying out repairs on the wingless, tapered fuselage. It had no visible means of propulsion, yet it took off vertically at an astounding speed.3

Spanish researcher Ben¡tez mentions another roadside encounter, this one in November of 1974 outside Huesca, Spain. It involved a couple who stopped their car to have a bizarre conversation with a pointy-faced, all-too-human ufonaut, who asked a surprising question of the motorists: could they lend him a monkey wrench? A semi-spherical UFO with alternating red, yellow, and white lights hovered in the background, and the driver wondered what good would a wrench do aboard such a vehicle. The ufonaut introduced himself as the former "Dr. Flor, from Barcelona."

In 1980, private plane owner Jos Antonio Pagan disappeared while flying from Santo Domingo to Puerto Rico. He sent out a frantic mayday in the darkness: his plane was being dragged off course by a "weird light." A Boeing 747 belonging to the Spanish airline IBERIA heard the mayday, and relayed his descriptions to the FAA headquarters in San Juan, P.R., until Pagan finally vanished.

Months later, his mother reportedly saw Jos Antonio in a vision one afternoon: he was wearing a metallic green uniform with black metal boots, and told her that he had joined the "extraterrestrials" in their mission and was quite safe and very happy with his new life.

Perhaps even more alarming is a case investigated by Spanish researcher Manuel Carballal. According to the testimony of a number of witnesses, a young man who identified himself as Frederick Valentich, the Australian pilot who disappeared mysteriously in 1978, was alive and well in 1990 at Plaza del Charco, a seaport square on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

Displaying an Australian passport to prove his claim, Valentich told those with whom he spoke on several occasions that he now belonged to a group of humans who had been "recruited" by extraterrestrials. It is also worth noting that the supposed Valentich showed no signs of aging, and resembled the photos circulated around the time of his disappearance at the age of 20.

A group of nine Puerto Rican UFO watchers ascended to the heights of El Yunque Rainforest in October 1974 in hopes of seeing the elusive phenomenon. The singular experience they had on the evening in question, however, took place at ground level.

Heriberto Ramos, a researcher and the group's leader, recently stated in a radio interview that at the time of their overnight stay in the jungle peak, there were no commercially available flashlights that would last an entire evening, so the group's lighting issued from an ingenious PVC tube containing an auto headlight and a car battery. As the hopeful saucer watchers ascended the trail, they were surprised to see three human beings coming down from the mountain top in their direction.

The three humans-two males and a female-had an uncanny resemblance to one another and were clad in nondescript uniforms. There appeared to be nothing "alien" about the threesome, who spoke Spanish and claimed to be from a local community, until one of the group members noticed a puzzling detail-the uniformed trio were utilizing an improvised lighting source that resembled their own in every respect.

Photos taken of the trio revealed haze-shrouded images upon being developed. Their images, however, could be made out clearly on infrared film. This peculiarity, Ramos reasoned, was probably the reason that the pictures and other UFO related materials were stolen from his office by unknown interests.

There are many more cases in which humans-not humanoids or human-looking aliens-have been seen operating in conjunction with clearly nonhuman types, ranging from "Greys" to tall, god-like blonds. Although his argument was couched in military terms, could there be the slightest bit of validity to Luis Anglada's fears of a "fifth column"?

The answer is a cautious "yes." Charles Fort toyed with the notion of "certain esoteric ones" being in contact with nonhuman forces since the dawn of history in the pages of his Book of the Damned.

Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier suggested the existence of the "Nine Unknown Men" in their Le Matin de Magiciens, who would be beings of our own world in contact with higher powers. Could some of the human "crewmembers" be the descendants of those who were forcibly abducted in the past?

There is an extensive tradition of people who were kidnapped "from above" in human history-Elijah; Romulus, the founder of Rome; and a host of unnamed ones-combined with the many thousands that disappear every year without a trace4. If these alien-born humans have the power, obviously, to return to Earth, what keeps them from staying? Perhaps they fear the reprisals of their alien masters, or the loss of certain faculties ("powers," so to speak) that they may have developed or acquired on other worlds. Perhaps they have been thoroughly "brainwashed" and no longer see Earthbound humanity as kin.

Anglada offers a more ominous possibility: these UFO-related humans (as well as the "offspring" of our contemporary abductees, resulting from the breeding experiments to which they are allegedly subjected) could well be our replacements on this planet, after our own race is annihilated either by design or accident. In his militaristic scenario, these hybrid humans would be returned to Earth as our overlords or taskmasters: much more alien than human in custom, training and choice.

The genetic experiments being visited upon unsuspecting humans worldwide (the Mirassol case in Brazil, for instance) reinforce the above mentioned possibility. But what do the very human collaborators stand to benefit from it all? Power, influence or status in the real "new world order"? It remains anyone's guess.

Editor's Note

Among the interesting cases noted in this article is that of Frederick Valentich, 20, who disappeared Oct. 21, 1978, while piloting a single-engine Cessna 182 aircraft between Victoria, Australia, and King Island (across the Bass Strait). Following are the pertinent details of the case, which features a sighting, engine malfunction, and radio failure.

Just after 7 p.m. Valentich radioed Melbourne Air Flight Service (MAFS):

Valentich: "Is there any known traffic in my area below 5,000 feet?"

MAFS: "Negative. No known traffic."

Valentich: "Seems to be a large aircraft below 5,000 feet."

MAFS: "What type of aircraft?"

Valentich: I cannot confirm. It has four bright lights that appear to be landing lights...aircraft has just passed over me about 1,000 feet above."

MAFS: "Is large aircraft confirmed?"

Valentich: "Affirmative; at the speed it is traveling are there any RAAF [Royal Australian Air Force] aircraft in the vicinity?"

MAFS: "Negative. What is your altitude?"

Valentich: "4,500 feet."

MAFS: "Conirm you cannot identify aircraft?"

Valentich: "Affirmative."

Three minutes later, Valentich again contacts MAFS:

Valentich: "Aircraft...It's not an aircraft. It's" [break in transmission.]

MAFS: "Can you describe aircraft?"

Valentich: "It's flying past. It has a long shape. Cannot identify more than that...coming for me right now. It seems to be stationary. I'm orbiting, and the thing is orbiting on top of me. It has a green light and sort of metallic light on the outside."

He then reported that the object had vanished.

MAFS: "Confirm it has vanished?"

Valentich: "Affirmative. Do you know what sort of aircraft I've got? Is it military?"

MAFS: "No military traffic in the area."

At 7:12 p.m. Valentich reported, "Engine is rough idling and coughing."

MAFS: "What are your intentions?"

Valentich: "Proceeding King Island. Unknown aircraft now hovering on top of me."

MAFS: "Acknowledge."

Valentich: "Delta Sierra Juliet [Valentich's call sign] Melbourne..."

This final transmission was followed by 17 seconds of a loud metallic sound. An extensive search of Bass Strait failed to turn up any trace of Vallenich or the aircraft. There were a number of UFO sightings reported on that date, at least 15 of which have remained unexplained. There had also been several reports earlier in the year.

In 1944 a Beufort bomber crew reported a "dark shadow" flying within 100 feet of their plane for 18 to 20 minutes, causing radio and ADF malfunction before zooming away at three times the speed of the bomber.

Endnotes:

1 Lorenzen, Jim and Coral. Flying Saucers: The Startling Evidence Of The Invasion From Outer Space, New York: Signet, 1962.

2 Ben¡tez, J.J. La Quinta Columna, Barcelona: Planeta, 1990.

3 Vallee, Jacques. Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact, New York: Ballantine Books, 1987. p. 233-234.

4 Gaston, Patrice. Disparitions Mysterieuses. Paris: Editions, Robert Laffont, 1973

Shane Hill

As with any field of study, ufology should be looked at through the eye of scientific enquiry. Regardless of how those that call themselves regular scientists see it we must see it that way. Had we been taking the right approach since Kenneth Arnold had his sighting then perhaps ufology might not have the stigmata associated with it that it does. Gather enough facts, place them all together ask the right questions then things start to appear, small similarities, patterns, or clues start to creep out from the mountains of data that most of us seem to collect.

This is one reason I recommend a database, every enthusiastic hobbyist or serious investigator will have a database. Many have designed their own, today's software enables even those with the most basic of computer knowledge to manipulate or design a database. Once you have one you should begin asking questions, questions lead to other questions that you database can not answer. Here amongst the unanswered questions lay the biggest clues to understanding the enigma of UFO‚s.

Let me explain, by asking your database to compare directions of UFO flight with types of craft you might discover that certain types of UFO tend to favour certain directions. You might for example find that triangular shaped craft are most often reported as flying toward the west.

By asking the database to correlate types of craft with dates the researcher may find that certain types or classes of UFO tend to favour certain times of year or even certain times of day. One may even be able to pin point small flaps that are not apparent to the casual observer. The combinations are endless you could compare dates with times with craft or dates with years with reported CEI or CEII eventually patterns will start to emerge.

This however is only one aspect of what we might find because each question we ask the database prompts other deeper questions the biggest being, why? Why should a certain type of craft be seen more at one time of year than another, why are humanoid beings mostly reported with CS2 type craft? Why are CS1 type craft only reported during daylight hours while BOL class UFOs are seen at night. The there are the other questions that jump out at us when we look not at the data but at the reports themselves, the description of each encounter. For example similarities in reported craft.

In 1998 I had the good fortune to conduct an interview with a couple who had seen triangular shaped craft moving over their property. During the investigation while waiting patiently Œagain‚ in the thick woods of their property we drank coffee chatting about the mysteries of the universe. Two things happened that always seem to happen on these investigations firstly I got cold, wet, miserable secondly I did not see any UFO, thirdly I was told that the couple had a friend who „knew stuff‚.

While I have yet to meet a UFO witness who doesn't know of another witness or has some friend who seems to have a real handle on the mystery, I am getting tired of the whole affair, however I am still not one to miss an opportunity however small to get one step closer to the answer.

This attitude has as you can imagine lead me to a lot of crackpots or armchair experts. Yet every once in a while I will garner a titbit of useful information. That can be run through my various sources along with my database prompting new ways of thinking about things. This was such an occasion.

I arranged to meet the couples friend. The next time he visited. He would be staying only three days a small window of opportunity which I took. The person I met turned out to be one of those rare people that time had forgotten for him time had stopped right in the middle of the wood stock concert. Dressed in pure natural sheep's wool sporting a woolen knapsack full of pure natural suspicious substances. Long unkempt hair, the type of demeanor that only comes from living in the off the land for a few years.

As we talked I discovered that he did indeed live off the land somewhere in the wilds of Tasmania in a small woodsman shack with a raggedy old dog for company, the shack was I suspect full of three things food, suspicious weeds and books on UFO's his favourite subject. It turns out that he had once been a normal urbanite with a good job, family with good prospects for the future, a divorce with other things had led him to reject society taking up vegetarianism, naturalism living the hermits life. He was however very amiable and friendly had we met under other circumstances I think we could be good friends.

We talked most of what he said had to do with Œbeing watched‚ or massive UFO's filling the night sky blocking out the stars, then he moved on to conspiracy theories his favourite seemed to be the propensity for aircraft to fall from the sky. He somehow tied this to numbers the number twenty seven to be more precise. Something I will look further into given the time. In all standard fair for the ufologist nothing Id hadn't come across before, except perhaps for one thing one thing that got me thinking.

There seemed to his mind to be a correlation between certain reports of craft or features of craft which I found interesting to say the least. Did you ever notice he asked me that Adamski‚s UFO had three pods underneath it? I said I had Did you ever notice he asked that these new triangular craft have three lights on the underside in roughly the same configuration as Adamski‚s craft? Again I said that I had noticed this.

Next he asked me if I noticed that Bob Lazars description of the inside of the sports model had three pods in again roughly the same tri-configeration. Hmm I said beginning to see a pattern. Yes I had.

