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From The NY Times: The Pentagon's Secret UFO Program


Axolotl, my man @S.R.L. ! Thank you! I knew there was a schedule of the conference out there somewhere in the cyber-deeps, but all I could find was the Abstracts list. Now that I’ve had a chance to look over the people and schedule, I can pinpoint the lecture of June 9, 1994 starting at 3:15 PM by Prof. John Bockris of Texas A&M U.

At around 3:30 PM, everyone in that room became a sudden witness to a tragic event that still remains a great mystery today, namely the sudden, untimely and still baffling death of Jerrold “Ron” Johnson, age 43, who suddenly fell off his chair (one row behind me and 4 seats down) and crumpled to the floor. There was a doctor in the house, namely Larry Dossey, MD, who rushed over to do CPR on Ron but to no avail. After the EMTs arrived, they told Dr. Dossey that Ron’s death was even baffling to them because he showed none of the usual signs of weak and sporadic revival that other sudden fatalities show.

Because Ron was not only Hal Puthoff’s chief Engineer at Hal’s Institute of Advanced Studies in Austin, but also a high ranking member and officer in the Texas MUFON organization, then conspiracy theories immediately grew out of his death, as you can read here. Since I was a close eyewitness, I can say that many of the details reported around his death in the first paragraph are wrong, but such errors do not affect the final judgment of a still to this day unexplained death.

Someone is killing our UFO investigators - Metatech

An equally disturbing and more recent death is that of Ron (Jerrold) Johnson, at the time MUFON’s Deputy Director of Investigations. Johnson was 43 years old and, it would seem, in excellent health. He had just passed a recent physical examination with the proverbial flying colors. However, on June 9, 1994, while attending a Society of Scientific Exploration meeting in Austin, Texas, Johnson died quickly and amid very strange circumstances. During a slide show, several people sitting close to him heard a gasp. When the lights were turned back on, Johnson was slumped over in his chair, his face purple, blood oozing from his nose. A soda can, from which he had been sipping, was sitting on the chair next to him.

Did Ron Johnson die of a stroke? Possibly. An allergic reaction? Another possibility.

Some of the more outstanding facts of Ron Johnson’s life might easily lead a more skeptical-minded person to a tentative conclusion that his death was probably neither accidental nor natural. For instance, his most recent job was with the Institute of Advanced Studies, purportedly working on UFO propulsion systems. He had been formerly employed by Earth Tech, Inc., a private Austin, Texas, think tank headed by Harold Puthoff. It would appear he held high security clearances, traveled frequently between San Antonio and White Sands, and had attended 2 secret NATO meetings in the last year or so. One of those meetings, it is rumored dealt with ET communications.

If all or most of the facts offered above are accurate, one thing seems obvious: Johnson was walking both sides of the street. This in itself was highly dangerous, and he may have paid the ultimate price in an attempt to serve more than one master.

As for exactly what killed Ron Johnson, a number of possibilities beyond natural ones present themselves. It is quite easy in this day and age to induce strokes through chemicals or pulsed radiation. It is just as easy, and has been for some time, to induce heart attacks and other physical debilitations, such as fast-acting cancers. The best bet is that Ron Johnson was eliminated by a quick-acting toxin, perhaps a nerve agent. As for exactly why he was killed, we will probably never know. The autopsy, somewhat ludicrously, has been officially classified as inconclusive.
 
Brothers @Realm and @Thomas R Morrison , I do believe that neither one of you has discussed the phenomenon of teleportation. (Jim) Beam me up, Scotty! Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!

Here is John Greenwald of the Black Vault publishing a report by Eric Davis from 2004 about teleportation.

http://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/dtic/a425545.pdf

This study was tasked with the purpose of collecting information describing the teleportation of material objects, providing a description of teleportation as it occurs in physics, its theoretical and experimental status, and a projection of potential applications.

The study also consisted of a search for teleportation phenomena occurring naturally or under laboratory conditions that can be assembled into a model describing the conditions required to accomplish the transfer of objects. This included a review and documentation of quantum teleportation, its theoretical basis, technological development, and its potential applications.

