The Leah Haley Case: The Eglin Expedition

This is one in a series of posts on the Leah Haley Case.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency need look no farther than the beach incident to get some helpful pointers on how to achieve its objective of effectively developing and tracking memes. The hypnotic propagation of the incident and its growth into what physically manifested as the Eglin expedition are indeed fascinating and curious on a number of levels.

Haley is now uncertain exactly what happened during an event that was the focus of a July, 1991, hypnosis session conducted by John Carpenter. She is currently quite confident, however, that the event, the beach incident, is not as it initially appeared to her in the hypnotically induced mental imagery.

One way or the other, the beach incident was conceived and Haley, at the time, proceeded to seek clues which might have helped her further identify actuality. What she found was a winding trail and pot luck of Mufonians, ufologists, various self-proclaimed experts, unclear circumstances and what would later be identified as questionable motives.

Sprawling Eglin Air Force Base is located a few miles east of Pensacola, Florida, in the vicinity of Gulf Breeze and bordering the Gulf of Mexico. On September 24, 1992, Haley, Lieutenant Colonel Donald Ware, USAF, Retired, and Colonel Robert Reid, USAF, Retired, took a 13-mile hike eastward across the south end and beach of the base, from Navarre towards Ft. Walton Beach.

Ware and Reid were members of the MUFON board of directors. They acted as guides on a search for a location where Haley may have been aboard an alien craft downed by the US military and as suggested in regressive hypnosis sessions conducted by Carpenter, another MUFON director at the time.

The "kitchen timer" as photographed during the hike 

Items of interest that resulted from the curious hike included photos of some equipment, dubbed the “kitchen timer” by Haley, located on the base and along the beach. At the time it was suspected the equipment may have been used to generate a field of electromagnetic pulses, effectively disabling and downing the alleged alien craft Haley was supposed to have been aboard.

In Unlocking Alien Closets, page 43, Haley wrote:

A couple of months or so after Don, Bob and I investigated the area, Don gave a lecture to the San Diego UFO Society. He showed the audience a photo of the weird “kitchen timer” instrument I had photographed at the southern end of Eglin Air Force Base. In his lecture Don referred to it as a “directed electromagnetic pulse device.” After Don's talk, an elderly, white-haired gentleman approached Don and said, “When I saw that picture, I got chills up and down my spine. You have correctly named it. I am the engineer who made the drawings for the company that built that device.”

Another view

Interesting coincidence. There are more curious coincidences and discrepancies.

I recommend the particularly interested reader invest some time in learning about tactics and procedures common to military intelligence large scale deception operations, in the event they do not have a familiarity with the topic. I am not going to currently write about such procedures, but suffice it to say the topic is quite potentially relevant, and certain events being described may not appear as puzzling to some as they do to others.

The trio took photos and completed the hike without ever being confronted by base security. Haley wrote at one point they came upon a medic truck parked along the beach. It seemed Ware and Reid spoke with the medics while Haley stayed back.

“I thought it odd to see a medic truck parked on the beach,” Haley wrote in Unlocking Alien Closets, page 41.

“When Don and Bob returned, they told me the medics did not know why they had been sent there – they were just to go there and wait.”

The beach incident gained momentum following the Eglin expedition. The subsequent buzz about alien craft disabled by electromagnetic weapons breathed life into the story. It was not long, though, before Haley suspected she was being played.

A short distance from Eglin Air Force Base

In May, 1994, Haley and the late Marc Davenport conducted an experiment. In an effort to test the likelihood Haley, Ware and Reid were actually intentionally allowed to 'trespass' and hike across Eglin, Haley and Davenport attempted to walk the route of the original hike. The two were quickly confronted by base security and ordered to leave the way they came, else face legal consequences.

“The guard threatened to take us to the brig and cite us,” Haley recently recalled.

Who Were All Those People in Gulf Breeze?

There is a great deal to be studied and considered about the Gulf Breeze saga. I have now spent years researching certain aspects of how Gulf Breeze relates to the Leah Haley Case, and I can tell you without question I have barely scratched the surface.

There are others who have learned much, much more than I about such names as Ed Walters, Bruce Maccabee and Vance Davis. There are many, many more names of potential interest, several of which commonly remain all but unmentioned. Some researchers have lots of information to share and I know relatively little in comparison.

I can tell you one thing I learned, though. In spite of an avalanche of proclamations to the contrary, I have yet to find any reason at all to conclude intelligent alien lifeforms were present in the Florida Panhandle. I have no reason to believe any such aliens abducted human beings, were engaged in hostile war maneuvers or any other such fantastic circumstances.

An important question becomes who the hell all those people were that flocked to Gulf Breeze. My current answer is I do not know, not exactly, but I am confident the question matters. I have learned a few things about some of those people and I will share a bit of what I learned.

I have a sincere hope competent research and refusals to cower away from the right questions will one day more clearly reveal the actual agendas and activities of the players. My personal opinion is when that time comes, the UFO community will then have its answers to the Gulf Breeze enigma.

According to his website, Donald Ware is a retired Air Force pilot who achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. He earned a BS in mechanical engineering in 1957 from Duke and an MS in nuclear engineering in 1972 from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Donald Ware

As mentioned, Lieutenant Colonel Ware resided in the Gulf Breeze area and was extensively involved in ufology. His activities ranged from serving as a MUFON board member and MUFON Eastern Regional Director to directing the International UFO Congress. His website demonstrates his apparent extreme views on topics UFO, including a “transformation” currently taking place and facilitated by an alien intelligence. According to Ware, such alien transforming includes “genetic engineering” of the human population, resulting in increased intelligence quotient (IQ) and ease of telepathy, among other such things.

Ware's views and activities reportedly led to a parting of the ways with MUFON in 1993. The July, 1993, MUFON Journal, Director's Message, explained Ware was removed from the board of directors after he refused to resign.

“In an unprecedented election,” then-director Walter Andrus wrote, “Donald M. Ware was voted to be removed from the Board effective June 1, 1993.”

