Leah Haley on Alien Abduction: “It Doesn't Happen”

Pensacola Beach, Florida, a short distance
from massive Eglin Air Force Base.

Former self-described alien abductee Leah Haley has revised her perspectives about her experiences of high strangeness to conclude that no alien abductions ever took place in her life. She now completely attributes her remarkable perceptions to having been an involuntary research subject. Commenting on literal alien abduction from her home in Pensacola, Florida, Haley stated, “It doesn't happen.”

Haley attracted widespread attention within the UFO community in 1993 with the publication of her book, Lost Was the Key, in which she described her extraordinary experiences consisting of fragmented memories of UFOs and apparent non-human beings. She became a well known speaker and was commonly sought for interviews. Ten years later she published Unlocking Alien Closets: Abductions, Mind Control and Spirituality, further documenting her descent into an increasingly complex web of deceit, disinformation and character assassination within ufology. Sales of her books climbed well into the thousands although word of mouth was virtually the only means of marketing.

Haley initially thought aliens were responsible for her experiences but that changed following years of investigation. She long acknowledged military personnel were involved in her experiences to some extent, but she fully re-evaluated circumstances after viewing select Freedom of Information Act and U.S. Patent Office documents. Haley further based her revised conclusions on hundreds of interactions with abductees and researchers, as well as having mysterious individuals enter and later abruptly vanish from her life. She is now thoroughly convinced mind control experiments are responsible for what became known as the alien abduction phenomenon.

“I really can explain every alien abduction away using human technology,” Haley said.

Commenting on what she termed “legitimate” reports of abduction, she continued, “I don't know for sure, but every case that I know very, very well – every single one of them – if I probe deeply enough, I'm going to find that there were humans here and there too. That tells me that it was a human-instigated situation. I can't think of a single case, not a single one, that I've really delved into that didn't have humans in it too, so I just don't think alien abductions are happening. I don't know, but I just don't think they are.”

Who Is Leah Haley?

The polite yet confidently direct woman who came to be embraced - for better or worse – by the UFO community said she was born in 1951 in Decatur, Alabama. According to her books, Haley earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education from the University of Alabama, a master's degree in education from the University of North Alabama and a master's degree in business administration from Mississippi State University. She told me she is a Certified Public Accountant, currently employed in the field.

I first contacted Haley via email in June of 2009 due to my interest in her reported experiences which involved apparent military personnel. Our interactions led to me interviewing her over the course of a couple days in March, 2011.

As much an artist as she is a business administrator or anything else, Haley loves to write. She enjoys many forms of art and particularly appreciates theater. While the name Leah Ann Haley will be forever joined with the UFO phenomenon, the woman came to prioritize a healthy social life and enjoying herself, as was indicated by the presence in her den of gifts from her birthday celebration. “If I put the gifts away, I'll forget to send thank you notes,” she explained with a laugh.

During a drive through downtown Pensacola, she fondly pointed out locations where bands regularly perform. She enjoys concerts, and told me about attending a Lynyrd Skynyrd gig, remarking that she of course likes the band's music due to her roots in (Sweet Home) Alabama.

Haley developed a strong faith which she attributes in part to her traumatic experiences and the stress of going public with her story. She enjoys attending casual worship services held Sunday mornings at picnic tables on Pensacola Beach. “I think that's so cool,” she said while describing the services.

Her first marriage ended as she became increasingly committed to investigating her experiences and publicly sharing her findings. Was her involvement in ufology responsible for her failed marriage? “Oh, yeah,” she responded decisively, “absolutely.” Her status as a relatively high profile, controversial figure severely strained family relations, but Haley feels she picked up the pieces as well as could be expected.

Take her or leave her, Leah Haley is willing to be scrutinized. Other high profile members of the UFO community often hide from objective evaluation, reciting their largely unchallenged rhetoric with relentless and annoying persistence. Contrastingly, Haley at least seemingly provides us with a refreshingly transparent view of the path of an experiencer of high strangeness who embarked upon a sincere journey of investigation and self-discovery. It is only natural that such a journey included evolving perspectives, changing over time, and it appears Haley happens to be secure enough to tell us when she changes her mind.

“The most important thing about my case,” she said, “is that my memories were of alien abductions, and that after spending thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars and years and years and years of research trying to find evidence that alien abductions occurred, the only evidence I found is of human-instigated mind control.”