After an hours discussion on the in and outs of Lazars claims my new friend produced a folder from his knapsack. I was a little put back as amongst the suspicious weeds, herbal remedies and assorted beads there was a large folder of UFO photographs. Many where from a so called society called Thud, showing amongst other things more examples of Adamski type craft with these pods. Other photos of craft showing this triangular formation in one form or another under various craft. Then numerous descriptions by witnesses who had claimed to be inside UFO's each describing this similar formation inside various UFO'. I recognised all the photographs along with most of the encounter stories. What I didn't recognise was this correlation of data.

People from all walks of life who had never met from differing parts of the world all describing similar traits of UFO's. Even given that some of the photos would have been fakes or that many of the stories would have been false the similarities were compelling. To his mind this offered clues if not the answer to the propulsion system used by many craft, these pods can be internal to the craft or external. Most of the evidence suggests that these pods can be moved into (raised) or lowered below the ship as required. His main point was that they are almost always there in some form or other that they seem to always be in this triangular pattern. Further to that each craft that exhibits this anomaly can be associated in some way or other with the EBH. Meaning there is some connection with our planet. Be that the nazi UFO theory or obvious lies told to witnesses by supposed space travellers.

All in all an interesting hypothesis, a fine example of something that needs to be run through my database. Perhaps yours as well. I don't suspect for a moment that we will discover anything more than a correlation having the information does not imply that we will discover the actual means of propulsion. But I strongly suspect that it will prompt other similarities in various craft descriptions. Other similarities will become apparent leaping out for somebody. A good example is the apparent need for certain types of UFOs to travel along lay lines in some parts of the world. Or for certain types of craft to exhibit certain capabilities like one eighty degree turns while other craft do not. My friend found strangely that on the whole craft with these pods do not exhibit amazing movements such as this they can however hover, interesting stuff.

He found other correlation's or connections, which he promised to use to enlighten me. What I asked my friend then produced a second series of photographs, drawings and reports. Most of these I recognised as beam ships. A class of UFO reported by miere and others. He began explaining that he had placed them into categories those with windows and those without next those with external pods, along with those without, he correlated each report. We became side tracked again as I argued over the validity of Mieres sightings.

My arguments fell on deaf ears as he explained that genuine, fake or hoaxed sightings fitted into his theory.

Stunned I demanded to know why.

The reason he said is simple because real or fake the sighting shows the contemporary view of UFO‚s that's what his theory deals with the popular view further the correlation's still ring true even when taking hoaxes into account almost as if some of the fakes are influencing the genuine sightings or visa versa.

He progressed many UFO‚s have small antenna these small metallic looking spikes on the top can be seen in numerous photos. Then he pointed out another interesting thing, that craft which have these antenna do not have external pods. Strangely these same UFO's are reported as making some sound either a humming or a droning noise, while generally pod type UFO‚s are reported as silent.

I immediately pointed out (from memory) several examples were this is not the case. Again for his theory it didn't matter. These he explained might be exceptions to the rule misreports or the fakes however over the vast number of sightings it seems to be true.

His theory concluded (assuming any conclusions can ever be drawn about this subject) was that these pods are an earlier version of the propulsion system used by the UFO's, then according to a time line he had created from his sightings, in about 1979 the reports changed the antenna type craft began appearing. Later the triangular shaped craft were according to him the same propulsion system is used only a more advanced version of it, i.e. the external lights. According to his theory each of the various stages of these craft are still in use by „them‰ yet we are more likely to see less of the older styles as the years progress.

You meet the darndest people. While his theory was soundly structured being a good example of how the evidence can once collected then correlated lead to new ideas, new questions, there are still holes in it. I am also apt to take the whole person into account when reviewing these theories. For example had my friend the woodsman stayed on track even I might have been inclined to give his theory more credit. His reasoning started to fall apart at the seems however when he talked about being watched, that now he was suspicious of certain things that occurred around or near him. In short he suspected that „they‰ might be after him to stop his revelations from becoming public knowledge. Even then I agreed to meet him again at some time in the future assuming of course they don't get him first.

Dan Smith

How well has the government responded to the popular belief that it is concealing evidence of ufo's? Here is what seems to be the standard conservative view: Since there is no basis for the popular belief to begin with, any attempted response on the part of the government is only likely to stir that pot and thus be counter-productive. The opposing view is that by inadequately responding, the government is contributing to the perception of a cover-up. In most situations the conservative position naturally tends to dominate and that has been the case in this context. However, I happen to support the 'liberal' view that there is at least some justification for the perception of a cover-up and that something ought to be done about it. Furthermore, I believe that I am in a position to do so, but any effective action will require the cooperation of people both inside and outside the government.

Much effort has already been expended to expose a cover-up, generating some significant results. Clearly there have been numerous instances of concealment of ufo-type data, and there have been documented recommendations to withhold such data from the public. What has not been demonstrated is that there is an ongoing concerted cover-up. If there were such a thing, it would require a concerted effort to expose it, and that is what I suggest.

I recommend a significant departure form the past efforts, and that is to use a more structural approach for the inquiry. By this I mean that we should give primary consideration to the infrastructure that would be necessary to maintain a cover-up. This would entail taking a more deductive, and therefore speculative, approach to the problem. The alternative is to keep looking for very small needles in a very big haystack. What then can we reasonably deduce about the alleged cover-up just at the outset?

The first thing to consider is its unreasonable effectiveness. It is this unreasonableness that is the basis of most skepticism. Conspiracy believers have generally concluded that the cover-up is being maintained by a sinister group of humans in alliance with an equally sinister group of aliens bent on human conquest. This might be true, and if so there is precious little we could do about it at this late date, short of praying for divine intervention.

The alternative theory is that there is something less sinister afoot. However, in order to rationalize the secrecy there must be a disturbing element that has to be concealed. The preferred scenario here is that we are coming into contact with a vastly superior civilization which is orchestrating our gradual acculturation. But frankly, it is difficult to see how such a scenario avoids the previous sinister interpretation. Which is worse, the subversive or the conquistador, and is there a difference?

There is another problem with the idea of cultural contact. This is the problem of timing. Why now? Most ufologists who have considered this problem have come to the following conclusion. Given the enormous age of the universe, it is very unlikely that this contact would have been the first for the planet. At the very least there would have been a long term monitoring process. Much more likely is it that there would have been timely interventions in the otherwise random process of evolution, culminating finally, now, in an open contact. This is about as far as ordinary speculation can go. Beyond this point one quickly becomes ensnared in controversy of a distinctly religious nature, as should be obvious.

However, I am suggesting that if we are to truly grapple with the problem of ufo's, then we must be prepared to go beyond the ordinary. You cannot employ ordinary means in dealing with the extraordinary. If we are to deal with what is usually alleged to be a 'superior culture' we will, at the very least, have to be willing to suspend many of our current beliefs. And this is much more easily said than done.

In my estimation it is the failure of the imagination that has been the signal failure of ufology. Let me elaborate. The immediate response to the extraordinary is fright. Beyond fright there is curiosity. One can poke at the phenomenon from the outside, or one can jump right into it. This is the distinction between ufologists and contactees. Both of these approaches lack imagination.

Effective imagination comes in the proper mixing of the known with the unknown. I am suggesting a more anthropological approach to the problem, as opposed to the purely scientific approach or to the act of just going native.

We have the known and the unknown, and somehow they are going to intersect. The only question is when, where and how. To facilitate the process, one must anticipate the answer, and ultimately that means being the answer. To attempt to prophesy about the unknown is the most direct way to come to understand and explain it. The mystic and scientist will have an equally difficult time accepting this, but they are not even trying to understand it, are they?

In our prophetic tradition, we have come to consider the prophet to be either a quack or a divine. I would suggest rather that it means being in approximately the right place at the right time with a mild propensity to stick one's neck out. All the rest is just history.

That brings us back to the immediate problem of confronting the cover-up. The only sword at our disposal is the truth, and in the prophetic tradition one is obliged to use a capital 'T'. If you are going to play the game you have to place your bet on the table of those who are already playing. Let me explain or at least summarize the situation.

There is a disturbing Truth that is justifiably being withheld from us. The only way to pry it out is to reasonably guess what it is and then demonstrate that others can be convinced of it, and so it is no longer being kept secret. In the natural course of events, the former keepers of the Truth will then join in its dissemination. This is both the most direct and most rational way for us to proceed, especially where all other approaches have proven inadequate.

If the cover-up is effective, as it obviously has been, investigation alone will not penetrate it. The investigation must be accompanied by a successful networking of the suspected Truth. This is the only way to bring about its gradual revelation. This is the natural, built-in protocol that must be followed. To find the truth, you must become the truth, you must be its prophet. This is my best estimate of the situation.

By Eve Frances Lorgen MA


The Love Bite is the title of my recent book "The Love Bite: Alien Interference in Human Love Relationships". The term was first coined the "alien love bite" by a small but growing number of aware abductees who began to realize that some of their love relationships were engineered by the aliens who abducted them. I deleted the "alien" notation from the description, because after working with many abductees, I realized that aliens were not the only ones responsible for these anomalous "pre-arranged" love relationships.
These alien orchestrated love bites often took the form of overwhelming love obsessions with an alien chosen targeted partner—another abductee. The targeted partner was sometimes another local abductee and other times the chosen mate was across the country or even in another country. For those abductees who were able to get together, the relationship was often short lived and passionate, leaving one of the partners in a state of unrequited love. There were many variations to the basic love bite set-up or manipulated relationship, which will be elaborated on more fully later in this chapter.
It became clear that the alien abductors be they Grey aliens, reptilians, human military or other unknown species, were heavily manipulating their "chosen ones" down to the very detail of their love and sex lives! Not only did these aliens set relationships up, but also they interfered in ways to break couples apart, friendships and even families. Clearly, the alien abduction phenomenon entailed more than the simple medical exams, and missing time episodes as reported by the "credible" Ufologists and abduction researchers of the 1980’s and early 90’s.
Rigid academic minds struggled to maintain an empirical nuts and bolts explanation of UFO’s and their abducting occupants. It appeared more important for most researchers to maintain credibility within the eyes of their academic contemporary peers, than to risk taking a step beyond, addressing the deeper issues of this phenomenon. The glossing over of abductee relationship manipulations served a useful purpose, ensuring ignorance, secrecy and powerlessness in the abductee population. Meanwhile, the suffering abductees caught up in the heavy hands of the aliens went largely unacknowledged and unaided.
It took a bold, fiery spirited woman like Dr. Karla Turner to stand in the gap for a growing number of abductees whose voice had been denied by other researchers. Dr. Karla Turner, professor of literature at North Texas University, and vocal alien abductions researcher, started a groundswell movement of abductees who did not fit into the rigid "Grey alien" abduction scenario of medical exams, implant procedures and missing time episodes. Dr. Turner addressed serious issues that had been muffled by the contemporary Ufologists and abduction researchers. Things such as military abductions (MILABS), reptilian aliens, relationship manipulations and deceitful tactics of the aliens were being exposed. Her groundbreaking books included Into the Fringe, Masquerade of Angels and Taken. Dr. Turner understood the suffering of abductees and was able to clearly recognize the masquerade that a majority of the abducting aliens were playing. In Masquerade of Angels, Dr. Turner recounts the Ted Rice story, which is a classic expose of how the aliens perpetrated extensive manipulations and deceptions, including a major love obsession that was clearly engineered by Ted’s alien handlers.

These revelations were an unwelcome shock to many abductees and researchers alike, because Pandora’s box had been opened. At least in this case—and many others—it was obvious that the aliens and visiting extraterrestrials were no benevolent spirit guides or earth guardians! They were deceivers with questionable motives who had interfered in abductees’ lives. Not only this, but once the truth behind their activities was seriously challenged, reprisals ensued. Something snakelike was rearing its ugly head, creating chaos wherever it went.

Because of the disturbing nature of Dr. Turner’s findings, she was criticized by many of her peers in the UFO community. Most of the criticism came from those who believed that extraterrestrials are here for our spiritual evolution. Other arguments to defend the benevolent ET theories arose, such as any negative alien abduction experience or MILAB (military abduction) originates from our own secret government black projects. This argument is not substantial, as many MILAB abductees observed alien Greys, reptilians and human military and medical personnel working in tandem with one another, often times in our own military underground installations! Furthermore, when the alien –human-military connection was seriously questioned, and exposed by MILAB abductees, reprisals soon followed. These events appeared "coincidental" with the exposure of sensitive information regarding the alien/human connection. 

