Dit is ons nieuw hondje Kira, een kruising van een waterhond en een Podenko. Ze is sinds 7 februari 2024 bij ons en druk bezig ons hart te veroveren. Het is een lief, aanhankelijk hondje, dat zich op een week snel aan ons heeft aangepast. Ze is heel vinnig en nieuwsgierig, een heel ander hondje dan Noleke.
This is our new dog Kira, a cross between a water dog and a Podenko. She has been with us since February 7, 2024 and is busy winning our hearts. She is a sweet, affectionate dog who quickly adapted to us within a week. She is very quick and curious, a very different dog than Noleke.
DEAR VISITOR,
MY BLOG EXISTS ALREADY 12 YEARS AND 10 MONTHS.
ON 06/04/2024 MORE THAN 1.951.050
VISITORS FROM 134 DIFFERENT NATIONS ALREADY FOUND THEIR WAY TO MY BLOG.
THAT IS AN AVERAGE OF 400GUESTS PER DAY.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOY EACH TIME.
The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld In België had je vooral BUFON of het Belgisch UFO-Netwerk, dat zich met UFO's bezighoudt. BEZOEK DUS ZEKER VOOR ALLE OBJECTIEVE INFORMATIE , enkel nog beschikbaar via Facebook en deze blog.
Verder heb je ook het Belgisch-Ufo-meldpunt en Caelestia, die prachtig, doch ZEER kritisch werk leveren, ja soms zelfs héél sceptisch...
Voor Nederland kan je de mooie site www.ufowijzer.nl bezoeken van Paul Harmans. Een mooie site met veel informatie en artikels.
MUFON of het Mutual UFO Network Inc is een Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in alle USA-staten en diverse landen.
MUFON's mission is the analytical and scientific investigation of the UFO- Phenomenon for the benefit of humanity...
Je kan ook hun site bekijken onder www.mufon.com.
Ze geven een maandelijks tijdschrift uit, namelijk The MUFON UFO-Journal.
Since 02/01/2020 is Pieter ex-president (=voorzitter) of BUFON, but also ex-National Director MUFON / Flanders and the Netherlands. We work together with the French MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP.
ER IS EEN NIEUWE GROEPERING DIE ZICH BUFON NOEMT, MAAR DIE HEBBEN NIETS MET ONZE GROEP TE MAKEN. DEZE COLLEGA'S GEBRUIKEN DE NAAM BUFON VOOR HUN SITE... Ik wens hen veel succes met de verdere uitbouw van hun groep. Zij kunnen de naam BUFON wel geregistreerd hebben, maar het rijke verleden van BUFON kunnen ze niet wegnemen...
20-04-2024
Open Minds UAP News: John Greenewald of the Black Vault: Important Update on Alleged UFO Whistleblower
Open Minds UAP News: John Greenewald of the Black Vault: Important Update on Alleged UFO Whistleblower
In today’s episode: We talk to John Greenewald, founder of The Black Vault. For decades John has been using FOIA to get formerly classified documents from the government. Recently he received documents showing the correspondence between the DoD and alleged UFO whistleblower David Grusch. Grusch has claimed, including on the record during a congressional hearing, that DoD’s AARO UAP program has not reached out to him. New documents may show otherwise. We also cover the latest UFO/UAP News and look at a couple weird videos from the Enigma app.
In today’s episode: We talk to Brett Tingley, Managing Editor at Space.com who has covered UAP as a journalist on other outlets such as Scientific American, The War Zone, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery, and The Debrief. We also cover the latest UFO/UAP News and look at a couple weird videos from the Enigma app.
We are back! Open Minds UFO Radio is now Open Minds UAP News. It has been a wild ride the last few years for those interested in UFOs, or UAP? In this episode, we will talk about the difference. Despite the government finally coming out and admitting UAP demonstrates a potential threat that should be taken seriously, UFO researchers seem to be unhappy with anything the Pentagon or NASA does or says. Meanwhile, the UFO crowd feels all of the work that’s been done to get us to a place where the issue is taken seriously, is being dismissed, and that the mainstream community still has an overall dismissive attitude. We’ll talk about how we got to this place of stagnation, the players (The Pentagon, Congress, NASA, and the UFO Community) and their current positions, and how we’ll be moving things forward…together.
PLUS…COOL ENIGMA LABS UAP VIDEO Link to Enigma Labs UAP:
MUFON’s long awaited Project Aquarius Library is now open!
The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), the longest-serving scientific UFO investigative and research organization, is pleased to announce the pre-sale and launch of Project Aquarius, an extensive digital library of UFO content. Pre-sale began December 20, 2023 and the official launch was December 31, 2023. read MORE
STATES OF THE USA
California 29
Texas 20
Florida 18
Illinois 16
Michigan 16
Arizona 12
New York 12
Pennsylvania 12
Ohio 10
Virginia 9
Maryland 8
Oklahoma 8
Washington 8
Colorado 7
Kentucky 7
Minnesota 7
North Carolina 7
South Carolina 7
Wisconsin 7
Indiana 6
Louisiana 6
New Mexico 5
Oregon 5
Connecticut 4
Wyoming 4
Alabama 3
Georgia 3
Maine 3
Massachusetts 3
Missouri 3
New Jersey 3
Utah 3
Alaska 2
Arkansas 2
Iowa 2
New Hampshire 2
Tennessee 2
West Virginia 2
Delaware 1
Hawaii 1
Idaho 1
Rhode Island 1
South Dakota 1
DISTANCE FROM THE WITNESS
< 100 ft 41
101-500 ft 51
501 ft - 1 Mile 69
Over 1 Mile 75
Unknown 70
NO VALUE 15
Most impressively there were 13 Landings, Hovering, or Takeoffs reported and 33 Entities observed.
Some view Carl Jung as a UFO debunker, others as a UFO believer, but the truth is he was somewhere in the middle. Either way, it is certain that Jung was an avid UFO researcher and fascinated with the topic. He wrote a book about the psychological symbolism and the role the UFO mythos plays in the unconscious mind.Moreover, on several occasions Jung complained that his studies would have been much easier if the UFO phenomenon was not real.
Jung the Psychologist
Jung was born in Switzerland in 1875. His father was a pastor in the Swiss Reformed Protestant Church, and his mother was from a wealthy Swiss family. He was the Jungs’ fourth child, but was the only child who survived into his childhood. As such, he grew up as an only child. Later, he wrote that he remembered enjoying his solitude.
His first experience with neurosis was at the age of twelve when a fellow student shoved him, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground very hard. He remembered associating this experience with schoolwork, and whenever he had to go to school or do schoolwork he would faint. Overhearing his parents’ concern that this condition would cause him to be unable to support himself as an adult, Jung fought to overcome the problem and eventually returned to academics.
Although Jung had a profound interest in spirituality, his experiences triggered an interest in psychology and he decided to pursue a career in medicine. It wasn’t long before he realized that studies in psychology would allow him to combine his interests in medicine and spirituality, and in 1902, he completed his doctoral dissertation, which was titled “On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena.” He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Basel.
After graduating, Jung went to work with psychiatric patients at the University of Zurich asylum. He wrote a paper on word association that he sent to Sigmund Freud. Freud was impressed with Jung’s work, and they quickly became very close. Freud considered Jung his successor. However, after several years, Jung began to develop his own ideas beyond the work of Freud, and due to their disagreements, the relationship turned adversarial.
Carl Jung (bottom right), Sigmund Freud (bottom left), and others at a 1909 celebration of the founding of Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Credit: Library of Congress
Freud’s work with the ego and unconscious served as a foundation for Jung’s work. They both felt that disconnects between the conscious and unconscious minds caused neurosis in people. They also both relied on dream interpretation to explore a person’s unconscious mind as a method for subsequently resolving neurosis. In fact, one story holds that Jung and Freud interpreted each other’s dreams and both completely disagreed with the other’s analysis, thus hastening the dissolution of their friendship.
A major area of disagreement between the two was that Jung did not believe a person’s unconscious was driven solely by sexual desires, as Freud did. Jung believed other strong emotions such as fear and aspiration were just as influential. He also conceived of a deeper level of the unconscious called the collective unconscious, which he believed is a part of our unconscious mind that holds ideas and concepts shared by all humankind. He believed these base ideas are then shaped by our cultural perceptions and personal experience. For example, we all have ideas around the notions of mothers, fathers, wise elders, etc. Jung called these shared notions archetypes. Jung felt that these archetypes not only would manifest in dreams, but could be seen in people’s creative works and behavior, including art, religion, and mythology.