Circumstantial Evidence


The UFO House of Pensacola Beach serves as an eerie reminder
of the Gulf Breeze UFO craze that snowballed into a frenzy.

Haley cited circumstances such as confirmed mind control operations and Freedom of Information Act documents, substantiating details of such black budget operations, as supporting evidence for her perspectives. Suggesting the general population lacks adequate understandings of relevant issues, such as conditioned behavior and subliminal programming, Haley stated, “Doing my lectures and radio shows I met people all over the country, and most of the alien abductees just accept what's happened at face value. What they remember - to them - is what happened. Very few of us have ever questioned it to the extent that you and I obviously have.”

Haley cited U.S. Patent Office documents, demonstrating evolution of electronic technology and non-lethal weapons that correlates with the time line of reports of alien abduction. Advances in technology during the 20th century included using electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) to remotely entrain brain waves, induce altered states of consciousness and transfer an otherwise inaudible voice directly into the brain. Overexposure to EMFs was documented to cause hallucinations, nausea, short term amnesia (missing time) and reddened skin, circumstances which became staples of abductee testimonies.

Haley has claimed to have been interrogated and tortured by military personnel, but do not expect her to name alleged perpetrators. Though much speculation has circulated about Haley's alleged abusers, she is well aware she cannot prove accusations and therefore chooses to withhold public comment on identities.

She also claimed to have been approached repeatedly by mysterious people interested in her experiences, and on at least one occasion such a person apparently claimed to be acting on behalf of intelligence officials. Haley believed she confirmed the claim to a reasonable extent.

Marc Davenport

Haley met Marc Davenport at the 1993 Ozark UFO Conference. He attended her lecture and approached her afterword, finding her presentation of interest. Like Haley, Davenport was a researcher, author and speaker.

The two discovered many mutual interests. They eventually married and plunged ever deeper into the world of ufology. The duo spent extended periods of time conducting research and presenting their work through Greenleaf Publications, a corporation founded by Haley in 1992 and subsequently jointly operated by the couple. It was with Davenport's help as a researcher and support as a friend that Haley dissected the world of military intelligence and black budget research projects.

She explained, “It was like a progression with me until I finally came to the conclusion that everything with me was human-instigated. That's where the evidence pointed. I didn't find any concrete evidence - no absolute concrete evidence - of aliens, but plenty of evidence of human intervention.”

Such evidence included two events reportedly occurring the morning of June 16, 2000. Haley experienced abduction-like visions, non-ordinary states of consciousness and the sensation of hearing voices in her head. Haley was home alone during the second episode, which also included paralysis. Davenport returned unexpectedly, observing a helicopter hovering within 100 feet of their house. The helicopter soon departed, leaving Davenport to find Haley ill and disoriented inside the home.

It was therefore not only Davenport's help as a colleague, but also his experience as a direct witness, that assisted Haley in re-evaluating her experiences. Davenport continued to report on mind control and non-lethal weapons.

In 2005 Davenport was diagnosed with what Haley called an unusual form of cancer. He lost his life to what proved to be the painful and disabling illness.

Does Haley think Davenport's cancer was intentionally induced? “I will go to my grave believing so,” she said.

Carpenter Affair

Haley's experiences included missing time, disturbing body markings and a retrieved possible implant, in addition to interactions with mysterious strangers and military personnel. Her search for answers included regressive hypnosis sessions conducted by John Carpenter, a mental health counselor who served as the MUFON director of abduction research during the early 1990's. For what is in all likelihood a variety of reasons, Haley's mental imagery during the sessions included implications of aliens and emotional trauma.

Carpenter conducted some 14 regressive hypnosis sessions with Haley, encouraging her to accept alien abduction, before selling her case file. In what became known as the Carpenter Affair, Carpenter betrayed 140 clients and alleged alien abductees when he accepted $14,000 for their case files. The purchaser was Robert Bigelow, whose activities and associates never stray far from controversy. Non-lethal weapons expert and consultant to the CIA, Colonel John B. Alexander, was termed a science advisor to Bigelow at the time.

When asked how she now feels about Carpenter, Haley took a long breath and exhaled deliberately. She replied that she thinks Carpenter was “manipulated” into his actions, but that does not mean she completely absolves him of all responsibility.

