NIDS - miscellaneous items on the former website

National Institute for Discovery Science

This post discusses a number of items to be found on the former website of the now defunct National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) which have not yet been covered in the series of posts about NIDS, which I have been regularly publishing.

Although the NIDS website announced in 2004 that NIDS was ceasing operations, a search of the database of Nevada business names, reveals that the National Institute for Discovery Science Inc, still has a status of "active" as at May 2018. The original filing date for entity number C16341-1995 was 20 September 1995. NIDS is Nevada business number NV19951132880.

Apart from articles about animal mutilations, triangular UAP, "Day After" scenarios and the alleged 1978 Fort Dix/McGuire Air Force Base "shooting of an alien" incident; the website also includes the following:

1. "A Cautionary Tale: DNA Analyses of Alleged Extraterrestrial Biological Material: Anatomy of a Molecular Forensic Investigation."

* This is a 19 page report, credited to NIDS, A & S Research, and the Australian Physical Evidence group (Bill Chalker and Horace Drew)

* During a reported intense series of visitations reported by a Californian family, in "September 2000, an object resembling a claw was found..." The potential implication was that it was of extraterrestrial origin

* "...a painstaking DNA analysis and the use of bioinformatics methodology over a 12 month period by highly qualified teams of experts in three countries was necessary to establish that the biological specimen found in the house was a mundane terrestrial mollusk"

* There is an associated 248 page document "These are the search results with the CS63win sequence in the Claw-original_PCR file."

2. "Report on an ice-circle in NE Utah, February 21, 2002"

* Six page report on a 5 foot 9 inch diameter ice-circle found in an irrigation ditch on a ranch in NE Utah, owned by Robert Bigelow.

* Local NIDS investigator was on the scene within an hour

* Ice was about 3/4 inch thick

* "...the groove suggested  sharp instrument had been used to carve the circle"

* "...no markings were found in the center of the circle

* Pieces of shaved ice were collected and analyzed by EarthTech of Austin, Texas. Elemental distribution was similar to tap water

* No tracks, footprints or tire prints within 100 yards of circle

* "Readings for magnetic fields, electric fields and EM radiation, were all negative."

My comment:

Details of the investigation into this circle are also described on page 174 of the 2005 book, by Colm Kelleher and George Knapp, titled "Hunt for the Skinwalker" (Paraview. New York.)

3. "Analysis of an Alleged Implant"

* A two page report by Scott Little of EarthTech International

* An object, was examined which had been removed from a man's leg

* The reddish lump, when cut, revealed a metallic lump in its center. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy was used to examine it

* Little's conclusion was "I suspect this is a piece of a hardened tool that flew into Mr X's leg at some time in the distant past when he was heavily distracted by other events. He probably thought it was just a cut and promptly forgot it when it healed over. Over the years, his body created the layered reddish lump of scar tissue to isolate the object."

4. "Analysis of Anomalous Metal Samples"

* A seven page report

* In 1995 Dr Roger Leir removed objects from the bodies of two people

* This report documents extensive testing by NIDS of the objects, and the subsequent findings.

5. "Unusual Personal Experiences"

* In 1991, the Roper organization,  commissioned by NIDS, conducted three surveys "Designed to ascertain what numbers of people reported unusual experiences"

* The questions used, were developed by abduction researchers Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs

* In 1998, NIDS again, via Roper, conducted another poll asking the same 11 questions, three times (to reduce the margin of error)

* Interestingly, the 1998 results "...were quite different from those of 1991 and those reporting unusual experiences decreased significantly"

* Tables of data are provided.

6. "Congressional Hearings Survey Results"

* A six slide presentation of the results of an Internet-based survey of 1035 respondents.

7. "Research at the National Institute for Discovery Science"

* A 16 page slide presentation, by Dr Colm Kelleher, at the MUFON International Symposium held in St Louis, on 15 July 2000.

8. "Statistical summary of UFO Cases Received by NIDS"

* NIDS established a 24 hour UFO "hot line" in September 1999

* This 11 page slide presentation provides an analysis of data.

9. "Selected Sightings reported from the NIDS Database"

* Summaries of reports, sorted by location

* USA, Canada, Germany, Mid-Atlantic Ocean, Sweden and Turkey.

10. Davis/Vallee slide presentation.

US researcher, Danny Silva, in a 21 December 2019 blog post, drew our attention to a NIDS website slide presentation by Dr Eric Davis and Dr Jacques Vallee.

What have I learned from reading all this NIDS material?

1. All of these reports by NIDS, which I have examined, and provided links to the full versions of, are well worth reading. They are comprehensive, well researched and well documented. Science was clearly being used to research the phenomenon.

