PHILIP J .
KLASS
404 '' N '' ST. SOUTHWEST
WASHINGTON. D. C . 20024
12021 554 51101
SKEPTICS' UFO NEWSLETTER (SUN):
CXlPYlUQIT 1989
December 1989
#1
"Smoking Gun" discovered which proves that "Top Secret" MJ-12
(crashed saucer) papers are counterfeit. A person's handwritten
signature is like a snowflake--no two are ever ide ntical. Thus,
" 1 ct P n t 1 c {d (I n r-41 u r " H 1 ) r n n r t 11 1 ' 11 1 p i 1l r 1 1 1 I 1 w r y , " 1 1 11 " 1
IJulll llavu IJuull LJl'uuucuu l;y i.l "uiyu.:.tLure lllucllllll.!." Ulll.! ul tllu t-1,J-
12 papers purports to be a memo, dated Sept. 24, 1947, from
President Truman to Defense Secretary Forrestal. But this MJ-12
signature is identical to one on an authentic Truman letter to
Dr. Vannevar Bush, written Oct. 1, 1947, located in the Bush
collection in the Library of Congress. In signing the
letter, Truman's hand accidently skidded in writing the seco11d
vertical stroke of the letter "H". The identica l skid mark is
found on the MJ-12 Truman signature.
Full details will be found in the soon- t o-be-published
Winter 1989-1990 issue of Skeptical Inquirer. Article will also
include new evidence to show that another MJ-12 document--a memo
from Robert Cutler to Gen. Nathan Twining, which Moore and Jaiu1e
Shandera say they found in The National Archive--is also a
phoney.
In the process of obtaining independent confirmation from a
recognized document examiner in New York, I learned that he had
earlier concluded that the MJ-12 Truman letter was a counterfeit
because the purported 1947 memo was written on t.1 S111ith Coronocl
typewriter that was not introduced until 15 years later--in 1963.
Furthermore, that he had earlier made this known to William L.
Moore, who made the MJ-12 papers public in the spring of 1987.
After comparing the authentic and MJ-12 Truman signatures, the
document examiner called Moore's associate Stanton T. Friendman
to inform him that the MJ-12 memo was a counterfei t .
Earlier thil:i year, Friedman--who has been the 1nost out1:ipoken
proponent of the authenticity of the MJ-12 pape rs--received a
$16,.000 grant to research MJ-12 paper authenticity from the Fund
for UFO Hcuul.lrctl (FUFOH). Wlll l'rludindJI':;
soon, include the negative (counterfeit) findings o f the New York
document examiner with whom he and Moore have been working?
. ...
r
Whitley Striebei's new movie "Communion'' made i ts de but on Nov.
10, accordi.ng to a nearly full-page color in
Nov. 14 edition of the National Enquirer. The Atlanta Con-_
stitution's movie critic commented that Strieber's film "should
appeal to that tiny segment of moviegoers ... who've always wanted
to sec: Oscor-winrwr Chrit.Jtoptll..!r Wi..ilkln uJHkr(Ju ,111 iL'Il r\_'L' L.I1
probe ... " (Please send r e views from your local pa]:Je r.)
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Budd Hopkins, chief guru of "UFO abductions" and author of the
[;3 t1 ;:J
!t?!l.L _'? _ IF plans to pub1l.tin a quurt.er1y _!.!': __
11
J.or
aLuuuluuu, Ul''U luvuuL1lJaluru, ltypuul.lul u, l'' ' Yl 'lluluq11il l1
1
physicians and anyone personally or profesoionully i n t ereotl!d ill
the UPO abduction phenomenon."
Hopkins' promotion material, dated June 20, d i s tributed at
the 1989 MUFON conference in Las Vegas, said that "a $25
contribution to IF insures your membership and receipt of at
least four copies of the IF Bulletin." But one person who
promptly contributed has yet to receive his fir st issue as of
December.
Lest existing UFO groups be concerned about a potential new
rival, Hopkins said his new group "will cooperate fully and non-
competitively with the Mutual UFO Network [MUFON] and the J.
Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies [CUFOS] ." (Emphas is added.)
Whitley Strieber, who t>plit with Hopkino--lli:.; lltentor--lld:J
also launched a quarterly newsletter, called The Communion
Letter, and has published two issues. Subscr iption price is
$20.00. (The Communion Letter, P.O. Box 1975, Boulder, Colo.,
80306-1975.)
Although Strieber doesn't mention Hopkins by name, he is critical
of his modus operandi. For example, in the f irst issue,--
referring to the "abductee" self-help groups wh ich Hopkins has
formed around the country--Strieber cautions against "groups that
have been formed by people with strong belief s a bout who the
visitors are and what they are doing" [Hopkins c laims UFOnauts
are engaged in genetic experiments.] Strieber a dds: "We have
also found difficulties with psychologists start ing groups and
making people pay as they would for group therapy. "
But in the next (summer, 1989} issue o f The Communion
Le tter, Strieber reports a "dramatic response t o the idea of
creating Communion groups. There are active groups i n Cleveland,
Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Yo r k City, New
Mexico, Portland, Ore., San Diego/Palm Springs a nd San Antonio.
New groups are starting in Buffalo, Chicago, New Ha mpshire, New
Jersey, Oklahoma, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Tennessee and
two in Canada, in Edmonton and Winnipeg."
f .
In the same issue I Whitley reported a n :cent nightti.llll.:!
encounter which prompted him to hurl a bedside nig t1t table at the
(alleged) visitor, shattering the table and its l a mp . Although
Strieber said his wife ''had a glimpse of what wa s go ing on (she}
saw nothing in the room." (His emphasis)
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Highlight of the 1989 MUFON conference in La s Vegas was the
Saturday night speech by William L. Moore which surprised and
shocked most of those in the audience. Moore's long-time
collaborator Stanton Friedman, appeared as shocked as others.
Unlike other MUFON speakers, Moore did not submit his paper in
advance for publication in the conference proceedings. Audience
was told it could be purchased after his talk for $10.00. [If
you'd like to buy a copy, write to Moore at 4219 W. Olive Ave.,
Suite 247, Burbank, Calif., 91505.]
In Moore's talk he claimed that he had earlier served as a
government agent to infiltrate and report on the activities of
APRO (Aerial Phenomenon Research Organizati o n) and other
UFOlogists and as a government disinformation agent to feed
spurious information into the UFO movement. Moore "admitted"
that the disinformation was responsible for the nervous breakdown
of a UFOlogist in Albuquerque.
Following Moore's 1-1/2 hour talk, dnd Frit!dman (whotie
speech preceded Moore's) were scheduled to respond to questions
from the audience. Instead, when Moore finished he dashed off
the stage and disappeared. He was not seen publicly at the con-
ference the following day. One MUFON member, whom I encountered
at the airport, summed up his reactions in thes e words: "Moore
took careful aim at his foot, missed, and blew hi s head off."
UFO magazine's account of Moore's MUFON tal k was headlined:
"Uli'Q 'Confl!oolondl': Diui-ufunuul.iun l
1
Juy
The article quoted Barry Greenwood, editor of Just Cause
newsletter as saying: "In his [Moore's] speech he cr1ticizes
others for spreading disinformation, but for the last 10 years,
Bill himself has been one of the biggest sources of disinforma-
tion in all UFOlogy."
When interviewed by UFO magazine, Moore rationalized his
alleged role us a government--mole ,.md disinfor11u l ion i.ll.JL'Ilt in
thi:JI;j\::J wordl.i: "If tlwy lh.tdn' t found 1111..! LlH.:y wvulJ lid VI..! 1uu11d
somebody else."
