Bryce Bond's NDE

Analytical readers can easily find parallels and correlations between documented UFOlogy cases and other categorizations of 'unexplained phenomena.'  An example was provided in the preceding article "The Maureen Puddy Case" that included instances of 'voice hearing' — a phenomenon chronicled as having occurred throughout the ages.

Famous people associated with voice hearing considered in previous blog articles include Muhammad, Martin Luther King, Joan of Arc, and Socrates.  An incident of voice hearing was also mentioned in an article about Bryce Bond.  While continuing to report about aspects of UFOlogy among other metaphysical topics, some of my posts will supplement or expound upon previous ones.  In this article, I am presenting Bond's description of his Near Death Experience (or 'NDE').

This photo is from Higher Techniques to Inner Perfection: "Bryce Bond is a top motivation speaker in demand at major universities, corporations, and numerous global organizations.  Presently he produces and hosts a TV show, Dimensions, dealing with parapsychology, and has recorded six record albums, been disc jockey on a popular New York City radio station, and is author of A Touch of Alchemy and Self Healing: A Personal Transformation."

The following account is an excerpt from Higher Techniques to Inner Perfection (1986).

There is no end, no finality, no termination to life.  Physical death is but a transition, a transformation of the soul from its physical bondage into its spiritual life.

Can you believe that?  Can you honestly believe in the truth of reincarnation?

Nothing is as ever as true for us as that which we have experienced.  And the fact of the matter is that many of us have likely experienced evidence of life's continuity, indications that physical death is not the end to life's journey.

How?  You might ask.  By witnessing the process of a loved one's transition.  Not the sudden wrenching from life by violent death or sudden death.  Rather, the slower process of dying.

If you have ever shared in another's experience of making that transition, then you are likely to be aware that much of his dream state, even waking state, is focused on people he has known who have made the transition before him.  His thoughts, his dreams often incorporate deceased relatives or friends.

Although some may say these dying people are going through delusional states, in reality they are not.  For just as there are guides along our way, so too do our loved ones come back to help us make the transition from the physical state through death into the spirit world.

Until recently, this attitude would have seemed a superstitious belief handed down from "primitive" man.  However, research on terminally ill patients has confirmed this fact.  And those touched by a near-death experience corroborate this understanding.

If it is difficult for you to accept this fact, that is OK.  As I said before, the greatest teacher is our own experience.

For myself, I know the truth of what I say.  I know it because I have experienced the near-death experience.  And it is an experience I would like to share with you.

It happened many years ago.  I was having dinner with some friends.  It was an elegant affair, candlelight, wine, good food and wonderful company.  However, as I took my first bite of food, my mouth and throat began to feel strange.  My nose started to run.

Minutes went by, and my throat became very restricted.  I found it difficult to breathe.  Then my nostrils began to close as well.  I could hardly breathe.

Suddenly, I was filled with panic.  Leaving the dinner table, I headed for the bathroom.  My body was heating up.  Perspiration dripped from my body.  I felt delirious, and wanted to vomit.

I had to literally fight in order to breathe.  Yet, the more I fought to breathe, the more restricted my throat and nostrils became.  I banged my fists against the wall.

By this time, my friends were aware of my predicament. They raced into the bathroom.  I know they must have asked me a million questions.  I heard them, but I could not respond.

Instead, I pointed to my nose and throat.  Through primitive sign language, I tried to make them understand I could not breathe.  They tried to comfort me, but I did not want to be touched.  I was fighting for my life.

Helping me, my friends took me to the elevator, down to a car and rushed me to the hospital.  In the hospital emergency room, the last thing I remember was a nurse telling my friends: "Would you please get him off the desk, he is knocking the papers to the floor."

I blacked out.  Then my vision came back, but it was quite bizarre.  I saw myself leaving my physical body in a crumpled heap on the floor.  I could see my friends trying to pick me up, interns running to my side.

The next thing I knew, I was in a long, dark tunnel.  At the end of it was a light, a very brilliant light.  I was moving rapidly toward the light, and could hear a whooshing noise in my ears.

I felt strange, a weightlessness and I had the subtle realization that I could breathe again.  My conscious mind's focus was on the light just ahead of me.  The light was shimmering, and very intense.  As I got closer to it, it became like a misty film.  I went through the light, experiencing it as a momentary tingling sensation.

And then the light gave way to the most incredible view.  The only way to describe this panoramic vista is to liken it to a beautiful summer's day in the country.  There was a dazzling illumination before me, the colors unbelievable, some of them beyond the visible in our physical dimension.

I could see people walking in the distance.  The horizon was filled with mountains, trees and lakes.  I heard sounds of great beauty, sounds beyond description.  As I stood there, it was not cold and it was not hot.  It was . . . PERFECT.

Suddenly, I heard a dog bark.  I saw a dog racing toward me.  But it was just not any dog.  It was the dog I once had, a black poodle named "Pepe."  I couldn't believe it.  An emotional floodgate opened inside me.  Tears filled my eyes.  Pepe jumped into my arms, started licking my face.

As I held him, he seemed so real, more real than I had ever experienced him before.  I could feel him, I could smell him.  I could feel his weight and hear his breathing.  And I sensed his great joy in being with me again.  I cried with happiness.  I had loved this animal while he was alive, and now being with him again, he seemed more real, more loving.  I felt my tears being licked away by him.

When I looked up for a moment, I saw a man in his forties.  He was standing in front of me, smiling.  He looked familiar, but I could not place him.  I looked again and recognition clicked.  I was amazed.

I realized the man was my stepfather, whom I loved very much.  The reason I hadn't recognized him right away was because he looked so different from the way I last saw him in his earth life.  He had died at the age of seventy from terminal cancer.  At the age of eight, my stepfather had contracted infantile paralysis.  It left his body very deformed, necessitating the use of crutches for him to walk.  Later, when he was in his sixties, cancer struck.  The cancer took its toll on his physical body, which began to shrink and shrivel.  He had suffered greatly with the agony and pain of the cancer.  And my last vision of my stepfather had been his lying in his death bed, begging me to bring him a gun so he could shoot himself.

But now before me, he was standing straight and tall.  He was not using crutches.  There were no deformities.  Instead, he appeared to be in a state of perfect health, looking as if he were in his early forties.  I was completely overwhelmed.

Again, a surge of emotions filled me with joy.  This man, in his new body, was my beloved stepfather.  I placed my dog on the ground and stepped forward to embrace my stepfather.

Suddenly, a strong voice was heard in my consciousness, telling me: "Not yet!"

I did not understand.  I screamed out: "Why?!"

Then this very strong inner voice said: "What have you learned?  And whom have you helped?"

I was dumbfounded.  The voice seemed to be outside myself, as well as within.  Everything stopped for what seemed a moment.  I had to think of what was asked of me.

I could answer whom I had helped.  But I could not answer what I had learned.

While this was going on, I could feel the presence of my dog moving all around me, tugging playfully at my pants.  I was pondering those two questions in my mind.  I kept hearing them over and over within my consciousness.  As I reached to embrace my stepfather, I looked into his eyes, which were filled with the greatest love.  I heard him say to me, "I love you, my son!"

At this moment I shouted out, "I love you, Pop!"  He seemed to be only about ten feet from me.

My vision moved along the horizon and there, standing hand in hand, were my dear grandparents, looking radiant and healthy.  They were beautiful, youngish looking, smiling and waving to me.  My heart at this time was experiencing emotional joy, a release, a freedom of knowing that we never die, only the old outer shell is discarded.