Haley explained it was very distressing when the names of Carpenter's clients were briefly posted on the Internet. Literally over night, anonymity was lost, family members were outed and similar such situations befell those who sought support and were assured confidentiality by Carpenter and MUFON. Haley remains uncertain exactly who was responsible for originally posting the client names on the Internet.

Haley said most of the 140 probably never knew Carpenter sold their files to Bigelow. About a dozen of them were aware of it and convinced Haley “to join them in the lawsuit that turned out to go nowhere,” she explained with frustration.

Would she rather not discuss the Carpenter Affair? “I don't mind talking about it,” she said. “It's just that the statute of limitations expired.”

“We had a clear cut case,” she continued. “The first attorneys said, 'There are no doubts.'”

Haley explained the attorneys initially met with the plaintiffs, assuring them testimony and evidence, which they had, was all they needed. However, the first group of attorneys later turned over the case to a second group, and lines of communication declined to a non-functional mess. Haley felt certain the lawsuit fell through the cracks “because of threats.”

In a bit softer and more despondent voice, Haley concluded, “There's not anything that can be done about it. That whole group just got away with it.”

Matters of Compassion and Responsibility


The sun sets on the waterfront in downtown Pensacola
where crowds of eager skywatchers once gathered regularly.

Haley long since stopped fearing public criticism. Such criticism is inevitable when revising opinions destined to be as unpopular as in the case of suggesting there are no aliens in alien abduction. Rather than buckle to peer pressure, Haley appeared willing to draw on her experience as a relatively public figure - and her resulting thick skin - to set examples of honesty and realism by publicly acknowledging perspectives are simply bound to change as more information becomes available.

Haley considered sharing her story to be matters of compassion and responsibility. “It disturbs me greatly that there are people who are still being victimized by that system,” she commented.

Perhaps it is ultimately Haley's ability to successfully navigate the no-nonsense world of accounting that enabled her to painstakingly re-evaluate everything she thought she knew about alien abduction and her experiences. Maybe it was a genuine desire to seek truth. I really cannot say for sure, but Haley's message is certainly clear enough: A check and balance of facts versus belief systems reveals alien abduction dogma does not properly add up, particularly in her specific case.

Haley said she periodically distanced herself from ufology and her past but kept getting “drawn back in.” She explained she was most recently drawn back in by me and what she found to be my interest in black budget operations and her case. I thanked her for her willingness to interact with me, then asked what was most important to her to ultimately accomplish.

Without hesitation, Leah Haley leaned back in her chair, looked skyward and replied with animated emphasis, "I want mind control and other invasive experiments on unwitting U.S. citizens to be stopped. And I want the mind control perpetrators brought to justice!"

Did Anyone Notice When 1984 Arrived?

In 1948 George Orwell wrote the novel, 1984, now considered a classic work. Orwell offered readers a concerning description of an oppressive futuristic society existing in the year 1984 and in which personal autonomy was all but outlawed and privacy was nonexistent. Orwell's governing body was referred to as Big Brother, a term that eventually became the subject of many metaphors and coined phrases. Big Brother expertly and relentlessly utilized combinations of technology, propaganda, emotional responses to terms such as, well, Big Brother, and even human nature itself to effectively monitor, manipulate and control the population.

Orwell's readers and the general population were concerned about the possibility that supposedly democratic nations could become unreasonably oppressive while denying any such thing had come to pass. The general and apparent consensus, despite Orwell's warnings, seemed to be that everyone would notice if such a thing took place and human rights were being grossly violated. A reasonable argument could be made that, one degree at a time, the lobster has now come to a boil.

Circumstances of Potential Interest

A UFO community gathers at symposiums unforgivably claiming to present results of scientific investigations, yet the hosts continue to largely serve up speakers asserting a variety of absurdities. A number of concerning circumstances largely go unnoticed amidst the smoke and mirrors. While alleged aliens and potentially interesting things in the sky take center stage, a variety of relevant situations fly under the radar of all but a small minority of individuals.

Such situations include, but are by no means limited to:

John Glenn became extremely concerned about the abuse of human research subjects, culminating in his proposed Human Research Subject Protection Act of 1997. The bill was not passed.

Former Missouri Representative Jim Guest became an activist for people suffering from electronic weapons torture and testing. He also spoke out against the testing and use of radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips, due to the related health issues and privacy violations.

Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich attempted to pull in the reigns on space based and aeronautical weapons, including items specifically named as mind control weapons, in his proposed 2001 bill. Kucinich's efforts were met with the same results as experienced by John Glenn, as the bill was not passed.

Additional situations of potential interest to the UFO community include the long time use and testing of quite terrestrial implants, the fascinating saga of the Gulf Breeze Six and the Central Intelligence Agency's decades-long interest in mind control techniques. Such techniques included hypnosis, among many other abusive and invasive procedures. Readers might find considerations of hypnosis and its relativity to the Emma Woods case to be of interest. Also see MKULTRA, BLUEBIRD, ARTICHOKE, or any number of such project titles. Interested parties might additionally choose to read about Vietnam Veterans of America versus CIA, and research conducted by Project Censored.

Reasonable Questions 

I do not claim to conclusively know if any reports of alien abduction are the results of covert research projects. When we consider a list of possible explanations, it is only thorough and competent to include items ranging from emotional trauma to physiological circumstances that result in incorrect perceptions of interactions with non-human beings. Such explanations certainly account for some reports.

But are any reports the results of something else – something taking place in an objective reality, independent of the witness? If so, and a reasonable argument can be made to that effect, covert research projects, in essence, military abductees, deserve reasonable consideration.

Nick Redfern recently posted an article about Alison, a woman who once thought she was an alien abductee, but came to believe she was a victim of covert research. It is reasonable to ask ourselves how much the UFO community may have been duped into such premature and extreme assumptions as held in the abduction lore and as may have been propagated through the ongoing construction of a myth that serves as a cover story.

In 2009 I first contacted Leah Haley, a woman who came to be known as an alien abductee. I was very curious about a number of circumstances surrounding Leah's experiences.

I will soon be posting a summary of what I learned about Leah Haley and what she thinks about the alien abduction phenomenon, including her own case. I sincerely would appreciate readers following along and forwarding Leah's story, as I know it is important to her to have her revised thoughts and feelings known. Suffice it to say this post and Redfern's article about Alison are in context.

Is Big Brother responsible for what became known as alien abduction? I do not know. I cannot say for sure. Perhaps an equally relevant issue, though, is why so few people talk about the possibility.

They read all about aliens... and supposed space ships... and even discuss alien mind control, as if it is common knowledge, no less. But they do not study MKULTRA or non-lethal weapons. Neither do they typically study subliminal programming, the effects of emotional trauma or dynamics of conditioned behavior, relevant as they are to ufology.

Are any reported alien abductions due to Big Brother? That seems like a reasonable question. And why aren't we researching the possibilities in responsible manners and on a larger scale than is currently the case? Maybe that is the current question. 

Sample of Kimbler's Roswell Debris Disappears En Route to ASU

A metal fragment taken from the Roswell debris discovered by Frank Kimbler was lost without explanation. Kimbler shipped the fragment via Fedex for further testing at Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration in Tempe. The package arrived, but Lynda Williams, Ph.D., a research professor, emailed Kimbler that the fragment was not in the package.

“I just found your Fedex in our main office, opened it on the lab bench and found nothing in the plastic holder. Did you forget to put it in?” Dr. Williams wrote. “I'm sorry, but it's just not there!”

Kimbler replied to Dr. Williams the sample of metal was well packaged and he was certain he did not forget to include it in the shipment. “I can assure you it was in the small round box, directly on the top in plain sight in the box,” he wrote.

“This UFO evidence stuff is an interesting game to play. Seems to be a great deal like cat and mouse, cloak and dagger and chess all wrapped in one,” Kimbler added, stating that he will not ship any other samples to anyone. He further stated he or trusted colleagues will personally supervise every step of debris analysis from here forward.

Kimbler has previous dealings with Hal Puthoff of Earth Tech and Robert Bigelow's BAASS while attempting to obtain quality analysis of the material he located. Many suspect the debris may be linked to the now famous Roswell crash. Kimbler indicated the analysis has been slow and tedious, and his dealing with both Earth Tech and BAASS raised concerns. 

Lines of communication opened between Frank Kimbler, Frank Purcell and various interested parties following the publication of the related Open Minds article and my posting Purcell's subsequent analysis. I happen to exchange emails with this group of interested parties, resulting in my notification of the lost metal fragment and the information contained in this post.

