Jacques Vallee, consciousness and UAP

Consciousness

After writing my last blog post about the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science and their early interest in the topic of consciousness, I reread a number of books by Jacques Vallee. I was looking to see what Vallee had to say on the relationship between UAP and consciousness. The following are quotes from several of his written works, which help understand his thoughts in this area.

1965

In "Anatomy of a Phenomenon: The Detailed and unbiased report on UFOs" (1965, Ace Books. New York,) there is a section (page 121) titled "The Need for a New System of Analysis." Here, Vallee writes:

"Since the concepts that would allow us to grasp the phenomenon in its entirety may not have been formed yet, or may lie beyond the potentiality of the consciousness which is characteristic of the present state of the human brain, we have a tendency to start from plausible solutions and work backward. But this is no longer science."

Later, (pp229-230) in another section titled "Michel's hypotheses and the feasibility of contact" Vallee sets out four of French researcher Aime Michel's ideas on contact. One hypothesis is that:

"(4) The contact may be openly realized on a "spiritual" level which is not perceptible to us; it is made on "their" mental level and remains invisible to us in our present state of consciousness."

I wondered if there were any further hints from these early days of 1965? In "Forbidden Science: Volume One" (2014, Documatica Research, San Francisco) I found a diary entry dated 11 February 1965 on page 127 where there is a bold statement "There must be other levels of consciousness and other lives than ours."

Do we have an indication of why Vallee was thinking along these lines? There is another diary entry dated 19 September 1965 on page 153 which helps us:

Image courtesy Amazon Books

"A book I just finished reading seriously at Don's urging raises the possibility of other physical dimensions interacting with consciousness. Under the title A Woman Clothed with the Sun, this work by John Delaney is a summary of alleged apparitions of the blessed Virgin Mary. The reports are extraordinary, very troubling. One is tempted to image that there is indeed some sort of power that follows, and  intervenes into, human affairs. I want to study these observations in more detail and to compare them with the events recounted by Charles Fort..."

The book describes several visitations of the Virgin Mary, and her messages of inspiration and hope.

1969

In "Passport to Magonia: from folklore to flying saucers" (1969, Henry Regnery Co, Chicago) on page 149, speaking of the 1897 "airship" wave of reports which took place across the USA, Vallee notes:

"Perhaps the airship, like the fairy tales, the flying saucers, was a lie, so well engineered that its image in human consciousness could sink very deep indeed and then be forgotten - as UFO landings are forgotten, as the appearance of supernatural beings in the Middle Ages are forgotten. But then, are they really forgotten?"

1972

Image courtesy Amazon Books

By 1972, Vallee was investigating the subject of automatic writing, and particularly one case in which an entity calling itself '7171' claimed to be connected with UFOs. Vallee, on page 85 of "Forbidden Science:Volume One" writes: "I regard the above dialogue as an instance of communication with a level of consciousness possibly (but not necessarily) nonhuman."

1976

Image courtesy Amazon Books

In a diary entry dated 7 May 1976 (p334 of "Forbidden Science: Volume Two"  2017, Documatica Research LLC, San Francisco) ponders;

""The theory I am forming is that (1) there exists another reality level with which humans can relate symbolically, and (2) entities endowed with consciousness operate in that plane. This is the core knowledge, the basic fact. The consciousness in question may or may not be related to us."

1977

In 1977 Vallee published his book "UFOs: The Psychic Solution" (Panther Books, St Albans - the US version was titled "The Invisible College.") There are numerous mentions of consciousness in this work, and he ponders the origin of the "other" source of consciousness.

"It has become important to pose the UFO 'problem' in a new fashion because our cultural beliefs regarding the existence of forms of consciousness elsewhere in the universe are undergoing major shifts." (p8.)

Noting the "absurd" nature of some close encounters and their effects on human observers:

"I will try and show that what takes place through close encounters with UFOs, is control of human beliefs, control of the relationship between our consciousness and physical reality, that this control has been in  force throughout history, and that it is of secondary importance that it should now assume the form of sightings of space visitors." (p10.)

He suggests that the interactions which occur today as apparent close encounters with "aliens" have been noted throughout recorded history.

"I believe that a powerful force has influenced the human race in the past and is again influencing it now. Does this force originate entirely within human consciousness, or does it represent alien intervention?" (p.20.)

That these interactions with "aliens" up to the 1970's, have occurred previously, but attributed at that time, to other sources:

"I am tempted to accept as a working hypothesis that in other times remote contact occurred between human consciousness and another consciousness described as demonic, angelic or simply alien." (p141.)

Returning once again to the notion that some close encounters appear "absurd":

"...we have a pattern of manifestations, opening the gates to a spiritual level, pointing a way to a different consciousness, and providing irrational, absurd events in their wake." (p147.)

Vallee recognizes that the phenomenon has a technological appearance, seemingly advanced physics:

" We are faced with a technology that transcends the physical and is capable of manipulating our reality, generating a variety of altered states of consciousness and of emotional perceptions. The purpose of that technology may be to change our concepts of the universe." (p160.)

Returning once again to the theme of the origin of this "other": consciousness:

Talking about the possibility that the UFO phenomenon might originate on earth, Vallee writes: "Perhaps this form of consciousness shares the planet with us..." (p197.)

He then goes on tho formulate an hypothesis along the lines:

"I propose the hypothesis that there is a control system for human consciousness. I have not determined whether it is natural or spontaneous; whether it is explainable in terms of genetics, of social psychology, or of ordinary phenomena, or if it is artificial in nature, and under the power of some superhuman will." (pp199-200.)

1990

Image courtesy Amazon Books

1990 saw the publication of "Confrontations:A Scientist's Search for Alien Contact" (Ballantine Books, New York.) On page 144, Vallee was a little bit more certain of the origin of the "other" consciousness.

"As an alternative to the extraterrestrial hypothesis, I propose to regard the UFO phenomenon as a physical manifestation of a form of consciousness that is alien to humans but able to coexist with us on the earth."

He returns to the link to the earth, on page 99:

"My own private conjecture, which deviates considerably from the accepted dogma among UFO believers, is that we are dealing with a yet unrecognized level of consciousness, independent of man but closely linked to the earth."

1991

Image courtesy Amazon Books

The next year saw the publication of "Revelations:Alien Contact and Human Deception" (Ballantine Books, New York.) Here we find:

"...there is indeed a genuine UFO phenomenon..In my view it represents an opportunity to practice some good science and to become aware of levels of consciousness we have not previously recognized." (p20.)

"In many close encounters and abduction reports, witnesses are exposed to contact with a form of consciousness that modern science simply does not yet fully understand." (p208.)

"In the first two volumes of the Alien contact trilogy (Dimensions and Confrontations) I have shown that unidentified flying objects do exist. They are astounding physical anomalies that have the capability to affect the perception of time and space and the consciousness of those who come close to them." (pp226-227.)

"The simple truth is this: if there is a form of life and consciousness that operates on properties of space-time we have not yet discovered, then it does not have to to be extraterrestrial. It could come from any place and any time, even from our own environment." (p255.)

Summary

Perhaps the whole of the above may be best summed up, in Vallee's own words from page 437 of "Forbidden Science:Volume One."

"The UFO phenomenon exists. It has been with us throughout history. It is physical in nature and it remains unexplained in terms of current engineering science. It represents a level of consciousness that we have not yet recognized, and which is able to manipulate dimensions beyond time and space as we understand them. It affects our own consciousness in ways that we do not grasp fully, and it generally behaves as a control system. Because it can manipulate our consciousness, in unknown ways, the phenomenon also provided effects that we can only interpret as paranormal in nature..."

There are short YouTube videos where Vallee explores the above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlbbjQC8ioQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Frm1KIdfv0

Update:22 August2019

Thanks to blog reader Paul Craddick (see comments section) for his interesting lead. Paul points out that Tom Delonge mentioned the concept of a "control system" in an interview with Joe Rogan.

"I think that there's been a lot of events that are on purpose, some have been for show, some have been for even, there's a variety, variety, reasons, but I think a lot of it is a control system, that's really pushing humanity in  a very specific direction."

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and the National Reconnaissance Office

Background

The To The Stars Academy (TTSA) recently announced that Chris Herndon was joining their Advisory Board. Herndon initially worked as a Department of Navy civilian, supporting a variety of agencies, including the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO.)

This made me ask myself, what did I know about the NRO? Like many other long-time researchers, the NRO had popped up on my radar from time to time. So I decided, that in this blog post, I would take a look at what I could find out about any relationship between the NRO and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP.)

Introduction

Firstly though, what is the NRO's role? According to their website:

"The NRO, is the U.S. government agency in charge of designing, building, launching and maintaining America's intelligence satellites. From our inception in 1961 to our declassification to the public in 1992, we have worked tirelessly to provide the best reconnaissance support possible to the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD.)"

