X Descending

by Christian Lambright

  Sometime in the latter part of the 1980s, in a telephone conversation with Ernest Edwards, he told me that Richard Doty was back at Kirtland AFB. I called and spoke to Doty briefly about the 1980 AFOSI documents, about Paul Bennewitz, and finally about his meeting with Linda. I was not surprised that he was very dismissive about the things Linda claimed had happened, and he stated unequivocally that he had never shown her any documents.

  Because I had heard Linda's detailed recollections of the meeting, I mentioned to him that she had been very adamant about how he had asked her to sit in a specific chair and then reached into a desk drawer and brought out the documents. At that point he hesitated, and then suddenly said that he now remembered! He had reached in the desk and brought out some writing paper to give to her because she had come to their meeting with nothing to write on!

  I had a hard time buying that story, and not just because of his sudden recollection. I could not imagine that Linda, a professional journalist, would come unprepared to take notes (when I mentioned this to her sometime later she was understandably amused.) After hearing Doty's sudden recollection that, in fact, he had reached into his desk after all, but only for writing paper, Linda's version of events became substantially stronger in my opinion. Doty's version no longer rang true…but that was not the end of it.

  After his sudden recall, and to reinforce his stance that he had not handed Linda any documents, Doty suddenly proclaimed that two of his supervisors had been there and could verify his statements. I had already been told by Linda that only she and Doty had been present, so I quickly asked him, "Were they in the room?" He hesitated, and then simply said that one of them had been outside the door!

  He never mentioned where the other supervisor had been, but it immediately brought to mind Linda’s feeling that her chair was bugged. I suspect her instincts were right on target that day.

  Several years ago, an article allegedly giving details of this meeting was accessible on the web site www.ufoconspiracy.com under the "News" section. Dated 05-14-2000, with the author listed only as "Former AFOSI agent", the article and this specific web site could lead someone to think the writer was Doty himself. Though most of the article seemed rather selfserving, the writer stated that two other agents were present (though perhaps not physically present), and that the meeting with Linda Howe had actually been videotaped. Also interesting is that the writer claimed that he did show Linda two documents, but mundane ones at best—the official AF press release on UFO's...and a MUFON report!

  Regardless of what Linda was shown, one of the most suspicious allegations in the article is that the writer and his superiors surreptitiously videotaped the meeting. If, as the writer also claimed, the purpose of taping the meeting was to protect AFOSI from whatever statements Linda might make later, then why not simply tell her that the meeting was being taped? In fact, if this former AFOSI agents statements about Linda were true, then telling her the meeting was being videotaped would have ensured there were no misrepresentations about it later. However, Doty's odd behaviour had already made Linda suspicious that her chair was 'bugged'. So if she already suspected she was being recorded—or even videotaped—is it likely she would ever risk making false statements about what had transpired? If the point of taping a meeting is to have a visible and audible account of what took place, then why would AFOSI not want their own responses to certain questions recorded? Confusion and deception seem to be the only sure things to have come from that meeting since it may never be possible to prove what happened.

  The deception played out at Linda's expense seems to have been in line with what we now know was being done to Paul Bennewitz. The documents she claims Doty showed her served to undermine her future plans and spread more disinformation. The facts I found lent much more credibility to what Linda said about this meeting and did not in any way support the alternative scenario that AFOSI agents were merely protecting themselves from what she might say.

  Needless to say, the surreptitious recording has never surfaced to prove the issue one way or the other.

  My conversation with Richard Doty, and what I have learned since, reinforced in my mind that he and his superiors had taken part in an organized effort to mislead Linda. Because her planned HBO special could have included information on Paul Bennewitz and images from his films, it is easy to see the circumstances of this meeting as intended to ruin those plans. Delays and unfulfilled promises by the Air Force eventually contributed to the cancellation of the HBO special. As a footnote, a 2005 article in the International UFO Reporter (Vol 30), reports that in a recent radio interview, Doty finally admitted to Linda's version of the meeting. In the end, her experience is a compelling example of the bizarre lengths that AFOSI went too in order to suppress information about Paul Bennewitz.

  John Lear, O.H. Krill, and more on underground bases…

  In the mid-1980s, when the hunt for evidence of Project Aquarius was generating controversy, Philip Klass, an editor and writer with Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, issued a challenge. It was classic Phil Klass, who was both loved and hated as a debunker of anything associated with the UFO phenomenon. Klass had spent a lot of time telling the world that he believed the documents related to Project Aquarius were bogus, and eventually he challenged Dale Goudie, director of the Computer UFO Network, to present evidence to the contrary. If Goudie was willing to accept the challenge Klass promised to rent a room at the National Press Club in Washington, DC where the evidence could be presented. Because Dale Goudie knew that Tommy Blann and I had worked together in filing requests for government documentation, he asked for our help. We were already planning to attend the MUFON Symposium in Washington, DC that year, and on July 25, 1987, Dale, Tommy, and I went to the National Press Club and presented much of what we knew.

