How BAASS went about collecting UFO reports from across the globe

Marc Cecotti and Keith Basterfield

Introduction

In previous articles, we have demonstrated that Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) was collecting UFO sighting reports from Brazil. It is general knowledge, that BAASS was also very much active, in collecting and investigating UFO sightings in the USA. They also sought details of sightings in other countries. We thought it might be useful to bring together in one article, what has been collectively established.

Investigators

Through using LinkedIn profiles and other social media, we are aware of at least ten individuals who say they were either investigators, or senior investigators for BAASS. The first was employed in November 2008; eight hired in 2009 and one in 2010. By June 2010 when mass layoffs occurred, only three of them were left. The last left in May 2012.

Timeline

2009 February – January 2010

We know that between the above dates, MUFON was running its STAR team. Between April 2009 and January 2010, MUFON sent at least 71 reports collected from within the USA, to BAASS.

2009 April

BAASS was allocated a US phone number, of 1-877-979-7444, for its UFO reporting hotline.

2009 May

A team of four BAASS investigators  (Melissa Godoy, Loran Huffman, Lucas Gornichec and Timothy Koonce) made a first trip to Brazil, to Fortaleza and Sobral, Ceará region. They met with local UFO research groups in Fortaleza and Sobral.

A meeting between two BAASS investigators, one of them being Douglas Kurth, and Brazilian researcher Ademar José Gevaerd took place in Curitaba, but Gevaerd couldn’t remember the exact date. Gevaerd explained “We spoke about a contract of services. I would search and investigate old and new cases in order to find metamaterials.” BAASS possibly met with other groups, but we have no definitive evidence of this.

2009 June

Marc Cecotti located an item on a UK UFO forum, featuring details of a sighting of a glowing round orange ball, reported in the UK, on 13 June 2009. Another witness posted details of her similar sighting. A BAASS investigator, Paul Jantzen, sought further details in a forum post, dated 16 June 2009.

Source: https://www.uk-ufo.co.uk/canvey-island-essex-13th-june-2009-2/

“Jan and Ruth, I am very interested in speaking with both of you further regarding your report. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. Thank you.

I am in the USA and for the interim email may be the easiest way: investigators@baass.org

Thank you I look forward to speak with you both.”

2009 June

Canadian researcher Brian Vike operated the HBCC UFO Research website up until June 2009. At that point he sold his five Internet domain names to Bigelow Aerospace. The current website has the following:

“HBCC UFO.org Research was Founded in 2002 by Brian Vike “and we, the new management (BAASS) are…ready to receive new cases.”

2009 Mid to late

Andrea Simondini from Visión OVNI, a UFO research group from Argentina, was contacted by Melissa Godoy from BAASS.:

“The one message we received was for presentation first, that is, it was Bigelow, and what they did. They asked us about a particular case that we had investigated in the province of Salta, the “Anta Case.” After that, when I explained to them about the case and our team and investigations, they sent us another email, it was always Melissa Godoy, who offered us to train  our investigators, finance investigations, analyses and research instruments.”

2009 August 7

BAASS was interested in Canadian UFO reports. Wired reporter Sarah Scoles published an article titled "Inside Robert Bigelow's Decades-long Obsession with UFOs" dated 24 February 2018. Part of that article read:

“Christopher Rutkowski who conducts the Canadian UFO survey, says Bigelow approached him at a MUFON conference in 2009. ‘He asked me to help him in his UFO related efforts by alerting him and his team to any ‘good’ Canadian cases that needed onsite investigations,’ he says. One of Bigelow’s people checked in with Rutkowski every few months following.”

Our understanding is that no such cases were ever passed on to BAASS, due to the fact that no high profile cases occurred during this time period. 

See the 6 July 2020 update below, for some relevant emails.

2009 October

There was a second possible trip to Brazil. The same team of four BAASS investigators went back to Fortaleza to document photographic and video evidence, of UFO sightings from CPU-CE records.

2010 February

An 11 February 2010 directive from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) stated:

“Persons wanting to report UFO/unexplained phenomenon activity should contact a UFO/unexplained phenomenon reporting data collection center such as Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) (voice 1-877-979-7444 or email Reporting@baass.org.)"

2010 March

Colm Kelleher of BAASS communicated by email with Australian researcher Bill Chalker about sightings in Australia and China. Ultimately though, as far as we are aware, BAASS failed to secure either Australian or Chinese reports, in this way. 

Source: http://theozfiles.blogspot.com/2020/04/baass-interest-in-australian-and.html

2010 April

In a blog post, dated 18 May 2018, Keith Basterfield documented how BAASS investigator Gary Hernandez investigated sightings over the Isles of Capri, Florida, USA which occurred between 27 March 2010 and early May 2010. In his LinkedIn profile, Hernandez stated that he was a BAASS field investigator who worked on “classified investigations” “CONUS/OCONUS,” which we believe stands for continental United States/outside continental United States.