We remain the same reflection, the SOUL reflection as the physical body once was.  Then I heard other barking, and there appeared a few of the other dogs I had once had.

There is really no way possible to make you believe what I tell you as truth, unless you have the same experience.  As I stood there for what seemed to be an eternity, I wanted to embrace and be absorbed and merge.  I wanted to stay.  The unbelievable sensation of not wanting to come back is so overwhelming.  That was the moment I felt myself being pulled away and back.  It is like I have gained the knowledge, I have had the experience, I have expressed my emotional feelings to the ultimate.  I could not prevent my returning into the tunnel of narrow focus.

It felt like a giant magnet was pulling me.  My heart was going in one direction and my physical body in another.

I did not even have time to say good bye.  Yet I had the most extraordinary feeling that I will see them all again.  There is no time and space there!  I was now racing backward in time, in the long dark tunnel, the light at the end was fading rapidly.

This time the whooshing sound was even greater.  My consciousness was being stretched like a giant elastic band ready to snap.  When I snapped, I awoke in a subtle state of shock and a light pain in my body.  I was now back in my body, and the first thing I witnessed and experienced was the hypodermic needle being plunged into my arm.

I heard a voice say: "Welcome back."  I never asked who said that nor did I care at the time.  It was told to me that I was out for at least 10 minutes (dead).  Brain cells begin to die in four minutes!

The cause for this incredible event (experience) was an allergy to pine nuts used in pesto sauce which I ate that night!  My experience is similar to those shared in the books of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, and Dr. Raymond Moody and a whole series of books relating to clinical death, as experienced by many others.

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Hello friends! Right now I haven't got anything much to blog about. Most of my time has been spent on classes, homework, friends, activities around campus, custom orders, and sleep! Don't worry; I have plenty of ideas for new tutorials, I just need to find the time to make them!

In the meantime, I wanted to let you all know that I have an Instagram account! My handle is @shealynnsfaerie (the same as my Twitter, Pinterest, and Etsy accounts). Feel free to follow for some behind-the-scenes pictures that I haven't even posted on Facebook!

While I don't post really personal stuff there, sometimes you'll find fun snippets of life around campus...

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The Maureen Puddy Case

One track of the Wendy Connors Audio History of UFOlogy Series “CE IV” CD offers a 19-minute recording of an interview with Maureen Puddy about a July 25, 1972 "abduction" in Frankston, Victoria, Australia.  In this case, the word ‘abduction’ is a misnomer identifying a wrongfulness to an event beyond the experiencer’s understanding.  The interview offers a description of two UFO sightings and incidents of voice hearing (disembodied) phenomena.

Maureen Puddy's first UFO sighting occurred on July 5, 1972.  The 27-year-old woman was coming home from the hospital after visiting her little boy.  She noticed that “the road lit up in a blue iridescent glow” and at first thought the light was from the helicopter that had taken her son to the hospital.  After stopping her car, she saw an “enormous flying saucer” approximately four times wider than the road.  She said that the only noise was a “low hum.”  Puddy saw no flashing lights or windows on the object as it hovered above the trees.  She returned to her car and the flying saucer followed her for eight miles until she reached a populated area.  The object then changed direction, reversing without swerving.  There was a streak of light and it was “gone in a flash.”  

She immediately went to the Rosebud police station to make an official report and the following day she phoned the air force.  She was mailed a questionnaire that inspired her to comment, “You need to be a pilot to understand some of the questions.”

Puddy’s second sighting occurred on July 25 in the same vicinity and at around the same time of day.  When the road lit up again, Puddy said, “I knew what it was straightaway, put my foot on the accelerator and off I went.”  After traveling half a mile, her engine completely cut off and she found that she had no control of the car although the headlights were still on full beam.  The car glided to a stop.  She next described having the feeling of receiving a message that she couldn’t understand: “I don’t speak any foreign languages and I felt that I was receiving this message in a foreign language.”  Then, the message was translated into English.  “Not English like we speak — beautifully spoken English . . . I wouldn’t say that I could clearly know that it was male or female, it was just a voice stating a message.”  She recalled the message as: “‘All your tests will be negative.’  Then there was a pause and it said, ‘Tell the media.  Do not panic.  We mean no harm.’  Then there was a long pause.  And then it said, ‘You now have control.’  The car started up . . ."

After the second sighting, Puddy went again to the Rosebud police station and again insisted on making an official report.  She also stated that she eventually filled out another air force questionnaire.  The day following the second sighting, she contacted a radio and TV station.

Answering the unidentified interviewer’s questions, Puddy said that there had been no earlier similar experiences and she had no previous interest in UFOs.  The interviewer then recalled that she’d mentioned briefly some experience during the interim between the two sightings and asked her about it.

On the Monday night before the second sighting, Puddy recounted hearing someone calling her name: “. . . the whole night long I was kept awake by this voice repeatedly calling my name ‘Maureen’ over and over again.”  Her son was in the hospital, her five-year-old daughter was sound asleep and there was nobody in the backyard.  Nor had her husband heard the voice.  When the interviewer asked Puddy if she thought the voice might’ve been in her mind, she replied, “I think it might’ve.”

I previously mentioned Maureen Puddy's case in my article reviewing Flying Saucer Pilgrimage (1957) by Bryant and Helen Reeve.  Details of the case are presented in the article "The Close Encounter of Maureen Puddy by Judith Magee" at the website of the Victorian UFO Research Society (VUFORS).  Magee wrote about the case in articles published in Flying Saucer Review in 1972 and 1981.

The VUFORS article was last updated in October 1998 and revealed that Puddy’s contact experience hadn’t concluded at the time of the interview heard on the Faded Discs archive CD.  The article reported that Puddy’s son had been taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne by helicopter after an accident at school when a cupboard had fallen on him and broken his leg.

The article "UFO over the Mooraduc Road" was included in the book Encounter Cases from Flying Saucer Review (1977) edited by Charles Bowen.  In the article, Judith M. Magee reported: "The witness . . . impressed everyone with her sincerity.  She has an invalid husband and two children, a boy of seven and a girl of five."

Magee wrote in the VUFORS website article:

Naturally, we questioned Maureen regarding her experience in the car.  What did the messages mean?  She said she had not had any recent tests done, but some about six months ago proved negative.  There was no use telling her not to be afraid, she was terrified!  As for telling the media: she ‘phoned three of the four TV stations.  One was mildly interested since they were showing “Chariots of the Gods.”  Two made light of her news, so she did not bother to contact the fourth.  I heard through a radio talk-back program, which in desperation, she had contacted, because the UFO-nauts had said to contact the media and she did not want to see them again!!

After a telephone conversation with Puddy, Magee arranged for her to address a VUFORS meeting where the standing room only audience was described as having been kept spellbound.  As the article continued, Magee chronicled herself witnessing with another VUFORS member an experience of Puddy’s that occurred about six months later and was estimated by Magee as “purely psychic."

One Wednesday, I received a ‘phone call from a rather agitated Maureen Puddy, who said she  had been trying to contact VUFORS.  Her story goes:

For some days she had been hearing a voice calling to her to “return to the meeting place.”  Believing she heard someone calling her name at the front door, she went to open it and her husband, who was an invalid in a wheel-chair, asked who it was, but there was no-one there!  When she went shopping, she heard “Maureen, Maureen, return to the meeting place,” and she looked around to find there was no one near.  She felt she had to go to the meeting place but she was too scared to go alone, so I told her that Paul Norman and I would be available when she wished to go.  With very little gentle persuasion she agreed to go that Wednesday evening.

