X Descending (30 page)

In the ensuing months, as the NSA and I exchanged letters, I finally obtained an admission from them that they did, in fact, have records dealing with a Project Aquarius. Although they denied that it had anything to do with unidentified flying objects, they were adamant that any release of information about it posed a "grave threat" to our national security. From one perspective I had nothing, from another I had found the first connection between the NSA and a Project Aquarius outside of the mention of Aquarius in the “Aquarius Telex”. Obviously it was not proof that the NSA or the Project Aquarius they were referring to had anything to do with the UFO phenomenon, but the name of project considered extremely sensitive to the NSA had definitely found its way into the "Aquarius Telex."

Finding this agency and this project name together in the context of an operation to misinform Paul Bennewitz raises an important question. What is the likelihood that whoever created the telex simply picked the name “Project Aquarius” out of thin air and then, purely by chance, used it in close proximity to “NSA” simply to spice up the document? It is certainly possible, but in the context of events at the time it seems far more likely that whoever created the document knew Project Aquarius was a valid NSA project name and would pass muster, at least on the surface. Perhaps revealing the name of a valid NSA project and attributing it to NSA, even accidentally, would not generate a security investigation. However, for a highly classified project, would using or misusing the project name not raise any concerns over security leaks? Even if Project Aquarius had nothing to do with the UFO phenomenon, as now appears to be the case, it seems that whatever agent or agency produced the "Aquarius Telex" chose a project name that had a unique appeal.

The "Aquarius Telex" is a clear example of a document that, on its face, related to Paul Bennewitz, but actually served to draw researchers away from him and on to other pursuits that would eventually lead to nothing. It did entice researchers to spend countless months and years hammering any number of federal and military agencies with FOIA requests, not to mention arguing among each other. But as intriguing as it seemed to be, all the while it simply diverted attention away from Paul Bennewitz and the evidence he had.

Linda Howe and Briefing Papers

Sometime after the the 1980 Kirtland AFOSI documents were released, and as news of Paul Bennewitz’s experiences became public knowledge, television producer and journalist, Linda Howe, took an interest in the events around Kirtland Air Force Base. As part of a production deal with HBO, Linda began to contact people involved with the Kirtland/Bennewitz incidents, and one of those she arranged to interview, perhaps the most significant one, was Richard Doty. The meeting they had, and what resulted from it, has all the earmarks of a ploy to waste her time in hopes that the HBO production would fall through, and to spread even more disinformation.

Linda is a fascinating woman who, in 1980, produced the award-winning documentary,
A Strange Harvest
, examining the cattle mutilation mystery. I first met her on a trip to Crestone, Colorado in the latter half of the 1980s. Several researchers were meeting there, and I was invited to go along on what was a nice opportunity to meet with friends at a beautiful location. After the meeting, John Lear, Linda, and I rode back to Albuquerque together in the wee hours of the morning, the three of us crammed in the front seat of John’s truck.

It was on that long drive from Colorado, talking about whatever came to mind, that Linda spoke about her meeting with Richard Doty. The details of what happened, including her claim that Richard Doty had shown her a set of bizarre documents, are fairly well known now. In short, Linda said that Doty had taken her to an office on Kirtland AFB where the meeting was to be held, and while there, he had reached into a drawer and handed her a folder containing a set of documents. The documents she was shown contained bizarre revelations, including allegations that alien intelligences had influenced the history of mankind.

As we drove through the cold New Mexico night, Linda talked about the strange way Doty acted during the meeting. He directed her to sit in a specific chair and his manner had been very guarded as she read over the documents. At times she would ask questions, but he would only reply with nods or motions. It was peculiar enough that she still remembered it. Then she made an off-hand comment that stayed in my mind from that moment on. Doty's behavior, she said,
gave her the feeling that the chair she was in was “bugged”
.

Since her meeting with Doty, accusations and denials have flown back and forth over whether she was actually shown any documents at all. Richard Doty has denied it, but Linda has stood by her claims. I, for one, could not see why Linda would make up such a story, or need to, and the rather specific details in her version were always consistent. What seemed important to me was that if what Linda said was true then Counterintelligence personnel had acted intentionally to interfere with a journalist pursuing a story that began with Paul Bennewitz. If they would set up such a bizarre situation to mislead a journalist, all part of an effort to stop an HBO special, then whatever they were trying to keep secret must have been very important.

Sometime in the latter part of the 1980s, in a telephone conversation with Ernest Edwards, he told me that Richard Doty was back at Kirtland AFB. I called and spoke to Doty briefly about the 1980 AFOSI documents, about Paul Bennewitz, and finally about his meeting with Linda. I was not surprised that he was very dismissive about the things Linda claimed had happened, and he stated unequivocally that he had never shown her any documents.

Because I had heard Linda's detailed recollections of the meeting, I mentioned to him that she had been very adamant about how he had asked her to sit in a specific chair and then reached into a desk drawer and brought out the documents. At that point he hesitated, and then suddenly said that he now remembered! He
had
reached in the desk and brought out some writing paper to give to her because she had come to their meeting with nothing to write on!

I had a hard time buying that story, and not just because of his sudden recollection. I could not imagine that Linda, a professional journalist, would come unprepared to take notes (when I mentioned this to her sometime later she was understandably amused.) After hearing Doty's sudden recollection that, in fact, he had reached into his desk after all, but only for writing paper, Linda's version of events became substantially stronger in my opinion. Doty's version no longer rang true…but that was not the end of it.

