Rendlesham: About Those Missing Files

So, what might be the reason for this intriguing loss of potentially-crucial data? Some have suggested that nothing stranger than mere bureaucratic bungling was the root-cause. Others took the view this was further evidence of high-strangeness having occurred at Rendlesham. And if conspiracy, rather than  bureaucracy, is indeed at the heart of the mystery of the vanishing papers, then what might have prompted such action?

I suggest it might be worth looking at an aspect of the affair in the forest of which few have taken much, serious notice – and of which many are simply unaware. It’s an aspect that implicates staff from one of the U.K.’s most secret installations in the saga –Porton Down – and suggests the distinct possibility that, in the immediate aftermath of the incident, “something” may have been secretly retrieved from the site. And, as we shall also see, that “something” may have been distinctly hazardous in nature.

In a July 31, 1994 lecture at Leeds, England, Charles Halt (formerly Colonel Charles Halt, USAF, one of those that had witnessed the strange object in Rendlesham Forest) divulged his recollections of what had occurred fourteen-years previously. During the course of his lecture, Halt astounded the audience by revealing something that had been hitherto unknown: an unscheduled C141 transporter aircraft arrived at Woodbridge just hours after the initial encounter, and a group of “special individuals” departed from the aircraft, headed straight out of Woodbridge’s East Gate, and disappeared into the forest.

It should be noted, too, that the C141 is a huge aircraft, fully equipped to carry freight, vehicle payloads or, alternatively, up to 200 troops – ample space to also secrete a relatively small object, as the Rendlesham vehicle was described.

It may be relevant that during its life as an active military station, RAF Woodbridge was home to a squadron with an intriguing history, as Captain John E. Boyle of the U.S. Air Force revealed to me in 1988: “In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the 67th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron stationed at RAF Woodbridge [provided] standby rescue coverage for the American space flights. Of course, they were never needed to provide emergency rescue actions, but at the time, the unit was trained and available to rescue astronauts with their HH-53 and HC-130 aircraft. In early 1988, the 67th ARRS was re-designated as part of the 39th Special Operations Wing, their primary mission changing from that of rescue to supporting US Special Operations forces. Their secondary mission remains that of search and rescue and they would provide any assistance necessary in future space missions.”

Although the 67th’s rescue-and-recovery skills were not needed during NASA’s space-missions, the question has to be asked: were they implicated in the recovery of something that originated with somebody else’s space-program in December 1980?

On this path: in her book on the Rendlesham affair, titled You Can’t Tell the People, the late Georgina Bruni reported on a story that shortly after the events at Rendlesham Forest took place, a number of personnel from Porton Down were reportedly dispatched to the area. Dressed in full-body protection suits, no less, they entered the woods – for reasons that remain unknown outside of officialdom. Prior to her death, Georgina confided in me the name of her source; it was a woman who was indeed a prime candidate to comment on matters relative to the work of staff at Porton Down.

Notably, on January 11, 2001, the late British Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Hill-Norton, who had a personal interest in UFOs, tabled questions at an official level with British authorities in an attempt to resolve the issue of the Porton Down allegations as they related to the Rendlesham case. Predictably, the response to Hill-Norton’s questions, that surfaced on January 25, 2001, was to the effect that staff at Porton Down had made a check of their archives, but had found “no record of any such visits.”

Of course, it should be noted that this carefully-worded statement does not state that such records did not exist; only that the specific personnel who made the search were unable to locate anything relevant. Officialdom is extremely good at providing such couched, potentially-misleading replies. As a result, the controversy surrounding the seldom-discussed Porton Down-Rendlesham issue continues to languish in near-forgotten obscurity.

A C141 aircraft; intriguingly-described “special individuals;” and Porton Down staff descending on the woods in Hazmat suits, collectively suggest there is far more to the Rendlesham case than we may have even considered possible. Perhaps, somewhere, deep within those conveniently-missing documents, there is the answer to the mysterious connection between the Rendlesham event and the covert activities of Porton Down…

 TAGS: rendlesham, ufo

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UFOs: A True Unknown

What constitutes a good, solid and credible UFO incident? That’s a very good question, and one I get asked now and again. Well, my answer would be that such a case would, ideally, have the support of a number of witnesses, some form of evidence that can be analyzed, and on the record individuals whose words we can refer to and study. And, for me, this is typified by a highly notable affair that falls into this particular category, and which will be celebrating its 60th anniversary in just a few months from now…

On both July 19 and 20, 1952, there were repeated sightings of unknown aerial objects in the Washington, D.C., airspace, something that, on July 24, led USAF Major General John A. Samford to state in a Secret memorandum for the attention of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations: “We are interested in these reports in that we must always on the alert for any threat or indication of a threat to the United States. We cannot ignore these reports but the mild hysteria subsequent to publicity given this subject causes an influx of reports which since the 19th of July has almost saturated our ‘Emergency’ procedures.”

