Restore JOHN FORD!

Think Mel Gibson in "Conspiracy Theory..." ...not remotely accurate, but light-years closer than a corrupted MAINSTREAM has him...

From Alfred Lehmberg, webtender:

My first encounter with the plight of John Ford occurred around July 12, 1996.

I was driving from Alabama to Florida to join my wife for a weekend vacation and a little celebration of our impending 23rd wedding anniversary (Hey! I remind the reader I'm a normal guy even enchanted [artistically interested] with what's outside the box [It defines the box after all, eh?]!)!

The drive is a pleasant one, on good roads, and I was really enjoying the momentarily careless and carefree trip! Ahead of me was two days of good beer, fun in the sun, and a cessation of college for the summer (I'd returned to college after retiring from the military to get a teaching credential, which is a whole -other- sordid story...).

It was golden-age Pre 9/11, had all my teeth, pre-stroke bliss. Out of the military, the pressure was off... doing well at school... I was content. ...Breathin' easy.

While I drove I listened distractedly to some car radio. I wasn't really hearing the news or the announcer as I drove and was, in fact, just about to tune to a *hairier* spot on the radio dial... when, abruptly... the announcer used the expression "UFO."

That stopped my hand at the channel knob, eh? I settled back into the car seat to listen. I have an interest in UFOs as does any rational person... [g].

Anyway... The reporter shared (and I paraphrase) that some loopy UFO whack-job from Suffolk county, New York had been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder... Murder in a new, new-age and completely inexplicable way! It seems this "crazy" person *purloined* a quantity of radium from some facility somewhere (Brookhaven I think), and his *astonishing* plan was to break into the victim's house... put powdered radium into the victim's toothpaste... and murder him as a result of radiation poisoning!

...Let's pause for a moment to let that sink in...

I remember thinking at the time that this incredibly hapless fellow must be one mondo-bionic dim-bulb of a ruminating snot-bubbler... (!) ...to try a stunt like that! How could that, remotely, work.

Besides, wouldn't it take -years- to dispatch someone in that manner (if it worked at all!), and what about the logistics of the act itself? Radium is hot stuff, easily detectable!

I'd think when the victim turned his lights off to retire for the night and wife or family noted that Dad's mouth glowed in the dark? Why... it might have meant something to someone!

Frankly, I found the whole episode too puzzling, too unlikely, and just plain dumb.

...Something about it just wasn't right, though, and curiosity's fuse got -lit-. I thought about it off and on all weekend, and I decided that when I returned to Enterprise after the vacation... I had to have more details in its regard. It was just too bleedin' stupid to believe!

It's coming up on ten years later, and I am saddened in the extreme regarding what I found out, almost from the beginning, that there is much, much more than meets the eye... ...with regard to the John Ford Affair... like it is, I suppose, with pretty much anything else... well, like it is with pretty much -everything- else... but I digress.

Right off the bat there were surprises...

Consider... someone *unsettled* enough to put radium in someone else's toothpaste... must have some kind of *history* of aberrant behavior, wouldn't you think? I mean, a guy like this just doesn't spring fully formed from the head of Zeus! There must be some kind of record or audit trail of deviancy... wouldn't that be fair?

But no -- there is no such record! In fact, the absolute and exact -opposite- is the case! John Ford was a model citizen, a court officer, and a holder of a college Master's degree. He was good to his mother, and though he has -yet- to marry, he'd dated and gotten close a couple of times; he's a normal guy!

He was a registered Republican (which he can be forgiven for...I suppose), but he's active in local politics (the point?), and he's even known to weep at the suffering of small animals. He'd regularly rescue stray dogs from the pound. He volunteered selflessly during civic emergencies...

The guy was a proverbial PILLAR! Also proverbially, anyone who's known him has said that it is *impossible* that he could be involved in a conspiracy to murder -anyone- much less and -especially- someone as high profile as the intended victim, John Powell... the biggest wheel in the Suffolk County, New York political machine -- the biggest such machine in the country!

...Think, for a moment, about the *influence* of a political machine such as the one just described... think what it could impose, ...and -throughout- a slew of conflicted government departments and hip-shooting private agencies!

...Let -that- sink in a moment!

John Ford was something else, too. He was stubborn. For cause? He could get so far up your nose you could feel his boney knees on your septum, and he was prone to explore every inch of his constitutional *rights* -- to every corner of the ethical envelope, too! He was a retired court officer and had observed how a litigious Suffolk county worked. He wasn't a bone-head, he wasn't a dupe, and he wasn't a fool, but he -was- a *Boy Scout*, reader, and he thought the Constitution of the United States was a -living- document that actually -meant- something...

John was an honorable man -then- (as now, I'm betting), but if you disrespected him or discounted him you'd quickly hear about it. He knew how to make the system work... or so he thought! That system would turn on him like Sigorney Weaver's *Alien*... and cocoon him in -fact-!

John Ford was something else, still. He was EASY to discount. He was EASY to marginalize. He was easy to discredit!

Subsequent smirking writers of obvious and uninformed -bias-... would later portray him as a pathetic and ineffectual mook with failed political aspirations... a loser, a loser who lived with his Mom. Prone to be portly, he looked a little like Elmer Fudd and -that- distinctive appearance was unfortunately accessorized (it's been said) with the voice of Daffy Duck...

The poor guy was -roundly- painted for the fringe. Still, he had crust -- he was tenacious, contentious, and certainly tendentious... he took no crap!

John Ford may have been one -more- thing. He may have been crazy. But if he was, good listener... he was benignly and efficaciously so! Take it out of the equation!

Moreover... and note -this-... he was interested in what the truth was; he was knowledgeable and talented with regard to *ferreting* that truth out, and he knew how to organize the troops to chase a bear through the freakin' buckwheat! He was active in local government, remember; he -understood- about grassroots activism!

And... (and it's a big "and") it was not a preponderance of the persons around him, by any means, who thought he was remotely crazy... ...to begin with! Moreover, those intrepid and discerning persons thinking him a... pork-chop short of a mixed grill...?...assumed he must be crazy because he "believed in UFOs". Hey! FLAG DOWN!!! So does Stanton Friedman! So does Edgar Mitchell, and, very likely... so do YOU, reader!

The question's begged when the listener's turn comes! I digress...

What was John Ford doing, really, when a couple of platoons of SWAT team showed up at his residence to arrest him for conspiracy to commit murder? Well, he was doing what he did best!