2. NIDS had two main foci, as recorded on its website. Aerial phenomena, and consciousness. I have focused solely on the former. NIDS website articles about the latter, may be found by clicking here. 

3. Concerning the rash of reported triangular shaped objects, NIDS hypothesized that these were due to the open deployment of unacknowledged military aircraft.

4. On the question of animal mutilations, NIDS highlighted the number of apparently associated mystery helicopters, and also noted that many of the mutilations which they investigated, featured human involvement.

The 9 December 2019 Paco Chierici interview on the Hidden Truth Show

Paco Chierici

Paco Chierici was the former US Navy pilot who, in 2015, published the first article on the 2004 USS Nimitz/"Tic Tac" incident. He recently gave an interview to the host of the Hidden Truth Show, Jim Breslo, which I listened to.

https://www.lionsofthesky.com/

Courtesy of United Kingdom researcher, Isaac Koi, I have been able to obtain an automated transcript of that interview. I then again listened to the entire audio of the interview, and corrected those parts of the automated transcript, which I quote in this blog.

Information new to me

I have only extracted those parts of the interview which presented information of which I had not previously been aware of.

1. Asked when he had first heard of the 2004 USS Nimitz event, Chierici said:

"...this happened in 2004 obviously, and then I think I first heard about it in 2007 or 8..."

2. On the origin of the Fighter Sweep article:

"...in 2015 I became the editor of the online fighter magazine called Fighter Sweep, and one of the first articles I, and I'd always wanted to write the story of this sighting, because it just stuck with me...I call Dave up and I say, hey dude, I'm writing an article on your experiences...So I call Dave up, and I say, I'm gonna write the article about this awesome story you've been telling.

Can you give me any more details? So he goes, you're not going to believe this, they've just left, the the investigation, ONI, Office of Naval Investigation [KB-actually Intelligence.] Literally, just walked out my door; and they for the first time  in 11 years, anybody is taking anything that happened on that day seriously. And the guy has interviewed everybody that was involved. You know, on the Princeton, the E2, the helicopter guy. Everybody, the submarines, and they have this exhaustive, massive report and...

So I subsequently got my hands on that report and its exhaustive. It's got all kinds of names and details, and that's what my article is based on...the whole thing, it's probably, I don't know, 25 to 30 pages. I got it right here...but its classified, I guess. Somebody sent it to me...the executive summary...it's on the Internet...I wrote my article after reading through this about five hundred times."

A note: This seems to suggest that Chierici obtained a copy of the 2015 ONI investigation report. However, on the 17 December 2019, Chierici was interviewed on the UFO News Network show, by Chant Hannah and Frank Stalter. When speaking about the report which his Fighter Sweep article was based on he states:

"I called Dave up to, you know, refresh all the points that I was gonna write about and that's when I found out that AATIP had done an investigation...Dave believes they were AATIP and they had completed that in 2009 and through a variety of different means I was able to get my hands on the AATIP report before I did my article."

This is consistent with the fact that the executive summary section a copy of a 2009 investigation report has been available to us for some time. No one other than Chierici has advised that they possess a copy of the full report.

3. On the Commander of the USS Nimitz Marine fighter squadron -Douglas Kurth.

"The Commanding Officer of the Marine squadron is in a single-seat Hornet..."

4. On why Fravor and wingman didn't have FLIR onboard, and whey there are no onboard recordings:

"So they had no FLIR which is not uncommon. A lot of times if you're just going out for a fighter mission you don't put a FLIR in the airplane. It's removable. And he didn't turn his recording, his tape recorder on...It was so bizarre, and they never got to the mindset where they would turn their tapes on…"

5. Underwood and the FLIR video:

"They are proceeding towards the CAP, the same CAP that Dave and his wingman were going to. And as they're on autopilot, just heading to this spot in space, the wizzo in range wide scan, picks up a very faint contact and he's trying to lock it so...he's unable to lock it up on track...he takes the FLIR head seeker head and he slaves it to the faint radar return which is right on his nose because they're heading for the CAP and that's where the thing is...and that's the video you see..."

6. On FLIR:

"Now the FLIR, what it's designed to do, is provide ranging and targeting for a bomb, on the ground. So, two, three, four miles away...it's not designed for aerial intercepts...not designed to lock onto a maneuvering target that's moving at any speed..."

7. On the question of whether or not the Tic Tac was human technology:

"...there's a lot of things that sort of poke holes in the credulity of that scenario...I just think that the  scenario of it being a test of human tech is it doesn't make any sense... it's not the way we challenge each other as forces. You know, the Air Force doesn't send secret projects to test the Navy. The Navy doesn't do that to the Air Force..."

