More from the US Navy

John Greenewald

In blog posts dated 9 July 2019 and 27 August 2019 I have reported upon statements made about UAP by the US Navy. Recently, US researcher John Greenewald has reported upon further responses given to him by the US Navy, to questions he posed.

On 10 September 2019 Greenewald posted the first of the Naval responses.  US Navy spokesperson, Joseph Gradisher, who speaks on behalf of the Deputy Chief of Navy Operations for Information Warfare responded to the following list of questions from Greenewald.

(1) Why the Navy uses the term UAP not UFO?

"The 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' terminology is used because it provides the basic descriptor for the sightings/observations of unauthorized/unidentified aircraft/objects that have been observed entering/operating in the airspace of various military-controlled training ranges."

(2) On the question of whether or not the Navy had released the three videos?

"The Navy has not released the videos to the general public."

(3) Why the words UAP or UFO do not appear on the DD Form 10?

"The Navy has no comment on, nor control over, how civilian individuals or organizations may or may not describe the objects in the referenced videos. The Navy designates the objects contained in these videos as 'unidentified aerial phenomenon.' Adding, "You'd have to contact Mr Elizondo on his description. I can't comment or speculate on how/why he referred to them in that way."

(4) Did the Navy sign off to full, unrestricted public release of the videos?

"Neither the cognizant Navy officers nor DOPSR have record of any correspondence responding to a request for unrestricted release of the subject videos in 2017."

On 11 September 2019, John Greenewald revealed further information about the three videos. In response to his queries spokesperson Joseph Gradisher stated:

(1) What do the three videos represent?

"The Navy has not publicly released characteristics or descriptions, nor released any hypothesis or conclusions, in regard to the objects contained in the referred videos." Then added, "The Navy considers the phenomena contained/depicted in those 3 videos as unidentified."

(2) How does the Navy refer to the videos?

"The Navy's official identifiers for the referenced videos do not match the names referenced (FLIR1, Gimbal and GoFast)...the Navy identifies these videos by the reported dates of the observations/sightings."

(3) What dates were the videos taken?

"[The] dates are 14 November 2004 for 'FLIR1' and 21 January 2015 for both 'Gimbal' and 'GoFast.''

(4) Any further details?

"We will not be providing any details on individual reports."

Douglas Dean Johnson

On 12 September 2019, on Twitter, Douglas Dean Johnson advised that Gradisher confirmed to him that "Mr Greenewald did indeed quote me accurately in his recent [Sept 10] article." Gradisher also provided Johnson with the following statement:

"The US Navy designates the objects contained in the 3 range-incursion videos that are currently being referred to in various media as unidentified aerial phenomena. The 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' terminology is used because it provides the basic descriptor for the sightings/observations of unauthorized/unidentified aircraft/objects entering/operating in the airspace of various military-controlled training ranges - it's any aerial phenomenon that cannot immediately be identified. 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' (UAP) is a term we borrowed from the UK. The Navy has not released these videos to the general public; nor authorised public release. The three videos were/are designated as unidentified."

My comments

1. It has long been known that the FLIR1 video was taken on the 14 November 2004, the same day as the Fravor tic-tac encounter.

2. Researchers, including myself, utilised the wind speed and direction mentioned by the pilots in the Gimbal video [120 knots from the west] to determine a possible date for that video of 26 January 2015. Upper atmospheric sounding balloon records for the nearest station showed the wind speed as 112 knots from azimuth 245 degrees.

Now that we know that the date was in fact 21 January 2015 we can revisit the wind data.

At 0700hrs local time 21 January 2015 we have:

At the height of the aircraft, 7620 metres [25,000 feet] the wind was from azimuth 290 degrees, just north of west at 85 knots. It reached 122 knots at a height of 10,425 metres.

Given that the aircraft, at the time was at a location believed to be off the coast, the wind data are not inconsistent. 

3. Note that the US Navy statements says that "The three videos were/are designated as unidentified" and "The Navy considers the phenomena contained/depicted in those 3 videos as unidentified."

Many commentators are stressing the point that the Navy are unable to identify the objects in the videos, i.e. they are UFOs. However, it seems logical to me, that in fact none of the videos would have been release [by whomever] if the Navy had been able to identify them. The very fact that we now can see the videos seems, to me, to indicated the objects are unidentified. The latest Navy statements simply confirm the obvious.

