Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Sleep paralysis

There has been quite a lot written about the relevance of sleep paralysis to the question of alien abductions. In Australia one of the best articles written in recent years is one by former UFO researcher Keith Basterfield and is to be found here.
Less has been written on the possible application of sleep paralysis research and the paranormal. However, the new book by Australian, Louis Proud, titled "Dark Intrusions" presents an interesting read. Find out more about the book
here

More NSA UFO documents

Hi all

The next documents from the FOIA page of the National Security Agency are:

3. Affidavit of Eugene F Yeates -Citizens Against Unidentified Flying Objects Secrecy v NSA

This is the public version of the secret 21 page "in camera" affidavit previously described. The CIA conducted a document search for its own FOIA case, and found a number of NSA documents in its own (CIA) files. The NSA argued against the release of its COMINT reports.

4. "UFO files" The untold story by Patrick Huyghe.

5. "Government's super-secret security agency warns: take UFOs seriously or be prepared for sneak invasion by space aliens" by Thomas L Muldoon, National Enquirer.

6. "The US Government and the Iran case" -IUR report. (IUR being the Center for UFO Studies International UFO Reporter journal.)

7. "Report of UFO crash in 47 called false by science panel" by the New York Times.

8. "What the US Government knows about Unidentified Flying Objects" Peter Gersten, Frontiers of Science.

9. "Is the CIA stone walling" by Richard hall.

10. "The Government and UFOs." This is a 2 page item dated May-June 1981 , one page is marked page 27, of a publication, possibly "Frontiers of Science" magazine.It argues that objects which can access our nuclear installations and affect aircraft systems warrant scientific study. It refers to a 1968 NSA report-which is apparently the 1968 "UFO hypothesis and survival questions" released by the NSA in 1980. Also referred to is the 1967 Cuban aircraft encounter, stating that the source "...alleges that all reports, tapes, log entries , and notes on the incident were forwarded to the national Security Agency at their request."

Comment: These are all open source documents that any member of the public would have been able to get hold of. Someone in the NSA was gathering UFO material and it ended up on an NSA file.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

NSA UFO documents 2 - Taiwan balloons?

I have just finished reading the second set of documents on the NSA's website. They are "Communication Intelligence (COMINT) reports (broken into sizable parts for viewing.)"

You get a list of parts labelled PART A to PART J. Each part, A to J is 25 pages long and Part J is 16 pages making for a total of 241 pages. These 241 pages consist of fragments of visible text, areas of blacked out text and large area completely white.

I'll give a few examples for your edification:

Page 1 "1355-1401 One UFO. From 75NM E of (blacked out text) toward East and faded near ()"

Page 4 "Message 03787232. Radar tracking UFO 0601-1040 One UFO (probably a balloon) From () toward East and passed north of () South of () Alt 46,000-49,200 ft."

Most of the rest of the pages are similar. They mention anywhere between 1-46 UFOs, and various altitudes between 6,500 and 100,000 feet. No dates are given and almost all location names are blacked out. Usually the acronym "UFO" is followed by the words (probably a balloon.)

After you have digested page after page of UFO/probably a balloon you do get some descriptive sightings. Examples are:

Page 136. UFO 2130Z and 2140Z "Semi circle shape and looked like an arc in the sky. This object was also noted as being white and very large. It was seen for a period of about ten minutes and it seemed to just hang in the sky for a few minutes before moving on in a westerly direction."

Page 137. "() a smoking luminous object that moved through the air at an altitude of approximately 630 metres from () towards() at the border opposite () the smoke radius extended about 100 meters from the centre of the luminous object and a green light could be seen following it. The smoke radius gradually increased in size and disappeared. The luminous object which was in the center of the smoke also disappeared."

Page 224 "Sighted a UFO described as spherical or disc-like in form with established color, brighter than the Sun, with a diameter of one-half the visible size of the Moon.2. At the time of observation, object was above the upper edge of the clouds on true bearing 120 degrees, azimuth 280 degrees traveling north."