. . . We were early and it was not yet dark so we could see Maureen’s Holden station wagon when she arrived.  She got out of her car and ran towards us saying she nearly “went off the road back there.”  I suggested she tell me about it as we drove to the meeting place.

Before going further I should perhaps add, that as I entered her car, I had the odd feeling that something was amiss, I was experiencing a tingling sensation (like that of a mild electric shock), which passed off quite quickly.  Maureen then told me that in the centre of the front seat, between where the two of us sat, had appeared an entity completely clad in a type of gold foil suit.  As she turned to look in his direction, she was so startled she almost ran off the road.  It  was quite obvious she was quite shocked by the eventful drive.

By this time we had reached the meeting place which was somewhat hidden from passing traffic by a few trees.  We drew to a stop and Paul came to sit in the back seat of the station wagon while I stayed in the front with Maureen.

We were talking about the latest incident along the road, when suddenly, she grabbed my arm and pointed across her car, exclaiming: “There he is!  Can’t you see him?” and she shook my arm saying that I must be able to — I tried to explain to her that it was like closed circuit television — from him to her.

She said he was coming closer to the car, in fact, so close that if I put my arm out I could possibly touch him.  He was now standing almost beside the front headlight, so I asked Paul to take a little walk around the car.  As he came to where the entity was standing, the entity moved back to allow Paul to pass between him and the car.  At this point the entity beckoned to Maureen to follow him, but she adamantly declared that she would not.  I told her I’d go with her and to gently ease her out the car door, but she hung onto the steering wheel and would not budge.

The entity then became impatient when she would not follow and she became a trifle upset.  He apparently disappeared behind bushes and she suddenly commenced describing the interior of the UFO.  She told us that the entity was standing there pointing to a  large “mushroom” like object in the centre of a large circular room. The centre object, which was taller than an average person, was a little like jelly, moving all the time; there were lines like those of Roman numerals around the lower portion.  The top of the “mushroom” had lines on it and the whole thing seemed fixed to the floor.  She was apparently looking around the room and became very agitated at this point, crying, “I can’t get out!  There are no doors or windows.  I can’t get out!”  I put my arm around her shoulders in an attempt to calm her, and could feel tears on my hand.  She was really upset and as I clearly visualized what Maureen was describing, I decided to direct my thoughts to the entity; nothing to lose and maybe something to gain — as I was very concerned about Maureen’s state.  I felt she may have had a nervous collapse or even a stroke.  I silently requested he take pity on the poor girl and suddenly she said, “he wants me to close my eyes.”  I replied that she should do so and almost immediately I felt her relax as if in a trance.

Again she began to describe the interior of the object and once again became agitated when she could see no way out of the vehicle.  After a brief period she “came back to us” and we switched on the car’s interior lights and asked if she would care for a cup of tea from our thermos flask.  I had just handed Maureen her cup when she said, “Oh, I’m back in there again,” and repeated the description, but this time somewhat more calmly, before stating, “he’s gone.  This time he’s really gone.  I can tell.  It feels different.”

She now seemed quite normal, so we went on with our supper, discussing the “mushroom” and trying to identify it.  I asked if it could have been a gyroscope, but Maureen was not apparently familiar with that term so “compass” was suggested.  She picked up a little gadget from the dashboard of her car and to my amazement it was exactly what I had envisaged from her description of the “mushroom.”  A small compass on a suction cup.  I have not seen one before or since.

We did not dare let her drive home alone, nor did she wish it, in case of a return visit from our ‘friend,’ or nerves on her part.  I drove in her car with her and Paul followed in his car.  I believe it was between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m. when we arrived at her home which was quite some distance away.  We did not take particular note of the time, but it was fairly late.

In her article about the case, Judith Magee noted some of her own unanswered questions, including: "Was I also able to communicate with the entity?  Did he really receive my thoughts regarding her agitated state?" 

One of the things I, myself, find revealing about these incidents chronicled in Puddy's case concerns one of the declarations made by the voice in particular: “All of your tests will be negative.”  The issue of tests and testing would impress me as being important when considering some incidents of interaction where ‘unexplained phenomena’ are a factor although it is apparent that more are involved with revealing/teaching.  Furthermore, the customary expressions 'auditory hallucination' or 'verbal hallucination' seem to me to be obvious misnomers in connection to many incidents of 'hearing voices' and this is supported by what is recorded about the Maureen Puddy case.

Puddy's comment that she contacted the media to avoid yet another UFO encounter in this case seems a sensible response; however, the usual association of voice hearing with schizophrenia and psychosis in news reports has become cliché to the extent that the perpetrator of a crime may use this excuse in an attempt for sympathy.  

A recent article about the shooter in the Washington Navy Yard attack is representative of how reporters may focus on circumstances concerning voice hearing although another NBC News article about the shooter quoted a friend who said the shooter "felt a lot of discrimination and racism with white people especially . . . he felt slighted as a veteran . . . ."

Some UFOlogy Recordings

Fifty tracks of interview and lecture recordings of 'contactees' from the Wendy Connors Audio History of UFOlogy Series may now be heard online without charge.

The archive.org "Faded Disc Archive — The Contactees" page presents the audio tracks from the two volumes of the Wendy Connors Faded Discs Audio Archive of UFO History series focusing on "The Contactees": "Flying Saucers & Four Guys Named George: Adamski, Van Tassel, Hunt Williamson & King" (Volume 1) and "Saucerology: Tales of Giant Rock" (Volume 2).  Two additional tracks are also provided that present a 1957 Long John Nebel broadcast and a 1959 lecture by Orfeo Angelucci.

Fourteen of the 25 recordings on the Volume 1 disc feature George Adamski and in the first file recorded by A.G. Dittmarr in 1953, Adamski recounts his first asserted encounter with the Venusian 'Orthon.'  I found this track to provide an example of a contrived and incongruous contactee account, including Adamski's description of being injured after moving under the spaceship with his right shoulder: "And as it got there, this power was on — sort of a jet-type power.  It wasn't a jet exactly.  It was a magnetic force, I realized it but it was pounding towards the earth back and forth.  You couldn't hear it but as my arm got caught and that's the only analysis I can make, that it first pulled by arm up against the flange of the ship and then suddenly reversed that polarity and shot it downward . . ."  He eventually declared, "This arm was sort of paralyzed after that for a while and sort of numb.  And even now and then today it happens — just suddenly without a warning it flops like a rag.  And I have no feeling in it and suddenly it comes back again.  It has not been completely cured as it should've been by now.  And maybe never will — I don’t know.  I’m not worried about it at all."

Some of Adamski's concluding remarks of this recording include: "So far it’s only my word and the other fellows' words and so forth.  But I'm not the only one that made personal contacts.  I have records on file here of something like several such contacts have been made since I made mine and a number of them before I made mine . . . the only difference is that I happened to publish my experience while so many of them have not . . . I’m just one among a — millions in this world.  That — you say, 'Why did it happen to you?'  But I say it happened to others too so it didn't all happen to me . . ." 

Notes about the tracks on the Georges CD mention the association of Adamski and Williamson: "George Hunt Williamson accompanied George Adamski in November, 1952, when Adamski claims he met Orthon."  Williamson mentioned his knowledge of the contactee cases of Angelucci, Truman Bethurum and Daniel Fry in Other Tongues — Other Flesh (circa 1953).  Biographical information provided on the back cover jacket of the book includes the following:

George Hunt Williamson served with the Army Air Corps during World War II as Radio Director for the Army Air Forces Technical Training Command.  He was a member of the AAFTTC Headquarters Staff.  He received the Army Commendation Award from Brig. Gen. C. W. Lawrence for his outstanding record of service to the Air Force in Public Relations.  He served as an instructor in Anthropology for the United States Armed Forces Institute, and was later appointed Lieutenant in the U. S. Infantry.

