R T Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies - BICS

Robert T. Bigelow

From about a year ago, rumors were circulating that Las Vegas businessman Robert T. Bigelow was about to launch a new venture. Some people thought he was going to announce a new UAP project; while others wondered if it would concern some other area of his diverse interests. Now, thanks to Las Vegas investigative journalist George Knapp , and the New York Times, we know exactly what it is about. 

Back on 18 May 2020, Bigelow's agent, Rickie L. Golightly, registered a business entity with the Secretary of State for Nevada, named " R T Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies LLC." The business entity (Nevada ID NV20201782540) "officer" was listed as Robert T. Bigelow.

https://esos.nv.gov/EntitySearch/BusinessInformation

Recently, George Knapp conducted, then published, a lengthy interview with Robert Bigelow, which may be viewed on the website "Mystery Wire.

BICS

During the interview with George Knapp, Robert Bigelow announced the existence of a new organization, named "Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies" - BICS for short. He mentioned that a website for the organization would soon be available. Shortly, afterwards I found the website online. I quote from that site:

"BICS was founded in June 2020 by aerospace entrepreneur Robert T. Bigelow to support research into both the survival of human consciousness after physical death and, based on data from such studies, the nature of the afterlife. Robert Bigelow is the founder of Bigelow Aerospace. For decades he has also supported serious investigations into consciousness and manifestations of unusual phenomena that are not yet understood by science.

Despite intriguing evidence, the number of research groups and funding devoted to investigating the survival of human consciousness beyond death is shockingly small in the Western world. Even though all 7.8 billion humans on planet Earth will eventually die, very little high quality research is being conducted on perhaps the most important and fundamental question facing our species. 

There are almost no significant conferences or symposia on this question which could appeal to scientists, academics and others with advanced training. This is partly because such research is not taken seriously by the current scientific paradigm. It is probably time to end this close-minded approach. We at BICS believe that the only way to do so is to appeal to qualified professionals who have the power to create change.

The purpose of BICS is to raise awareness among the public and within the scientific community of the importance and relevance of such an investigation. BICS hopes to provide a public service by drawing increasing attention to, and encouraging research into, this fundamental and timeless topic. We are seeking hard evidence "beyond a reasonable doubt" that takes us beyond religion or philosophy and provides a body of knowledge to be brought widely into the public arena that could be unifying in its impact on human awareness and culture."

BICS Board of Directors

Apart from Robert T. Bigelow the Board of Directors is:

Leslie Kean, journalist and author.

Christopher C. Green, MD, PhD.

Harold Puthoff, PhD, theoretical physicist.

Brian Weiss, MD.

Jeffrey Kripal, Rice University Professor of Philosophy and Religious Thought.

Jessica Utts, PhD, University of California Irvine Professor of Statistics.

Colm A. Kelleher, PhD, molecular biologist.

A number of the above individuals were on the Science Advisory Board of Robert Bigelow's National Institute for Discovery Science (1996-2004) namely, Green, Puthoff, and  Utts. Kelleher was an employee of NIDS.  

Essay Competition

The first announced project from the Institute is an essay competition, with prize monies. Again, from the BICS website:

"The purpose  of the BICS essay awards is to raise the public awareness for the Survival of Human Consciousness topic and to stimulate research. The goal of the essay contest is to award  contestants for writing papers that summarize the best evidence available for the survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death."

One can submit  a paper, of up to 25,000 words excluding references and footnotes, to the competition only if you meet certain criteria. Registration of accepted individuals closes 28 February 2021. Papers need to be submitted by 1 August 2021 and then  "five renowned experts," acting as competition judges will announce the result on 1 November 2021.  

What has consciousness research got to do with UAP?

Bigelow's long term research has suggested to him, that there is a link between the two topics. In the early 1990's the Bigelow Foundation studied both UAP and the question of survival of human consciousness after physical death. In the 1996-2004 timeframe, the NIDS Science Advisory Board had a number of researchers on it who investigated the area of consciousness and near-death experiences; as well as others clearly interested in UAP; e.g. Jacques Vallee. 

Bigelow's interest in the Skinwalker ranch in Utah (1996-2016) saw him attempting to communicate with what he called either disincarnate, non-human entities; or extraterrestrials. The methods he employed in this communication, were similar to the methods used by paranormal researchers attempting to communicate with those in the afterlife.

Blog readers may recall that when first formed, one of the original aims of the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTSA) involved research into consciousness. I wondered what had happened to this aspect of TTSA in an August 2019 blog post. 

Notes on the Knapp/Biglow interview

The following are my rough notes taken down while listening to the so far released five video segments of the  Knapp/Bigelow interview.

The question “Are we alone” came first as I considered the experience of my grandparents. At age 12 I committed that as an adult when I got money I would look in to it.

The UFO experience which my grandparents had. I was 10 when my mother told me about what happened to my grandparents, around May 1947. They had a super close encounter. They were good candidates for an abduction. The UFO they saw filled their vehicle’s windscreen. Then it shot off. They got home later than they expected. Shook them up for the rest of their lives. My father began to be interested and bought a few books about the subject.

I had a series of repeated dreams at age 7-8 around 1952. Same dream. Was before TV. I’m in bed on my side – it was a small bedroom. Three “somethings” in monk’s clothing – couldn’t see faces – they were at eye level with me – so they were small. Same dream – half a dozen times. Chalked it up to dreams – still think that.