Comment: Are these the COMINT reports which the NSA would not release in 1980? Could well be. They really don't tell you much, given that dates and times and places are not usually available. Again, I guess thought, that the NSA is correct in its 21 page secret affidavit (which provides some dates and how the COMINTs were sourced) that if they gave these details out, foreign intelligence agencies might be able to work out what the NSA capabilities were. However, given that the newest document described here in now 30 years old, would it really matter at this point in time?

If you diligently read all 241 pages you will find two names which are not blacked out! Hsinchou and Makung. Hsinchu and Makung are both in Taiwan. One could imagine that either China or Taiwan could have been floating propaganda balloons over the other place and NSA was picking up transmissions about these flights.

I therefore searched the Internet for any references to Taiwan and propaganda balloons and, surprising or not, found an article, published in the year 2000 titled "Taiwan's propaganda cold war:the offshore island crisis of 1954 and 1958" by Gary D Rawnsley. The URL is here

Part of the article reads: "...the CIA Far East Division encouraged the launch from Taiwan of balloons loaded with propaganda leaflets, pamphlets and newspapers that would drift across the strait to the mainland."

A reasonable conclusion, after reading these COMINT documents from the National Security Agency is that many refer to propaganda balloons being flown over China from Taiwan.

NSA UFO documents 1

Well, I've been reading the documents released by the NSA under the US FOIA. There are 42 documents in all. I thought I'd summarise what is there and comment where I find something worthwhile.

1. "In camera" affidavit of Eugene F Yeates-Citizens against Unidentified Flying Objects Secrecy v NSA (Civil action no 80-1562)

This is the famous 1980, 21 page secret affidavit by Eugene F Yeates, the chief, office of Policy at the NSA. It was provided to the District Court, District of Columbia when a private UFO group asked the NSA to produce their UFO documents. It is a sequel to a public affidavit, a copy of which follows later.

In summary, it states that 239 relevant documents were located in NSA files. 79 originated with other agencies. 1 document included, was outside of the FOIA request. 1 document was declassified and released. Two other non COMINT records were released. The remaining 156 documents are with held and are COMINT reports for the period 1958-1979. 154 of these were based wholly upon intercepted communications of foreign governments transmitted on non-public "government net" communication links or systems.

The affidavit argues that "Revealing the contents of these reports would disclose the capabilities of NSA to target these government controlled communications systems." "...foreign intelligence services would be able to evade or defeat portions of NSA's present foreign intelligence efforts targeting international common carrier links." "Because each record and each portion thereof is properly classified under Executive order 12065, it is exempt from disclosure pursuant to 5 U S C S552 (b) (1)."

In summary the NSA argued that the COMINT reports should not be released to the general public.

Comment: From an intelligence perspective the NSA is correctly stating its position. Full release of the documentation would most likely cause problems.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

New book alert

Hi

Just a short note in a busy day, on a new book, I'm sure you will find of interest, on the subject matter of sleep paralysis experiences. Click here for more details.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Read the Government documents yourself!

It's amazing what you can find on the Internet now!

You may recall that in a recent post I reviewed the 1984 book "The Cover up" and extracted comments on UFO related docuemnts released by various US Intelligence agencies.

Well, now, in 20909 you can simply go to the Internet and read many of these actual documents for yourself as the relevant government agencies have posted them for anyone to read.

The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) has documents available here.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has documents on display here

The National Security Agency (NSA) lists its documents here

I'm off to start reading! Stay tuned.

Sense of self returns!

In several previous posts I wrote of the "sense of self" and how some people had a sense that, for example, their leg was not their own but belonged to someone else.
Then there is the "alien hand syndrome" where someone believes their hand is not their own.

I wondered if the part of the human brain which controls this "sense of self" could switch off the entire body through a problem with this area, such that a person could believe that all of them was "alien" and not human?