He was organizing the locals for a lawful exercise of their of their natural right to be INFORMED about what they are paying for (!!!)... and he was doing some expert detective-work to facilitate that end! He was -also-, and note this... feverishly investigating John Powell and Powell's complicity... ...regarding the strange behavior of the police, firemen, Parks & Sanitation and -other- government officials of Suffolk county, New York! ...Behavior peculiar in the extreme!

Ford was hot on the trail!

What was John Ford's root concern in all of this?

Well -- John Ford, no dummy remember, was sure that Suffolk County officials, and the titular -head- of those officials, John Powell, were all hip-deep in a *conspiracy*... to cover up the crash of an alien space craft near Moriches Bay on September 28 in 1989...

Now -- for any of you listeners out there smotherin' a giggle... remember that dozens of credible witness saw -something- highly strange transpire in and around the bay on that night, so those foundationless giggles (the listener might be muffling?)... can be retired with some shame!

Verily, and since 1982, the New York counties of Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Duchess and Westchester... were swamp-gassed with some 5,000 reports of large, boomerang-shaped... unidentified flying objects in the skies overhead... giggle if you still can... We'll wait and look down in embarrassment for you.

Anyway...

In a completely lawful manner, with a minimum of "actionable eccentricity", and with some intelligent intensity and single-minded passion, John Ford -investigated- John Powell. Well within the law, and with some vigor, the little guy tried to get the gotcha *goods* on the big guy. One can certainly begin to predict the eventual outcome of -this- David and Goliath story...

...Time warp...

When I was a child living in west Connecticut I used to hear my Dad tell his friends these stories, myths, and legends about the cess-pool of corruption that was Suffolk County, NY in the forties and fifties... Does the reader have any idea what the "quotient of corruption" is NOW... or in the 1989 to 1996 timeframe, specifically? ...Do you think it got any better, friends and fellow motes?

Let me just cut to the curly short-hair chase, ladies and gentlemen!

John Powell was dirty as hell!

In 1999, and out of political favors apparently, he would be charged with (and plead no contest to !) Racketeering, Grand Theft, ... Extortion! And that's just what they charged him on, folks ...you can bet it was the tip of the iceberg! In the year 2000 he would be given the *minimum* sentence of twenty-three months in a *minimum* security country-club! With good behavior, you know like not being -caught- raping a fellow inmate... he would be out in 18 months...

John Ford, on the other hand has not drawn a free breath or seen the light of day since 1996...

Is anyone else seeing the connected dots in this picture? Let me help!

The truly intrepid John Ford was investigating a man, one John Powell, who could bear -no- investigation of -any- type! John Ford likely scared the wild, blueberry HORSE-MUFFINS out of John Powell (and what kind of mamma' s-boy-loser can John Ford -be-... if he can make a BIG fish in a BIG pond like John Powell sweat the hook!)!!

Is it a stretch to suppose that John Powell could have exercised a few tainted *muscles* of his vast political machine of graft and conspiracy... to... TORPEDO John Ford? Given the senseless facts of the case, John Ford's history, education and references... does the listener think it *remotely* possible that this is so?

Oh, it's so... it's just another iteration of the same old story we become more and more accustomed to in increasingly terrorized and tyrannical world... Goliath, friends and fellow motes, only loses in the Bible!

...And forget -all- about John Ford's assertions with regard to UFOs, which may or may not be dead on the money If wrong in FACT, he is most assuredly abundantly correct in SPIRIT!

Yes, John Ford's ufological assertions may have -been- all wet! They REMAIN; however, beside the point ...only significant in that Ford's "belief" in them proved the case of his... trumped UP... "instability"... So he could be more handily cocooned and effectively silenced!

What's IMPORTANT remains to be that Ford was busily investigating a -man-, a -criminal- man with long ties to organized crime... ...and so a man who could bear no such investigation!

John ford is innocent, and he rots in prison for the convenience of an ongoing conspiracy and a criminal elite! Plain and simple!

Truly, Suffolk County owes John Ford more than they could -ever- pay. They owe him his pension, a home, his savings, his modest gun collection, all his memorabilia, all his lawyers fees, and year after year after year of hard, hard time... Time made -all- the more intolerable... in as much as he was very likely a complete -innocent-... for ALL of that time!

Ford's attorney, one John Rouse, has given every indication that the case against Ford is specious at best... and wholly contrived at worst! The witnesses were suspect (...perhaps planted, or sold Ford out for reduced sentences committed in other crimes... I mean -nobody- knows went on there!), the clinical evaluation determining that he was *insane* was almost certainly flawed, canted, or ignorantly uninformed, and the "B" movie circumstances surrounding Ford's ongoing torment... are too suspicious to be minimally credible... and are without DOUBT scurrilously fabricated!

John Ford deserves a re-look, a change of venue, or a hearing of some type to try to get some real justice done. The loss of Ford's freedom for the convenience of a craven convicted criminal is the symbolic loss of -all- our freedoms, a repudiation of everything that America is supposed to be, and a crime in its own right.

John Ford's civil rights and right to personal liberty have been violated in the most fundamental sense, folks, and we VALIDATE the arbitrary rule of *privileged* autocrats... to let John Ford's ongoing treatment continue...

This cannot be allowed to stand! Restore John Ford to his previous life, Suffolk County, now and with all deliberate speed!

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Q: What’s the latest on John Ford?

A: The last I heard he was being shuffled back and forth between an institution for the criminally insane and regular jail while they decide if he’s mentally fit to stand trial. ...Cruel and unusual punishment by any stretch of the imagination, forgetting we have a constitution that prohibits that in this country...

Q: How is his health, now. How’s he holding up?

A: Who’s to say? I understand he’s gained a lot of unhealthy weight. ...And it would be perfectly understandable if he -was- stark raving mad or otherwise as crazy as a poop-house rat! I know -I’d- be. Bad enough going to jail if you did something wrong, but BEYOND toleration if you’re completely innocent! And the real, real horror is that John Ford was a kind of *cop* with an Elmer Fudd physique and a Daffy Duck voice... shoved into a prison’s general population for much of the time... I don’t think I have to paint a picture regarding what that might mean...

Q: Does John still have any hope in sight with legal representation?

A: Ford was completely wiped out trying to defend himself -- lost his home, life, and everything else. My understanding is that when he ran out of money he also ran out of lawyers...

Q: How is John Ford an albatross around -your- neck?

A: Ford is a living metaphor for the loss of liberty we all suffer in this day and age. I’ve got a suspicion that if John Ford can be restored there may be some hope for the rest of us. Restoring John Ford is the right thing to do, and it’s the right time to do it! He’s innocent, I’d bet my bottom dollar! Were it you wouldn’t you want all of -us- to be interested and outraged at your plight?

