A continuing investigation by Marc Cecotti and Keith Basterfield
In our previous article about Bigelow Aerospace
Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) we recounted how we were able to track down
evidence for a BAASS trip to Brazil in 2009. A contractor for the Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA) Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program
(AAWSAP), it now seems pretty obvious, thanks to the work of many researchers,
and our own investigation, that AAWSAP was basically a UFO research program,
with the following objectives: field investigation of UFO sightings; collection
of reports, case files, and other information to produce reports and create
databases; and recovery of physical evidence, including metamaterials. We
demonstrated how BAASS’ search for data and evidence, went far beyond the borders
of the United States; and new information has recently surfaced, proving BAASS
interest in UFO reports from China and Australia.
Since our last article, we have not stopped looking
for additional evidence about BAASS involvement in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay,
Chile and Peru. Marc Cecotti tracked down witnesses in many of those countries,
and spoke to dozens of people involved in Ufology. In this article we will
explain how we were able to locate witnesses and obtain definitive evidence.
Reginaldo De Athayde in the Youtube video. Credit: Viva Fortaleza/Youtube
In the previous post, we explained how an online
interview with a former BAASS Security Officer, whom we chose to call “The Investigator”
revealed that a trip to Brazil occurred sometime in late 2009. When showed a
photograph of several BAASS employees, they were able to identify a person who
was employed as a Portuguese translator. Through further investigation, we
discovered that many years after BAASS was shutdown, The Translator had viewed
and publicly interacted with a Youtube video featuring famous Brazilian
Ufologist Reginaldo de Athayde. De Athayde, who passed away in 2016, lived in the
city of Fortaleza, in the Ceará region, and had a lifelong interest and passion
for UFO study. He remains one of the renowned names in Brazilian Ufology. After
spending many days tracking possible witnesses, Marc Cecotti received a reply
from someone who was an associate and close friend of Reginaldo de Athayde: namely
Hélio Loyola.
Hélio Loyola is a 68-year old UFO researcher who lives
in Fortaleza. He is a member of Centro de Pesquisas Ufológicas
– Ceará (CPU-CE), Center for UFO investigation in Ceará, and has been
investigating UFO sightings for more than 40 years with the same passion. His
name is mentioned in the acknowledgment section of Robert Pratt’s 1996 book "UFO Danger
Zone: Terror and Death in Brazil."
A lengthy online conversation started. Loyola explained that many times, he and
others from CPU-CE helped and cooperated with foreign researchers who came to
investigate major sightings in Brazil. But when the name of The Translator was
mentioned, he immediately remembered their visit.
According to Loyola, four people from BAASS came in
2009. They were introduced by another famous Brazilian ufologist. They
introduced themselves “as members of an American UFO research company from
North America, located in Nevada, that was called BAASS, and they said they
were making a UFO documentary all around the world.” Regarding the members of
this team, he said: “One of them was a member of US Intelligence Police. There
was The Translator. And another one spoke Portuguese fluently because he had lived
in São Paulo.” When asked if they met other people in Brazil, he gave three
names, including Ademar Jose Gevaerd, who already acknowledged meeting BAASS,
in our last article.
Meeting in Fortaleza
Centro de Pesquisas Ufológicas – Ceará (CPU-CE) Headquarters in Fortaleza.
Credit:
Google StreetView
According
to Loyola, in October 2009, BAASS met with Reginaldo de Athayde, Loyola and two
other people at CPU-CE headquarters, located in Fortaleza. On the first day, “after we talked about UFOs in
the Ceará and about our cases, we asked about the purpose of so much ufological
content ? [BAASS] said that the government wanted to know if the countries of
South America were becoming aware that there was life outside of the Earth and
in [the] degree of this awareness among the people.” Then, he drove the whole
BAASS Team to Hotel Praia Centro, in downtown Fortaleza.
Hotel Praia Centro, Fortaleza, Brasil.
Credit: kayak.com
The next
day, according to Loyola, “[he] picked them up around 10:00 a.m, they arrived
with camcorders and cameras and spent several hours photographing and filming
our files and case reports.” He also insisted: “Here in Brazil they didn't do
any research. They took and photographed what the ufologists saw and
documented, and asked each ufologist permission to make public what we had
documented.”
In the
evening, Loyola drove them to Hotel Praia Centro. “They were supposed to go to
São Paulo (…) but I'm not sure they went to São Paulo, you understand. They may
have traveled, to see various UFO cases, (…) they may have gone to Belem, to
see [another ufologist], to Mato Grosso Cuiabá, to see A.J. Gevaerd, to Rio de
Janeiro, to meet [another ufologist]. After they interviewed us, we took
pictures of the whole group.” “After those two days in Fortaleza, we did not
have any news of them. To be more precise, I got the e-mail of The Translator,
and we exchanged some correspondence, but it has been many years that she also
disappeared. That's it.”
Who came to Ceara?