Jung’s contributions to psychology are numerous. Even today his ideas of extraversion and introversion are a mainstay in personality psychology. He also came up with the idea of psychological complexes and synchronicities. All of these ideas and terms are commonly used in everyday conversation today, and all were made popular by Jung.
Jung and Alchemy
It is the idea of the archetype that brought Jung to have a particular interest in UFOs. When Jung interpreted psychological meaning he would search for archetypal figures. As mentioned earlier, such figures could be a mother or father.But, in a mythological story, the archetype may be the hero, a dragon, or even a planetary entity such as the sun. However, Jung also had an interested in alchemy.
Alchemy is typically connected to legends of ancient mystics attempting to unravel the secret of turning lead into gold. The work of alchemists is credited with the development of modern chemistry. However, another side of alchemy is spiritual in nature, relating to personal transformation. Jung had a passion for alchemy in this sense, and felt that the metal lead was a metaphor for an impure soul, whereas gold was a metaphor for a perfected soul. Jung’s interest in alchemy was thus as a method of purifying the soul.
The Tabula Smaradina (Emerald Tablet), a print by Mathias Merian from the 1600s displaying alchemical symbols and imagery.
Credit: Mathias Merian
Jung wrote a couple of books focused on interpreting alchemical symbolism and processes as different stages of personal growth that mirrored his ideas. He felt these symbols were archetypes that were unconsciously manifesting in the work of alchemists. Although he acknowledged the physical goals of alchemy (an attempt to transmute lead into gold), Jung did not give it much attention in his writing and focused on the non-physical aspects that related to his psychological theories. This is very similar to the way he approached the topic of UFOs.
Jung and UFOs
In 1951, Jung wrote to a friend in the United States: “I am puzzled to death about the phenomena, because I haven’t been able yet to make out with sufficient certainty whether the whole thing is a rumour with concomitant singular and mass hallucination, or a downright fact.”
Book cover to Jung’s Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies.
(Credit: Princeton University Press.)
Although Jung showed an interest in the mystery of the physical reality of the UFO phenomenon, professionally he stated, “As a psychologist, I am not qualified to contribute anything useful to the question of the physical reality of Ufos.” However, Jung could contribute by analyzing the unmistakable psychological side to the UFO phenomenon. In 1958, several of Jung’s papers regarding the psychology of UFOs were published in a book. It was originally published in German, but in 1959 it was translated to English under the title, Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies.
In the book, Jung argued that although there may be a physical reality to UFOs, there is certainly a portion of the phenomenon that is fantasy. He examined the difficulty many have in accepting fantastical stories of UFOs, even when they come from pilots, and points out, “What is worse, most of the stories come from America, the land of superlatives and of science fiction.”
For the sake of argument, and to examine the psychological aspects of the phenomenon, Jung presumed that UFOs are fantasy. This is an important aspect that many critics overlook when they characterize Jung as dismissive of the phenomenon altogether. UFO researchers also tend not to appreciate the portions of Jung’s book in which he examined the UFO phenomenon in regards to archetypal imagery and alchemic symbolism. Jung himself assures his readers that although his work may appear to be “unbridled fantasy” to those unfamiliar with psychology, it is actually based on “thorough research into the history of symbols.”
In his book, Jung observed that most UFO sightings describe the objects as disc shaped, which is a symbol that is often seen in alchemy and existed in the mythology of other cultures. For example, the Hindu and Buddhist symbol of the mandala is a circular disc-shaped symbol. Jung believed that the mandala is a protective sphere, which is elicited in the unconscious in times of emotional tension. Jung noted that, around the time of many of the UFO sightings, the world was under a collective stress due to “Russian policies and their still unpredictable consequences.” In short, he felt that perhaps UFOs were appearing in visions at the time because of the world’s Cold War jitters, and that the UFOs were a manifestation of a need for protection and salvation.
Jung’s book also provided detail of the analysis of particular sightings and art. One of the significant contributions to ufology made by the book is a focus on two historical broadsheets, a type of ancient newspaper, that recorded mysterious apparitions that many have speculated to be UFO related. Although Jung asserted that these reports were in the UFO literature prior to the publication of his book, Jung clearly made them popular as potential ancient UFO sightings.
The first is referred to as the Basel Broadsheet, and it dates back to 1566. It was written by Samuel Coccius and is a report of “many large black globes” that were seen flying in front of the sun “with great speed.” The Basel Broadsheet notes, “Some of them became red and fiery and afterwards faded and went out.” Jung noted the similarity of this phenomenon to modern UFO accounts.
The Basel Broadsheet from 1566 analyzed by Carl Jung in his Flying Saucer book.
The second report is called the Nuremberg Broadsheet and dates back to 1561. This report chronicles a “very frightful spectacle” that was witnessed by several people. Again, “globes” were seen near the sun, “some three in a row, now and then four in a square, also some standing alone.” There were also “two great tubes.” Jung noted that in UFO literature large tubes are considered “motherships,” and have been reported to have smaller discs that appear to fly out of them.
The Nuremberg Broadsheet from 1561 analyzed by Carl Jung in his Flying Saucer book.
In his book, Jung also examined the possibility of the physical reality of UFOs. He noted that, “unfortunately,” UFOs cannot be dismissed as purely psychological in nature. He pointed to numerous sightings, some of which have been caught in photographs and on radar. Jung even poked fun at astronomer Donald Menzel, a UFO debunker, saying that he “has not succeeded, despite all his efforts, in offering a scientific explanation of even one authentic UFO report.”
Jung was well-versed on UFO research. He wrote, “since 1947 I have collected all of the books I could get a hold of on the subject.” He was also a member of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), an early civilian UFO organization that included many credible members. In fact, in his book, Jung often referred to the work of Major Donald Keyhoe, a cofounder and director of NICAP.
Prior to releasing his book, Jung was considered by UFO researchers to be a proponent of the physical reality of UFOs. In 1955, he wrote an article on UFOs for a British journal called the Flying Saucer Review. In the article, Jung stated that he had never seen a UFO himself, but that “I can only say for certain: these things are not a mere rumour: something has been seen.”
He went on to argue that the U.S. Air Force “despite its contradictory statements,” considers the phenomenon to be real and they conduct official investigations. He warned that, by concealing information on the topic, the military is making it more likely that people will panic since the public is denied “an adequate picture of what is happening.”
Jung also stated that “the ‘disks’ (that is, the objects themselves) do not behave in accordance with physical laws, but as though without weight, and they show signs of intelligent guidance, by quasi human pilots, for their accelerations are such that no normal human could survive.”
Not much was made of Jung’s 1955 article until it was reprinted in 1958 by the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in the organization’s bulletin in July 1958. APRO posted the story as part of an announcement that Jung had agreed to become an official consultant for the organization. The New York Herald Tribune quickly picked up on the report and printed a story with the headline, “Dr. Jung Says ‘Flying Disks’ Suggest Quasi-Human Pilots.”
APRO Bulletin from July, 1958 with reprint of Jung’s article on UFOs.
Credit: APRO
Jung was not happy with the implication that he believed UFOs represented a physical phenomenon and later wrote a letter to United Press International news agency clarifying his position. He wrote: “I expressly state that I cannot commit myself on the question to the physical reality or unreality of the UFOs since I do not possess sufficient evidence either for or against.” He then stated, “Something is seen, but it isn’t known what.” Jung later repeated this statement in his 1958 book and in several letters.
Although Jung was clearly embarrassed by the public perception that he conclusively believed flying saucers were physical in nature, he later reiterated his prior statements and earlier criticisms of the U.S. Air Force’s handling of the matter in very strong words. He wrote:
In spite of the fact that I hold my judgment concerning UFOs—temporarily let’s hope—in abeyance, I thought it worthwhile to throw a light upon the rich fantasy material which has accumulated round the peculiar observations in the skies. Any new experience has two aspects: (I) the pure fact and (2) the way one conceives of it. It is the latter I am concerned with. If it is true that the [American Air Force] or the Government withholds telltale facts, then one can only say that this is the most unpsychological and stupid policy one could invent. Nothing helps rumours and panics more than ignorance.
It is no wonder that many have been confused as to Jung’s official stance on UFOs. He seems to have believed the phenomenon and sightings to be real, but is uncertain whether UFOs are a physical reality or are limited to a psychological phenomenon. He stated that although “by all human standards it hardly seems possible to doubt this any longer,” in the decade or more he had been studying the topic, neither he nor anyone else seems to have learned much from the study of the physical aspect of UFOs. Jung said that this is precisely why he found it much more fruitful to study the psychological aspects of UFOs, an area in which he felt he had gained an abundance of knowledge.