The characteristics of teleportation were defined and physical theories were evaluated in terms of their ability to completely describe the phenomena. Contemporary physics, as well as theories that presently challenge the current physics paradigm were investigated.

The author identified and proposed two unique physics models for teleportation that are based on the manipulation of either the general relativistic spacetime metric or the spacetime vacuum electromagnetic (zero-point fluctuations) parameters. Naturally occurring anomalous teleportation phenomena that were previously studied by the United States and foreign governments were also documented in the study and are reviewed in the report.

The author proposes an additional model for teleportation that is based on a combination of the experimental results from the previous government studies and advanced physics concepts. Numerous recommendations outlining proposals for further theoretical and experimental studies are given in the report. The report also includes an extensive teleportation bibliography.
 
Here is a recent local San Diego TV News segment on one of its “favorite sons” Tom DeLonge. Now compare this 2:45 clip with the original NY Times story of 2 months ago. Any comments on how the disclosure — whoops, I mean CONFIRMATION —- has evolved in news coverage over that time period? I copy from the end of the transcript of the clip.

Former Blink-182 rocker launches UFO research academy

DeLonge wants to raise up to $50 million dollars from investors purchasing stock online, to eventually fund entertainment, science and aerospace divisions in his new company.

He hopes to build a ship that can warp through space and time.

He also wants to research brain to computer interface technology, human mind telepathy, and a laser beam that can launch satellites.

DeLonge said in a recent radio interview with host Joe Rogan that he will release several UFO themed movies and TV shows this year.

He also plans to launch a web site with a database cataloging all sorts of paranormal activities.

“My end goal is to build a company that changes the world,” DeLonge told Rogan.

As you might imagine, DeLonge's new business venture is a risky investment, as detailed in a legal document filed with the SEC.

So far, he has raised $2.5 million from online investors. His twelve-month crowdfunding effort is set to end in September 2018, according to legal filings.
 
As you might imagine, DeLonge's new business venture is a risky investment

I don't think it is. He hasn't actually spent much money on it, mostly just loaned some with interest and arranged minimum royalties regardless of sales, so there's not much risk for him. I believe Puthoff and Semivan have only paid nominal price ($0.0001 per share), so they only have a few hundred dollars in it (yet own a whole lot more than all the other investors combined), so there's not much risk for them either.

As for the donors other investors, there's really no risk for them seeing their money again.

So it's pretty risk free for everyone as far as I see it.

So far, he has raised $2.5 million from online investors. His twelve-month crowdfunding effort is set to end in September 2018, according to legal filings.

It seems they have been losing steam on the funding side lately. They seem to have collected only $11,375 from 24 investors during the past couple of weeks. Does that even pay the electricity bill of that satellite launcher beam?
 
Has this Chris Mellon interview from 2016 been discussed here already?
His positions during the Clinton and Bush administrations involved high clearances; in fact, there are few people who have enjoyed such deep and wide-ranging access to compartmented programs in both the Defense Department (DoD) and the intelligence community.
...
At DoD, Chris served on a small committee that provided oversight of all DoD special access programs, in order to eliminate potential waste and duplication. The oversight included visits to Area 51 and other sensitive facilities. He also spent over a decade on the Senate Intelligence Committee, involved in oversight of NRO, CIA, NSA and other intelligence organizations. He became the first Congressional official to review all of the NSA’s compartmented programs.
...
Q: When did you first become interested in UFOs?

A: I was about seven years old when I saw an old-fashioned amateur movie taken by a friend of our school principal. It showed a huge, golden disc-shaped object serenely moving through sunny, blue skies, passing through cumulous clouds in a manner that would be very hard to fake. I have no idea what became of the movie, but it filled me with wonder and awe. I read everything I could get my hands on afterwards and eventually did a research project on UFOs in college for a physics professor. I remain deeply intrigued.
...
Q: Do you think that if Clinton is elected we can expect to learn new information about UFOs?

A: I highly doubt DoD or any other government agency is concealing UFO information. I participated in a comprehensive review of DoD’s black programs and spent over a decade conducting oversight of the national foreign intelligence program, an almost totally separate world of secrets. I visited Area 51 and other military, intelligence and research facilities. During all those years, I never detected the faintest hint of government interest or involvement in UFOs.