It seemed Ware was into promoting the channeling of aliens and the like, and a majority of his fellow board members did not share his enthusiasm about such topics. They seemed to be of the opinion Ware was damaging the scientific credibility of the organization. After apparent repeated warnings to lighten up, they removed Ware from the board. I will leave it up to the reader to form an opinion of the legitimacy of the board choosing that particular point in time to play the 'scientific research' card, considering the kinds of unsubstantiated material MUFON regularly promoted through its public events and Journal from the 1990's to present.

At any rate and whatever we make of Lieutenant Colonel Ware and his history, he was indeed on the Eglin expedition in September, 1992, and while in a role of MUFON leadership. I emailed him in attempts to learn more about the hike and related circumstances. I asked, among other things, how the expedition was arranged.

Ware claimed Haley thought she knew when the beach incident happened, August, 1988. She then wanted help identifying “where the vehicle came down,” he wrote.

“I told her there is about 100 miles of the sugary white sand along our coast,” Ware explained, alluding to details arising out of Haley's regressive hypnosis sessions with Carpenter, “but the most likely place for the military people to be there so soon would be the 13 miles of restricted Eglin AFB beach between Navarre and Ft. Walton Beach.”

Ware indicated he then suggested to Haley they hike the 13 miles. Haley agreed, never lacking courage and never short on heart.

I asked Ware what he thinks about the Carpenter Affair, in which John Carpenter turned over the case files of Leah Haley and 139 other possible alien abductees to Robert Bigelow.

“I see no problem with that,” Ware replied, adding the files are only useful to society if people see them.

Some think it worth noting Bigelow has a long history of controversial activities and questionable motives, such as funding the highly criticized Roper polls and coming under fire when the original sources of his financial contributions to MUFON were called into question. Items of note additionally include circumstances surrounding the National Institute for Discovery Science, or NIDS, a nonprofit corporation no longer active but originally founded and headed by Bigelow. Former NIDS personnel member Eric Davis stated on the April 1, 2006, broadcast of Coast to Coast that long time CIA employee Christopher "Kit" Green worked with NIDS. 

Additional controversy includes Bigelow's relationship with Colonel John Alexander, another former member of NIDS personnel. Colonel Alexander, known as “Mr. Non-Lethal” due to his advocacy of such weapons and technology, was directly accused of conducting intrusive mind control operations involving involuntary human research subjects and consisting of voices in the head as reported by Sharon Weinberger in her Washington Post cover story, Mind Games. It should be noted, however, that any such accusations have yet to be substantiated. Much more on non-lethal weapons research and development, as well as abuse of human research subjects, may be viewed in US Electromagnetic Weapons and Human Rights, a Sonoma State University-Project Censored work by Peter Phillips, Lew Brown and Bridget Thornton.

Curiously, Colonel Alexander was among those who reportedly confirmed the reality of John Carpenter's actions. In a July 20, 2000, email to UFO Updates List and referring to the Carpenter Affair, John Velez explained, "This nasty business has now been confirmed by Bigelow himself, Walt Andrus, Dr. Alexander of NIDS, and about seven of the abductees whose files were sold."

“I suspect Bigelow's friends would also find those files useful,” Lieutenant Colonel Ware stated about the Carpenter Affair.

“I suspect Bigelow's friends would also find those files useful,” Lieutenant Colonel Ware stated about the Carpenter Affair. When asked who, specifically, those friends might be and why they would find the files useful, Ware's unspecific reply included remarks about the alleged MJ 12, a supposed treaty “with the Zetas” and a new species of humans “more survivable in off-planet conditions,” among other topics.

The relationship between Ware and Carpenter continued after each of their challenges within MUFON. Carpenter made presentations at various events and venues in which Ware held leadership roles and invited speakers. Ware indicated he continued to hold Carpenter in high regard.

“I saw his (Carpenter's) presentation to Georgia MUFON folks a while back and thought it was very well done,” Ware stated, adding he would continue to invite Carpenter to speak when the opportunity presents itself.

I asked Ware what led him to correctly believe he could hike extensively across Eglin with visitors and without being detained by base security personnel.

I asked Ware what led him to correctly believe he could hike extensively across Eglin with visitors and without being detained by base security personnel.

“A state law keeps the part of Florida coasts below the high tide line open to the public except when a mission is in progress,” he answered.

Research revealed most states adopted the Public Trust Doctrine, a document of various loosely suggested water access guidelines published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Public beach access is universally recommended within certain tide lines, at least in theory, but many relevant contingencies are not addressed at length or in detail.

I telephoned Eglin Air Force Base, Media Relations, to inquire further. I was directed to call the base's Jackson Guard.

During a call placed to the Jackson Guard on January 6, 2012, I asked if I could hike across the base if I stayed on the beach and below the high tide line. I added I was told a Florida law allowed such a hike.

The Jackson Guard representative asked if I had base access. After telling them, no, I did not have any special access but wanted to know if such a hike was permissible, I was respectfully informed in no uncertain terms no one is allowed on base without proper access.

Suffice it to say I would personally not rely on citing any such guidelines or obscure legislation while hoping to access Eglin Air Force Base. That is particularly my opinion after speaking with the Jackson Guard.

There are of course numerous explanations that might account for exactly how the Eglin expedition came to be. The fact remains, however, that Ware is neither clear nor direct in providing any such explanation. While I appreciate his willingness to offer comments, his statements are not specific and neither confirm nor eliminate practically any of the many possibilities.  

The bottom line here is details remain elusive of how a hike across a United States secure military facility occurred, in which participants carried and used a camera, no less. This all took place, I am led to believe, while the guides, both MUFON directors, were hoping to assist a woman, encouraged to think she was an alien abductee by yet another MUFON director, in identifying the location an alien craft was grounded. After directly asking the man - that admittedly originally proposed and coordinated this remarkable expedition - to explain what led him to correctly believe he could take a party hiking across Eglin Air Force Base, I still do not conclusively know. I do seem to have been offered some unrequested information about Zetas and a secret superior breed of humans groomed to live on other planets, though.