Jung may be right. Concrete physical proof of UFOs continues to elude us to this day. Yet, Jung is another example of a luminary who garners a great amount of respect in his field of study, who also had the vision to seriously consider the UFO phenomenon. His UFO interest is a story that should not be forgotten, and his insights into the phenomenon may help guide us today, just as his insights into the human mind continue to be a part of the bedrock of modern psychological understanding.
A version of this article originally appeared in Open Minds UFO Magazine. Back issues can be found here.
I sent this letter to the U.S. Air Force on July 11, 2013 to solicit an official response to allegations by ex-special agent Richard Doty of the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) that he participated in spreading UFO disinformation. Among his claims, he says he broke into a civilian’s home, created hoaxed documents, and lied to two U.S. Senators. Some of these are criminal acts that he claims he committed on orders from his superiors in the AFOSI. Whether or not this is true, these acts were committed while he was an AFOSI special agent, and I believe the U.S. Air Force needs to respond.
After working with the AFOSI public affairs department on Freedom of Information Act Requests (FOIA) related to this incident, I was told I would be able to speak to someone who could give me an official response. However, once I received the documents I was told they had nothing further to say.
Allegations of Criminal Misconduct
Air Force Office of Special Investigations Agent Richard Doty claims to have partaken in the acts of misinforming members of congress, breaking into the private residence of a civilian government contractor, and disseminating known forgeries of government documents while on active duty in the 1980s. Furthermore, he claims to have committed these acts on the orders of his superiors at AFOSI.
Although his claims have garnered a large amount of public attention, including having been the subject of several books (including one by New York Times Journalist Howard Blum), and were directly related to the government contractor mentioned above having been temporarily committed to a mental health facility, the U.S. Air Force has yet to comment on the veracity of his claims.
Was the U.S. Air Force involved with these criminal acts, as claimed by Doty, and if not what was done regarding his conduct?
Background
Beginning in the 1980s, Paul Bennewitz began reporting strange lights over the Manzano area of Kirtland Air Force Base, and claimed to have recorded unusual signals emanating from the base (1). Bennewitz was the owner of Thunder Scientific, a humidity company with contracts with Kirtland and several other branches of the military and government contractors (2). He believed the lights and signals were due to extraterrestrial activity (3).
According to documents retrieved from previous FOIA requests, officers at Kirtland looked at his evidence on two occasions and decided not to investigate (1)(3). Bennewitz contacted Senator Harrison Schmitt and Senator Pete Domenici, both of whom made inquiries about the status of the investigation on Bennewitz’s material to Air Force Office of Special Investigations Special Agent Richard Doty. In both cases, Agent Doty informed the senators that there was no AFOSI investigation on this matter (3)(4). Likewise, the files do show that after each review of Bennewitz’s material, it was recommended that an investigation not be initiated (1)(3). This is the extent of the material regarding Bennewitz and AFOSI in these files.
However, Richard Doty has since claimed that he lied to the senators on behalf of AFOSI, and that there was a disinformation campaign underway against Bennewitz. According to statements he has made to several associates, and on at least one national radio program, he told Bennewitz there was an investigation and he gave Bennewitz hoaxed material to support this claim (5). The first such document was given to Bennewtiz after Senator Schmitt’s inquiry, and just prior to Senator Domenici’s (3)(4)(14).
According to Doty, and witnessed by others, he continued his campaign to convince Bennewitz that he was actually experiencing extraterrestrial phenomena for several years. New Mexico state police officer Gabe Valdez claimed in interviews with me that he was present when Doty flew Bennewitz over the town of Dulce, New Mexico (6). Doty claims he convinced Bennewitz that there was an alien base under nearby Archuleta Mountain.
It was during this time that Doty claims he was ordered to break into Bennewitz’s residence. He told this to the author of a book on his disinformation activities titled, Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth (7), and to retired U.S. Army Colonel John Alexander (8). Eventually, Bennewitz became so paranoid regarding an extraterrestrial invasion that he had to spend time in a mental institution (5).
Doty continues to spread information on UFOs and aliens he alleges to have received while working for AFOSI (5). Many of the documents he disseminated during his campaign against Bennewitz have grown into huge modern mythologies, spawning books, movies and TV shows.
Although on two occasions the Air Force has stated that documents pertaining to this matter, allegedly dispensed by Doty, are not real (9)(10), they have not spoken to whether Doty was under orders, as he claims, when he lied to the senators, broke into Bennewitz’s home, and dispensed material to Bennewitz making him believe he was under investigation. The question then is not whether the documents are hoaxes, but whether Doty hoaxed these documents under his own volition, or was ordered to do so as a part of a disinformation campaign, as he claims is the case.
If Doty was not acting under orders, this would mean he was forging government documents while he was an active AFOSI agent. In that case, AFOSI needs to respond to whether they were aware of Doty’s activities, and if so, what action was taken. It would be surprising to find AFOSI was not aware of this sort of criminal activity going on for several years by one of their agents. Doty has indicated he was demoted at one point, however, this is not documented in the military records I obtained through FOIA, nor is the reason for this demotion (11). It is also unknown whether this demotion has any relation to the apparent criminal activity related to this case.
The official AFOSI Bennewitz files
These files have been obtained separately through FOIA requests by UFO researcher and author William Moore, Citizens Against UFO Secrecy (CAUS), and Navy physicist, Bruce Maccabee. Because of the multiple sources, and the high credibility of Dr. Maccabee and the files released by CAUS, I believe these documents to be legitimate. The USAF has informed the recipients that these are all of the files related to AFOSI and Bennewitz. I am seeking confirmation through my own pending FOIA request (Case # 2013-03291-F). [This was written prior to the fulfillment of my FOIA request, which was fulfilled August 2, 2013, and included the same documents I reference here. View the documents I received here.]
The first document is a Multipurpose Internal OSI Form dated October 28, 1980, and signed by Major Thomas Cseh. The subject is “Alleged Sightings of Unidentified Aerial Lights in Restricted Test Range.” It states that Bennewitz contacted Doty through Major Ernest E. Edwards. Bennewitz claimed to have “knowledge and evidence of threats against Manzano Weapons Storage area.” On October 26, 1980 Doty, along with Jerry Miller, Chief Scientific Advisor for the Air Force Test and Evaluation Center at Kirtland, went to Bennewitz’s residence and conducted an interview. It is noted that Miller had experience investigating UFOs with Project Blue Book. They reviewed photographs, 8mm film, and recording tapes showing periods of high levels of electrical magnetism emitted from the Manzano/Coyote Canyon area. They noted Bennewitz also had surveillance equipment pointed at the base to record high frequencies (1).
They concluded that there were some type of “unidentified aerial objects” caught on the film, but they could not determine whether they posed a threat. They also found the electronic recording tapes to be inconclusive. They informed FTD [Foreign Technology Division] of their findings who wanted to inspect Bennewitz’s data, and briefed their command. However, it was noted that command “did not request an investigation at this time (1).”
The second file is another Multipurpose Internal OSI Form dated November 26, 1980, and also signed by Major Thomas Cseh. The subject is again, “Alleged Sightings of Unidentified Aerial Lights in Restricted Test Range.” The report describes a meeting that took place on the base on November 10, 1980, between Brigadier General William Brooksher, seven other officers, and Bennewitz. Bennewitz presented film and photographs which he believed to be of alien spacecraft, and described how he believed he was in contact with these aliens. He requested a grant to further research his interactions. One of those present, Dr. Lehman, Director of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland, told Bennewitz he would help him fill out paperwork to request a grant from the USAF (3).
This document then states that on November 17, Doty advised Bennewitz that AFOSI would not investigate the objects, and that they were “not in a position to evaluate the information and photographs.” It also says that on the date of the report, November 26, 1980, Doty received a phone call from Senator Harrison Schmitt inquiring about AFOSI’s role in the investigation of the sightings reported by Bennewitz. Doty advised Schmitt that AFOSI was not investigating the phenomenon and referred him to another AFOSI district. Schmitt declined and said he would check with the Secretary of the Air Force to determine the correct USAF agency to investigate the phenomena. The final note in this document is that Bennewitz had many conversations with Senator Schmitt, and Schmitt had in turn called Brigadier General Brooksher on multiple occasions regarding Bennewitz’s sightings (3).