Q: Clinton and John Podesta have been focusing on the need for de-classifying government documents. What do you think about that?

A: While a few new, previously overlooked documents might turn up (the bureaucracy is never perfect), I do not believe they would resolve the UFO issue or provide significant new insights. I can think of one lengthy UFO report that is classified only due to concerns over sources and methods. In fact, it identified a convincing conventional explanation for the pilot sightings in this particular case. There are lots of classified documents related to activities at Area 51, where high security is needed. But this is all legitimate stuff the American people would support. They have nothing to do with UFOs, to the best of my knowledge.
...
Q: Are you certain there is no government cover-up?

A: It’s impossible to prove the negative, so all I can say is that I never saw any evidence of official interest in UFOs. I’d love to believe we have a crashed saucer somewhere, but I’ve never seen anything remotely supportive of such incredible claims. In my experience, on those rare occasions when UFO incidents involving the government occur, they are highly inconvenient, awkward and embarrassing for the afflicted government officials who want nothing more than to put the issue behind them as quickly as possible! The military seems generally unwilling to investigate even when UFO reports come from our own military pilots or officials in high office such as Fife Symington, the former governor of Arizona. Senior officials are so fearful of being ridiculed that they conceal any expression of interest or curiosity.
...
Q: So where does this all leave us, and what is to be done?

A: In my view, calling for the end to an alleged government UFO cover-up is almost certainly a dead end, and does not help inspire anyone in government to become more open to the topic. The UFO mystery is a scientific problem. A true scientist seeks and follows the data no matter how politically incorrect the facts may be. The greatest scientific breakthroughs occur when we verify information that challenges conventional wisdom. That’s why I joined the board of UFODATA.
Is There a UFO Cover-up? A Government Insider Speaks Out | HuffPost

So in summary, he has had a long time interest in UFOs, doesn't believe the government is hiding anything, and he should know (at least the story indicates so), and he basically denies any knowledge of AATIP at the time. So there you have a TTSA member saying don't expect any disclosure, as there's little to be disclosed.

And here's Mellon in the TTSA announcement event, after he told his sensationalized version of the Nimitz story with the party balloon and all:
Better yet the US government itself can verify the events involving the USS Nimitz on November 14th 2004. So the key to revealing whether or not there are advanced vehicles with capabilities far beyond anything made in America is now in the hands of the press and the public. The chairman of the Armed Services Committee and his counterparts and other congressional oversight committees can easily request a briefing to confirm the veracity of this story and the existence of other events of a similar nature. Congress has every right to review the documents generated by this event and request briefings by the military personnel involved. If the oversight committees have not already been briefed on this event and others like it they clearly should be. How else can they adequately assess threats to our forces and our military requirements.

There is nothing to prove here. These are just facts that need to be properly evaluated. Without the facts, neither Congress nor our democracy can function effectively. Once the truth is known some anxieties will certainly be raised but imagination’s will also be fired a renewed interest in space and science will inevitably result in our government and society will respond. But we can only rise to the challenge once the public becomes aware a problem exists.
Transcript of To the Stars Academy Press Conference | Openminds.tv
 
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Has this Chris Mellon interview from 2016 been discussed here already?

Is There a UFO Cover-up? A Government Insider Speaks Out | HuffPost

So in summary, he has had a long time interest in UFOs, doesn't believe the government is hiding anything, and he should know (at least the story indicates so), and he basically denies any knowledge of AATIP at the time. So there you have a TTSA member saying don't expect any disclosure, as there's little to be disclosed.

And here's Mellon in the TTSA announcement event, after he told his sensationalized version of the Nimitz story with the party balloon and all:

Transcript of To the Stars Academy Press Conference | Openminds.tv

Now Brother @Realm , if I may ascend in my well-stoked metaphysical hot air balloon to rise above your ground-level tree bark observations to map better the forest you are exploring:

Who is it that is interviewing Chris Mellon? Why, none other than Leslie Kean, the only competent journalist shilling for TTSA. What is the publication? The Huffington Post, the go-to left wing liberal outlet (in contrast to a publication in traditional Ufology which is, with few exceptions, a bastion of Right Wing Emotionally-Fixated-In-Adolescence White Male Intellectual Supremacy = RWEFIAWMIS.)

