Standing Eight Count for the MJ-12

Work of such researchers as Mark Pilkington has reignited interest in the infamous MJ-12 docs and surrounding circumstances. His book and resulting film, 'Mirage Men', significantly contributed to bringing some events that were dangerously nearing obscurity back to where they belong at the forefront of attention of the UFO community. 

In 2007, scholar and author Dr. Michael Heiser facilitated professional linguistics testing on select MJ-12 docs. The work was conducted by qualified expert Dr. Carol Chaski and resulted in her assessment that the docs examined were almost certainly inauthentic. Chaski demonstrated an extremely high rate of accuracy in her previous evaluations, and it is all explained in depth in Heiser's full report. Interest in the report has been revived of late thanks to sites including Frank Warren's 'The UFO Chronicles', where an ongoing watchful eye is kept on the ever developing MJ-12 story. 

Heiser recently published a post at his blog, 'UFO Religions', providing some resources for those interested in the saga. The post included a recommended video created by Alejandro Rojas of Open Minds:

Rojas' informative presentation included summaries of USAF documents he obtained that are worthy of ample consideration. The presentation also included the results of tracking down what appears to be the first mention of the term "Majestic Twelve" in the UFO community, and suffice it to say its origins were quite dubious. 

Among other points of interest, the question was raised in the video as to why Richard Doty might have been involved in such disinformation operations, given his relative inexperience with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). George P. Hansen addressed such circumstances in his book, 'The Trickster and the Paranormal'.

Hansen cited the case of Airman Simone Mendez, who was apparently called upon at a very young age and under questionable conditions to file a report on her attendance at a MUFON conference. The circumstances demonstrated official interest in the UFO community and implicated the AFOSI. Moreover, it implied the AFOSI might have targeted Mendez for recruitment - and perhaps individuals such as Doty as well - due to their inexperience and similar extenuating circumstances, not in spite of them. For much more detail, as well as additional information of interest surrounding Doty, please refer to Hansen's work.

Writer/researcher Ryan Dube published a number of posts on the MJ-12 saga and related circumstances, including his 2010 piece, 'John Alexander - Mr. Non-Lethal with Many Hands in Many Pots'. Dube explored the career path and ufology activities of Col. Alexander and other members of the intelligence community. After conducting an interview with Alexander, Dube concluded, "I am now even more suspicious than ever before that John was one of the integral players in the distribution effort of the MJ-12 memes upon the public domain, starting in the 1980's and continuing throughout the next several decades to today."

As recently as last year, Col. Alexander inserted himself once again in the controversial MJ-12 debate when he discussed the legendary group during an interview. Grant Cameron reported that he interpreted the statements of the colonel, which included that Alexander "had someone whisper" to him about MJ-12, could not be over emphasized. Cameron credited Alexander with confirming existence of the MJ-12 yet acknowledged that Alexander doubted the MJ-12 had anything to do with UFOs. Many disagreed with Cameron's take on the importance of the situation, apparently including Alexander, who later informed this writer that his remarks "did not change anything." 

And what to our wondering eyes should appear but yet another chapter in the winding saga of the MJ-12. The latest from Kevin Randle informs us that Tony Bragalia came across a relevant lead on a doc. The two of them ran down provenance and, at least to Randle's satisfaction, have knocked the MJ-12 meme out for the count. It seems they indeed identified an operation that used key code words as described in the legendary Majestic operation, but the actual op in question had nothing to do with alleged UFO retrieval. That, according to Randle, confirms that the MJ-12 story of UFO lore is complete myth because code words are not duplicated in order to minimize risk of compromising the projects of which they are assigned. Not exactly sure why people would be whispering to Col. Alexander about such, instead of just describing it to him in an audible voice, but he could no doubt explain it in unassailable entirety if he ever decides he feels like it. 

In the mean time, perhaps we might consider if the MJ-12 story has not always been floundering on the ropes. Was there ever a time that it drew any particularly credible support? How many of us ever really bought it?

Perhaps more importantly would be why the saga was so persistently propped up and promoted. Questions of origins and purposes become quite relevant, arguably more so than authenticity in some cases.