When I was 18, my father was killed in a plane crash – when I was in college. Plane exploded. Took me ten years to stop having dreams about him – so the seed is planted about survival after death. People need proof. I really want to know. Then got deeply into UFO field. 1980 wife and I lost a son – researching the topic helped me cope. I had visitations with three mediums. My wife saw him as well. I was not very sophisticated about it. Wondered what the other side was about? One medium was dubious. Black lady probably legitimate. Third medium named George. Grandson died – research comforted me. We have horror movies about zombies – excellent to make us scared of death.

BICS – Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies – founded to try and conduct research and facilitate research into the possibility of survival of human consciousness beyond death, and explain what the afterlife is about. What should we be preparing for? If consciousness survives, is there a connection between what we do here and the other side?

Dichotomy between brain and mind. Thinking brain ceases – mind no longer exists. How is out consciousness conserved? I believe both time and space are infinite. If brain dies what is out container tor the kind? Leslie Kean has a book and TV series exploring this.

My goal? Curiosity – my own personal curiosity. Then desire to make a difference. Desire has overtaken curiosity. I believe the other side does exist. If people get better information then they are better prepared. I believe there is a connection between the two sides.

[Speaking of evidence for an afterlife.] NDE’s are a very profound experience. Reincarnation cases are evidence. Evidence of apparitions. Poltergeist effects (I’ve had it happen.) Experiences within my family. EVP evidence. Things caught on camera. Efforts to have electronic connection. I have an open mind about physical apparitions where you can touch an apparition.

In the 1830’s to 1930’s there were world class scientists involved in this research. Today, only a few. They fear for their career.

BICS – what can we do to create some energy? Contest prizes $500,000 first - $300,000 second; $150,000 – third. Essays to be produced. Best evidence for establishing the other side is real. Can’t just quote scriptures – that’s not appropriate evidence. Use standard of a court system for evidence. Beyond a reasonable doubt – can’t be 100 % certain. 25,000 words or less. What have you done to prove your case? Entrants could be a priest, rabbi etc. Or a journalist Series of rules and regulations is on our website. Need to have researched the topic. There are five judges. One is a statistician; female who was on the NIDS Science Advisory Board. One fellow is a physicist. Three others very involved in the topic. One fellow is a neurologist and medical doctor. Deadline to apply is 28 February. Papers in by 1 August and the judges have three months to decided winners. Not a field which attracts a massive number of researchers. Papers to go on the website and winners willing to go on interviews and talk about their papers. Honourable mentions to runners up.

Like to get our feet wet. What can we do to help?

Role is facilitating, like at Skinwalker Ranch – government people. I never felt threatened but other people did with what they encountered. I was a caretaker. Had great night’s sleep there. Read lots of books on topic – after w while you will get a consensus of the views expressed in books. Since formed BICS in June, people around us have started to have things happen. Myself, family and staff. Our intention was first to get up to speed with the topic of survival been out of it for years. Didn’t expect anything to happen.

On the face of it communication with something, sounds great. People have tried this for years. All kinds of levels of communications.  Perhaps awareness that there is something there but no message.

Around 1989. Started reading books. Crash retrievals. UFO cases from overseas.  Need to go through the literature first. Still in this mode form consciousness research – read and network with folks. I look at myself as a researcher and facilitator.

I sought out the best of the best researchers. Didn’t want to be a one man band. Going alone is a slower path. Budd [Hopkins] was a great guy, self-made researcher and author. Lots of research topics – specific people. Linda Howe for cattle mutilations to see if high heat or possibly lasers were at work. She pioneered that kind of work. Budd and abductions.  We were involved in two crash retrieval cases – both in New Mexico. Too our satisfaction we verified them. One was in the 60’s. John Mack on abductions. I sponsored a number of free lectures which would engage the audience and challenge them to come up with causes. Why these people were making claims? The audience would run out of gas as to cause.

Note: On 22 Jan 2021 Joe Murgia tweeted a quote from the interview: “We were involved in…a crash retrieval incident and to our satisfaction we verified that that did occur. Stanton Friedman, another crash retrieval incident, we verified that that occurred and both of these were in New Mexico. And the first one wasn’t the Roswell incident.”

[Re funding UFO groups.] I did personally as opposed to NIDS funding them. MUFON, FUFOR and CUFOS. Always territorial and protecting their turf. Handcuffs a lot of people to explore their curiosity. [Was this why you created NIDS?] Could have been. Don’t really remember. NIDS had two pillars, survival after death and UFOs. Tackled both. Bit off more than we could chew. On the consciousness side there were world class people but survival was the more difficult question. It went.

[1996.] I spent time talking to Terry Sherman owner of the ranch. Then bought it. Phenomenal diversity of encounters. I believed the guy – he was a straight shooter. These encounters were real. Cost his wife her job. Terry and I made a deal.

I didn’t know with whom we were communicating. Either disincarnate non-human beings, or ETs. Can’t be 500 miles away and make a request and have that request happen at ranch. They describe it and it is exactly what you requested.

We had spontaneous events – pictures where photons only travelled five feet, background dark. Instance where on a night stand something took off. Looked mechanical – little blurry –wasn’t bird of butterfly. Or taking pictures of tubular rods. Or picture of many orbs around an ill person and then they got better. Things blocking out ambient light.

It’s all about messaging and games. We never had anyone hurt on the property.

Finally, got to – one personally – got little tired or bored – no progress. Could have gone on and on but distracted by something else.

Weren’t having craft materializing on ranch like terry. Two of our people saw something in a tree. Tunnel episode - one saw it one didn’t. Where is it heading? What is the point? Talk to us so that we can understand. We might have been too impatient or not creative enough.

It affected some government people – off the ranch. Next thing I know this buyer comes along.