Kimbler wrote to me on September 3:

"The debunkers will say I never placed it in the box, the conspiracy folks will say the government got it.

"Here is what I would like to see happen. CNN or some other big news agency to follow this analysis. Full public disclosure of the process, good science. It makes no difference to me if the material is a beer can fragment or ET metal, it's all part of the story... to get an answer."

I'm pulling for ya, Frank.

Central Issues of the Emma Woods Case

Many within ufology have become acquainted with the Emma Woods case. If you are not among those familiar with it, here is a crash course:

A woman residing in the Pacific region and now calling herself Emma Woods had some very interesting experiences that some would interpret as related to alleged alien abduction. She eventually came in the acquaintance of self-described researcher David Jacobs, who proceeded to go down the regressive hypnosis path. Things got more and more odd between Woods and Jacobs, culminating in numerous e-hypnosis sessions, Jacobs' claims that alien hybrids were on the verge of throttling him (I hate it when that happens), and a host of additional questionable circumstances increasing in absurdity. For details, see Woods' website, which consists of excellent documentation and verification of the chain of events.

As the reader is surmising, the lure of being an interplanetary liaison involved in alien hybrid death stakes and high cosmic intrigue did not prove enough to keep Woods from thinking critically. Woods eventually called game over, told us all what had been going on – along with presenting thorough verification - and has been getting battered by the True Believers (and those who have interests in keeping the True Believers well stocked in foolishness) ever since.

Fast forward to the present. The latest (and chronic) attack on Woods comes from personnel of Paracast forum. Woods recently made a typically well researched and comprehensive post, documenting relevant circumstances on the matter and responding to the latest series of accusations leveled against her. The accusations include what have become the now usual assortment of allegations of mental disorders and supposed resulting behavior, as well as both suggestions and demands that Woods cease expressing herself.

I should first remind those who wish to censor Woods that we are dealing with a demographic that Jacobs and others are encouraging to talk about everything from underground alien bases to aliens who rape and pillage. If you want to make a case for some woman being too weird, obsessive or most anything else, for that matter, to allow her to participate on a UFO forum, you better come loaded for bear.

As if Woods' thorough documentation of facts and the predominantly tolerant and open-minded nature of the UFO community are not reasons enough to allow Woods to speak her peace, there are three primary points I find wrong with the statements of those seeking to silence Woods:

1) None of those who try to saddle Woods with psychiatric disorders are actually qualified to diagnose or identify such conditions.

2) None of those who accuse Woods of unacceptable behavior provide documentation of specific circumstances.

3) My personal experience interacting with Woods gives me no reason whatsoever to suspect her to be anything other than reasonable.

None of us are above an occasional errant remark that would have been better off not being made, particularly in the often passionate and heated world of ufology. Let's just say there aren't many angels treading around these parts where the rest of us rushed in.

I do not wish to be in anybody's camp. I am not interested in taking sides in any forum wars. I could point out some good points and some not so good points expressed by most all of us, and I am not looking to crucify anyone.

That stated, I want to strongly encourage the UFO community to take a closer look at the real issues in the Woods case. I could list a lot of things the issues are not (that keep getting discussed), but it is more productive to remind you what they are. The central issues of the Woods case are largely being lost in the crossfire, and some of the key points are:

- A real hard look needs to be taken at the protection of human research subjects who work with self-described ufologists, especially as it relates to supposed investigative techniques that throw critical thinking under the bus and ignore American Medical Association policy.

- Outright lies have been told and promoted about Woods' actions and circumstances, tactics comparable to defense attorneys attempting to defame the victim to deflect attention from what their client, the criminal, actually did.

- Woods consistently communicates clearly, expressing herself well and providing specific documentation of her points, while her detractors level unspecific accusations lacking verification and substance.

- Jacobs clearly tries to lead his research subjects to predetermined points. The well is so tainted it should be capped.

- Jacobs, at best, made some extremely poor errors in judgment while interacting with Woods.

- If Jacobs or any of the rest of the witch hunt gang would ever present any actual evidence, as defined by the professional research community, of alien abduction and of which they chronically and falsely claim to possess, they would have no need to conduct such public relations campaigns as have become the norm.

- Woods had some interesting experiences. Anybody remember those: interesting experiences?