One of the other books I am reading my way through at the moment is "Alien Dawn:an investigation into the contact experience" by Colin Wilson, 1998, Virgin Publishing of London ISBN 185 227 746 7.

On page 8 Wilson reviews a case history of a man called Paul, contained in John Mack's book "Abduction." "At this point in the hypnotic session, Paul seemed to break through an 'information barrier' and to recognise that he had a dual identity, as an alien and a human being. He came from another planet, and "there are a lot of us here." At one point, Paul remarked plaintively, 'I want to go home.'"

On page 9 "...Mack himself notes how many abductees feel that they themselves are part alien, and belong elsewhere than on earth."

P192. "In her book The Human Brain, Susan Greenfield points out that patients with damage to the parietal cortex often feel that parts of their body do not belong to them, and may even insist that their arm belongs to someone else."

Alan Jones, a reader of my blog left me a comment the other day about my post on "Alien hand syndrome, suggesting I read a book titled "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" by Oliver Sachs. Alan relates one of the stories from the book concerning a man in bed who found a strange leg in bed with him. The man threw the strange leg out of bed and promptly himself fell on the floor. It was actually his own leg but he didn't recognise it as such! Thanks Alan.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Books and more books

As I have mentioned before, I always have several books on the go at any one time, but still find there is not enough time to read everything I want. Top this off with the vast amount of information out there on the Internet and some times you think you might need several lifetimes to digest it all.

One of the books I am reading at the moment is titled: "Parallel worlds:a journey through creation, higher dimensions and the future of the cosmos." It was published in 2005 by Doubleday, New York and written by Michio Kaku who is the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Graduate center of the City University of New York.

He explores many of the areas of modern cosmology, including the big bang, inflation theory, black holes and the idea of the multiverse. Also covered are quantum mechanics, string theory and particle physics.

In examining these areas he ties them all in to the concept of an existence in which a number of parallel universes are created.

Following on from this "...is the possibility of parallel universes and gateways connecting them." p112.

Although the idea of parallel universes is still hypothetical, it appears scientifically possible. Whether or not you can move from one to another is even more speculative. However, this hasn't stopped a number of UFO researchers postulating parallel worlds as a potential source for the UFO phenomenon.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Read the CIA documents for yourself!

Following up on the topic of CIA UFO documents in previous posts about the book "The UFO Cover up" I typed the words "CIA UFO documents" into the Yahoo search engine and ended up at a CIA FOI website where you can read 242 CIA UFO documents for yourself. The documents cover the period 1949 to 1996. The link is here

Thursday, December 17, 2009

The UFO cover up - part 3

p188. "...but the lawsuit was effectively over and the NSA's 135 UFO papers still remain cloaked in mystery."

p189. Further FOI action revealed a 21 page NSA affidavit used to explain to lawyers and judges involved NSA's position on non-release of UFO documents. It was released with deleted sections, and said that 239 UFO documents were found at NSA. 79 originated with other agencies, so 160 were NSA's. 4 documents were released in part of failed to be answerable to the original request, leaving 156 left. This figure was not the 135 publicly stated.

Going back to p82 on a second read through.
DIA report on 19/9/76 Tehran, Iran UFO report. An F-4 aircraft was launched to check out a light in the sky 40NM north of Tehran. Object seen from 70 miles away. Aircraft approached to 25NM of UFO. Lost instrumentation and communications. After turning away the instrumentation etc came back on.

A second F-4 was launched. It radar locked on UFO at 27NM. Object moved away. Object had flashing strobe lights in rectangular pattern, blue, Green, red and orange lights. Then another bright object came out of the first object and quickly approached the plane. The pilot attempted to fire a missile but weapons control panel and communications were lost. Then a second object came out of the UFO and headed to the ground and apparently landed there.

Attached to the DIA report was a DIA report evaluation form. Check boxes indicated that the UFO report was "confirmed by other sources", the value of the information was "high" and "potentially useful."

All in all, I found this 25 year old book a valuable source of early information on the US intelligence agency's views on the UFO phenomenon.