The third document is an AFOSI communication form noting a meeting between Senator Peter Domenici and Doty regarding Bennewitz. It is signed by Colonel Frank Huey. It says that the IG [Inspector General] contacted AFOSI to advise them that Senator Domenici wanted to talk to Doty. Colonel Harvell approved the meeting, and Domenici, who was already in the IG’s office, went directly to speak to Doty. The report then says a subsequent check was made with Domenici’s aide, Mr. Tijeros, to find out what they wanted to discuss with Doty. Tijeros said they wanted to know whether AFOSI had conducted a formal investigation of Bennewitz. Tijeros was informed that there was no formal investigation. Tijeros indicated that Senator Domenici will likely make no further inquiries into the matter (4).
These three documents seem to indicate that AFOSI humored Bennewitz by examining his evidence, but did not engage in a formal investigation. Doty served as the point of contact to inform Senators Schmitt and Domenici, as well as Bennewitz, that AFOSI would not be investigating Bennewitz’s alleged alien evidence.
Richard Doty’s claims
The source for the claims I am referring to is a radio show appearance by Richard Doty on February 27, 2005. It was on a night time program called Coast to Coast AM, with a very large international listening audience. Although Doty has done many other interviews, they are almost all in print or online. Often his claims vary from one interview to another, and when pressed on this point, Doty often denies he made the statements. This includes a book he is credited as co-writing titled, Exempt from Disclosure. He claims he did not write the chapter credited to him, although his co-author notes he did sign the paperwork to authorize the book and cashed the checks for payment. Either way, I use the radio interview because it is similar to the core story he has been portraying in other interviews, and is one of the few sources with his verifiable direct statements.
According to Doty, in reference to his visit to Bennewitz’s residence with Miller on October 26, 1980, he says “The report was that this person had sufficient knowledge and the right equipment to tap into sensitive communications equipment and sensitive projects that was (sic) occurring in Kirtland.” The radio host, Art Bell responded, “Alright, somewhere in the mix of all this comes disinformation. In other words, you are going to admit tonight, I believe, that you dispensed disinformation, is that true?” To that Doty responds: “That is absolutely true.” Doty explained that this was done to protect base secrets. He said, “what we did is that we convinced him that what he was picking up wasn’t anything classified from the base, but in fact it was probably of alien origin (5).”
Doty says that Bennewitz also believed there was an alien base under Archuleta Mountain, near Dulce, New Mexico. Doty claims he worked with personnel from Ft. Carson to help perpetuate this idea. Doty explains, “We had a couple of black helicopters, and we had some things planted onto the ground around Archuleta peak, and just to convince him that what he was actually looking at, what he thought, actually was an alien base (5).”
Doty said that this disinformation campaign was an easier way to handle Bennewitz’s collection of sensitive Air Force activities than making him stop. He says, “It was easier for us to have done it that way than to get a warrant, a search warrant and a seizure warrant and seize all of his property and seize his equipment. What would that do? That would cause a lot of publicity, and the wrong type of publicity the base wanted (5).”
Bell asked Doty if he was aware that Bennewitz eventually ended up needing psychiatric care. Doty responded, “Yes, and I visited Paul a number of times.” He continued, “I was trying to convince Paul, and I went to his son to do this, that ‘hey, everything we told you before, Paul, isn’t true.’ And I explained to him why we were doing it, but he never believed me (5). “
Bell asked if he had any remorse for what happened to Bennewitz, to which Doty replied, “…it upset me what happened to Paul. I mean I went and tried to talk to Paul about it, against my commander’s orders. He told me, ‘Hey, he doesn’t have the clearance. You can’t go over there and tell him this stuff didn’t happen.’ But I did anyway, because I was concerned about Paul (5).”
Bell then asked Doty if there were other cases of UFO deception that Doty was involved with. He replied, “…pertaining to just UFOs, it was the four operations.” One of which he said was regarding researcher Linda Howe. He says, “…we invited her to Kirtland, we showed her some information pertaining to UFOs, we showed her a document and tried to bring her in and hook her on a hook, and she took it initially and then we carried on a contact with her over a period of time, meeting her at different locations and providing her with some information.” This is important because Doty has denied bringing Howe to Kirtland in the past, and has also denied showing her anything on UFOs. However, according to Howe, the document she was shown is very similar to a hoaxed document given to another UFO researcher, William Moore (5).
Doty elaborated on his association with Moore, saying, “Bill Moore was recruited by another person within Defense Intelligence Agency to provide disinformation.” In a letter to the editor in the July 15, 2000 issue of Saucer Smear, Doty wrote, “Moore was a coded source for OSI. That means he provided intelligence information that was documented. He was paid for his information. Moore was used to provide disinformation to Ufologists (12).” Although the details change, to my knowledge, Doty has never denied Moore’s involvement (5).
Finally, in regards to all of this, Doty claims in the radio program, “I followed orders. Everything we did was following orders (5).”
Although Doty claims the Bennewitz affair was disinformation, he also claims he was briefed on UFOs when he joined AFOSI. He says the briefing stated, among other things, “[Roswell] was real. We had an alien. It was in captivity up until 1951. He was kept at Kirtland and he was kept at Los Alamos. He died in the later part of 1951.” Doty also claims the alien liked strawberry ice cream and Tibetan music (5).
Hoaxed documents
This section will review hoaxed documents linked to Doty, most of which are connected to the events we have reviewed thus far. We will also review one document that surfaced just prior to Doty’s interactions with Bennewitz. The significance here is that if Doty is to be believed, these documents, which have had a significant impact on the UFO research community and society in general, are official fabrications of the USAF. If these documents were not created in a disinformation campaign, then Doty either alone or with others, participated in hoaxing official government documents.
Moore, the UFO researcher mentioned in the radio program, was co-author, with Charles Berlitz, of the book The Roswell Incident, which was published in 1980. It was the first book on the alleged UFO crash in Roswell. He says that in 1980 he was approached by a high level intelligence official, the same person Doty referenced earlier as working in the DIA, who said he and others knew the truth about UFOs and wanted the information out, so they would help him with his work. Moore gave this man the code name “Falcon” and says the he was told he would work primarily through a liaison that turned out to be Doty. Many have speculated that Doty was Falcon, but Moore denies this (13).
Moore says he began providing Falcon and Doty information on the UFO community and Paul Bennewitz. During a speech at a UFO conference in 1989, Moore said, “My role in the affair was largely that of a freelancer providing information on Paul’s current thinking and activities. I had nothing whatsoever to do with the counterintelligence and the disinformation (13).” However, he later claimed he was involved with dispensing at least one hoaxed document (14).
Moore says he worked with Falcon and Doty until 1984 (13). Rumors of his involvement with government agents eventually lead him to come clean in the aforementioned speech in 1989, at which point he retired from UFO research. In 1990, along with his research partner, Jamie Shandera, he released a document called The MJ-12 Documents: An Analytical Report, which analyzed the documents related to the Bennewitz Affair.
The first hoaxed document Moore examines is not part of the Bennewitz affair, but it does have links to Doty. It is a letter, along with an Air Force Incident/Complaint Report, from Ellsworth Air Force Base, regarding a UFO encounter. The letter claimed the incident had occurred on November 16, 1977, and was subsequently classified on December 2, 1977. The author claims he wanted to get the information out before the Air Force covered it up. The letter was sent to the National Enquirer (14). According to Bob Pratt of the National Enquirer, those named in the letter were questioned, and the letter was determined to be a hoax (15).
It is included in Moore’s report because he says Doty was stationed at Ellsworth at the time (14). Military records for Doty I obtained also show Doty was at Ellsworth from 1976 to 1979 (11). When Moore asked about the document, Doty told him he was aware of the “operation,” to create the document, but did not have any direct involvement (14).
The second document is a letter sent to a UFO organization called the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in July of 1980 about a UFO sighting that was witnessed by Craig Weitzel near Pecos, NM. It claims Weitzel was stationed at Dobbins AFB, but was visiting Kirtland. The letter claims a man in a black suit told Weitzel he saw something he should not have and demanded photographs of the object that Weitzel had taken. The man writing the letter claims he was a friend of Weitzel’s, and was himself stationed at Kirtland. He said Weitzel had spoken to an OSI agent named “Mr. Dody (sic)” about the matter (17).
Moore worked with APRO at the time the letter was received. He says the letter was loosely based off a real sighting, but was a hoax. He also says he didn’t know it then, but he found out later that Doty had written this letter. He says Doty told him the letter was meant to draw someone out of APRO who could provide information on Bennewitz, which, as we have seen, Moore eventually did end up participating in (14).