In summary

This interview provides an excellent overview of the 2004 Nimitz incident. In addition, it clarifies points about FLIR that I have never seen anywhere else. Well worth a listen to the entire interview, if you haven't already.

Previously unseen RAAF UFO file found

Annual check of National Archives of Australia RecordSearch database

One of my tasks, on the 1st of January of each new year, is to visit the website of the National Archives of Australia (NAA)  The purpose of such a visit, is to check for any UFO files which have been added to the NAA RecordSearch database. Most years, something new emerges, and this year is no exception.

File series D3138 [RAAF Edinburgh] control symbol 6/32/AIR PART 1 is titled "Unidentified Flying Objects 1965-1969." It is a file previously unknown to me, despite the previous locating of around 150 Australian government files on UFOs.

Part of the Australian government UFO files listing

The file status is shown as "Not Yet Examined" which means no one outside the RAAF has ever seen the file. It is held at the Canberra office of the NAA, and the item barcode is 22956672. I have just placed a request with the NAA to have them examine the file for release. Following this process, then I can order a digital copy of the file which will be placed on the NAA website for anyone to read. This process can take up to six months and cost up to around $120. The date range of the file makes it particularly interesting. During these years there were many UFO sightings recorded in South Australia, including CE3 style events. It will therefore be very interesting to see just what this new file contains.

Looking at my records, I found two other RAAF Edinburgh files:

1. A9755 control symbol 9. RAAF No. 92 Wing Headquarters Edinburgh. Date range 1992-1994, barcode 3533451 location Canberra NAA. Its status is "Open" but so far no one has been willing to pay the money to have a digital copy placed on the NAA website. Any takers?

2. A9755 control symbol 12. RAAF No. 92 Wing Headquarters Edinburgh. Date range 1987-1992. Barcode 3533466. A digital copy is available on the NAA wesbsite for anyone to view. 

Senator Amy Klobuchar answers a question re UFOs

Introduction

Senator Amy Klobuchar, is a Democrat from Minnesota, who is currently running for the U.S. presidency. US researcher, D Dean Johnson reported on Twitter on 30 December 2019 that Senator Klobuchar had been asked a question about UFOs, and Johnson quoted some of her response to that question. I thought it would be worthwhile to quote the entire interview.

Interview

The questioner was journalist Daymond Steer of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper. Steer has been questioning senators about UFOs for some time.

Steer: "Last time we met, I asked you about David Fravor, the New Hampshire man who was a pilot..."

Klobuchar: "Yes, and I've since looked into that."

Steer: " You've looked in to it?"

Klobuchar: "Yes." Laughter drowns out comments. "Yes, with the UFOs."

Steer: "Yes. Right."

Klobuchar: "Exactly. I've read some articles about it. And, you know, I think we don't know enough. I don't know. I mean,  I don't know what happened, not just with that sighting, but with others. And, I think one of the things a President could do is to look into what's there; in terms of what does the science say; what does the military say? Here's the interesting part of that answer, is that some of the stuff is really old, these sightings. So, why can't you see if you can let some of that out for the public? So, earnest journalists like you, who are trying to get to the bottom of the truth would be able to see it?"

Steer: "Awesome. Just so you know, Senator Shaheen got the briefing, so maybe you can find some of this out..."

Klobuchar: "I also realize she got a briefing, which I thought was. I also read that article."

Moderator: "A little bit of back story is that Daymond asked Hillary that question..."

Klobuchar: "She didn't tell you what came out of it. That is my point. She would have violated the rules of..."

Steer: "But she promised to look into it."

Klobuchar: "Yes. Exactly. But what a President could do is to be able to figure out, can we release some of the information now, publicly?"

Steer: "Well I will look forward to that investigation."

Klobuchar: "OK."

Moderator: "Daymond asked Hillary. She said that, that story went viral. Like a world wide viral. The article said that  the Conway Daily Sun always asks two question of the candidates. One is the UFO..."

Update dated 1 January 2020

Douglas D Johnson informs me that the "Conway Daily Sun" has now posted a related news story on their web site. He also graciously informed me that it was researcher Giuliano Marinkovic who first alerted us to the "Conway Daily Sun" video. Thanks Giuliano.

NIDS and the "Day After" scenarios

"Day After" scenarios

This is another in a series of posts examining material on the former website of the now defunct National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS - 1995 to 2004.) This post concerns the question of, if something big happens, how would people react to it? The "Day After" scenario.

Vallee

Firstly, I draw upon the diaries of Jacques Vallee. In "Forbidden Science: Volume Four" Vallee tells of his time (1995-1999, this volume of his diaries ends in 1999) as a member of the NIDS Science Advisory Board (SAB.)

