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THE CRUCIBLE <<UFONET I>> * 416-237-1204 * 12/24/96 HST (1:250/440)
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THE MJ-12 AFFAIR:
Facts, Questions, Comments
Robert Hastings
March 1, 1989
FACTS
-----
First, it has been established that "Falcon", one of the
principle sources of the MJ-12 material, is Richard C. Doty,
formerly attached to District 17 Air Force Office of Special
Investigations (AFOSI) at Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque,
New Mexico. Sgt. Doty retired from the U.S. Air Force on
October 1, 1988.
How do I know that Doty is "Falcon"? During a recent telephone
conversation, Linda Moulton Howe told me that when Sgt. Doty
invited her to his office at Kirtland AFB in early April 1983,
and showed her a purportedly authentic U.S. Government document
on UFOs, he identified himself as code-name "Falcon" and stated
that it was Bill Moore who had given him that name.
Also, in early December 1988, a ranking member of the production
team responsible for the "UFO Cover Up? -- Live" television
documentary confirmed that Doty is "Falcon". This same individual
also identified the second MJ-12 source who appeared on the
program, "Condor", as Robert Collins who was, until recently, a
Captain in the U.S. Air Force. Like Doty, he was stationed at
KAFB when he left the service late last year.
Both Doty and Collins deny any involvement in the MJ-12 affair.
However, Linda Howe has issued a sworn affidavit, agreeing to
testify under penalty of perjury, relating to the events during
the course of her meeting with Richard "Falcon" Doty at KAFB in
1983 (Enclosures A and B). Thus far, Doty has *not* issued a
sworn affidavit, or agreed to testify under penalty of perjury,
to re-enforce his denial that the events of his meeting with
Howe occured as she has described them.
For the moment, I will not identify the "UFO Coverup? -- Live"
source who identified Doty as "Falcon" and Collins as "Condor".
I do, however, encourage others to independently attempt to
secure confirmation of the statements that he has already made.
At least two producers connected with the documentary know the
facts.
QUESTIONS
---------
Now that "Falcon" and "Condor" have been identified, it seems
prudent to examine the past activities of Richard Doty and Bob
Collins to see whether those activities tend to add to, or
detract from, the credibility of the MJ-12 scenario that they
have so vigorously promoted within the ufological community.
That is, do their actions reflect a genuine attempt to release
authentic above top secret information to the public or, on the
other hand, suggest a disinformation campaign designed to
confuse and mislead?
Let's begin with Doty. Sgt. Richard Charles Doty first received
widespread attention after he wrote the now well-known AFOSI
Complaint Form relating to UFO sightings near Kirtland AFB in
1980 (Enclosure C). This document, typed and signed by Doty,
takes on new significance in the light of an incident known as
the "Weitzel Hoax". Briefly summarized, this odd tale unfolded
as follows: In 1981, the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization
received an anonymous letter from an individual who claimed to
be a USAF airman assigned to the 1550th Aircrew Training and
Testing Wing at Kirtland AFB (Enclosure D). The writer further
claimed to have had a rather dramatic UFO sighting, together
with a Craig Weitzel and others. The letter relates that Weitzel
reported the sighting to a "Mr. Dody" (sic) at Kirtland AFB OSI.
Researcher Benton Jamison located and contacted Weitzel in 1985
(Enclosure E). Weitzel stated that he did indeed report a UFO
sighting to Sgt. Richard Doty in 1980, but that the actual
incident in no way resembled the CEIII experience described in
the anonymous letter. Weitzel also denies that he was subsequently
contacted by a mysterious individual who demanded that he turn
over any photographs that he might have taken of the UFO, as the
letter claims.
So, it would appear that the writer of the anonymous letter,
whomever he was, took a real event and greatly embellished it
for some reason.
And why is this letter so significant as regards questions about
Sgt. Richard Doty's credibility as a source for allegedly secret
government documents? Simply because careful analysis of the
anonymous letter reveals that it was almost certainly typed on
the same typewriter used by Doty to complete the 1980 OSI
Complaint Form.
Enclosure F is a report by researcher Brad Sparks which address
typeface irregularities and stylistic traits that are identical
in both the anonymous airman's letter and Sgt. Doty's report.
Actually, Spark's typeface analysis is incomplete. In addition
to the irregular "u" that he identifies, it can be seen that the
letters "gh", as in the word "sighting", are jammed together in
identical fashion in both the letter and the report. Lower case
"o" is also jammed against various letters that follow it in
the "Weitzel" letter and Doty's Complaint Form.