Its workforce consists of Dod and intelligence community staff, plus workers from private industry. It is headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, and maintains ground stations at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado; Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and White Sands  Missile Range, New Mexico. It also has a presence at the Joint Defence Facility, Pine Gap, Australia.

I found a number of mentions of the NRO in the UAP literature, and the following provided details about my findings.

Valerie Ransone

Our first hint of the NRO and UAP, comes in the form of an individual named Valerie Jean Ransone. In 1976, Ransone, who was said to be a former CBS correspondent and a Washington power broker, established herself as President of The Information Network - an alternative radio network. In that year, Ransone also met Andrija Puharich and spent several months with him, exploring every site where research on extremely low frequency (ELF) radiation was being conducted. Because ELF waves can penetrate seawater they have been used to communicate with submarines.

By 1978, she was organising trips to go watch for UFOs. Jacques Vallee ("Forbidden Science: Volume Two'" 2009. Documatica Research LLC, San Francisco) in a diary entry dated 11 June 1978) told how she was establishing "a company to disseminate messages she believes to be of extraterrestrial origin." It was also at about that time, that Ransone became associated with astronaut Gordon Cooper. In December 1978, she warned Cooper that there was trouble associated with aspects of the Space Shuttle program; apparently advice from an extraterrestrial source.

In the late 1970's Cooper and Ransone set up a company devoted to free, worldwide energy transmissions and advanced medical devices.

A number of researchers, including Jacques Vallee, John Schuessler and Richard Niemtzow, met and interacted with Ransone, who appeared to be both a "contactee" and a very intelligent woman, interested in ELF and the work of Tesla.

What is the NRO connection? Vallee, ("Forbidden Science: Volume Three," 2012. Documatica Research LLC, San Francisco) in a diary entry dated 30 July 1989, stated:

"Schuessler tracked her down through his channels at McDonnell-Douglas. It turned out she was an agent for NRO, working with the Navy."

1984 - "Clear Intent"

In exploring which US Government agencies might hold data on UAP, two US researchers, Larry Bryant and Barry Greenwood ended up writing a book titled "Clear Intent" (1984. Fawcett, L & Greenwood, B J. Prentice-Hall, Engelwood Cliffs, NJ.) On page 219, they wrote:

"One other potential source of UFO data has not been mentioned only because it has been relatively unknown until recently by the New York Times.

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is an intelligence agency whose very existence has been classified Top Secret...How might the NRO's operations relate to UFO research?

Photo-reconnaissance satellites have advanced to such a degree that even individuals can be specifically identified from orbit one hundred miles up. If strange aerial activity were to be detected in space as has been done in the past by NORAD, a photo-reconnaissance satellite could be expected to be pressed into duty by taking high resolution photographs of the UFOs. Significant strong evidence for UFOs may current exist on the NRO's files but accessing it would be virtually impossible under present security provisions..."

1987 - Timothy Good

A UK researcher, Timothy Good also wondered along the same lines as Fawcett and Greenwood. On page 299 of "Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-up" (1987, William Morrow & Co., New York) we find:

"There is another agency, hidden in Air Force Intelligence but run by the CIA whose very existence was denied by the US government until comparatively recently. I refer to the most secret intelligence agency in the United States: the National Reconnaissance Office. The NRO was established in 1961, and although its primary function is the operation of spy satellites, its estimated annual budget of $3 billion and staff of 50,000 could easily allow for secret UFO investigations. There is no evidence of this so far, however, and my Freedom of Information request for documents in 1986  not surprisingly drew a black..."

1988 - Vallee

I recalled a couple of relevant items from Jacques Vallee's dairies ("Forbidden Science: Volume Three," 2012. Documatica Research LLC, San Francisco.) In a diary entry dated 13 March 1988, Vallee, writing about how researcher Richard Haines had attended a briefing to staffers of an Amy Under-Secretary on UFOs noted:

"Dick was able to attend the presentation that followed his own briefing: An intelligence officer spoke about objects detected by certain satellites.

American satellites on low orbits, known as "slow walkers" are often catching luminous objects in groups of two or three that make right-angle turns or even reverse course. These observations according to Dick, stunned the Army folks, who had been unaware of these "fast walkers."

Australian researcher Paul Dean, in a blog post titled "NORAD And The UFO Smokescreen: Part 9" dated 10 July 2016, provided what is known of these "fast walkers."

Later, in a diary entry dated 28 June 1988 Vallee wrote:

"Hal has seen a 2-inch thick file that details UFO observations by infra-red satellites: 'The objects arrive 3,000 miles above the Earth,' he told me. 'The satellites pick them up as they come near the surface and going away the same manner as they came in. Their infra-red signature shows a level of energy 15 times that of an aircraft carrier. But the data is so tightly classified nobody wants to talk about it.' I wonder if these are really "our" UFOs, or natural phenomena of near space, still undiscovered, or even plain energy discharges."

1997 - Greer and the NRO document

Before the well known 10 April 1997 meeting between researcher Steven Greer and Rear Admiral Thomas Wilson, Greer had forwarded a purported NRO document to Wilson's team. Greer claimed that Wilson recognised one of the groups mentioned in a distribution list.

1997 - the Haines study

Gerald K Haines published a study titled "CIA's role in the study of UFOs: 1947-1990," which first appeared in the publication "Studies in Intelligence." (Volume 1, Number 1.)

The author, Haines, is there stated to be the National Reconnaissance Office historian. Why he should be writing an historical piece about the CIA has never been explained.

2000 - Daniel M Salter

Around the year 2000, US researcher Nick Redfern met an individual named Daniel M Salter, now deceased. Salter had written a book titled "Life with a Cosmos clearance" and during conversations with Redfern, informed Redfern that he, Salter, was a recently retired employee of the NRO.

In the book, Salter claims that in 1969 he was transferred to the NRO and worked in the Counterintelligence Unit of the Interplanetary Phenomenon Scientific and Technical Intelligence Unit. In addition, that the NRO had a campaign to weaponize space called the Development of Conscious Contact Citizenry Department.

However, in his obituary in the 16 October 2007 issue of the Tao News, it states that Salter worked for the USAF (1947-1968) in the field of electronics and radar. Then he went to the Mountain View College in Dallas, Texas, where he was head of Pilot Technology (1968-1990.) He then retired in 1990 and lived in Tao, New Mexico. There is no mention here of him working for the NRO. 

At the same time, Steven Greer's "Disclosure Project Briefing Document " (Greer, S M & Loder, T C, 2001, Crozet, Virginia.) has a mention of the "Testimony of Master Sergent Dan Morris, USAF (Retired)/NRO Operative - September 2000."  This document notes:

"After leaving the Air Force, he was recruited into the super-secret National Reconnaissance Organization, or NRO, during which time he worked specifically on extra-terrestrial connected operations."

From what I have read, it appears to me that Daniel M Salter and Dan Morris are the same individual.

2009 - Richard Dolan

On page 390 of Dolans' book "UFOs and the National Security State: Volume 2 - 1973-1991" (2009.  Keyhole Publishing. Rochester, New York,) I found:

"However, considering its extreme secrecy even among America's officially acknowledged intelligence agencies, the NRO could well have taken on other missions, such as those related to UFOs. Indeed, its capabilities, make it ideally suited for this."

2011 - Anthony Bragalia

In an article titled "Secret U.S. Intelligence agency holds UFO answers" Bragalia explores the role of the NRO. Braglia found that although not exempt from the FOIA, that a search of the Black Vault website failed to locate any FOIA requests to the NRO, and that the relevant FOIA request log showed only two requests re the subjects of UFOs, namely one dated 7 May 1998 and 27 April 2001.

Bragalia also wrote:

"...this author had made the recent acquaintance of a former agency employee now retired and  living nearby in Florida in ill health. This intelligence officer has tacitly indicated that clear, detailed and revealing images of UFOs have indeed been obtained by the super satellites of the NRO - and that many of them are not made by man."

I have heard nothing further about this potentially interesting source.

2015 - the Black Vault

US Researcher John Greenewald submitted an FOIA request to the NRO. In a response letter dated 5 November 2015, the NRO responded, in part:

"Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, you are requesting "records, electronic or otherwise pertaining to the Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) phenomenon..."

The topic of your request is outside the scope of NRO responsibilities, furthermore, the NRO has conducted numerous searches relating to UFOs in the past, and has located no records."