After his sudden recall, and to reinforce his stance that he had not handed Linda any documents, Doty suddenly proclaimed that two of his supervisors had been there and could verify his statements. I had already been told by Linda that only she and Doty had been present, so I quickly asked him, "Were they in the room?" He hesitated, and then simply said that
one of them had been outside the door!

He never mentioned where the other supervisor had been, but it immediately brought to mind Linda’s feeling that her chair was bugged. I suspect her instincts were right on target that day.

Several years ago, an article allegedly giving details of this meeting was accessible on the web site www.ufoconspiracy.com under the "News" section. Dated 05-14-2000, with the author listed only as "Former AFOSI agent", the article and this specific web site could lead someone to think the writer was Doty himself. Though most of the article seemed rather selfserving, the writer stated that two other agents were present (though perhaps not physically present), and that the meeting with Linda Howe had actually been videotaped. Also interesting is that the writer claimed that he did show Linda two documents, but mundane ones at best—the official AF press release on UFO's...and a MUFON report!

Regardless of what Linda was shown, one of the most suspicious allegations in the article is that the writer and his superiors surreptitiously videotaped the meeting. If, as the writer also claimed, the purpose of taping the meeting was to protect AFOSI from whatever statements Linda might make later, then why not simply tell her that the meeting was being taped? In fact, if this former AFOSI agents statements about Linda were true, then telling her the meeting was being videotaped would have ensured there were no misrepresentations about it later. However, Doty's odd behaviour had already made Linda suspicious that her chair was 'bugged'. So if she already suspected she was being recorded—or even videotaped—is it likely she would ever risk making false statements about what had transpired? If the point of taping a meeting is to have a visible and audible account of what took place, then why would AFOSI not want their own responses to certain questions recorded? Confusion and deception seem to be the only sure things to have come from that meeting since it may never be possible to prove what happened.

The deception played out at Linda's expense seems to have been in line with what we now know was being done to Paul Bennewitz. The documents she claims Doty showed her served to undermine her future plans and spread more disinformation. The facts I found lent much more credibility to what Linda said about this meeting and did not in any way support the alternative scenario that AFOSI agents were merely protecting themselves from what she might say.

Needless to say, the surreptitious recording has never surfaced to prove the issue one way or the other.

My conversation with Richard Doty, and what I have learned since, reinforced in my mind that he and his superiors had taken part in an organized effort to mislead Linda. Because her planned HBO special could have included information on Paul Bennewitz
and
images from his films, it is easy to see the circumstances of this meeting as intended to ruin those plans. Delays and unfulfilled promises by the Air Force eventually contributed to the cancellation of the HBO special. As a footnote, a 2005 article in the
International UFO Reporter
(Vol 30), reports that in a recent radio interview, Doty finally admitted to Linda's version of the meeting. In the end, her experience is a compelling example of the bizarre lengths that AFOSI went too in order to suppress information about Paul Bennewitz.

John Lear, O.H. Krill, and more on underground bases…

In the mid-1980s, when the hunt for evidence of Project Aquarius was generating controversy, Philip Klass, an editor and writer with Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, issued a challenge. It was classic Phil Klass, who was both loved and hated as a debunker of anything associated with the UFO phenomenon. Klass had spent a lot of time telling the world that he believed the documents related to Project Aquarius were bogus, and eventually he challenged Dale Goudie, director of the Computer UFO Network, to present evidence to the contrary. If Goudie was willing to accept the challenge Klass promised to rent a room at the National Press Club in Washington, DC where the evidence could be presented. Because Dale Goudie knew that Tommy Blann and I had worked together in filing requests for government documentation, he asked for our help. We were already planning to attend the MUFON Symposium in Washington, DC that year, and on July 25, 1987, Dale, Tommy, and I went to the National Press Club and presented much of what we knew.

In the months or weeks prior to the presentation, John Lear, son of William Lear, creator of the Lear Jet, contacted Dale Goudie. Exactly when and why John first contacted Dale, I do not know, but somehow he ingratiated himself to Dale and ended up coming along to Washington D.C., where I met him for the first time. I had only heard briefly of John prior to that but, on meeting him, he seemed to be a very friendly and interesting man with a fascinating background.

At the time, I was under the impression, as I think Dale and Tommy were, that John new practically nothing about the UFO phenomenon. We certainly did not expect him to be familiar with the controversy surrounding MJ-12 and Project Aquarius. However, in our hotel room, shortly before the press conference was to start, it began to dawn on Tommy and me that something was not right.

John suddenly began to talk about MJ-12 and several other subjects that we thought he knew nothing about. He also began to claim to know people in sensitive positions who had told him about MJ-12. I still recall the glances that passed between the rest of us, and the strong sense of apprehension we shared at this unexpected development. In the coming days, that moment would crystalize in my mind. We had thought John was simply an interested newcomer, but the certainty of that belief began to fade very quickly.

After our presentation at the National Press Club, we went to the MUFON symposium as planned. The four of us were in the audience during a question and answer session in which Bill Moore was on stage, if memory serves me. The subject of MJ-12 came up, and to my surprise, John suddenly had his hand raised. With all eyes on him, he stood up and announced—to all the world—that he had friends who could verify MJ-12. Needless to say, we were dumbfounded. I think we all had a sudden sinking feeling of "what's wrong with this picture?". John burst onto the scene with his surprising claims, and being the son of William Lear certainly helped add to his instant celebrity.

Whatever misgivings Dale, Tommy, or I might have had, John was entitled to speak his mind. He was friendly and energetic and, though I had serious reservations about his agenda, John and I remained friends for some time after that. In the next year, with his family name to open doors for him, John became a celebrity in his own right, even though his claims were often downright bizarre. It was a time when many things were uncertain...but hindsight is 20/20.