Update 16 September 2019

Roger Glassel, in the 16 September 2019 issue of the Swedish magazine UFO -aktuelit  carried the following series of questions and answers 

1) Are the updated reporting procedures and congressional briefings being done in relations to the UFO phenomenon or the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) problem?

A1) The updated reporting procedures and congressional briefings are in response to reports of incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena in our military training ranges.

As I’ve stated previously in response to news media queries, “There have been a number of reports of unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft entering various military-controlled training ranges and designated air space in recent years. The Navy and the USAF take these reports very seriously and investigate each and every report. Any incursion into our training ranges by any aircraft, identified or not identified, is problematic from both a safety and security concern. Safety of our aircrews is paramount. Unauthorized and unidentified aircraft pose a risk to flight safety. Additionally, it is vital we maintain security on our operations. Our aviators train as they fight. Any intrusions that may compromise the security of our operations, tactics or procedures is of great concern. As part of this effort, the Navy has updated and is formalizing the process by which reports of any such suspected incursions can be made to the cognizant authorities. Initial revised reporting guidance has been provided to the fleet that details the steps for reporting each incident. More formal guidance is in staffing and will be promulgated fleet-wide when completed. In response to requests for information from Congressional members and staff, Navy officials have provided and will continue to provide briefings by senior Naval Intelligence officials as well as aviators who reported hazards to aviation safety."

2) Is the term Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (in relation to either unidentified aircrafts, or in relations to the UFO phenomenon) used by the Navy or any other component in the U.S. Defense Department?

A2) The Navy designates the objects contained in these videos as unidentified aerial phenomena. 

3) Are the Navy involved - or has been involved in the recent decades - in studying the UFO phenomenon?

A3) The Navy has been and is investigating any unauthorized incursions into our training ranges by unidentified aerial phenomena. I would note that the wide proliferation and availability of inexpensive unmanned aerial systems (UAS), such as commercially available quadcopters, has increasingly made airspace de-confliction an issue for our aviators. In this increasingly complex airspace, which includes both military and civilian aviation environments, the U.S. Navy is proactive in exercising due diligence in investigating any observation in training areas that could affect the safety of our aircrews and the security of our operations.

4) Do you think that the quotes by you was depicted in its right context, as presented in the articles?

A4) The quotes provided by you in your email, from the initial Politico story, are accurate.

5) Was the Navy involved in the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program to study Unidentified Aerial Phenomena reported by U.S. Navy pilots or other credible sources?

A5) The AATIP program involved offices from across the Department of Defense, including Navy. Details remain classified. For additional information, I would refer you to the Department of Defense.

6) Has any of the unidentified objects in the three videos released now been explained by the Navy or any other component in the U.S. Defense Department?

A6) Neither has the Navy nor any other DoD component has publicly released characterizations, descriptions, hypothesis, or conclusions in regards to the objects contained in the referenced videos. 

7) Was the new reporting guidelines updated due to pilots fear of ridicule for reporting sightings of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and UFOs?

A7) We have updated guidelines and simplified the process to facilitate reporting of unidentified aerial phenomena in order to support an objective, data-driven analysis of the range incursions. By providing updated guidelines and conducting more open discussion of our efforts, we are working to remove any stigmas associated with reporting anything unknown in the airspace. Initial, informal, revised reporting guidance has been provided to the fleet, through message traffic and briefings, with detailed steps for reporting each incident. More formal guidance is in staffing and will be promulgated fleet-wide when completed.

8) Has the Navy, or any other component, come to the conclusion that some of the unidentified sightings reported is due to an aerial phenomena with technological features not currently known to mankind?

A8) The Navy has not publicly released characterizations or descriptions, nor released any hypothesis or conclusions in reference to any reported sightings/observations. As the investigation of UAP sightings is ongoing, we will not discuss individual sighting reports/observations. However, all possible sources of information pertaining to any individual sighting reports/observations are considered in the respective investigations. The information obtained from each individual report of any suspected training range incursion will continue to be investigated in its own right. The information obtained in these reports will be catalogued and analyzed for the purpose of identifying any hazard to our aviators. This process could involve multiple Department of Defense and Intelligence Community organizations. Any report generated as a result of these investigations will, by necessity, include classified information on military operations. Therefore, no release of information to the general public is expected.

9) In the Navy’s effort to study reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, was former DOD/OUSDI employee Luis Elizondo involved in such effort?

A9) While he was a U.S. government employee, Mr. Elizondo occasionally provided coordination and professional connections/liaison within DoD and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.