The third document is the first piece of disinformation allegedly given to Bennewitz. Moore says the document was given to him by Falcon and Doty to give to Bennewitz (14). The document was an alleged secret AFOSI teletype dated November, 1980. It was regarding analysis of Bennewitz’s photographs and alleges that this investigation is part of a secret project called Aquarius “with restricted access to ‘MJ Twelve’.” It claims NASA is monitoring the case and that AFOSI is gathering evidence and forwarding it to NASA (18).
Moore says he was given the document in March of 1981, but because he was hesitant to give knowingly false information to Bennewitz, he did not deliver it until late that summer (14). This timing is notable, because it was late summer, specifically July 30, when Senator Domenici went to Kirtland to ask about the Bennewitz investigation (4). Although Bennewitz and Senator Schmitt had already been told there was no AFOSI investigation (3)(4), the receipt of this document could explain why Bennewitz and/or Senator Domenici believed there was an investigation in the summer of 1981.
The fourth document is a list of notes allegedly used to brief President Carter on the UFO situation with bombastic claims of Air Force cover-ups regarding crashed UFOs, alien technology, interactions with aliens, etc. The cover again mentions Project Aquarius and “MJ12” (19). Moore says he was allowed to view and photograph this document in March of 1983 (14). In April of 1983, Linda Howe says she was invited to Kirtland Air Force Base by Doty and shown this document, or one very similar. As noted above, in the radio interview, Doty confirms this (5).
The fifth and final document is an MJ-12 Eisenhower briefing. This document was sent to Moore’s research partner, Jamie Shandera, on December 11, 1984, in a package from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The document was on 35 mm film (14). The document’s content shows similarities to the alleged Carter briefing, including the mention of MJ-12 (20)(14), first referenced in the teletype (18). It was also sent from Albuquerque, where Doty lived at the time and was still stationed at Kirtland AFB. However, Doty denies having created or sent the document (14).
Moore also denies having created the document (14). Allegedly acting on an anonymous tip, Shandera and Moore claim to have found a supporting document in the National Archives on July 18, 1985. This document is a July 14, 1954 memo from Robert Cutler, Special Assistant to the President, to General Twining regarding a “NSC/MJ-12 Special Studies Project.” It is a short memo and discusses the date and time of a meeting. It does not allude to the nature of the meeting (14). The National Archives has since released a paper outlining 10 points that “pose problems” for the authenticity of the document (22). Otherwise, there has yet to be any verifiable official reference to MJ-12.
The FBI undertook an investigation of the MJ-12 Eisenhower Briefing due to multiple requests. That investigation included a request to AFOSI headquarters inquiring about its authenticity. AFOSI claimed the document to be “bogus,” however, neither they nor the FBI have commented as to the document’s origins (9). To date, AFOSI has not commented on whether they have any involvement with the creation of the documents, as alleged by their own AFOSI agent, who, as demonstrated, was very closely related to the individuals who allegedly were anonymously given these documents, a document which also shares similarities to other documents that he asked to be given to Bennewitz, and had shown Moore and Howe.
According to Doty, “The FBI did an investigation on me because of the MJ-12 documents. It was 88 or 89… They thought I disclosed those documents (5).” If this is true, the results of their investigation have yet to be revealed.
Conclusion
Due to the extent at which the mythology created by Doty’s official or non-official disinformation campaign has worked its way into an alleged hidden history of Air Force and U.S. government secrecy, and due to the negative impact these events had on Mr. Bennewitz and his family, we deserve a response from the Air Force on their involvement, or non-involvement in this matter. Mr. Doty is now a sergeant for the New Mexico State Police, based out of Grants, and he continues to make wild accusations about the Air Force’s secret knowledge of UFOs and aliens. If he was not under orders to fabricate these documents, as he claims, then his employers and those he continues to attempt to perpetrate hoaxes upon, deserve to know this.
Moore, William L., & Shandera, Jamie. 1990. The MJ-12 Documents An Analytical Report. (The document was too large to PDF, so this link contains the pertinent excerpts.)
Pratt, Bob. The Ellsworth Missile Silo UFO Hoax. 1983. Retrieved 6/13/2013 from: http://www.mufon.com/bob_pratt/ellsworth.html (link is no longer active). (Archived PDF copy)
After reading this letter, you may agree that the Air Force needs to respond to the allegations posed in this letter. If so, please feel free to use this information to make your own inquires.
A 1989 article by UFO researcher Robert Hastings in the June 1989 MUFON Journal in which he alleges Doty is Falcon and Moore is working for the government. He followed up this paper with another in 2009 called Operation Bird Droppings.
for posting a link of this video in which Bill Moore (the author responsible for making Roswell famous) admits to being involved in this disinformation scam with a USAF OSI agent: https://youtu.be/dwO6AY8YRR0?t=3210…
This speech ended Moore's involvement with UFO research. The OSI agent claims he ran this campaign under orders.
According to FOIA docs I received linked in the post above, 2 senators caught wind of it and made inquiries. Both were told by the OSI agent there was no such info being disseminated. Meanwhile, this same agent was in the midst of providing this information to a UFO researcher and Kirkland AFB contractor.
The Accidental Truth, a new UFO documentary being released on April 18, 2023.
The Accidental Truth, a new UFO documentary being released onApril 18, 2023
Here’s the first trailer released by 1091 Distribution. More related content will be dropping into the playlist below, so check back often!
Nick POPE : "Excitement is building about The Accidental Truth, a new UFO documentary being released on April 18. I'm in it, as are Lue Elizondo, Chris Mellon, Rep. Tim Burchett, Dr. Michio Kaku, Dr. Garry Nolan, Col. John Alexander, Ralph Blumenthal and many more."
The truth can no longer be contained by those duty-bound to hide it.
What if there was one film that will bring a mainstream audience up to speed on the modern UFO Reality?
Now there is. “Accidental Truth – UFO Revelations” pulls no punches.
Officials who interact with the public regarding the UFO question openly acknowledge that they know things that they can’t reveal. In “Accidental Truth,” the reality of an advanced intelligence engaging humanity becomes undeniably clear.
You will witness revelations on UFOs / UAPs from government insiders that have never been previously shared with the public. From many years of interviews and investigation, Ron James painstakingly connects the dots.
Colonel John Alexander, Lue Elizondo, Christopher Mellon, Nick Pope, Dr. Garry Nolan, Ralph Blumenthal, Congressman Tim Burchett and others help to “accidentally” weave a story that leaves no doubt that another intelligence is somehow operating around us, above us in our atmosphere, beneath our seas and in outer space. Decades of official denial and debunking are irrevocably put to rest in what is being called “one of the best UFO films of all time”.
Dr. Michio Kaku provides scientific analysis and commentary specific to what we know. Never before has a world-class scientist weighed in so deeply on the topic. Until now. A collection of contributors from across the field all come together to settle the question. The subject is no longer up for debate. You will experience the proof. The acknowledgement of another advanced intelligence is only the beginning.
This irrefutable truth creates more questions than you can possibly imagine.
“Accidental Truth – UFO Revelations” is being called “a masterpiece” and “one of the best UFO documentaries of all time” by early reviewers. It has been accepted into 12 film festivals so far and won 7 awards. It comes out on April 18, 2023.
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The Cast:
Congressman Tim Burchett Ralph Blumenthal Lue Elizondo Dr. Michio Kaku Dr. Garry Nolan Col. John Alexander Christopher Mellon Richard Dolan Dave MacDonald Nick Pope Paul Hynek Don Schmitt Mike Bara Katie Griboski (Paige) Melinda Leslie Elizabeth April Cheryll Jones Danny Sheehan Jimmy Church Richard Lang James Fox Ron James
THIRTY THREE years ago, thousands of Belgian citizens reported mysterious platforms flying silently over rooftops. The Royal Belgian Air Force got involved and cooperated fully with civilian investigators. To this day, however, the origins of these craft remain unknown.
It’s hard to convey the excitement caused by the Belgian UFO wave if you were not following UFO news back in 1989 and the early 1990s. There was no shortage of UFO reports back then, and interest in the phenomenon was at a high. The sightings and photos from Gulf Breeze, Florida, dominated the American scene, wild UFO reports and stories coming out of the old Soviet Union received huge international media attention, and the Mexican video wave took off in 1991. Yet the Belgian wave seemed to top all of these stories for awhile. The reports out of this small country, headquarters of both the European Commission and NATO, received unprecedented coverage, making even the front page of the Wall Street Journal on October 10, 1990, with a story entitled, “Belgium Scientists Seriously Pursue A Triangular UFO.”