The extraordinarily curious chain of events and the controversial activities of MUFON directors became even more curious and controversial in circumstances surrounding yet a fourth MUFON director, Lieutenant Commander Thomas Deuley, US Navy, Retired. In 1995 while speaking as a MUFON representative, Deuley told reporter Kurt Loft of The Tampa Tribune-Times that MUFON did not embrace "such ridiculous stories" as told by Leah Haley. As we will explore in an upcoming post, Deuley entirely failed to mention to The Trib his own MUFON peers, directors Carpenter, Ware and Reid, were directly and extensively involved, as we have now seen, in those exact stories from their very outsets. 

The Leah Haley Case: Springfield, St. Louis and on to Gulf Breeze

This is one in a series of posts on the Leah Haley Case.

Reports of strange events became the norm during the 1980's and 1990's in the vicinity of Gulf Breeze, Florida. It is not difficult to envision such events may have at least included, if not completely been both direct and indirect results of, organized psychological operations conducted by the intelligence community. This may particularly be the case when we take into account the presence of military intel personnel and their curious activities as described in previous posts.

To further consider the likelihood Leah Haley was an involuntary participant in such possible operations, we should take a look at how she became drawn to the Gulf Breeze area from her home in Mississippi. We should give some thought to who was involved and what took place, and I will explore such circumstances in this and upcoming posts.

I will emphasize I do not claim to be able to produce direct evidence psychological operations and covert research projects were carried out during the Gulf Breeze events. Personally, I think the possibility is very likely, particularly after we formulate such factors as the Gulf Breeze Six into the equation. I am only trying to present facts and their resulting unanswered questions for consideration, however, not conclusions.

That stated, there is yet another large, looming piece of the Leah Haley puzzle that should under no circumstances be overlooked amid searches for spooks and alleged aliens. A glaring and undeniable reality of the Leah Haley story should remain apparent to all, regardless of preferred beliefs or areas of interest: No self-described experiencer who seeks help should ever be subjected to the emotionally traumatic abuses perpetrated on this woman, by the very people and organizations, no less, that claimed to offer applicable services and support.

As the reader shall continue to see, the Leah Haley Case should be of interest for many reasons. Such reasons include the involvement of the intelligence community in matters of ufology. Such reasons also very much include the abusive exploitation of witnesses by a UFO community that commits fraud while advertising available assistance.

Are the above two reasons sometimes one and the same? I do not know for sure, but it is clear in the case of Leah Haley that such circumstances bleed into one another, and I am convinced the question deserves its fair share of attention.

Intruder: Alien or Hypnotist?

After visiting the home of her parents during July, 1990, and discussing a childhood UFO sighting, Haley contacted Budd Hopkins in hopes of resolving questions related to the sighting. Hopkins was chosen for consultation due to his claims he possessed extensive knowledge of such affairs.


The late Budd Hopkins pictured with Carol Rainey

Hopkins created the Intruders Foundation, a private nonprofit organization supposedly dedicated to quality investigation and providing access to a network of trained professionals. Trained, presumably, in relevant and applicable skills, but not necessarily, as their often preferred activity, hypnosis, has long been established by the professional medical community as unreliable as an investigative and memory retrieval tool.

Actually, the American Medical Association does not recognize or endorse the use of hypnosis for any purpose whatsoever. What's more, Carol Rainey conclusively demonstrated the tendencies of Hopkins to both commit fraud and support hoaxes in her relatively recent films and article, The Priests of High Strangeness: Co-Creation of the “Alien Abduction Phenomenon”. I understand more material is forthcoming from Rainey. 

Hopkins was, however, the 'go to guy' of the day on such matters, so Haley contacted him to hopefully learn more about her sighting that included short term amnesia, or what Hopkins and the UFO community dubbed missing time. Hopkins then promptly referred Haley to hypnotist John Carpenter of Missouri, for whatever reasons.

John Carpenter

John Carpenter seems to currently sit on the editorial board of the Journal of Abduction-Encounter Research, or JAR. According to his bio on the JAR website, Carpenter holds a Master's in Social Work and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

The bio further states, at least at the time of this post, Carpenter is the MUFON director of abduction research. I am quite certain that is incorrect. Carpenter held that position from 1991 until 2000, I am under the impression, when news surfaced of what came to be known as the Carpenter Affair. I have no reason to believe he continues to hold the position with MUFON as stated on the JAR site yet contradicted by many sources, including Karyn Dolan's Through the Keyhole (see entry for Friday, June 13, 2008).

The Carpenter Affair, a series of Carpenter's actions during the 1990's which were later called into question, created a great deal of controversy and public relations problems when they came to light around the turn of the century. Actions deemed questionable included Carpenter providing case files of 140 possible alien abductees, including Leah Haley, to Robert Bigelow and while receiving financial compensation from Bigelow.

We will explore the circumstances in more depth as we continue, but before the Carpenter Affair was public knowledge, there were indeed the events of the early 1990's; events and times in which MUFON quite prominently promoted and endorsed the activities of John Carpenter. He was, at that time, anyway, MUFON director of abduction research. His assertions of aliens kidnapping humans were frequently featured in his appearances at MUFON events and his articles published regularly in the MUFON Journal.

Most relevantly to Leah Haley, she met John Carpenter as the direct result of seeking help from individuals and organizations claiming to provide quality, scientific investigation and much needed emotional services.

Most relevantly to Leah Haley, she met John Carpenter as the direct result of seeking help from individuals and organizations claiming to provide quality, scientific investigation and much needed emotional services. That is exactly how Haley wound up in the Springfield, Missouri, office of a clinical social worker, reasonably assumed to be about to provide such services on behalf of the organization, MUFON, he represented.

What actually unfolded were repeated hypnosis sessions, numbering well into the teens and conducted throughout 1991. Haley's case file was later released by Carpenter with neither her knowledge nor consent. Carpenter was the lead hypnotist, Haley was the subject and the following events occurred.