When I first listened to these audio recordings in 2005 and 2006, I did not have a favorable response to tracks featuring any of the four Georges: Adamski nor ‘channelers’ King, Van Tassel and Williamson.  I was surprised upon hearing at the beginning of MP3 file 20 the England-born founder of the Aetherius Society, George King, commenting at a private home in London in August, 1960 prior to beginning his lecture, “Thank you very much.  I will not say anything about myself because it’s a pretty nasty topic anyway . . .” 

I found some interesting tracks on the "Saucerology" CD, beginning with the first track presenting an interview of Truman Bethurum when he was a guest on Nancy Allen's book review program.  A previous blog article provided some excerpts from the interview.  As two of three Daniel Fry tracks are barely audible and the third is a confrontational debunking attempt, Fry's books chronicling his contact experiences (reviewed in previous blog articles) provide a better introduction to his case.

When I was listening to track 19 (track 44 on the archive.org MP3 collection webpage)—a thirty minute television interview of Woodrow Derenberger from November 3, 1966—I noticed that there were prominent examples of electronic voice phenomena audible.  The EVP on this track included the word "NO" being heard after the interviewer introduced Derenberger as "the man that allegedly did make contact with such an object within the Parkersburg area last evening" ("NO" at 1:49).  During this interview, producer Glen Wilson mentioned, "I know personally that Mr. Derenberger was scared because I talked to him a short time after this happened by telephone last night."  The account described a highway encounter with a telepathic UFO occupant named 'Cold.' 

This case is reminiscent of another dubious contactee case – as with Reinhold Schmidt (whose interviews are also included on "Saucerology"), Derenberger received national media coverage supposedly after only making a police report, as chronicled in his book.  Reading Visitors From Lanulos (1971) "As Related By Woodrow W. Derenberger To The Author Harold W. Hubbard," the reader learns about a series of alleged encounters.  After the first encounter stated to have occurred on November 2, 1966 at approximately 7 p.m., Derenberger recounted that he had told his wife about his experience and telephoned the police.  He related that he began to feel calmer and went to sleep at 3:00 a.m.  The following day: "At 8:00 a.m., November 3, 1966, I left home for work as usual . . ."  Then:

Shortly after 10:00 a.m., Glen Wilson, the producer from WTAP-TV in Parkersburg, W. Va., came to the store where I was working and asked me if I would be willing to tell my story to the public.  Without giving much thought to the publicity that would follow my interview on TV, I agreed to go on the air that same afternoon.

Derenberger stated, "After my television interview, my story was picked up by the local news media as well as by UPI and API which spread the story all over the world."  His published account includes his claim of seeing firsthand while aboard a “mother ship” a “huge bridge” on the surface of the moon and the rings of Saturn, which he described as being “simply rainbows that are caused by the sun shining on the ice.”

Having heard numerous instances of broadcasters belittling contactees, it was unusual to hear Alan Douglas enthusiastically greet Derenberger (track 45 on the "Faded Disc Archive — The Contactees" MP3 collection webpage) and his wife for a 1967 interview.  Derenberger answered questions from the audience that allowed him to share his perspective of Betty and Barney Hill's case, telepathy and other topics that resulted with problematic responses.  Early in the interview, Derenberger mentioned "several fake books" about contactees as a reason for "what makes it so hard to actually believe the true stories when they do come along."

I discovered upon listening to "Saucerology" track 10 (track 35 on the archive.org MP3 collection webpage) that there are intriguing details to the case reported by Lee Childers.  Although a case study—Prince Neosom, Planet: Tyton (sic) by D.O. Mapes—is reported to have been self-published in 1959, I've found no record of any copy of the book having been preserved.  On this track an instance of EVP can be heard at 7:03 after Childers commented, "And he spoke also in a melodious tone ("YES") . . ."

Speaking at the Michigan Flying Saucer Federation convention on June 19, 1957 in a fifteen minute interview, Childers stated that twenty contacts and seven flights into space had transpired for him.  When Childers was asked when he first established contact with these beings, he answered, "Well the first contact that I made was on August 14th,1954 in the state hospital, Caro, Michigan."  Childers may have been referring to a prominent mental health facility without explaining further.  Childers said that the beings claimed to be from the Tythanian system with 22 planets and their planet was "a seat of deity for that particular system as Saturn is for ours."

After listening to this track and one other lecture by Childers, it is difficult to reach any quick conclusions about this case.  There are some parallels with other contactee cases, recalling statements in the cases of Truman Bethurum and Arthur Shuttlewood.  Childers described meeting a group of beings ranging in size from four feet to eight feet and three inches — all with shoulder-length hair.  Their names included the titles commander, sergeant, captain and lieutenant.  According to Childers, each spoke in a melodious tone that was "music-like, flowing from harps to a certain degree — I can’t explain it very good."

According to statements about Childers found with an Internet search, he later began calling himself 'Prince Neosom' and he would introduce his wife as 'Princess Negonna' of the planet Tythan.  There are parallels between these circumstances and Orfeo Angelucci's account of finding himself on another planet where he was called 'Neptune,' as recounted in the blog article "Orfeo Angelucci's Strange Predicament".  Angelucci recalled the space people informed him, "We are, you might say in terms of Earth, staging a dress-show reception for you, our lost brother.  Before the destruction our existence was much as you see it now; that is why you seem to remember all of this.  In that phase of the time dimension you were known as Neptune."  Angelucci described having found himself on "a strange and wonderful world" where he wore "a fine white garment" with a "finely wrought gold belt."  He explained: "Although the belt appeared to be made of heavy links of embossed gold, it was without weight.  My new body felt amazingly light and ethereal and vibrant with life."

The first trip mentioned by Childers was said to have occurred on April 9, 1955.  He was coming home from work at two a.m. in the morning when his Dodge stopped completely under the viaduct.  He recognized Commander Markosan — "This time he was in full-scale uniform, which was maroon in color — also the same as his hair."  He said that they wore uniforms with belts that protected them from ship rays.  Childers described the first ship that he entered was approximately 35-40 feet in diameter, circular in shape, had no landing gear, and had a round ball-type cabin that he was told could be raised and lowered while in flight.

"And at the time I was sitting there I didn’t know at the time that we were airborne.  Momentarily.  Just like that.  No feeling of movement whatsoever.  And I wasn’t told until some minutes later that we were moving at the speed of 250,000 miles per hour, 40,000-foot altitude . . . I found out that these ships can travel from 250,000 to 500,000 miles per hour outside the atmosphere of the Earth.  And the latest ship that I come in contact with — which had four rings — it created its own power where these other smaller ones they do not create their own power.  This ship traveled at seven times the speed of light.  Now that’s an enormous speed.  I understand, so they tell me, that they transmit themselves through space — not a power as we know it and understand it upon this Earth.  They can move without sound because sound is taken up into power — transmission."

Childers commented about the purpose for communicating with him: "Now the reason why they're coming here so I've been able to understand is simply because they were worried at the possibility that we were on the verge of an atomic all-out war, which would be a very disastrous thing if it ever occurred.  Now that is not the only reason why they're coming.  Because the people of this Earth have faltered in their faith—the majority of the people—in the almighty God."  Childers mentioned that the space people had been called such names as “visitors” and “brothers” yet he preferred to think of them as “angels.”