The situation really escalated after the weekend of July 26-27. A two-page USAF document, prepared only days later, related the facts: “This incident involved unidentified targets observed on the radar scopes at the Air Route Traffic Control Center and the tower, both at Washington National Airport, and the Approach Control Radar at Andrews Air Force Base. In addition, visual observations were reported to Andrews and Bolling AFB and to ARTC Center, the latter by pilots of commercial aircraft and one CAA aircraft…”

The report continues:

“Varying numbers (up to 12 simultaneously) of u/i targets on ARTC radar scope. Termed by CAA personnel as ‘generally solid returns’, similar to a/c except slower. Mr. Bill Schreve, flying a/c NC-12 reported at 2246 EDT that he had visually spotted 5 objects giving off a light glow ranging from orange to white; his altitude at time was 2,200’. Some commercial pilots reported visuals ranging from ‘cigarette glow’ to a ‘light…”

And the deep strangeness only continued, as the USAF noted:

“ARTC crew commented that, as compared with u/i returns picked up in early hours of 20 July 52, these returns appeared to be more haphazard in their actions, i.e. they did not follow a/c around nor did they cross scope consistently on same general heading. Some commented that the returns appeared to be from objects ‘capable of dropping out of the pattern at will’. Also that returns had ‘creeping appearance’. One member of crew commented that one object to which F-94 was vectored just ‘disappeared from Scope’ shortly after F-94 started pursuing. All crew members emphatic that most u/i returns have been picked up from time to time over the past few months but never before had they appeared in such quantities over such a prolonged period and with such definition as was experienced on the nights of 19/20 and 26/27 July 1952.”

Although the portions extracted from this report speak for themselves, let us now examine an official transcript of a conversation, dated July 26, between staff at Washington National Airport and personnel from Andrews Air Force Base at the time of the sightings:

Wash: “Andrews Tower, do you read? Did you have an airplane in sight west-northwest or east of your airport eastbound?”

Andr: “No, but we just got a call from the Center. We’re looking for it.”

Wash: “We’ve got a big target showing up on our scope. He’s just coming in on the west edge of your airport – the northwest edge of it eastbound. He’ll be passing right through the northern portion of your field on an east heading. He’s about a quarter of a mile from the northwest runway – right over the edge of your runway now.”

Andr: “This is Andrews. Our radar tracking says he’s got a big fat target out here northwest of Andrews. He says he’s got two more south of the field.”

Wash: “Yes, well the Center has about four or five around the Andrews Range Station. The Center is working

a National Airlines – the Center is working him and vectoring him around his target. He went around Andrews.

 He saw one of them – looks like a meteor…went by him…or something. He said he’s got one about three miles off his right wing right now. There are so many targets around here it is hard to tell as they are not moving very fast.”

Within a matter of hours of hearing of the events of July 26-27, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover instructed N.W. Philcox, the FBI’s Air Force liaison representative, to determine what had taken place and to ascertain the Air Force’s opinions on the UFO subject as a whole.

On July 29, Philcox made arrangements through the office of the Director of Air Intelligence, Major General John A. Samford, to meet with Commander Randall Boyd of the Current Intelligence Branch, Estimates Division, Air Intelligence, regarding “the present status of Air Intelligence research into the numerous reports regarding flying saucers and flying discs.”

Although the Air Force was publicly playing down the possibility that UFOs were anything truly extraordinary, Philcox was advised that “at the present time the Air Force has failed to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion in its research regarding numerous reports of flying saucers and flying discs sighted throughout the United States.”

Philcox was further informed that Air Intelligence had set up at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, the Air Technical Intelligence Center, which had been established in part for the purpose of “coordinating, correlating and making research into all reports regarding flying saucers and flying discs.”

As Philcox listened very carefully to what Boyd had to say on the matter, he noted that the Air Force had placed their UFO reports into three definable categories. In the first instance there were those sightings “which are reported by citizens who claim they have seen flying saucers from the ground. These sightings vary in description, color and speeds. Very little credence is given to these sightings inasmuch as in most instances they are believed to be imaginative or some explainable object which actually crossed through the sky.”

Philcox then learned that the second category of encounters proved to be of greater significance: “Sightings reported by commercial or military pilots. These sightings are considered more credible by the Air Force inasmuch as commercial or military pilots are experienced in the air and are not expected to see objects which are entirely imaginative. In each of these instances, the individual who reports the sightings is thoroughly interviewed by a representative of Air Intelligence so that a complete description of the object can be obtained.”

The third category of encounters, Boyd advised Philcox, were those where, in addition to a visual sighting by a pilot, there was corroboration either from a ground-based source or by radar. Philcox wrote to Hoover: “Commander Boyd advised that this latter classification constitutes two or three per cent of the total number of sightings, but that they are the most credible reports received and are difficult to explain.”

“In these instances,” Philcox was told, “there is no doubt that these individuals reporting the sightings actually did see something in the sky.” And to demonstrate that Boyd was well acquainted with the UFO issue on a worldwide scale, he confided in Philcox that “sightings have also recently been reported as far distant as Acapulco, Mexico, Korea and French Morocco… the sightings reported in the last classification have never been satisfactorily explained.”

The commander then came out with a true bombshell, as Philcox noted in his report on the meeting: “[Boyd] advised that it is not entirely impossible that the objects may possibly be ships from another planet such as Mars.”