Springfield

Haley initially drove from her home in Mississippi to meet Carpenter and his assistant in Springfield, Missouri. She later decided to make another trip via airline in May, 1991, for what would be her third hypnosis session.

There are of course a limited number of people who would have known (or been concerned, for that matter) Haley was flying to Springfield. I find that potentially interesting in light of what Haley reported took place at the airport.

According to Haley's book, Lost Was the Key, she encountered an ominous man at the airport in Springfield who, without reasonable cause, directly asked her about extraterrestrials. The interaction could be reasonably interpreted to have been intended to disorient Haley, as well as to likely frighten and intimidate her, for whatever reasons. In Lost Was the Key, page 65, she wrote:

Upon arriving at the airport, I called the hotel and asked the clerk to send their van to pick me up. The clerk replied someone had already called and the van was on its way. I walked to the door where the clerk told me to wait and noticed a man standing there alone.

“Are you waiting for the hotel van?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

To pass the time, I initiated a conversation with this stranger. I asked him where he was from and what brought him to Springfield. He told me he was a salesman from Nashville and was in Springfield to interview for a position at a sporting goods store.

“What brings you here?” he asked.

“I'm here to do research concerning some personal experiences.”

“About extraterrestrials?” he asked.

I was stunned. Why would a stranger ask if my research involved extraterrestrials?

Why indeed, and in Springfield?

Haley went on to explain on page 66 that while the two were riding in the van to the hotel, the man directly suggested she tell him about her UFO experiences, which she did not. Haley further explained that, following the van ride, the two each checked into the hotel and she never saw the man again. The next evening, Carpenter, an assistant and Haley met at the Springfield hotel for what was her third hypnosis session.

I recently asked Leah if she continued to interpret the above referenced events happened as she originally described in Lost Was the Key. She confirmed that is the case.

During another trip to Springfield in July of 1991, Haley was repeatedly hypnotized by Carpenter. One of the hypnosis sessions conducted during the trip resulted in what became known as the “beach incident.”

The beach incident is all that is alien abduction 'investigation.' It is, at its very least, a byproduct of what happens when inadequate investigative tools are implemented by self-described experts who lack critical thinking skills and have long since drawn premature and inaccurate conclusions. At its most, and worst, it might be part of the story of an abused involuntary research subject. As we adjust our heads slightly and take yet another look at the shape-shifting beach incident, we might glimpse its potential value to sociologists, psychologists and future researchers of many disciplines, including military intelligence.

At best, such people had no interest whatsoever in identifying truth as compared to campaigning for the extraterrestrial hypothesis... It is certainly noteworthy the very people who once encouraged Haley to publicize her story and promoted her perspectives of alien abduction now prefer she keep her revised and
alien-less views to herself.

It is a fascinating example of how a story, originally propagated, conceived and cultivated entirely under hypnosis, can morph and evolve, pulling people into its wake and effecting them to astounding extents – and I am not referring to Haley. I am referring to the manners UFO enthusiasts and self-described investigators alike snatched up the beach incident and promoted it. At best, such people had no interest whatsoever in identifying truth as compared to campaigning for the extraterrestrial hypothesis and, in effect, their personal belief systems – with no care or concern for those hurt along the way. Apparently the only concern for some was to lead others to believe in aliens, trying desperately to further convince themselves in the process. At worst and as we will continue to explore, some investigators and promoters of the beach incident may have simply had ulterior motives.

I do not claim to conclusively know what we would find if we were somehow able to effectively isolate and examine each of the personalities and agendas making up the complex collage of events resulting from the hypnotically created beach incident. I do conclusively know some things we do not find, however, and among them are professional investigation, objectivity and sound lines of reasoning – all of which were originally advertised by the growing parade of facilitators, I urge the reader to recall and keep in mind as we proceed.

It is certainly noteworthy the very people who once encouraged Haley to publicize her story and promoted her perspectives of alien abduction now prefer she keep her revised and alien-less views to herself. At its most corrupt, the Haley case might involve organized covert and intrusive research. At its most innocent, the case is nonetheless and undeniably an example of how witnesses and their statements are exploited via an 'ends justify the means' mentality held by overeager UFO enthusiasts.

The beach incident, in basic terms, was an alleged experience retrieved via regressive hypnosis in which Haley was aboard an alien craft hostilely grounded mid flight by US military personnel. The hypnotically retrieved mental imagery suggested alien occupants of the craft executed an emergency landing upon an unidentified beach, where Haley and aliens then became the subjects of interest of the soldiers who downed them.

It is relevant, at least to Haley and some others who have been the subjects of UFO-related hypnosis proceedings, to understand the beach incident involved hypnotic imagery perceived as traumatic and accompanied by intense emotions. It should be clearly understood that while a hypnosis subject may over time develop any number of possible intellectual interpretations of imagery derived from a session, including discarding the supposed memories as false, the emotional challenges remain.

A somewhat accurate analogy might be to consider a movie you watched that emotionally upset you for whatever reasons. Perhaps the film was very scary, or maybe it dealt with subject matter you have personal reason to find very emotionally intense.

Now, intellectually you know it was just a movie, consisting of actors and scripts and cameras – but it still impacts you emotionally. Imagine, further, if that movie were specifically about you, and you watched yourself play the lead role in the disturbing film, all while having no recollection of ever being involved in the production.

That might provide somewhat of an accurate context of the very real and present confusion and emotional challenges that can remain long after imagery retrieved via hypnosis has been otherwise identified as all but certainly false. It might also provide context for more accurately understanding the likelihood the hypnosis subject experiences initial emotional vulnerability, complications of which increase the potential for exploitation by hypnotists with self-serving motives.

One might consider the difficulty of evaluating such mental imagery when the hypnotist and a growing number of supposed support-people are celebrating the revelations of alien abduction. One might further consider the courage it takes to announce the party is over.

It should be emphasized Haley revised her opinions concerning alleged aliens, now holding the perspective her experiences were the complicated results of covert mind control research. The human hypothesis for some reports of alien abduction involves complex dynamics that require a working knowledge of topics such as emotional trauma, the evolution of state-sponsored covert research projects and the evolution of research and development of non-lethal weapons.