Q: Is there a place where the listener can get more information.

A: Yeah -- I’ve got a raft of stuff over at AlienViewGroup website (alienview.net), news articles, poetic commentary and critical prose with regard to Ford... it’s off the "Explore" page under John Ford...

(...Links at bottom of this page also...)

Q: Is there any hope for John Ford at all?

A: Sadly, the only hope John Ford has rests in our hands... and we’re as easy to dismiss and marginalize as he is... I say again! Let John Ford slide and -your- turn is coming... Save -him- to save yourself!

CONSPIRACY, INJUSTICE and Wrongful Prosecution, (plus a possible UFO COVERUP)

Restore JOHN FORD!

JOHN FORD was the President of the "Long Island UFO Network." On November 24th 1992, an alleged "ALIEN MOTHERSHIP" was shot out of the sky, and crashed in "SouthHaven Park on East Long Island." John Ford's Organization was informed of this occurrence, and conducted an intense investigation of the alleged UFO incident. John Ford then presented what he thought was substantial evidence of the crash, to the American Public. Mr. Ford's investigation must have gotten someone very nervous, because suddenly, John Ford had then become a serious threat to the "Coverup" Forces who have worked vigorously to hide UFO evidence from the Public, for almost 50 years!

NOW, JOHN FORD HAS BEEN JAILED, and languishes
in an institution for the criminally insane!

He has been ludicrously charged with plotting to murder certain Politicians on East Long Island. The Authorities claim to have "Hard" evidence against Him, but many believe that the UFO cover-up Forces have almost unlimited resources to "Create any hard evidence they choose." When you think about it, you might too!

MANY ALSO BELIEVE, that JOHN FORD is being used as an "EXAMPLE" and "WARNING," to all UFO RESEARCHERS, who come too close to exposing the UFO COVERUP! This may not be as far fetched as it sounds!

John Ford may be a COURAGEOUS FIGHTER, who has gone to JAIL for *YOUR* RIGHT as a CITIZEN and TAXPAYER to know the TRUTH about UFOs and be better informed!!

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The following people were, at one time, on record as references for good character . . . where they stand now, and for what reasons, is anyone's speculation!

Steve Iavarone (Vice president-Long Island UFO Network , New York)
Kelly Freeman (Florida)
Tony West (New York)
Joe Zuppardo (New York)
Don Jernigan (President-PIC-Phenomenon Investigation Committee, Ohio)
Jim Donohoe (Editor-Equinoxe UFO Newsletter, Ohio)
Richard Jones (New York)

MORE to the story!!!

THE JOHN FORD AFFAIR ...

As you read this, New York UFO activist John Ford is languishing in jail awaiting trial for conspiracy. The circumstances of his arrest and past involvement with an alleged UFO crash-retrieval incident at Moriches Bay, Long Island, are profoundly disturbing.

BACKGROUND

John Ford founded the Long Island UFO Network in 1985. He investigated UFO sightings and alleged abductions; held public meetings and sponsored conferences; leafleted and organised demonstrations. He also produced the Long Island UFO Newsletter, which was regularly received and enjoyed by enthusiasts around the globe.

It was in that newsletter that he first wrote of an extraordinary incident which alleged that a UFO had been shot down in 1989 by American military forces over Moriches Bay in Long Island. He later claimed to have uncovered details of a similar crash in 1992 in South Haven Park and when an unidentified object reportedly came to grief in the Pine Barrens region of Long Island three years later, he insisted that fires in the region had been deliberately lit to act as a diversion.

Despite consistent denials by the authorities that there was anything untoward in any of these incidents, John persisted in his claims, insisting that his sources were real and their stories sincere. He spoke of having gleaned his information from officials within the New York City Police and Fire Departments; of members of the public who claimed to have seen a fireball descend into South Haven Park. John Ford simply wouldn't take no for an answer and became a genuine thorn in the side of the authorities. He repeated his allegations through public meetings and demonstrations held outside police headquarters.

THE ARREST

On 12 June 1996, John Ford was arrested in what Police later described as a classic 'sting' operation. This followed the use of telephone taps and a paid police informant who was 'wired' to monitor and record conversations. Almost a year earlier, Ford had confided to close friends and associates that he was convinced he was the victim of a deliberate plot to harass him. He went so far as to claim that the plot might entail his penultimate murder. Shortly after his arrest, Suffolk District Attorney James Catterson, told journalists gathered for the press briefing that Ford had been charged with conspiracy to murder and possession of radium without a license.

The intended murder victim was alleged to be none other than John Powell, leader of the Suffolk County Republican Party. The means by which Ford intended to carry out the act? By placing radioactive radium in Powell's toothpaste... District Attorney Catterson held two press conferences and compared the significance of Ford's arrest to that of the infamous Unabomber.

Other charges made at the time against Ford were subsequently dropped, but the conspiracy to murder charge was deemed serious enough for the Judge in the case to deem that Ford's bail would be set at half-a-million dollars!! Needless to say, neither he nor his friends could raise such an amount and Ford remains incarcerated in jail awaiting trial. Surprisingly to some, he has issued no statement other than to plead "not guilty" when the charges were first put to him.

Towards the end of last year, several concerned parties invoked greater public awareness of Ford's plight by placing supportive articles in prestigious UFO publications such as America's MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) Journal (November 1996 issue) and the Internet. They formed the aptly named John Ford Defence Committee and began a fund raising campaign to help with his legal defence. They also publicly appealed for an expert psychiatrist, professional audiotape analyst and Long Island-based private investigator to volunteer their efforts. Those on the Committee are convinced of Ford's innocence and cite numerous incidents and strange occurrences which led them to that conclusion.

According to Committee Member Elaine Douglas, none of the media mentioned claims of harassment by Ford and other LIUFON members at the time of his arrest, nor she says, a higher than average rate of auto-accidents experienced by Ford and his colleagues. Members had their vehicles vandalized and one in particular, Joe Mazzuchelli, is said to have been dragged out of his vehicle the previous winter and physically beaten by four men who told him to "stay out of our business". Mazzuchelli was arrested with John Ford on 12 June.

WHAT DID JOHN FORD UNCOVER?

Ford, like many UFO researchers the world over, could only have dreamed of the possibility that he might one day stumble across a major UFO incident on his 'patch', at which he could assume the role of leading investigator. The 1989 Moriches Bay incident appeared to have afforded him such an opportunity. His investigation of that particular affair contained a suggestion that the technology used to bring down the purported alien spacecraft originated at Brookhaven National Laboratory, based on Long Island.