The classic triangular-shaped UFO described by hundreds of eyewitnesses during the Belgium wave: sketch by witness used to create reconstruction of the object seen at the top of story.
Credit: SOBEPS
There were many reasons for the interest generated by the Belgian wave. One was the quality of the reports themselves, the bulk of which were registered in the French-speaking region of Wallonia. There were no landings or humanoid sightings but lots of detailed multiple-witness sightings of flying platforms moving slowly and silently above rooftops. Shapes varied, but the predominant form was triangular or delta-shaped crafts. Some of the descriptions were so precise that traditional explanations of misidentified natural phenomena or conventional aircraft were ruled out. Instead, stealth fighters and other U.S. secret military aircraft became the favorite explanations suggested by skeptics, but these were quickly ruled out by the Royal Belgian Air Force (RBAF). Another reason for the wave’s importance was that it was carefully investigated and documented by a local UFO organization called SOBEPS (Belgian society for the study of space phenomena).
SOBEPS was formed in 1971 by Lucien Clerebaut, Michel Bougard, and others, and built a small but highly dedicated cadre of field investigators. By the end of the wave in 1993, SOBEPS had collected over two thousand eyewitness reports comprising twenty thousand pages, four hundred hours of audio tapes, and six hundred full inquiries. Five hundred and forty cases remained unexplained. SOBEPS also had the assistance of top-notch scientists, including Léon Brenig, a nonlinear dynamics theorist at the Free University in Brussels, and Professor Auguste Meessen, a physicist from Catholic University at Louvain. Regarding his work with SOBEPS, Dr. Brenig has said, “here is an opportunity where we can apply the scientific method.” Brenig himself became a witness of the so-called Belgian triangle while driving in the Ardennes on March 18, 1990. The whole dossier was eventually published by SOPEPS in two massive volumes, five hundred pages each, entitled Vague d’OVNI sur la Belgique (UFO Wave ver Belgium), published in 1991 and 1994 respectively. Due to financial difficulties, SOBEPS dissolved on December 31, 2007, but some of its members formed a new, smaller organization called COBEPS (Belgian committee for the study of space phenomena) to preserve the archives and work done for thirty-six years.
The two volumes published by SOBEPS entitled, “UFO Wavever OBelgium.”
Credit: SOBEPS
A final and key element in the credibility of the Belgian UFO wave was the participation and validation by the RBAF, which showed an unusual degree of openness. As the Belgian wave gained steam, the Belgian Ministry of Defence was deluged with queries from the public and the media. The task fell upon the chief of operations of the air force, Col. Wilfried De Brouwer, who was later promoted to major general and deputy chief of the RBAF. Now retired from the service, Gen. De Brouwer has continued to speak about the wave. He was one of the many international officials who spoke at the famous event at the National Press Club (NPC) in Washington, DC, in November 2007, organized by filmmaker James Fox and journalist Leslie Kean. “The Belgian UFO wave was exceptional and the air force could not identify the nature, origin and intentions of the reported phenomena,” said De Brouwer at the NPC. He also gave a detailed presentation on the wave at the MUFON International UFO Symposium in San Jose, California, in July 2008, and was one of five generals to write an essay in Leslie Kean’s new book, UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go On the Record.
Although the RBAF scrambled jets on three occasions during the wave, Gen. De Brouwer has explained on various occasions that they didn’t have the manpower or resources to mount a full-fledged investigation of their own, so instead they took the unusual route of cooperating fully with SOBEPS. The radar data was turned to Prof. Meessen for analysis, and Gen. De Brouwer agreed to write the postface for SOBEPS’s first volume when he was still in the service. “I must acknowledge that I somewhat hesitated when SOBEPS asked me to contribute my share to this book,” he wrote. “Indeed, I am not a UFO specialist and, moreover, it is quite delicate for somebody who occupies an official function to put on paper his personal ideas on such a disputed issue. However, I estimate that I would not have been honest towards the SOBEPS if I had refused. The air force always played a fair game on this subject and I regard this postface as a complementary element to the exceptional file written by the people of SOBEPS.”
THE EUPEN INCIDENT
Although some sightings were reported in October 1989, the first important incident of the Belgian wave took place a month later on November 29 around the small town of Eupen, which is in a region of Belgium near the German border. This initial case put the so-called “Belgian triangle” on the map and led to the start of the RBAF’s involvement. There were both daytime and nighttime sightings, although the latter were lengthier and more detailed. Gen. De Brouwer explained in his essay for Leslie Kean’s book, “a total of seventy reported sightings made on November 29 were fully investigated and none of these sightings could be explained by conventional technology. The team of investigators and I estimate that approximately fifteen hundred people must have seen the phenomenon at more than seventy different locations from different angles during this afternoon and evening.” There were a total of thirteen gendarmes (policemen) who saw the UFO from eight different locations around Eupen. Prof. Meessen summarized the case in SOBEPS’s book:
On November 29, 1989, a large craft with triangular shape flew over the town of Eupen. The gendarmes von Montigny and Nicol found it near the road linking Aix-la-Chapelle and Eupen. It was stationary in the air, above a field which it illuminated with three powerful beams. The beams emanated from large circular surfaces near the triangle’s corners. In the center of the dark and flat understructure there was some kind of “red gyrating beacon.” The object did not make any noise. When it began to move, the gendarmes headed towards a small road in the area over which they expected the object to fly. Instead, it made a half-turn and continued slowly in the direction of Eupen, following the road at low altitude. It was seen by different witnesses as it flew above houses and near City Hall.
In his 2008 MUFON lecture, Gen. De Brouwer provided additional details on this sighting: “The UAP [Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon] emitted repeatedly and simultaneously two red light beams with a red light ball at the spearhead of the beam. Subsequently, the red balls returned to the craft.” There was also apparently a second triangular craft, which made “a forward tilting maneuver, exposing the upper side of the fuselage,” continued De Brouwer. “They [gendarmes] saw a dome with rectangular windows, lighted up at the inside. It then disappeared to the North.” Two more gendarmes saw one of the craft from a monastery nearby; “one is currently the head of the police in that area, he was scared like hell,” added De Brouwer.
Statistical chart of Belgian sightings between October 1989 and September 1990, showing peaks in the November-December period and a second one in April.
Credit: SOBEPS
The Eupen incident was followed by many other UFO sightings, including several reported on December 11, 1989. One of the witnesses that evening was a personal acquaintance of Gen. De Brouwer, Col. André Amond, a civil engineer in the Belgian Army. Col. Armond worked next door to Gen. De Brouwer and wrote a detailed report for the Ministry of Defence. Col. Armond was driving with his wife around 6:45 p.m., when they noticed a strange object with flashing red lights. They stopped the car and got out to see it better. “Suddenly, they saw a giant spotlight, about twice the size of the full moon, which approached them to an estimated distance of 100 meters,” wrote De Brouwer, adding that “the colonel’s wife was frightened and asked to leave.” In his report to the Ministry, Armond “ascertained that this craft was not a hologram, helicopter, military aircraft, balloon, motorized Ultra Light, or any other known aerial vehicle.”
Various shapes were reported throughout the wave, including round, rectangular, and cigar-shaped, but the majority were triangular objects. Gen. De Brouwer notes that the differences may also be due to the eyewitnesses’ viewing angles. Researcher Marc Valckenaers listed some of the characteristics of the UFOs in SOBEPS’s second volume about the wave, including: irregular displacement (zig-zag, instantaneous change of trajectory, etc.), displacement following the contours of the terrain; varying speeds of displacement (including very slow motion), stationary flight (hovering), overflight of urban and industrial centers, and sound effects (faint humming to total silence).
Reconstruction of the incredible rectangular flying platform seen by two factory workers on April 22, 1990, described as “an aircraft carrier turned upside down.”
Credit: SOBEPS
One of the strangest reports came from two factory workers from the town of Basècles, southwest of Brussels, who saw a huge trapezoid flying platform (330 x 200 feet) just before midnight on April 22, 1990. The object moved slowly and silently, covering the entire factory courtyard. In the SOBEPS report, the factory workers described the UFO as “an aircraft carrier turned upside down.” Despite the science-fiction quality of this sighting, an almost identical report was filed nearly a year later, on March 15, 1991, by an electronic engineer in Auderghem, near Brussels, who woke up in the middle of the night when he “heard a barely audible, high-frequency whistling tone. He looked out the window and saw a large rectangular craft at very low altitude with irregular structures on the bottom,” wrote Gen. De Brouwer.