Update: 3 August 2019

A correspondent from the US who wishes to remain anonymous writes:

"Gerald Haines was in the CIA from 1989 becoming Deputy Chief of CIA History Staff in 1995, left briefly to set up the NRO History Office in 1996-1997, returned to become CIA Chief Historian. It is relevant because it makes sense that Haines would write a CIA history (in this case on UFOs) when he was still a CIA historian in 1994-95 and only briefly went to the NRO in 1996-1997 when the CIA history just happened to be published."

The "Alien Autopsy Memo" - An alleged 2001 National Institute for Discovery Science document surfaces

Background

I have recently been taking a look at the National Institute for Discovery Science, (NIDS) which Las Vegas business man Robert Bigelow created in the mid 1990's; as reported in Jacque Vallee's latest book "Forbidden Science: Volume Four." This provided a great insight into how NIDS operated.

Introduction

The other day, on 4 June 2019, a document surfaced on imgur.com which purports to be a memo from former NIDS staffer Dr Eric Davis, addressed to Bob Bigelow, dated 23 March 2001. I will scatter the eleven page memo throughout this post, so readers will have the original source document to review.

The memo is titled "Kit Green's professional evaluation of the 'Alien autopsy (from the Roswell Incident) Film/Video' and other related information."

Briefings

Amongst the text in the memo, is information about a number of briefings which were attended by Green:

"Briefing #2: Unofficial briefing at the Pentagon ca 1987/88. After Kit left the CIA he was called into the Pentagon by a person in uniform. This person showed Kit the alien autopsy photos and reports etc. The photos of the alien cadaver Kit saw were consistent with the cadaver seen in the 1995 Santilli film/video. Kit was asked to professionally evaluate the material provided to him at this particular briefing."

"Briefing #3: Official briefing at CIA Ca 1991/92. While at General Motors, Kit was called into the CIA. The CIA people wanted his medical/forensic pathology expertise to examine and analyze some autopsy reports. The nature of these reports was left ambiguous during the briefing, but Kit was fully expecting them to be the alien autopsy reports he saw in briefing #2. But then no action took place after this briefing occurred and Kit was left hanging."

Vallee

The imgur.com document contains an email dated 5 August 1999 from Green to Puthoff which includes the words"

"Yes, I have read autopsy reports...I thought I had discussed with you and Jacques in San Diego in the fall of 1988."

I wondered if the "Jacques" here was Jacques Vallee, and if so, had Vallee mentioned anything about alien autopsies in either "Forbidden Science: Volume Three," or "Forbidden Science: Volume Four"?

From "Forbidden Science: Volume Three."

23 June 1985

Regarding Richard Niemtzow. "His ambition is to be the first physician to uncover the existence of Aliens, and he dreams of the day when the first alien autopsy report can appear in a medical journal. He is in touch with Leonard Stringfield who promised to introduce him to a doctor who had done such an autopsy, so he mentioned the conversation to Kit, who got angry at what he saw as his naive acceptance of the claims.: 'Tell Stringfield to drop the whole thing!' Kit told Richard."

4 December 1988

Re the "Cover-Up" TV program and speaking about Fred Beckman. "He has spoken at length on the telephone with Hal Puthoff, who reportedly hinted that his high contacts were convinced of the genuine nature of the photos."

29 January 1989

Valle speaking to Kit Green. "How are you doing with your investigation into alleged autopsies...The doctor you heard about?"

Green. "It turns out the doctor in question exists: indeed he was hired by the Government for consulting work, but he never did any autopsy. He only reviewed some alleged results consistent with reports dating back to Leonard Stringfield, stating that the aliens had two floating ribs in their chests. He's a thoracic surgeon with all the right clearances. He spent a month somewhere on a highly classified project. Now my guys are trying to find out if he's really getting a monthly check from the US Treasury."

15 February 1989

Speaking about Richard Niemtzow. "When the conversation turned to the possibility that the U.S. was hiding Aliens in its freezers was surprised to find him ready to believe the undocumented anatomical descriptions circulated by Stringfield.

Richard assures me he was once within one phone call of a doctor who had done an autopsy of an alien. Of course 'being within one phone call' means nothing: as Kit had told me, the doctor in question had not done an autopsy, but was  only asked to review the alleged results, quite a different thing."

15 April 1989

Vallee meets Green. "The doctor who is said to have reviewed the alien autopsy data is a Dr Crowley, a thoracic surgeon who  lives in Lancaster near Los Angeles. But it turns out he isn't receiving a monthly check from the government, after all. Again, who is lying?"

13 June 1989

Vallee. "I have tracked down Len Stringfield, who has been researching the 'dead Alien' angle for 12 years. He confirmed to me that in 1978-79 he was in touch with two doctors who allegedly did some autopsies, but he's unable to get anything from them anymore. 'They're retired and they just won't talk,' he told me."

5 July 1989

Vallee talks to Kit Green. ""By the way I asked him, 'you never did tell me what got you interested in these rumors about Alien bodies in the first place.'"

'It goes back to the seventies,' he answered. 'When the first alleged autopsy pictures came out, all that stuff by Len Stringfield.'

The pictures turned out to show bodies In coffin-like boxes with wires and pipes running into them, a bad joke."

30 July 1989

Vallee and Niemtzow speak about Valerie Ransone, who was mentioned in a conversation with Kit Green where Niemtzow mentioned Ransone.

Niemtzow. "'When I revealed to Kit, over lunch, that I knew her affiliation, he practically chocked on his lunch. He told me never to mention her again at the restaurant. I've only had that reaction from him twice in all the time I've known him.'

'Let me guess: the other time was in connection with Len Stringfield and the doctor who had done the autopsy, I suggested.'

'Precisely.'"

9 October 1989

Valle writes. "There's nothing new with Dr William Crowley, of Lancaster, who was alleged to have preformed autopsies on Alien bodies. Kit points out again that the man is not a pathologist, therefore he could not have done such procedures himself, anyway, but he may have been asked to provide expertise as a thoracic surgeon who was also a cleared Air Force consultant. The autopsies are said to have been performed In the basement of the Guggenheim Foundation in New York city."

"Forbidden Science: Volume Four."

26 August 1990

Vallee writes. "Today a man named Armen Victorian called from England...The caller...started going down a list of topics that included Alien autopsies, various doctors (he mentioned a Dr Crowley)..."

10 April 1992

Kit Green says: "Yet I've never seen anything biological that was anomalous."

26 February 1994

Vallee talks with Robert Emenegger. Vallee: "I mentioned the absurd new yarn of Hynek witnessing autopsies. more disinformation, we agreed, managed from Washington. 'Something like that happened to me too,' he said, "I had a meeting at my home with a Colonel Phil Corso...in 1947 three things came across his desk: a bad photograph of an autopsy of what looked like Aliens..."

17 January 1995

Vallee writes. "Messages on the Internet propagate a new meme from England. It was initiated three days ago by Reg Presley, lead singer of the rock group The Troggs: he claims that a videotape has been discovered, showing the autopsy of an Alien at Roswell. He said there were fifteen such videotapes, totalling 150 minutes of footage, dated 1947. The media aren't buying it. Videotapes had not been invented in 1947."

13 March 1995

Rumors from Fred Beckman, that while in Brazil, "the military down there showed you some films of alien autopsies...they think you saw the same films that surfaced in England..." Vallee thinks the rumors are a joke.

7 October 1995

Vallee was at the Omega Communications Conference. "I saw...Stanton Friedman...He expounded on the alien autopsy 'film,' taking it at face value, although of course there's no film, only a video."

3 February 1996

Vallee was at a NIDS Science Advisory Board meeting in Las Vegas. "In other words, we only work on what we choose to work on; we don't drop everything just because someone shows up with a film of extraterrestrial autopsies..."

1 April 1996

Hal Puthoff and John Alexander interview Phil Corso. "Corso claims that he was given...various autopsy reports from Walter Reed Hospital."

3 May 1996

Vallee interviews Corso. Corso says "We had autopsy reports from Walter Reed."

"What did those say?"

"The beings had scaly skin. Their brains had two frontal lobes. By the way on the autopsy movie the brains do have these extra lobes. And the double eyelids. ..."

"Anything else?" John asked.

""They had atrophied sex organs."

13 January 1997

Vallee writes. "Colonel Corso called me at home this morning...he appears troubled by the fact that the analyzes he saw, reportedly coming from Walter Reed Hospital were very superficial and 'just didn't seem right.'"

7 September 1998

Vallee. "When I heard...that a new television program would soon describe in detail the 'Alien autopsies of the KGB,' I did feel like throwing up."

My comments

1. Concerning the Green/Puthoff email, dated 5 August 1999,  reference to "Jacques" and "fall of 1988." I cannot find any matching details in Vallee's diary entries for that time period.

2. Likewise, I found no mention of a 1987/88 briefing of Kit Green's "alien autopsy photos and reports etc" in Vallee's diaries.