Lots of similar things happened throughout the area. We interviewed a lot of people in the area. Police had encounters. Neighbors – had lots of incredible stuff happen.

It was rare to have something repeat itself.

[Why there?] Is it people, geology, no-one knows.

[Events at home] Events did happen. To me and my wife. Poltergeist event before we had the ranch. Wife had a full manifestation of a bedroom human form apparition. Torso up. Felt mattress being depressed. Bar of light between pillows. She went to sleep. Heard similar things from other people. 

The TRIAD Research Conference Foundation, and the Bigelow Foundation

Is there more information available on the Bigelow Foundation? 

After publishing my last post, in my series, about the Bigelow Foundation, I thought I had written all I could about that Foundation. However, I just came across yet another aspect of the Foundation's work. This aspect, was drawn to my attention by coming across a 2018 comment by long-time United Kingdom Researcher Isaac Koi. He mentioned an entity named the TRIAD Research Conference Foundation, linked to the Bigelow Foundation.

https://bsd.sos.mo.gov/e-commerce/company/search/1494023

In the August 1993 edition of the MUFON Journal, page 20, the following appeared:

"TRIAD FOUNDATION

UFO researchers and enthusiasts now have an organization dedicated to providing forums for the professional presentation of information and ideas about UFOs and related subjects. The Triad Research Conference Foundation, in partnership with the Bigelow Foundation has begun organizing conferences across the United States in an effort to bring researchers, professionals, and the general public together for educational exchanges regarding the UFO phenomenon.

"The emphasis is on quality," says Denise Carpenter, a Triad founding member." This is a serious subject that deserves a serious and professional setting for discussion," she adds.

Susan Bedell, another founding member of Triad agrees. "We're not interested in presenting an off-the-wall circus. You can look at the credentials of our speakers and see that. Triad can bring it all to the area in which you live.

Conference information is available by calling (417) 882-6847 or by writing to:

Triad Research Conference Foundation

4033 South Belvedere Court

Springfield, MO 65807."

Susan Bedell 

I recently reached out to Susan Bedell, who graciously answered my questions and gave me permission to publish her responses. Here are the questions and answers.

Q1. How did the idea of the TRIAD Research Conference Foundation come about, and what did it wish to achieve?

A1. Robert Bigelow, Denise Carpenter and myself formed Triad to present quality research conferences around the country with the goal of giving people the highest form of information available. It could not be just nuts and bolts due to the high rate of abductions taking place in the mid 1990's. Of course since then we have had to recognize the paranormal occurrences that seem to attach themselves to experiences. Anyway it only lasted 1 year due to the fact that Denise, who was married to the MUFON head of abduction research John Carpenter divorced her husband who also MCed our conferences. Mr. Bigelow moved on to much bigger projects."

Q2. Hoe many conferences were held?

A2. I think there were 7 conferences in 1996.

Q3. How the link between the Foundations occurred? Who approached who?

A3. I don't remember exactly how Triad came about except we had been putting on very successful UFO conferences in Springfield, MO since 1992. We always had between 400 and 600 people in attendance. At that time I facilitated an investigators group and abductee support group in my home and John held a public meeting every month. We were inundated with abductions, cattle mutilations and very close encounters with UFOs. Carpenter may have spoken to him first. Anyway we all talked and came up with a plan and a name. Bigelow's people created a contract and Denise and I started putting it all together. Denise was in charge of finances and travel and I made all arrangements for speakers and facilities. It was a good arrangement until the Carpenter's marriage went bad."

Who is Susan Bedell?

I found a 2018 advice of a public meeting where Susan was speaking. The blurb for the meeting read:

"Special Guest Speaker Susan Bedell will be discussing Cattle Mutilations and Alien Abductions. Susan has been a ufologist for many years and is an expert in Cattle Mutilation and has assisted many victims of Alien Abduction. Susan is former State Section Director and Certified Field Investigator with the state of Missouri MUFON. Susan has investigated many cases of cattle mutilation that occurred in the State of Missouri."

The TRIAD conferences

Susan Bedell recalled that the TRIAD conferences had been in 1996; but the fact that the MUFON Journal article about them was dated August 1993; and the fact that Susan recalled they lasted about a year, made me think that her recollection of the year 1996 might be in error. Which is easy enough to do when looking back to the mid 90's from the year 2021.  I also found an email dated 27 July 2000 from John Carpenter to John Velez. In part, Carpenter, speaking about various research projects funded by Robert Bigelow, says:

"He helped fund the MIT conference in 1992 and other events as well such as the TRIAD conferences in 1993-1994."

I checked the Internet, looking for information about any of the conferences. I found details of seven in all; by browsing digital copies of UFO magazines, held by the Swedish Archives For the Unexplained, and thanks to the dedicated scanning work of individuals such as Barry Greenwood, and Isaac Koi. 

July 1993. The June 1993 issue of the MUFON Journal, page 22, reports that the "Seattle UFO Research Conference" is to be held between 17-18 July 1993. Speakers shown, were John Mack, George Knapp, John Carpenter and Linda Howe, among others. Inquiries were directed to 4033 S. Belvedere Court, Springfield, MO; the same address as TRIAD.

Interestingly, I also located an Associated Press wire story dated 19 July 1993 about the conference. Part of the story read:

"The two day conference organized by TRIAD, a Missouri based research group presented UFO enthusiasts and skeptics with a chance to learn more about a subject that goes far beyond the outer limits...Denise Carpenter, one TRIAD's three partners, said 10 to 12 more UFO conferences were planned within the next year. She said the group would like to overcome common stereotypes associated with unexplained phenomena. "We think it is important to bring the scientific community together with the public," she said. "This is not a Trekkie convention. These are intelligent people asking intelligent questions."

