CIA X-files Support Astronaut Edgar Mitchell UFO Tale

The past few days have seen a viral explosion of stories about statements made by Apollo astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, who walked on the moon in 1971.

The entire affair, which began with an interview at Kerrang! Radio,appears to be building a small mountain of momentum, with headlines like:

"Ex-Astronaut: Aliens Are Real and NASA Knows It"

"Aliens are out there, says former NASA astronaut"

"Astronaut reveals that aliens have better technology than humans"

"Ex-NASA astronaut 'sure' aliens exist"

Even Reuters has posted a video news report on-line.

A quick search of Google News pulled up more than 300 articles.

Curiously, the most important aspect of Dr. Mitchell's testimony to the "Spies, Lies, and Polygraph Tape" UFO affair has received little attention from most of the media outlets.

During the Kerrang! interview, Mitchell stated:

"But I've also been in military circles, and intelligence circles, that know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, that yes, we have been visited."

It appears that Dr. Mitchell is referring to the so-called UFO "Core Story" of extraterrestrial visitation.

For a quick review of some of the Intelligence Community interest in all things out-of-this-world, I recommend Gus Russo's article, "The REAL X-files," posted at the STARpod.org website.

According to the Russo article, a well-placed source Russo calls "Jim" (not his real name), who remains close to high-ranking former U.S. officials told him:

"I believe there´s a ´core story´," Jim explained, "but I don´t know what it is. I have been told by people more senior than me that there is some truth to it, but they told me time and time again to stop pursuing it with CIA people and other intel types. Two very senior officials told me they saw briefing books, [however] the only ones who would be cleared to know the story are the most senior Pentagon career officers." Jim refuses to divulge his sources, but when pressed, he reiterates what they told him: look to the Pentagon and the private sector´s aerospace and weapons labs, etc. US ntelligence "doesn´t have labs capable of dealing with something this profound." He also notes that over the years he has received thousands of UFO-related government documents in unmarked envelopes. Although some are obvious fakes, others, according to Jim, contain information that correlates with known, but still classified, scientific studies. In an intriguing footnote, Jim adds, "I have spoken to three former Presidents and the subject always comes up, not as a briefing, but they also want to know the truth. But apparently they aren´t cleared for it."

UFOs and the Intelligence Community

In an email STARstream Research received from a Senior Intelligence Official (SIO), on March 1st, 2007, concerning the content and comments provided about leaked email messages the SIO passed on through a small network into the hands of members of a UFO-focused Internet forum, the SIO wrote:

"I can see you understand the importance of not revealing sources. It is even more important not to reveal methods as these potentially can be applied to multiple sources."

Clearly the SIO's concerns indicated that the leaked messages were at the very least about a sensitive issue, and the dissemination of the messages suggested a method involving intelligence collection and analysis.

The central mystery of Spies, Lies and Polygraph Tape remains: why would senior persons involved in official U.S. government intelligence activities get involved with Internet forums and personalities interested in an esoteric subject like UFOs?

This leads to the topic of flies and flypaper.

The Intelligence Community isn't only interested in persons interacting over the Internet via various forums, web sites and email distribution groups.

They are also interested in who is watching the activities, and why.

The Intelligence Community monitors open-source material, ranging from mainstream media outlets to items of interest in blogs and other sources on line.

Where alternative science is concerned, the Internet acts as a sticky-web of flypaper for an entire international community of interested persons, including scientists in various nations, with different degrees of national loyalty.

It is relatively simple to tweak the flypaper by interacting with some of the players (the term "useful idiot" comes to mind) and then remain like a fly on the wall, observing the result.

Perhaps someday, perhaps in twenty or so years, we will be able to use the Freedom of Information Act to read about how the U.S.

Intelligence Community worked the Internet for intelligence collection by getting involved with the UFO community, as explained by author Gus Russo, in his article "The REAL X-Files: Is Uncle Same a Closet UFOlogist?"

If so, we may finally learn who was really behind the flies on the wall.

Spies Revealed?

The public version of our investigation has been subjected to criticism on both sides of the government secrecy debate.

On the one hand, we have been accused of being overly ambiguous in our sourcing for articles published by STARpod.org, the website run by STARstream Research. On the other, we have also been subjected to requests to redact information from some of our articles prior to publication, and to withhold the names of sources and persons involved in intelligence activities over the Internet.

Over the past year or two we have revealed some of the persons involved in the UFO spy-games played out over the Internet by past and present members of the Intelligence Community.

In a press release issued last year, STARstream Research revealed the names of some of the sources behind investigative author Gus Russo's article on the Real X-Files:

According to Russo, "... there is certainly a very small percentage government officials with intelligence clearance -- some active, some retired -- who are interested in the UFO research community, if not UFOs themselves. Some of these men are of the impression, rightly or wrongly, that a very few individuals in government and the private sector are keeping the big secret even from them."