At the end of his speech, Childers said that he wasn’t used to being a public speaker and was very grateful for the opportunity to reveal what he had.  I have heard a second lecture by Lee Childers that is included on the commercial CD "The Lost UFO Lectures" from a July 1960 convention in California.  His beginning remarks showed an evangelical Christian emphasis as he shared his perspectives of the biblical Jesus Christ.  Childers evidently at times could be prone to pontificating.  The lecture included a mention of the destruction of 'Maldek' and a statement about the Earth being hollow with a "baby sun," indicating his beliefs may have been influenced by UFOlogy books that he had read.  He said, "There are those of you right now within this auditorium who are not of this Earth.  There are those of you who are.  Instinctively you know this.  You know not the answer why . . . I am a representative of a Tythanian system.  Negonna is a representative right alongside of me."

In relation to my recent reviews of the books of Major Donald E. Keyhoe (USMC Ret.), the UFOlogy author's research and experiences are chronicled in 20 audio recordings presented on the Faded Discs CD "Profiles in UFOlogy" along with audio recordings of Dr. James E. McDonald (7 tracks), Frank Edwards (11 tracks) and additional tracks featuring such authors as John G. Fuller, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Otto K. Binder, and Brinsley Le Poer Trench.  The tracks of this CD from the now-defunct archive are not yet available online.

The "Profiles in UFOlogy" audio recordings are dated between 1952 and 1974.  Some of the tracks leave little doubt about there having been an orchestrated UFO debunking campaign for television and radio audiences.  The notes about the CD that I printed from a Web page about the tracks included the following commentary.

11. Major Donald E. Keyhoe and Col James Bryant are interviewed regarding NICAP and UFOs  on the Les Crane Show, January 27, 1965.  Keyhoe is severely ridiculed by Crane, causing an uproar by listeners and Les Crane losing his show. 19:30

A 2008 obituary for Les Crane suggests a spiritual evolution through the course of his own career and lifetime.  In 1971 Crane recorded the poem "The Desiderata" (also included in my case study book Testament) that became a Billboard chart hit and "a late-night FM radio staple."  Crane's rendition may be heard on You Tube.

Another Wendy Connors CD not yet available online is "CE IV: Alien Abduction & Animal Mutilation 1957 — 1976" MP3 CD.  After listening to tracks of Barney and Betty Hill's hypnosis sessions on this CD, I decided against listening to all 21 of the audio tracks concerning the Hills' ambiguous case.  Despite what was depicted in the television movie inspired by their case, Betty Hill's hypnosis session made it clear that under hypnosis she described interacting with mysterious beings who were very human in their demeanor.  She mentioned that the leader even said to her, “Come on, we’ll walk back to the car with you."

These volumes of the Wendy Connors Faded Discs Audio History of UFOlogy Series are not yet available online.

Something Blue {Custom Wedding Jewelry Set}

Something old, something new

Something borrowed, something blue

And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

This summer I was able to create jewelry for a local wedding, including a custom rhinestone necklace for the bride!

She reacts to most metals, so the necklace is made from silver-plated rhinestones montees which I wirewrapped into flower shapes, a modified silver-plated brooch, and sterling silver filigree chain. The entire piece is decorated with freshwater and Swarovski pearls, glass teardrop crystals, and deep blue Swarovski crystals.

I'm so incredibly excited to have gotten the opportunity to design a necklace like this, and I hope the bride loves it!!!

The above photos are three variation ideas we considered but discarded for a more simple, silver style.

This elegant cuff bracelet is the same design that I used for Aurora's circlet, and I actually have another one available on my Shoppe right now! It, too, is silver plated and completely handmade.

I'm really proud of this necklace design, but credit is due where credit is due: I was heavily inspired by the designs of Thyme 2 Dream, a lovely shop selling fairytale jewelry. 

I created two of these jewelry sets, and I believe that they are for the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom. In any case, they are opulent and make me long for the crisp, sunny afternoons of Autumn.

 

The earrings are a little longer than I usually make (mostly because my personal style features only small earrings, so I rarely think to make larger ones). They remind me of golden forests and fairy dust. :)

The flower girl received an adjustable flower ring in rich bluess.

I forgot to take many pictures of these, but I made a Mermaid Blue Evenstar jewelry set for each of the bridesmaids. These Evenstar necklaces and earrings are reversible; one side is dark blue and the other is shiny, iridescent blue. I added small bead dangles on the back, since I put extenders on the clasp. After all, the bridesmaids should be able to make their necklaces sit at the most flattering length on their neck! As a little surprise, I made adjustable silver swirl rings for each of these sets. :)

Here's the picture of the Evenstar that was on my website, which the bride picked when she messaged me:

I also decorated a box for the bride's necklace. It's a box that my brother's watch came in, and I glued scrapbook pieces over all the labels. :) Everything else I put into baggies and drawstring bags, like normal.

This was an incredibly exciting project to work on and I wish the soon-to-be-married couple the best of luck!

It's a Birthday Thing

 It's my birthday again! Head's up for the overly philosophical, pretentious, and extremely ramble-y un-edited post that I almost always make on my birthday.

This is one of my senior photos taken by my talented friend Jewels, who is getting quite good at using my camera. :) I also look really weird without glasses. 

For some reason, every year on my birthday, I start to get a little freaked out about the fact that, yes, I am, in fact, growing older.

I think that this is the sort of thing that bugs everyone who over-thinks and over-analyses life in general. In the midst of the partying and hanging out with friends, you pause for a moment and realize that time is passing.

It's a strange thing, if you think about it. Every moment is a moment that comes and goes, so why do birthdays make me think so much about time and growing up?

Insert random photo of flowers... because overthinking things makes me think of flowers

I'm one of those weird people who never, ever wanted to grow up. Sure, I loved the freedom I earned from the responsibilities I undertook over the years, but deep down I was Peter Pan. "Don't wanna grow up!"

Part of it was a bit of a prideful thing. As a child (and it is so strange to think that I am no longer a child, nor have I legally been for an entire year!), I was blessed with talent, dedication, and an encouraging family. I loved doing arts and crafts and science and writing and reading. Like everyone else, I appreciated and loved being complimented on the things I worked so hard on.

I always dreaded growing older. Not because I was a morbid kid with a gothic fear or fascination with death or even old age, but because I had this idea that anything I did at a young age was worth more than if I did the same thing when I was older.

So many people would say things like: "WOW! I can't believe you came up with something as creative and detailed as that and you are only 9 years old!"

"No way you drew that! What do you mean, you don't take take art classes? Holy cow, you are only 15?"

Sadly, I always did and still usually do make a point of telling people "oh yeah, I did this way back when I was 15."

While I know they meant well, and while I loved these sorts of compliments, I trapped myself into a weird mindset. I became convinced that my work became less impressive and less meaningful the older I got. To be brutally honest, I'd daydream of being a child prodigy. (This was especially bad one year after reading a book about Akiane, a painting prodigy who is only a year older than me and lived in my old town before I lived there. I wondered what I was doing with my life and why I couldn't be awesome like her.)

Today I am 19. This is the first birthday that I am spending away from my family. My new college friends have made my entire birthday weekend an absolute BLAST (and if I weren't in a really thoughtful mood at the moment, this entire post would be nothing but paragraphs worth of exclamation marks because my new friends are really amazing and sweet!!!).