3. In addition, I found no reference in the diaries, to a Kit Green CIA briefing in 1991/92.

4. There are various references in both volume three and volume four, where Kit Green and Vallee talk about the subject of alien autopsies, but nothing seems to match the details given in the memo.

5. In summary, Vallee's diaries are silent on the topic of Kit Green's briefings, as discussed in the 2001, Eric Davis to Bob Bigelow, NIDS memo, that appeared recently.

Update: 6 July 2019

There are a few unfamiliar names mentioned in  this document, so I undertook a little research to determine who they were.

1. Jim Westwood

I found a reference to a James Westwood in Vallee's "Forbidden Science: Volume Four" page 438, with an entry dated 1 January 1999. Here Vallee wrote:

"Bob got even angrier when he realized that Bob Wood was analysing the MJ-12 documents, but Wood had suggested that NIDS sponsor his effort, only to be rebuffed. Actually, Hal hired James Westwood, former CIA expert on fake Soviet documents who had created similar fakes for disinformation. He paid him to bring his services to Bob Wood's project. 'Jim's verdict was that the "Eisenhower briefing document," cornerstone of the UFO coverup argument, had all the earmarks of a fake, an American disinformation document once meant to fool the KGB.'"

2. Bill McGarity

Paragraph four on page two of the document, mentions a Bill McGarity as contacting Phillip Mantle re the alien autopsy film, so who was McGarity? The same paragraph mentions that "...and Bill McGarity when Bill came to visit us in June 2000."

I found an online website which provided a resume for one Thomas W McGarity, who worked (up to at least January 1998) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The reason that I think this is the correct Bill McGarity, is that John Alexander, NIDS employee, worked at that Laboratory after he left the Department of Defense.

3. Kristin B Zimmerman

On page 10 of the document, there is an email, #4, dated 5 August 1999, which mentions a Kristin B Zimmerman. Who is this? In addition, on page 11, the email dated 1 August 1999, which is from Hal Puthoff to Kit Green, starts off "Kit, Kristin."

On page 293 of Vallee's "Forbidden Science: Volume Four" he mentions a "Kristin" as being the life partner of Kit Green, and mentions that she worked at General Motors, the same firm Kit Green then worked for. In addition, on page 325, Vallee mentions that Kristin and Kit were married in January 1998.

An Internet search on the name Kristin B Zimmerman turned up the following information. Kristin B Zimmerman worked at the General Motors Research and Development Center between 1993-1997, in the area of advanced engineering and design. In 1999, she founded Med:For Inc., a consulting firm spanning forensic medicine (Kit Green's area of expertise) and engineering mechanics.

Update 15 July 2019

US Researcher Richard Dolan, advised on a message on his website, that he had been in communication with Dr "Kit" Christopher Green. Dolan stated:

"One thing that I think is very important, and I don't think that Dr. Green would object to me saying this is that he "absolutely" confirms the authenticity of the eleven-page "alien autopsy" email that was leaked in June...the other fact of note at the present time is that he emphatically does not believe the being in the Santilli film is an alien."

The "creature" and the "portal" at the Skinwalker ranch - some concerns

Background

Readers of this blog will be aware, that I have recently spend quite an amount of time examining details contained in Jacques Vallee's latest book "Forbidden Science: Volume Four." I did this, because, Vallee is recording history as it happened, in the form of diary entries. For some of the material found in the book, this is the only record we have of particular events or meetings.

One of my blog posts concerned the National Institute for Discovery Science. One aspect which interested me was the happenings at a ranch in Utah (commonly referred to as the "Skinwalker ranch.") My attention was drawn to one observation at the ranch, which is mentioned both in "Forbidden Science: Volume Four" and in the 2005 book, authored by Colm Kelleher and George Knapp, titled "Hunt for the Skinwalker."

The incident as described in "Hunt for the Skinwalker"

Source: Amazon Books

"Chapter 19

The Tunnel

August 25, 1997. The night was warm, clear and beautiful. The NIDS team was sitting silently on the edge of a bluff...Two colleagues were about a mile away on the far side of the property monitoring another hot spot. Mike and Jim had been in specific contact with them every couple of hours...

Some four hours into the watch, Jim the most experienced investigator, had quietly climbed down into the small pasture and had sat in the middle of the field to meditate. He had found over the years that meditation sometimes activated the "phenomenon," what ever that was, although it had happened too few times to be anything other than an anecdotal observation. Nothing happened.

At 2.30am, after a six hour watch, they decided to move their operation to a different part of the ranch. Quickly, they began to disassemble the camera from its tripod and pack up the two equipment containers filled with the tools of the scientific investigator's trade. Cameras, portable magnetic field detectors, and night-vision binoculars. In 1997, their generation-three binoculars were considered state of the art. They worked by amplifying low-level ambient light through a series of high tech photomultiplier tubes. They were far superior to the usual Russian night-vision equipment that looked just in the infra-red. Through these night vision binoculars, the scene appeared to be in daylight with sharp, crisp outlines, not the fuzzy wavy image visible through Russian equipment.

Just as Jim was thinking that his meditation hadn't produced a damm thing, his eye caught a very faint light on the track 150 feet below him. He watched, mildly puzzled, thinking that it might be a  small piece of glass on the track that was reflecting the ambient light. It was a faint yellowish color, and as he watched, it appeared to grow brighter. Twenty seconds later, he nudged Mike. It was definitely getting brighter and as both of them watched, it seemed slowly to be getting bigger.

"Hand me the camera," Jim muttered. At the same time, Mike quietly and efficiently unpacked the night-vision binoculars he had just put away. Jim set up the tripod and positioned his camera loaded with infra-red film in line with the light that had now grown to six inches in diameter. It was still a dull yellow but had definitely grown brighter. Carefully, Jim set the shutter to thirty seconds, reasoning that a long exposure might capture this mystery light on the freshly loaded roll of infra-red film. He was ready to pop off all thirty six shots if necessary.

As Mike brought the binoculars to his eyes, Jim heard the sharp sucking in of breath. Jim could see that the light was now more than a foot wide and was still growing larger. This was very obviously not a reflection. The dirty yellow expanding light seemed to be positioned above the ground, rather than directly on the ground, but Jim could not be sure.

"It's a tunnel, not just a light," Mike whispered. Jim ignored his partner's growing agitation as he increased the length of time exposures to forty then fifty seconds.

Mike was now standing up. "Jesus Christ," Mike said hoarsely. "Something's in the tunnel!"

Jim looked carefully at the light below. It had now expanded to more than two feet. Something that big should definitely register on his film. "Oh, my God," Mike said suddenly thoroughly frightened. "There is a black creature climbing out. I see his head. " Jim felt alarm. His companion was plainly bordering on panic.

"It has no face," whispered Mike. "Oh, my God, it just climbed out." Jim rubbed his eyes and shook his head. All he could see was a dirty yellow light, now about four feet in diameter, a hundred feet below him. Why couldn't he see what Mike was seeing? Suddenly it dawned on him. The binoculars. He motioned for Mike to hand them to him, but not before increasing the time exposure to ninety seconds.

Mike ignored him. "It's on the ground," he said, "Oh, my God, it walked away." As Mike danced on the ledge a few feet away, plainly in a panicky state, Jim could see the light decreasing in size. Within thirty seconds, the dull yellow light had shrunk to about half its full diameter and was losing intensity.

In the meantime, Jim pulled Mike over close to him and asked, "What happened?"

"A big black creature just crawled through that tunnel, got onto the ground, and walked away," Mike said. "That's what happened. And its lurking around here somewhere."

Jim felt a chill. "I only saw that yellow light," he said doubtfully, "Are you sure?"

"Jesus Christ, of course, I'm sure," Mike replied. "The night vision turned the light into a three-D tunnel, and a large creature, I am thinking maybe four hundred pounds, at least six foot tall, just crawled out of that damm tunnel." quickly, but he seemed to be regaining control over himself.

Mike was sweating profusely and still breathing quickly but he seemed to be regaining control over himself...By that time, the yellow light had gradually faded and was no longer visible...

After fifteen minutes or so, they grabbed some detectors and clambered as quietly as possible down the steep rock-filled ground below them...But once near the track, a strong odor assailed their nostrils...It seemed to be centred on the spot where the light or tunnel had been. Jim felt slightly nauseous from the pungent smell. Quickly, Mike scanned the ground in a twenty foot diameter circle for any signs of radiation...only background levels were detectable. Meanwhile, Jim scanned the area with a trifield meter to detect any unusual magnetic spokes. Nothing registered...The team spent the next day searching for footprints...but the ground was hard and none were visible...The photos were disappointing, showing only a single very faint light on one..."

