That 2009 AATIP letter from then US Senator Harry Reid

KLAS TV

In a new story by George Knapp and Matt Adams, dated 28 June 2018, titled "I-Team exclusive: Nevada Senator fought to save secret UFO program," the authors reveal that they possess a copy of a 2009 document, sent by former Senator Harry Reid, to the Department of Defense, in which Senator "Reid made the case for protecting and expanding the project." I further quote from the story:

"The letter is not classified but a footnote says it is exempt from disclosure under FOIA because of what it contains...Only 14 people were copied, all of them with security clearances."

Black Vault

John Greenewald of the Black Vault website, mentioned this letter in his ongoing case file on the AATIP. In a section titled "The Official Line," John mentioned that he communicated with a Major Audricia Harris, at the US Department of Defense. One email to John from Major Harris contained the words:

"AATIP was funded in the July 2008 Supplemental Appropriations Bill (a Sen Harry Reid add). Its mandate, as outlined in a 2009 letter from Reid to DSD was to assess "far-term foreign advanced aerospace threats to United States..."

http://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/to-the-stars-academy-of-arts-science-tom-delonge-and-the-secret-dod-ufo-research-program/#

Roger Glassel

Swedish researcher Roger Glassel, also communicated with Major Harris. Her reply to him included the following:

"AATIP was funded in the July 2008 Supplemental Appropriations Bill (A Sen Harry Reid add). Its mandate as outlined in a 2009 letter from Reid to DSD, was to assess 'far-term foreign advanced aerospace threats to United States,' including anomalous events (such as sightings of aerodynamic vehicles engaged in extreme maneuvers, with unique phenomenology, reported by U.S. Navy pilots or other credible sources).

Back to the KLAS TV story

The Knapp/Adams report included the still shot shown below:

https://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/i-team-exclusive-nevada-senator-fought-to-save-secret-ufo-program/1272272877

An examination of the actual KLAS TV news item reveals a rolling shot of the initial page of the 2009 letter which faded to out of focus as it scrolls. However, it is possible to read the first portion of this first page.

"United States Senate

June 24, 2009

Honourable William Lynn III

Deputy Secretary of Defense

1010 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301-1010

Dear Secretary Lynn:

Beginning this past September, the U.S. Senate has mandated that the Defense Intelligence Agency assess far-term advanced aerospace threats to the United States. The scope of program intent covers from the present out to forty years and beyond. In order to further our effort in recognising emerging disruptive aerospace technologies, technical studies (word missing) conducted in regards to advanced lift, propulsion, the use of unconventional materials (missing words) controls, signature reduction, weapons, human interface (...)"

Knapp and Adams report that former AATIP program manager Luis Elizondo confirmed that the letter was genuine.

How do we get a full copy of this letter?

George Knapp's story indicates that the letter will not be releasable under the US FOIA. Naturally, this can be tested by submitting an FOIA request. Failing that, is there a possible secondary source? There may well be one.

I came across a 29 September 2015 story that The University of Nevada, Reno, will be receiving "...more than 2,000 boxes of documents chronicling Senator Harry Reid's decades-long career in Washington."

I therefore checked the current online digital collections service of The University of Nevada, Reno to see if they had commenced work on publishing documents from Senator Harry Reid online.

Indeed there is some online material, but I failed to locate mention of the 2009 letter I was seeking. I have therefore dispatched an email to the collections staff inquiring about access to the 2009 letter. 

Unusual isotopic ratios in alleged UFO samples

To The Stars Academy

In a blog post dated 26 April 2018 I started looking at statements which had been made by various members of the To The Stars Academy about samples allegedly from UFOs. In this post, I will further explore the issue of unusual isotopic rations from such sources.

During a 28 January 2018 "Coast to Coast" interview between Hal Puthoff and George Knapp, Puthoff said "I had a chance to look at some material." It is complex. There are no new elements. There are layers of material that you would not expect to be layered.

In the 25 February 2018 "Coast to Coast" radio interview between Luis Elizondo and George Knapp, Elizondo stated that these material displayed unique characteristics. From the BAASS perspective, they had very unusual properties, isotopic ratios that were very unique, and not found naturally on this planet.

In a May 2018 MUFON Journal based interview between Chase Kloetzke and Luis Elizondo, when discussing media mentions of unusual metal alloys, Elizondo  stated that it was actually about "...the potential discovery of certain metamaterials in which their isotopic ratios at the molecular level are so unique and so precise that they are not found naturally on this planet..."

Finally, in his June 2018 speech at the Las Vegas Society for Scientific Exploration conference, Hal Puthoff, speaking of unusual materials, referred to what has come to be known as the Art Bell sample. "It was multi layered bismuth and magnesium sample...supposedly picked up in the crash retrieval of an Advanced Aerospace Vehicle." However, in this particular speech there was no mention of unusual isotopic ratios.

Update: 27 September 2018

TTSA published a blog post about this ame material, see here.

For further reading on TTSA's claims about samples, take a look at Jason Colavito's blog post here.

What are isotopes?

They are a form of an element which contains equal numbers of protons and electrons; but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei. For example, the element Hydrogen has three isotopes; namely Hydrogen; Deuterium and Tritium.