10) What is the definition of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena used by the Navy and the U.S. Defense Department?

A10) “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)” is a term we borrowed from the UK – it’s any aerial phenomenon that cannot immediately be identified. The wide proliferation and availability of inexpensive unmanned aerial systems (UAS) isn’t contradictory, it’s just when the UAS is *NOT* immediately identifiable we refer to it as UAP. A quadcopter is immediately identifiable. As we have previously acknowledged, the number of incursions into our ranges has increased with that wide proliferation and availability of inexpensive UAS. Additionally, we use the generic UAP term in communications so as not to pre-judge the results of any investigation. 

Any range incursion by unauthorized craft affects the safety of our aviators and/or the security of our operations. Our revised reporting guidance solicits reports of any unauthorized craft (UAP or UAS) observed within our ranges so that we may investigate that range incursion. Incursions/sightings since 2014 may be referred to as either UAS or UAP, depending on the circumstances surrounding the specific incident in question.

Identified? Another individual from the Green/Dolan interview - the "advisor"

Background

Recently, I discovered the identity of the "mentor" figure mentioned in a July 2019 interview, between Christopher (Kit) Canfield Green, and US researcher Richard Dolan. In that same interview, Green also spoke about a number of items which had been mysterious delivered to his doorstep, including:

KG: "As far as the tissue was concerned, there was one instance that to this day I have not been able to rationalize or reconcile. One of the packages of material that I had delivered to my doorstep purported to be tissues from an autopsy of an alien at Area 51. It appeared to be [with] documents that were legitimate. But remember, they appeared on my doorstep in Detroit.

RD: "No provenance."

KG: "Some of the documents [pause] some of the documents actually appeared to be highly technical genetic analysis of neural tissue taken from one of the alleged aliens. And it was apparent that it was probably a biopsy or necropsy sample of tissue. It was apparent because it was in the format which laboratories liked that kind of material. And it was replete with descriptions of reverse transcriptase analyses purporting to show that the genetic fingerprints were alien. I took that material and presented it to a subgroup that I was chairing at the National Academy of Sciences.

"One of the people who was on my committee was the chairman of the Department of Genetics and the chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology at arguably one of the top five medical schools on the East Coast.

" I gave the material to that chairperson. The chairperson took four or five hours in such attention and analysis that the chairman left the room of my committee hearings and came back four hours later and said ' I regret to tell you what I think, Kit." And did. And said the following:

'This is a clever hoax.The person that wrote this did it with an intention to convince but [the] language sounds many times, interspersed in the sentences as if somebody with a Master's degree in genetics pretending to be a geneticist at a post-doctoral level and is supplementing the phrases from Google. It is absolutely a hoax, but it is an intentional hoax, in which this material has been transposed to fifteen pages, but I assure you it is garbage.'

"...this individual was a physician MD who was board certified in internal medicine, and had a subspeciality in medical genetics, and a PhD in Molecular Biology. And was the chairman of, at that time the largest genetics and molecular biology medical school department and arguably one of the top medical schools on Earth."

Who was this individual?

I wondered who this individual might be, who I named the "advisor"? Could their identify be deduced, as I had for Flickinger, based on the clues provided by Green?

I first went to Green's published curriculum vitae and there I found that listed one and only one subgroup of the National Academy of Sciences, which Green had chaired. This was the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Military and Intelligence Methodology for Emergent Physiological and Cognitive/Neuroscience in the Next Two Decades. Its report was published in 2008.

This committee was an ad hoc committee of the standing committee for Technology Insight - Gauge, Evaluate and Review (TIGER.) TIGER was established in May 2005, based on a request from Defense Intelligence Agency's (DIA) Technology Warning Division's Defense Warning Office (DWO). Interestingly, the DWO was the area where the the 38 Defense Intelligence Reference Documents went to, that were prepared under the DIA's Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program, which spawned the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification program.

Besides Green there were fifteen other individuals on that committee, so I examined each individual's details to see if any of them matched Green's "advisor."

Gender

When Green spoke about his "mentor," he used the words "this man's" and "he," indicating the mentor was male. However, I noted that when he spoke of his "advisor" he used the terms "chairman" and "chairperson" but never "him" or "her." I suspected that this might be because his "advisor" was female.