Clearly, within both the military and the Intelligence community of the day, there was deep concern about the Washington events – something which led to the development of startling and intriguing theories, and the analysis of countless data. So, collectively, this is why – in my opinion – the July 1952 encounters over the nation’s capital were evidence of true unknowns in our very midst…

 TAGS: FBI, U.S. Air Force, ufo

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George Adamski’s Doctored Document

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, a significant body of material on the famous/infamous George Adamski has surfaced – the bulk of it from the FBI. It has to be said that the Bureau’s file on the controversial Contactee makes for highly entertaining reading. But, perhaps, for reasons you might not have considered. There’s not a single scrap of paper in the “Adamski File” which suggests the FBI was concerned in the slightest about the man’s alleged alien encounters. Rather, it was his public and vocal stance on communism that had J. Edgar Hoover’s finest hot under the collar.

Adamski was heard to state that communism was the way of the future, and that the Soviet Union would ultimately dominate the planet. That Adamski had thousands of fans, devotees and impressionable people hanging on his every pro-Russia word bothered the FBI to a significant degree. And so, and almost inevitably, a file was opened on George. But, there’s far more to the file than Cold War era commies. There’s the matter of a certain document outrageously doctored by Adamski; yet another affair that got the FBI in a collective state of frustration and anger.

From March 23, 1953 onward, much of the FBI’s dealings with Adamski revolved around what was said by Adamski during a lecture he gave for the Californian Lions Club, on March 12. According to the FBI’s San Diego office, Adamski had prefaced his talk with a statement to the effect that (and I quote the FBI here) “…his material had all been cleared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Air Force Intelligence.” Absolutely certain that no such clearance had been afforded Adamski, representatives of both the Bureau and the Air Force visited him at his Palomar Gardens Cafe, and “severely admonished him for making any statement alluding to his material having FBI and Air Force blessing.” For the record, however, Adamski denied making any such claims – which is hardly surprising!

George Adamski

Despite his denial (which did not impress the visiting G-Men at all) Adamski was ordered to sign an official document – intended for both the FBI and the Air Force – confirming that his statements and material definitely did not have official clearance of any kind whatsoever. With one copy of the statement retained by Adamski, additional copies were circulated to HQ and to the FBI offices at Dallas, Los Angeles, and Cleveland, since “…these offices have received previous communications concerning [Adamski].”

On December 10, 1953, matters took a decidedly downward turn for Adamski, when a representative of the Los Angeles-based office of the Better Business Bureau (BBB)turned up at the offices of the Los Angeles FBI. The man advised the FBI that its staff were investigating Adamski’s 1953 book, Flying Saucers Have Landed, specifically to determine if it was nothing more than an outrageous hoax. The BBB informed the FBI that to ascertain the facts surrounding Adamski, the man himself had been interviewed by one of its staff. During the course of the interview, Adamski apparently produced for the BBB a document “having a blue seal in the lower left corner, at the top of which appeared the names of three government agents” – one from the FBI and two from the Air Force. Once again, the implication was that Adamski’s material had the official backing of both the military and the Bureau. The FBI was told: “[The Better Business Bureau] is interested in whether or not this document is authentic and whether your organization is making an endorsement of [Adamski’s] book.”

You will probably not be surprised to learn that the document was not authentic. An investigation undertaken by Special Agent Willis, of the FBI office in San Diego, revealed that the document displayed by Adamski to the Better Business Bureau was, in reality, nothing less than a carefully doctored copy of the statement Adamski had been ordered to sign for both the Air Force and the FBI months earlier! Adamski was about to find himself in deep, scalding-hot water.

On December 16, 1953, the following document was prepared by Louis B. Nichols, the head of the FBI’s public relations department: “[Deleted] instructed Willis to call on Adamski at the Palomar Gardens Cafe, Valley Center, California. This is located five miles east of Rincon, California, near the Mount Palomar Observatory. Willis was told to have the San Diego Agents, accompanied by representatives of OSI if they care to go along, call on Adamski and read the riot act in no uncertain terms pointing out he has used this document in a fraudulent, improper manner, that this Bureau has not endorsed, approved, or cleared his speeches or book, that he knows it, and the Bureau will simply not tolerate any further foolishness, misinterpretation and falsity on his part. Willis was told to instruct the Agents to diplomatically retrieve, if possible, the document in issue from Adamski. Willis said he would do this and send in a report at once.”

Despite threats of prosecution, the FBI ultimately chose not to take legal action against Adamski. As for Adamski, he very wisely chose never again to discuss the matter of that doctored document in a public forum. And, of course, this particular portion of the file simply must have a bearing on Adamski’s credibility (or lack of it) when it comes to (a) his claims of alien encounters and (b) the matter of his controversial photos of alleged alien spacecraft.

And, finally, if anyone is thinking about hitting back with a claim that this was all an attempt to prevent Adamski from revealing “the truth,” don’t bother. The man was caught red-handed, engaging in forgery, and doing so by deliberately altering an official U.S. Government document. Bad George!

 TAGS: contactee, FBI, George Adamski

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