Russo has refrained from releasing names of the parties involved in his story. STARstream Research has confirmed sources include former CIA DS&T analyst Dr. Ron Pandolfi, Dr. Christopher Kit Green, a forensic scientist recently featured for his past work with the CIA on the PBS series "Secrets of the Dead," and Dr. Paul Murad of the DIA.

And we have blogged about other connections between the curious characters connecting clandestine interests and the UFO alternative energy community.

UFOs Over London: The MoD Disclosure

Recently the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) created a page dedicated to their studies of Unusual Aerial Phenomenon (UAP), littered with tantalizing clues to the backdrop behind the Spies, Lies, and Polygraph Tape fiasco:

"During a policy review in 1996 into the handling of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena sighting reports received by the Ministry of Defence, a study was undertaken to determine the potential value, if any, of such reports to Defence Intelligence. Consistent with Ministry of Defence policy, the available data was studied principally to ascertain whether there is any evidence of a threat to the UK, and secondly, should the opportunity arise, to identify any potential military technologies of interest."

Much of the MoD material discusses unexplained plasma physics and their interaction with radar systems and visual observers.

"The phenomena occur on a daily, world-wide basis ... that UAP [UFO] exist is indisputable."

One of the more interesting items in the summary notes that "Attempts by other nations to intercept the unexplained objects, which can clearly change position faster than an aircraft, have reportedly caused fatalities."

In addition to suggesting an exotic and poorly understood natural phenomena to explain the anomalous sightings and radar events, the report examines more exotic possibilities. One section examines exotic theoretical possibilities, including evidence of MoD interest in Russian and American researchers investigating hypothetical torsion spin fields. Torsion fields are mentioned as one possible anomalous mental signal transmission mechanism in the CIA STAR GATE psychic-spy files.

As for the spies, and the cover-up of years of covert examination of a phenomena typically laughed off by the mainstream media?

"The aim of this investigation has been to determine the potential value, if any, of UAP sighting reports to Defence Intelligence. Consistent with MoD policy, the available data has therefore been studied principally to ascertain whether there is any evidence of a threat to the UK, and secondly, should the opportunity arise, to identify any potential military technologies of interest."

It is the present opinion of this author that the UK interest in the UAP phenomena, with the close connection to radar and other forms of MASINT detection, was behind a rumored warning that a UK-based STARstream Research contributing writer might have been an agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service, aka MI6.

Spies, UFOs, and Psychics

One interesting connection worthy of future exploration comes from the American Government's chief psychic spy consultant of the 1970s and 1980s, Ingo Swann.

Swann, who was given Top Secret security clearance according to a STAR GATE hand-written memo, recounted being taken to observe a triangular-diamond shaped UFO "grow" in place over a lake. The UFO then proceeded to to attack the observing party using a "laser-like" beam that "blasted" the trees around them.

The Measurement and Signature of a UFO

It appears that the Information Age is a double edged sword, especially for those with careers in the Intelligence Community.

Consider the situation faced by "Ron," a name which has been floating upon the unidentified seas of conspiracy for a while.

"Ron" is often mentioned by the "usual suspects" working UFO cases.

In the early 1990s, a controversial British researcher using an alias managed to record a telephone conversation with "Ron" about government interest in flying saucers and extraterrestrial beings.

During the recorded conversation "Ron" discusses the "UFO Working Group" made famous by former New York Times journalist Howard Blum in his book "Out There."

British author and humorist Jon Ronson even went on a search for "Ron" based upon a clue provided by world-famous psychic Uri Geller, as told in his book, "The Men Who Stare at Goats."

One source, a civilian who actually knows the real Ron, informed us that the former CIA analyst, who was "outed" in several articles, including a series by the New York Times in the 1990s, had moved on to work under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

It now appears that Ron's "official work" for the United States Government may in fact be related to UFOs.

The most general definition of UFO -- Unidentified Flying Object -- does have serious national security significance. Consider the problem faced by anyone who has been on the receiving end of an attack by a stealth fighter, for example. When conventional radar fails, alternative methods are manditory, such as passive radar systems, where there may be "Capabilities against stealth aircraft due to the frequency bands and multistatic geometries employed."

It would appear that Ron's civilian source was correct. His mission, according to a MITRE document, is related to the detection of UFOs and reporting to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence via the National Intelligence Council.

Now, as for Ron's other purported interest in persons involved with alternative UFO physics propulsion claims ... including persons identified with RAM -- aka Replicate Alien Machine, we are less certain.

And why did another government source go silent following the revelation of Ron's UFO working group audio recording?