Many
researchers, us included, have been able to draw up a comprehensive database of
BAASS personnel; built from witness testimonies, newspaper or online articles, and information publicly available on websites such as LinkedIn and other
social media. Cross-checking all those different sources of information was
essential to establish the identities, responsibilities, positions and years of
employment of most BAASS employees. The Investigator suggested several names
that we already had on our list. In our last article A.J. Gevaerd identified
Douglas Kurth, a BAASS program manager from 2007 to 2013, and another
investigator. At first Hélio Loyola told us Kurth was there. He somehow remembered
the name “Kurth.” The Translator was definitely present too. There was another
BAASS investigator and also a fourth person, “a Young Man who spoke Portuguese
fluently”. But why two translators. This didn’t make a lot of sense. We figured
out later what was wrong: The Translator was indeed speaking several foreign
languages, but didn’t translate at the meeting between BAASS and CPU-CE. The “Young
Man”, who had lived in São Paulo, did all the translation.
The other UFOlogists
Many names
were mentioned in Marc Cecotti’s conversation with Hélio Loyola. He reached out
to many of those people, former associates and members of other UFO research
groups. In most cases people had heard about the BAASS visit to Brazil. But this came from other people, with no first-hand witnesses.
A.J.
Gevaerd told us he believes that BAASS came to Brazil specifically to see him.
And he said that there were only two BAASS investigators, “Douglas Kurth, 99%
certain” he said when asked for a second confirmation, “and another
investigator.” In the last article, he mentioned that BAASS wanted to hire him.
When asked in what capacity, he said: “We spoke about a contract of services.
I would search and investigate old and new cases in order to find
metamaterials.” Unfortunately, he has no records and no pictures of his meeting
with BAASS.
Then, a
Brazilian researcher named João Marcelo Marques Rios who had been contacted a
few weeks ago, reached out and sent Marc Cecotti a link to a Youtube public video
posted in 2011. It features the President of another Brazilian UFO study group
called Centro Sobralense de Pesquisas
Ufológicas (CSPU), based in the city of Sobral, interviewing an individual who just attended
a CSPU conference. The caption reads:
“The CSPU (Centro Sobralense de Pesquisas Ufológicas) held the group's
monthly meeting on September 25, 2009 in the central auditorium of SENAC
Sobral. (…) Such sightings are
attracting the attention of people and even groups of international
researchers, as was the case in May when the CSPU received the visit of a team
from North America, from BAASS (Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies), a
company in the field of space technology based in Las Vegas and pioneer in
expandable space station modules.”
2011 Youtube Video of BAASS visit
According
to this video, BAASS was in the city of Sobral – CE, in May 2009. We were able
to reach out to CSPU who sent us an article dated June, 1st 2009:
“CSPU de
Sobral receives visit from American Researchers
The CSPU
(Centro Sobralense de Pesquisas Ufológicas) held last 29th, in the auditorium
of Eletromil de Sobral the presentation of several cases, recent and old of
apparitions and contacts with UFOs, of eyewitnesses of the region. On this
date, the team of ufologists from Sobral had the satisfaction of receiving a
visit from the study group of the American company BA[A]SS (Bigelow Aerospace
Advanced Space Studios) that came from Las Vegas to follow the events, gather
information and make an international relationship of exchange of experience by
evaluating studies of new technologies. The team: Melissa Godoy, Tim Koonce,
Loran Huffman, Lucas Gornichec, chose the CSPU team from the northeast of
Brazil, because for ten years, the scientific community of Sobral holds
meetings and follows the events that took place in the North Zone. (…)
The BASS
(Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studios) team, testified about the studies
that the company carries out in several countries around the world, and about
the team's intention to seek the Sobralense Center to maintain international
relations.”
Further
research allowed us to find several other online articles about BAASS visit to
CSPU in Sobral in May 2009.
https://cspu.blogspot.com/2009/06/cspu-realiza-reuniao-com-visitantes.html
We now had
confirmation of the BAASS visit, and the names of the team members. All of them
were known to us, except for one. It turned out that the one we had never heard of, is the man being interviewed on the Youtube video, the one who spoke Portuguese
fluently and who was the translator at the CPU-CE meeting in October. Hélio
Loyola confirmed it.
We were
aware that a trip took place in late 2009, from The Investigator’s
recollections. But the evidence we now obtained indicated a trip in May 2009.
We asked Loyola to clarify the different dates. He explained: “First they came
to Fortaleza’s CPU. In Sobral, it was us who sent them to speak with Mr.[ufologist],
who had and has a team of researchers in the northern region of the Ceará”.
Then he added, “They first came here in Fortaleza, they learned about several [UFO
research] groups here in the Ceará [region], because it was the key to the
passage to other groups (…), in Sobral, and in Quixadá. They mentioned us
[CPU-CE] and the other [UFO research] groups believed and provided all the
research.”
“[The
president of the CSPU received them with open arms, and provided all his
research material in the region, including making a presentation to the people of
Sobral interested in UFO cases.”
Then,
according to Hélio Loyola, BAASS came back in October 2009. When asked if a
different team came in October, Loyola explained: “They were the same, it had
to be because they were already known and [it was] easier for them to get more
information. We’d already gained
confidence and [we had to] make sure they were ufologists.”
Regarding
the purpose of the second visit in Brazil Loyola stated: “[It’s] logical
because Athayde didn't open the CPU-CE [archives] for them to photograph all
the cases when they first came.”
