234 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
234 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: Pentagon asked to re-evaluate security FILE: UFO2199
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By DAVID TORTORANO
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PENSACOLA, Fla. (UPI) -- The Pentagon was asked Monday to re-evaluate the
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way personnel is screened for security clearance because of the soldiers who
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allegedly deserted a unit in West Germany to go on a quest involving UFOs and
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the anti-Christ. In a letter to Secretary of Defense Dick Cheny, Rep. Earl
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Hutto, D-Fla., said he was concerned over "possible deficiencies in the
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Pentagon's review process of candidates for security clearance." The letter
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noted the bizarre incident that began in West Germany.
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One female and five male soldiers, members of the 701st Military
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Intelligence Brigade in Augsburg, West Germany, were arrested in Gulf Breeze,
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a suburb of Pensacola, July 14 and 15 after being reported absent without
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authorization.
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All were transferred to Fort Bragg, Ga., for questioning. The Army
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launched a routine counter-intelligence investigation, and very quickly said
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there did not appear to be any espionage involved in the desertions.
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The soldiers were transferred last Friday to Fort Knox, Ky., after being
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charged with desertion. It has not yet been determined whether they will be
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punished, officials said.
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Published reports, citing friends and family members, have said the group
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came to the Panhandle in a bid to uncover a supposed UFO coverup, to be on
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hand for the Rapture or to find and destroy the anti-Christ, Jesus Christ's
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Biblical nemisis.
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A theological consultant to groups interested in UFOs said they may have
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believed in a doctrine that claims UFOs are demons, and their presence ushers
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in the end of the world.
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Hutto's letter said they were "involved with a cult called End of the
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World." However, the Army has said since last week that the cult did not
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appear to be an outside organization, but rather a "clique" involving just
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the six.
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Hutto, however, said "their desertion was in some way associated with this
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group and their search for unidentified flying objects." The letter went on to
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say the incident "has raised serious questions about the military's screening
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and character evaluation for personnel in highly sensitive posts."
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Hutto, chairman of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee, said
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he was interested in finding out if it was an isolated incident "or if a
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problem with personnel background checks exists throughout the military."
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"I also wish to learn the fault in the system which allows Army personnel
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with ties to the occult to be assigned to intelligence-gathering positions,"
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the letter said.
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Last week, when asked how someone with possible bizarre religious beliefs
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could get into an Army intelligence unit, a military officer who asked not to
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be identified said, "They may not have been that way when they went in. You
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have to be an intelligent dude to get in it. And these were all good soldiers.
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... There were no disciplinary problems prior to this."
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The six have been identified as Michael Hueckstaedt, 19, Farson, Wyo.; Kris
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Perlock, 20, Osceola, Wis.; Kenneth Beason, 26, Jefferson City, Tenn.; William
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Setterberg, 20, Pittsburg; Vance Davis, 25, Vallye Center, Kan., and Annette
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Eccleston, 22, whose hometown is not available.
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JULY 25, 1990
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AWOL Mystery Copyright, 1990.
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The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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FORT KNOX, Ky. (AP) -- Six soldiers charged with going AWOL from their
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intelligence unit for what a friend described as a rendezvous with UFOs could
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lose pay and rank under disciplinary terms offered Wednesday by the Army.
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The six were reported missing from their units in Augsberg, West Germany,
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on July 9 and arrested in Gulf Breeze, Fla., four days later.
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They were offered the "non-judicial punishment" after an investigation
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failed to find evidence of espionage, said Major Ron Mazzia, a spokesman for
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Fort Knox, where they were being held.
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The soldiers were given three days to consider the proposed disciplinary
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action and could later be discharged, Mazzia said.
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It was still unclear why the six, all from the 701st Military Intelligence
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Brigade in Augsberg, traveled to Florida.
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Stan Johnson of Bybee, Tenn., said the oldest member of the group,
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Specialist Kenneth G. Beason, 26, told him they had been "chosen by ... divine
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intervention to help prepare for the end of the world, which was supposed to
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occur in about eight years from now.
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"They were going to Florida to kick off preparations," said Johnson, a
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friend of Beason's for several years who picked him up at the Knoxville,
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Tenn., airport on arrival from Germany.
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"The real interesting part of this," Johnson said, "was that when the
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second coming of Christ occurred, Jesus Christ was going to arrive in a
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spaceship."