I'm an adult now. I'm old enough that I could get married. I could get a regular job and live on my own. I buy my own groceries now. I'm in college, living in a dorm, and life is so surreal and exciting. I'm taking actual art classes and receiving training from people who are so talented that I am blown away and overwhelmed by their gifts.

And today, for the first time, it struck me how completely stupid my fear of growing up was. Growing up does not invalidate talent. Growing up does not make me less important. Growing up has, instead, made me realize that the world does not revolve around me, and that my goal right now is not to do amazing things and revel in compliments, but to attempt to be humble and learn. Other people are just as important, and in many ways are far, far more important. If I've been blessed with different gifts than many other people, I've been given these gifts to help others and to glorify God-- not to glorify me. I don't know everything and I am not good at everything, and being in college in the midst of new people, places, and ideas is making that really sink in.

Besides, even though I am growing older every second of every day, I never actually have to grow up. Growing up is overrated. One of my best friends came over a month before I moved in to college to take my senior photos. We started taking some cool normal ones:

But then we forgot that we were 18 years old and played dress up for hours and hours outside of an old cemetery.

I'm growing up to be a complete nerd, and I'm totally okay with it. As John Green says:

Graphics credit to ?. Via Pinterest.

As I was writing this, Jason Mraz came up on my playlist. I think the lyrics to this song are fitting, because they certainly fit my mood:

The world as I see it, is a remarkable place
A beautiful house in a forest, of stars in outer space.

And to make this be a triad of quotes:

  "We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders." --G.K. Chesterton

So this year I am going to work more on appreciating life and being grateful. I'm sounding really cheesy and cliche, but right now I don't care.

Spock out.

Paranormal Radio Shows in 2013

The last time I was a guest on a 'paranormal'-themed radio show was seven years ago — "Speaking of Strange" broadcast from North Carolina and hosted by Joshua P. Warren.  I described in a very condensed way my experiences and research that resulted with my being able to distinguish revealing patterns among documented case studies of so-called 'unexplained phenomena.'  

As consistent blog readers know, my perspective is often different from many commercial authors who write about these topics.  It is usually obvious when superstitious and frightful depictions of paranormal phenomena are motivated by a profit incentive, while closed-minded skepticism may be a result of brainwashing and/or denial.

This summer there was a Sirius XM Radio announcement "Legendary Radio Personality Art Bell to Launch Exclusively on SiriusXM".  The program will begin broadcasting September 16 and air weeknights from 7 to 10 pm Pacific Time so his former radio show, "Coast to Coast AM," will not be in direct competition with the start time of 10 pm Pacific Time.  A subheading divulged what listeners may expect: "Bell to open the phone lines and listeners' minds to debunk and declassify conventional wisdom in an uncensored, unscripted forum."  The news release reported:

Bell will host the show from his home studio in Pahrump, Nevada—near the storied Area 51—opening the phones lines and inviting listeners and expert guests to join his uncensored, unscripted nightly conversation about a wide variety of topics including: the paranormal, near-death experiences, quantum physics, extraterrestrial life and the unusual.

This biographical information was offered about Art Bell.

Bell started in radio at age thirteen when he became a licensed amateur radio operator, a license and interest that he holds to this day.  He hosted radio shows while serving in the Air Force in Vietnam, became an engineer when he returned to the U.S., and returned to the airwaves with a late night show on a Las Vegas radio station that ultimately became his nationally syndicated show "Coast to Coast AM."

"Coast to Coast AM" is now hosted by George Noory.  Both Art Bell and George Noory have played a role in my own case study as there was a period when I had been an occasional caller to "Coast to Coast AM."  

On Saturday, March 2 at the Health Freedom Expo in Long Beach, I decided to attend the "George Noory VIP Reception" as I expected a question and answer session that would allow me to learn more about show operations.  Instead, there was a less formal 'meet and greet' session.  A new friend whom I met at the expo, Rosie Bovard snapped a photo of me giving a printed book edition of my blog to George, who asked me to leave it with the expo's general manager for him to get later.

The radio talkshow host who originally featured paranormal topics on his broadcasts was Long John Nebel, mentioned in the previous blog articles "Some Recordings of Channeling" and "UFO Secrecy". 

Art Bell was the subject of a 1999 Fate magazine cover story.

Earlier this year I gave a copy of a printed book edition of my blog to George Noory.  (photo by Rosie Bovard)

Aliens from Space

This is the cover of the paperback edition of Aliens from Space.

My reviews of Donald E. Keyhoe's books have been intended to provide an overview.  A more detailed study of documented military secrecy about UFOs along with the resulting internecine conflicts between 1947 and 1973 is gained through reading the books in the entirety.

In Major Donald E. Keyhoe's fifth and final UFOlogy book Aliens from Space (1973), there are indications that Keyhoe's orientation to UFOs had evolved over the years.   Although still avoiding analysis of 'contactee' claims, he had become acquainted with what he estimated to be "strong evidence that technically superior beings once visited our planet without harming any of Earth's inhabitants." 

Keyhoe identified three segments of this evidence: the Piri Reis map, which had been brought to his attention by a Navy captain and a commander affiliated with the Office of Naval Intelligence; information from the Book of Dzyan and other sources encapsulated in the 1968 Air Force Academy analysis of UFOs (a textbook chapter that became public in 1970) with Keyhoe observing, "There is a curious similarity in the so-called legends, though the countries where they originated—in Europe and Asia—had little or no contact with each other"; and ancient rock carvings found in China, also cited in the Air Force Academy evaluation.

Kehoe wrote about the Air Force Academy analysis: "This serious evaluation had been prepared in 1968, as a means of giving senior AF cadets an appraisal of the  problem.  Combined evidence and discussions of the main angles were used for a special chapter of an Academy Space Science study . . . Dismayed AF censors ordered the chapter replaced with an all-out debunking job, deleting all the case evidence and all the serious disclosures . . . When a newspaper ran part of the original analysis, HQ hastily tried to offset it with the 'updated version.'"

Keyhoe remained suspicious that the UFOs could pose a threat as he identified rare cases where "some UFO pursuits have taken a grim toll."  The theoretical elements of Keyhoe's perspective of these incidents were sometimes left unmentioned although in chapter 11, he provided a clarifying statement: "In reporting these strange aircraft accidents there is no intention to claim proof they were caused by UFOs."  He also reiterated, "Unfortunately, the cover-up had increased the danger of public alarm, with the growing suspicion that something frightful was behind the secrecy."  The grid breakdown that resulted with the great Northeast electrical blackout of November 9, 1965 was one of the occurrences where UFOs became a theoretical scapegoat.

In addition to ignoring the books of 'contactees' Truman Bethurum, Daniel Fry and Orfeo Angelucci, Keyhoe also made no mention of Arthur Shuttlewood's first three books that had been published in the UK.  Other books left unmentioned include those chronicling the flying saucer commentary resulting from the trance channeling of Mark Probert, a subject of such books as The Coming of the Guardians: An Interpretation of the "Flying Saucers" as Given from the Other Side of Life (Third Edition 1957) compiled by Meade Layne; and Flying Saucer Pilgrimage (1957) by Bryant and Helen Reeve.

The summary of UFO secrecy offered in the Foreword and first chapter presented the following observations:

Many AF members privately oppose UFO secrecy.


In addition, many responsible scientists are now rejecting AF denials of UFO reality.


Despite all this, AF Headquarters, following a high-level policy, still publicly denies that UFOs exist, convinced this is best for the country.  But for years the Air Force has had full proof of UFO reality.