Why is an unusual isotropic ratio significant?

The solar system, including the Earth formed from elements which had specific isotropic ratios. If an element comes from outside the solar system you wouldn't expect it to have the same  isotopic ratios.

Some back history

The Art Bell sample

In 1996, Linda Moulton Howe conducted some research on a sample which had come in through the late Art Bell. This was an alleged piece of material from Roswell. A professor at a major Midwestern University is said to have looked at the material and showed it to be 99% aluminum. I have been unable to find any investigations conducted on its isotopic ratios

Dr VernonClark

Another so-called Roswell sample, this one came via the late Dr Roger Leir in 1995. The analysis results were announced at a meeting in Roswell, New Mexico on 4 July 1997.

A Dr Russell VernonClark, a Chemist at the University of California at San Diego presented some apparently startling results of his analysis of the sample. He concluded that "From the tests that have been completed ...we have determined that this material shows significant variations from the normal isotopic composition found on the Earth and should be considered extraterrestrial in origin."

Unfortunately, on this occasion there was no chain of evidence of where the sample came from, and their was no peer review of the analysis results.

Various scientists were consulted about the results and their considered view was that while the isotopic ratios of the sample were not natural, the manufacture of the material could have been undertaken in a laboratory. So, not natural; and manufactured, but no evidence to show the origin of the material. Later, VernonClark backed off from his conclusions about an ET origin.

Since 1997, there had been no independent analyses conducted on this sample, and Dr VernonClark's claims have almost been forgotten with the passage of time.

The Kimbler sample

A July 2011 article on the Open Minds TV blog told the story of one Frank Kimbler, a high school level teacher of Earth Sciences and a college level teacher of Geology, at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico.

Using satellite imagery he explored an area said to have been where the Roswell crash occurred, went there and located some metal samples, plus buttons seemingly from military uniforms. The fragments he found were said to be of a "silvery metal that looked aluminum."

Examined at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, the sample consisted of aluminum, silicon, manganese (magnesium ? -KB); and copper. Kimbler then approached the University of New Mexico's Institute of Meteoritics, but no isotopic ratio tests were conducted there.

"Bigelow Aerospace showed some interest in helping too with his analysis, but after spending months with little results, he had to go elsewhere."  For further detailed comments about the link between Kimbler and BAASS by Jack Brewer, author of "The UFO Trail" blog click here.

So, Kimbler had a lab undertake isotopic ratio analysis. Their findings, dated 8 April 2011,  are shown below:

Isotope Magnesium 24 Standard % 78.6 sample 78.6-79.6
Isotope Magnesium 25 Standard % 10.1 sample 9.6-10.6
Isotope Magnesium 26 Standard % 11.3 sample 10.3-11.3

However, contrary to the assertions by Kimbler, that there is something unusual about the magnesium isotopic ratios, the above information shows that the sample's magnesium isotopic ratios were within the standard ranges.

I can find no further details of any isotopic ratio analysis on the Kimbler samples. Indeed, in a further Open Minds TV blog dated 22 June 2018 there is "An initial isotope ratio test done in conjunction with the Roswell International UFO Museum and Research center was inconclusive, but suggested the material maybe of unearthly origins."

Jacques Vallee

UFO researcher Jacques Vallee gave a fascinating talk titled "What do we know about the material composition of UFOs?" at the 2017 Contact in the Desert conference in the USA. Specifically, he talked about analyses of material ejected from UFOs and more specifically about isotopic ratios.

"Even if the elemental compositions are similar, a change in the ratio of the various isotopes, might indicate that the material was manufactured in a sophisticated fashion, possibly outside Earth."

Vallee went on to list fifteen known examples of ejected material, between 1897 and 1996; including Maury Island 1947; Ubatuba, 1957; and Bogota in 1975/1976.

To me, the most interesting was a sample he referred to by a codeword, "Sierra." Vallee presented details of some preliminary results of the sample's titanium and iron composition. He stated that he is still researching the background to the case, for which he provided no date or location, or details of the UFO connection.

Looking at the titanium in the sample, there was 99.35% by weight titanium, with traces of ten other elements in it. However, what was of interest were the isotopic ratios, namely

Titanium 46  Standard % 8.25 sample 8.70 and 7.66 (two runs)
Titanium 47  Standard % 7.44 sample 5.33 and 3.83
Titanium 48  Standard % 73.72 sample 73.91 and 76.56
Titanium 49  Standard % 5.41 sample 6.30 and 6.70
Titanium 50  Standard % 5.18 sample 5.76 and 5.26

Note the Ti47 and Ti49 deviations from the standard.

The isotopic ratios of the iron component of the sample had not then been tested.

The other interesting samples were two new pieces of material from the 1957 Ubatuba, Brazil event. While in Argentina in September 2016 Vallee visited a UFO museum in Victoria. There he found two Ubatuba samples, one from the late Dr Olavo Fontes and one from an Argentinian sailor named Hercente. Vallee named the samples Muestra A and Muestra B. In the lab the Muestra A sample looked at Magnesium isotope ratios which turned out to be very close to the standard percentages.