I believe that Dr. Karla Turner died prematurely as a result of an abduction-related reprisal for her boldness in speaking the truth. I personally know abductees and researchers who have been afflicted with a series of unfortunate "coincidences" following exposure to these darker truths. These reprisals included sudden divorces, love bite set-ups, health problems and even cancer. Most whistleblowers ended up being ostracized and discredited publicly one way or another.

After Dr. Karla Turner’s death on January 9, 1996, a small group of abductees and myself began getting together on a regular basis. I conducted a regular support group for abductees, and a smaller core group of very aware abductees, who were less manipulated than the rest of the abductees. I noticed that there was a continuum of awareness levels in abductees, and that those who were more aware, psychic and spiritually strong could withstand the alien manipulations and spiritual warfare more readily than the novices who had not yet reached a heightened awareness level. I also observed that the degree of useful information increased with these"more aware" abductees and spiritual warriors.

One thing I’d like to point out is the difficulty working in the UFO/Paranormal/Abductions field—at least when one is sincerely trying to seek the truth and assist abductees who want to break free. The constant criticism amongst mainstream, academic and scientific circles regarding the reality of alien abductions is the lack of hard evidence. But the real problem is not lack of evidence, but the warfare conditions, which keep the average individual and researcher unaware and distracted. I liken my own research as an intelligence gathering operation under adverse warfare conditions with minimal or no resources—except a strong spirit. And to manage this while being able to truly help the suffering abductee or mind control victim without harm, or harm to oneself or family. It is no easy task, and most persons who complain about the lack of evidence or publicly discredit those who are discovering these "dark dirty secrets" are manipulated muppets who have no good works to show for themselves.

One of the reasons I even stumbled across the Love Bite, is because of the distractions aimed at certain individuals who were getting close to "breaking programming" or whistle blowing. This is only one of the reasons behind a love bite set up. To get a clearer understanding of what was happening to a number of abductees in my support group, I began corresponding with Barbara Bartholic, an abductions researcher and hypnotherapist of 25 years. Mrs. Bartholic was well aware of how love obsessions manifested in alien abductees, sometimes following a major abduction event. Love bite set-ups were also a pattern that Mrs. Bartholic observed during intense periods of UFO abduction activity. Barbara Bartholic is compassionate and deeply insightful with respect to abduction related love obsessions and how the reptilian aliens fit into the scheme of things. Much of this information is elaborated on in my book The Love Bite, and I encourage anyone who suspects this kind of thing in his or her own lives to read my book.

My own theory of the Love Bite developed after consolidating my own observations of alien abductions, MILABs, chronic relationship manipulations, anomalous health problems and the paranormal/occult side of the phenomena. I also learned a lot from the more aware MILAB abductees, whose bonding procedures with other persons (especially psychics) served several purposes. 

The symptomology of a love bite set up can be described by the conditions below. Remember there may be a variation of these presenting symptoms, depending on the individual and his or her background.


Characteristics, Signs and Symptoms of a Bonding Set Up

a. Multiple abduction histories. In most cases the person had numerous alien encounters and/or UFO sightings. In a few cases the targeted love bite partner did not realize him/herself to be an abductee. For example one partner was told by the" alien handlers" to have been abducted only for the purpose of the love bite relationship with a particular female abductee.

b. Memories of bonding scenarios in abductions, vivid dreams or virtual reality scenarios. Some have described it as a "stage managed" dream where both partners are present in a bedroom scene set up, where both individuals are being given telepathic messages to initiate contact, either on a verbal level or more physical sexual level. Oftentimes either partner appears to be in a tranced out or drugged state. Other stage-managed dreams and/or abductions may have the partners in various situations as if they are being tested for their emotional compatibility or coerced into thinking that this person would make an ideal romantic mate.

c. Supernatural Events and Synchronicities. Uncoincidental coincidences and psychic flashes concerning the targeted partner. Meeting the person seems to be set up in a supernatural way, such that the couple may believe their eventual union to be divinely arranged. A match made in heaven. A first meeting of the pre-bonded partner may set off a series of de ja vu memories, flashback memories of previous abductions or dream related bondings. Some have even described it as a "body memory" of having made love to that person before. One or both partners have a strong sense of having known the person before, as if they knew them all their lives or a strong soul connection.

d. Paranormal and supernatural phenomena increases during the love bite set-up. This may include empathic and even telepathic communication between the love bite pair. Spontaneous remote viewing images and mutually shared dreams. Other oddities may include the physical sensation of the partners "touch" or energy field when the other partner is thinking or fantasizing about them. This is known as telesthesia, and is often experienced in a sexual way oftentimes in an altered state of consciousness. These conditions may propel either person to find the other, an obsession to find the dream partner.

e. Strong emotional, mental and even psychic connections with the bonded partner—such that it sets up the conditions and desire for them to meet one another. The connection can be so strong that they have described it as a soul immersion in their beloved or literally having their souls joined to one another. Another bi-product is the amplification of psychic abilities in both or one partner. Some MILAB abductees reported that the reason for the bonding was to amplify their psychic abilities, such as remote viewing to be later used in a secret mission or "mind controlled ops".

f. Love obsession. A need for one partner or the other to be with them to the point of becoming infatuated. This includes the need to meet the person, even if it is in secret, and having to hear the person’s voice on the phone, sometimes calling the person daily or several times a day. Just hearing the targeted partner’s voice may have a calming effect on the obsessed lover. Extreme anxiety may be felt if the obsessed person cannot hear that person’s voice or see them somehow.

g. The obsessed partner usually feels "love at first sight" and may lose all critical reasoning ability. Some have described it as having the compulsion to make sudden life decisions like moving away, changing jobs, getting divorced or going out of their way to do things for the targeted person. It has been compared to being under a "love spell" whenever the obsessed person hears their partner’s voice. They may go to great lengths to please the person—doing anything for them, even giving up their life for them.

h. Switching off. One or the other partners becomes unplugged emotionally, leaving the other in a state of unrequited love. Usually the obsessed lover becomes painfully unrequited after the other partner loses interest, often right after abduction. It has been described as the psychic and emotional unplugging of the targeted partner. Unfortunately the obsessed lover still feels the strong psychic/emotional connection, but the other "switched off" partner feels nothing, leaving the obsessed lover grieving. Or the conditions for the bonded lovers are such that it is impossible for them to consummate their strong love, such as both partners being married to others or living a great distance away.

i. Emotional turmoil in the unrequited partners life. These powerful emotions of love and grief may cause the person to be inspired with creative energy, so that they write poetry, music, or any other art form of creative inspiration. Conversely, the degree of emotional pain may throw the unrequited lover into suicidal tendencies, mental and physical exhaustion or illness.

j. Profound mystical experiences may also be perceived during the time of increased emotional processing or periods of prayer.

k. Increase in alien encounters during periods of high drama and emotional conflict. The alien encounters may also increase if the person gets involved in alternative sexual lifestyles or increased sexual activity—especially if its with the targeted love bite partner. Some have reported increases in reptilian activity with methamphetamine or "crack concaine" abuse.

l. Some abductees have reported the bonding experience to take place more than once, whereby they have been on both sides of the love bite; the obsessed unrequited end, or the non-unrequited end. When they are on the non-unrequited end, a platonic friendship may be engendered. Some heterosexuals have suddenly become obsessed with a homosexual where a drastic change in lifestyle occurs.


There are variations to the love bite dramas, wherein, for example, two abductees are placed together perhaps for the purpose of having children together, and they may not go through all the stages in the above set of symptoms. Based on the number of love bite histories I have compiled, I have come to the conclusion that there are at least four reasons for these set-ups. Some of these may serve dual purposes. One for the aliens and the other for the cooperating human military or intelligence personnel involved with a particular abductee. In this instance, MILABS or a faction of MK Ultra operatives under the abduction programs. The four basic reasons behind love bite relationships are:

a. Genetic bloodline study or perpetuation of a particular trait useful for the aliens and/or military, intelligence or Illuminati related group. For example high psi and dissociative ability.

b. Emotional soul harvesting of energies siphoned off the abductee for aliens, such as reptilians, Dracos, or demonic powers accrued to human magicians. In cases where sexual manipulations are done, this sexual energy can be used in Montauk type experiments for time travel or psi amplifications, or materializations.


c. Amplification of paranormal abilities such as telekinesis, telepathy, remote viewing and precognition through sexual and soul bonding of other psychic abductees. In this case you can call them MILAB operatives. Some of these operatives may have Monarch Programming or the more sophisticated alien programming based on the fundamentals of Monarch MK Ultra programming. Oftentimes programmers, who orchestrate the various missions for their highly trained operatives, will want to soul bond and sexually bond a pair. This serves to keep the twinned operatives loyal to one another, and increase their performance. For example, when two operatives are so bonded to one another, they can telepathically transmit large amounts of information to one another, sometimes during sexual activity. If they love one another, they will also die for one another, taking greater risks for the success of a dangerous mission.

d. Distraction and neutralization of troublesome abductees, or researchers, who are either breaking programming, whistle blowing, or getting too close to the truth. This may present itself as an abductee client that comes in to work with a researcher, where a love affair ensues. Then the relationship may be an emotional roller coaster, or create chaos in the researchers life distracting him or her from useful research. Or a sleeper operative abductee starts coming to a support group, wreaking chaos wherever they go, which may include a love bite set up with one of the members. It may result in dividing the support group, creating unnecessary enmity between abductees and researchers who could have shared insightful experiences. In these instances the set up serves to prevent useful information from reaching the public.


In general, there is great resistance amongst the UFO abductee population to discuss the more "negative" abduction reports. I can personally attest to this when being on various Internet list groups or support groups held by the less informed group facilitators. The resistance usually is regarding reptilian aliens, sexual assaults, underground bases memories where horrific things were observed, such as the "processing plants, or gory details. Oftentimes even military or government abductions are not allowed to be spoken of. Any hints at Monarch trauma based programming and Illuminati connections are frowned upon. I even know of a case where a certain Internet list group for abductees only made rules to not discuss reptilians or military abductions! This is pathetic, because it shows you how effective the alien programmers are at keeping their chosen ones" in complete denial. I call this "muppetization. I’m sorry to strike a negative tone here, but there is a major problem going on in the UFO community!

Last but not least, I must say something about persons who swear they were matched together by divine or supernatural means to meet their lover. In some cases the couple married and enjoy a good, healthy relationship. I believe there are some relationships, which are guided by benevolent angelic forces and even ones own karma. And yes, I have seen love bite cases where the couple claims that they are happy and it’s not an unhealthy relationship contrived by evil aliens. In some cases, I’ve observed how a love bite relationship was set up as a positive perk to an abductee who helped promote the alien agenda without knowing it. Or the orchestrated relationship served to keep publicly vocal abductee in some kind of economic bondage, or under increasing amounts of control from their partner—whose view of the visiting extraterrestrials opposed them. The net effect was to muffle the public appearances of the abductee, or keep them under a leash with a controlling partner. 

One reason why I am skeptical of alien orchestrated love relationships that appear "happy and healthy" is, that when one of the persons starts challenging the alien agenda or its insidious mind control, then all hell breaks loose. It will often manifest as chaos in ones relationship that was set up in the first place. This is a bitter pill to swallow for persons who have realized the extent of control exerted on them by their alien handlers. This same truth extends to those in MK Ultra programs, and Illuminati bloodline families, or cults.

True love will not try to control and manipulate. True love will support freedom from the bonds of ignorance, and encourage individual sovereignty. True love will empower an individual, and work in unselfish ways to promote freedom for others. Most importantly, true love is discerning, confident, unselfish, humble, persevering and deeply compassionate for the suffering of others.