During my long investigation of these strange objects I have seen many reports verified by AF Intelligence, detailed accounts by AF pilots, radar operators and other trained observers proving the UFOs are high-speed craft superior to anything built on Earth.  Before the censorship tightened I also was given the secret conclusions by AF scientists and Air Technical Intelligence officers.


. . . UFO pursuits have continued without a break, concealed from Congress and the public.  This is not an indictment of the censors.  Many strongly dislike the cover-up and harsh ridicule of witnesses.  But high officials, caught in a serious dilemma, are convinced it is best to delay admitting the UFOs are real.

Through censorship has recently been tightened, a few AF pursuits have leaked out.

Keyhoe examined secrecy measures while reporting these cases and revisiting some of the previous cases that were among the topics in his earlier books.  An F-94 encounter with a UFO is considered to have involved a near collision although, as often chronicled in similar circumstances, UFO movements were often reported to have shown fantastic speed and amazingly fast maneuverability.

Many important cases, some as disturbing as the F-94 encounter, were hidden in AF Project Reports 1 to 12, kept secret by this official admonition:

WARNING.  This document contains information affecting the national defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Law, Title 18 USC, Sections 793 and 794.  Its transmission, or the revelation of its contents in any manner to an unauthorized person, is prohibited by law.

The penalties for violations range from five years in prison to a fine of $10,000.

Included in this censored evidence were impressive reports by Army, Navy, Air Force and airline pilots and other competent observers, among them a Royal Air Force wing commander.

Keyhoe explained:

In 1967, after fifteen years of secrecy, the congressional "Freedom of Information" Committee forced AF Headquarters to release the long-hidden reports, for copying at the Pentagon.  Though the photocopies secured by NICAP were marked "Declassified," all the Project Reports still bore the original SECRET OR CONFIDENTIAL stamps, plus the warning which invoked the Espionage Law.

He provided an example of how "AF ridicule of witnesses continued" —

Some of the attacks were almost incredible, as in this public statement by Col. Harold E. Watson, Chief of Intelligence at Wright-Patterson AFB:

"At the end of nearly every report tracked down stands a crackpot, a religious fanatic, a publicity hound or a malicious practical joker."

Keyhoe observed that foreign reports of UFOs that had become publicly known "add to AF debunkers' troubles."

Since 1947 there have been thousands of global sightings, in sixty countries.  Among the impressive  witnesses on record are Gen. Paul Stehlin of the French Air Force, Australian Air Marshal Sir George Jones, Commandant-General A. B. Melville of the South Africa Union, and army and air force members in most of the civilized nations.

In some countries the evidence for alien spacecraft has been openly discussed by defense department officials.

Keyhoe described a 1968 RAND Corporation report provided to him: ". . . it urges an uncensored central reporting agency and serious, accurate information from the press."  Here is an excerpt from the report written by George Kocher.  The report may be read online at several websites.

Those familiar with the UFO literature are aware that reports of Sightings did not begin with Arnold's sighting in 1947, but that phenomenology much the same as is reported today can be found in documents going back to the earliest times.  Vallée (2) gives a sampling of this; B.L.P. Trench (3) has made a more thorough study and reports on the research of others able to study the original documents.

What was reported?  Luminous discs, shields, globes and elongated objects in the sky, sometimes alone, sometimes in large numbers.  Occasional descriptions of interactions with the observers are also mentioned, including landings, and seeing and communicating with occupants.  The latter events especially were almost always interpreted in a religious context.  A recent example is the repeated appearance of a typical UFO phenomenology at Fatima, Portugal on six successive months in 1917.  The October 13 phenomenon was the best reported and was witnessed by a crowd of about 70,000 persons, including a number of scientists, reporters, atheists, and agnostics, as well as faithful Catholics.

Keyhoe recounted that the observed high speeds of UFOs resulted with numerous "anti-gravity projects, many of them under secret contracts."  He also stated his belief that the Central Intelligence Agency had "strong influence with the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps."  The description of events offered additional information concerning what had been chronicled by Keyhoe in earlier books, including about the circumstances of the Air Force group that included Maj. Dewey Fournet, Headquarters Intelligence Monitor of the UFO Project.

. . . Major Fournet and several headquarters officers had secretly worked up a plan to give the public the facts.


To reduce the chance of public alarm, the secrecy would be frankly admitted and then explained as intended to keep from frightening the country while the AF tried to learn more about UFOs; since there was no proof of any hostile purpose, the AF now felt sure the public would take the disclosure without any serious hysteria.  This also would help to take the censors off the hook—indicating their genuine concern for the citizens.  And once the press had the documented story, the control-officers would probably be afraid to deny it.  At least this is what the Fournet group was counting on in this daring operation.

Albert M. Chop, the HQ press official handling UFO information later was quoted:

"They killed the whole program.  We've been ordered to work up a national debunking campaign, planting articles in magazines and arranging broadcasts to make UFO reports sound like poppycock."

Within a few days Chop quit the Air Force, but I learned more about the CIA take-over from Captain Ruppelt.

"What Al Chop told you isn't the worst of it.  We're ordered to hide sightings when possible, but if a strong report does get out we have to publish a fast explanation—make up something to kill the report in a hurry, and also ridicule the witness, especially if we can't figure a plausible answer.  We even have to discredit our own pilots.  It's a raw deal but we can't buck the CIA.  The whole  thing makes me sick—I'm thinking of putting in for inactive."

In 1973, Keyhoe was no longer the director of NICAP, a post he held for thirteen years.  After detailing some of his frustrated plans, Keyhoe attested:

In regard to UFOs, the CIA and the AF realize it is impossible to deceive all of Congress and the public.  Their aim always has been to keep the majority convinced that none of the reports has been correct.

To carry out the program, they have been forced to resort to the "Big Lie" technique to insure success.  But in doing this they have built up a foundation for dangerous alarm if an outbreak of mass UFO operations suddenly disproved the false claims.

One chapter of the book recounts incidents that occurred during 'the great 1965 flap' of UFO sightings.  The following year, a turning point in UFOlogy involved J. Allen Hynek, whose perspective of UFOs would evolve throughout his career.  Hyenk would write a book about his many years as scientific consultant to the United States Air Force, The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry (1972).  Keyhoe wrote in Aliens from Space:

Then on March 20 two or three lights were reported as moving around in a swamp area near Dexter.  The next night similar lights were supposedly seen near Hillsdale, Michigan.

In hundreds of far more important cases there had been only local press stories, or none at all.  Why the Dexter and Hillsdale reports exploded into nationwide publicity is still a mystery to many experienced investigators.

Overnight, the tension of 1965 revived.  Newsmen descended on Dexter.  On Capital Hill, House Minority Leader Gerald Ford demanded a congressional investigation, and other lawmakers backed him up.  To reduce the excitement, the AF hurriedly sent Dr. Hynek to Michigan.  His investigation was barely started when headquarters phoned a peremptory order:

"You will hold a press conference tomorrow morning and explain those reports!"

On the nights of the twentieth and twenty-first, there had been verified reports of flying discs, besides the conflicting stories of moving lights near the ground.  Hynek had no explanation for the high-speed maneuvering UFOs.  Put on the spot by the HQ order, he attempted to focus attention on the ground light stories.

Avoiding any direct claim, Dr. Hynek told assembled reporters the cause could have been marsh gas, created by decaying vegetable matter in the swampy areas.

Without waiting for Hynek to finish, newsmen ran for the phones and the marsh gas story quickly broke all over the country.