In Moore's Las Vegas speech, he endorsed Wh it ley Strieber's
UFO-abduction claims, saying "Whitley has come v ery close to the
truth in a number of ways .. gives every appear ance of being a
real situation ... " What Moore failed to tell the audience was
that he had served as a paid consultant to Strieber for his new
book "Ma'esti.c"--whose theme involves MJ-12 cover up of crdshed
saucers and a cnj,l hood "UFO-abduction" of one of those involved
in MJ-12. The book is listed as "Fiction," but in Strieber's
talk-show appearances to promote the book he impli es it is, based
on fact.
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Strieber's new book "Majestic,'' published by Putnam, went on sal e
in September. A review of the book in the New Age Journal by
Dennis Stacy, Editor of the MUFON UFO Journa l, offers the
following appraisal: "Majestic, unfortunately fails to approach
its title ... simply plods, bereft of either grace or majesty,
peopled with figures not so much wooden as wan." ( If you spot a
review, please send me a photocopy.)
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"Report on Communion," by Ed Conroy, publil:lhed by 1/i llidm Morrow
& Co., hit the stands on Nov. 10--coincident with the release of
the movie "Communion." Conroy, a journalist, provides useful
insights into Strieber's younger years via inte rviews with
family, friends and teachers, which initially seem moderately
objective.
But not until the last chapter of the book does Conroy
reveal to his readers that he believes that he hitns e lf has also
experienced "UFO abductions.'' (According to Strieber , writing in
the summer issue of his newsletter, Conroy had an "encounter''
with the "visitors" while an overnight guest at Strieber's cabin
in upstate New York.)
Dr. Brian O'Leary, who left NASA's astrona ut corps for mor e
exotic activities, also reportedly encountered Strieber's
"visitors" while a guest in his upstate N.Y. c abi n . Strieber
says O'Leary will describe the experience in his new book
"Explo{ing Inner and Outer The book , according to
Strieber, explores "some of the directions that sc ience must tdke
in order to re-establish its connection with reali ty ." (Emphasis
added.)
Possibly it was intended to test the new USSR policy of "Glas-
nost" to determine if ET visitors would be we l c omed, or shot
down like KAL-007, that prompted UFOnauts to (all e yed ly) land in
Voronezh, in late September, as reported by TAS S s everal weeks
later. President Gorbachev's planned press conference to
announce the momentus event was cancelled when adv isors warned
that this would violate MJ-12 Treaty with the u. s ., signed in
1947, under which USSR agreed to withhold UFO information and
noted that the USSR always respected treaties to t he letter.
In recognition of the Soviet propensity for building giant
ICBMs and a i rcraft, giant-size UFOnauts ( 9-1 2 f t . tall) wer e
selected for the mission t o voronezh, rathe r than the 4-ft. tall
ones that typically are reported elsewhere. In contrast to the
large-headed reported in the West, thos e at Vorone zh
were said to have tiny knob-size he ads. (Perha ps only UFOnaut s
with tiny brains would want to visit the USSR. ) The Oct. 12
edition of Komsomolskaya Pravda published hi gh lights of an
interview by journalist Pavel Mukhortov with t he UFOnauts who
told him they caine from "the constellation Libra-- Red Star."
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According to my private sources in the KGB, the TASS editor
who approved publication of the Voronezh UFO tale has been given
a "Stalin Award," i.e. a one-way ticket to "Siberia-ski."
Breeze Sightings: The Most Astounding Multiple
UFOs in u.s. History," by Ed and Frances Walters
is title of a new book scheduled for publication in
likely to generate considerable media/public
Most of the UFO photos--which show a craft-like object with
portholes seemingly hovering near Walters house in near or
complete darkness--were shot with an old Polaroid camera which
can easily be used to shoot double-exposures if the operator does
not pull out the film after the first shot. Although Ed had used
the camera for 17 years, he claimed to be complet e ly unaware that
it could be used to make a double-exposure.
Initially, Walters claimed the UFO photos were taken by a
"Mr. X" and that he was only serving as an intermediary to
transmit them to the local newspaper. Later, after several MUFON
investigators seemed impressed with the photos, Ed admitted he
was Mr. X, but declined to allow his name to be made public.