The greater our awareness of what is truly happening in today’s sophisticated world, the better able we are able to regain control over our destinies. At first, we will become disturbed. But if our love for the truth outweighs our arrogance and ignorance, we can have a chance for true love and freedom.

It's been almost fifty years since the modern era of UFO reports began, and in all that time and out of thousands (millions?) of UFO sightings, no definitive evidence regarding the nature of Our Shining Visitors has been found. Much has been alleged/hypothesized/theorized/dreamt during that time, but as of 1996 we are no closer to The Truth than Kenneth Arnold was in 1947.

The extraterrestrial hypothesis is by far the most popular theory of UFO origins, but it presents many problems. As the great UFO waves of the late 1960s faded into history, many UFOlogists were left wondering if the "nuts and bolts" approach was really valid. They had abundant eyewitness reports, some landing traces, and even purported fragments of flying saucers, yet they were not able to pin down true nature of the phenomenon. The exclusive domination of the ETH among serious UFOlogists began to crack under these paradoxical conditions, and a new theory emerged.

But was it new? As far back as 1919, writer Charles Fort had been collecting accounts of inexplicable anomalies, including strange objects seen in the sky. Fort was a philosopher and a humorist, and he proposed many tongue in cheek theories to explain the events he described. One of his favorites was that the Earth did not belong to mankind, but in fact was a sort of cosmic game reserve, owned by a race of superbeings. He summed up this idea in the pithy aphorism: "I think we are property."

Fifty years later, John Keel came to same conclusion. Keel, a New York writer, got a publishing contract to write a UFO book. He set off for the hills of West Virginia, which in 1967 was inundated with UFO sightings, monster reports, and general weirdness. Keel spent some weeks investigating the antics of an entity dubbed "Mothman," and the mysterious Men in Black (MIB). The latter were an underground legend in UFO circles. Supposedly strange men clad in dark suits cruised around the country threatening UFO witnesses into silence. Everyone knew about them, but the conservative NICAP crowd thought if they existed at all, they were likely agents of the US government, engaged in a massive cover-up of the UFO problem. Keel saw them as something quite different. To him they were ordinary people controlled by entities from another dimension, a force he dubbed "the Superspectrum."

After the Flap of '67 ended, he spent a few years digesting what he'd learned and issued a series of odd but compelling books in the early 1970s: UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse, Our Haunted Planet, The Mothman Prophecies, and The Eighth Tower. Keel's thesis, like Fort's, was this planet was more of a private zoo than a sovereign world, and we are the exhibits. So who are the zoo keepers?

Keel, drawing on a background in folklore and the occult, dubbed these higher entities "Ultraterrestrials" (UTs). UTs were the gods of our ancestors. Their meddling was responsible for all human progress and human woe, from religious and scientific enlightenment to wars and murderous cults. Because our modern culture thinks in terms of spaceships and visitors from other planets, that is how we see the UTs when they manifest themselves today.

All of this was kind of hard to swallow for the nuts-and-bolts crowd, who tended to see Keel as a nut, no more acceptable than a Space Brother-worshipping contactee. But as the '70s wore on and the cherished hard evidence of the ETH failed to appear, others decided to explore the paraphysical realm.

Most notable of these was Dr. Jacques Vallee. Vallee started out on the hard science end of the UFO spectrum (his Ph.D. is in computer science), but the untenability of the ETH gradually pushed him into alternate theories. He cut his ties to the nuts-and-bolts thinkers and began exploring the links between UFOs and cult groups, religious movements, ghosts, angels, and psychic phenomena. Because his views are still evolving, it's hard to characterize Vallee's position, except to say he thinks UFOs are merely the modern manifestation of an age-old phenomenon. He's less sure than Keel about the role of UTs in human history and more concerned with the deliberate manipulation of human society by the phenomenon -- and by those who use UFO trappings to influence us.

The greatest weakness of Paraphysical Theories (and there are many variants) is that while they explain some of the weirder aspects of the UFO experience, they are inherently untestable and unprovable. Both Keel and Vallee have "retired" from UFOlogy for periods because there seemed nothing more to do. They have come back and made new studies, but the total knowledge of the phenomenon doesn't seem to advance much. In the end the PT is not so much an answer as an objection to the shortcomings of the ETH or the skeptical view that there's nothing to UFOs at all.

Two minor variations of the PT are the time-travel hypothesis and the angel/demon theory. The time travel idea holds that UFOs are time machines from our own future, coming back to study us primitives. (A humorous exposition of the time travel theory can be seen in the movie "Repo Man.") The angel/demon theory, as its name implies, says that UFOs are God's angels (or Satan's demons) reinterpreted by modern mankind as visitors from space. The weaknesses of these two concepts is self evident.

After a peak in popularity in the early 1980s, paraphysical theories have declined in favor among the UFO cognoscenti. The thrust of research in UFOlogy in the past decade has been either historical (digging into alleged UFO crashes in the past, like Roswell), or psychological (hypnotic regression of alleged UFO abductees). In both cases the underlying assumption is that UFOs are extraterrestrial machines, though some abductionists do entertain notions of psychic influence and out-of-body travel, two staples of the paraphysical theory.

(c) Copyright 1996 ParaScope, Inc.

THE REIGN OF TERROR GOES ON...

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                   THE TERRORIST OF UFOLOGY STRIKE AGAIN!

                              by Anne Jablonicky

                        typed by Hyperdyne c/o X.A.C.T.
                                 22/03/9.T.3


I have never dared to tell this story before.

   First off, nobody would believe me, and second of all, how does one
go about coming to terms with a terror so unbelievably real that it
literally make the hair on your arm bristle, and your flesh crawl?

   The "Men in Black" - or "MIB" for short - have had this ominously evil
effect on dozens of other level-headed individuals.  But let me explain in
more detail for those not aware of the regin of terror that has gone on in
the UFO field, almost totally undetected for so many years.
   
   There are it would seem, at leased two different distinct types of MIB
that we must contend with.

   "Secret agents" posing as either Air Force or other authorized officials
have, from time to time, popped up in the annuals of ufology, prompting,
in the late 1960s, the Defense Deparment's Vice Chief of Staff, to issuse
a warning to all Branches of the service to be on the look out for
individuals impersonating Air Force officers.

   "In one reported case," the memorandum signed by Rewitt T. Wheless, Lt,
General, USAF, notes, "an individual who represented himself as a member
of NORAD, demanded and received photos belonging to a private citizen.  In
another, a person in an Air uniform approached local police and other
citizens who had sighted a UFO, assembled then in a school room and told
them that they did not see what they thought they saw and that they should
not talk to anyone about the sighting."

   In other instances, the MIB do not impersonate government officials, but
arrive seemingly out of thin air dressed in sinister black garb, only to
frighten the literal daylights out of those who have experienced a UFO
sighting, undergone a close encounter with aliens, or somehow stumbled
upon "hard evidence" that offers additional proof that a particular case
is legitimate.

   Often the MIB are said to be able to read the minds or control the
thoughts of those they set about to harass.  They can also tap telephones
lines, invade a person's dreams, interrupt the flow of mail, cause
hallucinations, and, in general, reek utter havoc on the lives of those
they seek to intimidate.  They have tried to run over witnesses, or have
driven them off the road, shot at those they are trying to "silence," and
even physically attacked certain individuals (if we are to believe the
more outlandish MIB stories that have spread throughout the field).

   Even the noted astronomer and foremost researcher, the late Dr. J.
Allen Hynek, did not discount these bizarre stories that were reaching him
as head of the Center for UFO Studies.  Hynek once noted in an interview:
"I have on occasion been told what seemed to be a straightforward story,
when suddenly the witness lapsed into a highly confidential mood and told
me that he was sure that his phone was being tapped or that he was being
watched, sometimes on a regular basis either by the government or by
occupants of the craft."

   Frequently, the Men in Black arrive upon the scene in a sinister looking
vehicle - most often time a black Cadillac with elongated fins - which
very often is an older model that for all intents and purposes looks
remarkably shiny and new.

   Few ufologists now doubt their existence.  There are those researchers
who say the MIB are agents sent by an earthly power...such as the CIA, or
even the notorious Russian KGB.  Others, upon close examination, rule out
such possibilities, insisting that because of their awkward appearance and
peculiar behavior, the MIB are somehow affiliated with the ETs themselves,
perhaps a sort of interplanetary Mafia that has been set up, and whose
primary purpose is to cover their trail in instances where a report is
likely to get too much attention, and the witnesses have to be SILENCED at
ALL cost!

                            THE MIB IN HISTORY

The terrorists of ufology have always been with us, their existence having
been well documented in reports the go back a hundred years or more.  In
1864, for example, a UFO dropped several strange artifacts over a small
Texas community.  The objects - of unknown origin - were picked up and
placed in a store window on the main street of town.  The very next day a
"stranger" dressed in a long black coat visited the shop keeper and
offered a "high price" for the objects.  But, because they did not belong
to him, the store owner said he did not have the right to sell the items. 
That night the store mysteriously caught fire and when the ashes and
rubble were sifted through, none of the artifacts could be found.  Nor was
the "stranger" ever seen again!

                               THE MODERN ERA

In more modern times researchers like John Keel, Timothy Green Beckley and
the late Gray Barker have done a credible job of documenting the
activities of the MIB.  In his now classic work THEY KNEW TOO MUCH ABOUT
FLYING SAUCERS, Barker told the story of Allen K. Bender, director of the
now defunct International Flying Saucer Bureau, an organization that
flourished in the early 1950s.

   During his investigation, Bender somehow stumbled upon the secret of
the saucers, how they were propelled, who flew in them, and where they
originated from.  He wrote to one of his many correspondents about his
findings, but instead of getting a reply through the mail, he was visited
shortly thereafter by three men dressed in black.  For several hours two
of the men drilled the researcher on the explanation for the UFO mystery.
while the third merely sat and carefully observed Bender.  The story they
gave was "fantastic" and extremely frightening, Bender later said, and it
portended great changes in all field of human endeavor, particularly in
science.  Before leaving, one of the MIB turned toward Bender and said,
"If we hear another word form your office you're in for BIG TROUBLE!"

   According to published accounts (see MIB - ALIENS AMONG US by Beckley),
Bender made a telephone call to a friend in which he casually mentioned
his theory and subsequent visitation of the three men.  Immediately after
hanging up, the phone rang.  A voice uttered that he knew of Bender's
conversation and that he had made a "bad slip" and warned him to stop his
activities RIGHT AWAY!

   The same day Bender suspended his organization's newsletter and refused
to talk about UFOs to his closest associates, his friends or even members
of his immediate family.  He was convinced that if he gave away the
"secret" something very terrible would happen to him and those around him.

  Other researchers have not been so lucky.  One Australian ufologist was
pushed down a flight of stairs in a large deparment store by seemingly
invisible hands, since there was no one near him at the time of his fall.

   In another episode which ended even more bleakly, two Army
investigators died when their military plane crashed.  At the time of the
"accident" they were reportedly in the process of carrying a briefcase
which contained metal from a UFO that had exploded off the coast of
Tacoma, Washington.  The incident in question included the appearance of
"secret agents," and even lead to an article in the TACOMA TIMES with the
intriguing headlines SABOTAGE HINTED IN CRASH OF ARMY BOMBER.  The
reporter who wrote the story, Paul Lance, claimed that a mysterious
telephone informer had called his office and indicated that the plane had
been "sabotaged or shot down to prevent shipment of the flying disc
fragments" to Hamilton Field.  "Lending sudstance to the caller's story,"
continued Lance's account, "is the fact that twelve hours before the Army
released official identification, he correctly identified the dead in the
crash...At McChord Field an intelligence officer confirmed the mystery
caller's report that the ill-fated craft had been carrying 'classified
material.'"

   There have been other cases where UFO witnesses have been kidnapped
right off the street, taken to some windowless MIB headquarters while
blindfolded, sometimes drugged, and threatened with physical harm if they
continued to talk about their experience.