Back to the fifteen individuals. There was only one, which matched almost all of Green's clues. This was  Professor Diane Edmund Griffin who was chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, during the period 1994-2015, at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

https://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/281/diane-e-griffin

Griffin received her MD and PhD in 1968 from Stanford University, where she completed her residency in internal medicine. her PhD was in microbiology. I could find no reference to a subspeciality in medical genetics.

However, in all other ways, Griffin fits the details which Green provides.

My comments

1. Material making incredible claims, eg tissue samples of aliens from Area 51, which lands up on your doorstep is never a good sign. As Dolan says, there is no provenance. Why not deliver it to Green at his CIA office (he left there in 1985 - but we don't have a date for this tissue sample delivery) - or at his medial center address (Green himself says he was getting autopsy related doorstep deliveries up to as recently as 2011)?

2. Fifteen pages of documents which were declared a hoax by the "advisor." Who was the hoaxer?

3. My identification of Professor Griffin as Green's "advisor" fairly fits the information Green provides, although I am not as certain of this identification, as I am of Flickinger as the "mentor."

4. It does show that Green was well connected and had a network of individuals which he could call upon for advice.

5. It is a pity that we are being spoon fed bits of historical information by Green. I'd like to see him write his biography. Now, that would be an interesting read. My own "dossier" on Green, extends to over 50 pages at the moment.

6. Are there any other individuals which are referenced, but not named, in Green's interview with Dolan?

In conclusion

I welcome hearing from blog readers if they have an alternate suggestion for the identity of Green's "advisor."

Kit Green's USAF "UFO" mentor

Kit Green's July 2019 interview

On 24 August 2019, US researcher Richard Dolan published an extensive interview which he had conducted in July 2019, with Dr. Christopher 'Kit' Canfield Green. One section of this interview intrigued me. This was:

"Through the 1980's, when he was still a CIA intelligence officer, one of Green's associates "was a recently retired, extremely senior general officer from the United States Air Force." He also happened to be a senior physician. In the Air Force, this man's area of work was as a liaison on the "Classified manned space flight program." After he left the Air Force he went into private industry under contract, "like they all do." His classified work was in "aspects of the space program."

"In 1982, Green hired this person to be on a science board at the CIA with him. Within a year or two ("in 1983, 84,")  the man said to Green  that "the stories about alien incursions, recoveries and information [are] true." Moreover, he was going to get Green cleared for the relevant programs. One key reason was the lack of  physicians cleared for them. Green was excited about the prospect."

However, the clearance never happened. "Even during Green's retirement from the CIA while with General Motors his retired Air Force colleague continued telling him that he was going to get Green cleared "into the programs that had to do with aliens and UFOs." Still, this clearance never happened."

Elsewhere, in the same interview, Dolan revealed that this person passed away in 1997. Kit Green did not name the individual.

Who was this individual?

Given the amount of detail which Green provided Dolan with, about the associate; I wondered if it were possible to determine the name of this individual?

Firstly, I consulted with Melbourne colleague Paul Dean who has expertise in this area. Paul suggested I try a specific United States Air Force website which contains biographies of current and past USAF leadership. This proved very useful.

I used keyword searchs to find individuals who had passed away in 1997. There were quite a few. I read the biography of each and every one of them, quite a task. Fortunately, there was one, and only one, physician in that group. This was Brigadier General Donald D Flickinger.

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/107079/brigadier-general-don-d-flickinger/

Flickinger

A check of numerous Internet sources determined the following, about Flickinger.

* He was a Stanford Medical school trained surgeon

* While in the USAF he was a director of "human factors" in the military's plans to put a man into space

* He was director of bio-astronautics and life sciences

* He left the USAF in 1961

* After the USAF he consulted for NASA and other agencies including the CIA

* He passed away on 23 February 1997.

His biographical details are consistent with everything which Green related to Dolan.

A CIA connection

An official CIA history "Developing the U2" describes how then Colonel Donald D Flickinger acted as a medical advisor to the CIA's Project AQUATONE for over a decade. Knowledge gained from creating the flight suits developed for U2 pilots, was used in the flight suits for US astronauts.

A search revealed that there are a number of internal CIA documents, such as this one, this one, and others which mention the work of Flickinger.

I have not found any official records showing that Flickinger was hired for a CIA science board.

Flickinger and UFOs

Is there any evidence to support Kit Green's statement that his mentor spoke to him about "the stories about alien incursions, recoveries and information[are] true."?

An Internet search using relevant keywords has so far failed to find any mention of an interest in UFOs by Flickinger. Perhaps a diligent blog reader may be able to find something.