Diary entry dated 4 August 1996 (page 324)

Referring to a NIDS SAB meeting, Vallee writes:

"Another notion introduced at this meeting was that of The Day After. "What would happen if the government was to announce Alien intrusions? Has there been a 50-year program of indoctrination of earthlings?" Asked Bob. "Are we just along for the ride? Is this knowledge digestible? Would people bother to go to work the next day?"

10 January 1997 (p349)

NIDS SAB meeting. Vallee writes:

"...John Petersen presented alternative futures, using the tools of futurology, complexity theory, game changers, "day after" scenarios, wild cards."

12 January 1997 (p353)

At a private meeting with John Petersen and Steve Travino:

"Still certain that a major announcement is imminent, John Petersen keeps worrying about "the Day After." My idea for the Day After is simply to kneel in the dust and pray, just in case."

9 March 1997 (p359)

"Through the Institute, Bob Bigelow is channeling money to...(5) John Petersen's "Day After" scenarios..."

11 January 1998 (p402)

"Bob Bigelow just called, intent on briefing me about the part of the meeting that I'd missed. He proposes 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.

"What would be the consciousness aspects in both cases?" he asks, reasonably enough. But 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.'"

9 January 1999 (p439)

"Bob Bigelow is still fascinated with "Day After" scenarios. Standing before the full board...he went over the history of our efforts from the initial 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 were cohabiting on the Earth with non-human entities that controlled our destiny."

NIDS website

Having read Vallee's diary entries on this topic, I then turned to the archived NIDS website. On this, I found the following relevant documents.

1. Roper Poll Survey on "The Day After Contact"

a. Press release on the NIDS Roper Poll June 7, 1999

* 2 pages dated 7 June 1999

* "What if we were confronted with undeniable proof that ETs exist and have been visiting Earth?"

* A nationwide survey by the Roper organization

* "...one out of four Americans think that most people would "totally freak out and panic" if such evidence were confirmed."

* "A 1960 report by the Brookings Institute and an internal RAND document from 1968 predicted profound social consequences if contact were confirmed."

b. Roper Poll Methodology

* A national cross section of 1,971 US men and women interviewed face to face in their own homes

c. Roper Poll Data

* 12 pages of raw data

* Lists the questions which the survey asked

* Has a number of tables breaking down the data in various ways

* Key question: "If you personally believed an announcement that an advanced extraterrestrial life form had  been discovered, to what extent would it change your lifestyle?"

2. Two NIDS "Day After" Surveys on Responses of the Public to Extraterrestrials: Comparison of a National Roper Poll with an Online Survey that Asked Identical Questions

* In 1999, NIDS contracted Roper to conduct a poll re response to extraterrestrials

* As a comparative exercise NIDS later asked the same questions on an online questionnaire

* This paper looks at the results of the comparisons

a. Survey results

* 9 pages of data

* Graphs, pie charts etc

* Shows the questions asked.

b. Take the NIDS Online "Day After Contact" survey

c. View the NIDS extraterrestrial Intelligence Survey Results

* This PDF file is no longer available on the server.

3. The Day After Contact: Forcasting Reactions to Extraterrestrial Life

* 6 page report authored by Albert A Harrison and Colm Kelleher

* Dated June 1999

* "Incontrovertible evidence of the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life may qualify as one of the greatest discoveries in the history of human life. What will be the short-term and long-term effects of discovery on people, institutions and culture?"

My comment: In 2004, the NIDS website listed Albert A Harrison as a member of the NIDS SAB.

The Alexander UFO Religious Crisis Survey

Interestingly, on the NIDS website is another "Day After Contact" survey. This was conducted in 1994, and undertaken by Victoria Alexander, for the Bigelow Foundation. 

http://johnbalexander.com/

* "...how would organized religion in the United States react to confirmation of contact with an advanced extraterrestrial civilization?"

* Mail out of survey to 1,000 randomly selected religious bodies in the continental USA

* 23% response rate

* "The theologians surveyed would not feel their faith and the faith of their congregation would be threatened."

a. Pilot Survey Results

b. Statistical Analysis

c. Development of Questions and Analysis of Responses

Later articles

I found two later articles which build on the original Alexander Survey:

1. Levin, J. 2012. "Revisiting the Alexander UFO Religious Crisis Survey (AUFORCS): Is There Really a Crisis?" Journal of the Society for Scientific Exploration, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp273-284.

2. The Peters ETI Religious Crisis Survey authored by Ted Peters and Julie Froehlig (undated.) 

My comment:

As with the contents of the first two posts in this series, I hadn't previously, particularly paid much attention to the specific area of "Day After Contact" scenarios. I record my research her, for those blog readers who may have a deeper interest than myself.

