Thursday, August 29, 2019

Kit Green's USAF "UFO" mentor

Kit Green's July 2019 interview

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

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

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

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

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

Who was this individual?

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

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

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

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

Flickinger

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

* He was a Stanford Medical school trained surgeon

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

* He was director of bio-astronautics and life sciences

* He left the USAF in 1961

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

* He passed away on 23 February 1997.

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

A CIA connection

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

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

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

Flickinger and UFOs

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

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

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

US Navy emails re UFOs and unidentified aircraft

Politico magazine

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

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

John Greenewald

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

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

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

Media queries

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

Who is mentioned in the emails?

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

Matthew J Kohler - VADM USN (USA)

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

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

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

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

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

Richard V Spencer - HON SECNAV

John M Richardson - ADM USN CNO (USA)

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

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

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

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

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

Jason A Reynolds - A SES USN (USA)

Appears to be DeWofe's Aide.

In summary

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

John F Stratton

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

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

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

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

In short, an ideal individual for the job.

New information I found

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6. There were at least four briefings:

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

Acknowledgment

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

Update: 27 November 2021. 

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

Monday, August 26, 2019

Kit Green and his search for "alien autopsies"

Kit Green

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

Richard Dolan

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

* The Davis Wilson document

* The Alien Autopsy document.

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

Jacques Vallee's diaries

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

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

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

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

My final quote from "FS:V3" is from an entry dated  5 July 1989, where Vallee asks Green, "By the way," I asked him, "you never did tell me what got you interested in these rumors about Alien bodies in the first place." Green replies "It goes back to the seventies, when the first alleged autopsy pictures came out, all that stuff by Len Stringfield."

Dolan interview

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

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

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

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

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

What did Green ultimately conclude?

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

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

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

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

In summary

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

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Jacques Vallee, consciousness and UAP

Consciousness

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

1965

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image courtesy Amazon Books

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

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

1969

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

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

1972


Image courtesy Amazon Books

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

1976


Image courtesy Amazon Books

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

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

1977

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1990


Image courtesy Amazon Books

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

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

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

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

1991


Image courtesy Amazon Books

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

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

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

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

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

Summary

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

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

There are short YouTube videos where Vallee explores the above.

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

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

Update:22 August2019

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

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


Sunday, August 18, 2019

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

Physical evidence

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

Leslie Kean

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

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

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

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

Jim Semivan

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

Image courtsey of Amazon Books

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

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

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

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

Dr Paul Rapp

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

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

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

An aside

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

Update: 20 August 2019

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



Saturday, July 27, 2019

Congressman Mark Walker and UAP

US Congressman Mark Walker was recently interviewed by Fox Newsman Tucker Carlson about UAP. The interview aired on Fox News Channel's "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on 26 July 2019. As there were a number of interesting exchanges during the interview, I have chosen to present my transcript of the entire interview for blog readers to digest. After the transcript, I will, as usual, have a few comments to make.



Transcript

TC - Well, after decades of denial, and secrecy, and flat out lying, America's defense establishment is finally admitting some of what it knows about UFOs. The Navy have admitted that its pilots encounter unidentified aircraft, so often, that they have had to draft new reporting guidelines to allow pilots to come forward. It is easy to find this funny, but it is also scary if you think about it.

Our vast, well funded, defense establishment is seeing things in the sky, they cannot account for; doing things they cannot understand. Should we be worried?

Congressman Mark Walker is a republican, representing the state of North Carolina, just sent a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, about the military's UFO investigations. We recently spoke to the Congressman. Here's part of what he had to say.

TC - Should we be worried?

MW - Well, we are concerned about it. As the ranking member of Terrorism and Counterintelligence, we have questions. It comes down to some of the new infrared radar systems that we are putting into some of our new jets, are detecting some things out there. We call them Unidentified Aerial Threats, something we are looking at, UAPs are what we call it. We want to know the information, and that's why it's important we take a look at this.

TC - So this has been going on an awful long time. There is a lot of data the government has stored about this this, most of this I think is still classified. There must be theories about what these objects, what these aircraft are. What's the most plausible theory do you think?