The UFO cover up - part 2

p132. referring to the global wave of 1954. "...but what was not known until the release of the CIA files is the fact that the CIA collected many of the sightings through normal intelligence channels..."

p135. In 1956. The Applied Science Division of the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence was assigned to hold incoming UFO reports. "...might provide information on foreign weapons research and development."

p143. CIA 1976. Memos discussing a 1976 UFO study by an undisclosed source. "Source seeks guidance from CIA UFO experts as to material in his report that should remain classified."

"The UFO study was passed to Dr ...(Adds & T)." "It does not seem that the government has any formal program in progress for the identification/solution of the UFO phenomenon. Dr... feels that the efforts of independent researchers...are vital for further progress in this area. At the present time, there are offices and personnel within the agency who are monitoring the UFO phenomenon, but again, this is not carried on an official basis."

Interestingly, it was in the 1973-1977 era that Vallee reported discussions with Dr Christopher Green of the CIA (Vallee 2008 p214,229,236,237,410.) Could Dr Green be the Dr... mentioned in the released CIA documents quoted above?

p181. The NSA 1976. "Regarding your inquiry about UFOs, please be advised that NSA does not have any interest in UFOs in any manner."

However, FOI requests to the CIA revealed some of its documents originated with the NSA.

In 1980 NSA released two documents. Interestingly, p182, one discussed the findings of UFO research Jacques Vallee! The other, was written by an NSA analyst in 1968 and titled "UFO hypothesis and survival questions." It discussed various possible explanations for UFO reports.

From my earlier posts you may recall that Jacques Vallee in his book "Forbidden Science" Volume 2, spoke of one Howell McConnell from the NSA asking Vallee questions about UFOs in 1972. Again, in 1975 (p312) Vallee met an NSA physicist who told Vallee there was no evidence found within NSA that this agency was intercepting foreign messages on the subject of UFOs. In 1976 (p325) Vallee mentions encountering an engineer who said he used to be part of an NSA group researching aerial phenomena.

The UFO cover up -part 1

Hi readers,

Well Sunday has come early this week with some extended time off work over Christmas. I've had time this week to take a look at a book published 25 years ago and one of the first to take a look at the role of intelligence agencies in the UFO phenomenon - one of my favourite topics!

The book is "The UFO Cover Up" also published under the title "Clear Intent", by authors Lawrence Fawcett and Barry J Greenwood by Prentice Hall Press, New York, 1984. ISBN 0-13-137712-4.

pxv "In the 3,000 pages of previously classified documents on UFOs released during the past four years by the department of State, the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), we find the expert testimony of scientist, military and intelligence personnel.."

p113 CIA response to FOI request 26/3/76
"In order that you may be aware of the true facts concerning the involvement of the CIA in the investigation of UFO phenomena, let me give you the following brief history. Late in 1952 the national Security council levied upon the CIA the requirement to determine if the existence of UFOs would create a danger to the national security of the United States.

"The Office of Scientific Intelligence established the Intelligence Advisory Committee to study the matter. That Committee made the recommendations found at the bottom of page 1 and the top four lines of page 2 of the Robertson panel report. At no time prior to the formation of the Robertson panel and subsequent to the issuance of the Panel's report, has the CIA engaged in the study of the UFO phenomenon..."

However, 900 pages of UFO related material were eventually released. These consisted of:
* Information reports
* documents discussing UFOs as psychological warfare devices
* documents relating to the Robertson Panel
* Miscellaneous memos.

p123. Memo dated 1/8/52 from a/g Chief of the CIA's Weapons and Equipment Division to the Deputy Assistant Director of Scientific Intelligence. Speaking of reports received by ATIC. "It is probable that if complete information were available for presently "unexplicable" reports, they, too, could be evaluated into categories as indicated in a above." i.e. explained. The memo continues "2.Notwithstanding the foregoing tentative facts, so Long as a series of reports remains "unexplicable" (interplanetary aspects and alien origin not being thoroughly excluded from consideration), caution requires that intelligence continue coverage of the subject."