Update: 2 January 2020

A correspondent sent me a PDF copy of missing file mentioned in 2c above. The text reads:

Two NIDS “Day After” Surveys on Response of the Public to Extraterrestrials:
Comparison of a Nationwide Roper Poll with an Online Survey that Asked Identical
Questions

In 1999 NIDS contracted the Roper organization to conduct a nationwide survey of
opinion that focused on the response of the public to extraterrestrials. The Roper
organization polled 1971 demographically balanced people and the results of the poll
were published in 1999. As a comparative exercise, NIDS subsequently asked the
identical questions via an online questionnaire. 2046 people who were demographically
uncontrolled submitted answers in the allotted time. There is widespread agreement that
Internet surveys, especially conducted on specialty web sites, are wildly inaccurate in
sampling public opinion. The purpose of this exercise was to evaluate the extent of the
difference in attitudes to extraterrestrials between the public at large and the visitors to
the NIDS web site. The actual wording of the survey questions can be found in the piechart
presentation. The complete statistics and some analysis of the 1999 Roper survey
can be found at: http://www.nidsci.org/news/roperdayafter.html

Some predictable differences and some surprises emerged from this comparison:

• In response to question 1: “ETs landed and you could choose who should make
first contact?” a huge majority (86%) of the online responders chose either
scientists (42%) or a private organization that has planned for such a contingency
(44%). In contrast, only 49% of the public at large chose the scientists (29%) or a
private organization (20%). Fully 20% of the public at large preferred the military
to make first contact, while 4% of online responders preferred the military.

• In response to the question regarding “What are UFOs?” a surprisingly high
percentage of online responders answered “I don’t know” (41%), higher than the
public at large (32%). Equally surprisingly, exactly 25% of both the public at
large and the online responders answered that UFOs are alien spaceships. Given
the assumption that the people who visit the NIDS web site might have a greater
interest/knowledge of UFOs than the general public, it surprised us that such a
high percentage of the web site visitors answered that they did not know what
UFOs are. This may be attributed to open-mindedness. Further, since the words
“UFO” and “alien” are almost interchangeable in most media treatments of this
topic, it surprised us that such a low percentage (25%) of people in BOTH
surveys thought UFOs were alien spaceships.

• In response to the question: “If I believed that an advanced extraterrestrial life
form had been discovered, how would it change my life style?” 16% of Roper
nationwide respondents answered “Who cares”, while predictably, 2% of NIDS
web site online people answered “Who cares.”

• Question 4 asked how much the respondents trusted the US government to
disseminate information about advanced extraterrestrial life if they discovered it.
Both surveys indicated a large majority of respondents who did not trust the
government. A combined 71% respondents to the Roper survey said that the
United States government would classify the information, move to suppress
civilian sources from obtaining knowledge, or both. A combined 74% of the
NIDS web site respondents said the same thing. There was a significant difference
in the degree of suspicion between the Roper respondents and the online visitors:
only 23% of the Roper respondents said the government would classify AND
suppress, while 47% of the NIDS web site respondents said the government
would do both.

• A large majority (75%) of NIDS online responders were “fully prepared to
handle” undeniable evidence of the existence of advanced extraterrestrial life,
while only 32% of the general public were that confident.

• 25% of the public at large thought that others would “totally freak out and panic”
if undeniable evidence of extraterrestrial life were confirmed. Only 8% of the
NIDS web site responders thought this. NIDS web site responders displayed
either greater trust, greater confidence or greater complacency in their answers to
these two questions than did the general public.

Yes, indeed, BAASS' AAWSAP contract did, in part, investigate UAP

Background

In a blog post dated 12 December 2019, I presented a transcript of an interview dated 28 September 2008, between Las Vegas journalist George Knapp, and Las Vegas businessman Robert T Bigelow. During that interview, Bigelow announced the launch of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) and outlined the mission for BAASS.

Who did BAASS employ?

The purpose of this current blog is to take a look at who BAASS employed; what were their duties, and then try and answer the question, did the Defense Intelligence Agency's (DIA) Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) investigate UAP?

Although there have been statements made in individual LinkedIn profiles by former senior BAASS employees, that 40-50 people were employed by BAASS, I have only been able to document about 20 from individual LinkedIn pages. Thus the following may only be a representative sample of those who were employed at BAASS.

Job adverts

Source:https://web.archive.org/web/20081002024904/http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/careers/ 

Via the Wayback Machine, I located the relevant Bigelow Aerospace website (BAASS itself did not have their own website) where BAASS advertised vacant positions, back in September 2008. BAASS commenced the Defense Intelligence Agency's  (DIA) Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) contract on 29 September 2008.