September 1993. The next conference was held between 17-18 September 1993 in Springfield, Missouri, the home of TRIAD. Titled "Midwest Conference on UFO Research," it featured speakers including Budd Hopkins, George Knapp, Linda Howe, Jesse Marcel Jnr., and Colin Andrews. 

October 1993. "Is there Evidence of Contact From Our Universe?" was to be held 16-17 October 1993 in Houston, Texas, according to page 22 of the September 1993 issue of the MUFON Journal. Scheduled speakers included Budd Hopkins, Richard Haines, John Carpenter and Leah Haley.

November 1993.  Volume 14 number 2, October 1993 issue of "The UFO Enigma" published by the UFO Study Group of Greater St. Louis, page 4, states that there was a TRIAD Research Conference titled "Are We Alone?" to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, between 20-21 November 1993.  

January 1994. In addition, another TRIAD Conference was to be held in Phoenix, Arizona between 22-23 January 1994 according to Volume 1, Issue 11 of the MUFON Arizona Chapter's Newsletter. Featured speakers included John Mack; Yvonne Smith and John Carpenter. The title of the conference was "Are There Intelligent Life Forms Out There?"

February 1994. The October 1993 issue of the MUFON Journal advised that "Do We Have Visitors From the Unknown?" was to be the tile of a conference to be held in Tampa, Florida, between 19-20 February 1994. Featured speakers were Linda Howe, John Mack, George Knapp, John Carpenter and Yvonne Smith.

March 1994.  Another was held 26-27th March 1994 at the Del Coronado Hotel, Coronado Island, San Diego, California. Among the speakers were Budd Hopkins; Yvonne Smith; and John Carpenter. Several hundred people attended. The title of the conference was "Is There Hard Evidence for Extraterrestrial Visitations?"

In addition to these seven conferences, I also found, in the March 1994 issue of the MUFON Journal, the following advert:

"TRIAD Research Foundation. We invite you to join our 11 day expedition to the crop circle area of England and to current UFO sites and Findhorn community in Scotland, departing July 18th. Price of $1999.00 includes RT airfare from most cities, lodgings, transportation, guide and some meals. Call 1-800-572-1576 now."

Formal documentation 

https://bsd.sos.mo.gov/e-commerce/company/search/1494023

I went looking for any available official documentation, about the TRIAD Research Conference Foundation and found a website.  This revealed that the "TRIAD  Research Conference Foundation Limited Partnership" was incorporated with the State of Missouri on 20 May 1993, and dissolved 4 June 2018. Its registered address was given as Springfield 65807 Missouri, USA. The Inactive Director/Officer was shown as Denise Carpenter. I also checked the website for the Missouri Secretary of State and found the same information listed there. For comparison, according to the records of the Secretary of State for Nevada, the Bigelow Foundation Inc. came into existence on 4 December 1992, and is still active.

In conclusion

Understanding this aspect of the work of the Bigelow Foundation has added to our knowledge of how diverse Robert Bigelow's early interests, and funding, really were. Although there is no dollar figure publicly available of how much went to the TRIAD Research Conference Foundation, it adds to the millions he had spent, or planned to spend; in pursuing his interests.

Update: 13 January 2021

After having a chance to read the above post, Susan Bedell wrote me:

I agree with all you said except when Triad was dissolved .I have our original agreement and our signed dissolution (April 1, 1994) and I know Denise was gone before that. If Triad was still in existence until 2018, I have no knowledge what it was used for. Good article.

The Bigelow Foundation; NIDS, crop circles and Chad Deetken

 I have previously written a number of blog posts about aspects of the Bigelow Foundation, namely:

22 November 2018. "The Bigelow Foundation and Angela Thompson Smith." A reference in John B. Alexander's 2017 book, "Reality Denied" revealed that an individual, Alexander named as Angela Thompson, had undertaken work at the Bigelow Foundation.

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

 I reviewed the career of Angela Thompson Smith and found out information about the Foundation.

"The Foundation carried out multiple projects including follow-ups to the Bigelow funded Roper Report on Unusual Personal Experience; seminars on alternative health and collaborative research in Las Vegas, central Nevada and Alabama; research assistance to researchers such as Budd Hopkins in New York, and a radio show Area 2000: the fore runner to Art Bell's Coast to Coast program. Area 2000 featured many experts from the fields of ufology, alternative health, alternative energy and parapsychology and ran through early 1994."

22 May 2020. "The Bigelow Foundation - UAPs and more." Angela Thompson Smith was kind enough to send me a report on her time working for the Bigelow Foundation. She conducted field investigations in the areas of UAP sightings; cattle mutilations; and at one stage worked, for a short period of time, with Budd Hopkins. She also worked on the radio show called "Area 2000," a precursor to the Art Bell show. Although she mentions that Bigelow was interested in crop circles, her report doesn't mention any personal investigations of these, during the period she worked for the Bigelow Foundation. 

22 November 2020. "The UFO/Abduction collection of Angela Thompson Smith." After being contacted by U.S.  researcher Louis Taylor, who advised me that he had an inventory of UAP/abduction material which Smith had sold on ebay in 2002, I posted about the contents of the five boxes of material, including a number of episodes of "Area 2000." In box E there was mention of "Report of visit to Fyffe, Alabama, March 1993, by Angela Thompson: Abductions, crop circles, cattle mutilations." I was unable to locate such a report online. 