   For just such a reason, Carrol Wayne Watts of Loco, Texas doesn't much
like to talk about his UFO experiences anymore after he went to the aid of
a motorist and was hit by a heavy object in the head while his back was
turned.  Watts claimed that that a space craft had landed on his property
several times, that he had gone onboard the craft, met the object's
occupants, and taken photographs to validate his story.  At first, he
freely talked to the press, but later refused to do so, after his house
was supposedly sprayed by machine-gun fire.

   Some researchers even point to the untimley deaths of certain ufologist
as the possible work of the Men in Black.  They see the reported
"suicides" of scientists like Dr. James McDonald and M.K. Jessup as being
related to the existence of the MIB.  They point to their belief that
these men were on the verge of some important breakthrough when their
breath was snuffed out.  Those more "careful" in their investigation of
such matters see these deaths as being unfortunate "coincidences."

Steven Mizrach

Summary: The purpose of this essay is not to demonstrate the validity of the "ancient astronauts" school of thought. As that branch of UFOlogy has several flaws, and is dependent on the ETH, I am not inclined to back up its presuppositions. What I am trying to demonstrate is that there have been encounters between UFOs and UFO entities throughout history, long before 1947.

The purpose of this essay is not to demonstrate the validity of the "ancient astronauts" school of thought. As that branch of UFOlogy has several flaws, and is dependent on the ETH, I am not inclined to back up its presuppositions. What I am trying to demonstrate is that there have been encounters between UFOs and UFO entities throughout history, long before 1947. The character of those earlier encounters was, I suspect, much as UFO encounters are today: paradoxical, enigmatic, and misunderstood. I do not think any "ancient astronauts" stepped out of their spaceships and gave the human race everything it needed for civilization on a silver platter, or that they genetically engineered the human race. This being said, I do believe that the UFO phenomenon has played a role in human history, and that it is at the nexus of much of our religion, magic, myth, and legend. It is possible that, in part, the evolution of human consciousness may have been shaped at various intervals by the UFO enigma in its various guises. But I believe that we are in the same position regarding the UFO phenomenon as our ancestors: despite our prevalent belief that UFO's are "somebody else's spacecraft," we don't know what UFOs are, period. Just because we believed that the UFOs were chariots of the gods then, and that they are spaceships now, does not mean "the chariots of the gods were spaceships."

In short, UFOs remain to us what they were to our ancestors: a complete unknown. What I will try and demonstrate is that many of the patterns found in the modern UFO phenomenon, including its manifestation in 'flaps' or waves, has occurred in the past. Some of these incidents are beter authenticated than others. I should point out that almost every society has legends of mysterious objects seen in the sky. I have left out the Native American thunderbirds, Constantine's aerial chi-ro, Chinese sightings, Arab djinni stories, and those of many other cultures, in the interest of brevity, though perhaps I might examine those in detail in another essay. These examples show that UFOs have not only appeared to, but have interacted with, humanity, on numerous occasions in the past. The fact of encounters with Others resulted in a whole branch of Islamic law, regulating such things as human-djinni marriages, which dealt with those situations. By demonstrating the continual presence of UFOs on our planet - i.e., showing them to be "as much a feature of life as the weather" - I wish to challenge the assumption that they are coming from somewhere else out in space. If they are 'ultraterrestrial' in nature, they may be here all the time. And the games they have played with humanity may have gone for millenia.

Persian Gulf, 4th millenium BCE:


Sumerian legends tell of the god Oannes (Ea) rising from the Persian Gulf in something that seems much like a diving suit. Ea is often depicted as an amphibious being, half fish and half man. These same legends state unequivocally that Oannes came from under the sea. In that case, Ea's vessel may have been an early USO (unidentifed submarine object.) Ea is the culture-bearer for the Sumerian civilization, who is said to have brought them the arts of writing, agriculture, toolmaking, etc. Suprisingly enough, one of the first people to advance the theory that Ea may have been an 'ancient astronaut' was Carl Sagan, long before Von Daniken started searching for his chariots. There was a fabulous supernova right around this time, according to Michanowsky, and it appears to have coincided with Ea's visit. Zechariah Sitchin believes that Babylonian legends state 'unequivocally' that Ea came from the 12th planet of our solar system, which is yet to be discovered by our astronomers.

Bronze Age Discs, 3rd millenium BCE:


F.W. Holiday discusses the appearance of the disc symbol in early Bronze Age iconography in Britain. It often appears in conjunction with a depiction of the 'pestie' or dragon. Holiday notes the prevalence of the so-called "sun wheel" in pre-Celtic iconography, and the discoid appearance of many barrows and mounds. He points out that what many scholars have called a "sun wheel" is, in fact, often depicted as a winged disc - much like the purported layout of the Avebury stones. (He also points out that many cultures have a custom of setting wooden disks and hurling them through the air to repel evil, usually at night...) The wheel is often named for Taranis, the thunder-god, who rumbled and boomed as he moved through the sky. (Sound familiar? "skyquakes"?) It also often seems to have legs as well as wings. The Eye symbol, related to the one-eyed god Odin and the eye-god Horus, is also prevalent in the Bronze Age culture, and there are numerous reports of so-called "Eye" discs in UFOlogy. Other UFO designs, such as the conjoined discs, 'cloud cigars,' and the dome, appear replicated as curious Bronze Age artefacts from Britain.

In many cases, the Disc is depicted in battle against the serpent, which Holiday assumes means the disc represents the forces of the sky (which are good) battling against the forces under the earth (which are bad.) This design appears in numerous forms in mythology, with the dragon or 'pestie' coiled around the base of the world-tree, and the thunderer in the disc above the tree descending to battle it. Yet in pre-Christian and pre-Norse legends, and in China, the "Wyrm" is not seen as evil. While it is blamed for toothaches and other misfortunes in many cultures, in its earliest appearances in iconography it is a symbol of fertility and renewal. Holiday seems to think that lake monsters and the "dragon" in general are evil, malevolent forces. Yet they do not become thought of in these terms until the first sky-religions (and the sky-discs) arrive. The reason for this sea-change in mythology is discussed by Gimbutas, who thinks Old Chthonic Europe was overrun by sky-and-thunder-god-worshipping nomads from the north (the Kurgans.) This mystery is worth more examination...


Tulli Papyrus, 15th century BCE:


This papyrus from the reign of Thutmose III, translated from hieratic Egyptian, describes "flaming circles" seen in the sky during the New Kingdom era of Egypt. These "circles" emitted a foul odor, and after they departed, there was a rain of fish and 'volatiles' (meteorites?) The scroll was originally the property of Alberto Tulli, who managed the Vatican Museum's Egyptological collection. (Inquiries to the Vatican have cast some doubts on the authenticity of the manuscript.) The Intermediate periods in Egypt (between the Old and Middle, and Middle and New Kingdoms) were marked by multiple cataclysms and strange aerial occurences. Indeed, there are many parallels between the strange events and the plagues described in the Biblical Book of Exodus.

UFOs in the Bible, 13th-6th centuries BCE:


The three most well known stories in the Bible that suggest UFO-like encounters are the stories of the Exodus, Ezekiel, and Enoch. But there are others. Many researchers, such as Morris K. Jessup, have discussed the "pillar of the Lord" seen leading the Hebrews out of Egypt and pointed out its UFOlike properties. Others have discussed Jacob's heavenly ladder as a possible sighting. Yet others are convinced that the four 'living' beings who 'moved like wheels' and 'burned like bronze' seen by Ezekiel were UFOs. (The eagle/lion/ox/man symbolism of these beings is found in other depictions of the so-called kerubim in the Middle East, and reappears in conjunction with the Four Evangelists.) The story of Enoch is perhaps the most curious, for he claims (like Elijah) to have been 'taken' up into the heavens and shown the Earth from above, which he describes as a sphere. His book in the Bible is apocryphal (and hence its authenticity disputed.) Some people think that the Star of Bethlehem and the cloud which descended upon Jesus on Mount Tabor may have been UFOs as well, and some daring authors declare his parentage may have been extraterrestrial, rather than divine.

Von Daniken and some others reach even further for evidence of ETs in the Good Book. They attempt to explain the Ark of the Covenant as an 'electrical condenser' and 'manna machine'; the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as an atomic explosion; the legend of the "sons of god" descending on "the daughters of men" as an early interbreeding program; and the "burning bush" as a landed saucer. They also attempt to explain the 'heavenly chariot' or Merkabah that Elijah saw, and which plays such an important role in Qabalistic mysticism, as a UFO. Melchizidek is said to be a space being, and various visits of "angels" are interpreted as meetings with space travellers. Numerous "channeled texts" like Oahspe make a similar attempt to explain incidents in the Bible through an extraterrestrial lens. In many cases, these explanations are definitely only for the highly credulous and overly literal scholars that inhabit UFOlogy.

Dogon People, pre-European contact:


The Dogon people of Mali claim that before Europeans came, they had met with "Nommos," or people from the invisible companion star of Sirius. Two French anthropologists who encountered the tribe in the 1920s were amazed to find out that they had knowledge of this 'dark star,' since astronomers had only recently discovered it. Robert K. Temple, who wrote about this tale in The Sirius Mystery , thinks it is pertinent to some of the more curious myths about the god Osiris (who is identified with "Sothis," the heliacal-rising star that signalled the annual flooding of the Nile: our Sirius or "dog star") such as the initiation where priests learned that "Osiris is a dark god." Numerous occultists stress the importance of Sirius in occult cosmology, and Kenneth Grant insists that Crowley's "genius" Aiwass was an alien being from the star Sirius.

"Magonia", late 9th century CE:

Agobard of Lyons, a bishop during the Carolingian Era in France, wrote about the various "superstitions" he encountered among the peasantry. One such tale was that beings ("slyphs" or air elementals) travelling in sky-sailing ships were stealing farmers' crops and abducting people. Many people claimed that anchors of these sky "ships" had become lodged in the rooves of buildings and showed them to the clergy. Agobard heard the rumor that four of these sylphs had been captured, and that they claimed to be from "Magonia," a land high up in the clouds. These four beings were apparently stoned to death by an angry mob. Agobard dismissed the rumors because they contradict the Bible, which has no mention of such an aerial kingdom.

Fairy encounters, Middle Ages CE:

That the fairy-faith survived well into the 20th century is described by Evans-Wentz, who discovered that people still claimed to see the Gentry in places like Wales, Scotland, and Brittany. According to the Reverend Robert Kirk, who is thought to have been "taken" by the fairies, the Gentry are not a dimunitive race, but they are in fact tall, luminous beings, "fair in countenance and mighty." Offerings were left for the Gentry - who never ate the food itself, only its "invisible" portion - moreso out of fear than respect. People did their best not to build their houses on the numerous "fairy paths" crossing the countryside. The Gentry were widely blamed for stealing human children and leaving "changelings" or fairy children in their place, and like our UFOs of today, often left "fairy rings" in the woods where they danced, where nothing could grow, except exotic fungi. Rev. Kirk noted that fairies often took human spouses, but that in almost every case those marriages often ended with the fairy leaving the relationship because the human companion failed to abide by its terms.

The most common legend was that the fairies were those angels which refused to take sides during Lucifer's rebellion: hence they were neither damned nor admitted into paradise, but instead dwelt in Fairyland, a mystic Otherworld which existed parallel to our own world. People often needed the "second sight" or gift of mystical vision to find their way into the fairy world, but a special anointment for the eyes or potion often conferred this gift, as did the eating of fairy food. But there were stern warnings against travelling to Fairyland, for time passed differently there: a day spent with the fairies might mean several months' passage in our own world. Indeed, it was cautioned that some who went there never returned. The fairies also enjoyed, like the "gremlins" of WW II, playing complex games and tricks on people, but would reward them handsomely afterward if they put up with them. That many of these things are similar to features of the modern UFO phenomenon has been pointed out numerous times by various researchers.