US Navy emails re UFOs and unidentified aircraft

Politico magazine

On 23 April 2019, Politico magazine journalist Bryan Bender, broke a story that the US Navy was drafting new guidelines for reporting Unidentified Flying Objects. Bender also related that Congressional members and staffers, had received briefings from senior US Navy intelligence officials. I reported on this information  in a blog post dated 24 April 2019.

When Luis Elizondo, in Episode six of the "Unidentified" TV series, formerly AATIP program manager, mentioned that the "AATIP is no longer run by a single office. There's several offices that are engaged in this effort..." I then suggested, in a blog post dated 9 July 2019, that the US Office of  Naval Intelligence was now involved.

John Greenewald

Recently, US researcher John Greenewald, revealed the results of a number of FOIA requests, which he had submitted to the US Navy.

In FOIA request DON-NAVY-2019-006272, Greenewald asked for "ALL emails sent TO/FROM (or cc'd or bcc'd) Joseph Gradisher, spokesperson for Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare, which include the following keyword: "UFO" or "unidentified aircraft."

On his website, Greenewald hosts two resultant PDF's totalling 63 pages of official emails. One set for the "UFO" response, and another set for "unidentified aircraft."

Media queries

Many of the emails deal with requests from a variety of media outlets including The Washington Post, CBS This Morning, The Hill, CNN, Politico, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, and CTV news Canada. We have all read the media accounts which resulted from these inquiries.

Who is mentioned in the emails?

I was particularly interested to see who was named in the series of emails. There are some names which have been redacted, but the following are present:

Joseph Gradisher - F CIV USN DCNO N2N6 (US) [CNO = Chief of Naval Operations]

Gradisher is a Captain (USN retired) N2N6, Strategic Engagements, and is a spokesperson for the Deputy Chief of Operations for Information Warfare. He is the individual mentioned in most media stories.

B. Lynn Wright -SES USN DCNO N2N6 (USA)

Wright is ADCNO for Information Warfare (Acting), OPNAV N2N6B. Deputy Director Naval Intelligence, formerly at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

John F (Jay) Stratton - SES USN NIMITZ OPINTELCEN DC (USA)

Stratton works for the Office of Naval Intelligence at the NIMITZ operational intelligence center in DC. The Nimitz center is one of two main intelligence analysis centers operated by the Office of Naval Intelligence. It was Stratton who provided the wording for most of the information which was provided to media outlets.

Matthew J Kohler - VADM USN (USA)

https://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=653

Kohler is a Vice Admiral, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare.

Gregory Hicks - L CAPT USN CHINFO WASHINGTON  DC (USA) [CHINFO = Chief of Information]

https://www.navy.mil/navybio_cmd.asp?id=1009&grp=150

Hicks was acting Chief of Information, Navy office of information, Navy Pentagon, 4B463.

Richard V Spencer - HON SECNAV

John M Richardson - ADM USN CNO (USA)

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/John_M._Richardson_(admiral)

Richardson is currently the director of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion program.

DeWolfe H Miller - VADM USN COMNAVAIRPAC SAN CA (USA)

https://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=639

DeWolfe was given a "heads up" on the flow of information. He became USN aviation's "air boss"in 2018.

Jason A Reynolds - A SES USN (USA)

Appears to be DeWofe's Aide.

In summary

As you would expect, there are individuals who work in the information field; an ONI analyst; and senior members of the USN who needed to be briefed on the topic.

John F Stratton

https://www.secnav.navy.mil/donhr/About/Senior-Executives/Biographies/Stratton,%20J.pdf

The key person here, I suspect, and the one I would love to talk to, is the ONI NIMITZ center analyst, John F Stratton. Out of all the people involved here, as the person who was going in to brief Congressional members and staffers, I would expect Stratton to have gathered the most background information on all of this. Senior staff do not need to be briefed on all the fine details, and the information people only need to be told what can be released. However, an analyst has to know all the fine details.

His official Navy biography states that he has 29 years of experience with the US Army; USAF Reserve and US Federal Civil Service.

"As the center's senior analyst he is responsible for delivering comprehensive intelligence to navy leadership and representing the Navy as a senior member of the Intelligence Community."

In short, an ideal individual for the job.

New information I found

In this series of emails,  I noted the following information which was new to me:

1. As I suspected, it was the US Navy Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) which organised the Congressional briefings by Naval intelligence officials.