Elaine Douglas avoids the re-telling of what Ford uncovered about the three incidents in her campaign literature, preferring instead to concentrate on the man, and what she perceives to be a case of injustice. She does include a curious coincidence about Moriches Bay, which may or may not offer food for thought. It was here that Ford alleged a UFO had been brought down in 1989, but it is also the spot where TWA Flight 800 mysteriously crashed in August last year. The cause of that disaster has thus far eluded Federal Law enforcement and aviation investigators, despite twenty eye-witness accounts from people who claim to have seen an unaccountable light streaking towards the 747 aircraft moments before it exploded.

Ford's knowledge of the legal system, put to such good effect in his legitimate street demonstrations, stemmed from a career as a court official working at the Suffolk County Court. Those who knew him are adamant he was not capable of conspiring to murder anyone - it simply wasn't in his character. "You can't believe how many people have called me to say they can't envision John Ford killing anyone, or even conceiving the intention," said his attorney John Rouse. He scoffs at the suggestion that Ford could covertly enter the Powell household of four people, select the particular toothpaste used by the man of the house and implant radium in order to kill him.

Elaine Douglas points out that in the 1920's, radium-dial painters used to lick their brushes out of habit and it took 40 years before anyone contracted cancer. She asked: "Was Ford going to break in and put radium in Powell's toothpaste every week for 40 years until he got cancer?"

The prosecution's arguments are further strained she argues by their contention that the illegal radium was kept hidden by Ford in the back of his pick-up truck, which was always parked at the front of his house. District Attorney Catterson labelled Ford a "mastermind" at the press briefings, at which he raised further serious charges where no indictments were subsequently returned. "This," said John Rouse, "is called poisoning the jury pool."

The police arrested Ford immediately following a conversation that took place between their informant, Ford and Mazzuchelli. The informant was 'wired' and, it's claimed, recorded a discussion in which Ford and Mazzuchelli both spoke about doing away with Powell and another local politician through the use of radium in toothpaste. A copy of the tape was eventually handed over to Ford's attorney and according to LIUFON's Preston Nichols "is unintelligible". Nichols said, "All I can clearly hear on that tape is the informant talking and John laughing, like whatever they're talking about is a big joke."

Attorney Rouse is hoping to get the tape enhanced, but admits the plight of both men is serious. If found guilty, either could be jailed for between 25 and 75 years in an upstate New York prison. Elaine Douglas has had run-ins with the Suffolk County Police before. In April 1993 she wrote to them complaining of police violation of LIUFON member's civil rights. Apparently they had been prevented from leafleting near South Haven Park by the police who told them they must leave the area. The house to house leafleting had been organized to seek out potential witnesses in what was described by Douglas as a "witness-constitutionally protected activity".

The John Ford Defense Committee's support for Ford "..is based on our conviction that he did not, would not, and could not conspire to murder anyone," said Elaine Douglas. "On this point our support is complete and total," she added. What though of Ford's claims that a low intense military conflict exists between the United States and aliens? Is that possible? "Yes, it is," according to Douglas. "I speak only for myself and not for other members of the Defense Committee," she said. "I always found John's allegations hard to believe but impossible to dismiss because he had evidence what he claimed was perfectly possible. "

Just because John's allegations 'fit' doesn't make them true, but the fact is John had evidence. He claimed three events on Long Island - even if he was wrong on two of them, if he was right on only one, John had a tiger by the tail. If so, it's no surprise somebody would try to destroy John Ford." "He is the first UFO investigator to be seriously persecuted by the authorities. Shall we sit idly by while our colleague's life is destroyed? If John Ford is silenced, who is next?"

AN INDEPENDENT VIEWPOINT

We invited New York resident Alan Raven to offer his opinions about the affair and he wrote the following: I did attend a one-day presentation in the summer of 1994 given by the Long Island group about the 1992 (South Haven Park) incident. As I expected, it was overly long at nine hours and was ragged, rambling and generally unprofessional. However, the group had done a tremendous amount of work, beginning on the evening of the incident. At the time of the presentation the investigation was still on-going, and involved mapping, interviews, collection of what might have been bits of wreckage, on-ground searches, surveys, and even a couple of aerial searches.

The group claimed there was a collision of sorts at 90,000ft. At least two vehicles came to earth and wreckage was spread over a wide area. One object crashed near the South Shore in South Haven Park (which in reality is a pine forest) after passing low over a main highway (Sunrise Highway) and was seen close-up by several motorists. The object (described as a rod) passed out of sight. Shortly afterwards there was an explosion followed immediately by a large fire that lit up the night sky. A second object came to earth in the grounds of Brookhaven National Laboratory, a few miles to the north of the South Haven Park site. After being grounded for several hours the object exploded as it tried to take off. The Long Island group obtained videotape from a source which they refused to name.

The first video was taken at the South Haven Park by (they claimed) a fireman who was one of the first on the scene. These firemen arrived before government forces came and the video was of course confiscated. The group's copy came (they say) from a government source.

The video, which is of very poor quality and taken at night, shows figures being moved and laid out. It also purports to show (in part close-up) an insectoid figure. The second video clip, from the same source, shows an explosion of some sort that appears to be associated with a building, or object, or craft.

The group claimed it was a disc or lifeboat type of craft that came down in the grounds of Brookhaven. I have seen both video clips several times. They were interesting but unfortunately not definitive, even after enhancement. After sitting through the presentation I came away having no doubt that something very important did happen that night, and that the government came down with an iron-fist within one hour of the event.

There was in addition, a great deal of trace evidence spread over large areas.

CONSPIRACY? WHAT CONSPIRACY?

All those closest to John Ford have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that his track record as a UFO 'activist' is probably second to none. 'He investigated UFO sightings and alleged abductions; held public meetings and sponsored conferences; leafleted and organised demonstrations. He also produced the Long Island UFO Newsletter, which was regularly received and enjoyed by enthusiasts around the globe.' Some find it rather odd therefore, that a man who argued so vociferously to make his point, who proclaimed he was being harassed by the authorities, should now utter nothing more than two words following his arrest. Other than "not guilty" he has issued no statement which could have been used by the Defence Committee to bolster their campaign.

Of course Ford might well be acting on instructions issued by his defense attorney to 'say nothing until the trial' - a perfectly reasonable and common practice. Elaine Douglas raises claims of harassment, beatings, burglaries, auto accidents and vandalism, but where is the corroboration? Were reports filed to the police in all these instances? How much radium did the police find? High quantities might just take slightly less than 40 years to have lethal effects.