Chad Deetken

I first came across the name Chad Deetken, when reading Jacques Vallee's "Forbidden Science: Volume IV," where there was an entry dated 31 March 1996. Vallee was in Las Vegas at a meeting of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) for the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS.) 

"Bigelow has an interest in Puerto Rico where he has sent a scout, Chad Deetken, researching crop circles and mutilations."

I found an online report by Chad Deetken, about his seven day, March 1996, trip to Puerto Rico. However, this was about his investigation of the "chupacabra" - "goatsucker" creature reports.  In his 2001 book "Unearthly Disclosure" English researcher Timothy Good, also reported on Deetken's 1996 visit; related details of the chupacabra research, and states that Deetken conducted an investigation of the mutilation of three goats. 

I turned to the Vallee book's index and looked up other references to Deetken. I found a second entry dated 18 October 1997, again while Vallee was in Las Vegas for a NIDS meeting. 

"There was an incident at the ranch on 28 August about 2am when Chad Deetken and Terry Sherman saw a light from the ridge. Chad saw a glow and his photos show nothing, but Terry observed a ring of light opening up above the ground and a black creature emerging from it. Going to the site later they found no tracks..."

There was a third entry, again dated 18 October 1997:

"Chad Deetken gave an impassioned, but unscientific description of the English crop circles around Alton Barn and Silberry Hill. He discounted the hoax hypothesis." 

Area 2000

When reading through the inventory of the Smith UAP/abduction collection I noted that there was a list of twenty six episodes of shows from "Area 2000." One of these featured Art Bell interviewing Chad Deetken. Some time went by, and I then saw a Tweet by journalist Giuliano Marinkovic that he had acquired audio copies of 12 episodes of the show. I inquired of him as to whether or not, he had the one featuring Deetken? As luck would have it, he did, and soon a copy came my way. I listened intently to the show coming across the years. 

Deetken revealed that he first became interested in the topic of crop circles in 1990 after watching an episode of the show "Unsolved Mysteries" which featured crop circles. At that point, he said he had no more interest in the topic of UFOs than the average person. However, he said he realized immediately that there was something odd going on. He went on to investigate crop circles in Canada and England. He did not think that hoaxes accounted for many of the circles, and discussed his interactions with such crop circle researchers as Colin Andrews; Pat Delgardo; George Wingfield; Linda Howe and others. 

He recounted details of his research, and that of others, describing why he thought that crop circles deserved attention. He thought that there was a loose connection with the UFO phenomenon. His comments included some about the work of Dr. Levengood in the U.S.A. who examined soil and crop samples brought back from England. Deetken said that Levengood's work showed that some of the effects to crops could be replicated by using microwave energy. However, his own view was more inclined to say that he felt there was an intelligence at work, which was not human intelligence. He stated that it was very obvious that the intelligence did not want to be seen. 

Deetken also mentioned  a 1992 crop circles Project called Project Argus - which Deetken stated took place in England. According to Deetken, it was funded mainly by the Bigelow Foundation and involved two to three dozen people, half of them scientists. 

I went on to try and locate other material about Deetken and his work. In a 2014 publication I found:

"In 1992, Deetken was invited to go to the stone monuments of Avebury in South Central England. Part of an investigative team, Deetken visited every year, but has given up going." Noting that hoaxing had become a part of the crop circle scene, the paper went on to say "...Las Vegas billionaire who invited Deetken to work for his National Institute for Discovery Science has since quit funding research in England."

Project Argus 

https://kobus.ch/kobus/

As this would appear to be the same Project Argus, I looked up exactly what this had been, and what it had achieved. One website I located  which had posts from 2018, was written by Kobus Nieuwmeijer, who self reported that they were a member of the 1992 Project Argus team:

"I joined the Argus team in 1992 and conducted Magnetic, Susceptibility and gradiometry surveys of crop circles. I have a background in Geophysics (Argeology), environmental sustainability and business development, with more than 15 years of humanitarian, development and management experience across Africa, Europe the Middle East and Pacific Asia. I was born and brought up in Southern Africa. I lived in Ireland and UK in the 80's and 90's and currently live and work as Therapist in Switzerland."

 Nieuwmeijer's site provided a copy of the 119 page report on Project Argus, which was titled "Report on the Results of Project Argus: An Instrumented Study of the Physical Materials of Crop Circles." The report was written by members of the Project, and edited by Michael Chorost.

"The Project's goal was to learn if some crop circles exhibited physical effects which would be difficult, if not impossible, to generate by casual human activity."

"Project Argus was a joint effort initiated mainly by two organizations, the North American Circle (NAC) and the Center for Crop Circle Studies (CCCS)...The CCCS gave the project 2,000 pounds as seed money...and a fundraising by the NAC brought the total funds to over $34,000 by May 1992." 

An array of scientific equipment was utilized and included:

"* Electron microscopy to examine plant cell walls for evidence of unusual physical stresses or heat related damage

* Gamma spectroscopy to examine soil for short lived radioactive isotopes

* Gel electrophoresis to examine plant DNA for evidence of denaturation

* Fluxgate magnetometry to assess magnetic variations in soil

* Studies of plant cell tissue to assess the effects of the flattening force on the plants

* Seed germination trials to test growth rates of seeds harvested within crop formations

* A scintillation counter and Geiger counter to detect abnormally high levels of ambient radiation

* Various electromagnetic field detectors."

What was the overall result? 

" Project Argus has not, at this writing, found the "smoking gun" clearly showing that some crop circles are not the product of human activity. But it has ruled out several previously held hypotheses and, potentially more importantly, discovered some apparent regularities which seem well worth following up..."