2010 April 7

Do we have any idea of the volume of reports which the BAASS hotline was receiving? In an article titled "Robert Bigelow's and MUFON's Hybrid UO Investigation Venture 'under review' in 2010," Alfred Lambremont Webre writes:

"Reached by this reporter at his office in Las Vegas, Dr. Colm Kelleher, BAASS's Deputy Administrator confirmed that BAASS has an office established to receive UFO reports. He stated that the monthly volume of UFO reports received by BAASS is 'infrequent.'"

2010 July

“The Official Skinwalker Ranch Community” Forum, dated 14March 2014, carried details of a “BAASS investigator, takes an interest in Satan’s Bluff in Arizona.” Here we find a message from Stanley Milford Jnr., Navajo Ranger, Special Projects Unit, dated 28 July 2010:

“Hello Jeff,

I have been wanting to drop you a line, but have been really busy lately.

First, Lt Jon Dover and I were trying to contact you back on the week of July 12^th. We were working with personnel from Bigelow Aerospace (from Las Vegas) investigating the Satan's Butte sight. We escorted their personnel out to the Butte, so they could conduct various readings and tests. We attempted to contact you several times as they were very interested in meeting you and possibly conducting an interview with you while they were here, but that didn’t work out.

Loran would still like you to call him.

If you want more information on Bigelow Aerospace you can go to their website at bigelowaerospace.org The person I am working with is Loran Huffman, senior investigator, Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, his number is …”

The Satan’s Bluff sightings occurred initially on 7 June 2010 at 2145 hours, and involved a cylinder with red blinking lights descending into the Butte. Two days later there were other sightings.

Loran Huffman’s LinkedIn profile states he was the “Director of Investigations and Security.”

2010 July

A 29 July 2010 memo of the FAA stated that:

“...a new larger organisation called Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) …air traffic control reporting of UFOs in the United States should now go to BAASS.”

Reports were to go to phone number 1-877-979-7444 or email Reporting@baass.org.

We know of no-one who can advise us of the number of FAA generated reports which went to BAASS.

2010 August

BAASS investigator Gary Hernandez was still inquiring about sightings over the Lake Erie area. He had first inquired in April 2010 about these. Interestingly, in his LinkedIn profile, Hernandez states that he worked for BAASS between January 2009 and February 2010. Why then he was still investigating reports as late as August 2010, remains to be seen.

An appeal

We welcome hearing of any other BAASS investigated sightings, no matter where in the world they occurred.

Acknowledgement: Thank you to US researcher Curt Collins for his assistance.

Update: 24 April 2020

Nick Pope, formerly of the Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom, after reading our blog, made the following comment:

"Mention of a UK case suggests it would be helpful and timely to confirm that I had some discussions with BAASS personnel about the UK situation. This was mainly in 2009 and my two main contacts were Colm Kelleher on policy and Paul Jantzen on a few specific cases. A lot of the discussions centered on the MOD's UFO files, which we'd started to declassify and release in May 2008 (see link below). While I signed no NDA and never had any formal association with BAASS, I'm not going to be releasing any of the various email exchanges I had with BAASS personnel about this, but can confirm that while I offered an insider's perspective on the MOD material all discussions were at an unclassified level."

Update 6 July 2020

Chris Rutkowski has provided copies of relevant emails.

From: Douglas Kurth <douglas.kurth@baass.org>
Sent: August 20, 2009 4:34 PM
To: 'Chris Rutkowski' <canadianuforeport@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: BAASS - Request to Contact you (fwd)

 

Mr. Rutkowski,

I will try and get ahold of you by phone (although I will be out of pocket the next few days).  In the interim, I greatly appreciate your thorough response.

I am not sure what you know about BAASS, but we are a private aerospace company researching future space technologies.  As such, we believe we can gain a lot of insight via a more detailed understanding of the UFO phenomena.  Therefore, we feel it would be mutually beneficial to continue an ongoing dialogue.

Specifically, we have significant resources for investigating select cases around the world.  We have a staff of experienced investigators, scientists, engineers, and researchers.  If you are willing to inform us of current/future High Quality Unknown Canadian cases as they are reported, we may be willing to use our resources to conduct thorough, timely investigations.  And we would share any lab analyses that would be produced from these investigations.

As you know, we have an ongoing reporting and investigation agreement with MUFON.  I envision the scale of our dialogue would be significantly less, as we would request that you advise us of only the highest quality cases – those that contain some sort of physical evidence, including trace evidence.  We could join forces with some local investigators or conduct the investigations autonomously, however you desire.  But we do have the fiscal resources to have evidence analyzed by multiple, independent laboratories.

We understand that these cases are rare.  One cannot force the phenomena to respond to any constructed timeline.  If this is agreeable to you, we will always be willing to listen to any recommended cases that you feel are worthy of thoroughly investigating.

Thank you for your time and efforts.  I look forward to working with you in the future.