Black Plague, 1347-50:


Reports from this period feature strange cigarlike objects flying low through the sky and dispersing noxious mists. Soon after these objects passed by, plague would break out in that area. Other features from this period similar to modern UFO reports include sightings of mysterious MIB-like scythe-wielding "reapers" clad in black hoods & robes, and mysteriously slaughtered cattle and other animals. One year before an outbreak of plague, a "column of fire" was seen over the Pope's palace at Avignon. A monstrous "whale" was cast ashore at Egemont shortly before another plague outbreak, and numerous times during this period "rumblings like thunder" were heard even when there were no storms. Blazing "comets" were seen numerous times in the heavens - some of which may have been real celestial objects frightening an omen-crazy populace - of which numerous were said to be accompanied by "flames" (aurorae?) hanging low in the sky.


Renaissance witch-craze, 15th century CE:


There were many incidents of aerial lights seen in this period, but most were interpreted as witches flying through the sky, with lanterns hanging on the ends of their brooms. People who claimed to spy on the "sabbats" of the witches often saw a Black Man (not a brown-skinned Negroid, but a perfectly velvet-black man) or "demons" consorting with the witches, often carnally. Many of the arguments about the witches' covens parallel the debate about UFO abductions today. Many persons argued that the witches never travelled anywhere physically, but that their "soul" was brought somewhere to intermingle with othe spiritual entities. Whether the witches' experiences were physical or not, like UFO abductees, they often discovered strange marks on their bodies afterwards (the "witches' teat," said to be midway between the vagina and anus), reported very odd sexual probings by the "incubi" (such as one with a split penis, whose semen was said to be "very cold"), and claimed that the "Devil" taught them magical arts and secret knowledge.

Many Renaissance engravings or woodcuts found from this period show discs, "cigars" with portholes giving off rays of light, and other aerial objects. These include the 1561 woodcut showing the "Nuremberg Sundogs" and the 1566 one of the "Basel Blackspheres." The "demon" outbreaks of this period may have been caused by an outbreak of ergotism on grain: people eating the ergot-infected rye may have experienced 'St. Anthony's Fire,' which involved vivid visual hallucinations and torment by demons. During the Renaissance, the Copernican cosmology was advanced by heliocentric Hermeticists like Giordano Bruno, who claimed (heretically) an infinity of worlds, and was burned at the stake for that belief. Others, like John Dee, who claimed to have contacted celestial intelligences which he called Enochian "angels," helped advance the progress of the Rosicrucian movement and the beginnings of science with the advent of the Royal Society.

Woman of the Wilderness, 1694:

The "Woman of the Wilderness" sect was a group of German Pietists with Rosicrucian leanings who settled in one of the early communes on the American continent. On June 24th, St. John's Day, on the one year anniversary of their arrival in America, a luminous "angel" descended before the group, which validated their belief that an eschatological period of judgement was coming soon. Scholars believe that this Utopian commune, like the many others being founded in the 18th century, may have influenced much of the early ideology of the American settlers. They are known to have written one of the first volumes of music in America.

Joseph Smith and Moroni, 1820s:

Joseph Smith, at the young age of 14 or 15 in his hometown of Manchester, New York, reported that a "cloud of darkness" descended over him, but then a "pillar of light" suddenly appeared and two luminous beings stepped out of it. One of these visitors was the angel Moroni, who returned several times, and eventually led Smith to a set of golden plates which he translated through a pair of spectacles he called "Urim and Thummim." These plates formed the basis of the Book of Mormon. The "angel" Moroni reported that there were many inhabited worlds in the cosmos, and that the God of the Bible was really a being which dealt near the star Kolob. Mormonism has a strange obsession with genealogy and some curious doctrines about the afterlife, and it also suggests that there may have been ancient advanced civilizations in the Americas which were destroyed in a cataclysm. Recently, some documents have come to light - many of which may have been forgeries - that suggest that, before he became a religious prophet, Smith may have been involved in "scrying" for gold (e.g. 'gold-digging'), alchemy, occultism, and Freemasonry.

Early Modern Sightings 1873-85:

Not surprisingly, during this pre-flight period of time, UFO sightings were minimal. Strangely, this period is marked by a large number of USO (Unidentified Submarine Objects) sightings, such as 'lightwheels' and strange metallic craft seen at sea. This was a period when many nautical advances were being made - and the first practical submersible craft were being built and operated. Most of the aerial sightings reported during this time - many are discussed by Charles Fort in his books - were reported by astronomers, such as Camile Flammarion and Jose Bonilla, who saw luminous objects cross the face of the moon and sun, respectively. It was also during this time that the features of Mars - especially the "canals" reported by Perceval Lowell - led to fervent discussion of the possibility of life there.


Great Airship Wave, 1896-7:

An amazing series of sightings, stretching from the East to the West coast of the U.S., occurred in 1896 and 1897. Many newspapers carried sightings of "airships" seen travelling through the air. These mechanical contraptions often shone spotlights on the ground and made lots of clanking and other noises as they moved through the sky. Speculation about the "airships" focused on a series of "inventors" who were testing these new craft and would soon be making them commercially available for the public. Some people claimed that the airships landed and that they met these "inventors." Some airship pilots claimed to be from Mars; others insisted they were "from a place where it never rains." Yet others claimed the airships were being built in rather mundane workshops on the East coast. Some witnesses protested that the airships were dropping ballast or cargo on them. (H.G. Wells wrote a short story about this time, Master of the Air , about a man named Robert L'Conqueror, who conquers the world through his secret lighter-than-air airship technology and various weapons.) Not surprisingly, shortly after the airship "wave," the first terrestrial zeppelins and dirigibles began being built and used commercially, as if the UFO was always one step ahead of our own technology. There would be some repeat airship encounters during the so-called "Christmas Wave" of 1909-10, when airships with 'searchlights' were seen over New England.

One of the most curious episodes of the whole Airship wave - which, like many of the others, was thought to be a newspaper hoax - was a story of an airship which crashed into Judge Proctor's windmill in Aurora, Illinois. A body of a small "martian" was said to be recovered and buried with some of the wreckage. In 1972, rumors were sparked anew as a man appeared and claimed to know the whereabouts of this wreckage. This man, a Frank Kelley of Corpus Christi, said he was a treasure hunter, and produced several pieces of metal found with his metal detector, which turned out to be mostly aluminum. No body was ever found by UFO investigators, and, like so many other weirdos in the UFO world, this guy with a fake address and phone number disappeared as abruptly as he turned up. Not unsurprisingly, in late 1972 the U.S. was already experiencing the beginnings of the massive UFO wave of '73, which shattered post-Condon report complacency.

Welsh Revival, 1904-5:

During this religious revival in Wales, the revivalists were seen to be engaging in rather fanatical behavior. Revivalists would march in processions through the streets carrying coffins and beating on the houses of Catholics. They would beat each other with sledgehammers and other instruments, and claimed that by the power of faith they were not injured - something that was observed by many outsiders. Others handled blazing coals and demonstrated an imperviousness to fire. During the revivalists' outdoor meetings, blazing lights were seen to hang overhead, and one of these luminous apparitions followed the carriage of the prophetess of the movement, Mary Jones. Charles Fort noted that during this period, there were a large number of SHC (spontaneous human combustion) incidents and poltergeist incidents. Elsewhere in Europe during this period, mostly on the Continent, animal corpses were found drained of all blood, and an outbreak of "vampirism" was widely suspected.


Fatima, 1917:

This is one of the more unusual of the BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) incidents, because over 70,000 witnesses reported at Fatima that they saw the sun "change color and spin in the sky." A small handful reported that during one BVM episode, they saw a small sphere hanging in the sky, with some men climbing on the outside. The girls who were "channeling" the BVM (who was never seen by anyone besides them) supposedly delivered a prophecy to the Pope which caused him to weep upon reading. The prophecy predicted the downfall of communism, but supposedly also claimed that the Papacy would cease by the end of the century as well. Though no one has ever seen the prophecy, it is rumored to have predicted the outbreak of World War II, the reclaiming of Jerusalem by the Israelis, and many apocalyptic events culminating near the end of the millenium. Like many other BVM episodes, there were people at Fatima who claimed to receive miraculous healings by being there.


Charles Fort's "Superconstructions," 1890-1930:

Charles Hoy Fort, from whom Forteans take their name, described various early UFO-type phenomena in his books New Lands, Lo!, and the Book of the Damned. Fort transcribed various reports that he took from serious scholarly journals of astronomy which described lights crossing the surface of the moon and other lights seen in the sky. Fort theorized - but never offered proof - that these lights were attached to gigantic "superconstructions" which came here from other planets, and mused that various falls of matter may have come from these ships. Fort, in one of his quasi-philosophical discussions, raised the assertion that we might be the "property" of the pilots of these ships, "all others warned off." Tiffany Thayer, the president of the Fortean Society (which Fort never joined), was one of the first to suggest during the 1947 wave that the mysterious UFOs might be extraterrestrial in origin. During this period, it was widely reported that mystic Nicholas Roerich had encountered a strange disclike object in the Himalayas, during his trip there in 1926.


"I AM" Movement, 1930s:

During the 1930s, a sect was founded by Guy Ballard called the "I AM" movement. This sect is thought to have influenced the beliefs of Adamski and the early "contactees" and to have ties to the "Silver Shirts," who were a homegrown American fascist movement. Its other (distantly related) descendants include the Church Universal and Triumphant of Elizabeth Clare Prophet, and the Church of Scientology. Ballard claimed to have met the 'Ascended Masters,' one of which was the mysterious 17th-century Comte de-St. Germain. More interestingly, he claimed to have met a race of "Lemurians" which travelled around in "aerial boats" and lived underneath the mysterious Mt. Shasta, which features so significantly in the tales of the "Dweller on Two Worlds," Phylos the Tibetan. Mt. Shasta still seems to feature prominently in UFO lore, and the weird "hollow earth" cosmology of Richard Shaver and Ray Palmer which dominated UFOlogical thought for several years.

World War II, 1942-6: (foo fighters and ghost rockets)

During World War II, numerous American pilots reported that their planes were often trailed by blazing balls of fire which they called "foo fighters." (That name came from a Lil' Abner cartoon, where one character exclaims, "Where there's foo, there's fire!") The common belief at the time was that these balls of light were some secret Nazi experiment. Shortly after the war, in 1946, numerous people in Sweden reported curious incidents where "rockets" would sail through the sky, plunge into icy lakes, and never be seen again. These "ghost rockets" were also thought to be left-over V2s or some other German invention being tested by the Allies. It was well known that Viktor Shauberger had tried to design some type of saucer-shaped craft for the Nazis, and the Air Force experimented with some "hover" designs of this kind after the war as well. Not unsuprisingly, the idea that UFOs were a secret government experiment lasted into the 1950s, until "hollow earth" and extraterrestrial theories pushed it to the margins.


Conclusion

I do not know if we are the UFO entities' property, as Charles Fort suggested. They certainly have done their level best to encourage that belief. It is possible that they have been taken to be our 'gods' in the past and have exploited our superstition and gullibility. In any case, their great Cosmic Phonograph keeps sending messages of apocalypse and catastrophe. The UFOnauts are probably not our custodians or rulers, as some have claimed, but they have been willing to accept that mantle. There is very little that can be said with certainty about what role the UFO has played throughout history. It is not the role of either benevolent Space Brother or malevolent Hidden Directorate, but rather a role more befitting of a cosmic Trickster. I do not know what the ultimate purpose of the UFO phenomenon is, and I have come to no firm conclusions regarding its intentionality or origin. But on this much I am certain: it has guided human history at certain critical junctures. And it has manipulated human beliefs. Whether for good or for ill - and from whose perspective - I am not sure. It does seem that the UFOnauts are not strangers, but rather Visitors, as Streiber suggests. They have come in the past, and will continue to be coming for a long time. It is why they are here that is the $64,000 question, and it is one in which we are in no better position than our predecessors. Solving it, however, may affect the destiny of the human race.

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POSTED: 8 December 98

The Russian Ufology Research Center has a collection of "hydrosphere aspect" sightings. The secret files of the Soviet Navy contain much valuable information on UFO sightings. Soviet military researchers quite thorough. The files have been largely inaccessible, even after the fall of the USSR. But I was able to collect some interesting information.