Such a hypothesis and change in perspectives as Haley experienced do not, however, necessarily indicate Haley retracted all of her previous statements. Some have incorrectly concluded that to be the case, perhaps due to inadequate understandings of the subject matter.

“What I wish people would understand,” Haley recently stated about her revised perspectives, “is that the 'alien abductions' and other experiences I wrote about in Lost Was the Key, Unlocking Alien Closets, and various articles, did happen. They are true. None of that has changed. The only thing that has changed is that after devoting years of my life and substantial amounts of money to research the phenomenon and get to the bottom of it, I now understand what - or rather who - was the cause of all those experiences.”

More Mufonians

In October, 1991, Haley flew to St. Louis to attend a MUFON conference. According to Lost Was the Key, page 131, Haley and Carpenter met privately during the conference with “a group of ufologists” to discuss her “experiences with military/government agents.”

Haley informed me she was not planning on attending the conference but did so at the suggestion of Linda Moulton Howe. It seems LMH identified two individuals independently claiming to report experiences similar to those retrieved via hypnosis by Haley and Carpenter, and LMH wanted to get these people together along with additional researchers. The similarities in the reported experiences among the trio of witnesses specifically included perceptions of big-eyed, chalky-colored aliens and military personnel.

As Haley recalled, the private meeting conducted at the St. Louis MUFON conference in late 1991 was attended by George and Shirley Coyne, only one of the two witnesses LMH seemed to know, and a few others in addition to Carpenter, Moulton Howe and Haley. Moulton Howe requested permission to invite C.B. Scott Jones to the meeting but Haley does not recall if Jones attended.

Donald Ware

On November 23, 1991, just one month removed from the St. Louis MUFON conference and amid the many hypnosis sessions conducted by Carpenter, Haley made her first trip from her home in Mississippi to the Gulf Breeze, Florida, area. The trip included meeting then-MUFON Eastern Regional Director, Lieutenant Colonel Donald Ware, USAF, Retired. Ware was a member of the MUFON board of directors and resided in the vicinity of Gulf Breeze.

During the trip, Ware introduced Haley to Ed and Frances Walters, among other local UFO enthusiasts, sky-watchers and researchers. The visit and its details were established in letters and an appointment book Haley possesses, as well as Lost Was the Key. She wrote on page 132 she was told, in context of the beach incident, “the Joint Chiefs of Staff met at Pensacola Naval Air Station in August, 1988, and were escorted into a hangar that was under extremely high security and temporarily air conditioned.”

Remember that suggested date, August, 1988, of the alleged beach incident. It is going to come back up.

Haley developed the impression Ware might assist her in learning more about the now infamous beach incident because the event was suspected to have occurred on the Gulf Coast. This is the case at least in part because Haley previously vacationed along the coast, giving rise to suspicions the incident may have occurred during a trip to the area. It might then stand to reason to consult Ware, the then-MUFON Eastern Regional Director, as to possible events of interest occurring along the coast. It should be noted Haley suspected other dates of the alleged incident in addition to August, 1988, the date suggested during her first meeting with Ware. At any rate, I was interested in clarifying more details about how Haley initially met Ware and subsequently became involved with the Gulf Breeze UFO community.

Leah was very helpful and forthright in sharing information with me in an effort to reveal details of the chain of events, as has consistently been the case during my interactions with her. She informed me she located old letters indicating she requested Ware's contact info from both Carpenter and Moulton Howe. I contacted the involved parties in attempts to learn more.

Ware said Carpenter, among others, told Haley to contact him. Carpenter said he did no such thing.

Emails were sent to Linda Moulton Howe at her Earthfiles website address in attempts to obtain comment on her recollections of the Leah Haley Case. No replies were received.

In email exchanges with Carpenter I informed him Ware and others led me to believe he was instrumental in acquainting Haley with Ware. I asked what led him to believe Haley should meet Ware.

Carpenter replied he made no deliberate effort to acquaint Haley with Ware. “They met in Gulf Breeze,” Carpenter continued, “a favorite place for her to visit and meet with the local group.”

While I do not necessarily doubt Carpenter's sincerity on this specific matter (after all, it was a long time ago), his reply is simply inaccurate. Haley could not have become initially acquainted with Ware while hanging out in Gulf Breeze because, as established, Ware was the reason Haley traveled to the area in the first place. In other words, she already made contact with the man prior to ever arriving.

Haley recently stated she located letters suggesting she and Carpenter discussed Ware, resulting in Haley requesting Ware's contact info from Carpenter and Moulton Howe, which she received. Haley has a copy of a letter she then sent Ware, establishing contact and dated November 12, 1991. It was such discussions and letters that directly resulted in the November 23, 1991, meeting between Haley and Ware, regardless of how anyone may now recall or tell the story.

One reasonable interpretation would be that the MUFON board of directors, regardless of what additional people or circumstances may have contributed to the situation, did their ample part, essentially and for all practical purposes, in the manufacture of an alien abductee.

However one might interpret the details, the fact will remain that Haley's increasing involvement with MUFON, and specifically its board of directors, was a key and constant element during this critical portion of her story. There is no uncertainty in the positive identification of the facilitators of Haley's participation in hypnosis, the subsequent forming of fantastic assumptions and the resulting endorsements thereof. Members of the MUFON board of directors clearly encouraged and directly participated in each phase of the evolving situation and, as the reader will see as we progress, continued to do so in increasingly significant and questionable manners. One reasonable interpretation would be that the MUFON board of directors, regardless of what additional people or circumstances may have contributed to the situation, did their ample part, essentially and for all practical purposes, in the manufacture of an alien abductee. 

Hold those thoughts. We will hear more from Ware and Carpenter later. The ways Leah came to think the beach incident occurred in the Florida Panhandle will come back up, as will one of its supposed dates, August, 1988, as Haley and Ware discussed during their initial meeting in November, 1991.

