Hush hush it's a UFO

Dear readers

Adelaide continues with its cold spell. Rain and hail yesterday. With the temperatures this low it has been an ideal time to revisit parts of my recent read "The UFO Files: The Inside Story of Real-Life Sightings" by David Clarke.

I was interested in the concept that although authorities knew the cause of a UFO sighting, the general public was kept in the dark, due to security concerns.

One example, given by Clarke, occurred on 3 November 1953 when a Vampire aircraft from RAF West Malling at 20,000 feet saw a "...very bright object straight ahead at a much higher altitude...shaped like a doughnut with 'a bright light around the periphery.'" A newspaper found that "...a Territorial Army Unit tracked 'a very large echo' on their radar moving at 60,000 feet over London." page 58.

The Secretary of State for Air said "The object seen on radar over London...has been traced to balloons released by the Meteorological Office..." page 58. Clarke comments "A declassified history of balloon operations by the USAF Missile Development Center in 1958 reveals that balloon launch number 175, launched from Holloman, New Mexico, on 27 October 1953, failed to drop into the Atlantic at the end of a scheduled 12 hour flight. Six days later it was this, cruising at high altitude over Kent, that was spotted by the RAF crew and which prompted flying saucer questions in Parliament " page 62.

What interests me was that "A former member of the Skyhook project staff,Duke Gildenberg, revealed in 2004, that British intelligence concluded this UFO was the Skyhook balloon but could not reveal the truth because the project was classified top secret at the time." page 62.

Another example noted, was when 43 Squadron in RAF Nicosia in July 1958 "...tried to intercept an unidentified, high flying aircraft, [at an estimated height] of 65,000 feet over the Mediterranean...crews assumed the aircraft which had 'a short stubby fuselage with very high aspect ratio wings' was the U-2 but the RAF could not confirm this identification as the project was highly classified at the time." page 63.

One wonders how often this type of behaviour occurs?

UFOs and British Intelligence agencies

Hi readers

It's a rainy day in Adelaide. I've just been out for a long lunch at a pub in the City and am feeling rather comfortable. My brain is back into UFO phenomenon mode, after a busy week at work. Do you sometimes wish that you could give up your day job and study UFOs full time? I do!

So, to the subject of today's post. I am returning to a topic dear to my heart - intelligence agencies and the UFO phenomenon. If you are new here, you might wish to go back over any posts dealing with intelligence agencies, to get up to speed with what comes next.

I have finally managed to re-read the book "The UFO files: The inside story of real-life sightings" by English researcher, Dr David Clarke. The book was published late last year by The National Archives in the United Kingdom. The ISBN number for those who might wish to go out and purchase the book is 978 1 90561550. My copy, surprisingly, comes courtesy of my local Council library.

Introduction:

David's book is a look at UFOs, as described in official Government documents held by the National Archives of the U.K. As he says in the introduction "The sightings described in this book were mostly made by ordinary people, from all walks of life who felt they should report their experiences to the authorities." David's work describes some of these sightings and the response to them by the authorities.

Although I found the entire book fascinating, and an absolute must read, it was the mention of the actions of the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), and specifically its intelligence areas, which was the main focus of my attention.

Why did the Government look at UFO reports?

"The MoD states that it examines UFO reports solely to establish if what was seen has any 'defence significance.'"

This post will therefore note some of David's comments about the MoD's intelligence agencies' response.

1950

Writing about Sir Henry Tizard - Chief Scientific Advisor to the MoD, "It was as a direct result of his influence that the British Government was persuaded to set up a small working party to investigate the mystery, reporting to the Directorate of Scientific Intelligence/Joint Technical Intelligence Committee (DSI/JTIC), part of the Ministry of Defence." (p41.)

1953

"...a decision was taken in 1953 that the Air Ministry should investigate UFO reports...and responsibility was delegated...to a section of the air technical intelligence branch, DDI (Tech)." (p51.)

1955

"An analysis of 80 reports received to the end of 1954 formed the basis of an article in a classified publication known as the Air Ministry Secret Intelligence Summary ..." (p60.)

1967

"A number of Defence Intelligence Staff branches were secretly involved in UFO investigations, but from 1967 all unexplained incidents were reported to DI55. Their primary role was to collect intelligence on Soviet guided missiles and satellite launches that were occasionally reported as UFOs." (p70.)