When was this interview published? May 9, 2016 with an unspecified update made on Dec 6, 2016, just 10 days before the famous or is it infamous? NY Times article appeared of which Leslie Kean is coauthor.

Why is she interviewing Chris Mellon? Because 6 months before, Chris Mellon joined Leslie on the Board of Directors of Leslie’s organization called UFO DATA. Check out the Board and team members here:
UFODATA Project - Project Team

What is the organization UFO DATA? Look at the homepage
UFODATA Project
First of all, in contrast to TTSA, UFODATA is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. And it hopes to “crowd-fund a UFO Science”

What is the relationship between UFODATA and TTSA?

That could be your next research project, Brother Realm.

One interesting clue to follow is the figure of Robert Powell, who is one of the consulting engineers for UFODATA, who had been a Director at MUFON for many years until his shocking resignation from MUFON right before their big annual gathering in 2017. The name Corey Goode figures in this kerfuffle, and I hope other Paracasters will weigh in on this controversy.

http://jamesclarksonufo.com/article...on-2017-symposium-and-how-the-show-must-go-on
 
if I may ascend in my well-stoked metaphysical hot air balloon to rise above your ground-level tree bark observations to map better the forest you are exploring

Thank you Brother, and feel free to continue reporting from your balloon trip, it seems to be quite insightful.

What is the publication? The Huffington Post, the go-to left wing liberal outlet (in contrast to a publication in traditional Ufology which is, with few exceptions, a bastion of Right Wing Emotionally-Fixated-In-Adolescence White Male Intellectual Supremacy = RWEFIAWMIS.)

Isn't Huffington Post the sort of outlet that pretty much anyone can publish there, at least if they are famous for some reason? So if you can't publish elsewhere, you can publish there. As a side note, it's interesting that one of the founders was not quite so left wing Andrew Breitbart.

When was this interview published? May 9, 2016 with an unspecified update made on Dec 6, 2016, just 10 days before the famous or is it infamous? NY Times article appeared of which Leslie Kean is coauthor.

I compared the texts to the original version from the Internet Archive , and there were just minor stylistic edits plus the original was titled as "THE BLOG" while the current one is titled "WEIRD NEWS". There seems to have been other similar edits along the way as well.

First of all, in contrast to TTSA, UFODATA is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. And it hopes to “crowd-fund a UFO Science”
Yeah, compare this:
How will UFODATA use revenues from donations, sponsors and merchandise?
Currently no members of the UFODATA team are being paid for their work on the project; we are all volunteers. However, if we cannot find additional volunteers to fill gaps in our team’s expertise, then it may be necessary down the road to hire some specialists. We are very sensitive to spending our scarce resources in this way, and so we will be as efficient as possible with the funds that we raise so that the maximum amount can be spent on the project itself.
to the TTSA way:
We expect that the expenses of the offering will be approximately $250,000 if the minimum number of shares are sold in this offering and approximately $6,500,000 if the maximum number of shares are sold in this offering.
 
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So, I took a closer look at what that UFODATA project is all about.
The organization has one goal and one goal only: to design, build and deploy a global network of automated surveillance stations that will monitor the skies full time looking for UFOs. UFODATA has no interest in alleged government conspiracies or adding more witness reports or FOIA documents to the thousands already on file. The idea here is that only a complete change of methodology toward a purely scientific approach to the UFO issue will enable us to move forward.
...
Rodeghier points out that we are simply taking SETI to its logical limit — local SETI.
...
For now, we remain agnostic about the nature and origin of UFOs. However, “whether or not we find any ETs, this will constitute a radical breakthrough in both the study and status of the UFO problem,” says Wendt. “And if it does turn up any ETs, well, that would be one of the most important events in human history...”
(Very) Local SETI: The Launch of a New UFO Science | HuffPost