However the results for the Muestra B sample were as follows:

Magnesium 24 Standard % 78.9 sample 1 66% sample 2 67%
Magnesium 25 Standard % 10 sample 1 15%  sample 2 16%
Magnesium 26 Standard % 11 sample 1 20% sample 2 17%

As Vallee stated the "Ratios are significantly different."

In summary

Research into the origin and composition of a number of samples alleged to have come from UFOs, has been full of claims and counter claims over the years. However, provided that there is a chain of custody between the initial finding of something which appears unusual, and abnormal findings once a competent analysis has been conducted, with peer reviewed analysis and full disclosure of the entire findings; future research on isotopic ratios does give some sense of a direction to be taken.

Update 4 August 2018

On 26 July 2018, To The Stars Academy, announced on its website  that they had initiated the A.D.A.M. project to collect and analyse anomalous samples associated with UAP.

On 2 August 2018, To The Stars Academy revealed details of their 'collection process.' 

On 3 August 2018, researcher M J Banias on his blog reported on this, and provided some comments from Dr Hal Puthoff.

New US congressional hearings on UFOs?

Introduction

In their 21 December 2017, I-Team report, titled 'Pentagon UFO study catches attention of Congress,' George Knapp and Matt Adams, reported that:

"Former Nevada Senator Harry Reid thinks it might be time to hold Congressional hearings into the mystery surrounding UFOs."

Politico Magazine

"Politico Magazine," one of the two December 2017, US mainstream media sources to almost simultaneously publish the original story about what was then called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), recently launched "Politico Space." "Politico Space, the weekly must-read briefing on the policies, programs and personalities shaping the second Space Age in Washington and beyond."

On 12 April 2018, Bryan Bender and Jacqueline Klimas of Politico, hosted a panel which included House of Representatives, Representative Ami Bera, and Representative Randy Hultgren, both members of the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

The following is my transcription of a video recording of the panel.

Bryan Bender: "I thought I would get all of you to weigh in on something that's a little bit out there, but we reported, as others did, late last year that the Pentagon for a number of years had run a UFO research office, that Senator Harry Reid got funded. Something he thought was important. Reports from military pilots of - they don't call them UFOs anymore. I think the term is unexplained aerial phenomenon. But I am curious of your take. I mean, you hear these reports. We have been hearing them for decades. From many credible people. Other countries take it more seriously. They have dedicated researchers in government who in the open, not in secrecy, try to explain the unexplainable. Maybe all three of you. Should we be doing more? Or is this just crazy sci-fi stuff that is a waste of time?"

Representative Bera" "Certainly piqued my interest, and I mean, I think it piques a lot of the public's interest. So yes, I got to talk to the Chairman of the subcommittee Brian Babin, as well as Lamar Smith, Chairman of the full committee. I said we ought to have a hearing on this. We ought to bring some folks in. Look, if we want to boost our C-SPAN ratings - a lot of people would be really interested, and since Lamar is retiring this year. This, this would be a great hearing to go out on.

Representative Ami Bera

I think its fascinating. We don't know what these phenomena are. Obviously, it was important enough to allocate some funds. We ought to talk about what we can talk about openly."

Representative Hultgren: "I agree. It definitely piques interest. It gets people engaged. I don't think it should be the priority of our focus, but certainly we want to get answers. There's a lot of things we don't understand and this is one of those areas we don't understand."

Representative Randy Hultgren

To The Stars Academy drops hints

In more recent times, Tom Delonge of To The Stars Academy has been dropping comments that TTSA member shave been talking to various Congressional committees, about this topic. (See update below.)

Which Committee?

So, is it likely that a Congressional committee, in 2018, will call hearings on the subject of UFOs, or perhaps, more specifically on the 2004 USS Nimitz series of incidents? If so, what committees would likely be involved?

Perhaps the most relevant are:

1. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee - Chair - Mac Thornberry.

2. House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee - Chair - Lamar Smith.

3. Senate Armed Services Committee - Chair - John McCain.

Past history

Blog readers of a certain age, may recall that the US Congress previously held Congressional hearings on the subject of UFOs, way back in 1966 and 1968.

In 1966, the House Armed Services Committee convened a hearing. [5 April 1966. House Armed Services Committee (89th Congress, 2nd session.) Committee Print No. 55. "Unidentified Flying Objects."]

In 1968, the House Science and Astronautics Committee held a hearing. [29 July 1968. House Science and Astronautics Committee (90th Congress, 2nd session.) Committee Print N. 7. "Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects.]

Update: 29 June 2018

Thank you to Paul Scott Anderson who sent me a screenshot of one of Tom Delonge's communications which, in part, read:

"To The Stars Academy has proudly been working behind the scenes for weeks briefing hi-level staff in the US government to help inform new National Security Policy dealing with the UFO subject..."

Update: 18 July 2018

Grant Cameron, on Face Book, provided the following, taken from a 'Coast to Coast' interview between George Knapp and Luis Elizondo on 15 July 2018.