In summary. One person saw a yellow light which grew brighter, and larger, then decreased in size. A second person, in the same spot, using night-vision binoculars reported seeing a tunnel, from which a creature crawled out on to the ground and then moved off.  There were no unusual radiation nor magnetic disturbances. Both smelt a pungent odor at the site of the light. 

My comments

1. The event occurred at 0230hrs on 25 August 1997 at latitude 109 deg 31 mins west and longitude 40 deg 27 mins north. Near Roosevelt, Utah. 

2. According to the Stellarium astronomy software program, at this time the Moon was at an elevation of 37 degrees; in the ESE (azimuth 101 degrees.) The Moon was at last quarter, thus, providing a degree of lighting sufficiently to see something at 100-150 feet away. 

3. The maximum size of the light was estimated as four feet, at 100 feet distance (though earlier in the text it said the light was 150 feet away.) Using the 100 foot distance, its maximum angular size was 2.3 degrees, almost five times the diameter of the full moon seen in the sky. Using the 150 foot distance, the maximum angular diameter would have been 1.5 degrees, three times the diameter of the full moon in the sky. Quite a large size, at either distance.

4. It seems to me, that a person looking at a 1.5-2.3 degree diameter light at a 100-150 foot range, should have visually noticed a dimming of the light, as a six foot black creature emerged from it. However, Jim did not report seeing anything of this kind.

5. I note that no noise was reportedly heard from the light or creature at any time.

6. It is a pity that we do not have the field of view in degrees of the binoculars, and an estimate of how much of the diameter of field of view both the light and the creature occupied, as an independent measure of actual, as opposed to estimated angular size.

7. The observation of the creature was reported by a single person, who described it to another person, to which it was not visible. 

Jacque Vallee's recollection of the event

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

On page 391 of Vallee's "Forbidden Science: Volume Four" in a diary entry dated 18 October 1997, Vallee reports on the 10th NIDS Science Advisory Board (SAB) meeting. This was the first meeting of the SAB since July 1997, and thus the first opportunity for Vallee to learn of the event. 

"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: ghost stories, after all.

During the observation Terry, a big strapping cowboy, was reportedly trembling with intense fright. Chad, who had looked through the same night vision system, saw nothing. This triggered a technical discussion among the physicists, and it caused Bob Bigelow to make an emotional speech to suggest that 'they' might be using means beyond our physics."

My comments

1. Note that the date given by Vallee is three days after the date given by Kelleher and Knapp.

2. According to Kelleher and Knapp, the observers were named "Mike" and "Jim." Whereas, Vallee names them as Chad Deetken and Terry Sherman. "Jim" equates to Deetken; while "Mike" equates to Sherman.

3. Terry Sherman was the real name of the ranch owner (before Bigelow bought it.) "Hunt for the Skinwalker," says that Sherman, whom they called Tom Gorman, had long thought that some of the lights he had seen, were "doorways" to other dimensions. Quoting, "Hunt for the Skinwalker":

"Tom felt like it could have been a tear or a rent in the sky about a mile away, and through the rent he could see a different world, or perhaps a different time."

"This incident convinced Tom that his ranch was the site of some kind of dimensional doorway..."

4. Who was Deetken? Vallee's book mentions him a few times:

a. Page 301. Deetken had been sent by NIDS to Puerto Rico to research crop circles and mutilations.

b. Page 391. "Chad Deetken always prayed to protect himself when he keeps watch at night."

c. Page 392. "Chad Deetken gave an impassioned but unscientific description of the English crop circles..."

5. Vallee states that both Terry Sherman and Chad Deetken looked through the night-vision binoculars. Terry Sherman reported seeing a black creature, but Chad Deetken saw nothing. 

Conclusion

What to make of the observation of a "creature" and a "tunnel." The fact that there was a quarter Moon illuminating the scene; that Jim, in my opinion, should have been able, visually, to see some alteration of the relatively large diameter light, if something came out of it, but didn't; plus the statement from Vallee that Jim (Deetken)  "...had looked through the same night vision system, saw nothing," provides me with concerns about this observation.

Update

I thought I would do a bit of research about Chad Deetken.

I found an article dated 1 October 2014 in the "Salmon Arm Observer" which provided some details. It reported that Deetken became interested in the subject of crop circles in 1990, upon watching an episode of the TV series "Unsolved Mysteries." He then went on to investigate circles in his native Canada.

"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."

I then found a number of crop circle websites with articles written by Deetken.

1. 1998. "Crop Formations and the Secrets of Deception"

2. 1998. "Crop Formation at Vanderhoof"

3. 1999. "The 1999 Avebury Avenue 3-D cubes. Another scam?"

4.  2005, Deetken featured in a documentary titled "Star Dreams: Exploring the Mysteries of the Crop Circles."

5. 2010, Deetken was still lecturing on the topic, and was cited here, as a "Recognized crop circle authority."

6. 2014, there was the "Salmon Arm Observer" article. 

Jacques Vallee on the National Institute for Discovery Science

Background

Given the recent interest in the activities of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) and its involvement in the Defense Intelligence Agency's Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2007-2012,  some people are still unaware that Robert Bigelow, Las Vegas property developer, had previously operated a similar organization, interested in both the subjects of UAP, and the paranormal.

Bigelow's National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) operated between 1995 and 2004. Via the Wayback Machine on the Internet it is still possible to explore some of the NIDS (now defunct) website.

With the January 2019 release of Jacques Vallee's latest book "Forbidden Science:Volume Four" there is an opportunity to gain some insights into the thinking of Robert Bigelow, and his NIDS, and hence into the BAASS operated AAWSAP. The following is a summary of the information contained in a number of Vallee's diary entries, which relate to the NIDS.

The formation of  the NIDS

Vallee records that Robert Bigelow rang him on 16 July 1995, and informed him that he, Bigelow was not going to continue with his funding of the "UFO Coalition" of the three major US UAP groups. Instead Bigelow intended to establish a new Institute.

"I want to work directly with the people who do research. New blood is desperately needed, there's no scientific discipline among ufologists. I'm forming an Institute and I want to attract world-class scientists to study UFOs and the paranormal including consciousness beyond death. I want you to think about it." (page 257.)

The next day Bigelow phoned again, to discuss his plans; outlining his need for 'a director who's good at administration but also understands the phenomenon.' Vallee writes 'There was a time when I would have jumped at such a job...'" (page 258.)

On 25 July 1995, Vallee and Bigelow met in person. Bigelow brought along a proposed organization chart. On 11 August 1995, Vallee advised Bigelow that he declined the position of the project's director, although he would consider a position on the NIDS science board.

Eight days later, Vallee and Hal Puthoff met the board of the NIDS. Initial members were Dean Radin and Diane Arcangel.

On 1 November 1995, Bigelow advised Vallee "of progress on our board of advisors" (page 294.) The chair was to be Dr Kit Green, Members would be Hal Puthoff, Marty Pilch, Dean Judd, General Jim Whinnery, John  Petersen, Emily Cook. Bigelow was trying to get Jessica Utts, Bruce Grayson, Senator Harrison Schmidt and Richard Deckart. Discussions between Green and Vallee, revealed that Green had laid down a number of conditions to Bigelow concerning the running of the Science Board, before accepting the position of Chair. At that point Vallee agreed to join the Science Board, as a member.

However, on 7 January 1996, Vallee writes that Bigelow on the phone had said "I applied the brakes because we didn't have the right management in place yet." (page 287.) Bigelow confirmed interviewing for three positions; namely two in the area of consciousness, and one in the area of aerial phenomena, Ron Blackburn, De Angelo of SAIC, Larry Lemke from Ames, were contacted. John Alexander spoke to Dr Robert Morris, and Dr Ken Ring.

First meeting

The NIDS Science Advisory Board (SAB) met once in December 1995 for an organizational meeting. Vallee was not present.

Second meeting

This was held in Las Vegas on 28 January 1996. There, Diane Arcangel was assembling a library; Air Force Lt Col Peter McDuff; Hal Puthoff; Dr Kenneth Klivington; Marty Pilch; John Petersen; Harrison Schmidt; JohnDale Solem; Dean Judd; were all present. Jessica Utts, Air Force Brigadier General Jim Whinnery; Emily Williams Cook; Ted Rockwell; John Alexander were also there. The meeting discussed NIDS' goals, visions and mission. Discussion ensued on Bigelow's dual focii for NIDS, to be on UAP, and survival after death. Las Vegas journalist George Knapp presented to the meeting about his research trip to the USSR.

At this meeting, Vallee learned that Bigelow became interested in survival researc "'after his 22-year old son died a few years ago in the desert. Bigelow became interested in UAP because he'd experienced unusual phenomenon as a child, with his grandparents." (page 296.)