UFODATA stations would measure anything unusual that comes within their range. While detecting anomalous aerial phenomena is top priority, the stations are sure to record already known but rare natural events, such as ball lightning.
...
The intellectual sparkplugs behind UFODATA are over a dozen volunteers, a confab of scientists, engineers, and UFO researchers. “We are also joined by several 'silent partners,’ all scientists and engineers at academic institutions who are prepared to help, but because of the cultural stigma attached to UFOs have chosen to keep their involvement private,” explains the UFODATA website.
...
UFODATA aims to change that, Kean said. “We now have the opportunity to elevate UFO investigations so that they become part of the larger scientific search for extraterrestrial life and will eventually be recognized as such by the world community.”
What are UFOs? New Study Aims to Find Out

So here's a question: What's wrong with that? They seem to be doing just the kind of local SETI I have been talking about. They seem to have actual scientists on board, instead of those who measure feelings of chicken eggs with E-meters and hallucinate creatures traveling through wormholes at some wacky ranch. They also seem to have sane expectations and plans for funding, and they actually plan to look at the results before jumping to conclusions.

Why are we talking about that joke known as the TTSA instead of that one?
 
Da nada Quetzalcoatl
How exciting @S.R.L. !!! You have to win a prize of some sort. Perhaps a Cthulhu Wormhole?

You see, in this little message where you refer to me as Quetzalcoatl, go to the lower right and note the rank number of this comment in the thread. Do you see what I see?

Yes, indeed, SRL, you have the honor of having posted

Comment #666
 
So, I took a closer look at what that UFODATA project is all about.

(Very) Local SETI: The Launch of a New UFO Science | HuffPost


What are UFOs? New Study Aims to Find Out

So here's a question: What's wrong with that? They seem to be doing just the kind of local SETI I have been talking about. They seem to have actual scientists on board, instead of those who measure feelings of chicken eggs with E-meters and hallucinate creatures traveling through wormholes at some wacky ranch. They also seem to have sane expectations and plans for funding, and they actually plan to look at the results before jumping to conclusions.

Why are we talking about that joke known as the TTSA instead of that one?
Huh? Compartmentalize much? Do you not get the point? May I reiterate to you that 2 of the 5 Board members of UFODATA are Leslie Kean and Chris Mellon?
 
Huh? Compartmentalize much? Do you not get the point? May I reiterate to you that 2 of the 5 Board members of UFODATA are Leslie Kean and Chris Mellon?

Yes, some of the same people are somehow involved in both, and I would expect to find some strange beliefs if I'd dug deeper to the backgrounds of the rest as well, but their approach seems to be quite different. If they actually follow the scientific approach, and concentrate on the data, it doesn't matter that much who is doing it.

According to Kean per the above story, she is involved in UFODATA because:

I acknowledge my own current involvement: I accepted Rodeghier and Wendt’s invitation to join their Board of Directors, along with Philippe Ailleris, Project Controller at the Space Research and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency.

She also at least claims to have a sensible agnostic position on alien existence.

As for Mellon, I don't quite understand his role in either of those projects.
 
How exciting @S.R.L. !!! You have to win a prize of some sort. Perhaps a Cthulhu Wormhole?

You see, in this little message where you refer to me as Quetzalcoatl, go to the lower right and note the rank number of this comment in the thread. Do you see what I see?

Yes, indeed, SRL, you have the honor of having posted

Comment #666
Yes, of course, viewed from the wild-eyed true believers out there, while this apostate of sorts, also senses Neptune beckoning.
As for Mellon, I don't quite understand his role in either of those projects.
Excellent work agent Realm. Whereas historically, counterintelligence intermingled with UFOs have resulted with unfavorable results for UFO enthusiasts.

For example:

Declassified at Last: Air Force’s Supersonic Flying Saucer Schematics

Plasma Laser: UFO Maker?
RAND, Superstition and Psychological Warfare
 
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It's possible, but that has NOT been established yet. It is still just a theory.

Just how possible would you say that it is? What else could it possibly be?