In 1967 there was a UFO flap in the U.K. including a case where two police officers in Devon chased a UFO. "...DI55 sent a scientific officer, Dr John Dickison, to interview the two Devon police constables." (p74.)

Also in 1967, The MoD "...assembled a small team of experts drawn from the RAF and the Defence Intelligence Staff, who were placed on stand-by to make field investigations of credible reports." (p75.)

1980

The U.K. Government files on the Rendelsham Forst case were released in 2001, "They reveal the Defence Intelligence staff were unable to explain the sightings, but offered to follow up the unusual radiation readings described by Holt. " (p106.)

1985

Writing of English crop circles , "An Army team, led by Lieutenant Colonel G.J.B. Edgecombe, visited the field...Lieutenant Colonel Edgecombe's report and photographs were sent to the UFO desk and then on to the Defence Intelligence staff branch DI55..." (p113.)

1993

"...a RAF Wing Command, working for the Defence Intelligence Staff lobbied MoD officials at a Whitehall briefing on the need for a properly funded study of UFOs..." (p138.) "The Wing Commander said the key priority for the MoD was 'Technology Transfer,' which he explained in this way,'if the reports are taken at face value then devices exist that do not use conventional reaction propulsion systems, they have a very wide range of speeds and are stealthy. I suggest we could use this technology, if it exists.'" (p139.)

1996

"...senior intelligence officers...reluctantly agreed to earmark 50,000 pounds of public money from an existing defence contract for a UFO study." (p140.)

"The UFO study was hidden by the codename 'Project Condigm.' (p140.)

"Its foundation stone was a sample of UFO sightings taken from reports held in defence intelligence files." (p140.)

"A copy of the Condigm report was released under the Freedom of Information Act in 2006." (p141.)

"The 'Summary of findings' led the author to conclude that although UFOs, or 'UAPs' certainly existed, they posed no threat to defence..." (p143.)

"...the Condigm report's key recommendation was that UFOs had no intelligence value and that the Defence Intelligence Staff should cease to receive the reports..." (p145.)

"The completion of the Condigm report in 2000 brought to an end half a century of intelligence interest in UFOs that began officially in 1950 when Sir Henry Tizard asked the MoD to set up a Flying Saucer Working Party..." (p145.)

Is this the end? "In Britain the MoD's UFO desk continues to receive sightings and every year a small number are sent to the Directorate of Counter Terrorism and UK Operations for expert scrutiny. Today it is this branch that is responsible for the air defence of the UK, and their responsibility to decide if any UFO report should be investigated further..." (p146.)

In summary

"Today British intelligence agencies have washed their hands of UFOs while the MoD approaches the subject as more of a public relations than a defence problem." (p150.)

Comment:

To me, this book is an incredibly fascinating review of the U.K. Government's response to the UFO phenomenon. The approach of the intelligence agencies within the MoD is mirrored in the response of the Australian Government's Department of Defence's appraoch to UFOs. If readers have not yet read the final report of the five year long Disclosure Australia Project, I would urge you to do so. It can be found here.

If you have taken note of David Clarke's comments above you will experience a sense of 'deja vu" when reading the Australian experience.

Adelaide UFO seminar

Hi readers

Yesterday I attended the UFO seminar put on by AURA, the Australian UFO Research Association, in Adelaide, which I mentioned in a previous post.

The six hour event featured talks by Roger Koch; Bill Chalker and Keith Basterfield.

Roger's talk was titled "UFO phenomena: A riddle within an enigma" and opened with him showing the famous Hubble space telescope deep space image featuring an incredible number of galaxies, which means there are a awful lot of stars out there, with possible planets which might just support life. Roger's talk provided an overview of the UFO phenomenon, which would have satisfied the newcomer to the subject, as well as refreshed those of us who already have some knowledge.

Bill Chalker, over from Sydney, broke his presentation "An Alien Life" into two sessions, between which Keith Basterfield spoke. Bill's sessions covered his personal research in both Australia and Asia; and specifically his DNA research and the abduction phenomenon. He emphasised that real science can be undertaken into the subject, which was music to my own ears. The Peter Khoury "alien hair" analysis was excellent.