Very Sincerely,

Douglas Kurth

Program Manager

Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies

(702) 798-0444

Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:42:21 -0700
From: Douglas Kurth <douglas.kurth@baass.org>
To: rutkows@cc.umanitoba.ca, chris_rutkowski@umanitoba.ca,
     rutkows@cc.umanitoba.ca
Subject: FW: BAASS - Request to Contact you

Mr. Rutkowski,



I am a Program Manager at BAASS and was requested to contact you by Dr. Colm
Kelleher.  You met him, along with Mr. Bigelow at the recent MUFON
Symposium.



Apparently you had discussed your collection of UFO files/documents with
Colm.  He stated that you said you have acquired over 8,000 pages of
documents on Canadian UFO cases.



We are currently conducting our own research/analysis of the "Canadian
released information" (the documents accessible via the internet).  As you
can imagine, this is a very lengthy process as we started from scratch.  We
have your recent statistical report on the past 20 years of UFO Reports in
Canada.  Additionally, we will have a copy of your co-authored book The
Canadian UFO Report very soon.



Our specific questions include how much information do you have that has not
been previously published?  And how much of that information is "useful"
information?  Is the vast majority of your files covering investigated
cases, or mostly just sighting reports?



I would enjoy discussing and learning about the information you have.  If
you are available, please feel free to contact me via e-mail
(douglas.kurth@baass.org) or telephone (1-702-798-0444, ask receptionist to
speak with Doug).



Thank you for your time.  Very Sincerely,



Douglas Kurth

Program Manager

Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies



*****CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION******

This e-mail contains confidential and/or proprietary information that is the
property of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies.  This e-mail is
intended only for the use of the person or entity to which it is addressed.
If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, be advised that any
disclosure, copy, distribution or use of the contents of this message is
strictly prohibited.  If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail,
please notify the sender that you have received this in error by replying to
this message.  Then, please delete it from your system.  Thank you.

From: Gary Hernandez <gary.hernandez@baass.org>
Sent: May 10, 2010 3:05 PM
To: Chris Rutkowski <canadianuforeport@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re:

 

On Mon, 10 May 2010 12:17:00 -0500, Chris Rutkowski
<canadianuforeport@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Gary:
>
> I found the link to the Westlock audio report. It gives a nice
description
> of what was seen.
>
> I noted it on my blog about recent Canadian UFO reports:
> http://uforum.blogspot.com
>
> (it's about the fifth b;log post down)
>
> The audio link is:
>
>
http://www.ufosnw.com/sighting_reports/2010/westlockalbca4182010/witnessreport.mp3
>
> Personally, I am not sure about the Hobbema cases. I think Gord Kijek of
> the Alberta UFO Study Group did go out there some time ago and was
> frustrated by a lack of cooperation from the residents of that Reserve.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Chris Rutkowski
>                                    
> _________________________________________________________________
> Win a $10,000 shopping spree from Hotmail! Enter now.
> http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9729711
Thank you Chris, I really appreciate your assistance

Best Regards
Gary
--
Gary Hernandez
Field Investigator
Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, LLC
Las Vegas, Nevada

Further insights into BAASS in Brazil in 2009

A continuing investigation by Marc Cecotti and Keith Basterfield

In our previous article about Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) we recounted how we were able to track down evidence for a BAASS trip to Brazil in 2009. A contractor for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP), it now seems pretty obvious, thanks to the work of many researchers, and our own investigation, that AAWSAP was basically a UFO research program, with the following objectives: field investigation of UFO sightings; collection of reports, case files, and other information to produce reports and create databases; and recovery of physical evidence, including metamaterials. We demonstrated how BAASS’ search for data and evidence, went far beyond the borders of the United States; and new information has recently surfaced, proving BAASS interest in UFO reports from China and Australia.

Since our last article, we have not stopped looking for additional evidence about BAASS involvement in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Peru. Marc Cecotti tracked down witnesses in many of those countries, and spoke to dozens of people involved in Ufology. In this article we will explain how we were able to locate witnesses and obtain definitive evidence.

Reginaldo De Athayde in the Youtube video. Credit: Viva Fortaleza/Youtube

In the previous post, we explained how an online interview with a former BAASS Security Officer, whom we chose to call “The Investigator” revealed that a trip to Brazil occurred sometime in late 2009. When showed a photograph of several BAASS employees, they were able to identify a person who was employed as a Portuguese translator. Through further investigation, we discovered that many years after BAASS was shutdown, The Translator had viewed and publicly interacted with a Youtube video featuring famous Brazilian Ufologist Reginaldo de Athayde. De Athayde, who passed away in 2016, lived in the city of Fortaleza, in the Ceará region, and had a lifelong interest and passion for UFO study. He remains one of the renowned names in Brazilian Ufology. After spending many days tracking possible witnesses, Marc Cecotti received a reply from someone who was an associate and close friend of Reginaldo de Athayde: namely Hélio Loyola.