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The National Security State 2

"...Shamrock-an operation run by the NSA, formerly by the Signal Corp-was intercepting electronic transmissions on a daily basis throughout the US and abroad. Evidently, Shamrock was also spreading disinformation relating to UFOs." p194.

1961. The Defence Intelligence Agency was created 1/10/61.p247.

"On the other side, the air force, CIA, NSA and other intelligence organizations involved in UFOs had enormous reserves of money, secrecy and power." p259.

"The involvement of the National Security Agency in the tracking and analysis of UFOs has long been the subject of speculation. Indeed, several documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests have proven, despite NSA denials, strong interest in UFO reports." p348.

1969. "The year 1969 saw the publications of an interesting, little known book by Andrew Tully, with the hyperbolic title The Super Spies. The book is significant as an early report on the NSA, and even more so as its first chapter discussed the UFO controversy, albeit superficially. Tully stated that UFOs were products of secret military technology." p361.

1970. "The national security apparatus, which had intersected with the phenomenon for thirty years, now pretended, and perhaps hoped, that UFOs really were things of the past." p371.

1969/1970. "JANAP-146 and CIRVIS remained in effect, for example, indicating that UFO reports were still being routed through these channels." p385.

"The CIA, NSA and all branches of military intelligence received UFO reports and discussed the matter as something of serious concern. There is also evidence, provided by former Blue Book Chief Edward Ruppelt, of an "Above Top Secret" group with access to all UFO data, a group that straddled the worlds of government, military and industry." p387.

"...why the secrecy? Surely if the military truly believed what it said for years about UFOs-that they are usually misidentification of natural phenomenon-it would hardly be interested in the problem." p388.

I wonder how much was "collecting anything and everything" which intelligence agencies work on; how much was due to the personal interest of individuals working for intelligence agencies and how much was ever analysed?

I refer you to my earlier posts on the work of vallee for comments on the NSA and CIA's interests as known by Vallee.

Looking at the Australian perspective as revealed by the work of the Disclosure Australia project, provides some insight.

If it wasn't for the personal interest of Harry Turner, then the Joint Intelligence Bureau/Joint Intelligence Organisation wouldn't have taken as much interest in the UFO subject as it did.

The National Security State 1

Sunday once more and despite the onrush of Christmas, I am still finding time to read old books.

This time it is Richard M Dolan's "UFOs and the National Security State:Chronology of a cover-up 1941-1973." Published by Hampton Roads 2002 ISBN1-57174 3170.

"I have used the term "national security state" to describe its structure of power...Its fundamental traits are secrecy, wealth, independence, power and duplicity." pxxiii

1947. The FBI becomes involved "On July 30 Hoover agreed to give full cooperation in the investigation of flying discs." p33.

1947. The CIA was created on 26/7/47. p42.

1948. "At least some UFO reports were going into CIA files as early as 1948." p54.

"For at least three years the UFO problem was managed by the American military and intelligence community with only limited interference from its citizenry." p94.

"This period also provided scattered evidence that a select group of men from scientific, military and intelligence circles supervised or monitored the activities of ATIC. It is not known whether this group answered to the President or another individual. It does seem clear, however, that they took the UFO problem more seriously than official pronouncements at ATIC indicated." pp94-95.

1952. Speaking of CIA interest. "There is some tangible evidence, as we shall soon see, that ranking CIA officials were genuinely interested in the UFOs themselves." p114.

1952. "Some intelligence agency, most likely CIA appears to have surveilled civilian UFO groups at this time." p114.

1952. The National Security Agency was created on 24/10/52.p117.

1953. "The NSA immediately became involved in UFO reports." p118.

1953. "From 1953 onward, the small control group that managed the UFO problem held the reins even tighter..." p131.

European Parliament member and UAP

Five Eyes Out of the Five Eyes partners, which consists of the U.S.A., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand; questions about UAP hav...