The advertisement was headed:

"You are the intelligent life we are seeking" and read:

"BAASS Career Opportunities.

Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), a sister company to Bigelow Aerospace, is a newly formed research organization that focuses on the identification, evaluation and acquisition  of novel and emerging future technology worldwide as they specifically relate to spacecraft. BAASS is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. We are seeking experienced scientists to join our research teams. If you are an inquisitive outside of the circle thinker, who is detail oriented and who is looking for a challenge, this is a unique and exciting opportunity to advance your career, and to be a part of cutting edge research.

Numerous positions available in various fields.

Impressive candidates will need to have 10 or more years of research and hands on experience in the disciplines relating to aerospace science, specifically including:

* Astrophysics

* Biochemistry

* Microbiology

* Nanotechnologies

* Physics

* Propulsion

* Stealth technologies

* The Engineering disciplines.

Several positions are also available for research scientists in the disciplines of:

* Biological Cognitive Information

* Electromagnetic fields

* Forensic Pathology

* Psychology

* Social Psychology

* Sociology

A Masters or PhD in a relevant field is a plus. Candidates must qualify for secret or top secret clearances and must be willing to submit to a thorough background check.

For all positions, some travel - both nationally and internationally - may be required."

What were their duties?

I will present the information from the profiles of various individuals on their LinkedIn pages, and decided to produce this in chronological order, so that one may view the progression of those employed. Apart from those already publicly identified; I will not be using the names of other individuals.

December 2007

https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-kurth-25195b145/

A former Marine Corps Senior Officer, Douglas Kurth, joined BAASS before BAASS was even registered with the State of Nevada in January 2008; and nine months before the DIA AASWAP contract was awarded to BAASS. Kurth was a witness to the 2004 Tic Tac event. On LinkedIn, Kurth wrote:

" Program Manager

* Program Lead - novel and emerging space technologies targeting operational deployment in 2040

* Directed and managed a team of 40 scientists, engineers, analysts, and researchers

* Business Development - initiated, developed and directed critical collaborative contract

* Tasked with international marketing of Bigelow Aerospace Private Space Station

* Technical expert on advanced aerospace concepts and aerodynamics."

2008

The "Deputy Administrator" for BAASS was Colm Kelleher, who had worked with Robert Bigelow at the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS). Kelleher stated his BAASS roles as:

" * Interviewed, hired and trained a team of 50 scientists, engineers, analysts, and created the classified security infrastructure for an IC contract to study proprietary advanced aerospace technology and threat analysis

* Briefed government department undersecretary and senior United States Senators on threat analysis and advanced technology programs

* Worked closely with IC to develop and execute multiple programs involving advanced aerospace technology including, negotiating and executing multi-disciplinary subcontracts for database creation, physics and engineering analysis and medical science studies

* Lead in the creation of all scientific programs and strategic indicators for the company

* Interfaced with Congressional staff, political consultants, Washington DC think tank and other organizations in the furtherance of company goals

* COMSEC Custodian and Facility Security Officer for IC latter contract period."

September 2008

An individual on LinkedIn shows "BAASS Facility Protection - SCIF/DoD contractor" but no further details of his role.

My comment:

According to paragraph 5.1 of the DIA AASWAP Solicitation, "Contractor shall provide a work facility (including unclassified information systems) with a Top Secret Facility clearance granted by the Defense Security Service."

November 2008

A male individual was hired as an "Investigator/Security Officer." The role is shown as "Investigated paranormal activity, performed physical and information security function."

My comment:

This is the only time I found the words "Investigated paranormal activity" on any BAASS related LinkedIn profile.

January 2009 

a. A female individual was employed as an "Office Manager, EA to Administrator." 

My comment:

We know that Colm Kelleher was the BAASS Deputy Administrator. Who was the BAASS Administrator?

b. A role described as "Provide direction and supervision to a squad of cleared professional investigators tasked with conducting investigations into threats against national security," was titled "Senior Investigator, Team Leader" and filled by a male individual.

c. "Classified investigations" was the role description given by a male individual employed for "Field investigations."

d. "Senior scientist Microbiology" was the title of a role whose duties were described as:

"Lead biological senior scientist for BAASS. The primary duties involve responsibility for the development of laboratory capabilities for the evaluation of novel aerospace technologies including novel materials and propulsion systems for possible detrimental effects on humans and the environment. Additional duties involve the development of research protocols and techniques in support of ongoing research projects and oversight of daily science operations which includes supervision of BAASS technicians. The project required employees to obtain government security clearances which preclude precise discussion of objectives."