A Review

Let's inventory what we have on the table at this point:

Leah Haley wanted to learn more about a childhood experience involving memories of flying saucers and short term amnesia. At the suggestion of Budd Hopkins she ended up in the Springfield, Missouri, office of a MUFON director and clinical social worker, John Carpenter, participating throughout 1991 in multiple hypnosis sessions. The resulting mental imagery suggested Haley lived an entire hidden life – previously not known to her conscious psyche - of dramatic abductions and perilous adventures involving aliens and military personnel. One particular hypnosis session conducted by Carpenter gave birth to the beach incident, an alleged experience in which Haley seemed to have been aboard an alien craft downed by military forces upon an unidentified beach.

This led Haley to attend and network at a MUFON conference in 1991 in St. Louis. Shortly afterward she met in the Gulf Breeze area with Lieutenant Colonel Donald Ware, who sat on the MUFON board of directors and was the MUFON Eastern Regional Director. The purpose of the meeting, at least from the point of view of the aggressive and inquisitive Haley, was for her to try to learn more about the beach incident.

When Things Got Sirius

Those interested in claims of telepathic communication, a reportedly common occurrence during and surrounding alleged alien abductions and some UFO sightings, should find the evolution of non-lethal weapons technology of interest. Dr. Robert Becker wrote in 1985 about experiments conducted by Dr. Joseph Sharp at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Sharp used an analog pulse to beam an otherwise silent and inaudible word directly into the human brain, perceived accurately by the recipient. In effect, Sharp successfully created what could be interpreted as 'telepathic communication.'

Becker further explained a research group at Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory had a continuing contract to study such technology. The Naval Lab was located in Pensacola.

Such work eventually led to developments in what became known as “voice to skull” technology, the ethics and uses of which continue to be highly debated. United States Patent 4,877,027, a “hearing system,” for example, declared sound was induced in the head of a person by using microwave pulses. The patent was filed in 1988.

On March 12, 1992, Leah Haley reportedly received a telepathic message stating her alien abductors were from Sirius. According to Unlocking Alien Closets, page 19, amid a dizzying onslaught of other concerning events, Haley “was startled by a (telepathic) message that 'they' were from Sirius.”

Subsequent research conducted by Haley revealed Sirius to be a star in the constellation Canis Major. I find this development curious.

In his work, The Controllers: A New Hypothesis of Alien Abduction, writer/researcher Martin Cannon cited the experiences of Project MKULTRA mind control victim Martti Koski. In the section titled, The Scandanavian Connection, Cannon wrote, “Koski, for example, was at one point told that the doctors afflicting him were actually 'aliens from Sirius.'" Koski also reported inexplicably hearing voices.

I recently asked Haley if she was aware, at least consciously, of Martti Koski. “Never heard of him,” she replied.

It gets more curious. In a September, 1991, Flying Saucer Review article titled, The Extraordinary Case of “Elizabeth Richmond” , authors Donald Ware and Robert Reid described events surrounding the alleged UFO-related experiences of a woman who apparently resided in Pensacola. The pseudonym Elizabeth Richmond was used for the woman.

This is the same Donald Ware previously mentioned. Co-author Colonel Robert “Bob” Reid, USAF, Retired, like Ware, was a MUFON field investigator, was a member of the MUFON board of directors and resided in the Gulf Breeze area.

A section of the Ware and Reid article about Elizabeth Richmond was titled, Telepathic Contact. The section began, “During later meditation sessions there was apparently some telepathic contact. Elizabeth was told that their home-planet belonged to the star Sirius...”

Are we to believe someone was leaving calling cards with a Sirius address?
And in the circles of Donald Ware and his fellow MUFON directors, no less?

Are we to believe someone was leaving calling cards with a Sirius address? And in the circles of Donald Ware and his fellow MUFON directors, no less?

On March 13, 1992, the very next day after Haley's reported telepathic message referencing Sirius, she documented another telepathic message. Unlocking Alien Closets, pages 19-20:

“My communicators told me to check out the beach incident; they indicated that it had occurred on Thursday morning, August 4, 1988, on Navarre Beach.”

You will recall Haley and Ware discussed August, 1988, as a possible time frame of the beach incident during their initial meeting. Haley wrote she had no idea at the time where Navarre Beach was located but, after conducting a bit of research, discovered it was in the vicinity of... Gulf Breeze.

Make of it what you will.

Whatever we make of it, the fact will remain the ambitious Haley indeed went on to pursue the beach incident. As a direct result of mental imagery derived from regressive hypnosis, combined with perceived telepathic messages containing quite curious details and suggestions, she was catapulted full on into the Gulf Breeze UFO community, all its short lived glory and all its long suffered sorrow.

That year, 1992, was very eventful for Leah Haley. On page 233 of Unlocking Alien Closets she described a meeting initiated by a man who said he represented a Washington intelligence official. Haley explained the man told her she was being monitored by multiple agencies. He further indicated, among other things, such agencies had conflicting agendas, resulting in a variety of possible good guy/bad guy scenarios.

In September of 1992 Haley made another trip to Gulf Breeze, at which time the beach incident effectively came out of the hypnotist's office and fully to life. Haley, Ware and Reid undertook what continues to be a most intriguing hike across Eglin Air Force Base, seemingly in search of an actual site an alien craft allegedly went down with Haley on board.

The Interesting, Eventful and Incredible Story of Commander C.B. Scott Jones

The story of C.B. Scott Jones is one brimming with intriguing topics: UFO sightings, encounters with entities, military intelligence, the US Senate, exopolitics, disinformation, high profile members of the UFO community, mind control and more. You name it, it is very likely Jones has been on its trail, if not right in the middle of it at one time or another. Described as enigmatic, mysterious and a subtle mover and shaker, his activities have long placed C.B. Scott Jones among the more controversial names of ufology.

I emailed Jones to learn more. He cooperatively agreed to field some questions, of which I appreciate. Following are certain aspects of his story along with statements he provided during email exchanges.    