"OLA is responding to interest from staff members of both chambers of Congress, lead by the national security advisers to Senators McConnell (majority leader) and Schumer (minority leader) and will also most likely include House staff, as well as staffers from the Armed Services Committee. With N2N6 concurrence, Mr Jay Stratton (DISL, ONI, NIMITZ will brief Congressional staff in a classified session on Tuesday 7 May on the Navy's efforts in this area. [24 April 2019 4pm, p25/41 UFO PDF.]

2. One email states that "VADM Kohler did brief the SASC Seapower subcommittee in December."
[25 Feb 2019 9:52am, p18/41 UFO PDF]

I found that the Senate Armed Services Committee Seapower subcommittee then consisted of 11 Senators. In note that one of these was Senator Jeanne Shaheen. On 2 July 2019, in an article in "The Conway Daily Sun" Senator Shaheen confirmed she had now been briefed on the Navy and UFOs. "We have been briefed.It was a classified briefing so I am not allowed to talk about it."

I had not heard of this particular briefing before reading the emails.

3. In an email from Wright to Miller [24 April 2019 3:34pm p24 unidentified aircraft PDF] Wright says "We will send to Jason on JWICS the background paper for your information."

4. Stratton to Wright [24 April 2019 2:25pm]:

"The US Navy is at the forefront of this effort but works across the Department of Defense to ensure other service partners maintain awareness for the safety of their aviators. The US Navy is not working with any entities outside of the US government."

This may explain why the USAF has been quiet on whether or not, it is issuing any UFO reporting guidelines of its own.

The statement that "The US Navy is not working with any entities outside of the US government" is intriguing. Could this be a reference to the To The Stars Academy? There is no way to know.

5. In a separate FOIA request [DON-NAVY-2019-008878] Greenewald sought emails between Gradisher and Bryan Bender of Politico magazine. He received two pages. These emails confirm that Navy officials met with Congressional members to brief them on 19 June 2019 and 20 June 2019.

In yet another FOIA request [DON-NAVY-2019-008862] Greenewald sought emails between Hicks and Bender. He received 15 pages. Of note is the following [19 February 2019 3:03pm p8/18 008862 PDF] Bender to Hicks " What I am trying to chase down now are details regarding what I was told was a recent briefing by a two star admiral to nine senators - some members of the Armed Services Committee and some from Intelligence - on these unexplained sightings by military pilots."

6. There were at least four briefings:

a. Kohler's briefing of the Seapower subcommitee in December 2018.
b. Stratton's briefing on 7 May 2019.
c. Senior intelligence officials briefed on 19 June and 20 June 2019.

Acknowledgment

Thanks go to John Greenewald for his excellent FOIA work in the above area.

Update: 27 November 2021. 

John Greenewald located a document which advised that on 16 January 2019 "F/A 18 pilot from VFA-103 met with SASC [Senate Armed Services Committee] PSMs [Professional Staff Members.]."

Kit Green and his search for "alien autopsies"

Kit Green

My former co-blogger Pauline Wilson, and I, have long followed the interests, publicised accounts, and professional development of Dr. Christopher 'Kit' Canfield Green. For those blog readers who are unaware of who Dr. Green is please take a look at the following previous blog posts 1 April 2018; 3 April 2018; 9 April 2018;  13 December 2018; simply click on these dates.

Richard Dolan

On 24 August 2019, US researcher Richard Dolan published a lengthy article based on an extensive interview with Kit Green. The article included discussions about:

* The Davis Wilson document

* The Alien Autopsy document.

However, the purpose of this blog, is to take a look at the processes by which Kit Green came to acquire his interest in "alien autopsies" and what he has ultimately concluded about them.

Jacques Vallee's diaries

Around June 1985, US physician Richard Niemtzow, spoke to Jacques Vallee about his (Niemtzow's) dreams about "when the first alien autopsy report can appear in a medical journal." [Vallee, "Forbidden Science: Volume Three" (FS:V3) diary entry dated 23 June 1985.] Also, at this time, Green and Niemtzow discussed the work of Leonard Stringfield.

In a "FS:V3" diary entry dated 11 December 1988, Vallee writes:

"Two days in New York...and a new discussion with Kit who has found a medical doctor allegedly involved in an actual alien autopsy...Like Fred Beckman, Kit has seen the Cover-Up documentary and was impressed by the section about alien physiology."