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Gulf Breeze, a beach town near Pensacola where Beason and others in the
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group received training, has been the site of many reported UFO sightings.
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Besides Beason, those charged were identified as Pfc. Michael Hueckstaedt,
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19, of Farson, Wyo.; Pfc. Kris Perlock, 20, of Osceola, Wis.; Pfc. William
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Setterberg, 20, of Pittsburgh; Specialist Vance Davis, 25, of Valley Center,
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Kan.; and Sgt. Annette Eccleston, 22, of Hartford, Conn.
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Capt. Kenneth Hicks of the Gulf Breeze police said that when he questioned
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Hueckstaedt and Eccleston, neither spoke of religion or UFOs.
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"Really the only thing they said is they were heading out West and they
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were just going to kind of live out in the woods -- kind of like a survivalist
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group," Hicks said. They mentioned Santa Fe, N.M., and Texas, he said.
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Mazzia said the soldiers were AWOL for varying amounts of time, but the
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longest was seven days.
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The specific terms of the punishment, if they accept it, will be
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determined by an officer acting almost as a sentencing judge. The soldiers
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could lose pay or rank or both, and could be fined or given extra duty, Mazzia
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said.
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As they have lost their top-security clearances, the soldiers would have
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to be retrained for other Army assignments, Mazzia said.
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Instead, they could be discharged from the Army. But no discharge
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recommendation could be made until after the disciplinary action over the AWOL
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charges is complete, he said.
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JULY 26, 1990
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AWOL Mystery Copyright, 1990.
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The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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By CHRISTOPHER SULLIVAN Associated Press Writer
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Six U.S. soldiers who went AWOL from intelligence posts in West Germany
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and were arrested at a Florida beach known for UFO reports won't be
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court-martialed. But many other questions about the bizarre case remain.
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Were the six -- five men and a woman -- acting on "psychic input" from
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biblical figures and preparing for the world's end, as a friend of one
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suggested?
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Did they plan to move to the West and live "like a survivalist group," as
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a police captain said he was told by two in the group?
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Or was there another explanation of the events that began unfolding when
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the six, who held top-secret security clearances, left the 701st Military
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Intelligence Brigade in Augsburg, West Germany, early this month?
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"Don't judge them yet. They have a right to defend themselves," said Anna
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Foster, at whose Gulf Breeze, Fla., home four of the six were arrested July
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14. Ms. Foster, a civilian described by authorities as a psychic, is not
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charged in the case and said she could not elaborate.
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The Army offered the six "non-judicial punishment" -- no trial by
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court-martial -- after an investigation by the Army Intelligence and Security
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Command found no evidence of espionage, officials said Wednesday.
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At Fort Knox, Ky., where the six were being held, Maj. Ron Mazzia said
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they could receive reductions in pay or rank, or both, and could be fined.
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Specific terms will be determined by an officer acting as a sentencing judge.
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Having lost their security clearances, the six might be discharged, Mazzia
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said.
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They were reported missing in West Germany on July 9. On Friday the 13th,
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Pfc. Michael Hueckstaedt was stopped in Gulf Breeze for driving a van with
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non-working taillights. A computer check found him listed as absent without
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leave.
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Army information and a search of the van revealed the whereabouts of the
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five other soldiers, Gulf Breeze police Capt. Kenneth Hicks said.
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Besides Hueckstaedt, 19, of Farson, Wyo., they are Pfc. Kris Perlock, 20,
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of Osceola, Wis.; Pfc. William Setterberg, 20, of Pittsburgh; Spc. Vance Davis,
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25, of Valley Center, Kan.; Spc. Kenneth Beason, 26, of Jefferson City, Tenn.,
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and Sgt. Annette Eccleston, 22, of Hartford, Conn.
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Hicks said Ms. Eccleston and Hueckstaedt said little when questioned by
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him and the FBI.
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"Really the only thing they said is they were heading out west and they
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were just going to kind of live out in the woods, kind of like a survivalist
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group," Hicks said. He said they mentioned Santa Fe, N.M., and Texas.
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As the six were moved first to Fort Benning, Ga., and then to Fort Knox,
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another story emerged. It focused on Beason, doing his second hitch in the
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Army.
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Beason had trained in Pensacola and dated and corresponded with Ms. Foster.
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He always was interested in science fiction. Beason created miniature
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spaceship models and other artwork and was trying to write a book, friends
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said.