Submarines
Mr. Krapiva attended lectures given by veteran officers of Soviet nuclear-powered submarines. They had served in the Soviet North, in secret naval installations and bases. The lectures sometimes veered off the planned presentations, and many spellbinding tales were told. For instance, episodes when Soviet sonar-operators (military hydroacoustics technicians) were "hearing" (at great depths) strange "targets". Their submarines were actually being chased by other "submarines". The pursuers changed their speed at will -- speeds that were much faster than any other similar vessel in the world at that time.

Lieutenant-Commander Oleg Sokolov confidentially informed the students that while he was on duty during his submarine's navigation, he had observed through a periscope an ascent of some strange object through the water. He was not able to identify it, because he viewed it through the optical system of the periscope. This underwater "take off" took place in the early 1960's.

Sevastopol
A few years ago V. V. Krapiva met with Professor Korsakov of the Odessa University. Professor Korsakov told him of a conversation he had with a friend of his, a Soviet Navy officer who had served at the Sevastopol Naval base. Back in the 1950's this officer personally sighted a UFO. The object moved upward from behind a battle cruiser. The officer was under the impression that the object surfaced from the depths of the Black Sea. Professor Korsakov has a photograph of the object.

Eyewitness reports
In August 1965, a crew of the steamship, RADUGA, while navigating in the Red Sea, observed an unusual phenomenon. About two miles away, a fiery sphere dashed out from under the water and hovered over the surface of the sea, illuminating it. The sphere was sixty meters in diameter, and it hovered above the sea at an altitude of 150 meters. A gigantic pillar of water rose as the sphere emerged from the sea and collapsed some moments later.

In December 1977, not far from the Novy Georgy Island, the crew of the fishing trawler, VASILY KISELEV, also observed something quite extraordinary. Rising vertically from under the water was a doughnut-shaped object. Its diameter was between 300 and 500 meters. It hovered at the altitude of four to five kilometers. The trawler's radar station was immediately rendered inoperative. The object hovered over the area for three hours, and then disappeared instantly.

The testimony of Alexander G. Globa, a seaman from GORI, a Soviet tanker, was published in Zagadki Sfinksa magazine (Issue # 3, 1992) Odessa,. In June 1984, GORI was in the Mediterranean, twenty nautical miles from the Straight of Gibraltar. At 16:00, Globa was on duty. With him was Second-in-Command S. Bolotov. They were standing watch at the left bridge extension wing when both men observed a strange polychromatic object. When the object was astern, it stopped suddenly. S. Bolotov was agog, shaking his binoculars and shouting: "It is a flying saucer, a real saucer, my God, hurry, hurry, look!" Globa looked through his own binoculars and saw, at a distance over the stern, a flattened out looking object (it did remind him of an upside-down frying pan). The UFO was gleaming with a grayish metallic shine. The lower portion of the craft had a precise round shape, its diameter no more than twenty meters. Around the lower portion of it Globa also observed "waves" of protuberances on the outside plating.

The base of the object's body consisted of two semi-discs, the smaller being on top; they slowly revolved in opposing directions. At the circumference of the lower disc, Globa saw numerous shining, bright, bead-like lights. The seaman's attention was centered on the bottom portion of the UFO. It looked as if it was completely even and smooth, its color that of a yolk, and in the middle of it Globa discerned a round, nucleus-like stain. At the edge of the UFO's bottom, which was easily visible, was something that looked like a pipe. It glowed with an unnaturally bright rosy color, like a neon lamp. The top of the middle disc was crowned by a triangular-shaped something. It seemed that it moved in the same direction as the lower disc but at a much slowerpace.

Suddenly the UFO jumped up several times, as if moved by an invisible wave. Many lights illuminated its bottom portion. The crew of GORI tried to attract the object's attention using a signal projector. By that time Captain Sokolovky was on the deck with his men. He and his Second-in-Command were watching the object intensely. However, the UFO's attention was distracted by another ship approaching at the port side. It was an Arab dry cargo ship on its way to Greece. The Arabs confirmed that the object hovered over their ship. A minute and a half later the object changed its flight's trajectory, listed to the right, gained speed, and ascended rapidly. The Soviet seamen observed that when it rose through the clouds, appearing and disappearing again, it would occasionally shine in the sun's rays. The craft then flared up, like a spark, and was gone instantly.

Some history
The earliest mention of giant beings goes back to early 1900's. Several boys in Georgia (Russian Empire) discovered a cave inside a mountain, full of human-like skeletons. Each skeleton was three meters in height. To get to the cave, the boys had to dive into a lake. George Papashvili and his wife recall the incident in a book published in New York in 1925, St. Martin's Press (Anything Can Happen).

Vladimir Georgiyevich Ajaja nowadays is a prominent personality in the Russian Ufological Association. But he was not always a ufologist; and when he became one, he earned the ire of the Communist Party's dislike of those who study forbidden topics. With the help of his highly placed Navy buddies, he was able to write a piece about the Bermuda Triangle for Nauka I Zhizhn, a respected Soviet scientific magazine. After all, he was a marine researcher who, on numerous occasions, studied the depths of the Atlantic Ocean from aboard a Soviet submarine (with many features designed by him). Other mainstream Soviet oceanologists would not touch such a "questionable" subject. In his search for the information, two sources helped him: Charles Berlitz's The Bermuda Triangle book that mentioned UFOs (he could find no other books in the libraries), and Vice-Admiral Y.V. Ivanov, head of the Naval Intelligence Directorate. Ajaja found out that the Naval Intelligence had long considered UFOs to be a subject of serious investigation. But his newly found conviction put him on thin ice. Ajaja's efforts to study and promote ufology made him a target of the science officialdom and the Party functionaries. His name was smeared in the Soviet media. Ajaja's works were blacklisted. His lectures were outlawed. He was fired from several jobs and prevented from speaking publicly.

Again, his Navy buddies helped him land a job and write about UFOs for their practical use. In his brochure, "ATTENTION: UFOS", he stated that the UFO wave of 1989, still in progress in 1991 when it was published, had swept away ideological and censorship barriers which were placed against ufology in the USSR. But because of the years of silence the country has been rendered totally unprepared for UFO phenomena. So he helped organize the SOYUZUFOTSENTR to promote scientific study of UFO phenomena. It broke away from its cradle, the Soviet Academy of Sciences because, as did many others, Ajaja was convinced that those responsible for the UFO research within the Academy actually prevented true and unbiased research.

A. Gorbovsky, a Soviet historian published a book titled Enigmas of Ancient History in the early 1970's. For many people in the Soviet Union, this book was an introduction to the forbidden world of ufology, of paleocontact (a Russian term for the ancient astronaut hypothesis), and mysteries of our ancient history. Gorbovsky mentions an incident that took place in the ancient Mediterranean where people observed a strange underwater vehicle surfacing at high speed. The object ejected itself from the water and shortly thereafter disappeared.

B. Borovikov hunted Black Sea sharks for many years. Then something happened that put an end to his hobby. Diving in the Anapa area, he descended to the depth of eight meters. He saw giant beings rising up from below. They were milky-white but with humanoid faces and something like fish tails. The being ahead of its companions noticed Borovikov and stopped. It had giant bulging eyes, as if in some vague glasses. The other two joined it. The first one waved her hand ,it was definitely a hand with membranes, towards the diver. All of them approached the diver and stopped at a short distance. Then they turned around and swam away. Borovikov's experience was published in XX Vek: Khronika Neobjasnimogo (Moscow, 1996).

C. Povaliyayev was handgliding over Kavgolov (Leningrad area) in the early 1990's. There are lakes, and in one of them the skydiver noticed three giant "fish". He descended and was able to discern "swimmers" in silvery costumes. He mentioned the episode in his book Letuchi Gollandets (1995). There have been many UFO sightings in the area.

Paul Stonehill is a Soviet-born researcher of anomalous phenomena and the director of the Russian UFOlogy Research Center.

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Few ufologists and even fewer people with a causal interest in the UFO phenomenon are familiar with what could have arguably been the most scientific and thorough field study of UFOs ever made. In some ways it is odd that this research is so obscure in ufology, but the reasons become increasingly clear when the findings and psychological aspects of it are understood. Even more oddly, ufologists who begin with the assumption that UFOs are extraterrestrial craft are those who have mostly ignored the findings of this extraordinary research. In fact, this amazing series of field studies could be the best evidence ever put forth that something physical (and operating outside the known laws of science) does move around in the sky, occasionally lands, and interacts with human observers. In brief, the studies about to be described did not evaluate UFO "reports" (witness accounts given after the event) but rather observed, measured, recorded, and scientifically studied UFO cases as they actually happened. Only a few similar investigations have ever been done and those were quite limited in scope and had almost no scientific members on the research teams. These "other" studies will be mentioned at the end of this article and will be covered in the next issue of AP Magazine.

This UFO field research took place over a 7-year span and included over 35 physical scientists, engineers, university students, and many others serving on observation teams. A total of 158 different viewing stations were employed in the research with 620 total observers. During the 7-year study there were 157 documented sightings of 178 different UFOs (unidentified flying objects—most typically viewed as anomalous "lights"). But in many reports, these "lights" were observed close-up, and revealed more than simple balls of light. Equipment that was used included binoculars, varying sizes of telescopes and lenses including university-quality telescopes, many cameras and light-sensing devices, a magnetometer, sound recorders, Geiger counters, a spectrum analyzer, field meters, radios, and other measuring equipment.

The Beginning of "Project Identification"

The large UFO study, dubbed "Project Identification" by the university physicist who initiated it, traces its inception to a series of UFO cases in Missouri. In 1967 scattered reports of strange lights and disc-shaped objects hovering and moving over the Mississippi River along southeast Missouri were made to local and other authorities. The areas where the most reports were made ran from New Madrid, Missouri 70-miles north to Cape Girardeau. New Madrid is in extreme southeast Missouri and sits on the banks of the Mississippi River. Local and state newspapers published articles about the 1967 events, but national media and UFO investigators took little notice. But the reports kept coming in from a wider and wider area. By early 1973 UFO activity to the west of this area had increased to such an extent that virtually all the state's newspapers and tv stations were routinely issuing stories. In the region around Piedmont, Missouri (about 75-miles west of Cape Girardeau) literally hundreds of people were seeing odd, multi-colored lights darting around in the sky, popping on and off, changing colors and shape, and instantly changing directions. Ufologists with the ET belief system tend to ignore most anomalous "night-light" reports, but none of the mainstream ufologists dug deep enough to understand the more intriguing aspects of the reports from this area. But many people also reported these lights came close to their homes and when closely viewed, they looked like "craft," sometimes saucer-shaped.

Small balls of glowing and pulsating light were observed to move over towns, farms, homes, roads, police stations, and even tv and radio stations. Transmitter towers were knocked off line by many of these events, including at least one police radio tower. Many reports of scrambled reception of radio and television signals were made. Several newspaper reporters actually witnessed many of the events leading to a brief visit by Dr. J. Allen Hynek in March 1973. Hynek himself saw nothing in the sky in his brief stay but interviewed several "excited people" leading him to conclude that the "power of suggestion" was at work and that the cases were "uninteresting stuff." Hynek left almost as soon as he arrived and just before the most impressive reports and photos were made. The oddest reports were never investigated by Hynek and he never went to the area where the current activity was taking place. Hynek did however, mention that one report, made by Coach Reggie Bone and 5 players on his high school basketball team, was inexplicable. That case was a pivotal report leading to Project Identification.