Keith Basterfield's presentation provided a number of personal tips on how one could retain a long term interest in the topic - covering such areas as read widely; take breaks from time to time; publish your research; and like Kylie Minogue or Madonna reinvent yourself from time to time.

All in all, the six hours flew by; I learnt a great deal about how to properly research the topic; and was delighted by the entire event.

The Extraterrestrial answer book

Dear readers

Sorry for my absence in the last week but the winter influenza bug struck! However, one good thing about an enforced period in bed is that you can still read. The book I have been digesting is "The Extraterrestrial Answer Book: UFOs; Alien Abductions and the coming ET Presence." The author is Jim Moroney. Published by Hampton Roads, Charlottesville, VA. ISBN 978-1-57174-620-7. 222 pages. 2009.

Moroney's experiences began in 1987 in Canada when "I began to have a strong premonition that the aliens were around and that our first physical contact might actually occur. " (p2.) This event followed an incident a few weeks before when, after a vehicle accident an image formed in his mind, of a human face. He also received a message "We're here to help you."

He describes pulling into a truck stop. A blue light shone on him and he became paralysed. (p6.) He noted that this "...paralysis as the same kind of paralysis that I had experienced at various points in my life-time." He felt he was out of the car "Suddenly I was back in the car and as the paralysis began to vanish, the lights began to move off to the right." (p8.)

Two months later he decided to undergo hypnosis which revealed that he travelled out of his car, accompanied "...by an excruciating pain..." (p11.) to find himself "Standing beside my car inside a 50 foot diameter, circular, amphitheater-type of room..." (p11.) Six, uniformed beings were present. They were 4.5 feet tall with large heads. Jim's response was to yell at them.

He asked if the being he had visualised, was on the ship and "...all six of them burst out laughing." (p12.) He was walked around the ship and then "I went through a series of painful medical procedures. " (p16.) He met two 9.5 feet tall alien in black uniforms and another being 5ft 2in tall in a beige outfit. Finally, he recalled being in his car.

This personal introduction is followed by an overview of the UFO phenomenon. Jim had begun "...searching for accounts made by other people who I thought were highly credible, and trying to relate their experiences to mine." (p55.) One of these people was Whitley Strieber.

The next section of the book looks at "Why abduct People Anyway?"; "Why take people at night"; "Who is chosen?"; "How many people are affected?"

At this point in the book he reveals that while on the ship he saw 70 beds, 20 of which "...were occupied by other people." (p63.) and "They built this huge craft specifically to deal with human beings." (p67.)

Jim does question "Are the Memories Real?" noting that "...most contact encounters take place in an altered state of consciousness." "It appears that during some contact episodes, the aliens induce a powerful alternate state of consciousness..." (p79.)

Later he moves on to the topic of implants "I do know that telling someone that an alien put something in my brain is pretty crazy." (p86.) "To my knowledge, no one has yet recovered any object from a contactee's body that has proved, without doubt, to be an implant." (p87.)

Through this section of the book he touches on other experiences of his own.

He explores "missing fetuses" and what the aliens are looking for "...at the core of the abduction phenomenon is the aliens struggling for a relationship." (p97.)

Wondering about the question of spirituality Jim states "Since at least part of the reason that the aliens are here is to initiate a rapid spiritual development in humans..." (p121.)

Chapter 7 is titled "Government." Noting the release of UFO files by some governments he says "...there will be individuals within the space agencies or that nation's military or government who are aware of the extraterrestrials." (p129.)

After pondering on the scientific method, and a search for physical evidence Jim poses the question "Are you a contactess?" (p176.) He points to a number of "symptoms" which may suggest an individual is contactee.

In closing, Jim asks "What can ordinary people do?" His response include "Demand the truth" from Government and "...ask for objective press coverage."

Comment:

I previously posted on a full length book by Mike Oram, an English contactee. This book by Jim Moroney also provides an in-depth look at an abductee/contactee. I am troubled by the lack of depth in his exploration of his paralysis episodes. He does not provide the reader with any current medical knowledge of sleep paralysis, which might cast a far different perspective on his paralysis.

Jim is however to be congratulated for his willingness to tell his story to the world, which gives readers such as me, an opportunity to decide for themself what interpretation to place on his account.