Again in "FS:V3," in another diary entry dated 29 January 1989, we read about Green's interest in a doctor alleged to have preformed an alien autopsy. However, we find out that the doctor, a Doctor Crowley, of Lancaster, California, was not involved in an autopsy, but as a thoracic surgeon had been asked to review reports of an autopsy.

My final quote from "FS:V3" is from an entry dated  5 July 1989, where Vallee asks 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." Green replies "It goes back to the seventies, when the first alleged autopsy pictures came out, all that stuff by Len Stringfield."

Dolan interview

In the 24 August 2019 Richard Dolan interview, Kit Green states that while still in the CIA (he left in 1985) he was associated with "a recently retired extremely senior general officer from the United States Air Force." This individual was a senior physician.

In 1982, Green hired this (unnamed) individual for a CIA science board. Around 1983/1984, this person indicated that "the stories about alien incursions, recoveries and information [are] true." Green remarked that this individual tried to get Green into relevant programs but was unsuccessful.

In 1987/1988 Green was called to the Pentagon and briefed in a sensitive compartmented information facility. A uniformed officer showed him written analyzes about alleged alien bodies, plus photographs.

Later in the interview between Dolan and Green, Green stated that through the 1980's and 1990's he saw about a dozen videos, originally on VHS tape, then CD's and DVDs, which were of purported alien autopsies. Unlike the 1987/1988 Pentagon briefing, these videos arrived on his home doorstep, or home mailbox. Later, he had the opportunity to take a look at the Santilli alien autopsy film.

Interestingly, I can find no mention of either the Pentagon briefing, or the arrival of the dozen videos, in Vallee's diaries.

What did Green ultimately conclude?

Towards the end of the Dolan/Green interview, Green concludes:

"I have no data that I can't derive from very advanced special access program material that was started twenty to thirty years ago. None. Zero. Nothing. I've got no material effects, no data from alleged abductions, no data from alleged MILABs, no data from epigenetics, nothing that couldn't be hoaxed intentionally by very sophisticated scientists. And that's where I am."

The above statement builds on a 1992 quote from Green, cited by Jacques Vallee, in "Forbidden Science: Volume four" in a diary entry dated 10 April 1992:

"Yet I've never seen anything biological that was anomalous."

In summary

Despite a lengthy interest in the subject of alien autopsies, since the 1980's, Green's current conclusion is that he had no evidence that could not be attributed to "very advanced special access program material that was started twenty to thirty years ago."

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."

Whatever happened to TTSA's intended research work on consciousness and telepathy?

Physical evidence

So far, the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science's (TTSAAS) UAP work  has been almost exclusively, involved in the physical world of Navy Pilot encounters; radar observations, and looking into physical trace evidence. What has been little written about, and little talked about, especially of late, is their work on "consciousness" aspects of the phenomenon. It wasn't always so.

Leslie Kean

On 10 October 2017, an article appeared by US journalist Leslie Kean, titled "Inside Knowledge that Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Could Lead to World-changing Technology." This article provided an early look at what, was later announced as the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science.

In part of the article, Kean wrote about Tom Delonge's earlier company, To The Stars Inc., and said:
"It had the gaol of disseminating information about UFOs, consciousness, the paranormal and other unexplained mysteries..." Later, citing a TTSAAS statement, Kean wrote: "The Science Division will conduct the research, which will also include consciousness."

Kean went on to say that on 4 October 2017, she had spoken to TTSAAS co-founder Jim Semivan, whom she cites as saying:

"I have come to realize that the Phenomenon is curiously multifaceted, exasperatingly complex and appears top exist both in our consensus reality and in another unknown space.Perhaps if we are very lucky, someday we may understand its ultimate purpose."

Jim Semivan

Semivan wrote a forward for the book "Sekret Machines: Chasing Shadows" (February 2017, paperback edition.) In part, this forward reads:

Image courtsey of Amazon Books

"The Phenomenon seems to work on another level (consciousness, dimensions?) unknown to our science. A friend once remarked to me that perhaps the Phenomenon seems to exist at the nexus of quantum mechanics and consciousness. If that is so, and I personally believe this may be a viable way forward, then our science needs to expand its horizons to include things beyond the quantifiable and replicable."