Were the police acting unconstitutionally in preventing leafleting campaigns? Some say not - especially if a neighborhood had signs that prohibited such activity. If a resident complained to the police they would be duty bound to act. Until the trial takes place, one can only speculate as to what might emerge in terms of evidence presented by both defence and prosecution attorneys which will hopefully answer these and many other questions.

If allegations of a conspiracy to discredit John Ford have any foundation at all, it must mean that what he and other colleagues stumbled across as UFO researchers was of such tremendous significance that the authorities had to shut them up. So what exactly did happen? The Unopened Files re-traced the events as reported by Ford and his colleagues several years ago. Few listened to him at the time, but now you have an opportunity to make a balanced judgement for yourselves...

THE MORICHES BAY CRASH RETRIEVAL CASE

The Long Island UFO Network has publicly stated since October 1995, that a major UFO incident occurred over Moriches Bay off the South Shore of Long Island. At the time, this body of water and its adjoining communities were experiencing the highest volume of UFO activity reported in Suffolk County.

Its founder, John Ford, maintains that the United States Government, through the actions of its armed forces and intelligence community, intercepted and retrieved an alien spacecraft from Moriches Bay on 28 September 1989. He also claimed the action was a carefully planned and executed operation meticulously formulated some six months in advance.

The purpose of this action was to bring down an alien spacecraft, described as a triangular wedge-shaped craft measuring some 574ft across at its widest point. This was to enable the United States to retrieve its technology and propulsion drive system.

A STEP BACK IN TIME

Beginning in 1982, the counties of Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Duchess and Westchester in this up-state region were inundated with some 5,000 reports of large boomerang-shaped flying objects.

Some of the early 1983 reports recorded low altitude observations made both at night and by day. One object 'buzzed' hundreds of witnesses over major parks and highways.

Descriptions of these objects varied from a large boomerang-shape illuminated by intense lights, to a large object which displayed a circle pattern of lights on its underside followed by a single point of light on its outermost extension.

On 24 July 1984, a man and his wife videotaped a large object outside their home in New York which showed a circular light formation from an unknown object. Subsequent analysis of the footage revealed a dark mass behind the formation. On 14 June 1986, a cross-shaped UFO was videotaped by a New York resident and declared genuine by the Long Island group.

On reading reports of the UFO 'wave' in the popular press and the book Night Siege, co-authored by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, John Ford decided to launch the Long Island UFO Network with his friend and associate Richard Stout. Both men were familiar with the UFO situation at that time and spent a year trying to discover the cause of mysterious sky-flashes and sky-quakes effecting the up-state region.

In October 1987, Stout, in his capacity as a Road Site Inspector for the town of Brookhaven, came across the mutilated remains of a young heifer on Long Island. The precise, almost surgical wounds matched those of other animals whose deaths had been widely reported elsewhere in the United States, predominantly by TV journalist Linda Moulton Howe, who has done more than anyone to bring the strange 'animal mutilation' enigma to the forefront of public and media attention.

Confirmation that this was of the same ilk came from an investigator of the Suffolk County District Attorney's office who stopped to question Stout at the scene and ask why he should be there. The man confirmed that his office were looking into the matter.

Through late January and early February of 1988, Suffolk's South Shore witnessed strange mutilations of dogs, cat, sheep, deer, goats and cows. Reports flooded in of mutilated animals that had been drained of blood.

John Ford discovered that the Federal Government, with the assistance of government scientists, the FBI and local police officers, were acting as one with the District Attorney's office in determining the likely cause of the mutilations. Shortly after, the 42nd Aviation Battalion, New York State National Guard, began holding night exercises in areas where mutilations and UFO activity had been reported.

In the summer of 1982, a well-known psychiatrist and his wife were followed in their car by a luminous oval-shaped object. On 26 December 1982, a woman reported observing a large object over her house. It was so big she couldn't see the end of it. She claimed to have seen metal plates and rivets. Around that time, Stout and family member observed a large oval-shaped object over Moriches Bay illuminated by three amber lights. He alleged it was chased into a cloud by an USAF C-130 aircraft.

Throughout 1983-84, numerous UFO reports were made of an object seen near Shoreham Nuclear Power Station. On 13 August 1995, a large circular object 'buzzed' Port Washington displaying multi-faceted light patterns. The "domed saucer" was estimated to be some 2,000ft in diameter and caused a minor panic as it floated away over Main Street and out over the bay.

Some of the incidents led to electric generating system disturbances. In September 1986, a dark object hovered over a pick-up truck, completely immobilizing the vehicles electrics. Homes in central Moriches experienced total power failures.

On 27 December 1987, a large oval-shaped object with six amber lights zig-zagged down a main highway. Motorists were able to keep pace with the object because of its slow speed and low altitude.

On 13 September 1987, a 36ft diameter oval-shaped object was seen to land adjacent to a farmhouse by the owners son. Then, on 24 January 1989, LIUFON researchers received reports of further landings. A team spent some time at a farm where circular trace marks had been left in the ground. In the inner part of the circle, grass chlorophyll had been destroyed and tests offered no natural explanation as to the cause. Chemicals were also ruled out.

Soil in the immediate vicinity revealed very low levels of nutrients and once again no explanation was forthcoming after tests. The investigating team suspected that members of the farming family might have experienced some form of abduction experience - if that were true, the 'visitors' would be back.

The team positioned photo-electric cells around the family's living quarters. Sometime later a 32ft diameter oval-shaped object attempted to land in the grounds of the farm. Somehow this triggered the alarms and awoke the family who saw the craft. This incident was independently witnessed by a person across the road from the farmers property.

During 1988, John Ford and his colleagues responded to countless reports from worried parents whose children kept seeing 'monsters' in their bedroom late at night. Tests in some of the homes revealed unusual levels of low intensity radiation and magnetic anomalies. When questioned, children described and drew some of the 'monsters' - in every case they were grey-skinned creatures with big, black eyes.

As abduction reports increased beyond the average, so too did sightings of military helicopter activity in Long Island itself.

"THIS WILL BLOW YOUR MINDS"

That's how John Ford prepared his colleagues before relating what took place at a meeting he claimed to have had with a scientist from Brookhaven Laboratory during the height of the UFO 'wave'.

According to Ford, the scientist confided that he and his colleagues at Brookhaven were aware that 'we' (the Earth) were being watched from the sky.

"But," said the scientists, "the US Government was watching 'them'."