Elizondo: [00:29:46] 'as far as the rumors (that Congress is looking at UFOs) are concerned I don't usually listen to rumors, but you know what they say, "usually there is some grain of truth in rumors." If members of congress are looking at this I would hope that people would give them so degree of privacy so they can look at this without any type of political pressure that may be coming from maybe some of their constituents. A lot of people are very emotional about this topic, and rightfully so. I would hope that those friends in congress, if they are being briefed on this, that they get a chance to look at all the data, not just pieces of it of the data because there is a lot, and it is not just what the Department of Defense. There are other departments and agencies who have information as well, that I have been privy to. Let them come to the conclusion themselves. Once they see all the data and talk to all the people - people like Dave Fravor who are absolute heroes. Now those people are heroes - true heroes - the Dave Fravors and the Jim Slaights of the world - and by the way there are lot more. They have not come publicly forward so I want to protect their privacy. Those are the true heroes. These are the people that are putting their professions and credibility on the line to tell the American people what they saw.I think that is tremendous, and I think the members of Congress, if they are receiving indeed receiving some of this information, if they get a chance to talk to them, they will come to the same conclusion that my office came to. I am not sure there is any other conclusion you can come to

Knapp: Can you say if you have been asked to testify? Have you appeared in front of any committee and give information?

Elizondo: I think that is a question that you would probably want to ask Congress, and the reason I say that is out of respect for Congress, whether they have or they have not. I would not want to say something that puts someone else so that now they have to answer. It is kind of like a kid with divorced parents. You don't want to ask mom something knowing that dad may or may not agree. Best to ask both at the same time.

Knapp: Ok. Well you didn't say no so we will just take it from there.'

AATIP and Project Prato

Dr Hal Puthoff's recent speech

One aspect of Dr Hal Puthoff's recent speech at the Las Vegas, Society for Scientific Exploration conference, was his reference to the AATIP work concerning the 1977 Brazilian Air Force's major study - Project Prato. In part, Dr Puthoff, stated:

"We as part of this program looked at some cases that were really good from Brazil. In 1977, 78, it was like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. A thousand pages of documents all done by the Brazilian Air Force investigation team, 500 photographs, 15 hours of motion film, a lot of medical injuries. This is a list of the different kinds of medical injuries that occurred when people encountered these craft at close range, and it has some overlap with cases that we've investigated during the program, of injuries occurring."

How does the topic of "medical injuries" relate to the AATIP? The DIA's solicitation for firms to submit a tender for the AAWSA program, in August 2008, HHM402-08-R-0211, has, at attachment one, paragraph 3a) the words "the contractor shall complete Advanced Aerospace Weapon System technical studies in the following areas ...9. human interface, 10 human effects."

January 2018

Earlier, on 28 January 2018, during an interview with George Knapp, Puthoff referred to a Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) archive of data - such as the 1977 Brazilian Air Force study with 1000 pages of documents; 15 hours of movie film; 500 photographs amd then states that the data base was BAASS proprietary.

 I wanted to find out more about what happened to the Project Prato data. The Internet contains much information about the project itself, but almost nothing about the disposition of material beyond Brazil itself.  However, I did find a mention in one of Jacque Vallee's works.

Vallee's Brazilian research trip

In July 1988 Jacques and Janine Vallee visited Brazil on a research trip. (Forbidden Science Vol. 3.)There I found much about what the Vallees knew, about Project Prato.

The Vallee's met with a Colonel Hollanda of the First Air Force region, which covered most of the Amazon. Jacques Vallee writes: "He led the team sent to the islands at the mouth of the Amazon during project Prato to observe and photograph the objects that flew over the area for three months from July to September 1977. " (p.336.)

The Vallee's were shown a file by Hollanda which "...held the military photographs, detailed aerial maps, trajectory analysis by the staff of Project Prato. Every page was stamped "confidential" on top and bottom." Vallee was told that the originals of some of the photographs had been sent to the Brazilian capital city of Brasilia.

Yet another Brazilian Air Force colonel met with the Vallees and told them " When Colonel Hollanda and his team installed their cameras on the beach at Bahia do Sul, I was head of security for Primeiro Comar,  he went on "And when our superiors and the damm politicians from Brasilia confiscated out best data, my team got very frustrated...so we made our own copies" He pulled out the real thing, including pictures of objects emerging from the water." (p.337.)

Vallee reports that following the official Brazilian Air Force investigation, news media visited the same area and took their own photographs. "And all the negatives taken by the newspaper teams have left Brazil, purchased from the publishers by an unnamed American firm. "

In summary

In summary, the vast amount of material gathered by Hollanda and his team, went in a number of directions, with copies being kept by Hollanda and the other, unnamed Colonel; and some went off to Brasilia and Brazilian Air Force headquarters. It was also reported that newspaper photographs of the phenomenon was bought by an unnamed American firm. However, we do not have a date for the latter action.

It is unclear from Puthoff's reference to "A thousand pages of documents all done by the Brazilian Air Force investigation team, 500 photographs, 15 hours of motion film.." as to whether this was the data that BAASS acquired, or was a reference to the amount of data that the Brazilian Air Force itself gathered.

Further information on Proejct Prato

To read a very detailed summary of the contents of some of the documents click here.

Dr Hal Puthoff and the Soviet project "Thread-3"

Background

A constant part of the message, that Luis Elizondo has been spreading about what he refers to as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) is that, if the phenomena itself is not a threat; then a threat might exist if the Russians or Chinese learn the secrets of the phenomena, in terms of military applications that might follow this discovery.