Third meeting

The third NIDS SAB meeting occurred on 31 March 1996. Two new members attended, one of whom was Dr Ian Stevenson. Dean Jude was absent. NIDS had connected with Illebrand Von Ludwiger, (abduction researcher in Germany/Austria); Chad Deetken had been sent to Puerto Rico; and Peter McDuff, went to Mexico concerning UFO sightings. Puthoff and Alexander had visited Colonel P Corso. Dr Roger Leir and Derrel Sims presented on alien implants; and abduction researcher John Carpenter also presented to the SAB. Later Vallee, and Alexander met with Corso to obtain more details on Corso's claims.

Fourth meeting

On 1 June 1996, the fourth NIDS SAB meeting took place. There were three presentations by General Whinnery, re effects of g=forces on pilots and the relationship to consciousness. Former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell spoke about near-death experiences. On the question of implant analysis; the implants were found to contain common elements, and the SAB seemed to lean towards them being pieces of conventional metal, which had somehow, embedded in the human body.

Fifth meeting

The fifth meeting was on 3 August 1996. Senator Harry Reid attended the presentation which Vallee gave. The NIDS had hired three scientists as staff members,namely a biochemist; a molecular biologist, and a physicist (Dr Eric Davis.) By September 1996, the NIDS employed 11 people; 6 full time; and had purchased the Mount Wilson ranch in Nevada.

Present for part of the meeting were Ian Stevenson, and Bruce Grayson, plus Prof John Mack and associates. There was discussion on a possible partnership between PEER and NIDS. A mathematician Gian-Carlo Rota also joined the meeting.

Vallee writes "Administration issues threatened to bog down the discussion, starting with the changing definition of the Institute, no longer a granting agency. Bob wants to turn it into a working body that performs its own research and building relationships with centers of expertise, so, never delegating the analysis. Thus the SAB is elected as  working group rather than, merely a review and strategy board." (page 322.)

The biochemist was Dr Colm Kelleher; the microbiologist and veterinarian is George Onet, and the physicist was Dr Eric W Davis. The other permanent staff are John Alexander, a secretary and a receptionist. Also employed part time was George Knapp; Diane Arcangel; a Canadian studying cattle mutilations, and Shelley Wadsworth a local resident, in Nevada.

Sixth meeting

10 January 1997 saw the sixth NIDS SAB meeting take place. John Petersen presented on alternate futures; Bob Bigelow on the chronology of NIDS, and there was a summary of the NIDS budget.

"Bob outlined a new plan with two parts. Division I is devoted to 'survival of the human consciousness...Division II, 'Aerial Phenomena' continues surveillance of both properties, networking with ranchers, veterinarians and the police on mutilations and sample analysis.' (page 350.) John Dale Solem critiqued their work on implants. Jack Schmidt presented on lessons learned during hearings on mutilations in the 1970's. There was also, a brainstorming session about sensors and detection.

Vallee writes "it's clear the Board will not be consulted or even kept informed about grants funded by NIDS, such as John Mack's work." (page 352.)

My comment:

According to the above diary entry, both the Utah and the Nevada ranches were being surveilled. Details of the Utah ranch have been published in part; however, I can find no mention of the results of surveillance of the second, Wilson, Nevada, ranch.

Seventh meeting

This took place on 9 March 1997. Jessica Utts presented on the subject of statistics in parapsychology. George Onet reported on necropsy of a mutilated cow. Bigelow showed a TV documentary about near-death experiences.

Vallee found out that through the Institute, Bob Bigelow is channeling money to:

(1) A European book by Von Ludwiger.
(2) John Mack's exploration of multiple witness abduction cases.
(3) Immunology related to NDEs by Kelleher and Melvin Morse.
(4) Communication devices built by Putoff.
(5) John Petersen's "Day after" scenarios.
(6) An evaluation of mediums by Stevenson and Cook.
(7) A cattle mutilation survey by Onet.
(8) A seminar series on survival of consciousness led by Alexander.
(9) A crop circle study by Kit and Kristin (Green's life partner), with Kelleher and Deetken.
(10) A new Roper poll.

My comment:

On 7 June 1999, NIDS circulated a press release titled "How would humans react if ET landed" which provided the results of the (10) Roper poll on that particular "Day After" scenario.

Vallee writes "The hard truth is that the NIDS board is too busy trying to invent gadgets and feed their own projects to stop and think seriously about science fundamentals and the deeper nature of the phenomenon." (page 360.)

Eighth meeting

The eight meeting was on 2 May 1997. "Steve Trevino, who had just made a presentation to Kit and Bob, was there as well as Tommy Blann, an investigator from Texas, who now lives in Florida. An evening session was held to discuss cattle mutilations.

Vallee writes "Another aspect of the phenomenon that had become clear is its human origin. Carcasses have suffered injections and traction by clamps or other devices. It is common for the animals to be dropped, sometimes from considerable heights. Also common is the sight of helicopters." (page 365.)

"The Science Board spent most of the day discussing the Utah ranch in closed session. Three members were missing: Ian Stevenson, Melvin Morse and GianaCarlo. So there were thirteen of us with Bob..." (page 365.)

Edgard Mitchell gave a summary of the April 8-10 1997 Greer briefings.

'Most of the afternoon was spent discussing candidates for the position of consciousness at UNLV." (page 369.)

Ninth meeting

At the ninth meeting on 19 July 1997 "Ian Stevenson, Emily Cook and Bruce Grayson have sent abrasive letters criticizing the lack of research." (page 377.)

"We heard good staff reports about the Utah ranch." (page 378.)

Tenth meeting

17 October 1997 saw the tenth SAB meeting. "'What if two-way communication does happen?' Bob asked. He is convinced that one-way exchanges (from 'them' to Eric) have already taken place, in the form of telepathic messages and dreams." (page 391.)

"Chad Deetken gave an impassioned, but unscientific description of the English crop circle around Alton Barn and Silberry Hill. He discounted the hoax hypothesis." (page 392.)

"In the afternoon I said it was time to reinvent the Institute. We had lost sight of our constituency; I emphasized: do we work for the public good? The scientific community? Paranormal researchers? There was an urgent need to tighten up our procedures and to better protect our people in the field. I suggested using the Nevada (Wilson) ranch as a control site against the Utah property." (page 392.)

Eleventh meeting

The eleventh meeting took place on 11 January 1998. "Colm gave an excellent report on work at the ranch, then discussions centred on Bob's  plans to raise the visibility of 'aerial phenomena' to the national level. Against Kit''s protestations he led us through elaborate exercises designed to align us to his scheme. I stressed that the aspect of NIDS I most admired was precisely that we hadn't tried to grab headlines." (page 401.)

"The Utah ranch is quiet...There hasn't been a single new case of a physical UFO there." (page 401.)

Vallee missed part of this meeting so Bigelow filled him in on Bigelow's proposal to sponsor two new studies, "on the subject of the social effect of an announcement of (1) a major asteroid fall and (2) the reality of UFOs as extraterrestrial craft." (page 402.)

Vallee on Bigelow. "He has a deeper agenda, an inner certainty that a dramatic development (spectacular display by the phenomenon or striking announcement by the government) will happen 'soon.' When I pointed out that research at the ranch could lead to a statement about the reality of UFOs, however, he said he'd practically given up on this, the evidence would never be good enough...Yet Bob believes there is an MJ-12 and that the Phenomenon has done things that could have large impact, but the public was appraised as not being ready." (page 402.)

Twelfth meeting

The 12th meeting was on 25 April 1998.  "...is our Institute becoming 'just another Shirley Maclaine with lasers?' someone asked with humor."

"After the last session Bigelow spoke to Kit on the phone for a long time, trying to convince him that events at the ranch were real and couldn't be explained on psychological grounds." (page 409.)

Thirteenth meeting

Martin Pilch chaired the meeting on 11 July 1998. There was a review of the Sturrock/Rockefeller project. Colm Kelleher reported on the ranch.

Fourteenth meeting

At the 10 October 1998 meeting, "The group reviewed the first three years of NIDS." (page 420.)

"Today the Board...tackled the challenge posed by Bob Bigelow of engaging the scientific community. I said it didn't make sense to speak in the same sentence of getting visibility with the public AND with science (two radically different things,) impressing the media while gaining the confidence of secret sources (an obvious contradiction) taking an advocacy position while research is incomplete and crusading for the extraterrestrial visitation hypothesis while testing theories that may not involve ETH at all."

"Look at the data from the Utah ranch," I said, "where we have every paranormal phenomenon except for flying saucers." (page 426.)