The man claimed to Ford that the United States had the ability through its array of orbiting satellites to 'read' the propulsion system of these unknown craft and track them.

LEAD-UP TO THE EVENT

On Sunday, 24 September 1989, Bruce and Martha Richardson were in their privately owned cabin cruiser moored in the Moriches Bay Yacht Centre when they saw a flight of dark green 'Huey' US Army helicopters approach from the east.

As they roared over the bay they formed a single line formation and then began to fly in a counter-clockwise flight rotation around the bay and over the dune area of Smiths Point Beach. This lasted for approximately one hour before the helicopters left the area in a westerly heading.

The local Government of Suffolk County, New York, through the office of the County Executive, announced in late August 1989 that the Smiths Point Beach County Camp grounds would be closed early.

They explained their reasons for the closure, the first of its kind in 18 years, was due to purely financial considerations in what had been a crisis Budgetary year for the County. Campers and surfers who would normally have kept the beaches open until late October in what was a cheap Autumn break, were not amused. Their anger was reflected in local newspapers throughout Suffolk County - to no avail. There would be no campers or surfers present on the night of 28 September 1989 to witness events unfold in Moriches Bay.

THE WEST HAMPTON AIR NATIONAL GUARD FACILITY

That year, NASA was set to resume launches of the Space Shuttle in the wake of the ill-fated Challenger disaster. All of the United States news media had reported on the unique training undertaken at West Hampton by the New York National Guard Air/Sea Rescue Unit based at West Hampton.

A major contract had been awarded by NASA to this unit to perform the function of rescuing Shuttle astronauts in the event their craft went down off the East Coast (Moriches Bay) area. It was major news for Long Island residents and television pictures of the unit training at sea were screened across the country.

Richard Stout, co-founder of the Long Island UFO Network, lived in Centre Moriches, some twelve blocks from the bay. When the organisation was formed, members invested in several thousand dollars of research tools. They acquired low-light photographic and video equipment, along with telephoto lenses. Early that September, his home was burglarized and all the equipment was stolen. The thief has never been caught.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

On the evening of 28 September 1989, residents within a twelve block radius of Moriches Bay reported that cable TV and electricity supplies were periodically failing. No satisfactory explanation has ever been provided to explain the power loss.

Some residents then saw strange lights over the bay which at first they took to be parachute flares dropped by the military on some sort of exercise. Only when the flares continued to hover and refused to descend into the waters below did they realise they belonged to something else.

Kings Park - Long Island - 5.30pm

Mrs. McLaughlin was a young housewife with two young boys and with her husband lived in the Kings Park area of Suffolk County.

That afternoon the boys had returned from school and were watching TV in the den. Mrs. McLaughlin was preparing dinner and cleaning up around the house when she suddenly heard the boys call out and ask her to come to the back window.

Seemingly, one of the youngsters had seen two large objects hovering in the sky outside and had called his brother to come and look. They watched the objects for some time before shouting for their mother to join them. Mrs. McLaughlin joined her sons at the window and was amazed by the sight of two large objects that appeared to just hang motionless in the sky.

She later told LIUFON investigators that she remained baffled by what she saw. The objects were approximately one-and-a-half miles away, very large and triangular in shape. She couldn't see any engines, wings, lights or windows, but their surface appeared jet black and smooth.

Interestingly, she said that during the observation, one of the objects had moved closer to the other craft, but achieved this at "staggering" speed - in no more than a second.

Interstate Highway - Long Island - 7.10pm

At exactly 7.10pm a young aerospace engineer in Long Island reported seeing a half-circle of very bright amber lights some distance away. Watching through binoculars, he was convinced he saw a large structure connected to the lights. After watching it hover for several minutes, it later moved off slowly in a northerly direction.

Shortly after and some thirty miles to the north, motorists driving on the Interstate Highway watched a "large dark mass with six to eight very bright amber lights" moving overhead. Witnesses said later that the object made no sound and was larger than a football field.

Calverton - Long Island - 8.00pm

Mrs. 'P.G.' and her fifteen-year-old son were driving home on the Long Island Expressway after visiting friends in the Calverton area. This adjoins farmland and woods that stretch out among the urban sprawl.

As they travelled east both noticed six very bright amber lights, much bigger than car headlights, close to a nearby field but suspended in the sky. As the road took them closer she saw the lights belonged to a very large triangular-shaped craft that was silhouetted against the night sky. She said the craft was as big as two football fields but assumed it was some sort of experimental aircraft from the nearby Calverton test facility.

Hartford International Airport - 8.10pm

UFO reports then began to emanate from the Hartford area and at 8.10pm, workers at Hartford International Airport observed a large boomerang-shaped object hovering above an unused tarmac area of the airfield.

As they watched in disbelief, they saw a blue beam of light come from the object and strike the ground beneath where it maintained its position and brilliance. All were then stunned to see "five creatures" glide down the beam to the ground. Reportedly, some of the airport workers chased the creatures but the beam lifted them back to safety.

One of the eye-witnesses later spoke with Phil Imbrogno of LIUFON about the incident, but only on the strict understanding that his identity would remain totally confidential. He said that he and the rest of those workers who had seen everything had been warned by officials from the Federal Aviation Authority to keep totally silent. The man said that the object was "boomerang-shaped", larger than a football field and had six amber lights.

Moriches Bay - 8.45pm

Paul Peterson was watching television when he suddenly noticed some strange amber lights through his French windows overlooking Moriches Bay. They gradually appeared in sequence, from one to six, and were unnaturally brilliant as they illuminated the night sky.

He then heard a loud noise above his home so went outdoors to see a number of large, dark green Sikorsky helicopters in formation flying low over some trees in an arc before heading out over the bay in the direction of the lights.

Paul was quickly joined by his wife to watch the spectacle. They estimated each of the six amber lights to be approximately 60 - 80ft across. After a couple of minutes, Paul dashed indoors to grab his camcorder to record the event. However, because of the brilliance of the lights he had difficulty in focusing, but needed to be sure he was recording something. He rushed back inside once again and routed the camcorder through his VCR to 'play-back' mode. He was stunned when the TV flickered into life and the strange amber lights were totally absent from the screen - the only thing that had been recorded was the sound of helicopters.

Not to be outdone, Paul dug out his instamatic camera and a spare roll of film and with his son, drove to the dock side a short distance away. His wife was too nervous to accompany them.