This theme of a threat from the Russians was repeated in the recent speech by Dr Hal Puthoff at the  Society for Scientific Exploration's recent conference, in Las Vegas, Dr Hal Puthoff mentioned that "...the Soviet Union had a massive program also trying to get to the root of all this...of course they had the same concerns we did. Is there a threat from the phenomena or might the Americans make headway before us and that be a threat?" In his talk, Puthoff referred to a document about a Soviet research program named "Thread-3." I searched around to see what I could find out about this Project. 

Research

The October 1993 edition of the MUFON Journal carried an article titled 'Soviet UFO Secrets' authored by one Bryan Gresh (The English Flying Saucer Review, volume 39, number 2, Summer 1994 also carried a reprint of the MUFON Journal article.) It is a report based on a trip, undertaken in March 1993, to Russia with a view to seek out 'a new layer of information about Russian research into the phenomenon.'

They interviewed a retired Russian Colonel, Boris Sokolov, who between 1980 and 1990 ran a UFO study program. 'Solokov says the military was interested in UFOs for a number of reasons, including the belief if the secrets of the UFO could be discovered, the Soviets would be able to win the competition against prospective enemies by incorporating what extraterrestrials knew of velocity, materials - and stealth. Sokolov told us the search for stealth technology was prompted by the capabilities of UFOs.'

Gresh's article then moves on to 'The Ministry of Defense official who is in charge of the current program...we can give the name of the study 'Thred-3...' In the documents obtained by Gresh and Knapp, there is mention of sightings by Cosmonauts.

I reached out to the UFO community to see if anyone had a scanned copy of any 'Thread-3' documents. Researcher Mikhail Gershtein responded that in the 1994 MUFON Symposium Proceedings, there were three relevant pages, which he provided to me. I reproduce these below:

Relevant portions are:

'...we obtained several dozen pages of still-classified documents and managed to get these out of the country..'

'The documents outline a fairly specific timetable for the study to be concluded in 1995.'

Other highlights of the 'Thread-3' documents were:

* Information on the Roswell crash
* Another UFO crash in Nov 1950 on the Texas/Mexico border
* Contactees
* US government efforts to maintain a UFO cover up
* Sightings by cosmonauts and astronauts.

Open Minds TV

In a 30 November 2009 blog post on the "Open Minds" TV website, an article appeared titled 'Russian Cosmonauts' UFO sightings and statements.'

'Las Vegas KLAS-TV journalist George Knapp brought back from Moscow in 1992 a thick UFO dossier from the old Soviet Ministry of Defense, and a then recent project called "Thread-3" from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

A few of the "Thread-3" documents discuss some cosmonaut sightings, although it must be clarified that they are based on public statements by Marina Popovich and other Russian ufologists, and not on internal data obtained by the Ministry of Defense…Back to the "Thread-3" documents, it mentions an audio tape of the conversations at 0.14am on June 17 1978 between cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalenok and Alexander Ivanchenko on the Salyut-6 space station and Mission  Control outside Moscow..."

In a second "Open Minds" TV blog dated 26 January 2010, titled "Soviet Nukes and UFOs" is the following:

'The last category of documents obtained by Knapp are not part of the old Soviet Ministry records kept by Col. Sokolov, but part of the "Thread-3" project undertaken since 1991 by the current Ministry of Defense.

These documents were actually smuggled out of Russia by Knapp, and their style and contents are quite different from the previous project. They consist of a number of reports not so much on individual UFO cases, but on a variety of topics such as the history of UFO research in the USSR and Russia; propulsion and "non-traditional" engines and "the possible application for the creation of military and industrial technical devices;" a brief review of American documents and popular Western ufological research; analysis of the messages and philosophical outlook of some Russian contactees; reports and rumours of UFO sightings by Russian cosmonauts; and so on...'

Closing comment

It would appear that the Russian 'Thread-3' UFO study program probably ran between 1990 and 1995. Knapp/Gresh were able to secure 'several dozen pages' of the study documents. An image of only one page of these documents has been publicly released. It would appear that only Gresh/Knapp have a full set of these documents.

Dr. Hal Puthoff's speech at the Society for Scientific Exploration 2018 conference

Introduction

The 37th conference of the Society for Scientific Exploration (SSE) was held in conjunction with the International Remote Viewing Association conference,  between 6-10 June 2018, in Las Vegas, USA. One of the speakers was Dr Hal Puthoff

Dr Puthoff spoke of his interest in the areas of a) quantum vacuum fluctuations, b) remote viewing, and c) Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. In this latter area, he spoke about his work with the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications program. This post will highlight parts of his speech which interested me, and is not intended to be a full report of the speech. Quotes below are from Dr Puthoff's speech.

Name of the program

"The program was nicknamed Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program..."Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application program" is the actual name of the program."

My comment:

The Defense Intelligence Agency's 2008 solicitation for bidders for this contract, states that the program was called Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications program.

When did the program begin?

"It began in June of 2007..."

My comment:

Although a number of people have made comments that the program commenced in 2007, I have not before seen a month in 2007 mentioned.

Terms used

I note that Dr Puthoff mostly  uses the term "Advanced Aerospace vehicles "when referring to the phenomenon under study.