  In the months or weeks prior to the presentation, John Lear, son of William Lear, creator of the Lear Jet, contacted Dale Goudie. Exactly when and why John first contacted Dale, I do not know, but somehow he ingratiated himself to Dale and ended up coming along to Washington D.C., where I met him for the first time. I had only heard briefly of John prior to that but, on meeting him, he seemed to be a very friendly and interesting man with a fascinating background.

  At the time, I was under the impression, as I think Dale and Tommy were, that John new practically nothing about the UFO phenomenon. We certainly did not expect him to be familiar with the controversy surrounding MJ-12 and Project Aquarius. However, in our hotel room, shortly before the press conference was to start, it began to dawn on Tommy and me that something was not right.

  John suddenly began to talk about MJ-12 and several other subjects that we thought he knew nothing about. He also began to claim to know people in sensitive positions who had told him about MJ-12. I still recall the glances that passed between the rest of us, and the strong sense of apprehension we shared at this unexpected development. In the coming days, that moment would crystalize in my mind. We had thought John was simply an interested newcomer, but the certainty of that belief began to fade very quickly.

  After our presentation at the National Press Club, we went to the MUFON symposium as planned. The four of us were in the audience during a question and answer session in which Bill Moore was on stage, if memory serves me. The subject of MJ-12 came up, and to my surprise, John suddenly had his hand raised. With all eyes on him, he stood up and announced—to all the world—that he had friends who could verify MJ-12. Needless to say, we were dumbfounded. I think we all had a sudden sinking feeling of "what's wrong with this picture?". John burst onto the scene with his surprising claims, and being the son of William Lear certainly helped add to his instant celebrity.

  Whatever misgivings Dale, Tommy, or I might have had, John was entitled to speak his mind. He was friendly and energetic and, though I had serious reservations about his agenda, John and I remained friends for some time after that. In the next year, with his family name to open doors for him, John became a celebrity in his own right, even tho
ugh his claims were often downright bizarre. It was a time when many things were uncertain...but hindsight is 20/20.

  John and I spoke a number of times and eventually, when a day came that I was going to be in Las Vegas, John invited me to visit him at his home. He owned a large beautiful house complete with a tennis court, a guesthouse, and a huge study, all very impressive. The wall behind his desk was covered with photos and mementos of his career, while another wall held a huge map of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. This was when I first learned that John had once flown for the CIA as a pilot for Air America. His life story and his lifestyle was very impressive, even if there seemed to be a disconnect between his career and the John Lear I knew. On the one hand was a man with a famous name and a notable past, on the other, a man infamous for publicizing tales of aliens, underground bases, and many of what were the least credible and most sensational topics ever known in the realm of Ufology. However, during this visit he told me something that virtually assured I would have to end any association with him.

  Sitting in his study, John told me a strange tale of a time when William "Bill" Cooper had been at his house giving an interview to a news crew. Cooper was another odd character who caused a sensation by claiming that during his years in the Navy, he had learned a great deal about UFOs and had seen a variety of classified documents on the subject. In the late 1980s, a bizarre document had begun to circulate which became known as the "Krill Memo". Allegedly authored by someone named O.H. Krill, it can still be found on the Internet. John went on to tell me that during the interview, Cooper had told the interviewer that while he was in the Navy, he had actually seen the "Krill Memo". This was apparently a big surprise to John, who told me that, during a break in the interview, he called Cooper aside and asked why he was claiming to have seen this memo long ago. Cooper stuck to his claim. At that point, John had confronted him, saying that he could not possibly have seen it years ago because John and another man had “made it up”! The name “O.H. Krill” was supposedly derived from “Original Hostage Krill”, a name I presume was meant to be a little bit of cleverness in referring to a captured alien entity.

  Needless to say, I was stunned to hear John make such an admission! Almost in disbelief, I asked John about this, and he reaffirmed that he and a man with whom he was acquainted, had fabricated the Krill Memo. This other person had wanted to make a name for himself, or needed something to help him break into the UFO field, so he and John decided to create a document sure to be circulated widely. I confronted John, first with the fact that I could not believe he would fabricate documents, and second, that I could not believe he would stand there and boldly admit it to my face. I still cannot imagine why he did it. But it was clear that our reasons for having an interest in this subject were vastly different. After that admission, it was impossible for me to continue associating with him, at least in any way relating to UFOs. By his own admission he had participated in fabricating and circulating a false document that brought ridicule to a subject I have worked long and hard to have taken seriously.

  John went on to make ever more bizarre claims in the years that followed. Many of his claims, bizarre as they were, generated confusion and wasted research effort very similar to that generated by the AFOSI operation against Paul Bennewitz. John was the first person I had ever heard say that he had met a woman who knew someone who had actually been stationed at the "Dulce base"—and had drawings of it! To this day, I recall the telephone conversation we had when he called to tell me about it. I told John that the kind of evidence he was describing did not constitute evidence, and that the drawings he hoped to receive from this anonymous man, through this woman, amounted to nothing I could possibly consider credible. John fostered the story anyway; a new angle on an underground base containing "vats with body parts", virtually identical to the tale told to Paul Bennewitz by Myrna Hansen. The later tales of a massive underground base at Area 51 with aliens running amok are not that different from these early renditions. To me it was as if John’s sole purpose was to add so much fuel to the fire that, when the smoke cleared, nothing would be recognizable.