When they reached the dock side, father and son saw a pair of amber lights hovering 50 - 100ft above the water some 300 yards away from the shore. Before long, the lights became six in number, their brilliance illuminating the whole bay. A searchlight from a Suffolk County Police helicopter then appeared and it was quickly joined by the Sikorsky's.

Then the stunned witnesses saw an intense bluish/white light that lit up the beach and sand dunes near the Moriches Inlet. The circling helicopters moved towards this area and seemed to paying particular attention to what appeared to be some kind of structure behind the light source. At one stage, this light became so intense that Paul and his son had to look away. Throughout this period of time, Moriches Bay was rocked by a strange and powerful wind.

From 11.15pm everything suddenly went quiet and the lights disappeared. Ten minutes later though the lights and helicopters reappeared over the bay. They remained visible until midnight, when everything went quiet again.

Unknown to Paul, another family nearby had watched the event in its entirety, but with one important difference. Because of their vantage point, they had made out two huge triangular-shaped objects hovering over the bay. They said each was the size of an airliner, but performed aerial manoeuvres beyond the capability of any aircraft known to them.

Paul is a former Vietnam Airborne Ranger with combat experience. He told investigators that the lights were not flares and remains convinced that he and his son were witnesses to a UFO incident.

Drug Enforcement Administration Nassau / Suffolk County Line - 9.00pm

The West Hampton Air Guard facility alerted the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) they had a large unidentified aircraft on their scope over Moriches Bay. Fearing the unregistered flight pointed to a drug smuggling operation, they requested a special DEA intercept team of agents be dispatched from Manhattan to investigate.

A helicopter took off carrying a heavily armed team of agents with instructions that once located, the suspicious aircraft should be ordered to land at Brookhaven Airport for inspection.

As the helicopter approached the Nassau / Suffolk County border, the pilot was informed that the DEA's authority to operate over Moriches Bay had been suspended due to an on-going USAF operation in the area.

In fact, all airspace over Moriches Bay was closed to civilian air traffic. The helicopter pilot, possibly urged on by his hastily assembled passengers, sought further clarification. However, he was told that if he attempted to enter the area, they would be prevented from doing so. The pilot had no alternative but to turn around and head back to Manhattan.

* This information came from two very confidential sources. Disclosure of their identities would, according to John Ford, do their future career prospects no good at all. One source overheard a conversation and the other was involved in logging flight plans with the Federal Aviation Authority.

Kathy O'Donnelly works as a secretary for a real estate and insurance office and on 28 September had been working late until 9.00pm. Thirty minutes into her southerly drive home on the Sunrise Highway, she saw six to eight very bright amber-coloured lights above and behind her car.

She continued to watch the light as they gradually appeared to descend in altitude to almost tree-top height. They appeared to be keeping pace with her vehicle but were so bright they illuminated its interior. Frightened and confused, she accelerated and eventually came to the turn-off which took her closer to home.

Kathy arrived in her drive and before drawing to a stop sounded her car horn repeatedly. Her husband and a friend, hurried outside to see what the commotion was about. All three were soon staring at the sky across the street beyond a nearby potato farm - there were the strange amber lights which had described moments before. Only a minute had passed before the lights disappeared in the distance, heading out toward Moriches Bay.

Frank 'D' - Moriches Bay - Midnight

Frank 'D' lives near the shoreline of Moriches Bay. He is a New York State officer employed by the Nassau County District Court. He claimed that around midnight, he had driven to the shoreline to numerous parachute flares he had observed being dropped by helicopters and C-130 aircraft.

In subsequent statements released by the USAF and Coastguard, no reference is made to the dropping of flares.

Anonymous Witness - Moriches Bay 12.30am - 29 September

A person who wished to remain anonymous told LIUFON investigators that he had a heard a loud splash over Moriches Bay at approximately 12.30am while out walking near the shore. At 12.45 am he saw helicopters hovering in the middle of the bay. They appeared to be interested in something which was in the water.

John "D' - Quoque 2.30am - 29 September

John 'D' is a commodities broker on Wall Street. He too sought confidentiality before revealing anything with LIUFON investigators.

Although he resides in Bay Bridge, Brooklyn, every weekend, during spring to late Autumn, he spent time with his sister and her family who live in Quoque. Their home is less than a quarter-of-a-mile from south of the main runway at West Hampton Air Guard facility.

At approximately 2.30am, the noise of helicopter engines forced him from his bed to stare out of the second floor bedroom window. At tree-top level, two large military helicopters were headed for the runway.

Cables were slung underneath, but the trees obscured his view of precisely what they were carrying. In the distance he saw the helicopters hover over the runway while men below saw their cargo safely lowered to the ground. The whole operation took some 45 minutes.

George Dickson's Story 4 October

George Dickson is an amateur anthropologist and independent UFO investigator in his own right. On 4 October 1989, George contacted John Ford and the LIUFON to inform them that he had been given information about a UFO incident which had taken place over Moriches Bay just a few days before.

George said the information came from an "impeccable" source - an Air Force Colonel attached to Air Force Intelligence at the Pentagon. It was the Colonel who confided in George that a UFO had been intercepted and brought down on 28 September over Moriches Bay by a 'Star Wars' weapon.

George was told that the UFO had crashed into sand dunes where it was subsequently retrieved. The Colonel also claimed to have told him that eighteen US personnel had been killed during the operation when those on board the craft retaliated.

The means by which they retaliated? George said the Colonel spoke of some form of low-frequency sound wave which destroys the molecular cohesiveness of known matter. He also revealed that some of the fatalities included people who had proven psychic abilities to communicate with the occupants and any survivors, if required.

George refused to reveal the name of his source and has stuck by this, and the story, to this day.

Meeting with the Scientist April / August - 1990

John Ford was approached by a man who claimed to be a friend and close confidant of a scientist who was involved in the Moriches Bay incident. He was told that the scientist was prepared to discuss the matter with him, but only on his terms and only when things had "cooled down". Ford and his colleagues agreed that this would be the basis for any interviews and a continuation of dialogue.

Late one Sunday evening in April 1990, Ford finally met with the scientist alone, known only as Dr. 'Nick'. A second meeting took place in August of that year. The man insisted that none of the interviews be tape recorded and his true identity never revealed under any circumstances.

Ford was allowed to make written notes however, a task later undertaken in August by Kay Ford, secretary and treasurer to the LIUFON organisation, who was permitted to sit on the second interview.

At both meetings, Dr. 'Nick' stated that the United States had intercepted and brought down a wedged or boomerang-shaped UFO over Moriches Bay on the night of 28 September 1989.