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"He can draw or make anything, as long as it's not real," said Beason's
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brother-in-law, Charles Reed.
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Four or five years ago, Beason hired commercial photographer Stan Johnson
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of Bybee, Tenn., to photograph some of his creations. Johnson and his wife,
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Vivian, a former English teacher, helped him with his writing. They're in
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their 50s and said they became a kind of second family for Beason.
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During a two-week visit last Christmas, Beason seemed his usual self, but
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in a few phone calls since May, he took a different turn.
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"He just reeled and rambled and ranted," said Mrs. Johnson, describing one
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call.
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She said he thought "the disciples and some of the other spirits have
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talked to him or else one of the other people in that group, the group that
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was arrested -- and told them the Rapture is near and for them to prepare for
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it."
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Some fundamentalist Christians believe that during the Rapture, believers
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will be swept to heaven before the world ends. Some relatives who helped raise
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Beason after his parents divorced were fundamentalists, friends said.
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Mrs. Johnson said Beason wouldn't be swayed when she questioned his
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statements.
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"He'd say, `You just don't understand. I am a chosen. ... I've been told
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to do this,"' she said.
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Do what, specifically?
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Beason said he and the others would go to Florida on "a missionary project"
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o prepare for the end, Stan Johnson said. "The real interesting part of this
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was that, when the second coming of Christ occurred, Jesus Christ was going to
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arrive in a spaceship."
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Reed added: "He thinks he's doing ... what God wants him to."
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Beason and Hueckstaedt found a used Volkswagen van after they flew from
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West Germany to Tennessee and apparently picked up the other AWOL soldiers for
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a drive to Gulf Breeze, a Florida Panhandle town whose claim to fame is the
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number of reported sightings of unidentified flying objects.
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A symposium of the Mutual UFO Network concluded there July 8, police said.
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Lee Perlock, the mother of Kris Perlock, said her family was close and
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their religious practices were mainstream. Other relatives of the soldiers
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said the same thing about their religious backgrounds but were reluctant to
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discuss details of discussions with them after the arrests.
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Notified of the Army's disciplinary decision, Mrs. Perlock's husband, Ron,
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reacted with relief. "This has been going on for so long, not knowing."
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They hope to see their son soon. In the meantime, Mrs. Perlock said
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softly, there are "a lot of unanswered questions."
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JULY 27, 1990
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Army discharges 6 `deserters'
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WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Six U.S. soldiers who were arrested in Florida for
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leaving their military intelligence post in West Germany and who told friends
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they were going to rendezvous with UFOs were discharged from the Army Friday.
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"They have been released from their military obligation and they are
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civilians again," an Army spokesman, Maj. Joseph Allred said.
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The six soldiers -- five men and a Connecticut woman -- deserted their
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post at the 701st Military Intelligence Brigade in Augsburg, West Germany, on
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July 9 and were arrested in Gulf Breeze, Fla., near Pensacola, four days later.
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The six, all cryptographers trained to break enemy codes, were
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automatically charged with desertion because of their high security clearances
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and were jailed at Fort Knox, Ky.
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An Army counter-intelligence investigation did not turn up any evidence
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that the soldiers were involved in espionage. As a result, they were offered
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the opportunity to accept an "Article 15," which is a non-judicial punishment
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process handled by the commander of the base.
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The six soldiers accepted the offer, and the charges of desertion were
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dropped down to the lesser Absent Without Leave, or AWOL. They were also
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charged with possession of forged leave papers.
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As sole punishment, Allred said, the six received a general discharge from
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the Army, which falls between an honorable discharge and a dishonorable one.
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During the course of their arrest and detention, friends of the six
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soldiers said the six told them they left their military post to go to the
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Pensacola area for religious reasons.
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The six, according to their friends, believed the end of the world was
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near and that Jesus Christ was going to arrive on a Pensacola beach on a UFO
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to take believers up to heaven. They also said they were out to destroy the
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"anti-Christ" who planned to sneak aboard.
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The six are Kenneth G. Beason, 26, of Jefferson City, Tenn.; Michael
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Hueckstaedt, 19, of Farson, Wyo.; Kris Perlock, 20, Osceola, Wis., William
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Setterberg, 20, Pittsburgh; Vance Davis, 25, Valley Center, Kan.; and Annette
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Eccleston, 22, Hartford, Conn.
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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