Chad Deetken presented a section of the report (pp46-59) titled "Analysis and Comparisons of Crop Lays in British and Canadian Crop Circles." 

Appendix 9 shows the expenses for the project, plus the incoming "contributions." On the contributions side there are nine individual amounts shown; namely: $3,383.23; $4,643.96; $20,000; $1,000; $2,000; $2,500; $50; $100; $500 a total of $34,177.19. There are no names of the "donors." However, it is stated that the CCCS gave 2,000 pounds which in 1992 was worth a value of about $3,400. In the acknowledgments section of appendix 12, there is the following:

"The authors thank Robert Bigelow for his generous financial support of this project."

Elsewhere, (p.68) there is also:

"In addition, the project received generous contributions from the Robert Bigelow Holding Corporation...One donor in particular deserves special thanks: Robert Bigelow. This individual not only supported our work, but also helped arrange the cooperation of a major university , whose faculty gave us valuable advice and contributed one of their members to perform experiments..." 

Looking through the roster of individuals who worked on the Project, as shown on page 92, it would appear that the individual from a major university would have been Dr. Ernest Peck, University of Nevada - Las Vegas.  His section of the Argus report centered around work using gamma ray spectroscopy. Appendix 12 showed that the work had been undertaken by Peck; Vernon F. Hodge and Ashok K. Singh, all from the University of Nevada - Las Vegas.  

Moving on to 1997

I noted another entry in Jacques Vallee's "Forbidden Science: Volume Four" for 9 March 1997. Referring to NIDS there is a statement:

"Through the Institute, Bob Bigelow is channeling money to...(9) a crop circle study, run by Kit and Kristin with Kelleher and Deetken..."

Kit would refer to Christopher "Kit" Green; and Kristin, to Green's life partner, Kristin B. Zimmerman. Dr. Colm Kelleher was employed at NIDS. 

I wondered what interest Kit Green had in crop circles, so went back to Vallee's "Forbidden Science: Volume Four" and checked the index for references to "crop circles." In an entry dated 12 June 1991, Vallee met with Richard D'Amato, then met with Kit Green. The reference below, refers to Green:

"We spent the rest of the time talking about crop circles. There is a Government Enigma group that checks with botanists. To Kit's surprise, none of them had heard of the phenomenon. I told him about the French finding that the British were experimenting with beam weapon calibration from low-observable dirigibles."

Later, in an entry dated 12 June 1993, Green and Vallee spoke again about crop circles.

"Then what do you think the crop circles are?" I insisted. 

"Infrared and microwaves combined, as you once showed me. The guys at the Department of Agriculture have chambers where they've begun experiments of their own. I've satisfied myself that it was physically possible to do it, at least with hydrated grain. Some engineers over there in England are having some fun."

Do we have any idea what interest Robert Bigelow had in crop circles? Again, Vallee is an indispensable source of information. On 11 June 1992, Vallee dined with Robert Bigelow in New Jersey. Vallee's diary records, of Bigelow:

"He believes in Roswell and crop circles but doubts Meier."

On 7 January 1996, Vallee records details of a telephone conversation with Bigelow. Among the topics discussed was ongoing research. Vallee cites Bigelow as saying:

"We've only had a one-time exploratory trip to see Colin Andrews. He claimed to have photos and all kinds of data about crop circles, but it was disappointing. 13 years of stuff kept in a hodge-podge way, not segregated. What's odd is that Colin himself said 90% of all circles after 1989 were fakes. Well, most of what he's collected came in the last six years, so why should we be interested?"

"Who went there with you?"

"There was John Alexander, George Knapp, Dean Judd, and Pete McDuff. The contract would have been through the Bigelow Foundation."

I found a confirmation by Colin Andrews on his website Speaking of John B. Alexander, Andrews said:

"I have been invited and attended meetings with him and Robert Bigelow, the only private owner of a space station, in their National Institute for Discovery Science offices, which Bigelow owns. John Alexander, Robert Bigelow, George Knapp, Colm Kelleher and one other unknown flew by private jet to New Haven, Connecticut to view my database some years ago."

Finally, in an entry dated 4 August 1996, following a NIDS SAB meeting, Vallee wrote:

"Staffing was considered next. Additions include...Dr. Colm Kelleher, a biochemist from Ireland, has already spent time in England for Bigelow, studying crop circles."

Using the Internet Wayback Machine, I looked at the now defunct NIDS website, but found no reference to a study of crop circles by Green et al. I would appreciate hearing from any blog reader who may have come across this study. However, on that now defunct NIDS website, I did find an undated paper by Vallee titled "Crop Circles: "Signs" From Above or Human Artefacts?"  In this paper he visits the idea of the cause of the formations being directed energy from a hovering stealth dirigible, as per his 12 June 1991 diary entry discussion with Kit Green. 

In conclusion, my series of posts about Robert Bigelow's Bigelow Foundation; shows that he was interested in a diverse range of paranormal related phenomena.

Whatever happened to key abduction researcher Dr. Rima E. Laibow?

Australia

In the late 1980's, Australia had relatively few people coming forward relating personal accounts of abductions. I can recall interviewing a small number of such individuals during that timeframe. However, within a few years there was an outpouring of such accounts. I kept up with the research being undertaken overseas, and was fortunate to be the sole Australian researcher invited to the 1992 multi-day symposium in Boston, U.S.A. which was co-funded by Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein and Las Vegas' Robert Bigelow. One of the key, and prominent, U.S. abduction researchers was Dr. Rima E. Laibow. The other day, I wondered what had happened to her? A search through the Internet, and various books, including the diaries of Jacques Vallee, provided some answers. 