Book Review: 'Black Light' by William J. Grabowski

'Black Light: Perspectives on Mysterious Phenomena'
by William J. Grabowski

'Black Light: Perspectives on Mysterious Phenomena' is the latest work from seasoned author William J. Grabowski. Part tribute to his favorite researchers, part case study and at times an editorial, Grabowski indeed has some relevant things to say about his selected topics. He knows the published material, studied a wide variety of related circumstances and shares his informed opinions on such subjects as Mothman, UFOs, poltergeists and the social issues that surround them. 'Black Light' is appreciated and recommended.

Grabowski shares some personal experiences of seemingly paranormal phenomena, as well as resulting insights, but that is by no means to suggest the author lacks healthily skeptical perspective. He explains how he has come to view the so-called paranormal as relatively common place, whatever its explanations may include. He is also quite clear in his disappointment of what is all too often the traveling circus of phenomenology. The author suggests the widespread public interpretation of “UFO” as synonymous with “extraterrestrial vehicle” indicates a lack of critical thinking and outright hostility toward ideas and intellect.

Plenty of quite worthwhile contributions to ufology and related genres are considered as well, including the work of such innovators as Jacques Vallee, George P. Hansen and Martin Cannon. Grabowski thinks Carl Jung was knocking on the right doors, and fans of John Keel will be well satisfied with the attention and respect given the Fortean pioneer.

Considerations of the Mothman saga and Point Pleasant are among the most interesting aspects of 'Black Light'. While Grabowski suspects a truly unknown phenomenon may have been at the heart of the occurrences, he makes a compelling case the events were possibly exploited and served as some type of social study by the powers that be. He suggests the circumstances may have been involved in the genesis of data-farming under the guise of paranormal phenomena. In support of his suspicions, Grabowski explains how reports of so-called census takers became common around Point Pleasant, as well as the presence of an overly inquisitive woman falsely claiming to be John Keel's secretary. Such events are potentially correlated with reported telephone anomalies and the work of Martin Cannon, specifically 'The Numbers Game'. It all makes for very thought provocative potential dot-connections, including truly interesting circumstances surrounding the history of the government site which came to be known as the TNT area that played such an influential role in the Mothman chain of events.

Also considered are Project Stork and a Battelle Memorial Institute document, each of which are quite intriguing and carry a great deal of potential significance to the UFO community. Grabowski has extensively explored the intelligence community descent into mind control, including reading the entire transcript of Congressional hearings on Project MKULTRA. He subsequently became convinced, he explains, that no serious or even semi-serious researcher of anomalous aerial phenomena and associated activity can with integrity ignore the exceedingly dark topic.

'Black Light' includes an intriguing fictional quite related short story penned by Grabowski, who has authored over 300 such stories. An informative interview of the author conducted by Lee D. Munro is also included.

After inviting readers to consider reported alien abduction, seemingly flying anomalies, the intelligence community and things that go bump in the night and day, the author encourages us to ask, “So what?”, perhaps the ultimate question. In proper Zen-like fashion, Grabowski suggests the answer might include the consideration that the unexamined life is not worth living, an observation of which this writer and advocate of self-discovery would agree. 

Purchase 'Black Light: Perspectives on Mysterious Phenomena' at Amazon. Learn more about author William J. Grabowski at his writer's page. 

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Originally posted at 'Orlando Paranormal Examiner'

Considerations of the Work of James Carrion

James Carrion is a writer, researcher and former intelligence analyst. No stranger to the UFO phenomenon, for a while he occupied the hot seat at the Mutual UFO Network. In his latest blog post, he identified what he termed "the smoking gun" of an intelligence operation theorized in his book, 'The Rosetta Deception', available for free on Carrion's blog site of the same name. He recently launched the Rosetta Deception Forum, a message board where you can post questions, discuss the book and share related research.

Possible "ghost rocket" depicted in a photo
widely circulated and originally released
by Swedish Army, according to Wikipedia

'The Rosetta Deception' contains a substantial amount of cited research focusing upon parts of 1946 and 1947. A series of well sourced events and circumstances are presented that suggest the "ghost rocket" reported sightings over Europe were the results of a U.S.-led deception operation. I suspect Carrion's interpretation is extremely likely to be accurate.