The witness 

Hélio Loyola is a 68-year old UFO researcher who lives in Fortaleza. He is a member of Centro de Pesquisas Ufológicas – Ceará (CPU-CE), Center for UFO investigation in Ceará, and has been investigating UFO sightings for more than 40 years with the same passion. His name is mentioned in the acknowledgment section of Robert Pratt’s 1996 book "UFO Danger Zone: Terror and Death in Brazil." A lengthy online conversation started. Loyola explained that many times, he and others from CPU-CE helped and cooperated with foreign researchers who came to investigate major sightings in Brazil. But when the name of The Translator was mentioned, he immediately remembered their visit.

According to Loyola, four people from BAASS came in 2009. They were introduced by another famous Brazilian ufologist. They introduced themselves “as members of an American UFO research company from North America, located in Nevada, that was called BAASS, and they said they were making a UFO documentary all around the world.” Regarding the members of this team, he said: “One of them was a member of US Intelligence Police. There was The Translator. And another one spoke Portuguese fluently because he had lived in São Paulo.” When asked if they met other people in Brazil, he gave three names, including Ademar Jose Gevaerd, who already acknowledged meeting BAASS, in our last article.

Meeting in Fortaleza 

Centro de Pesquisas Ufológicas – Ceará (CPU-CE) Headquarters in Fortaleza.

Credit: Google StreetView

According to Loyola, in October 2009, BAASS met with Reginaldo de Athayde, Loyola and two other people at CPU-CE headquarters, located in Fortaleza. On the first day, “after we talked about UFOs in the Ceará and about our cases, we asked about the purpose of so much ufological content ? [BAASS] said that the government wanted to know if the countries of South America were becoming aware that there was life outside of the Earth and in [the] degree of this awareness among the people.” Then, he drove the whole BAASS Team to Hotel Praia Centro, in downtown Fortaleza.

Hotel Praia Centro, Fortaleza, Brasil.

Credit: kayak.com

The next day, according to Loyola, “[he] picked them up around 10:00 a.m, they arrived with camcorders and cameras and spent several hours photographing and filming our files and case reports.” He also insisted: “Here in Brazil they didn't do any research. They took and photographed what the ufologists saw and documented, and asked each ufologist permission to make public what we had documented.”

In the evening, Loyola drove them to Hotel Praia Centro. “They were supposed to go to São Paulo (…) but I'm not sure they went to São Paulo, you understand. They may have traveled, to see various UFO cases, (…) they may have gone to Belem, to see [another ufologist], to Mato Grosso Cuiabá, to see A.J. Gevaerd, to Rio de Janeiro, to meet [another ufologist]. After they interviewed us, we took pictures of the whole group.” “After those two days in Fortaleza, we did not have any news of them. To be more precise, I got the e-mail of The Translator, and we exchanged some correspondence, but it has been many years that she also disappeared. That's it.”

Who came to Ceara?

Many researchers, us included, have been able to draw up a comprehensive database of BAASS personnel; built from witness testimonies, newspaper or online articles, and information publicly available on websites such as LinkedIn and other social media. Cross-checking all those different sources of information was essential to establish the identities, responsibilities, positions and years of employment of most BAASS employees. The Investigator suggested several names that we already had on our list. In our last article A.J. Gevaerd identified Douglas Kurth, a BAASS program manager from 2007 to 2013, and another investigator. At first Hélio Loyola told us Kurth was there. He somehow remembered the name “Kurth.” The Translator was definitely present too. There was another BAASS investigator and also a fourth person, “a Young Man who spoke Portuguese fluently”. But why two translators. This didn’t make a lot of sense. We figured out later what was wrong: The Translator was indeed speaking several foreign languages, but didn’t translate at the meeting between BAASS and CPU-CE. The “Young Man”, who had lived in São Paulo, did all the translation.

The other UFOlogists 

Many names were mentioned in Marc Cecotti’s conversation with Hélio Loyola. He reached out to many of those people, former associates and members of other UFO research groups. In most cases people had heard about the BAASS visit to Brazil. But this came from other people, with no first-hand witnesses.

A.J. Gevaerd told us he believes that BAASS came to Brazil specifically to see him. And he said that there were only two BAASS investigators, “Douglas Kurth, 99% certain” he said when asked for a second confirmation, “and another investigator.” In the last article, he mentioned that BAASS wanted to hire him. When asked in what capacity, he said: “We spoke about a contract of services. I would search and investigate old and new cases in order to find metamaterials.” Unfortunately, he has no records and no pictures of his meeting with BAASS.

Photographic evidence

Then, a Brazilian researcher named João Marcelo Marques Rios who had been contacted a few weeks ago, reached out and sent Marc Cecotti a link to a Youtube public video posted in 2011. It features the President of another Brazilian UFO study group called Centro Sobralense de Pesquisas Ufológicas (CSPU), based in the city of Sobral, interviewing an individual who just attended a CSPU conference. The caption reads:

“The CSPU (Centro Sobralense de Pesquisas Ufológicas) held the group's monthly meeting on September 25, 2009 in the central auditorium of SENAC Sobral. (…)  Such sightings are attracting the attention of people and even groups of international researchers, as was the case in May when the CSPU received the visit of a team from North America, from BAASS (Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies), a company in the field of space technology based in Las Vegas and pioneer in expandable space station modules.”