Fifteenth meeting

Vallee noted about the 8 January 1999 meeting, "Bob Bigelow is still fascinated with 'Day After' scenarios...he went over the history of our efforts, from the initial interest to appeal to the military to the more recent idea of having our own contingency plan if it turned out, as he put it, that 'we are cohabiting on the Earth with non-human entities that controlled our destiny.'" (page 439.)

There was a lecture by Michael Lindemann, futurist. Puthoff put Lindemann in touch with Petersen, "which led to the idea of running 'First Contact' scenarios under the sponsorship of Firmage. For silly reasons were not supposed to know that Joe is involved. We ended up discussing Kairos. Al Harrison pointed out that 'After spending $2 million Firmage had failed to have any impact. The idea of going to the public is fundamentally flawed.' That took some wind out of Bob Bigelow's sails. Yet he remains convinced we are confronted with a 'scenario-selecting agent,' which implies that 'our state of acceptance will determine when and how confirmation occurs.' (pp439-440.)

"Bob got up to dictate our new role: to provide information on sightings and other events. Bob and Colm will contact us twice and each member will be expected to call with current information. With a group as busy as this, I don't think that's realistic. Bob' strengths as a visionary business manager (high demand for on-time results, quantifiable budgets with tight schedules) are not the best tools in fundamental research: one needs to pick extraordinary staff members and trust them: to give them the opportunity to fail." (page 440.)

"Bob...told me about changes planned around the Institute. I recommended a sober, quiet, non-flashy approach to the Congressional research Service as a reliable, low-key, respected gateway to senior legislators. " (page 441.)

The Utah ranch and UAP

Why was the Utah ranch selected? The answer lies on page 326, in a diary entry dated 15 August 1996. Vallee, speaking about a ranch in Nevada which was being looked at by Bigelow, with a view to purchase, writes "...another more interesting situation had popped up - a ranch in Utah where cattle mutilations, strange lights and bizarre objects were being reported 'almost daily.'"

However, as far as UAP went, Vallee points out, the volume of the UAP events at the Utah ranch was extremely low. On page 353 of his book, Vallee cites meeting with three NIDS staffers. "Expectations of frequent sightings of UFOs at the Utah ranch have not materialized." they said, "so what are we supposed to work on?"

By 11 January 1998, (page 401) "The Utah ranch is quiet, with no new incidents. There hasn't been a single new case of a physical UFO there."

And by 10 October 1998 (page 426) Vallee says "Look at the data from the Utah ranch" I said, "where we have every paranormal phenomena - except for flying saucers."

The NIDS mission

Initially, Robert Bigelow stated "I want to work directly with the people who do the research" as cited by Vallee on 16 July 1995. Vallee states (3 August 1996) "Bob wants to turn it into a working body that performs its own research." On 10 January 1997, "Bob outlined a new plan..." By 9 March 1997, the Institute was funding projects across the areas of abductions, near-death experiences; cattle mutilations; and crop circles. On 10 October 1998, Bigelow wished the SAB to see how best to engage the scientific community. On 9 January 1999, "Bob got up to dictate our new role, to provide information on sightings."

It seems to me, on reading the discussions on the mission of the NIDS, that it kept changing, and this was solely at Bigelow's instigation.

Parallels between the NIDS and BAASS

Some parallels can be drawn between the 1995-1999 NIDS era, and the later 2007 to 2012 AAWSAP BAASS contract era.

In a 19 March 2018 interview with former Senator Harry Reid, the New York Magazine revealed that Bigelow, around 2006/2007  received a letter from a senior employee of a federal national security agency. That employee told Bigelow "I want to go to your ranch in Utah." After which, the employee visited the ranch and was impressed enough that they assisted Reid by writing the AAWSAP Defense Intelligence Agency solicitation document. Although Reid does not provide the employee's name, the DIA documentation states that the AAWSAP manager was one James T Lacatski.

Journalist George Knapp, and film producer Jeremy Corbell, both insist that the Utah ranch was a focus of the BAASS investigation (BAASS received the AAWSAP contract.)

However, the DIA solicitation is silent about anything to do with  activities on any ranch. Hence, here is an obvious contradiction, which is impossible to unravel without direct input from James T Lacatski and Robert Bigelow. Neither of whom have ever spoken publicly about this.

Given Vallee's comments about the level of UAP activity, at the Utah ranch between 1995 and 1999, one can pose the question as to what was the level of UAP activity when Lacatski visited the ranch around 2006/2007? Was it the UAP activity or other paranormal activity which caught his attention? If it was the paranormal attention, then how come the DIA solicitation document doesn't mention this?

In summary

The diary entries in Vallee's latest book, allow us some deeper insights about the thinking of Robert Bigelow, and the work of the NIDS, than I had previously had.

On the difficulty of proving UAP "fragments" are extraterrestrial - updated

UAP "fragments"

In recent times, there has been much re-newed interest in the potential "fragments" from Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon; and in particular, the topic of analyses of such material.

To The Stars Academy

Last July, the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science, launched its A.D.A.M. project which aimed to collect and analyze "materials reported to have come from advanced aerospace vehicles of unknown origin."  Then followed a series of blog posts on their website discussing the project.

In September, I wrote a blog piece about the letting of a US$35,000 contract between TTSA and EarthTech International for the analysis of several "fragments."

At the 27 October, 2018, Centro Ufologico Nazionale UAP conference in Rome, Italy, Luis Elizondo of TTSA, showed a slide of a collection of images, which he referred to as material in the possession of TTSA, which was being analyzed.

At the March 2019, conference of the Scientific Coalition for Ufology, held in Huntsville, Alabama, Elizondo again showed that same slide. He stated:

" What makes this material so special? Now, in some cases, this material was told it's special. Through analysis, guess what? Not so special. But some of it is absolutely special. I won't point out which ones on that slide but there are some that are absolutely special and have been briefed to some very, very senior levels of the government, and they do remarkable and extraordinary things and they're built in such a way that to this day we still can't replicate them."

However, to date, there have been no documents released, providing details of the analysis of these "special" materials, and it seems that the public release of any such detail, will not occur until the TTSA/History channel six part series, scheduled to commence in the US at the end of May 2019. It is uncertain, whether or not, TTSA will publish a peer reviewed article in a major materials science journal. While I, in general, support the work being undertaken by the TTSA, the apparent direction for us to learn of the analysis results is hardly a scientific one - simply entertainment.

Lee Speigel

On the 8 January 2019 podcast on the "Open Minds News Radio" program, one of the guests was former Huffington Post journalist, Lee Speigel. Speigel talked about UAP related materials. Thanks to researcher Joe Murgia, we have a transcript of Speigel's segment.  In part, Speigal says:

"...The number one story, may be, for me...what's still floating around is the idea that there's a lot of competition out there among UFO researchers and scientists over the analysis of alleged fragments or pieces of UFOs.  This is a very big story. And even I, recently, had a unique opportunity to see and hold some reportedly, real UFO material that's being analyzed now by scientists that aren't yet ready to go public with their amazing findings. But they will. And I can say...I can say that with total certainty because I was there, in their laboratory... They're gonna release it to science and say "Here's what we've come up with. We can conclude very definitely that some of these fragments were not naturally formed and that they were manufactured by someone... They will be able to conclude that some of these fragments are not from Earth..."

Queried by Alejandro Rojas whether or not he was talking about the TTSA, Speigel responded that no, it was not TTSA he was referring to, and not Robert Bigelow either. Unfortunately, the above, generalized statement fails to add any detail to the topic. Certainly, there was no data provided to back up the statements which Speigel made. I understand, yet again, similar to the  TTSA approach, that Speigel and partner will report upon the analysis work of the unnamed laboratory, in a feature film to be released later in 2019.

Joe Murgia speculated, that the individuals whom Speigel was referring to, were Jacques Vallee, and Dr Garry Nolan.

Dr Garry Nolan

Professor Garry Nolan is the Rachford and Carlota A Harris Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He was interviewed by author and researcher, M J Banias on 29 April 2019. Their conversation mainly involved the areas of Dr Nolan's work with Dr Kit Green and their cohort of patients who had apparently sustained injuries arising from their encounters with the phenomenon; and the work Dr Nolan was undertaking with Jacques Vallee on materials analysis.

Regarding their materials analysis work, I directed the following question to Dr Nolan, through Banias: "Is there a peer reviewed paper anywhere in the near future that the community can expect?"

Dr Nolan gave an extended response, to the question, which I listened to on YouTube. Later, in communicating with Dr Nolan, he offered to clarify some of the points he mentioned. So, the following is a combination of his conversational response, and some additional material.

"Yes...some initial studies showed unusual isotopic ratios and Jacques has talked about them publicly so I'm comfortable talking about that. So what we are doing right now, is I'm doing this work personally. The recent work that Jacques showed, I did the experiments myself, but not the historical stuff Peter Sturrock for instance, here at Stanford did collaborating with Jacques in the past. Others had done some isotopic analysis work as well, and we have confirmed some of those efforts.