- Woods has every right to discuss her case and the related abuse as long as she so chooses.

- By any definitions, it is irrational and unreasonable for others to suggest Woods should silence herself and cease discussing her own case and related abuse while they, no less, continue discussing both her and her case. To suggest such is simply unreasonable.

Suspending Judgment or Knowing: Mind Control and Alien Abduction

One is required to suspend judgment on conclusions in order to consider the feasibility of alleged alien abduction. No conclusive evidence exists that non-human beings, much less inter-planetary visitors, are conducting experiments against the will of their human research subjects. No suspension of judgment is required, however, in accepting the existence of state-sponsored mind control victims.

If a person walks up to you at a meeting for discussion of paranormal subject matter and tells you they are a mind control victim, of course you should be skeptical - as you should if they tell you they have been on an alien's examination table. A difference in the two is that mind control victims conclusively exist, so it is simply a question of whether or not you happen to be actually talking to one at that particular point in time.

The general mind control hypothesis as an explanation for reported alien abduction – the simple version - goes something like this: It is a well documented fact that substantial resources were invested in mind control. Some of the victims may have either been intentionally led to believe they were alien abductees or inadvertently drew such incorrect conclusions about their ordeals.

A brief sample of supporting evidence includes intelligence projects such as MKULTRA. See, for instance, Vietnam Veterans of America versus Central Intelligence Agency, a case currently pending in California Federal court.

Further study might include the experiments conducted at Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, in which the U.S. Department of Defense paid damages to unknowing victims who sought psychiatric care. Incidentally, Martti Koski, one of the victims, claimed his abusers told him they were from another planet.

There is much, much more, but you get the idea. Mind control experiments indeed happened.

The mind control hypothesis for alien abduction brings out the worst in both the True Believers and the Stubborn Skeptics, for whatever reasons. It is not hard to understand why the Believers take exception, as they do with any and every hypothesis that dares suggest witness testimony and hypothetical lines of reasoning should only be accepted with suspensions of judgment.

The Skeptics are subject to getting bent out of shape for any number of reasons, all of which, as in the case of their starry eyed counterparts, hamper the sincere pursuit of truth. There should be no problem with the open and rational discussion of any hypothesis if certain protocol is respected and followed, such as accurately identifying differences between terms like 'facts' and 'opinions,' and 'objective conclusions' and 'subjective beliefs.'

The Stubborn Skeptics would have you believe, for example, that the U.S. state-sponsored mind control movement stopped in the 1970's. Even if that were conclusively the case, which it is not, it by no means gives us rational reason to completely discount the consideration that some reports of alien abduction may be attributable to trauma sustained during such experiments. Furthermore, such human rights violations remain an issue and the development of related technologies were not ceased, as demonstrated by Project Censored of Sonoma State University.

Are mind control experiments and related human rights violations responsible for any reports of alien abduction? I do not know.

I do not know if any alien abductions ever happened. I know mind control experiments happened. That is not a statement based on subjective belief or emotional preference. It is, indeed, a fact. The subsequent relevant questions and their implications to the abduction phenomenon deserve reasonable consideration.

Roswell Debris

During the past couple years I have corresponded with Frank Purcell, a retired Chemical Engineer. Frank has written that he holds a Masters of Science in Chemical Engineering, a Masters in Control Systems Engineering and a Bachelors in Computer Science.

In a recent email he offered comment about an article, Test confirms Roswell debris is not from Earth, published by Open Minds (not to be confused with Open Minds Forum):

http://www.openminds.tv/test-confirms-roswell-debris-733/

The article was written by Alejandro Rojas and explored the work of Frank Kimbler, a teacher in Roswell. It seems Kimbler found some debris, suspected it may be from the famous crash, and subsequently had the debris analyzed.

As can be gathered from the title of the article, Rojas suggested no further analysis is necessary and that the debris is certainly “not from Earth.” Frank Purcell offered some contradicting peer review, the gist of which is that Rojas' claims are premature. With Frank's permission, I post his comments:

The chart below, taken from the article, plots the ratio of isotopes Mg26/Mg24 vertically against the ratio of isotopes Mg25/Mg24 on the horizontal axis. The sample of metal analyzed from Roswell is shown by AH-1 that is clearly not on the line of the other samples.  The line represents the spread of Mg26 relative to Mg25, the two minor isotopes, each nominally 10% compared to the more abundant isotope MG24 that is roughly 80% of earthly magnesium.