Soviet Union

"This is a document in the program we dug out of the Soviet Union ("Thread-3.") It's a very thick document. It shows that the Soviet Union had a massive program also trying to get to the root of all of this. In this document a number of research institutes and military institutes are listed..."

My comment:

1. An Internet search using the term "Thread-3" failed to locate any information.

2. The reference to "a massive program" contrasts with information revealed in one of the UK UAP files released last year. File DEFE 24/3152 pages 219-220, reveals a DI55 paper titled 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)" dated 19 June 1995.

Paragraph 26 reads:

"THE RUSSIAN DIMENSION

26. [Redacted] have confirmed that at least until the early 90's a small team studied UAPs at Ramenskoye."

Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs)

"So, I let out 38 contracts over a two-year period. I'll show you what the studies were on. You can read them there: positron aerospace propulsion, IEC fusion as a compact energy source, warp drive, dark energy, extra dimensions, metallic glasses for aerospace use... Here are some of the papers I commissioned: negative mass propulsion, antigravity for aerospace applications, programmable matter, invisibility cloaking..."

My comments:

1. Although the titles of seven of these DIRD's are known, only copies of three have been released.

2.  A search for the words "positron aerospace propulsion" brings up a number of articles including this one.

3. A search for the words "IEC fusion as a compact energy source" brings up a number of items including this.

4. Several articles appeared when the words "metallic glass for aerospace use" were searched. Here is one.

 5. The authors of the above papers, and other articles, may suggest some of the authors of the other DIRDs

Unusual materials

"...there's lots of materials that have been picked up or provided even in the public domain...This is an open source sample. It was sent anonymously to talk show host Art Bell....It was a multilayered bismuth and magnesium sample...Nowhere could we find any evidence that anybody ever made one of these... Well, years later, decades later actually, finally our own science moves along. We move into an area called metamaterials, and it turns out exactly this combination of materials at exactly these dimensions turn out to be an excellent microscopic waveguide for very high frequency electromagnetic radiation.."

Comment:

1. See my previous blog post about these materials.

2. For additional background on the material see here and here

Acknowledgement

I wish to thank Paradigm Research Group for publishing the entire transcript.

Update 15 June 2018

Correspondent "Parabunk" suggests that another DIRD might be this one:



Over 150 issues of VFSRS/VUFORS periodicals now digitally available

The Archives for the Unexplained

Last August I announced, that following work by Sweden's Archives for the Unexplained (AFU) ; UK researcher Isaac Koi; myself; Keith Roberts of Tasmania, and Bill Chalker of New South Wales, that a digital archive of Tasmanian UFO Investigation Centre (TUFOIC) Newsletters, and periodicals of the UFO Investigation Centre (UFOIC) had been created and was available for access.

Victorian UFO periodicals

Today, I am pleased to advise that following work by the AFU; Isaac Koi; myself, and a former official of the Victorian UFO Research Society (VUFORS), many digital copies of periodicals of VUFORS are now available for access.

VUFORS started life, as the Australian Flying Saucer Research Society (Victorian Branch) on 17 February 1957. Later that year it was renamed the Victorian Flying Saucer Research Society (VFSRS.) In 1968 VFSRS became the Victorian UFO Research Society.

The group published a number of periodicals, specifically the Australian Flying Saucer Review (AFSR) (joint editions with the UFO Investigation Centre (UFOIC) of News South Wales, and then separately as  AFSR (Victorian edition). In 1972 when high costs forced the closure of the AFSR, it produced issues of the Australian UFO Bulletin.

Thanks to the work of those cited above, the digital collection now contains all of the Victorian produced issues of the AFSR and most of the Australian UFO Bulletins (1968 - 2007.)

How to access issues

To access an issue of the VFSRS/VUFORS periodicals, simply click here, or paste the link below into a web browser, which will take you to the collection. If you click on any issue and open it up, then click on the ... symbol, you will then be able to download that issue. If you are unable to download for any reason then email me at keithbasterfield@yahoo.com.au and I will WeTransfer you that issue(s).

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fwy7wp9v0tdxajo/AACZ2WPW7kRqRjIZUGc474Rka?dl=0

Coming soon - another new type of Identified Flying Object

Airbus, a European aeronautical group, will soon be flying unmanned, Zephyr, high altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS) over Northern Australia. They will be based at Wyndham Airport, in northern Western Australia.

Each Zephyr aircraft weighs under 75 kilograms, and operates by charging its solar powered batteries during the day, which enables it to operate 24 hours a day.

Source:http://www.airbus.com/content/dam/corporate-topics/publications/brochures/0612_17_zephyr_datasheet_e_horizontal_a4_lowres.pdf 

It is projected to fly at 65,000 feet, with a flight duration measured in weeks.

It has been designed for a multitude of roles, including precision farming guidance; internet coverage in isolated localities, and military surveillance.

The anticipated date of deployment of the first operational aircraft is given as mid -2018, i.e. about now.

Yet another IFO to watch out for.

A UFO film - "The Nullarbor."