One characteristic of the Belgian wave was how close the objects were flying above the rooftops, as shown with this flying rectangular platform.
Credit: SOBEPS
Another view of the rectangular flying platform above the rooftop and sketch showing where the witness saw it.
Credit: SOBEPS
THE F-16 SCRAMBLE EPISODE
If the Eupen multiple-witness sightings of November 1989 triggered the Belgian wave, the jet fighter scramble incident during the night of March 30, 1990 marked the peak of public interest and global media coverage. The Belgian Air Force had scrambled jets on two prior occasions without positive results. The December 5, 1989 scramble was unsuccessful; when the jet reached the sky, the UFO was gone. Additionally, the December 16, 1989 case turned out to be a false alarm; the authorities quickly determined that it was a laser projection reflected by a cloud layer. Following these two fiascos, the RBAF implemented a new policy that jets would be scrambled only when a sighting was detected on radar and was visually confirmed on the ground by the police.
The SOBEPS team visiting the Royal Belgian Air Force radar facility at Glons: in the center group, left, the Society’s chairman Lucien Clerebaut and right, physicist Prof. Auguste Meessen, next to military officer.
Credit: SOBEPS
As put in a preliminary report prepared by Major P. Lambrechts of the RBAF, entitled “Report Concerning the Observation of UFOs During the Night of March 30 to 31, 1990,” the incident began at 10:50 p.m. on March 30 when the gendarmerie telephoned the radar “master controller at Glons” to report “three unusual lights forming an equilateral triangle.” More gendarmes confirmed the lights. When the NATO facility at Semmerzake detected an unknown target at 11:49 p.m., a decision to scramble two F-16 fighters was made. The jets took off at 12:05 a.m. from Beauvechain, the nearest air base, and flew for just over an hour. According to Major Lambrechts’s report:
The aircraft had brief radar contacts on several occasions, [but the pilots]…at no time established visual contact with the UFOs…each time the pilots were able to secure a lock on one of the targets for a few seconds, there resulted a drastic change in the behavior of the detected targets…[During the first lock-on at 12:13 a.m.] their speed changed in a minimum of time from 150 to 970 knots [170 to 1,100 mph] and from 9,000 to 5,000 feet, returning then to 11,000 feet in order to change again to close to ground level.
When Col. De Brouwer showed the computerized radar images of the UFO tracked by the F-16 onboard radar system in a heavily attended press conference at the Ministry of Defence on July 11, 1990, the international media went into a frenzy. Transcripts of the radio communications between ace fighter pilots, Capt. Yves Meelbergs, Lt. Rudy Verrijt, and the Glons Control Reporting Center near Liege, were also released and provide some dramatic moments. The transcripts paint a picture of the jets chasing ghost radar echoes that appear and disappear and then reappear again, but at no time are the pilots able to establish visual contact with the supposed objects. Belgium’s Electronic War Center (EWC) eventually undertook a detailed technical analysis of the F-16 computerized radar tapes, completed by Col. Salmon and physicist M. Gilmard in 1992, and later reviewed by Prof. Meessen.
An F-16 jet fighter of the Royal Belgian Air Force like the ones scrambled on the night of March 30-31, 1990.
Credit: Bernard Thouanel
Although some aspects of this case still remain unexplained, Meessen and SOBEPS accepted the Gilmard-Salmon hypothesis that most of the radar contacts were really echoes caused by a rare meteorological phenomenon. This became evident in four lock-ons, explained Meessen, “where the object descended to the ground with calculations showing negative altitude…. It was evidently impossible that an object could penetrate the ground, but it was possible that the ground could act as a mirror.” Meessen explained how the high velocities measured by the Doppler radar of the F-16 fighters might result from interference effects. He pointed out, however, that there was another radar trace for which there is no explanation to date. As for the visual sightings of this event by the gendarmes and others, Meessen suggested that they could possibly have been caused by stars seen under conditions of “exceptional atmospheric refraction.”
One frame from the F-16 onboard radar system showing the UFO lock-on during the March 1990 scramble episode, shown by the RBAF at a famous press conference in July 1990.
Credit: RBAF/ Bernard Thouanel
In a 1995 telephone interview, Gen. De Brouwer summarized his reflections on this complex case: “We always look for possibilities which can cause errors in the radar systems. We can not exclude that there was electromagnetic interference, but of course we can not exclude the possibility that there were objects in the air. On at least one occasion there was a correlation between the radar contacts of one ground radar and one F-16 fighter. This weakens the theory that all radar contacts were caused by electromagnetic interference. If we add all the possibilities, the question is still open, so there is no final answer.” De Brouwer took a more detached view of the F-16 scramble episode, however, in his 2008 MUFON lecture and his 2010 essay included in Kean’s book: “The conclusion of the Air Force, therefore, was that the evidence was insufficient to prove that there were real crafts in the air on that occasion.”
THE PETIT-RECHAIN PHOTO
The famous color slide of the Belgian triangle photographed in Petit-Rechain in early April 1990.
Seldom has the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words become more true than in the case of the extraordinary photograph of a flying triangle taken in the small town of Petit-Rechain in April 1990. This color slide became the emblematic symbol of the Belgian UFO wave. It has been published and broadcast in television programs all over the world, and it appears on the cover of the two SOBEPS volumes on the Belgian wave. It’s also one of the most analyzed UFO photos in the history of ufology. During my trip to Brussels in 1995, I had the opportunity to talk at length with Patrick Ferryn, the investigator who researched the case initially and wrote the chapter about it in the SOBEPS book. Ferryn gave me copies of the photo and samples of computer enhancements made by Marc Acheroy, professor of electricity at the Royal Military School, where the image was analyzed by the Signal Treatment Center. The details of how the photo was taken are fairly simple and straightforward.
The photographer, P.M. (who wants privacy, but has fully cooperated with SOBEPS), was a twenty-year-old factory worker, who lived in the small community of Petit-Rechain, near Verviers. He was at home with his girlfriend on the night of either April 4 or 7, 1990 (he can’t pin down the exact date), when his girlfriend first noticed the object between 11:00 and 11:30 p.m. as she took the dog to the courtyard. According to P.M.’s statement to Ferryn, he was alerted by his girlfriend, went outside, and “saw the object practically stationary towards the southwest, at about a forty-five-degree elevation. It consisted of three white round lights on a barely perceptible triangular surface. In the center there was a blinking spot of the same color, or maybe a bit more reddish than the other lights.” P.M. grabbed his camera, a Praktica model BX20 with a 55-200 mm zoom and a “Cokin” 1A 52 mm skylight filter. He shot the last two frames of a roll of 36-200 ASA Kodak color slide film. The UFO then moved slowly towards Petit-Rechain, until it was hidden by the roofs in the village. The entire episode took about five minutes.
The roll of film was sent by mail to a development house offering a special discount, and when P.M. received the slides, he noticed only frame #35 had captured the UFO; frame #36 was entirely black. Ferryn estimated that “the photo was probably taken with a focal distance between 55 and 200 mm, and with exposition time ranging from 1 to 2 seconds.” P.M. showed the photo to his factory coworkers (all of whom were later interviewed by Ferryn), but otherwise didn’t do anything to analyze or commercialize the picture. One of his coworkers knew a local photo-journalist from Verviers, Guy Mossay, who immediately saw the image’s potential value. P.M. sold the photo rights to Mossay for a small fee. Mossay then proceeded to copyright it with SOFAM (Belgium’s multimedia society for visual arts authors).
Skeptics have naturally pointed to the possibility of a hoax with profit motive. However, if that is the case, why did P.M. sell the rights to Mossay for a minor fee? Moreover, hoaxers never supply original slides or negatives for scientific analysis, as was done by P.M. Having checked his background, interviewed acquaintances, and so on, Ferryn noted that “the account of the main witnesses was coherent.” Gen. De Brouwer spent quite a bit of time explaining the details of this case during his MUFON lecture, saying of the witness that, “this guy is genuine, he is a guy who would not fake at all, I can assure you of that.” More importantly, the Petit-Rechain photo has been subjected to more scientific analysis than practically any other UFO photo in history.
When the Petit-Rechain photo is overexposed, the triangular outline of the object appears clearly.