Never had an AF UFO explanation gotten such a furious reception.

"AIR FORCE INSULTS PUBLIC WITH SWAMP GAS THEORY," the South Bend Tribune headlined its attack.  The Richmond News Leader admonished the AF for suppressing evidence and trying to discredit witnesses.  The Houston Chronicle sarcastically hit at the AF for attempting to prove UFOs were a product of witnesses' imagination.  The Indianapolis News urged a congressional inquiry to quiet public alarm.

National ridicule of the marsh gas answer built up so rapidly it was almost as if the '65 barrage had never stopped.  Adding to the AF troubles, marsh gas experts publicly exposed the explanation.  On the Johnny Carson show, Dr. Albert Hibbs, a California Institute of Technology scientist, emphatically rejected the answer.  Press and TV commentators quoted a leading authority, M. Minnaert, author of The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air.

The methane marsh gas, according to Minnaert, can produce lights known as "will-o'-the-wisp."  They resemble tiny flames, from one half an inch to five inches high, not over two inches across.  Sometimes they are on the ground, at other times about four inches above it.  At times they are blown a few feet by the wind before dying out.

Though Hynek was blamed, incorrectly, for trying to debunk all UFOs as swamp gas, the AF was the main target.  Syndicated columnist Roscoe Drummond hammered at the need for a new, full-scale inquiry.  So did many news editors, also members of Congress—both Democrats and Republicans.  Cartoonists and TV comedians had a field day, deriding the swamp gas answer.  Time, Life, Newsweek and other magazines played up the story, and networks carried daily UFO reports from pilots, tower operators and other witnesses from coast to coast.

Keyhoe's commentary about NASA—established in 1958—consisted of speculations from Raymond H. Wilson, Jr., Chief of Applied Mathematics, about the Mars moon Phobos; and also a variety of expectations about Mars with Keyhoe mentioning that announced Mars Committee Patrol bulletins never appeared.

One incident reported by Keyhoe suggests that government officials in the USSR faced similar questions about how to deal with UFOlogy issues with the public at large. 

As 1968 began, AF Headquarters was still baffled by the Soviet Union's sudden, intense concern over UFOs.


The Soviet Academy of Sciences, the top-level scientific agency in Russia, had announced it was preparing an official publication with confirmed UFO evidence.  To anyone who knew the Academy's previous stand this was incredible: many of its officials and members had openly derided the subject.  But the announcement was explicit.  The analyzed evidence was to appear as a special UFO section in a USSR book called "Populated Outer Space."  It was being edited by the Academy's vice president, Boris Konstantinov.


In an abrupt reversal, the Soviet Academy of Sciences denounced the new UFO Commission as "sensational and unscientific."


Regardless, Soviet ridicule of their own giant-spaceship reports relieved the Pentagon sensor's fears—one more lucky break for the AF.

Prior to the release of the Condon Report, NICAP members were still hoping for a public exposé of the Air Force cover-up when a welcome message came from Capitol Hill.

Hearings by the House Science and Astronautics Committee had been approved by Chairman George P. Miller.  Congressman Roush would be in charge of the proceedings, and prominent scientists who knew the UFO problem would be invited to testify.  The first two on the list were Dr. Hynek and Dr. James McDonald.  The hearings would be public, beginning at 10 a.m., July 29, 1968.


But our optimism abruptly ended, when we learned the truth about the supposed hearings.

No Criticism of the Air Force of the Colorado UFO project would be allowed.


Although NICAP had played the leading role in securing the so-called hearings, we could not submit any information.  Not only was our evidence blocked, we could make no comment on the discussions.  No questions from the NICAP staff would be permitted, even if they were devoid of any AF or CU criticism—we could attend the meeting only as silent spectators.  Although the discussions were officially called hearings, the meetings was also labeled as a symposium on unidentified flying objects, to remove any idea that this was an actual investigation.

Keyhoe described the media response to the event: "Disappointed at the lack of fireworks, they gave the symposium very little publicity."

After the release of the Condon Report (the subject of the previous blog article) Keyhoe reported about Dr. Hynek, "Because of his courageous criticism of the CU Project he was dropped after twenty years as the AF consultant on UFOs.  About the same time, it was discovered that the AF had written a blistering letter to RAND, attacking the scientists who prepared the UFO Document."

The Betty and Barney Hill case had involved Keyhoe, whose commentary about the Hills included the following passages.

In the United States, during the sixties, there was a nationally publicized story of a supposed abduction by UFO beings.  This was the famous case involving Betty and Barney Hill, a dramatic example of how fear of UFOs, under certain circumstances, can almost get out of control.

Five years before the case became widely known Mrs. Hill wrote me at NICAP.  After reading her strange letter I arranged for a confidential investigation.


When Mrs. Hill wrote me, on September 25, 1961, neither she not her husband had any conscious knowledge of what might have happened during the lost two hours.  But both remembered that a UFO had descended toward the highway, and something about it had caused them to speed away from the scene.  When they arrived at their home, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, their recollections were blurred, but on the following nights Betty Hill began to have disturbing dreams, apparently linked with whatever had happened during the lost hours.


A well-known journalist, John Fuller, had learned about the case in a confidential talk at NICAP.  It was arranged that he should prepare the record, using Dr. Simon's taped questions and the Hills' answers.

Fuller's book, The Interrupted Journey (Dial Press, Inc., 1966), was syndicated in many newspapers and it received a surprising amount of serious attention, compared with the usual treatment of "contactee" stories.  Dr. Simon's conclusions were made quite clear.  The Hills, he said, actually believed this had been a true experience, but in his opinion the supposed abduction was a psychological reaction to an encounter with some unknown aerial activity or phenomenon.

The concluding chapter of Aliens from Space suggests that Kehoe's perception of the extraterrestrial crafts was becoming metaphysically more complex.

If the aliens had intended to attack or invade our world, they could have done so long ago.  During the long surveillance there have been well over 3,000 UFO chases, including the capture attempts.  Yet the space beings have shown surprising restraint.  From all the evidence, it seems clear their main purpose requires peaceful contacts and co-operation with humans.

Keyhoe acknowledged that "there is evidence that the UFO beings can hear and understand us."  He once more articulated his most fervent convictions.

The time has come to stop the long deception, the deliberate discrediting of thousands of honest witnesses.

At any time, there could be a sudden development for which we are totally unprepared.  The secrecy, the censorship must be stopped.

We must end the dangerous gamble which could involve us all.

The book's Epilogue revealed that the NICAP organization had become ineffective in recent years.  Kehoe observed, ". . . I have urged that NICAP try to regain the competent Subcommittee investigators and technical advisers it has lost and that it return to our original operating program and goals: To put the verified evidence on record, to expose the secrecy dangers and to end the cover-up."

After reading Keyhoe's five UFOlogy books, it is easy to understand that the UFO cover-up is sporadic.  Bureaucratic secrecy regulations conflict with human interests, values and faith.  Nonetheless, the age of the military-industrial complex has resulted with many followers as human free will is influenced by social hierarchies where directives and regulations may be overseen by government and corporation executives who in some cases may only be motivated by their own financial self-interests.  These decisions seem to be made without any credence to the spiritual doctrines of karma, reincarnation and the afterlife.

Considering the UFO cover-ups documented by Kehoe and other authors, one can only wonder to what extent inculcated secrecy and disinformation techniques have also been and continue to be routinely implemented by personnel working throughout other government jurisdictions.

Betty and Barney Hill's car was a Chevy Bel Air during their UFO experience.