Introduction

There are two Australian UFO cases, of which almost all researchers have heard. The first is the 1978 disappearance of Victorian pilot Frederick Valentich. The second, is the 1988 Knowles family encounter on the Nullarbor Plains of Western Australia, which is the subject of this post.

Background

In the early morning hours of 20 January 1988, members of the Perth based Knowles family, were travelling by car from Perth to Melbourne, driving through the night over the isolated Nullarbor Plains near the Western Australia/South Australia border. They reported seeing an unusual light, near ground level, which they believed then attempted to lift their car off the ground, during an extended encounter.

Their story made headlines around the world, and locally was investigated in depth by members of UFO Research of South Australia. Now, the story is to be told in a full length feature film.

IMDb

The International Movie Data base shows that a film titled simply, "The Nullarbor" is in pre-production. It is scheduled as a 90 minute, "action, drama, sci-fi." The plot given there is, "On a dark and lonely road an ordinary family encounter something extraordinary. This is their story."

The IMDb provides the following information regarding cast and crew.

Main cast

Jane Badler plays "Helen Fields," Jane is an American actress who relocated to Australia and is best known for her role as the evil reptilian Visitor leader "Diana" In the NBC mini series "V.""

John Brumpton plays UFO rsearcher "Keith Basterfield."

Katherine Grinlaw plays "vic."

Paul Todd plays "Patrick Knowles."

Marty Rhone plays truck driver "Porky."

Tony Markulin plays truck driver "Graham Henley."

Adam La Rosa plays police Constable "Dean Matthews."

John McCullough plays "Professor Glen Moore."

Isaac Still plays "Sean Knowles."

Serge De Nardo plays police "Seargent Trebilcock."

Director is Matt Poidevin.

Writers are Kerryn Markulin and John Smithers.

I am unaware of when production will commence.

"Westall the movie"

While on the subject of UFO cases from Australia; what news on a possible full length movie film based on the 6 April 1966 Westall incident?

I am aware of at least three individuals, all Victorian based film makers, who have shown interest in this subject.

One such film maker, who coincidentally was born in 1966, who is also a film director and film producer, has long shown an interest in making a "Westall the movie." I understand that a script has been finalised.

The second individual, a Melbourne based film maker, is looking for their next project, after completing a series for pay television.

The third individual is Matt Poidevin, director for "The Nullarbor." A search of the IMDb found that Matt's "Westall" is "In development,"

Does any blog reader know of other Australian films being made, based on local UFO cases? If so, please share your knowledge with us by sending an email to keithbasterfield@yahoo.com.au

Update 25 June 2018

I decided to check the IMDB using the word "Valentich" and was surprised to find that a 14 minute short story titled "The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich was made in 2017 by director Luke Robson.

Those Defense Intelligence Reference Documents

Eric W Davis interview

In a Coast to Coast radio interview on 28 January 2018, between journalist George Knapp and Eric W Davis, Davis outlined his sub-contractor role within the Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS)  program for the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP.) At the Institute for Advanced Studies, based in Austin, Texas, his job was to provide broad scientific advice, and recommendations. He did not get into any data analysis, video analysis or witness interviews.

He was tasked with looking into the future - around 2050 - to set up a series of expert studies - and produce a series of Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs.) To look at a variety of topics and get experts to write a DIRD on that subject. Authors were asked to imagine our earthly technology, extrapolate it to 2050 and compare what we might have by then against what we see of the phenomenon today. Davis stated that 38 such papers were produced, with two being classified.

Hal Puthoff interview

In another 28 January 2018 Coast to Coast interview by George Knapp, this time with Hal Puthoff, Puthoff stated that his role within the AATIP was mainly to look at the physics. He had had 38 papers written

Six DIRDs by Eric W Davis 

On the Earth Tech International Inc. website there is a list of six DIRDs prepared by Eric W Davis. These are:

1. Davis, E.W. (2010), "Laser Lightcraft Nanosatellites," Defense Intelligence Reference Document, Defense Futures, DIA-08-1011-001, Technology Warning Division (DWO-4), Defense Warning Office, Directorate for Analysis, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

2. Obousy, R.K. and Davis, E.W. (2010). "Warp Drive, Dark Energy, and the Manipulation of Extra Dimensions," Defense Intelligence Reference Document, Acquisition Threat Support, DIA-08-1004-001, Acquisition Support Division (DWO-3), Defense Warning Office, Directorate for Analysis, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

3. Davis, E.W. (2010), "Concepts for Extracting Energy from the Quantum Vacuum," Defense Intelligence Reference Document, Acquisition Threat Support, DIA-08-1004-007, Acquisition Support Division (DWO-3), Defense Warning office, Directorate for Analysis, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

4. Davis, E.W. (2010), "Antigravity for Aerospace Applications," Defense Intelligence Reference Document, Acquisition Threat Support, DIA-08-1003-018, Acquisition Support Division (DWO-3), Defense Warning Office, Directorate for Analysis, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

5. Davis, E.W. (2010), "Traversable Wormholes, Stargates, and Negative Energy," Defense Intelligence Reference Document, Acquisition Threat Support, DIA-08-1004-004, Acquisition Support Division (DWO-3), Defense Warning Officer, Directorate for Analysis, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

6. Davis, E.W. (2011). "Quantum Tomography of Negative Energy States in the Vacuum," Defense Intelligence Reference Document, Defense Futures, DIA-0801102-007, Technology Warning Division (DWO-4), Defense Warning Office, Directorate for Analysis, Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

Have we seen any of these 38 DIRD's?