A professionally-conducted analysis of these flaws should be
able to determine, with a reasonable degree of certainty, whether
an "anonymous airman" used Doty's typewriter to compose his
overdrawn tale. If this fact can be established then two obvious
questions arise: 1) How and why did the unidentified airman
from the 1550th Aircrew Training and Testing Wing gain access to
Sgt. Doty's writer at OSI? 2) On the other hand, did Doty himself
type the letter and, therefore, attempt to perpetrate a hoax for
some unknown reason?
Because it has been established that Richard Doty is "Falcon",
the chief source for the MJ-12 material, it now seems imperative
thoroughly investigate this incident to resolve these unanswered
questions. The second question, in particular, is of obvious
importance. Perhaps the Fund For UFO Research, which has recently
solicited contributions to further investigate the MJ-12 affair,
would consider funding an expert typographical analysis of both
the anonymous letter and Doty's Complaint Form to determine
whether or not there is a link between the two.
Even more disturbing than the implications of the "Weitzel Hoax"
is an incident that raises the strongest doubts about Richard
Doty's credibility as a source of information and documents
relating to the U.S. Government's involvement with UFOs. Infor-
mation about this incident comes from Dr. Bruce Maccabee and
links Doty to the so-called Ellsworth AFB hoax. According to
Maccabee, Bill Moore has acknowledged that Richard Doty confessed
to forging the document that describes the alleged events
connected with the Ellsworth case (Enclosure G). Doty apparently
claims that the UFO incident there actually occurred, just as
described in the document, and that he only wanted to bring it
to the public attention. He, therefore, proceeded to type the
"document" himself, incorporating the "facts" that he claimed
to know to be true, and then released the bogus report to
various researchers. Enclosure H is an expose written by Bob
Pratt, and published in the January 1984 issues of the *MUFON
Journal*, describing his investigation of this hoax.
If it can be established, beyond any doubt, that Richard Doty
forged the Ellsworth AFB document, what would that say about
his credibility as a chief source for the MJ-12 material, under
the guise of "Falcon"?
MORE QUESTIONS
--------------
In addition to the serious questions raised by the "Weitzel"
letter and the Ellsworth AFB hoax, there also exist fundamental
discrepancies between information provided by "Falcon" and the
"facts" contained in the so-called Eisenhower briefing paper.
The Briefing Document (Enclosure I) was purportedly written by
alleged MJ-12 member Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, in November
1952, for presentation to then President Elect Dwight D.
Eisenhower. Among other things, it states that two UFOs had
crashed, one in July 1947, near Roswell, New Mexico; the other
in December 1950, on the Texas-Mexico border.
Linda Howe states, however, that when Sgt. Doty invited her to
his office at Kirtland AFB OSI, in April 1983, he provided her
with information that contradicts this version of events. Howe
states that Doty confirmed the existence of a secret government
group called MJ-12 and then opened a desk drawer and produced
a document entitled "Briefing Paper for the President for the
President of the United States". (*Not* the Eisenhower document).
Howe states that she was allowed to look through the alleged
"Briefing Paper" but told not to take notes. She states that a
part of the document was a catalog of crashed UFO cases,
including one near Aztec, New Mexico in 1948 (or '49).
Now, if the *Eisenhower* briefing paper is genuine and was
indeed presented to Ike in November 1952, why was no mention
of the Aztec crash contained in it? Is it plausible that the
soon-to-be president would be let in on a secret of paramount
importance --that of alien visitation-- but not be given this
important information? Why would he be told about two UFO
crashes but not about a third? Why would the Aztec crash, if
it did occur, be any less significant than the other two
cases mentioned in the briefing paper?
In short, if the briefing paper that Sgt. Doty showed to
Linda Howe was genuine, what does that say about the accuracy
(and authenticity) of the Eisenhower document? If, on the
other hand the former was bogus and was meant to mislead
Howe for some reason, what does that say about Richard "Falcon"
Doty's reliability as a source for MJ-12 material as a whole?
At the risk of being redundant, may I again point out that
Linda Howe has sworn out an affidavit indicating a willingness
to testify under penalty of perjury, as to the truthfulness of
her statement relating to her meeting with "Falcon" at Kirtland
OSI.
About Robert "Bob" Collins, I know very little. I have
established at the time of his departure from the U.S. Air
Force, he was assigned to the Plasma Physics group at Sandia
National Laboratory located at Kirtland AFB. Linda Howe
states that in November 1987, Collins was "frantically" trying
to get her to meet with him in Albuquerque. At that meeting,
also attended by John Lear, Collins showed the two some MJ-12
documents, primarily relating to a live alien allegedly held
captive by the U.S. Government. According to Howe, Collins
stated that he had worked "behind the scenes" with Bill Moore
for years.