Still later, after Ed's photos and tales of being abducted via a
"blue beam," hearing UFOnauts speaking in Spanish and their
showing him pictures of nude women extremely large bosoms
were accepted by several MUFON investigators, Walters agreed to
let his name be made public.
Afier Walt Andrus, MUFON's
Gulf Breeze and interviewed Ed and
their UFO photos, he was quoted
saying "this is one of the most
investigated in the past 30 years
international director vtsited
Frances Walters and examined
in the Gulf Breeze Sentinel as
amazing UFO cases that I have
in the United States."
But two long-time pro-UFOlogists who participated in the
MUFON investigation found disturbing discrepanciL>s in both 1-lw
UFO photos and in Walters wild tales. One of these was Dr.
Smith, a long-time associate of the late Dr. J. Allen
Hynek. The other was Bob Boyd, MUFON's state director for
Alabama. When Smith and Boyd sharply criticized the work of more
credulous MUFON investigators and expressed their view that the
Gulf Breeze case was a hoax, both were expelled from MUFON.
. f .
the National Enquirer became interested in
the Gulf Breeze case, but before agreeing to buy the Walters
photos they submitted them to Dr. Robert Nathan, of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory for analysis because of his long-time
interest in UFOs and expertise . in using computers . for image -
NtJLllall lufuUIIL' U lltt.e Ndl jultctl J: ttllUi nt lltdl Itt'
, ..
-6-
could not endorse the authenticity of the Gulf Breeze photos,
the tabloid lost interest.
In early February, 1988, Dr. Bruce Maccabee--an optical
physicist employed by the u.s. Navy who heads the Fund for UFO
Research (FUFOR)--visited Gulf Breeze to investigate the case.
Maccabee, in my opinion, is one of the nation's most technically
competent and hard-working pro-UFO investigators--but, regretab-
ly, one of the most credulous.
Maccabee borrowed Walters' old Polaroid camera, used it to
create a double-exposure UFO-li us i n..2___9 yellow
lamp. Maccabee reported at the 1988 MUFON conference thctt "when
showed the picture to Ed, he seemed to be conv1nced that I had
photographed a yellow-colored UFO in roughly the same location as
the UO [unidentified object] in his first five photos." When
Maccabee explained that his was
he said that Walters "gave no 1ndication thctt he wct.s ctwctre ut Lltl:!
double exposure technique I used."
In Maccabee's MUFON paper, he acknowledged finding anomalies
in some of the Walters UFO photos, but he was able to devise
explanations which he found satisfactory. Shortly thereafter,
Walters accepted a $200,000 offer from William Morrow to a
book, and Maccabee accepted Walters' offer of $20,000 to write a
chapter detailing the results of his UFO photo analysis. Budd
Hopkins agreed to write the book's Introduction which strongly
endorses the authenticity of the und the tales told by Ed
and his wife.
PJK PSYCHIC PREDICTION #1: Within several months, photographic
evidence will be made public that shows that Ed Wa lters not only
knew how to use his Polaroid cctmerd to lll<ik.e tr ick. Juu1Jh:!-c.X.lJ08Ul: c
photos but that he produced such a photo at a pa rty some months
before he made public his UFO photos.
POTPOUHRJ: Origi.nal title for the Walters book, "UFOs: Proof
Pos1t1ve" was changed after a professionctl phutuctllctly::;L hi r eu l.Jy
the publisher concluded that the photos did not provide "scien-
tific proof" of the existence of craft-like UFOs William
Morrow & Co., which i s publishing the Walte rs' Gulf Breeze book,
is emerging as the nation's principal publisher of pro-UFO books,
prompted by the remarkable success of "Communion," which
reportedly has sold more than 2, 000_, 000 copies in hard-cover ctlld
paperback editions. Morrow also published Strieber's sequel,
rand "ABOVE TOP SECRET: The Worldwide UFO
Cov e rup," by Timothy Good - -originally publi s hed i n the U.K.
NOTE: The views expressed are those of Philip Klass and
do not nuorily rupruMunt thowe ot any
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