Elsewhere in the book's forward Semivan tells how his: "...fascination with the Phenomenon started in earnest while I was an undergraduate and later a graduate student...." He studied English literature, including the works of Swedenborg and other metaphysical writers. He also reveals that:

"As for my formal introduction to the Phenomenon, as we know it in today's context, it came suddenly and unexpectedly. I will not attempt to go into the experience here, but I will say that it was one of life's game changers for both my wife and me.  The experience was simultaneously frightening, perplexing, frustrating and absurd. It was also both physical and emotional...almost thirty years later, I am still not sure what to make of the experience. What I do know, however, is that this event changed my view of what constitutes our collective version of reality."

Elsewhere, we learn that Semivan's experience was an interaction with "beings" of some kind. US researcher Melinda Leslie, who once lunched with Semivan and his wife states that the Semivan's shared details of their experience with her; however, these details have never been shared any further.

Dr Paul Rapp

From the beginning of TTSAAS, their website has listed a number of "Advisors," one of which is Dr Paul Rapp, who is shown as their "Brain Function & Consciousness Consultant." Who is Dr Rapp? The original TTSAAS website:

"Dr Paul Rapp is a Professor of Military and Emergency Medicine at the Uniformed Services University, and Director of Traumatic Injury Research program. He also holds a secondary appointment as a Professor of medical and Clinical Psychology. He is a past editor of Physics, and served on the editorial boards of the Intersection Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos, Chaos and Complexity Letters, and Cognitive Neurodynamics. His past honors included a Certificate of Commendation from the Central Intelligence Agency for "Significant contributions to the mission of the Office of Research and Development." Dr Rapp attended the University of Illinois and earned degrees in physiology (minor in Chemistry, Summa Cum Laude) and engineering physics (Summa Cum Laude). He received a PhD from Cambridge University, working under the supervision of Professor Sir James Lighthill in the department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics."

Despite the fact that Dr Rapp is a TTSAAS consultant, I don't recall any other mention of him,  or what he brings to TTSAAS's work.

An aside

It is interesting to note that Robert Bigelow's National Institute for Discovery Science, back in the mid 1990's to early 2000's also had a duel focus. NIDS looked at both the UFO phenomenon and the topic of consciousness. Bigelow was particularly interested in the topic of whether or not consciousnesses continued beyond physical death. I explored these interest of Bigelow in a blog post here.

So what was TTSAAS's interest in consciousness and telepathy?

On the 2 November 2017 version of the website, the writeup about their Science Division includes the words:

"...designed to be a theoretical and experimental laboratory to challenge conventional thinking with the discovery of new world of physics and consciousness-related possibilities...to pursue projects which include....Telepathy." Later it says: "Telepathy - Explore the location in the brain where the phenomenon is centred, and develop protocols for its enhancement and use."

Interestingly, this was one of the research areas of a former TTSAAS advisor, Dr Garry Nolan, who parted company with the TTSAAS in 2018. I explores Nolan's work in a blog post dated 13 January 2019.

However, a look at the 15 August 2019 version of the TTSAAS website, reveals no mention of consciousness or telepathy anywhere on the site. There is an abridged version of the 2017 writeup about Dr Rapp, which states that he is still their "Brain Function & Consciousness consultant." I also checked the "News" area. None of the blog posts listed there are headlined "Our research on consciousness" or "Our research on telepathy."

To double check, I also inspected documents re the TTSAAS' plans, on the website of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The TTSAAS filing, dated 1 September 2017' includes the words: "The Company's Science Division will be a theoretical and experimental laboratory, challenging conventional thinking by discovering a new world of physics and consciousness-related possibilities and exploring hot to use them to affect the world positively...Telepathy."

However, by July 2019, the SEC website's TTSAAS documents are silent about "consciousness" and "telepathy."

Conclusion

It would appear, that with the resignation of Dr Nolan from TTSAAS, that the TTSAAS focus on research on consciousness and telepathy, waned. It will be interesting to see if any research work undertaken by Dr Rapp, on behalf of TTSAAS, surfaces in the future.

Members of the TTSAAS have, on a number of occasions over the last twelve months, mentioned that the use of the word "aliens" by them, is not acceptable to a number of their constituents, e.g. US politicians. Perhaps, the same is true of the use of the terms "consciousness: and "telepathy." These latter terms, may just be "far out" when discussing the phenomenon with politicians and scientists.

Update: 20 August 2019

I was just reading a transcript of the video of the launch of TTSAAS in October 2017. At one stage, Jim Semivan says "I'm very excited about this. I think it's an opportunity for us to take certain topics whether that's unidentified aerial phenomena or ESP or telepathy and really get to the bottom of it."