The Coach Bone Report

In 1973 Bone was considered to be "the best-known and most popular person in the area." He was the highly successful basketball coach of Clearwater High School and was idolized in the entire region. On February 21, 1973 Bone and his team were returning to Clearwater after playing in a tournament in Dexter. It was a dark night, with the moon well below the horizon. As they drove through agricultural areas, several of the players spotted a light hovering above a treeline across a field and called Bone's attention to it. The light was rotating rapidly and turning colors from red, to green, to amber, and white after which it repeated the same cycle. They also saw an intense light shining down on the ground from the hovering and rotating form. Bone recalled that they first suspected the object was some sort of aircraft, but as it hovered they simply concluded that they didn't know what it was. The group kept driving and soon turned their conversation back to their earlier game. About 30 miles further (a half-hour later) the group encountered another object, which they immediately recognized as the same odd form that they had seen earlier. The object was now hovering over an open field next to the road. Bone stopped their vehicle and everyone got out of the car. The object was now less than 200 yards away, hovering silently about 50-feet above the field. It was rotating and showing the same varying light pattern as the object they had previously observed. After watching the object hover for a full 10 minutes, the group saw it rise, and in complete silence, it quickly flew over a nearby ridge out of sight. Bone asked the players to keep the event secret, but several players immediately told others about it and the media was soon informed. After he was contacted by several reporters, Bone reluctantly verified the details. All of the players and Bone gave the same descriptions and details about the event. (As a footnote, Bone tragically died from a rare disease in 1977 at the age of 48, but his story never wavered.)

In 1976 True Magazine's Flying Saucers & UFO's Quarterly ran two articles describing many of the cases that occurred in Missouri during the early 1970s. Piedmont Police Chief Gene Bearden stated that in early 1973 his office had received "over 500 reports during the first month of sightings." Bearden continued, "There's no doubt there's something up there, we just don't know what it is." On March 22, a student took 8 infrared photos of the objects while accompanied by KPWB news reporter Dennis Kenny. Kenny reported, "It looked like a big orange light, glowing from white to orange." An odd report on the same day came from 80-miles away. The operating engineer and another employee at the Grand Tower power plant witnessed an object hovering over a transmission tower. The engineer reported, "There it was, hovering about 1500 feet in the air and about 200 yards away. It was a round-shaped object, about 25 to 30 feet in diameter. It looked like a high-intensity red light, with lots of light coming out of what seemed to be portholes. The lights were flashing and causing a spinning effect. ... I looked at it for two or three minutes until it darted behind the power plant, almost like a blur."

In April, after Hynek's visit, Coach Bone witnessed two more objects. With him during the event were 5 other adults. One of the other witnesses was Radio station KPWB's manager, Dennis Hovis. Two silent glowing lights, orange in color, were watched as they floated silently over a nearby tree line. Another curious report came from a housewife three days earlier within 20 miles of Bone's April sighting. She was driving home in the daytime and was slowed by another car. Looking off to the side she was stunned to see an object hovering over trees. "It was round, with the exception of three domes on the top, one on top of the other. It appeared to have a dull band or something going around the center. ... The craft emitted no sound, and looked like aluminum... and was at least 40 feet across."

Around the same time that Bone's interview of his first encounter was reported in newspapers and on broadcast media, two physics students at Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) went to Dr. Harley Rutledge, Chairman of the Department of Physics, and told him they had observed a large silvery disk in the sky during the daytime. Rutledge, then in his 10th year at Cape Girardeau's SEMO was well-aware of all of the UFO reports being made in the region, but he knew Coach Bone and the students, and found their reports credible. Rutledge did not believe in UFOs, nor did he disbelieve. He simply decided to see if he could observe, measure, and hopefully identify what the many people were reporting.

Rutledge started by convincing SEMO astronomer Milton Ueleke to accompany him to the Piedmont area to take a cursory look at the events and talk to a few local officials who had been involved in the events. Rutledge informed the University President (curiously named Dr. Scully) of his plans and added another physicist, Dr. Sidney Hodges, and two senior students to his initial team. On April 6, 1973, the project began. Eventually the scientific team was greatly enlarged. The full details of the 7-year study were published in Rutledge's 1981 book, Project Identification: The First Scientific Field Study of the UFO Phenomena (sic). Only some highlights of the study will be presented here.

Project Identification Findings: In Brief

The UFOs observed by the team peaked in 1973 when 106 different cases were witnessed by the team and recorded. In 1974 there were 26 cases. The years of 1975 to 1979 (inclusive) totaled only 25 cases (averaging 5 per year). Thus, it is clear that the phenomenon they were observing and recording essentially dropped precipitously before 1976.

In the 157 total sightings the project team recorded, they counted 178 different UFOs, meaning that some cases had multiple objects. For example, one case recorded 10 different objects at once. A typical case was a light that blinked on far in the distance above the horizon. The light would usually be an orange or amber ball that would eventually move rapidly in one direction and then make a sudden 90 degree turn. The light would them often move rapidly up and down and then take off suddenly for some distance and then immediately change directions. In some cases the objects would rapidly fly directly over the observers. Some sightings included rectangular lights sometimes numbering four, which were observed close-up with telescopes. The team reported these as looking like "windows" with light shining through. Triangulation and timing equipment was used to measure the speed, distance, and size of the objects. Many of these calculations showed that the objects accelerated instantly to thousands of miles an hour and made sudden, impossible right angle turns.

Another type of sighting made by the team was called a "pseudostar." Occasionally one of the astronomers on the team would notice a "new" and bright star in a constellation—a star that shouldn't have been there. Often, when the pseudostar was being watched and photographed, it would take off rapidly, sometimes blinking its light. The group also recorded numerous instances of disk-shaped objects both at night and in daytime, although they were never able to get a single photo of these where the objects were visible on film. A military presence was noted in several of the most spectacular cases. Numerous fighter jets and helicopters were occasionally noted in areas where the phenomenon was actively being observed and photographed. It was never decided if the military presence was causing the light ball phenomenon or investigating it, but contacts with the military revealed that no experiemental craft was being tested. The consensus was that the military was also trying to determine the origin of the light phenomena.

Rutledge, who lived in Cape Girardeau, eventually began seeing UFOs frequently from his yard and sat up an observation team there on several occasions. In one quite peculiar case, he watched a 200-foot long "bullet-shaped" object silently fly over the Mississippi River. Rutledge wrote, "It was not like anything I had seen before. I looked at the craft. It had no wings. I did a double-take: It had no tail structure either. ... A slight feeling of nausea overcame me. Any lingering doubt I had about the existence of UFOs had vanished with the object." He even speculated that the many objects that had been observed during the project had a propulsion system that was "electromagnetic radiation in the form of microwaves."

While he was generally noncommittal on the nature of the UFOs his team recorded, Rutledge did relate that the discs and lights observed in the daylight by the teams were plasmas. In his summary he wrote, "The plasma balls seen in daylight certainly suggest remote control."

Perhaps the oddest finding of all was that everyone on the team was convinced that the objects responded to being observed. The project cites 32 cases where the UFOs directly responded to the ground station observers. Rutledge and his team concluded that the objects were aware of their presence and would interact with them, sometimes seemingly toying with them.

As the project began to wind down, Rutledge noted in later interviews that some balls of plasma, 2-6 inches in diameter, would actually follow him around and even appear inside buildings. He found, as do many people who become intrigued by the UFO phenomenon, that the deeper you go into it, starange things begin happening. An observation once made by John Keel seems appropriate. Keel mentioned that if you notice and become interested in the phenomenon, it can notice you and become interested in you. That is essentially what Rutledge concluded.

Rutledge retired from SEMO in 1992 and died at the age of 80 in 2006. He did give a presentation at a MUFON conference and his work was occasionally noted in MUFON publications, but essentially his statements about plasmas and overall work is dismissed by ufology, which prefers to believe in something else entirely.

Why Is Rutledge's Work Ignored By Ufologists?

Certainly mainstream ufologists are aware of Rutledge's work, but it's just as certain that Project Identification is essentially ignored by nearly everyone. Many ufologists have made top 10 and top 100 UFO case lists. The site www.abovetopsecret.com has such lists compiled by 31 top ufologists. Nearly all of the ufologists cite the Roswell and the Socorro, NM cases in their lists, but both of these cases are certainly hoaxes. The Socorro case has recently been shown to be a hoax perpetrated by university students and as Andrew Collins and I will show soon, Roswell was precisely what the Air Force has said it was. The "crash mystery" and fake documents that emerged to support Roswell were concocted by ufologists and compounded by psychological factors involved in long-term memory as well as out-an-out fabrications made by "witnesses" who actually were not there. Other ufologists occasionally list Gulf Breeze, Florida as a top UFO case, but it's clearly another hoax. Of the 31 "top ufologists'" lists, only one person cites Rutledge's work. That person is Hilary Evans, a British ufologists best known for supporting the earthlight theory.

Rutledge was a physical scientist and an active professional physicist. He deliberately excluded ufologists, UFO believers, and most lay people from his research team. He neither believed nor disbelieved in the ET hypothesis. All he knew was that something unusual was being seen and reported and that it fell outside of normal events. And to Rutledge, unless one was professionally trained in the physical sciences, that person was not a scientist. And because of his quick dismissal of almost all the Piedmont reports, Rutledge seems to have seen Hynek as a ufologist, not a genuine scientist. On the whole, ufology is focused on the hoaxed crashed saucer "cases."

Perhaps the greatest irony in Rutledge's project team composition was that he did not view behavioral scientists as scientists either. But in the last chapter of his book he related, "Unbiased, disinterested physical scientists usually measure the properties of inanimate matter. Biological, medical, and behavioral scientists, on the other hand, study intelligences less than or equal to their own. In this Project, we dealt with an intelligence equal to or greater than that of man. We interacted with the phenomenon under study."

A careful read of Rutledge's book shows that if he truly began as an "unbiased and disinterested" physical scientist, that's not the way it ended. Rutledge discovered that there is an unknown phenomenon that it embodied by the term "UFO" and that it defies simple, rational explanations. He was convinced that manifestations of plasma was at work in many cases, but as for the rest, he was as befuddled as anyone.

Plasma explanations are the bane of mainstream ufology and that largely explains why so few ufologists dismiss or simply ignore his work. What Rutledge observed and measured was not a crashed saucer, it couldn't easily be explained as an extraterrestrial craft, and it showed that whatever the phenomenon really is, that it does in fact, interact with observers at what Rutledge himself called a "psychic" and "telepathic" level. Nuts-and-bolts ufologists, who make their fame and fortune from selling concocted stories of crashed saucers, want to support cases that verify the completely physical nature of the phenomenon and its extraterrestrial origin. What Rutledge found was that something unknown really is there, but we don't have a complete explanation yet. And that's why his work is ignored. And that is why ufology remains mired in a morass of lies, deceit, faked documents, faked film, and utter chaos. My observations about ufology, dating to my own interest starting in the early 1970s, is that most people who have an interest in the subject do not really want to know the truth, they want something that confirms what they already believe—and what they want to believe. In psychology it is called "perceptual bias." Carl Jung wrote this important observation summarizing his work about UFOs: "Something is seen, one doesn't know what." And aside from Rutledge finding that some of the objects were plasmas, his conclusion was the same as Jung's: something is there, but what it actually is isn't known. Nuts and bolts ufologists say, "Physical craft from other worlds are here. Buy my book or pay to hear my talk and you'll see the proof." And that is where it stands today.

Next Issue: Similar Studies & An Update on Missouri Cases

Earlier it was briefly mentioned that there is a body of research somewhat similar to that performed by Rutledge. One example is the research conducted at Yakima, Washington, prior to the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. There are a few lesser examples, and this research will be examined in the next issue of AP. One interesting "coincidence," if it can be called that, is that the Yakima lights disappeared after Mt. St. Helens erupted, but now there is a new flap occurring in that area. Coincidentally, it is notable that the Missouri lights essentially shut down after 1976. In March 1976, a 5.0 earthquake hit the New Madrid fault zone. It was the largest earthquake in that area that had taken place in some time. A similar set of circumstances is present at Brown Mountain, NC, where anomalous lights have been reported for centuries. Back in March 2003, a group of us managed to film a spectacular display of lights at Brown Mountain and I noted in an article that I suspected an earthquake was nearing in that area.

Oddly, a few months later, a 4.5 earthquake hit the region.

As a final footnote to next issue, a lot of the UFO sightings made in Missouri were never reported. In the 1970s and 1980s, I interviewed and gathered numerous reports from highly credible witnesses. In addition, there are a host of reports that have been made since then. Many of these will be detailed in the next issue along with a current site visit report.