1988

According to author Patrick Huyghe, who interviewed Dr. Laibow for an article for the September 1993 issue of OMNI magazine, the year  1988, was the beginning of Laibow's interest in the topic of alien abductions. A 43 year old patient had come to Laibow, with symptoms of anxiety and panic "...because, out of the corner of her eye she had caught sight of the cover of Communion." She had never read the book itself. The patient told Laibow that she had "...memory fragments of encounters with creatures like those on the book's cover." Laibow diagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD,)  but there seemed to be no known trauma involved.

Image courtesy Amazon Books

Laibow told Huyghe, that she then read all she could find on the topic of alien abductions, and sought out  advice from U. S. abduction researchers, Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs. After reading; discussions; and thinking about the topic, Laibow said she formed a group in May 1989, "For the Treatment and Research of Experienced Anomalous Trauma (TREAT)" which included rebadging the term "alien abductions" as "Experienced Anomalous Trauma." Her efforts attracted a mainstream doctor, John P. Wilson, an expert in PTSD; and who had a neighbor who had worked with Project Blue Book. 

Also in 1988, the October-December "Quarterly report" of the Fund for UFO Research reported:

 

"There are several other projects related to abduction research which have been submitted to the fund. ...Dr. Rima Laibow has proposed an abduction "crisis center" with a hotline for people who are emotionally disturbed over their experiences. Such a center would be staffed with specially trained people and run by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. Dr. Laibow also has proposed a conference of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists to review the abduction phenomena..."

May 1989

The conference TREAT 1, "Treatment and Research of Experienced Anomalous Trauma," was held at Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT. 

11 July 1989

Jacques Vallee lunches with researcher Dr. Richard Haines.

"He had not attended the meeting on abductions sponsored by Prince Hans-Adam a couple of months ago, but he heard that a woman named Rima Laibow had been put in charge of the group. Unfortunately, she has no training in hypnosis."

(Vallee, Jacques. "Forbidden Science: Volume 3." p.407.)

9 September 1989

"Now I am invited to a conference about "Experienced Anomalous Trauma." A bevy of ufologists with no background in clinical psychology who seem to have become instant experts on trauma will lead the discussions. The organiser is Dr. Rima Laibow, who approaches the subject with a mix of enthusiasm and credulity I find alarming. I declined participation since my views, even if I was allowed to speak, would be unwelcome and probably censored."

(Vallee, Jacques. "Forbidden Science: Volume Three." p.428.)

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

16 November 1989

"Dr. Rima Laibow, who is organising the latest abduction conference, has told me her concerns about Budd Hopkins. She cited one episode in which Hopkins had hypnotized a woman abductee who didn't quite have the type of Alien experience he was looking for. According to Dr. Laibow he started yelling at her while she was under the trance. This re-awakened some deep trauma for her as a battered child: she is now in psychiatric therapy under real doctors."

(Vallee, Jacques. "Forbidden Science: Volume Three." p.465.)

January 1990

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

The TREAT II conference was held in Blacksburg, Virginia. Clinicians, MDs, physicists and UFO researchers met for five days, in January 1990, by invitation only. The major benefactor of the conference was the Prince of Liechtenstein. A report about the conference, stated that Laibow was formerly a close associate of Budd Hopkins; and that "Laibow is reported to be an abductee," although no evidence is provided to back up that latter statement.   

5 February 1990

"Dr. Richard Niemtzow called from Texas with his impressions of a meeting on "abduction trauma" presided by psychiatrist Rima Laibow. About 40 people were there, including some physicians like Paul Tyler, but no experts in treating the medical effects of UFOs.

"The group had no idea about methodology," Richard noted. "When someone mentioned they had access to witnesses' blood and urine samples but didn't know where to send them, Rima yelled 'Send me the goo!' implying she'd analyze it."

"It won't do any good to send you the goo," Richard told her, "if you have no baseline to evaluate the results. That's what happened with the French gendarmes, in Cergy-Pontoise."

(Vallee, Jacques. "Forbidden Science: Volume Four." p.20.)

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

July 1990

Laibow presented a paper titled "Experienced Anomalous Trauma New Directions" at the July 1990 MUFON International Symposium, held in Pensacola, Florida. 

6 August 1990

"Dr. Rima Laibow, current arbiter of alien abduction speculation, came for dinner tonight. She stormed about the bumblings of Budd Hopkins, Leo Sprinkle and the others. She described a video tape in which Sprinkle interrogates Judy Doraty, who originated the idea of underground vats with human parts stirred up by Alien monsters;

"I could swear that it's Sprinkle who is hypnotized," she said. "His head is lowered, he speaks in a low, dreamy tone. The woman is all business, vivacious, talkative. At one point she seems ready to cry, then she opens her eyes wide, takes a handkerchief and runs it carefully over her eyelids to see if her mascara is running...Is that deep hypnosis? I've done hundreds of sessions in therapy and I've yet to see my patient check her make-up."

Rima believes there are "cult multiples," people who have developed artificial multiple personalities or were given certain wackinesses, that can be controlled throughout their lives. It's an important idea."

(Vallee, Jacques. "Forbidden Science: Volume Four." pp. 56-57.)

8 August 1990

"Rima Laibow told me a surprising anecdote. At the dinner following the first Abduction Trauma meeting, the Prince reportedly said that he'd been briefed by the KGB, the CIA and NATO Intelligence. They told him people were "taken" from every country."

(Vallee, Jacques. "Forbidden Science: Volume Four." p.58.)

