textfiles-politics/pre-src-xml/spook.xml

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      <p> </p>
      <p> A Dialogue with a former member of the Intelligence Community </p>
      <p> This summer, while on vacation back to my families residence, I encountered a
family friend that I had not seen since 1973. For obvious reasons I will not
identify him, but for this record will call him "Paul". Paul is retired from
over 30 years of distinguished government service, is a widower, and is one of
the most closed mouthed men I have ever known. When I first came back from
Viet Nam in 1972, I saw Paul at a family get together, and even though he was
just back from South East Asia, he never mentioned it. I found out through his
brother. When I went back east, I had taken a number of text files from my
records, for my sister, who is fascinated by the subject of UFO's. It so
happened that one evening, my sister and I and wife and another friend, Bob,
were sitting outside my mothers house, and were discussing several of the
files that I had taken back. Paul stopped out at the house, as he was going
to a function with his sister and my mother. He sat down on the patio with
us, and as usual, did not say much. My sister was reading the file concerned
with the Majestic 12 papers and making some comments, that if this file was
for real, the implications of alien contact could be staggering for the world
if verified. At this point Paul leaned forward and asked if he could see the
papers. My sister passed several of the texts to him, and until he left, he
spent the remainder of his time reading them. Just before he left, he got me
off to the side, and asked how I was involved with UFO's. I told him that I
was an investigator for MUFON, and was involved with a computer network system
with Paranet. This was the first of several conversations I had with Paul,
and I don't ask anyone to believe it, because, frankly, I have problems with
several things he told me. And you may wonder why Paul would tell me
anything, considering his government service, and the agency he worked for.
To begin with, Paul is very ill, the last time I spoke with him, he told me
that he doesn't expect to be around for more than 18 months, maximum. Next,
he told me that he never agreed with all the secrecy that surrounded the
government and the subject of UFO's. And lastly, what he hinted at was
actually occuring seemed to haunt him. As he said, there wasn't a hell of a
lot that even the government was able to do about the situation. I present
the following, and you can make up your own mind about whether to believe or
not. </p>
      <p> This summer past ( 1988 ) was the 20th reunion of my High School. This
was the reason that I traveled back, and besides, my wife is in love with the
east coast. While back, I became ill, and ended up spending almost two weeks
in the hospital. Paul came and visited me, and this is how we ended having
the several conversations that we had. </p>
      <p> Paul at first asked if I realized what dangers were present in the subject of
UFO's. I said "No", but I had heard rumors that this could be the case. He
said you damned betcha it could. "If you stumbled over the right
information you could end up among the missing, and Don, this sure as hell
wouldn't be the first time." </p>
      <p> I asked him how he came to know so much about the subject, and he said with
the job he held, it was his business to know about a lot of things. I then
said come on Paul, I had dealings with spooks while in Viet Nam, so don't try
that line on me. He told me then, that this was to his knowledge, still one of
the most highly classified subjects in the intelligence community . That
brought to mind the "Smith Memo" from the 50's, and I relayed it to Paul. I
mentioned that Smith had stated that the subject of UFO's had been rated
higher than the H bomb, and in perspective, was this still the case? Pauls
reply follows, and for the purposes of this file, I have condensed into one
session our talks. </p>
      <p> In the 40's, when the "flying saucer" scare started, the military and
government were concerned that it was possible that the Soviets had made a
breakthrough in technology with their German scientists, that our German
scientists had not been able to duplicate. It then became evident that this
technology was above and beyond what we were able to achieve, so the
phenomenon had to come from outside. For a while there was a deadlock as to
what to do, but then apparently the military was able to secure one of the
craft. I asked Paul if he meant Roswell, and he only smiled. He said to read
the MJ 12 stuff again, that there were enough facts to get an idea of what he
was talking about. After that, it was apparent that the technology was well
above what we were capable of. There were fears among certain people that
this could be the prelude to invasion, or possibly even worse. Others saw
this as a straight shot to technology that we couldn't even dream of, and to
exploit everything we could out of it. Paul stated that there was a genuine
fear that if the Soviets could get one of these, and exploit it, the United
States would be in deep excrement. There was a "think tank" that was set up,
and the decision for secrecy was understandable in that scenario. Many of
these craft were flying over nuclear installations, and one thought at the
time was that they could be after uranium among other things, if they were, as
believed then, coming from a "dying" planet. I asked if at that time, were