2011 Youtube Video of BAASS visit

According to this video, BAASS was in the city of Sobral – CE, in May 2009. We were able to reach out to CSPU who sent us an article dated June, 1^st 2009:

“CSPU de Sobral receives visit from American Researchers

The CSPU (Centro Sobralense de Pesquisas Ufológicas) held last 29th, in the auditorium of Eletromil de Sobral the presentation of several cases, recent and old of apparitions and contacts with UFOs, of eyewitnesses of the region. On this date, the team of ufologists from Sobral had the satisfaction of receiving a visit from the study group of the American company BA[A]SS (Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studios) that came from Las Vegas to follow the events, gather information and make an international relationship of exchange of experience by evaluating studies of new technologies. The team: Melissa Godoy, Tim Koonce, Loran Huffman, Lucas Gornichec, chose the CSPU team from the northeast of Brazil, because for ten years, the scientific community of Sobral holds meetings and follows the events that took place in the North Zone. (…)

The BASS (Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studios) team, testified about the studies that the company carries out in several countries around the world, and about the team's intention to seek the Sobralense Center to maintain international relations.”

Further research allowed us to find several other online articles about BAASS visit to CSPU in Sobral in May 2009.

https://cspu.blogspot.com/2009/06/cspu-realiza-reuniao-com-visitantes.html

http://sobralensedagemma.blogspot.com/2009/06/cspu-de-sobral-recebe-visita-de.html

https://cspu.blogspot.com/2009/06/americanos-continuam-interessados-na.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z1pgIkbcD0&feature=youtu.be

We now had confirmation of the BAASS visit, and the names of the team members. All of them were known to us, except for one. It turned out that the one we had never heard of, is the man being interviewed on the Youtube video, the one who spoke Portuguese fluently and who was the translator at the CPU-CE meeting in October. Hélio Loyola confirmed it.

 Timeline

We were aware that a trip took place in late 2009, from The Investigator’s recollections. But the evidence we now obtained indicated a trip in May 2009. We asked Loyola to clarify the different dates. He explained: “First they came to Fortaleza’s CPU. In Sobral, it was us who sent them to speak with Mr.[ufologist], who had and has a team of researchers in the northern region of the Ceará”. Then he added, “They first came here in Fortaleza, they learned about several [UFO research] groups here in the Ceará [region], because it was the key to the passage to other groups (…), in Sobral, and in Quixadá. They mentioned us [CPU-CE] and the other [UFO research] groups believed and provided all the research.”

“[The president of the CSPU received them with open arms, and provided all his research material in the region, including making a presentation to the people of Sobral interested in UFO cases.”

Then, according to Hélio Loyola, BAASS came back in October 2009. When asked if a different team came in October, Loyola explained: “They were the same, it had to be because they were already known and [it was] easier for them to get more information.  We’d already gained confidence and [we had to] make sure they were ufologists.”

Regarding the purpose of the second visit in Brazil Loyola stated: “[It’s] logical because Athayde didn't open the CPU-CE [archives] for them to photograph all the cases when they first came.”

Alleged metamaterials were kept at CPU-CE headquarters, but Hélio Loyola is certain that BAASS were not given anything. He believes the fragments remain in Brazil to this day.

The exact dates of the visit or visits still require some clarification. But we now established that BAASS indeed visited Brazil at least once in May 2009 and we now have definitive evidence.

Hélio Loyola sent Marc Cecotti a couple of pictures taken in May 2009. Since we already knew those BAASS employees except the one who spoke Portuguese, and we also had pictures of them, we were quickly able to confirm their identities.

 BAASS team with Reginaldo De Athayde, May 2009, Fortaleza. The gates are the ones featured on the Google StreetView picture of CPU-CE headquarters.

Credit: Hélio Loyola

BAASS at a local restaurant in Sobral, May 2009
Credit: Hélio Loyola

BAASS at CSPU meeting in Sobral, May 2009
Credit: Hélio Loyola

  

Conclusion

After several weeks of investigation, and conversations with multiple witnesses and sources, it has now been established with definitive evidence that a team from Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) visited Brazil on multiple occasions. We now know that Melissa Godoy, Lucas Gornichec, Timothy Koonce and Loran Huffman went to Fortaleza and Sobral in May 2009, and likely a second time in October 2009. A.J. Gevaerd’s testimony also indicates that Douglas Kurth and another BAASS individual, visited Brazil on a different occasion. Based on all those accounts, it is now certain that their objective was to collect evidence and information about UFO events, but also records, case files; and sought to retrieve possible metamaterials. This seems to fit pretty well into the history of BAASS, which has been made public, thanks to the efforts of many researchers. We now hope those former BAASS employees will come forward, and help us better understand the objectives of the program.