Carrion suggested in his book that motives for the operation included building global distrust for the Soviet Union while the world was speculating who was testing missiles over Europe. The primary objective, however, may have been to crack the Russian diplomatic code. This would have been accomplished in part through a method known as gardening, which involves creating circumstances of interest to enemy spies so that specific key words can be expected to be prevalent in coded messages, thus increasing opportunities to break the code. More complete understandings and context can be gained by taking other relevant circumstances of the era into account, many of which are specifically presented and sourced in the book.

In his latest blog post, Carrion outlined some particular points of his theory and added what he referred to as the smoking gun: A 1946 NYC-initiated strike of communications employees which significantly decreased available methods for Soviet intelligence agents located in the States to send messages safely to Moscow. Carrion reports that a resulting bottleneck of information flow created optimum conditions for American agents to gain access to encrypted Soviet messages. There are specific circumstances presented in 'The Rosetta Deception' in support of the likelihood, including the established and substantial presence at the time of the U.S. allied intelligence community in Stateside media and communications corporations, the very outfits which would have been relied upon.

Those who wish to debate Carrion's perspectives on the ghost rockets were invited to do so. Read more about his challenge, including definitions of standards of evidence and the requirement that an actual theory must be put forth, in his related blog post. 

Objectives of Deception

Perhaps the biggest hurdle to accurately understanding intelligence operations, and particularly those that overlap with the UFO community, would be the failure to consider there is no all inclusive explanation. There is more than one reason the IC manipulated circumstances commonly perceived as related to UFOs. The purposes and objectives change from one specific circumstance to the next and cannot be discussed effectively in an overly generalized manner. Particular eras and specific cases should be considered independently of one another.

Consider, for example, a now declassified 1954 CIA memo in which agents were instructed to contemplate fabricating a sensational UFO story. The purpose of the potential fabrication was not in and of itself to deceive the public. The objective, according to the memo, was to divert public attention from Agency involvement in a Guatemalan coup.

If we neglect to seek such documents, we fail ourselves as researchers. We also fail as interested members of the public searching for accurate information.

If we perpetually subscribe to extreme beliefs, to either side of center, we increase the likelihood we are missing important data. That would be the case in arguing the IC was never involved in ufology, as well as limiting our perspectives to the incorrect assumptions that the only objectives must have involved either covering up an alien presence or the polar opposite of deceiving the public into believing aliens are among us. As Carrion suggests in his work and the 1954 CIA memo demonstrates, there are many potential objectives for UFO-related deception operations. Their intricacy would be par for the course, not the exception to the rule.

It appears to this writer that UFO-related deception operations conducted by the IC are reasonably a given. Their extents, specific circumstances and objectives are yet to be conclusively determined - not their existence.

It is important to understand that we must demand verifiable information in order to draw conclusions. Such conclusions cannot be found in passionate opinions or baseless arguments that go in circles but never reach resolution as is all too often the case within ufology. 

We Have Seen the Enemy...

It has been said that propaganda is sometimes aimed at the media with the ultimate intention of influencing politicians and global leaders. If taken from that perspective, confused and misinformed members of the public might be viewed as little more than relatively inconsequential byproducts of some deception operations, at least to the powers that be. 

Another way of looking at that would be to consider the IC may not be as responsible for the runaway beliefs attached to UFOs as much as the UFO community sometimes took a nudge and did the rest largely on its own. Among our biggest challenges as a community in search of accurate answers continues to be ourselves, or at least a segment of our community. 

There is a leading segment of the UFO community that chronically seeks to perpetuate mysteries rather than solve them. They seek no prosaic explanations, and scrupulously avert from them at virtually all costs to logic and rationality.

Some of the mysteries that find their ways into UFO circles may indeed one day prove to be groundbreaking and of great interest. The vast majority will most certainly not.

It was not the IC that single handedly turned the "ghost rockets" into a supposedly alien-related cultural phenomenon that became perpetuated for over half a century. Neither was a Pentagon think tank solely responsible for such a large number of questionable UFO stories evolving into never ending sagas of mythical proportion. We did that on our own.

I recommend checking out the work of James Carrion. I think it is worth the time and attention. He operates the blogs 'The Rosetta Deception' and 'Follow the Magic Thread'. Join and participate at his recently launched message board at Rosetta Deception Forum.