March 1991

The conference, TREAT III was held in Kansas City, between 7-10 March 1991 and arranged by Laibow. The Proceedings were edited by Rima Laibow and Robert. N. Sollod. 

10 April 1991

"Rima Laibow is looking for someone to head up a new research project on UFOs. Rumour has it that the money comes from Scott Jones, who has obtained some $300,000 from Rockefeller and the Claiborne Pell Foundation. I declined, the context isn't right."

(Vallee, Jacques. "Forbidden Science: Volume Four." p.82.)

August 1991

Laibow attended an event where Kiev based psychiatrist and healer Anatoly Kashperovsky "performed." Laibow stated that "...this cesarean scar that I had, which was thick and ropey and very prominent...began to tingle." As soon as she could, she inspected the scar, and said that it had gone. She said, that inspection by her gyneocologist found only a very fine, hairline, scar present. 

1992

The TREAT IV conference, took place between 9-12 April 1992, held in Decatur, Ga. By this time, topics for discussion included crop circles, remote viewing, as well as alien abductions. A report in the Baltimore Sun newspaper, said that the conference was organized by Dr. Rima Laibow. It reported that there were 75 participants. 

Laibow, Rima E., Sollod, Robert N. & Wilson, John P. (eds) "Anomalous Experience & Trauma: Current Theoretical, Research and Clinical Perspectives" was the title of a publication of the Center for Treatment and Research of Experienced Anomalous Trauma, Dobbs Ferry, New York. The 320 pages were split into three sections; namely, theoretical and conceptual issues; research evidence and issue of method; and clinical intervention and approaches to treatment. The papers were by a mix of clinicians and UFO researchers. 

12 August 1992

"Gueymard told us a funny anecdote about General Stubblebine and Rima Laibow who came to France recently. Pierre didn't tell her much. She rushed through a hypnotic session with him because she had to go out and buy black garter belts: "The General likes it!"

(Vallee, Jacques. "Forbidden Science: Volume Four." pp130-131.)

The TREAT V conference, was also held in Decatur. Ga. 

1993

Laibow co-authored a chapter in a book about Traumatic Stress Syndromes. The chapter abstract read:

"Experienced Anomalous Trauma (EAT) is seen in patients exhibiting signs of stress-response trauma in the absence of a readily identifiable traumatic event despite careful investigation.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is frequent in these patients. Such persons are generally free of major psychopathology and may show physical and emotional traumatic sequalae.

Prior to treatment, memory like trances may or may not be present for scenario which correlate with the psychological and physical stigmata of the stressful event. As will be discussed in this chapter, EAT may be seen in patients in any ethnic and/or demographic cohort. As noted elsewhere in this volume, PTSD was first described in the context of battle fatigue although it may be present in a wide variety of clinical guises."

Laibow, R.E., Laue, C.S. (1993.) "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Experienced Anomalous Trauma." Pages 93-103. In Wilson, J.P., Raphael, B. (eds.) "International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Disorders." Springer Science. Boston. 

The TREAT VI conference, "Treatment and Research of Experienced Anomalous Trauma" was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

1994

The TREAT VII conference, "Treatment and Research on Experienced Anomalous Trauma" was held in Virginia Beach. VA.

1994-2002

According to her CV, published in 2004, between 1994 and 2002, Laibow co-authored a number of scientific papers with N. Bounias; A Stubblebine; H. Sanderound and M. Bonaly, concerning their research on the topic of biofeedback. An example may be found here. In 1998, Laibow, Stubblebine and Bounias published a paper titled "From Lethality to Neuropsychotoxicology: A Major Paradigm Shift in Toxicology", in J. Environ. Biol. 19(3):221-229. 

2004

Dr. Rima Laibow married Major General Albert N. Stubblebine (Retd)  in 1994, after sharing common interests throughout the late 1980's and 1990's. The couple cofounded the National Solutions Foundation in 2004. 

A CV posted in 2004 reveals that Laibow was born on 30 September 1943; earned a BA (Eng. Lit.) in 1965; and became an M.D. in 1970. She had been in private practice since 1972 and specialized in both adult; and child and adolescent psychiatry. She has authored/co-authored a number of scientific papers on such topics as biofeedback; and autistic prodigies. 

December 2008

A Digital Versitile Disk was released titled "UFO Abductions and the Government cover up" featuring interviews with Dr. Laibow and C.B. Scott Jones.

2014

With the outbreak of Ebola disease in West Africa, came a number of claimed "cures" for this disease. One of the products "Nano-Silver," was being sold by Dr. Laibow. 

In an online article, dated 14 August 2014 titled "The Controversial woman behind Nano Silver, the new "Ebola drug' being tried in Nigeria" author Chidi Chima included:

"The American doctor- who said she has a cure for the Ebola virus disease and whose treatment is now made available to Nigeria by an unnamed donor - has been campaigning against the "conspiracy" of conventional drug makers." The doctor was Rima Laibow. 

2019-2020

Following the death of her husband in 2017; Laibow filed a claim, which included allegations of negligence, against a number of medical practitioners and institutions. The claims were dismissed in November 2019 and January 2020. 

2020

In an online article dated 13 November 2020, it was announced that the U.S. Department of Justice, had filed a suit "to halt the sale by a New Jersey entity of an unapproved 'nano silver' product previously touted as a COVID-19 treatment."

"...the United States alleged that National Solutions Foundation, Dr. Rima Laibow and Ralph Fucetola sold and distributed a nano silver product that the defendants claim will cure, mitigate, treat or prevent COVID-19."