  John Lear proved to be one of the most infamous “big names” in Ufology in those days. He came onto the scene at just the right time, and, if only by the strength of his name, many people bought into what he was saying. He was something of a paradox to me, clearly considered sane and reliable enough to pilot commercial airliners across the Atlantic, but willing to go on a radio interview and spout information that was enough to make me cringe. He definitely had more licenses to pilot more kinds of aircraft than I had ever seen and, so far as I could tell, had a successful career with no apparent money problems. Why a man with so much going for him, who was relied on to display critical judgment and thinking in his career, would suddenly jump on this phenomenon and begin fabricating documents and making some of the most bizarre claims I have ever heard, was utterly incomprehensible. The only only way it ever made sense was to presume John had his reasons...and then study the outcome.

  In my opinion, the overall effect of John Lear’s involvement was that some of the bizarre ideas Paul had been lead to believe were blown so far out of proportion and polluted with so much misinformation that anyone who did not already know better would probably never be able to separate the truth from the nonsense. From MJ-12 to Dulce, aliens to Area 51, and battles in underground bases to O.H. Krill…it all took on a life of its own until, today, it has become a permanent blot on the case of Paul Bennewitz.

  Regrettably, many people now immediately identify Paul as the main character in these absurd tales rather than in light of the evidence he first obtained those winter nights watching from his rooftop. I believe that was the point all along.

  One issue, still a source of turmoil and frustration for me to this day, has to do with John Lear’s personal contact with Paul Bennewitz. Paul was easily accessible and always seemed willing to talk to anyone who was interested. It was not my place to have any say at all about anyone who wanted to call or meet him. It was, after all, exactly how I came to know him. Still, I was hesitant about anyone using me as a stepping-stone to meet Paul, especially someone I had not known long and had my own doubts about. I did like John and he was always extremely friendly and interesting but, having known him for only a short time, I did not really know his intentions. Paul's friendship and the case revolving around him were very important to me, and not simply because it held the potential to break through some of the government secrecy surrounding this phenomenon.

  Sometime in 1987, or possibly 1988, John Lear went to meet Paul at Paul's home. I found out later that John spent several days there, though to the best of my knowledge it was the first time they had met in person. A few days after John's departure, I got a call from Paul. He was extremely angry about something involving John and, from the strong words he used, it was very clear that he did not care to see John again. What Paul said gave me the impression that John had either promised him something or offered to help in some way that was clearly very important to Paul. but something else happened. Whatever it was left Paul angry and resentful. It was all I could do to stress to Paul that introducing John had never been my idea, nor did I have anything to do with John's recent visit him. I had told Paul before he ever met John that I had not known John long and was unsure of his motivation. Nevertheless, Paul must have opened his door to John and then later felt he had been misled or disrespected in some way. To this day, I do not know exactly what happened.

  A few days, later Linda Howe called unexpectedly to ask if I had spoken to Paul in the last few days. She said she had heard Paul's home telephone number had been changed suddenly to an unlisted number. I immediately tried calling Paul and found to my dismay that Linda was right. At that point, I felt certain Paul would call again soon and I would be able to find out the rest of the story, but his call never came.

  I wrote Paul several times over the next few years trying to reestablish contact, but never got a reply. That final angry telep
hone call was the last time I heard from him. Whether or not this had anything to do with John Lear, or was simply the result of personal or family issues, I do not know, and likely never will know. I can only say that the only time I ever heard Paul angry about anything, very angry to be sure, it had something to do with John Lear. Within days of that Paul was unreachable.

  I did call one of his sons several years ago to ask how Paul was doing and whether I could get a message to him. His son was very polite, but said that it was Paul's choice whether to answer or not and all I could do was to trying writing again. I had the greatest respect for Paul and I believe that he knew it, neverthless, when I lost touch with him, my hopes for what could have been accomplished with his evidence vanished. It has been difficult not knowing what happened.

  While writing this book, I sent a last letter to Paul's wife and made a final phone call to his son hoping for some insight and some help. Perhaps it will come some day.

  Even now, on reaching the conclusion of this book, I am sure things are far from over. My greatest hope is that this book will inspire serious and informed interest among the public and in the scientific community. With a change in attitude—if not beliefs—the benefits of the technology demonstrated in the films of Paul Bennewitz and Ray Stanford might more quickly be brought to the world at large. In the short term however, those who have an interest in the UFO phenomenon as exemplified in this book should focus their efforts on public and official awarness of the facts presented here. If history is any indicator, I do not expect the status quo to change easily.