My comment:

The March-May 2010 issue of the Newsletter of the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,  carried a short piece as follows:

"The Nuclear Materials Group (lead: Dr Thomas Hartmann) has established a formal collaboration with Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS). The collaboration provides analytical assistance to BAASS for characterizing solid phases and precipitates."

e. Another individual's job title was "Research Analyst - French translator," and who listed his duties as:

"Started the translation department to develop accurate procedure to analyze and process data translation from French to English. Worked directly with BAASS investigators, program manager and sponsors to develop translator specifications for special data. Received security clearance from DoD."

My comment:

I can understand the need for translators for other than English language material, but why specifically French? Perhaps preparing an English language version of French Government databases?

March 2009

A female "Senior Data Analyst" listed her role as "Database developer, tableau evaluation & reports."

April 2009

a. A male "Research Analyst" was hired, but did not provide details of his role.

b. A "Senior Engineer/Physicist" was engaged, but no role details are given.

May 2009

Another male field investigator was employed who stated:

"Working through Department of Defense contractor, facilitated/directed security/field operations at Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) under Top Secret SSBI security clearance. Managed contract associated with other government or associated  (classified) agencies.

Managed a team of Investigators, Mechanical, Electrical and Nuclear Engineers who were responsible for the design, development and maintenance of specialized equipment of a classified and clandestine nature."

June 2009

a. Yet another male, "Investigator" was hired and gave their role as "Conducted classified investigations."

b. A female "Research scientist/Engineer" was employed.  No role details given.

July 2009

"Classified research" was her role, as described by a female "Research scientist."

August 2009

a. Yet another male "Investigator" was employed.

b. The role of the next male individual was:

"* Worked in a interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers studying advanced aerospace weapon system applications including lift, propulsion, control, power generation, signature reduction, materials and armament. Further tasks included:

* Develop company research topics requiring ANSYS FEA collection and carry out research within the fields of aerodynamics, heat transfer, stress analysis and chemical reaction

* Perform field measurement collecting data regarding ionizing radiation as well as performing chemical/metal/soil and spectrum analysis across the United States in accordance with the code of federal regulations, ANSI, IEEE and ASTM standards in EPA, USGS, DoE and DoD procedures

* Responsible for training engineers/scientists teams on proper use of equipment safety procedure guidelines

* Responsible for compiling, formatting and ensuring technical accuracy of completed scientific analysis reports."

March 2010

BAASS engaged a male "Equipment Manager/Lead Investigator," who advised that they:

"* Managed investigative and scientific efforts involved in the highest profile case in the company. Managed contract associated with other government or associated (classified) agencies.

* Managed a team of Mechanical, Electrical and Nuclear Engineers who were responsible for the design, development and maintenance of specialized equipment of a classified nature

* Completed technical reports and proposals and created quality assurance procedures for field work, operations and troubleshooting of equipment

* Managed the procurement of a wide range of electrical, materials, thermal night vision equipment and detectors for the purpose of completing interdisciplinary experiments and/or gathering of necessary quality guidelines affecting scientific data."

September 2010

Two males, Chris Bartel and Chris Marx, were employed as security officers based at Bigelow's NE Utah ranch. [Source: Interview with both men on "UFO Classified" hosted by Erika Lukes, Late 2019.]

When did these contracts cease?

By my count, 14 positions ended in the months between May and August 2010.

In summary

The details of around 20 of the 40-50 BAASS personnel (as found on the LinkedIn website) have been provided. Where know, the duties of these individuals has been described.

It is clear that many of the BAASS personnel describe work, that is consistent with the DIA AAWSAP contract which went to BAASS.

Did BAASS work on UAP as well?

1. During the period April 2009 to January 2010 we know that MUFON via its STAR group were indeed sending UAP reports to BAASS.

2. The open literature, reports that BAASS employee Gary Hernandez was investigating UAP reports.

3. The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) were referring UAP reports to BASS during the period 2009 to 2012. 

4. A BAASS Investigator/Security Officer wrote that he "Investigated paranormal activity." Plus two security officers employed by BAASS in September 2010, did tours of duty at Robert Bigelow's NE Utah range, where a range of paranormal activity was described by these two employees. 

5. One August 2009 employee in his list of duties, speaks of "Perform field measurements collecting data regarding ionizing radiation as well as performing chemical/metal/soil and spectrum analysis across the United States..."

This work could be argued to be that of researching physical trace evidence associated with UAP.