We have seen three. Two written by Davis, namely, DIA-08-1004-004 dated 6 April 2010; and DIA-08-1004-001 dated 2 April 2010. The earliest appearance of these two documents can be traced back to a website operated by US researcher Corey Goode. They appear in an item written dated 18 December 2017.

How do we know these are copies of the real, original documents? Isaac Koi posed this question to Eric W Davis by email; together with a copy of the two documents. Davis confirmed they were his documents.

The third DIRD, this one written by Hal Puthoff surfaced on 5 May 2018 as a link within a report by George Knapp and Matt Adams  It was DIA-08-1003-015 titled "Advanced Space Propulsion Based on Vacuum (Spacetime Metric) Engineering" and dated 29 March 2010.

How do we know this is one of the 38 prepared DIRD's? I emailed Hal Puthoff; sent him a copy of the document, and he confirmed by return email that it was his original DIRD..

In summary

In summary, we know there were 38 DIRD's prepared. We have the titles of seven of these, and a full copy of three.

Have we knowledge of any other information on these DIRD's?

1.On his website Corey Goode stated that at one point he had the two Davis DIRD's above, plus three others (not described) but these three others had been stolen from him (no others details given.)

2.A search of the Internet brings up copies of the two Davis DIA-08-1004-004 dated 6 April 2010; and DIA-08-1004-001 dated 2 April 2010.and one Puhoff  DIA-08-1003-015 DIRDs already described above.

3. Hal Puthoff published a paper with the same title as his DIRD, "Advanced Space Propulsion Based on Vacuum (Spacetime Metric) Engineering" in 2010 in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.

4. In a talk entitled "Empty Space: The Multilayered, Multicolored Superconductor," by Eric W Davis at a conference titled "Modern Topics in Energy and Power", US Army Research Laboratory, in August 2016, referenced two DIRDs, namely DIA-08-1004-007 and DIA-08-1102-007, both of which we were already aware of, from Davis' Earth Tech DIRD list.

5. I searched the US website for the Defense Technical Information Centre for any of these DIRDs. There were two documents, dated 2004,  by Eric W Davis concerning "Teleportation Physics Study" and "Advanced Propulsion Study." However, I was unable to locate any of the six 2010/2011 Davis DIRDs or the one by Puthoff on this website.

Update: 12 June 2018

A correspondent asked me what questions I would like answered about these DIRDs? My reply was:

1. Where did the funding come from for the work on the DIRDs? Was it directly from the DIA? From BAASS? From some other source?

2. When was the request received for the DIRD work to commence? Who asked for the work to be undertaken?

3. How many DIRDs were completed? How many were classified?

4. Who gave a number of DIRDs to Corey Goode? Why?

5. Who gave a copy of one DIRD to George Knapp? Why?

6. Who has a complete set of the DIRDs? Hal Puthoff? Eric Davis? Anyone else?

7. Has anyone obtained copies of all the DIRDs via an FOIA request?

8. Who are the authors of the non Puthoff, non Davis DIRDs?

Update: 25 June 2018

Dr Eric Davis was interviewed by George Knapp on the "Coast to Coast" US radio show on 24 June 2018. During that interview, Davis mentioned that he and Hal Puthoff had arranged for 38 papers to be prepared.

The subject areas included, materials; metamaterials; warp drive; medical aspects; advanced nuclear fusion for aerospace propulsion (undertaken by colleagues at Lockheed Martin); and alternative nuclear fusion techniques. He went on to say that 2 or 3 of these papers had been "leaked" onto the Internet, by "someone on the beltway." The beltway is a highway that encircles Washington. A reference to "inside the beltway" means matters of importance to US government officials; lobbyists; and government contractors.

Update: 19 July 2018

An anonymous comment to this blog post stated:

'In the 28 January 2018 interview on Coast to Coast, Davis says the following about the DIRDs: 'a colleague of ours, who was a former PhD student at (of-KB?) Werner Heisenberg, ah, did a paper on advanced nuclear propulsion..." This could be Friedwardt Winterberg. Here he is (http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/team/) along with Eric Davis and Richard Obousy (who authored one of the DIRD's with Davis.'

As my anonymous commentator stated, Winterberg was indeed a PhD student of Heisenberg's. I therefore located a list of Winterberg's published papers. The three known DIRDs were all published in 2010, and we know that Puthoff published an open source version of his DIRD, "Advanced Space Propulsion Based on Vacuum (Spacetime Metric) Engineering" in 2010 in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society. Both Puthoff and Davis stated that 36 of the DIRDs were 'unclassified' and therefore there seemed to be no reason why DIRD authors should not also publish that work undertaken for the DIRD, in open source publications.

Therefore, I looked for any papers which Winterberg published in 2010, in the mainstream literature, that matched Davis' comments. There was only one, namely 'Deuterium microbomb rocket propulsion,' published in Acta Astronautica 66 (1-2), 40-44. I would suggest this may well have been the subject of another of the DIRDs.