Not Your Father's Peace Activist

Commander Cecil B. "Scott" Jones, US Navy, Retired, is the founder and president of the nonprofit corporation, Peace and Emergency Action Coalition for Earth, or PEACE. His bio on the PEACE website states the principal function of the organization is to "oversee the development of the global Center for Sustainable Peace and Development system." This seems to include enrolling the involvement of "academic, political, spiritual, military, intelligence and business leaders" in the planning and design of the Sustainable Peace and Development (SPD) program. 

You might ask what that actually means. That is a good question. 

The SPD, continuing to quote the PEACE website, is a project that addresses "consequences to peace, stability and growth when full disclosure of ET/Earth contact is made." PEACE and its SPD recommend the US President establish a cabinet-level "Peace Advisor," and that the President encourage other global leaders to do the same.

Additional PEACE lobbying activities include the proposal of a Constitutional amendment designating the President as the primary "Peace Maker of the United States." Doing so, according to PEACE and its suggested legislation, provides the President a legal basis to establish a "Department of Peace" and what is termed "the institutionalization of peace." While such proposals might sound concerning to some, PEACE asserts it is all necessary, or at the least recommended, due to complications bound to arise in the wake of disclosure of contact occurring between human beings and extraterrestrials.  

In justification of such a platform, Jones explained, "I believe that a global pre-disclosure dialogue about the potential consequences of disclosure to each country and their cultures would reduce the shock that I believe will be associated with formal disclosure. This is discussed in my website under Plan C."

Plan C indeed contains details of the PEACE and Jones proposals, as well as reference to Laurance Rockefeller and "the CIA's Weird Desk Officer," Ron Pandolfi. Plan C also provides insight into the Sitchin-like views promoted by Jones and related to the alleged significance of such topics as the Anunnaki, Nibiru and the extraterrestrial tampering of the origins of humankind. Jones, his organization and his allies in exopolitics hope to enroll the support of global universities in teaching and promoting such plans.

"I continue to work with a few countries to get them to research and write a White Paper on the consequences of disclosure to them," Jones wrote, but added he is not close to success in the effort. 

"The very successful U.S. counterintelligence program to make this subject a third rail for academe has really worked. It appears that some ET groups that want disclosure to be made have decided that it will never happen by earth action, and that they will cause disclosure to be an informal accumulative process by increasing the number of sightings."

You might now ask how, exactly, such a corporation and situation came to be. That is a very good question and, as is the case with so many similar questions within ufology, not one with as clear and absolute answers as we might like.

Who Is C.B. Scott Jones?

According to his bio, Jones earned an AB in Government from George Washington University in 1961 and an MA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland in 1963. He received a PhD in International Studies from American University in 1975.

C.B. Scott Jones

His long and prestigious military career began in 1946 when he joined the Navy. His remarkable service included intelligence collection and support throughout Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Jones was assigned to the Naval Scientific and Technical Intelligence Center where he headed the Missiles, Ordinance and Astronautics Division. In that position he oversaw the production of intelligence reports for the Navy and Defense Intelligence Agency at all classification levels. Jones chaired, supported and coordinated multiple inter-agency intelligence operations. He briefed the President's Scientific Advisory Committee and testified before House and Senate committees and sub-committees.

Jones retired from the Navy in the mid 1970's. Somewhere along the way, this accomplished career intelligence officer jumped into the deep end of the pool of ufology.

Ufology and Beyond

From 1985 to 1991 Jones was employed by Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island. Jones was hired as a member of the Senator's staff for the quite remarkable stated purpose of studying paranormal phenomena, as reported in 1990 by The Washington Post.

In another early 1990's article titled, Will the Real Scott Jones Please Stand Up?, writer/researcher Robert J. Durant called Jones "the most ubiquitous character in ufology and parapsychology," a reference to his significant involvement in both fields. Jones was a regular attendee of related conferences during the 1980's and 1990's. He was as aware of the trending stories and activities of the high profile players as practically anyone anywhere.

Reports, such as referenced by Durant, have long indicated Jones claimed to experience a UFO sighting involving a "silver disc" and a later "parapsychological" event during his Navy career. More recent reports suggest Jones tends to narrate alleged fantastic experiences involving intelligent non-human beings, the memories of which were recovered with assistance from psychics and hypnotists.

Jones wrote that such experiences were a revelation and described them as his now 83 years of "personal contact with ETs." He added he does not discuss the experiences in detail.

What does Jones think is the most significant event in ufology?

"This is the U.S. strategy of denial and disinformation about all things ET," he stated, describing such a cover up as ongoing.

Calling the strategy one of the most amazing policies ever encountered in the modern era, he continued, "It suggests that the economic gain from it must really be huge. We will find out some day."

Jones held the position of what was termed the MUFON consultant in international relations for a while beginning in 1989. He served in key roles with many additional organizations, including founding the Center for Applied Anomalous Phenomena and president of the American Society for Psychical Research. He was also president of the Human Potential Foundation, a nonprofit corporation he co-founded with Senator Pell in 1989.

According to the PEACE website and writer/researcher Philip Coppens, the Human Potential Foundation received major funding from Laurance Rockefeller. Activities included the studies of the social effects of alien contact and the most effective methods for lobbying Congress. In November of 1998 the Foundation was dissolved and the continuation of its principle interests was undertaken by the Peace and Emergency Action Coalition for Earth.

In Your Face Disguise

The controversial circles of C.B. Scott Jones included Colonel John Alexander, Major General Albert Stubblebine and Dr. Rima Laibow. He accompanied them during their ufology-related travels and attended their presentations.

Jones was also reportedly involved with disinformation figures Richard Doty and William Moore, the latter of which stated during a presentation at the 1989 MUFON Symposium to have long been working as a "controlled informant" for the US government. Moore further told the audience he deceived a number of people along the way. Three years later, in 1992, Moore informed the UFO community during an interview he was still acting as a controlled informant, according to Durant and other sources, whatever we might make of such incredible occurrences.

When I asked what Jones would say to individuals who might suspect his presence and activities in ufology have been indicative of operations conducted on behalf of the intelligence community, Jones stated the issue rarely comes up in a one-on-one situation.