At the time of writing the conclusion to this article, we have been contacted by new witnesses who provided us with additional solid evidence. We will share our new findings in a third article soon. 

Office of the US Secretary of Defense FOIA AAWSAP response

Background

On 30 April 2018, Australian researcher Paul Dean, published a blog titled "The Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program."  Paul had received word from an individual, whom Paul referred to as "...someone who claimed to be in a senior defense program leadership role."

Whereas, we were all referring to the "secret Pentagon UFO study program" as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP,) this individual told Paul that the program's name was actually the Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program (AAWSAP.) This led to the uncovering of more information about AAWSAP; whose full correct name, turned out to be, the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program.

FOIA request

Having this inside knowledge, Paul immediately submitted a request under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), to the Office of the Secretary of Defense/JS FOI Desk. He requested:

"...any electronic or hard copy records that include: mission statements, program overviews, program aims, fact sheets, program briefs for commanders or other senior leadership, program histories, contract information,  and other general information regarding a program (either still running or was running in the last 12 years) within the Department of Defense. The name of that program is "Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program" (AAWSAP) or extremely similar. It was located possibly in the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), but I would like other DoD agencies checked. I saw a reference to this program in a register of DoD programs some years ago, so I do believe it exists or existed."

The DoD response

Almost two years later, the DoD responded in a letter dated April 14, 2020.  The letter came from the Department of Defense FOI Division, 1155 Pentagon, Washington DC. It was a "final response" to Paul's FOI request. Part of the reply, stated:

"The Office of the Under Secretary for Aquisition and Sustainment (USD A&S,) a component of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD,) reasonably believes  their office does not have records in their files that are responsive to your request. Therefore a search was not conducted. You provided additional clarification of your request and a search of the Office of the Under Secretary for Intelligence (USD(I)) a component of OSD, conducted a search of their records systems based on the additional information you provided. After thorough searches of the electronic records and files of USD(I) no records of the kind you described could be identified. We believe that these search methods were appropriate and could reasonably be expected to provide the requested records if they existed." I image this letter below:

Note: Paul's current residential address is no longer the one shown above.

Comment:

So, the very first known FOIA request concerning AAWSAP, to the Office of the Secretary of Defense/JS FOI Desk has essentially recorded a "no responsive records held" reply.  I am aware of other such FOIA requests, such as my own to the OSD/JS FOI Desk, which are in the pipeline. Paul's response gives us little hope of a positive reply.

BAASS team visited Brazil

An investigation by Marc Cecotti  and Keith Basterfield

Introduction

Thanks to the great investigative work of Roger Glassel and Curt Collins, we learned recently of more details of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) financial agreement with the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON.) This partnership allowed BAASS to acquire data, field reports, witness interview transcripts and case files from MUFON, but also to identify the most important UFO cases across the United States, and then dispatch their own field investigators. But in recent weeks, we learned that the BAASS effort to collect information and physical evidence went far beyond the US borders. 

There have long been rumours that employees of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies visited Brazil, during the time of the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) contract. The two of us decided it was time to try and track down more definitive information about this alleged claim.

In the course of our investigation we communicated with a number of former BAASS employees. For the purpose of this article, we have decided not to provide their names, unless they are already in the public realm. This is in the hope that this will encourage other former BAASS employees to talk with us.

The Investigator

One of us conducted an online communication, in March 2020, with a former BAASS employee, whom for the purposes of this article we will call, the Investigator.

The individual had been a BAASS Investigator/Security Officer until July 2010, when there was a mass layoff of BAASS employees.

Their role was described as performing physical and information security, but also included investigating unusual activity at Skinwalker Ranch. They originally applied for a position at Bigelow Aerospace, then worked for BAASS from early 2009. They had a couple of deployments to Skinwalker Ranch.

During the online communication, the Investigator stated:

"I remember the first major investigation they did, they put a team together to go to, I believe it was Brazil, to investigate some UFO activities that was at least four or five years old. It took them three months to put the team together and actually get moving."

In discussing other former BAASS employees, and upon being shown a photograph of several BAASS employees, which we had located; the Investigator identified one woman in the photograph as being, an individual, whom we will refer to as, the BAASS Portuguese translator. The Investigator stated "I believe she was only there on a short contract, went with the team to Brazil." Asked when the trip to Brazil occurred, the investigator responded "Not sure, mid summer or fall 2009."

Asked if the team was a large one, or just a couple of people, the Investigator replied "About six I think." Questioned as to whether he remembered which BAASS employees were on the team, with two names suggested, being Kelleher and one other; the reply was "I don't think either."

We were able to find the announcement of a job offer for a BAASS Portuguese translator, on Twitter, dated May 30th 2009.

These details then sent us off searching for further confirmation of this BAASS trip to Brazil.

The Analyst

Later in March 2020, an online interview was conducted with another former BAASS employee, who was engaged as an analyst. A check of available information, stated that they were employed as a research analyst beginning in 2009.