MOORE QUESTIONS
---------------
So, how does Mr. Moore fit into the MJ-12 jigsaw puzzle? On
the face of it, he appears to be just a UFO researcher who has
been approached by questionable government sources. I have
information, however, that raises doubts about his public image
as merely a "civilian" researcher. Indeed, it appears as if he
may be working (or have worked) for one of the U.S. intelligence
agencies. I base this statement on the following information:
In December 1985, I read an article by Barry Greenwood about an
allegedly ultra-secret government group called "MJ-12". The
article was based on information provided by researcher Lee
Graham. In March 1986, I met with Mr. Graham at his home, in
the hope that he would elaborate on the information contained
in Greenwood's article. I found Graham to be open, honest, and
sincere. While I do not agree with many of his conclusions
regarding MJ-12, I know that he is definitely not the "kook" or
"space cadet" that some have branded him. On the contrary, his
statements to me that evening were logical and down-to-earth.
I simply disagree with some of his premises.
As we talked, Lee provided me with copies of some of the
"documents" that have come to be associated with the MJ-12
affair, including the "Project Snowbird" paper and the
"Project Aquarius" TWX. When I asked who had given him the
documents, he would only say that the person worked for the
government, as an intelligence operative or information
conduit.
Over the next fifteen months I called Graham several times,
to ask whether there had been any developments regarding the
MJ-12 material. Perhaps the most noteworthy event during that
period was the visit to Graham by two agents from the Defense
Investigative Services (DIS). The agents were apparently sent
to find out why Graham, who holds a "Q" security clearance,
was in possession of alleged secret government documents that
had not been properly declassified.
In early June, 1987, I called Lee again. This was shortly
before Bill Moore's press conference in Burbank, during which
he intended to unveil the "Eisenhower briefing paper" and other
MJ-12 material. During this call, without any prompting from
me, Graham revealed that the person who had given him the
documents was in fact Bill Moore. I was puzzled. Graham had
previously said, on several occasions, that he had gotten the
documents from an individual who worked for the U.S. Government,
presumably in an intelligence capacity. As far as I knew, Bill
Moore did not work for the government in *any* capacity.
I asked Graham to explain this discrepancy. He unhesitatingly
replied that when Moore first approached him with the documents
he (Moore) showed him some kind of government ID card, with Bill
Moore's picture on it but an alias typed beneath it. According
to Graham, Moore indicated that he was working for the U.S.
Government for the purpose of releasing sensitive UFO-related
documents to the public.
I began to take notes. So incredulous was I about all of this
that I asked Lee to repeat his statements, which he did. I then
asked him which agency Moore claimed to work for. He responded
that Bill Moore's ID badge was identical to the badge shown him
by the two DIS agents. When I was skeptically retorted, "You
mean to tell me that Moore's badge looked like the DIS badges?",
he replied, "No, it was identical to them."
Graham went on to state that Moore claimed that he (Moore) had
been "flagged" in U.S. intelligence agencies' computer files so
that other operatives would not stumble over and inadvertently
expose his operations. Lee went on to say that he had once been
introduced to Moore's "superior" whom Moore would only identify
as "Richard".
At the conclusion of this rather baffling phone conversation
with Graham, I specifically asked him whether there was anything
that we had discussed that I should not repeat. He answered,
"No", and indicated that he would send me materials relating to
his investigation by the DIS, Bill Moore's first approach to
him, and other, related matters. A week later, I received the
items that Graham had promised and found that references to
Moore, by name, had been censored by Lee. By this time,
however, I had already spoken to Barry Greenwood, Peter Gersten,
Bob Todd, and others about the details of Moore's approach to
Graham. Apparently word got back to Moore about these
conversations because I later heard that he had vehemently
denied that he was a government operative and claimed that he
was only playing a "joke" on a gullible Lee Graham. The
"government ID", according to Moore, was a laminated MUFON card.
Enclosure J is a letter, dated May 8, 1986, that Graham sent
to the DIS in which he discusses Moore's first approach to him.
Graham mentions that when he was interviewed by the two DIS
agents, he told them about Moore and his ID card. Graham then
goes on to ask why Moore had not been interrogated about his
possession of allegedly secret government documents, copies of
which he had given to Graham. (One might also ask why Moore had
not been questioned about his impersonating a government agent,
if in fact his ID card was bogus as he now claims.)