Presenting the data in this manner without error bars is deceptive because it suggests the AH-1 sample has non-earthly isotope ratios - the conclusion intended by the thrust of the article.

The data points on the line are presumably from many analyses of many samples by many different laboratories. Properly, error bars, typically of 1 standard deviation, should be shown and would be if this were an article in a scientific journal. Even though we don't have that information, we do have an error analyses for the AH-1 sample, as follows:

Isotope       Abundance - observed    Abundance - natural

MG24         79.1 +/- 0.5                  78.6

MG25         10.1 +/- 0.5                  10.1

Mg26         10.5 +/- 0.5                  11.3

I assume the error estimate of +/- 0.5 represents 1 standard deviation for each analyses. Note that MG24 analyses falls within expectations for natural abundance, i.e., 78.6 to 79.6 where the expected mean is 78.6 . Similarly, Mg25 is at the expected level. MG26, within 1 standard deviation, however, is not at the expected 11.3%, but is estimated to be in a range between 10.0 and 11.0 .  Is this significant? We can't say for sure. We can statistically argue that the measured 10.5 +/- 0.5 really has a mean of 11.3 with a probability of 11% using the normal distribution table. But that 11% probability, although small, assumes perfect knowledge that the true mean is 11.3, and this we don't know because no error estimate is given for the accepted value.

The data is presented and plotted as isotopic ratios. Although AH-1 is shown as a point, it is really an area on the chart extending from 0.120 to 0.135 on the horizontal axis and from 0.125 to 0.140 on the vertical axis. (These ranges are calculated from the observed data.) It is clear that this range does in fact intersect the line and is suggestive that the AH-1 sample is not extraterrestrial.

Sure, additional measurements would be helpful to discern if the metal is terrestrial, or not. Hopefully, Open Minds will publish additional results when they are available.

I would also like to see Open Minds or others follow up on the Kimbler debris, eventually giving us the rest of the story. One way or the other, I appreciate Frank offering qualified peer review. Ufology could use more of this kind of analysis of such circumstances and those who report them.

Internet Personalities and Their Accomplishments

Ever skeptical Lance Moody seems to have hit one over the proverbial fence with his recent investigation of ufologist Philip Imbrogno. Well, that might now be former ufologist Imbrogno, thanks to some clever and good work by Moody.

In his blog What the Hell Was That?, Moody explained how he discovered Imbrogno's alleged credentials could not be verified. Neither could Imbrogno's alleged Special Forces duty.

Enter Decker, of Paracast forum, and the jig was up. Imbrogno now has a whole lot of explaining to do. Very nice work, guys.

In light of Moody's recent accomplishment, I present the following Internetters and their remarkable work. In no particular order, along with apologies in advance for forgetting some people and undoubtedly omitting honorable mentions, some interesting 'net circumstances include:

Source Zzzzz

Source A was an anonymous alleged insider presented and assessed authentic by certain moderators at Open Minds Forum. Murnut, Zep Tepi (of Reality Uncovered forum) and a few select others were not as willing as many to blindly jump on the bandwagon. Imagine that.

An investigative team assembled, and Source A was ultimately irrefutably demonstrated to be a fraudulent hoaxer. Excellent work, team murnut.

Some Source A loyalists refused to revise their supportive opinions, in spite of all factual evidence presented to the contrary. Certain members and personnel of Open Minds continue to remain close minded to the facts. Oh, the irony.

Advanced Droning

DrDil of UFO Casebook forum is a virtual PhD on the drones fiasco, a series of alleged sightings with more contradictions and loose ends than the Casey Anthony trial. DrDil contributes to related discussion threads, set up a website exclusively devoted to his drone research, maintains a blog, and covers aspects of the case ranging from photo discrepancies to the questionable inconsistencies in the reporting done by Linda Moulton Howe.

Is Lying a Symptom?

Stiver of UFOmania forum once took an interest in the Chris Bledsoe, Sr. case of alleged alien abduction. Among other curiosities, Stiver noticed Bledsoe's artistic abilities took an inexplicably abrupt and intermittent spike for the better.

