A Dialogue with a former member of the Intelligence Community
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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".
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Anyone with any additional information is requested to contact me in care of Paranet RHO at 1-208-338-9187.
Don F. Ecker-State Section Director MUFON, for the state of Idaho.