Enclosure K is a second letter from Graham to the DIS, dated
October 19, 1986, exactly seven months after Lee was interviewed
by the two DIS agents. In it, Graham again mentions that Moore
has not been interrogated by the DIS over this lengthy period.
He concludes that it is because Moore does indeed work for the
U.S. Government, just as he had been told by Moore himself.
Graham has a point. If Moore was only "joking" when he showed
Lee the bogus ID card (an ID that looked so authentic that
Graham calls it "identical") to a DIS badge) one would think
that Moore would have been questioned by the DIS about this
potentially serious matter. If Moore was impersonating a
government intelligence operative as he disseminated "documents",
then surely an intelligence agency would be interested in
pursuing the matter. And yet, according to Lee Graham, seven
months after he had told the DIS about Moore and his badge, no
one had apparently approached Moore about this incident. Why?
One might reasonably postulate that this apparent lack of
follow-up by the DIS suggests that Moore does (or did) work for
the U.S. Government, just as he claimed to Lee Graham. If this
turns out to be true, however, given the highly questionable
track record of one of Moore's chief sources, "Falcon", one
must ask whether information, or disinformation, that he has
been disseminating in this regard, one might also ask why did
Moore not immediately dis-associate himself from Richard Doty
once he had discoveredthat he had forged the Ellsworth AFB
document? Instead, Moore later presented Richard "Falcon"
Doty on national television as a reliable intelligence source
of information about UFOs. Why?
Another serious issue involving Bill Moore that needs to be
reviewed concerns the so-called "Project Aquarius" document
(Enclosure L). This paper contains the first reference to
"MJ-12" to be widely circulated within the ufological community.
On the face of it, the Project Aquarius document is a teletype
message, sent by AFOSI Headquarters to Kirtland AFB OSI, dealing
with analyses of UFO photographs and films taken by Dr. Paul
Bennewitz. However, AFOSI HQ denies that it sent the message
and calls it a forgery. It now appears that, in this case,
AFOSI is telling the truth.
In a letter to attorney Peter Gersten, dated April 4, 1983,
D. Hall states that Bill Moore privately admitted that it was
*he* who did a "cut and paste job" and then "retyped" the
document (Enclosure M). If this is true, why would Moore do
such a thing? If a genuine message was sent to Kirtland AFB
OSI, dealing with Bennewitz' photos, MJ-12, and the rest, why
didn't Moore disseminate it in its original form? Wouldn't
the "retyped" version of if, if discovered to be such, raise
doubts about the credibility of the information contained in
it?
If Moore did "retype" the document, can he now produce the
original to substantiate the accuracy of the information
contained in "his" version? If so, it will be interesting to
see whether the "original" document will be confirmed as
authentic by AFOSI Headquarters.
I should point out that I possess additional information about
the Project Aquarius document that I intend to withold until
Moore has produced (or failed to produce) the "original".
A RESPONSE TO BILL MOORE'S OPEN LETTER
--------------------------------------
Just as I was concluding this missive, I received a copy of
Bill Moore's open letter to those who would question his
activities. In response to his criticisms and pleas, I would
like to make the following points:
First, Moore states that he is not a "forger", a "hoaxer", a
"fabricator", or a "counterfeiter". Whether he is any of
those things, I will leave to others to decide. I would ask,
however, if he could suggest an appropriate word to describe
his actions when he did a cut/paste/retype job on the Aquarius
document? If Moore believed that he was "the only one on the
right track", as Doty flattered him, then that's his problem.
If, however, he has engaged in the altering of government
documents before releasing them to an unsuspecting public,
then that becomes a problem for all of us. The credibility
of *any* document, even when released via the Freedom of
Information Act, will come into question in the minds of many
once it has been learned that a "leading ufologist" has
tampered with this or that document. And yet, Moore has the
absolute nerve to rail against those who would question his
"methods".
Second, Moore feigns self-righteous indignation when he denies
that he is "some sort of government agent". But clearly, he
has only himself to blame for this "rumor". *If* the ID badge
that he showed Lee Graham was fake, and *if* he was lying when
he claimed to be an intelligence operative, does he now have
any right to bemoan the fact that his escapade has finally
come to light? I, for one, do not believe for an instant
Moore's laminated MUFON card story. That explanation smacks
of the ridiculous "red herring" about there being *two* Dotys
that Moore offered up when the "Falcon"/Doty connection was
first suggested publicly by Barry Greenwood in 1987. While
I am sure that there are *plenty* of Richard Dotys in this
world, only *one* is the MJ-12 source "Falcon".