MW - Well, we don't know for sure, obviously. What we do know is; the question we are wanting to get to. Is this something that is a defense mechanism from another country? We do know that China is looking at hypersonic missiles. That's 25,000 kilometres, or to break it down into our language, getting from DC, where I'm at, to LA in about 9 minutes. We don't know if nuclear warheads can be attached to those. Is it something like that, or is it something more? We don't know. But I feel like it is something that we must take a look at and that is why we've written to Secretary Spencer of the Navy.

TC - Is there any indication that you're aware, that these sightings are foreign aircraft? Russian or Chinese aircraft?

MW - We don't know. We have no evidence to support that. We do know there's something that's travelling at that speed of what we call hypersonic now, which is mach 4 or 5, not to get too technical.

That is something that we want to know. Is this something that another defense system in another country is more advanced, or is it something else? We are not trying to spook people out, but the AATIP, which basically a program that the government monitors this, was to close down in 2017. So part of my question, Tucker, is it really closed down; are we still spending resources; or is there more documentation that this program is still being able to file somewhere? That's something we need to know. Even if its just for defense purposes alone.

TC - We spoke to a government employee who has worked on this issue, who said the US government has wreckage from one of these aircraft. Do you know anything about that?

MW - We don't know, but that's one of the four questions that we are asking. Is there evidence being held somewhere; not to get too spooky once again. But if there is evidence, I believe it is important for people, specifically in my position as the ranking member of Terrorism and Counterintelligence. We need to know about this.

TC - Of course, and these are all legitimate questions. Hopefully, you are not being bullied or mocked into not asking them. I hope you will come back and tell us what the answers are.

MW - We look forward; when we find out; to come back. Thank you Tucker.

My comments

1. Walker says that there is no evidence to support the objects as being Russian or Chinese aircraft.

2. He states that the objects are capable of hypersonic velocities.

3. In fact, he uses the words "...or something more..." and "...or is it something else?" in two places during the interview, hinting at a non Russian or Chinese origin.

4. Carlson mentions that a government employee [Elizondo -KB] said that the US government has wreckage from one of these aircraft. When Walker is asked "Do you know anything about that?" Walker doesn't answer with "yes" or "no" but with "We don't know," then goes on to say that that is a question they are asking.

5. I look forward to Walker's return to the show, when he provides the responses from the Secretary of the Navy.

Update: 5 August 2019

On 29 July 2019, Congressman Walker's official government website carried a media center article about the above. It also provided a copy of the full letter.  

Update: 8 September 2019

In a further article in Politico, Bryan Bender reported on the Navy's letter of response to Senator Warner, and Senator Warner's reaction to the Navy response.

Update: 28 December 2019

In a tweet dated 28 December 2019, Bryan Bender wrote:

"Rep. Mark Walker outlines oversight plan for "unidentified aerial phenomena" to Politicopro: "If it's something crazy out there, we want to find that out. Is this something or technology that we are not aware of that we need to be paying attention to."

Tweet 2

"I think the general public has a right to know unless it's something that puts our national security at risk. Is it something we are feeling concerned about? A threat? If it is we'll give [the military] some space. But what else is it? Do you have an explanation?"

Tweet 3

"Was it advanced military aircraft or systems that Russia or China or even France is looking at? Is that something they're working on? And we're just behind? ... And so part of your focus is also figuring out do we have the right capabilities to pick up these things?"

Tweet 4

"...Are we documenting evidences and are taxpayers' dollars being spent to be able to store evidence?"

Tweet 5

"And there's lots of different philosophical approaches even some that some would write off as conspiratorial! I don't know that I land on one specific one more than the other. But I do believe there are some things that maybe we can't explain all the time with science."

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and the National Reconnaissance Office

Background

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

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

Introduction

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

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

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

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

Valerie Ransone

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

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

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

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

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

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


1984 - "Clear Intent"

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

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

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

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


1987 - Timothy Good

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

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


1988 - Vallee

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

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

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

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

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

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

1997 - Greer and the NRO document

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

1997 - the Haines study

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

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

2000 - Daniel M Salter

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

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

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

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

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

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

2009 - Richard Dolan

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

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


2011 - Anthony Bragalia

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

Bragalia also wrote:

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

I have heard nothing further about this potentially interesting source.

2015 - the Black Vault

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

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

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

Update: 3 August 2019

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

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

A blog update

Thank you to all those blog readers who have contacted me privately, to enquire as to why there has been no blog posts for several months. T...