6. Lastly, but most importantly, former Senator Harry Reid, who instigated the AATIP/AAWSAP says that AATIP studied UFOs. In a tweet dated 8 December 2019, Las Vegas journalist George Knapp cited former Senator Harry Reid as recently stating:

"AATIP was my program. One can say whatever, but the truth is it was for only one purpose - to study UFOs."

7. Based on the above, I can see two possibilities. Either BAASS was simultaneously running with the AAWSAP contract, and also conducting its own UAP investigations; or the AAWSAP work did indeed involve researching UAP. On the basis of what I have learned, I suggest that the latter is true, which is contrary to recent statements from Pentagon spokesperson Susan L Gough. 

NIDS and "triangular" UAP

Introduction

I am continuing my exploration of material which appeared on the former website of the now defunct National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS,) founded by Las Vegas businessman Robert T Bigelow, in 1995 and ceasing in 2004. Most researchers that I know, are completely unaware of this resource.

Background

One of the two foci of NIDS was research into the UFO phenomenon. There was an upsurge in the number of reports of "triangular" shaped objects in the 1990's. Thus it was reasonable that NIDS would take a look into this aspect of the phenomenon. Looking at the former NIDS website, I found a number of relevant articles:

1. "Port Washington, Wisconsin UFO Sighting Illustration"

* There was an observation in October 1998

* Of an object estimated to be 200 by 250 feet in size

* At about 500 feet altitude

* Triangular shaped

* A model was constructed and photographs taken of it, shown in the article.

2. "Low Flying Triangular Objects: A Safety Hazard"

* 20 page report dated April 2001

* In late 1999 NIDS established a 24 hour UFO reporting hot line

* In 14 months NIDS received 127 reports of triangular objects. 60% of reports were dated between January 1999 and April 2001

* Flying at low or very low altitude

* "Huge" or "large" in size

* Mostly silent

* Hovering or flying at less than 100mph

* Very brightly lit

* The description of "triangular" included wedge shaped, boomerang shaped; pentagon; isosceles and equilateral triangular shaped

* The report discusses the possibility of the objects being US military aircraft

* In an addendum, is an analysis of sighting location versus the location of USAF bases

* "The totality of the evidence leads us to hypothesize that the flight paths are suggestive of the deployment of military aircraft hitherto unacknowledged."

3. "Comparison of Unidentified Triangular or Deltoid Aircraft Location Patterns in Three Independent UFO Databases: NIDS, MUFON and Larry Hatch"

* 8 page report dated June 2001

* In April 2001 a report (see 2 above): "NIDS found an interesting scatter of triangular object sighting locations around air corridors between AFMC and AMC bases. In the latter report we pointed out a gap in the part of the United States encompassing the plains states from which both triangular object sightings and AMC/AFMC bases were absent."

* "NIDS obtained the data on over 450 additional sightings from MUFON and Larry Hatch." The broad trends seen in the NIDS data were also present in the MUFON and Hatch data

* "We hypothesize that the United States Air Force has been flying large triangular or deltoid shaped aircraft between AFMC and AMC bases."

4. "Hypothesis: The Illinois Flying Triangles a Department of Defense, Not An ET Craft"

* 8 page report dated July 2002

* NIDS was approached by an aircraft designer re the possibility of the objects being a large, lighter than air object using an electrokinetic drive

* In this paper, that designer responds to the characteristics of the objects as listed by NIDS.

5. "Black Triangle Sighting Report-August 2002"

* Case report from San Jose, California on 28 August 2002

* Black triangle following an aircraft.

6. "NIDS Investigation of the Flying Triangle Enigma"

* Report dated August 2004

* NIDS started investigating reports of triangles

* Between 2000 and 2004 NIDS received hundreds of such reports from USA and Canada

* In mid 2004 NIDS reviewed its database: "We find the sightings of Triangles appear primarily adjacent to population centers and along Interstate Highways"

* A map provides visual details of the locations

* MUFON provided NIDS with the MUFON triangle sightings data in early 2004

* Also, in early 2004, Larry Hatch's triangles database (1990-2003) was made available to NIDS

* NIDS then mapped the combined data

* "The major finding of this report is that the behaviour of the Flying Triangles, as related by hundreds of eyewitnesses, does not appear consistent with the covert deployment of an advanced DoD aircraft. Rather it is consistent with the routine and open deployment of an (unacknowledged) advanced DoD aircraft, or (b) the routine and open deployment of an aircraft owned and operated by non DoD personnel"

* The report also looks at flying triangle reports in Belgium, Britain; the 1982-1986 boomerangs of New York and Connecticut.

My comment:

As with my previous post on NIDS and animal mutilations, I present the above summaries and links to the former NIDS website, for anyone who may not have previously read this detailed NIDS research material.