Alleged
metamaterials were kept at CPU-CE headquarters, but Hélio Loyola is certain
that BAASS were not given anything. He believes the fragments remain in Brazil
to this day.
The exact
dates of the visit or visits still require some clarification. But we now
established that BAASS indeed visited Brazil at least once in May 2009 and we
now have definitive evidence.
Hélio
Loyola sent Marc Cecotti a couple of pictures taken in May 2009. Since we
already knew those BAASS employees except the one who spoke Portuguese, and we
also had pictures of them, we were quickly able to confirm their identities.
Credit: Hélio Loyola
BAASS at a local restaurant in Sobral, May 2009
Credit: Hélio Loyola
Credit: Hélio Loyola
BAASS at CSPU meeting in Sobral, May 2009
Credit: Hélio Loyola
Credit: Hélio Loyola
Conclusion
After
several weeks of investigation, and conversations with multiple witnesses and
sources, it has now been established with definitive evidence that a team from Bigelow
Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) visited Brazil on multiple occasions.
We now know that Melissa Godoy, Lucas Gornichec, Timothy Koonce and Loran Huffman went to Fortaleza and Sobral in May 2009, and likely a second time in
October 2009. A.J. Gevaerd’s testimony also indicates that Douglas Kurth and
another BAASS individual, visited Brazil on a different occasion. Based on all
those accounts, it is now certain that their objective was to collect evidence and
information about UFO events, but also records, case files; and sought to
retrieve possible metamaterials. This seems to fit pretty well into the history
of BAASS, which has been made public, thanks to the efforts of many researchers. We
now hope those former BAASS employees will come forward, and help us better
understand the objectives of the program.
At the time of writing the conclusion to this article, we have been contacted by new witnesses who provided us with additional solid evidence. We will share our new findings in a third article soon.
At the time of writing the conclusion to this article, we have been contacted by new witnesses who provided us with additional solid evidence. We will share our new findings in a third article soon.
I allow myself to understand that the censorship of the faces of the BAASS team in the photos is due to the fact that they had or have a direct relationship with the US government programs.
ReplyDeleteIf this is so, then the intention to find out if there was dedication to UFOs in Latin America is just a lost comment, just as an example the Argentine Air Force published in 1952, in a special collection of official printing, the book "Flying saucers from outer space "by Major Donald Keyhoe, United States Military Officer.
Both the US government and private companies that may be working on, or with, the UFO issue in 2009, knew perfectly well about the public and governmental interest in Latin America about it.
The most relevant question, due to the statements of the witnesses, is whether the BAASS team told the whole group of ufologists in Brazil and the other countries they visited.
What it seems is that not only were they going to film a documentary, but the main mission was to obtain first-hand information, as well as, possibly, buy? remains of UFOs.
Perhaps, and without someone being offended that it is not my intention, go do a little "espionage" to Latin America.
And maybe some business of buying and selling UFO remains, which is not illegal and is being done today through the TTSA.
Thus, several companies seem to want to buy UFO remains to do research and development, they present themselves in a way and then they are no longer that, they become something else.
The example of this is the TTSA website, which changed radically overnight, and became more a business structure than an organization to work for the good of humanity for "public benefit" or "boost the human knowledge of the citizens of the world and their collective capacity".
Both things are correct and every researcher has the right to carry them out, but it does not look good that the speech was one at the beginning and then changed, that is strange.
You put a link from Patagonia in the other news, well, here I add another where a website from England captures the comment of a certain "Robert" who provides the only (incomplete) statement of that organization in reference to the TTSA, after your military contract.
https://strangertimes.net/tom-delonge-and-ttsa-are-teaming-up-with-the-army-to-study-ufo-materials/
From Patagonia they have expressed themselves in relation to BAASS, AATIP, UAPE and other topics, but they publish only on their private network; In late 2019 they included an interactive map with global tracking of UFO actors, containing decades-long information from all ufologists and government and private programs, all backed by documents.
Is it possible that the elusive information that you are looking for is there?
Hi Juan, thank you for your most insightful reply. I would like to chat with you off blog by email if you will? My email is keithbasterfield@yahoo.com.au Thanks you.
DeleteGiven that the original tender for the AAWSAP contract didn't specifically mention UFOs it would seem that Bigelow via BAASS pursued these studies of his own volition.
ReplyDeleteHowever Bigelow was the sole bidder for AAWSAP and already had set up BAASS prior to the tender being issued. So was all of this already pre-arranged beforehand. Has Bigelow been used as a conduit for the American government secretly to study UFOs?
It could explain why he is intensely secretive and reluctant to share information.
Hi Harry, thanks for your thoughts. Good question.
DeleteCongratulations on the excellent research work!
ReplyDeleteIt is increasingly evident that the aim of BAASS and the AATIP Program are simply UFOs and not necessarily military drones or advanced air vehicles, nothing related to alleged secret military planes or military drones, the purpose of the investigation was not advanced weapons allegedly of Russians or Chinese or any nation on this planet. The Brazilian UFO archives are among the most important in the world! UFOs love Brazil!
Hi Unknown, thank you for your compliment. Always trying to present new information.
Delete