One more time …


"The best explanation for a flying object that looks just like a jet, is that it's a jet. The Gimbal object looks just like the hot exhaust of a jet, so that’s it, that's the best explanation. If a tree looks like a tree, it’s not reasonably an ET disguised as a tree. Grainy-footage analyses largely reduce to “looks like.” So if it looks like something ordinary, there’s no reason to introduce an extraordinary explanation. And the Su-27 footage with its rotating flare makes the Gimbal footage ordinary, not extraordinary."

"So the Gimbal footage is just ordinary evidence for an ordinary phenomenon."

NYT: GIMBAL Video of U.S. Navy Jet Encounter with Unknown Object


Then again, perhaps it was time we should move on to the Mylar party balloon ...
 
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It's possible, but that has NOT been established yet. It is still just a theory.
Yep. It could be the heat signature of a conventional aircraft, or it could be something else - a brief clip of FLIR footage isn't sufficient to determine one way or the other. We need more data and context.

But the "debunker fanatics" are just as unreasonable and blinded by their own agenda as the "ufo fanatics" are - both extremes are highly prone to their own confirmation biases, which makes them poor at dispassionate objective analysis.

My best guess is that the Gimbal footage was released because the AATIP had strong supporting evidence to indicate a genuine anomalous incident, and that we simply haven't seen that data yet. But I'm perfectly willing to accept a conventional aircraft explanation if additional data seems to indicate that.

It's funny how the rabid debunker crowd focuses on the Gimbal video though, instead of the Nimitz incident which has far more substantial supporting evidence in the form of the testimony of highly reputable people like the pilots. Because the Gimbal video is basically a Rorschach test - you'll see whatever you're inclined to see, or not see, as the case may be.

Just how possible would you say that it is? What else could it possibly be?
One more time …
I think it's really funny that you completely miss all of the "could be's" and "may be's" in that video. It's a valid hypothesis. Nothing more.
 
Whereas historically, counterintelligence intermingled with UFOs have resulted with unfavorable results for UFO enthusiasts.

As James E. Clarkson, former State Director of MUFON put it:
If you look at the backgrounds of the Team supposedly assembled and led by Tom DeLonge, you find careers with the CIA, DoD, Bigelow Aerospace, Lockheed Martin and other contractors in the field of intelligence, aerospace and national defense. The obvious questions are Who is leading who, and for what purpose?

So here we are as members of the UFO research community, faced with an aging rock star from a pop punk band, Blink 182, Tom DeLonge. He is now a self-proclaimed UFO research guru and he is leading us all to the promised land of government Disclosure because he is the only person bold enough to knock on the doors of top secret intelligence agencies in DC and persuade them to tell us everything they know because of his charisma and celebrity status. Many of the team members of the To the Stars Academy are “former” members of the CIA. This is the same agency that brought us MK Ultra and Project Northwoods among other evil projects. Add in the intimidation and threats made to Roswell witnesses, the deliberate psychological warfare directed against a defense contractor, Paul Bennewitz by the AFOSI, and a host of other instances of disinformation and just plain lies to taxpayers. Having this “Disclosure Team” show up center stage makes me worry what comes next; the UFO research community is like a battered woman whose abuser has just shown up at the door with champagne and flowers. Where are they hiding the Louisville Slugger?
2017 – Fleeing Corporate Ufology and Finding My Way

As a hypothetical question, if the government was actually interested to know whether someone is leaking classified information to the benefit of a new entertainment company, and tasked, say, some trusty retired dude to keep tabs on them in exchange of some pocket money, which one would that most likely be?
 
As James E. Clarkson, former State Director of MUFON put it:

2017 – Fleeing Corporate Ufology and Finding My Way

As a hypothetical question, if the government was actually interested to know whether someone is leaking classified information to the benefit of a new entertainment company, and tasked, say, some trusty retired dude to keep tabs on them in exchange of some pocket money, which one would that most likely be?

The Christopher Mellon enigma:

Here is a man awarded with The National Imagery and Mapping Agency Medallion for Excellence, standing on stage presenting while in front of a Mylar party balloon.

Christopher Mellon - Wikipedia

National Imagery and Mapping Agency
 
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