Stiver was reviewing Bledsoe's narration and accompanying sketches of his reported abduction. While doing so, she noticed Bledsoe's drawings were very poor quality, a point that would have been completely inconsequential had it not been for one single and excellent sketch. The sketch was a being allegedly encountered by Bledsoe during his abduction, and reportedly drawn by Bledsoe during the same general time frame in which he created the other very low quality sketches. But it gets even better, or worse, depending on how ya look at it...

Stiver conducted a little detective work and determined the alleged Bledsoe sketch – the high quality drawing of an alien – was in actuality an enhanced reproduction (traced, basically) from a famous image of a crop circle. To add insult to injury, there was talk that Bledsoe's profoundly increased ability to draw could be attributed to his encounter with aliens. I don't know about artistic ability, but these alien encounters don't seem to do much to help people tell the truth.

Fallow the Magic Thread

Enigmatic James Carrion ranges from disappointingly silent to very refreshingly outspoken. The former MUFON International Director's areas of interest and topics of discussion have included, among many, the likelihood the Cold War gave birth to the modern UFO myth, the CIA manipulation of MUFON, and the inconsistencies in the accounts of self-described extraterrestrial contactee Stan Romanek. Among other Romanek inconsistencies, Carrion wrote about multiple reports filed in connection to the Romanek case, allegedly filed by different witnesses, yet many of which contained the same misspelling of the word 'follow,' incorrectly spelled 'fallow.' Curious indeed.

Carrion's interesting blog, Follow the Magic Thread, additionally includes descriptions of how he came to develop realizations of the ineffectiveness of MUFON investigators, suggesting they do not ask the right questions. Carrion further suggested his MUFON stint led him to realize there is an overwhelming lack of evidence of an ET presence, considering that of the thousands of cases logged in the MUFON system, absolutely none provide a smoking gun. Carrion implied if an individual or organization investigated mountains of cases and none of them provided direct evidence of aliens, then the popular explanation should not be the ETH. Imagine such a thing.

Carrion's wild west style of shooting from the hip has been appreciated in the past and, as Stiver recently commented, would be greatly appreciated at least once more – about the Ambient Monitoring Project. If there is anyone the UFO community might ever be able to count on for an honest and accurate description of what took place during the AMP, helping us curb the intelligence-insulting excuses and evasion of the real issues, it would be Carrion. If there is anyone equipped with both the first hand knowledge of the situation and the guts to lead the hunting party, it would be Carrion. Anyone up for a hunting trip?

Don't Forget Mori... Or Elevenaugust

Kentaro Mori operates a site, forgetomori.com, that states, “Extraordinary claims. Ordinary investigations,” and indeed delivers practical, quality material on many aspects of the strange. From alleged stick figure aliens to supposed time travelers, Mori provides objective evaluation and cites sources. Imagine that. Some of Mori's best work was on the UFO videos out of Turkey, which brings us to elevenaugust, who does some great film analysis, among other things.

Elevenaugust can be found on the usual UFO forum haunts, contributing quality posts about topics such as the Turkish videos. He also kept us updated on the alleged zombie photographed crawling around the woods in Louisiana. I can't write that with a straight face, but 11a's posts were truly interesting reads on the matter.

Could You Swab That Deck for DNA While You're Stacking It?

Last but most certainly not least are the women who confirmed that abductology leaves a great deal to be desired in the way of honesty and objectivity. Thank you, Emma Woods and Carol Rainey, for your informative and important work. Woods and Rainey courageously published their accounts of David Jacobs' and Budd Hopkins' biased distortions of truth and lack of professionalism, including a Rainey film in which Hopkins blatantly stated he is attempting to stack the deck.

Many of us long suspected such dishonesty and subjective reporting to be the case, and Dr. Tyler Kokjohn put a professionally qualified voice to our concerns when he began to write about the manner in which such 'researchers' were consistently missing valuable opportunities to collect samples of alien DNA. That was the case, anyway, if we were to believe virtually anything they told us was true. We are not only still waiting for the DNA evidence, but we also continue to await explanations as to why such evidence has not been presented.

Woods and Rainey continue to speak out on the issues in spite of being repeatedly mistreated in many social situations, including experiencing direct negative consequences in certain circles and being censored and banned on select websites. I appreciate Woods' and Rainey's work. Additional thanks to the Paratopia team, Gary Haden, Doug Mesner and all the rest of the 'netters who support efforts of people such as Woods and Rainey to set the records straight.