Seeking Film of William Moore 1989 Speech

If anyone has a copy they would consider parting with of the film of William Moore's controversial speech at the 1989 MUFON Symposium, please contact me. I would be willing to negotiate a reasonable price, and payment options include PayPal.  

I am also interested in a transcript of Moore's speech if available. Please send me relevant info.

I exchanged a few emails with Ron Regehr, who shot the original footage back in 1989. He informed me that he had turned over all remaining copies to MUFON, but also indicated a few dozen or so were floating around the public. The MUFON office manager indicated by email that they were unaware of the specific whereabouts of copies of the footage, so if anyone could help me out it would be appreciated. 

Anybody got film and/or a transcript of Moore's speech?

Flying Saucers as CIA Distractions

Former HQ of the United Fruit Company,
a front for PBSUCCESS, a CIA operation
facilitating a coup in 1950's Guatemala

A declassified 1954 CIA memo indicates undercover operatives in Guatemala were instructed to consider creating a sensational UFO-related story as a tactic to divert attention from Agency intervention in political affairs. Public awareness of CIA interest in manipulating the Guatemalan government peaked after the Agency was outed via the publication of a cover-blowing white paper. Strategies were subsequently identified that would best accomplish successfully ridiculing critics of the Agency and de-emphasizing the related accusations. Such strategies involved creating a bigger public stir than was set off by the white paper, including the fabrication of a "big human interest story, like flying saucers" or similar sensational topics.

A 2003 article titled, The CIA's Cover Has Been Blown? Just Make Up Something About U.F.O.'s, was published in The New York Times. It provides a summary of the circumstances and an overview of related declassified documents. The US Department of State Office of the Historian offers a well cited transcript of the specific memo, which read in part:

3. De-emphasis:

A. Attempt obtain bigger play for recent stories of WSBURNT refugees than for paper.

[...]

C. If possible, fabricate big human interest story, like flying saucers, birth sextuplets in remote area to take play away.  

Author and aerospace historian Curtis Peebles commented on the implications during an appearance on the double disk edition of Mirage Men, a film created by Mark Pilkington and company. Mr. Peebles suggested the circumstances are relevant in that they provide clear documentation of covert interests on behalf of an intelligence agency in manipulating public perception of the UFO phenomenon. 

James Carrion addressed similar circumstances in his recently released book, The Rosetta Deception. The former intelligence analyst made a convincing argument via authenticated documents and similar sources that the "ghost rockets" of the 1940's were part of a well calculated deception operation. Motives likely included increasing global dislike of the Soviet Union while simultaneously spreading confusion among adversaries trying to analyze the many - yet often sketchy - reports.

Wherever one may stand on the UFO phenomenon and its subcategories, there seems to be no getting around the relevance of the intelligence community. It has been deeply involved since the beginning of the modern UFO era.   

Dr. John Mack and His Irrational Argument for Hypnosis

The video below was recently posted by Paul Kimball. It contains a couple or so minutes of footage shot by Mr. Kimball at a press conference conducted at the 2001 MUFON Symposium in Irvine, California. 

In the video, the late Dr. John Mack attempts to defend the use of hypnosis, or what he prefers to call a relaxation exercise, as a memory retrieval tool for alleged alien abductees. 

Attempts. 

I find the doctor's lines of reasoning profoundly irrational. Shockingly so, as a matter of fact.

Arguing the validity of hypnosis, Mack offered an example he apparently felt would support his point. He explained that an alleged abductee recalled an alien-related experience in a quite different manner before hypnosis as compared to during hypnosis. Mack astonishingly seemed to view the discrepancy as evidence of the value of hypnosis in clarifying actuality, as opposed to calling the validity of the memories into question.

It went something like this:

Witness testimony: I met a very friendly alien.

Witness testimony under hypnosis: I met a very unfriendly alien.

Hypnotist: That is an excellent example of how hypnosis assists the client in discerning reality. 

I challenge the validity of such lines of reasoning. 

In the event one might wonder, yes, I have read Mack's material. I also attended one of his presentations during the 1990's. I was not surprised to find him well spoken and entertaining. His activities were of course greatly appreciated by proponents of alien abduction as a literal reality. 