The list of experts and institutions that have analyzed this photo include Prof. Acheroy of Belgium’s Royal Military Academy; Prof. François Louange, an expert in photo interpretation of satellite images for the French space agency, CNES; Dr. Richard Haines, a retired senior NASA scientist and respected UFO researcher; Belgium’s Royal Institute of Artistic Patrimony; and André Marion, a nuclear physicist with France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), who conducted an analysis in 2002 with improved technology. The technical details of these analyses are too numerous for this article, but suffice it to say that evidence of photographic trickery has never been found. Furthermore, of several efforts to duplicate the photo using a dark cardboard triangular model with holes and light bulbs, only one made by members of the Astrophysics Institute at Liege University somewhat resembled the Petit-Rechain photo. But the luminosity of the spots in the replica was uniform, while those in the original exhibited different shapes and spectral effects. The most recent CNRS study by Dr. Marion confirmed the previous analysis and found, as put by Gen. De Brouwer, a “halo around the craft with patterned structure,” which could have been caused by the object’s “propulsion system” of “magnetoplasma dynamic.” Marion also stated that “it would be extremely difficult to fake such a photograph.”
In the end, it’s almost impossible to guarantee the authenticity of a UFO image. There will always be a difference of opinions, but the verdict in the Petit-Rechain case appears highly favorable. Triangular UFOs were seen throughout Belgium during the early 1990s. Dozens of fuzzy videos and grainy photos were taken, but they were generally not impressive. Petit-Rechain was the great exception.
Note: Since the writing of this article, the photo turned out to be an admitted hoax.
NO EVIDENCE OF SECRET AIRCRAFT
Due to the high credibility of most witnesses in the Belgian wave and their descriptions of a silent, triangular craft being so precise, trying to explain the wave in terms of hoaxes, misidentified natural phenomena, or conventional aircraft seemed fruitless. Therefore, a number of skeptics and aviation journalists focused on trying to prove the hypothesis of secret U.S. aircraft flying over Belgium. A series of candidates were proposed, from the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) to secret airships, from the F-117A stealth fighter to some other revolutionary U.S. secret military aircraft such as the alleged TR-3A Black Manta. First, you have to ponder why the U.S. would conduct tests of their most-secret aircraft in such a highly populated area like Wallonia, which is not only a U.S. ally, but also headquarters of the NATO alliance. Gen. De Brouwer put it bluntly in a 1991 interview with the French magazine, OVNI Présence: “Why would the Americans conduct tests here in Europe, without permission and with the risk of having an accident that could create a diplomatic incident on a global scale? This doesn’t involve only Belgium, but NATO, where its concept itself could be put in question. I don’t believe that the Americans could take such a risk, it’s evident.”
Major General (Ret.) Wilfried De Brouwer, who was the Royal Belgian Air Force point man for the UFO wave, during his trip to Washington, DC to participate at the National Press Club event in 2007.
Credit: Bernard Thouanel
Guy Coeme and Leo Delcroix, the two Belgian Ministers of Defence during the wave, denied emphatically the theory that the UFOs were actually U.S. aircraft and based their denial on official inquiries with the U.S. Embassy in Brussels. In a 1993 letter to French researcher Renaud Marhic, Minister Delcroix wrote: “Unfortunately, no explanation has been found to date. The nature and origin of the phenomenon remain unknown. One theory can, however, be definitely dismissed since the Belgian Armed Forces have been positively assured by American authorities that there has never been any sort of American aerial test flight.” A declassified 1990 document from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) entitled, “Belgium and the UFO Issue,” supports Delcroix’s position. After describing the basic events of the wave that had transpired up to that point, the unnamed U.S. official wrote at the very end of this memo: “The [U.S. Air Force (USAF)] did confirm to the [Belgian Air Force] and Belgian [Ministry of Defence] that no USAF stealth aircraft were operating in the Ardennes area during the periods in question. This was released to the Belgian press and received wide dissemination.”
Thirty years have now passed since the Belgian UFO wave, and no new significant evidence has been produced to prove that the sightings were caused by secret military aircraft. The reported cases remain unexplained. It seems certain that something massive and technologically advanced flew over Belgian territory during the 1989-93 period. Why and who was behind it are questions that remain to be answered. A suitable conclusion, for now, is to repeat what Gen. De Brouwer wrote at the end of his famous postface to the SOBEPS’s first volume: “The day will come undoubtedly when the phenomenon will be observed with technological means of detection and collection that won’t leave a single doubt about its origin. This should lift a part of the veil that has covered the mystery for a long time. A mystery that continues thus present. But it exists, it is real, and that in itself is an important conclusion.”
The author (left) with SOBEPS’ chairman Lucien Clerebaut at the Society’s headquarters in Brussels in 1995. The map in the background shows the locations of sightings in Belgium.
Credit: Antonio Huneeus
A version of this article originally appeared in Issue #5 (December/January 2011) of Open Minds UFO Magazine. Back issues can be found here.
By Bob Spearing, Director of International Investigations
How many times over the decades did MUFON and other UFO Organizations receive a description concerning the underbelly of a Black triangle? The witnesses not only described the three round white, blue or orange lights on the triangular vertices and a central red twirling beacon dead on in the bottom’s ?center but also mentioned how the triangle underside was of a deep matte finish and often tubular orB intricate latices were visible on the craft’s bottom. Circuit boards or various other unusual descriptions suggesting a complex tapestry of possible mechanics were described on the craft bottoms.These examples are not one-offs but a serious pattern seen over and over again in dozens, if not more, triangle reports.
Surely, with such a consistent pattern concerning the architecture of unknown aerial vehicles in ourskies, serious investigators should consider this essential circumstantial evidence that these are real and recurring vehicles in our skies of similar manufacture.
Now we have yet another report from a witness who most likely has no knowledge or connection to prior similar reports! It is a disc now and not a triangle.
MUFON Report #122240 originates out of Alameda County, California on or around July 20, 1985 at 8 P.M. This is what the witness, a child at the time, saw:
The UFO Investigator has a lot to work with here. First, the intricacy of the witness’s drawing absolutely suggests he has seen something incredibly similar to other UFO witnesses. There is a definite pattern to tubular or pipe-like structures on the bottom of these UFOs.
Why tubular structures? Is their purpose connected to propulsion? Cooling Systems? Life support systems? Optical Illusion? Implanted thought? Or, does this lattice of tubes constitute a necessity in a?technology that we do not understand by a visiting agent, extraterrestrial or otherwise, that we have noframe of reference for.
A second excellent drawing by the witness has overtones of the Ezekiel’s vision when he sees a wheel within a wheel. It is also suggestive of the common disc sightings where multi-colored lights ar observed rotating in certain ways, sometimes clockwise and counter-clockwise at the same time.
Having established that the witness creates coherent drawings similar to many other cases, let us delv further into the narrative of the child witness in this historical case. It is a “high strangeness” account and may, at first, seem bizarre.
It reads: “2 years prior woke up to a 4-foot waitress wearing an old-fashioned waitress uniform walking towards me as I watched from my bed. I could hear all the sounds of what a busy old-fashioned diner would sound like (customers eating and mumbling, silverware clanging on plates.) This was all static, “snow” in which it appeared to me almost like a holograph ..waitress was walking in middle section of seated guests towards me holding a platter of food with both of her hands, she did not look directly at me but kind of through my {me}. Very detailed even though it was all in a static type media in which I observed it. I yelled out to my Mom if I could sleep with her and I heard her say “sure c-mon honey”..then I replied “but I don’t want to step on this lady”….then I blacked out and did not discuss the event until years later with my Mom….also had multiple visions soon after the UFO experience including a wheel within a wheel hovering and rotating in opposite directions over my childhood home, walking on a beach of dead whales and running from a crashing flood and climbing atop of Stonehenge for safety as the flood waters resided just before the tips of the larger stones”.
An analysis of this episode by a viable witness capable of drawing highly complex illustrations must make us consider the possibility that his story is true no matter how unbelievable. There is also much symbolism in the child’s vision. Was the waitress a “Screen Memory?” Additionally, sufficient reports of possible alien agents offering Contactees and experiencers food and drink is common and Jacque Valle often cites reports of Faire abductions back to the Middle Ages where food and drink are offered.
An especially intriguing part of the witness’s visions is that whales are seen dying along a beach. Coincidentally (perhaps not!!!), whales are currently washing ashore in New Jersey in droves due to their sonar being disrupted by windmill farms in the ocean near the coast. Was the witness having some sort of prescient event? Could it be within the realm of possibility that this witness saw into the future?
MUFON would love reaction to this “high strangeness” account! Please send your hypotheses to DOII@MUFON.COM and we may follow up on this case in a future newsletter article.
Never discount the unbelievable because you do not believe it! Investigate it first!
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Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 73 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