Third, Moore calls efforts by researchers to learn the identity
of his MJ-12 sources "inappropriate" and states that for
"obvious reasons" his response to these inquiries will be
"no comment". This posture, of course, also conveniently
shields from scrutiny the fact that his "primary" source for
the MJ-12 material, Richard Doty, has apparently acknowledged
forging the Ellsworth AFB document -- a fact that Moore himself
knew *at least* as early as March, 1988. In view of this
revelation, the attempt by Moore to project the appearance
that he is merely protecting a confidential government
source rings hollow. Indeed, it seems likely that his desire
to avoid embarrassment and well-deserved recriminations is
a chief motive for his "no comment" stance.
SUMMARY
-------
So, what does the MJ-12 affair add up to? I agree with Bill
Moore it would be premature at this time to draw conclusions.
It would not, however, be premature to carefully consider the
following facts:
1) A handful of "documents" have mysteriously surfaced
relating to an allegedly ultra-secret UFO policy group,
code-name "MJ-12". No government agency will confirm the
papers' authenticity and the National Archives has noted
several discrepancies about one of them, the so-called
"Cutler memo" (Enclosures N and O).
2) Another of the documents, the "Project Aquarius" message,
has been discovered to be fake, in the sense that it has been
altered by Bill Moore before being released to the public.
As I write, there is no publicly available evidence that the
original document Moore "retyped" was itself authentic.
3) The primary source for orally-transmitted MJ-12 material,
code-name "Falcon", has been determined to be Richard C. Doty.
According to Dr. Bruce Maccabee, Bill Moore has acknowledged
that Doty confessed to forging the Ellsworth AFB document.
Further, Doty's typewriter at Kirtland AFB OSI has been
implicated in the "Weitzel" hoax, and he has provided infor-
mation to Linda Howe that contradicts the "facts" contained
in the Eisenhower briefing paper.
4) The primary researcher involved in the MJ-12 affair, Bill
Moore, has, by his own account, faked a government ID card and
passed himself off as an intelligence operative to at least
one individual for a period of over two years. Whether Moore
showed Lee Graham a laminated MUFON card, as he now claims,
or a genuine government badge, of some type remains open to
question.
At the beginning of this letter, I asked whether the actions
of those involved with the MJ-12 affair tended to suggest a
genuine release of authentic UFO-related information to the
public or, on the other hand, a disinformation campaign ( or
for that matter, a simple hoax). I hope that those who are
truly committed to finding the answer to this question will
now renew their efforts. Hard questions must be put to Moore.
Evasive answers and self-serving pronouncements from him
should no longer be tolerated. I trust that those who have
acted in good faith, including Jamie Shandera and Stanton
Friedman, will be among his toughest questioners.
I may reached at:
6200 Eubank Boulevard NE
Apt. 833
Albuquerque, NM 87111
(505) 291-9335
signed: R. Hastings
cc:
Walt Andrus
Robert Bletchman
Larry Bryant
Paul Cerny
Marge Christensen
Jerry Clark
T. Scott Crain
Tom Deuley
Ann Druffel
Larry Fawcett
Raymond Fowler
Stanton Friedman
Peter Gersten
Timothy Good
Lee Graham
Barry Greenwood
Loren Gross
Richard Haines
Richard Hall
Budd Hopkins
Linda Howe
David Jacobs
Ben Jamison
John Lear
Bruce Maccabee
Bill Moore
Jim Moseley
Ted Phillips
Robert Pratt
Jenny Randles
Mark Rodeghier
Jamie Shandera
Brad Sparks
Dennis Stacy
William Steinman
Whitley Strieber
Len Stringfield
Michael Swords
Bob Todd
Ron Westrum
Fred Whiting
Jo Ann Williamson
Todd Zechel
3/18/89
MEMORANDUM
Robert Hastings
TO: The addressees of my recent letter on the MJ-12 Affair
RE: A clarification
In my recent open letter I mistakenly referred to Lee
Graham's security clearance as type "Q". Mr. Graham
has asked that I send out a clarification on this point.
I regret the error.
Mr. Graham has also expressed the opinion that I "mis-
represented some of the things" that he communicated to me.
I have reviewed the portion of my letter that deals with
Mr. Graham's statements to me, and I consider my account
of them to be fair and accurate. While I am certain that
neither he nor I could re-construct, word for word, our
conversations after this lapse of time, I nevertheless
stand by my portrayal of our talks.
As I have already indicated, I consider Mr. Graham to be
an honest and sincere individual. I accept the fact that
his recollection of our communications may differ from
mine on some points.
signed: Robert Hastings