"When it does I easily agree that everyone has a right to their own opinion. I simply affirm the truth about my life on this subject. It certainly does not deserve or need any energy investment on my part to defend the truth. This issue is not important to me at all. It has never come to the point where I felt that legal action would be required because I was being slandered or libeled."

Demonstrating his now long time practice of modesty and apparent preference for others to take the spotlight, Jones concluded on the topic, "The fact is that I am not that important a player in the field."

One of the more intriguing events in the remarkable saga of C.B. Scott Jones can be found during his employment in the office of Senator Pell. In an October, 1990, article titled, Hearing It Backward and published by The Washington Post, writers Tom Kenworthy, Maralee Schwartz and Barbara Vobejda reported on the reprimanding of Jones by the Senator.

Jones apparently sent a letter to then-Defense Secretary and future Vice President Richard Cheney, questioning whether President Bush and other officials were using a code word during speeches about the Persian Gulf situation. The strange chain of events included copies of the letter sent anonymously to news organizations. The contents of the remarkable letter included Jones describing theories surrounding hidden meanings found in select tapes of speeches when played backward. Pell reportedly took issue with Jones lacking permission to write Cheney, resulting in the reprimand. 

Jones long claimed to know nothing of any activities conducted by the US government in the field of ufology. The situation, according to Jones, was that he could find no evidence the powers that be were involved in matters related to UFOs. While we might rather easily think of an event or three that contradicted such an assessment, including some circumstances considered right here in this post, this is evidently because Jones appears to primarily consider such things from the perspective of his apparent interest in alleged aliens. He does not seem particularly interested in government involvement in ufology as compared to specific involvement with ET, as demonstrated in his response to my request he clarify his stance on what he thinks about government activities in the field.

"I was never briefed into any government UFO/ET programs. During my assignments in Naval intelligence and while working for Senator Pell, a total of twenty-one years, I was most attentive to that possibility, but it never happened. Therefore my reply on this issue is that I do not have any personal knowledge about U.S. official UFO/ET programs."

Jones added he believes some sincere whistle blowers have disclosed details of actual US government UFO/ET programs. "While I am sure that I will never be offered to be briefed into these programs," he explained, "I would not accept the offer. That would keep me from doing my global peace work, most of which now is intimately involved with issues of disclosures."

Although Jones stated he had no knowledge of government UFO/ET programs, he has publicly discussed circumstances of other types of alleged government involvement in ufology. During a 2008 presentation hosted by Austin (Texas) MUFON, Jones tackled the mind control issue.

As posted on the Austin MUFON website and recently confirmed by Jones, he claimed during his presentation to believe writer/researcher and friend Michael Drosnin was targeted by the FBI with an incapacitating electronic mind control device. Jones further claimed he advised Dr. John Gibbons, science advisor to President Clinton during the time in question, of such matters.

Jones reportedly informed Gibbons, "There are reasons to believe that some government group has interwoven research about this (mind control) technology with alleged UFO phenomena. If that is correct, you can expect to run into early resistance when inquiring about UFOs, not because of the UFO subject, but because that has been used to cloak research and applications of mind-control activity.”

When asked if he continues to think the UFO subject cloaks mind control research and applications, Jones replied, "I think that the UFO/ET subject has been used to cloak a number of classified U.S. programs that certainly includes mind control. It probably has been used more often to confuse and disguise aerospace weapon systems than other subjects. It has been particularly effective when there is a presumed close relationship between what is trying to be protected and assumptions about characteristics associated with UFOs and ETs.

"For example, in my first visit to the old Soviet Union, Senator Pell asked me to find out what research the Russians were doing in the field of psychic phenomena. The first research institute I visited was publicly known to be involved in this area. What I discovered was that they also were tasked to look into the issues of UFOs and ETs. The lab director explained that so much of what they had learned about UFOs and ETs appeared to be psychic in nature that it was logical to research both areas together."

New MUFON Captain on Priorities and Hypnosis

David "The Captain" MacDonald will become the next international director of the Mutual UFO Network effective February 1. MacDonald is experienced in MUFON leadership roles, including sitting on the current board of directors.

According to MUFON, MacDonald is a successful businessman, currently operating a school for pilots and aircraft dispatchers. He is the owner/operator of a charter airline, Flamingo Air. 

I emailed MacDonald and congratulated him on his recent appointment as international director. I inquired if it would be okay to ask him a few questions, to which he agreed. Below are my questions and his responses, of which I appreciate him taking the time and attention to provide.

What do you identify as your most urgent and top priorities in your role as MUFON international director? 

To continue to increase and improve the professionalism, stature, efficiency and financial well being of the organization.

What are you currently most pleased about MUFON?

The fact that it is the largest, most prestigious and well known UFO investigating organization in the world.

What are you least pleased, or most concerned, about MUFON?

Training of Field Investigators and State Officers. Much more needs to be done and we are working on it.

The MUFON mission statement reads, "The scientific study of UFOs for the benefit of humanity." How would you evaluate the current MUFON execution of scientific study of UFOs, particularly as commonly represented in the MUFON Journal and its symposiums?

Since we are the only major organization that actually investigates UFOs, I say we are doing quite well. However, as stated above, there is a lot of room for improvement.

What is your stance on MUFON providing public platforms for individuals who use hypnosis as a primary investigative tool and as was recently the case when MUFON LA hosted and promoted David Jacobs?

As of this writing I have not even officially taken office. Therefore I prefer not to comment on issues of which I have not been fully briefed on. However, I will state if a chapter wishes to host a speaker to make a presentation on any investigative procedure, be it hypnosis, photo analysis or evidence collection, as it relates to UFO investigations, I have no problem.

What is your stance on MUFON chapters continuing to promote and practice hypnosis as a memory retrieval tool?

To me, the key word is tool. We do not promote the use of hypnosis. Rather, we accept its use, under stringent requirements and prerequisites, as a tool to aid in the discovery of latent memories. MUFON has considerable guidelines governing the use of hypnosis including a section of the training manual dedicated to ethics in investigations.