My point is at this stage, as much as some of the (non-mainstream) journals that have published this stuff are credible, they are unfortunately not the journals that anybody in the mainstream is paying attention to. The journals people are paying attention to are like, Nature Materials, Nature Photonics, and Aeronautical journals. So, we've convinced a couple of those major journals that if we put together a credible paper that looks like there are credible conclusions, then they will send the paper out for peer review. That doesn't mean they will publish the work, but they will send it out for peer review, to make sure and double check our results. I expect we will probably get push back like I got push back with the Atacama results at the beginning. But the feedback made it a better paper. So, that's what we will do. So yes, we plan open publication.

So, right now what we are doing are confirmations of our initial results. We are taking it round to those who are specialists in mass spectrometry and metallurgy, to ask "Ok, where could I have made a mistake? What could be the contaminating artifacts in the information here that are leading to me to make the wrong conclusion  - and hopefully prevent me from potentially making a fool of myself?

That's why you go to the experts - which we have done in some of these cases. Sometimes you tell them what it is, and the provenance. Sometimes, you say, hey I've got this stuff, I'm trying to find out what it is. Does this make sense - is this possible? Given we know what this is made of, ( i.e. the elements and the isotopes) could I get apparently altered ratios by some strange surface chemistry that leads me to misinterpret the results? So, let's talk about some of the isotopes. I think there's magnesium in a couple of the samples of Jacques that have strange ratios. So, are the unexpected magnesium ratios because Mg26 is more likely to bond  to something in the material or less able to be ionized, and therefore make it look like it has got a different isotope ratio than it actually has?  And maybe that's the case because that magnesium 26 is in the context of something  else in the sample. Total speculation,but I've learned to be careful. So, apparent isotope ration difference might have nothing to do with aliens, or other worldly anything, and it is only to do with the physical structure of the material that makes what we think we're seeing to be somewhat off natural, when it is in fact truly "normal."

Here the message is to other people that I know , who are out there, who are doing this kind of analytical work on these materials; be very careful. A couple of things that we thought were off, have very conventional explanations, and you have to go to the expert, or you will make a fool of yourself. And you will discredit anything that you're trying to do. And the people who are listening, who know what I am doing with these materials- who know I know who they are, and that I have told this to them privately, but now I'm telling them publicly.

That's why I am interested in the material work that Jacques brought to the table. It's because, of, all the many things things that can be done, the materials are "reproducible." We can cut those samples into many pieces as Jacques would tolerate. Send it to people in laboratories - to confirm it. We've done that in some cases. So, we're getting these validations and we're checking with the necessary experts. Then, we'll write up a simple paper that will make no claim to anything, other than the fact that here's the composition of the stuff and here's the story of how it was found. End of story.

The hanging question there, should the materials be truly anomalous, is how did they get made? People (humans) don't play with isotopic ratios easily. Ask yourself what do people do with isotopic ratios now (with current technology)? What do we modify isotopes for, or what have we been doing with isotopes for the last 60 years? Blow stuff up...uranium and plutonium...imaging or killing ...cancer cells...nothing very subtle.

Chemistry and physics have not caught up with why you might use titanium 46 versus titanium 47 (plus one neutron)...what is different about the magnesium ratios in the sample that I know Hal has, and I have a sample that was given to me by Leslie. So, why would somebody alter those ratios? The cost to change isotopic ratios is considerable, especially given the provenance: that is, some of these materials date back decades, when the ability to make those changes was so costly that why would you make a big chunk of it and throw it out in the desert?...why would you bother?...I can tell you right now there is simply no industrial/material reason to alter the ratios.

(Talking of the use of the word "alloys by TTSA.) "So, I wrote an internal memo to TTSA at the time I was involved with them and said these aren't alloys. These materials, do not think of them as alloys. We need to change the conversation. You need to call them metamaterials - so I'd like to lay claim to the use of that term (this was a memo in response to the Scientific American article about the Tic Tacs saying that humans basically know all there is to know about alloys.) These are more complex, and if anything, you need to call them ultramaterials because metamaterials are pretty well understood....basically that's a repeated atomic architecture that performs a single purpose.

So, I took some of the material from Jacques to some people at Stanford, and I said - this is interesting, and you tell them a little bit about it. They will sometimes reply, if you can interest them that " Well I have this or that instrument, and I'll get back to you, and tell you something about this, that, the other of it..." They can inform us whether you've seen this in any aeronautical industry materials before. And if they come back and tell me, yes this is something from Pratt and Whitley circa 1955, I'm like, thank you, now I can go do something else..."

Premature disclosure

In a recent document titled "A preliminary catalogue of alleged "fragments" reportedly associated with sightings of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena where analysis(es) was/were conducted" I offer dozens of cases where such material underwent analysis. The results vary from the mundane, to cases claiming an extraterrestrial origin had been proven.

A classic example of the latter occurred on 4 July 1997, at a conference held in Roswell, New Mexico, when a Dr VernonClark announced the results of his tests on a sample given to Dr Roger Leir in August 1995 by an individual who stated the fragment came from the 1947 Roswell "crash."

VernonClark announced that the sample showed significant variations from normal isotopic composition found on Earth; and that he could only conclude that the sample had been manufactured and was extraterrestrial in origin. Needless to say, UFO researchers celebrated the announcement.

However, in subsequent weeks, VernonClark retreated from this definitive conclusion, citing that he had been misquoted. Yet his published written results were available for anyone to look at. He is quoted as saying "In retrospect, with 20-20 hindsight, I would have preferred to have more work done..."

Twelve years on,VernonClark's results are generally accepted to have been in error, derived from poor analytical techniques.

It seems to me, that most UFO researchers have failed to understand the complexity of the process by which analysis is undertaken. Note that Dr Garry Nolan, in his statement above, said:

"I'm really talking to other people that I know , who are out there, who are doing this kind of work; be vary careful. A couple of things that we thought were off, have very conventional explanations, and you have to go to the expert, or you will make a fool of yourself. And you will discredit anything that you're trying to do. And the people who are listening, who know what I am - who know who they are, I told this to them privately, but now I'm telling them publicly."

Chris Cogwell

Christopher F Cogwell holds a PhD in chemical engineering with a focus on the study of nanomaterials. In August 2018 he posted a detailed article about the methodology which he considered necessary to be followed when conducting materials analysis. In part he stated:

"We would want to identify if the material has come from outer space by comparing it to similar materials or samples we find on Earth. Does it show significant enough difference to cause us to believe it did not come from our planet?

Second is there evidence that the material has been engineered or designed in some way? Does it show properties or applications that we wouldn't expect to occur naturally, or is it engineered or composed in such a way to give it specific properties?

An third, does it show advanced techniques or knowledge with which we are unfamiliar. Are there super-heavy elements which we have yet to discover here on Earth, does it show crystal structure or solid phases that have not yet been observed by the materials science community, does it show composition and engineering which is beyond the scope of science today?"

His article goes on to describe the types of testing which could be undertaken, and the methodology for such testing.

He concludes:

" As far as can be gleaned from the information available to the general public, it appears that efforts to date concerning the analysis of solids potentially occurring from some unknown civilization have focused on the first class of studies, those concerning the elements making up the material and their isotopes. However, as has been suggested by this work that is only a small portion of the entire picture needed before any definitive conclusions can be made."

Chris Cogwell issued a warning:

"Of particular concern to the interested public should be any study that purports to give evidence without clearly reporting in detail their methodology, potential sources of error, the accuracy of their measurements, and other information required to replicate their results."

Publication

Following upon the finding of any anomaly in one of these samples, the next step is to publish the results, to enable discussion among the scientific and UAP communities. Here lies a difficulty, respectable journals so far, have failed to publish such articles. So, it is of interest to note the approach taken by Dr Garry Nolana and Jacques Vallee in their joint work.

In summary

The words of Chris Cogwell; Dr Garry Nolan; Jacques Vallee (in private correspondence to the author) and others, urges us to take care when examining the results claimed by some UFO researchers, and even scientists such as Dr VernonClark, regarding analyses of UAP related material.

What is needed, is a multi-pronged methodology along the lines proposed by Chris Cogwell, and a well documented chain of custody for samples. Then, if a sample does indeed indicate genuine anomalies, along the lines Cogwell suggests; and the full results; are available in an article in a peer reviewed materials science or similar journal, we may be able to  claim that we do indeed have a "fragment"from the phenomenon.

Until then, in my opinion, we need to beware of undocumented proclamations of "special" materials which do "remarkable and extraordinary things."