His work was of interest to many at the time due to his credentials and status in the academic community. It seemed there might actually be something to the fantastic reports and witness testimonies - and there still may be. I'm not suggesting that everything from Mothman to Fatima necessarily hinges on Mack coming down with a case of mind freeze during a UFO con presser.

Nonetheless, I challenge the logic behind the example Dr. Mack presented. It is simply irrational.

Discussing the Carpenter Affair on Paranormal Waypoint

Jeff Ritzmann is the host of Paranormal Waypoint, a podcast that airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET on KGRA Radio. I accepted Jeff's invitation to be on the show this Tuesday, August 19, to discuss a chain of events that became known as the Carpenter Affair. I very much encourage readers to listen and develop understandings of the significance of the circumstances. I will provide some relevant links and points of reference below.

MUFON logo with its questionable mission statement

John Carpenter is a former MUFON director of abduction research. He is a social worker and hypnotist who supports the literal reality of alien abduction.

MUFON Orange County recently announced it will feature Carpenter as a speaker. A promotional email circulated by MUFON and received today implied Carpenter advocates scientific research. The email further suggested that Carpenter's experience in the field of researching alleged alien abduction entitles him to present his preferred beliefs. As a matter of fact, it was stated in the email that John Carpenter would present "proof supporting the reality of UFO abductions".

I dispute those claims. 

While serving as the MUFON director of abduction research, John Carpenter provided Robert Bigelow with copies of case files of some 140 possible alien abductees. This was done in exchange for cash and without the informed consent of the experiencers, some of whom had been his paying clients. Additionally, I was presented evidence during the course of researching the circumstances that Carpenter created and marketed tapes of regressive hypnosis sessions. The chain of events was dubbed the Carpenter Affair. 

Further research revealed, as one investigator stated, "Everyone does it," referring to both selling case file information and having sex with hypnosis subjects. In the circumstances of John Carpenter, the social worker married two former clients.

I assert that such research conditions are unscientific and encourage bias. Specifically, John Carpenter was financially motivated to persuade research subjects to narrate extraordinary experiences. I also assert that having sexual relations with research subjects creates dysfunctional dynamics to the point of calling the entire body of work into serious question.

Further dysfunction was perpetrated by the MUFON board of directors. In an incredibly questionable chain of events, Carpenter conducted hypnosis sessions with Leah Haley, inducing mental imagery which suggested she was aboard an alien spacecraft when it was downed by US military forces. Before it was over, this saga evolved to include two more MUFON directors, Donald Ware and Robert Reid, coordinating a hike with Haley across Eglin Air Force Base in search of the site of the downed spacecraft. Then, in 1995 a fourth MUFON director, Tom Deuley, told The Tampa Tribune-Times that MUFON did not embrace "such ridiculous stories" as Haley's, and that "it doesn't help the serious scientific work being done."

Trouble was, Deuley failed to inform The Trib that it was his very own fellow board members who played key roles in cultivating those stories. He also failed to mention that during the very time his remarks were published, the MUFON Journal was publishing an ongoing column written by Carpenter, in which Carpenter was proclaiming the reality of alien abduction.

I dispute on several grounds the integrity of such circumstances as well as the claims contained in the MUFON email promoting Carpenter's work. I dispute that the man's activities resulted in virtually any information worthy of serious consideration. I entirely and emphatically dispute that his research was scientific.

Perhaps what we really learn from his upcoming Orange County engagement is the depths proponents of literal alien abduction must stoop to try to impose so-called evidence upon us. If the topic is reduced to presenting the work of John Carpenter as "proof" of alien abduction, it is indeed a defeated state.

Perhaps much more important and telling is what the chain of events suggests about the concern - or lack thereof - for the welfare of research subjects. It would seem the genre has been reduced to encouraging regressive hypnosis, its inherent emotional trauma, and all with no crisis of conscience from what we have learned and the intentional omission of relevant information. 

Please tune in Tuesday the 19th at 9pm to KGRA. The chat room is highly recommended.

Related reading:

The Carpenter Affair: For the Record

The Leah Haley Case: John Carpenter 

The Leah Haley Case: The Eglin Expedition

The Leah Haley Case: Tom Deuley, The Tampa Trib and MUFON Unaccountability