They confirmed that they looked at data from the official French government UAP study group, GEIPAN; and said "We were in contact with a lot of French-speaking countries, and other countries from South America..." Once again, this confirms information obtained by other researchers that BAASS was trying to collect UFO reports and data from several American and foreign databases.

The Senior Investigator

In late March 2020, one of us had a short conversation with a former BAASS Senior Investigator. This individual advised that they were, at one time, in charge of up to ten investigators, all BAASS employees. When asked if he was part of the trip to Brazil, he replied that he didn't go, because he had too many active investigations in the US at the time. Here then was a confirmation of the trip to Brazil.

Background information

This would be a good time to introduce some background information which has direct bearing on the subject of this article.

1. New York Times 2010.

The June 8th 2010, New York Times carried an article by Kenneth Chang titled "In New Space Race, Enter the Entrepreneurs." It featured an interview with Robert Bigelow who said, in part:

"I've been a researcher and student of U.F.O.'s for many, many years...People have been killed. People have been hurt. It's more than observational kind of data."

In looking to clarify this statement, we came across a 2015 book titled "Bigelow Aerospace: Colonizing Space One Module at a Time," by author Erik Seedhouse. On page seven of the book there is the following quote:

"Dr Franklin Ruehl, who claims Bigelow knows something the rest of us don't, quoting an interview with Bigelow from the New York Times in June 2010, in which Bigelow, when asked about UFOs, stated that "People have been killed. People have been hurt." When asked later about this quote, Bigelow claims he was referring to the Colares, Brazil incident from 1977, during which radiation beams fired by a UFO, injured or killed up to 35 people."

Note the timing of this comment. The Brazilian government released data on the 1977 incidents, in May 2009. BAASS sends a team to Brazil in mid summer or fall 2009. Bigelow comments in June 2010.

2. Argentina.

In December 2019, in response to a blog article by one of us, a communication was received from the Scientific Research of the UFO Phenomenon: Victoria UFO Museum, Entre Rios, Argentina. A Google translation of the message, rendered it as:

"I don't remember the year, but on behalf of BAASS was contacted our team [the name of the BAASS Portuguese translator]. She wanted that from Argentina, we would inform about objects falling from the sky, cases of UAPs and power plants, and nuclear power plants.

In return we were offered to train our researchers and finance the work. After that, she never communicated again and we received an email from BAASS that she no longer worked. I think it was in that year." The year referred to was 2009.

We were able to obtain a screenshot of our source's email account featuring the Portuguese Translator's BAASS contact information.

3. A talk at the Society for Scientific Exploration conference.

During his talk at the June 2018 SSE conference, Las Vegas, Hal Puthoff referred to Brazil when he said "We, as part of the program  looked at some cases that were really cool from Brazil." By program, he was referring to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP.) He went on to say:

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

Further information sought

One of us reached out to Hal Puthoff by email and asked several short questions. Below are the questions, and Puthoff's responses:

Q1 Did a BAASS team go to Brazil?

A1 Yes.

Q2 If so, what was its role?

A2 Gather data from Brazilian investigators (but I don't know details.)

Q3 Can you provide any additional information as to the Team's findings?

A3 No. I was never briefed on the medical program results, just knew that it had occurred. Colm Kelleher would be your best contact for this.

Q4 Were you part of the team?

A4 No, I wasn't.

We also reached out to Christopher (Kit) Green and posed a few questions. Here are those questions and Green's answers:

Q1 To your knowledge did a BAASS team go to Brazil?

Q2 If so, what was its role?

Q3 Can you provide any additional information as to the team's findings?

A I did not hear about the trip at the time. Was not told about it until after - long after - as in well over 10 years after. I was told by a decent source no medical persons - certainly no MDs - were on the "team." I never saw a medical report. I have seen a non-professional, medical "stacked bar chart"of lay-terminolgy numbers of alleged cases - but not any underlying data. I have seen some summaries of cases over the years, widely published by Vallee and Pratt - but unrelated to BAASS. As I said in an earlier email, I never saw any medical data alleged from Brazil except from Vallee and Pratt - and there was no actual forensic medical data - but good, yet non-specific summaries."

We also checked with investigative reporter Tim McMillan as to his knowledge in this area. He kindly advised that:

"Now, I know BAASS investigators did travel to Brazil to investigate some more recent cases during AAWSAP. Where they went I'm not sure of yet. I was also told around 2010 some high-ranking officials from the Brazilian military were flown to Washington to brief AATIP personnel on some Brazilian UFO cases. Supposedly, these officials provided more documents and data to AATIP."

It begins to look, based on the comments by the former BAASS Investigator, and Tim McMillan, that the BAASS team was looking at some more recent Brazilian cases which occurred in the period 4-5 years before 2009, and not the 1977/78 incidents. Although, of course, they could have been undertaking both.

Further afield

Recognising that some of our former BAASS sources may well be still under Non Disclosure Agreements (NDA,) we reasoned that UAP researchers in South America would not be held to an NDA, so our search then widened beyond the US.