they considered to be benign, and Paul said yes, they were, but then several
things happened to change that idea. He would not elaborate, so I mentioned
the Mantell incident, and he said that is the most well known case, but there
were others, and some very bizarre. </p>
      <p> The think tank that was set up in the 40's were concerned that some of these
cases would become public knowledge, and they still remembered the "War of the
Worlds" scare that Wells threw into the public in 1938. They did not want a
panic that could affect the nations security, commerce, industry, finances
and so forth. The result was to debunk the whole damn thing, and hope it
would either go away, or they could solve it in time before it did become
public knowledge. </p>
      <p> I asked Paul about several cases that I read about in "Clear Intent", one of
them being the Cuban Jet Incident. Paul said that he had heard about that, he
wouldn't say much, but this is not the only case where one of these objects
had shot down aircraft, "and it didn't all happen outside the U. S. either". </p>
      <p> "Look", he said, "if you were out in a very primitive area, and were lost, or
hungry, or what ever, and came across a primitive native tribe, and I mean
compared to you, really primitive, would you trade with them, or take what
you needed, food, women, whatever, IF YOU WERE VERY AMORAL?" "Look, if in
this case, you regard these natives as less than dirt, and the only thing they
have in common is that they have what you NEED." You are familiar with the
animal mutilations aren't you? Many people think that this was a government
sponsored operation, testing chemicals or something. Well, it wasn't, and
farm animals are not the only thing that has been tested. The guys I know
that are still active have said that right now, is one of the biggest "UFO
flaps" that they have ever heard of, and there is a lot of concern as to how
long it can be kept secret. </p>
      <p> I hated to break in on Paul when he was talking this freely, but had to ask
about the reported astronaut sightings. Yes, there were sightings on damn
near all the "shots", and it was always feared that the news services would
pick up on some of the reports. We did a damn good job of damage control
though. "Well Paul, what about reports that these things have been seen on
the moon?" I asked. "Yes" he said, "they have been seen there, and some of
this has come out, so I don't think I am breaking any oaths, but , haven't you
asked yourself why after all the billions of dollars that we had spent to get
to the moon, after the early 70's No one, us or the Russians, have gone near
the place." Yes, I admitted, I had wondered why, and then asked him if he
knew why. Paul just smiled and then pointed to the file that contained the
Lear Text. "You know", he said, "this guy has hit pretty close on several
points, and I wonder if anyone has approached him?" I asked what he meant,
and he looked at me and said "Don, you know what I mean, and after all, if a
lot of the general public became aware of this, they would scream like a
mashed cat, and demand to know what the hell the government is doing about it.
The problem is, there are some that still think that they can control events
and keep a lid on this, and others that know we are way in over our head and
are looking for a way out." Alright then, what are these things, where do
they come from, and what DO they want? I must have looked pretty exasperated
then, and Paul looked at me and gave me kind of what I thought was a sad
smile. "Don" he said, "I don't know where they come from, as to what they
are, they are very different, and as to what they want, you are gonna sleep a
lot better if I just go." And he did leave then. </p>
      <p> I haven't talked to Paul since I got back home, and just several days ago, I
got word that he had a heart attack and is in very poor condition. I have
wondered about a lot of what he said, and have decided that in lieu of keeping
the whole thing to myself, I would put it on my word processor, and then make
a decision whether to release it or not. </p>
      <p> Paul had stated on several occasions that this subject had the potential to be
be very dangerous, and to be careful of pursuing it. "With access to the
right information, if it became known, people have disappeared." I don't
think he was just trying to scare me, the guy had been a professional
intelligence agent for longer than I have been alive, and I am sure he knew a
hell of a lot more about this, than I would even want to. He had mentioned
several things, that even now I hesitate to put down, but the thing that
inclines me to accept what he said, was knowing a bit of what kind of man he
was, he seemed haunted and scared. </p>
      <p> Well, in light of several things that have occured recently, with the "New and
Improved" BlueBook, which I might add I distrust wholeheartedly, the meltdown
within MUFON, the continuing "flap" that doesn't show any signs of slowing
down, much less stopping, and the fragmented community of UFO investigators, I
discussed this with my better half, and have decided to throw it out, and see
where it landed. Take it for what it is worth, and remember, I have just
relayed what I was told, and I did warn you up front that this was almost
beyond belief. </p>
      <p> Anyone with any additional information is requested to contact me in care of
Paranet RHO at 1-208-338-9187. </p>
      <p> Don F. Ecker-State
Section Director
MUFON, for the state of Idaho.
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