Brazil - Ademar Gevaerd

On 1 April 2020, an online conversation with famed Brazilian researcher Ademar Gevaerd revealed further details. Gevaerd was able to tell is that he had actually met two members of BAASS in his home town of Curitiba, Brazil "They were former USAF agents working for Bigelow. They wanted artifacts from UFOs, such as metamaterials."

Asked if he remembered their names, he responded "Douglas Kurth for sure." On being sent a picture of Kurth he reconfirmed this identification. On the question of what year this was, Gevaerd, said "By 2008 or 2009, don't remember. As far as I know they didn't take anything." Gevaerd then mentioned "They also went to Argentina."

Argentina - Andrea Simondini

An online conversation was held, with a key UAP researcher in Argentina. This was the same person, who in December 2019 had responded to a blog post by one of us. Andrea confirmed the name of the BAASS Portuguese translator for us. Andrea also mentioned that the emails from the translator, and some from Colm Kellher, were the only contact she personally had with BAASS. She also told us that the translator could have reached out to a UAP organisation in Chile. We have been trying to contact the former BAASS translator, who still lives in Las Vegas, for comment.

Chile

Online communication with a key UAP researcher in Chile, revealed that he was 100% sure, that BAASS did not reach out to his organization in 2009. He believes that because of past disagreements between his organization and Bigelow's now defunct paranormal research institute, the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS,) BAASS chose not to contact him. We are still investigating possible contacts in Chile.

Uruguay

Our Chilean contact mentioned that it was possible that BAASS had reached out to someone in Uruguay. A follow up with that individual in Uruguay failed to confirm that they had been contacted by BAASS. However, statements from some of our sources led us to believe that contact with BAASS may actually have happened. We are currently investigating those claims.

End note

At the time of posting this article we are still looking into the cooperation BAASS tried to establish with several organizations in South America, but also with other countries worldwide, to collect not only information, but also physical evidence.But as Collins and Glassel reported, evidence seems to suggest that BAASS was more interested in collecting data and reports, than sharing its own findings.

TTTSA - the 31 March 2020 report to the SEC

Introduction

Recently, the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTSA) filed updated documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. As well as providing financial information and an update on the activities of its entertainment division, there was news about other company divisions. I will provide my comments, as appropriate.

Items of interest to me included

1.  Metamaterials 

"In July 2019, the company acquired metamaterial assets to accelerate its material science program for the ADAM research project. The exotic materials that were purchased have a structure and composite unknown to any existing commercial or military application and through its scientific study, the Science and Technology Division will look to substantiate possible attributes and transition them to technology capabilities."

My comment: We have yet to hear of any samples with such properties, other than claims about the Linda Moulton Howe and Art Bell artifacts.

2. Under "Future goals"

a. "Continue to be a best-in-class research program that educates the public about scientific phenomena on a mass-media level."

b. "Contribute to advancing human intelligence through The VAULT using an artifcial intelligence-driven database to triage and partition data that enables collaboration among the public, academia, industry, government and law enforcement to find anomalies, trends, signatures and patterns."

c. "Launch the SCOUT mobile application."

d. "Significantly decrease the cost and environmental impact of orbit launches with our Beamed Energy Launch Systems; and

e. "Establish the company as the world leader in next-generation intelligence and laboratory for revolutionary physics and material science research that could have the possibility of positively changing the current understanding of propulsion, communication, transportation and everyday life."

3. SCOUT

"The SCOUT mobile application will enable data collection directly from the public that will contribute to The VAULT. SCOUT will enable users to access, track and view other users' data contributions as well as information published by the company. We plan to upgrade The VAULT to include data submissions from larger databases such as the US Government and foreign governments in the future. SCOUT will be made available to the public through the iTunes App Store and Google Play later in 2020."

My comments:

The initial date for release was said to be late Fall, 2019. It is known, through statements by Luis Elizondo, that TTSA acquired a large database of Italian UAP cases from a private Italian UAP research organisation. We also know that the Defense Intelligence Agency funded, Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) created large data bases of UAP data. It is a pity that this BAASS material is unable to be shared with TTSA, as it would save much time and expense.

4. Intellectual property.

"In 2020 the Science and Technology Division is looking to continue to expand its intellectual property portfolio by acquiring, enhancing or integrating new technology solutions that have innovative applications in both private industry and government."

5. Potential partners.

"We continue to have meetings with potential partners, and we anticipate that our efforts to expand the scope and number of collaborative relationships will gain significant momentum in 2020."

6. Projects planned.

a. "Launch the SCOUT mobile application to expand the reach and collection of data for The VAULT."

b. "Complete the evaluation stage and begin the development phase on the BELS and STME projects."

c. "Expand the scope of our efforts to collect and analyze materials under the A.D.A.M. Research project that could lead to discoveries and commercial applications."

My Comment: We know that in late 2019, Luis Elizondo was in Argentina looking to retrieve physical UAP samples.