His 'revelations' are listed thus:

   ¥ He was present along with other members of his engineering team at the incident itself. The crash occurred around midnight or a little afterwards.

   ¥ He had been involved in the study of crashed UFOs on behalf of the US Government since the 1970's.

   ¥ He was first employed to study the electrics of recovered UFOs at S-3, an underground facility housed at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. It was here, he alleged, that retrieved UFOs are stored.

   ¥ His study of one such craft had convinced him 'their' technology was far in advance of anything known on Earth.

   ¥ That technology was crystalline-based, from which came focusing elements used in 'their' propulsion drive mechanism. The crystals helped 'tune' frequencies which enabled the anti-gravity drive system to work. Those crystals performed a similar function to our micro-chips.

   ¥ Aliens were visiting our planet to discover all that they could about our electronics and how we use and apply the electron in everyday use. Their goal appeared to be to learn how to 'fuse' both technologies into one.

   ¥ The weapon used to bring down the craft was developed and built at A.I.L. Electronics on Long Island with funds allocated by the S.D.I. (Strategic Defence Initiative).

   ¥ He and his engineering colleagues developed circuits used in the Doppler Radar System while he was personally responsible for constructing the transmitter.

According to John Ford, Dr. 'Nick' took great pride in talking about the transmitter. He told Ford it was "..his baby that did the job".

   ¥ The Doppler Radar System had been used because it could bend at 90 degrees in order to penetrate the craft's plasma field which surrounded its frame.

   ¥ A weapons test had been conducted five weeks before the Moriches Bay incident at Fort Meade, Maryland. A previously recovered craft some 60ft across had been suspended in a secure hangar. The test proved successful as the craft fell in an instant onto huge inflatable cushions laid on the ground below to absorb its impact.

   ¥ The craft brought down in Moriches Bay had been tracked for months because of its repeated sorties over the Long Island area.

   ¥ This was only part of a confrontation which had been on-going for the past five years after a fall-out between the US Government and the aliens when an existing treaty had been terminated. Hostilities had not begun in earnest, but this was now an 'adversary condition'.

   ¥ He did not know what had happened to the wreckage or how it was removed from the scene. He did not know of any fatalities, but when told there had been a report that eighteen people had been killed, he thought the figure remarkably low in the circumstances.

   ¥ A number of alien bodies had been recovered and sent to Brookhaven Laboratories. He was certain of this because a number of his colleagues had seen them. He said, "This was a grey's ship, it is they who are our adversaries".

A CREDIBLE ACCOUNT OR CERTIFIED NONSENSE?

What credence one can attach to these fairly elaborate claims imparted by Dr. 'Nick' is totally dependent on the reliability factor afforded him by John and Kay Ford. They, and only they, claim to have met the man.

Presumably, they made their own checks to discover that he really is who he say's he is, and worked where he said he worked. Unfortunately, that crucial element, which dictates the integrity of their reported dealings with this gentleman, is markedly absent.

However, Dr. 'Nick' did reveal the location where he and his team had parked and operated the weapons system on the night of 28 September. Unknown to him, when LIUFON members had visited the Moriches Bay area for on-site investigation, they came across a depressed circle of vegetation measuring some 75ft in diameter. They had never disclosed this 'find' to the public.

The location revealed by Dr. 'Nick' and the site discovered by the LIUFON team were one and the same. Either it was an extraordinary coincidence, or Dr. 'Nick' did indeed have first-hand knowledge of the incident.

DESCRIBING 'THE EVENT'

Dr. 'Nick' claimed that on the night of 28 September 1989, he and two other members of his engineering team had been whisked away from his office by two military officers. They had previously been instructed to make themselves available for a possible demonstration test of their device and have a transmitter ready for use.

They were driven off in two civilian jeeps to Smith's Point Bridge. They carried on east over the bridge and along an access road to the dune preserve. The time by then was approximately 11.00pm.

As they passed a field used for parking vehicles, he noticed several large flat-bed transport trucks. Passing through the gate to the dune preserve, he was driven to the Camp Ground area. Here, he saw two camouflaged military trucks. One housed communications and the other was a mobile radar tracking vehicle.

A senior military official met the group and instructed them to go immediately to the Doppler Radar site, located on a peninsula that jutted out into Moriches Bay. The antenna was recessed into a sand dune to aid concealment and two large Ford vans packed with equipment were alongside. A 400Hz generator was also present.

As they made their way to the weapon, the group saw helicopters flying around the bay - circling a formation of bright amber lights.

With the transmitter set-up and all systems connected, power to the device was switched on between 11.30 - 11.45pm. The antenna began to glow a bright blue colour.

The team were then instructed to wait until the object came into view. Between midnight and 12.15am, a series of searchlights picked out the craft and its helicopter escort as it made its way along the shoreline. Dr. 'Nick' and his colleagues suddenly saw the object illuminated still further when a series of white lights seemed to appear from its main body.

Now brilliantly silhouetted against the night sky some several hundred yards away and low over the bay, an order was given to "bring it down". Switches were thrown and the object fell instantly into the water, breaking in two on impact. This action produced a tremendous roar and slight swell.

Immediately, military officers close by ordered Dr. 'Nick' and his team to "get the hell out there". They were ushered into jeeps and driven back over the bridge. Dr. 'Nick' took a nervous glance back over the bay and saw that the object had sunk. Helicopters and searchlights hovered above the spot.

A few days later, some of his associates who had been tasked with examining the wreckage, told him that alien bodies, an anti-matter reactor and advanced electronic equipment had been removed. He was also told that the metal composition of the craft was super strong and incredibly light.

WHISPERS AND RUMORS

Research groups and investigators often receive numerous calls and correspondence from anonymous sources who claim to have intimate knowledge about a particular UFO incident or experience.

The anonymous source can sometimes shed practical light on an event that has significant bearing, but by and large, 'revelations' from people who refuse to disclose their identities to researchers have to be treated with a pinch of salt.

A man claiming to be a retired Air Force officer residing in West Hampton, made two telephone calls to Kay Ford. He said he had served in the Air Guard at West Hampton until his retirement in 1986. He didn't want to reveal his name or precise whereabouts because it might mean jeopardizing his pension. The man told Kay he had been reading up on the Moriches Bay incident and that she might be interested to listen to what he had to say.

He claimed that in late 1983 or early 1984, another object was recovered by the USAF off Long Island, and that he had actually seen with his own eyes a 20ft long and 20ft wide boomerang-shaped object brought in by helicopter to West Hampton.

The object weighed in excess of 10,000 pounds and when exposed to sunlight, exhibited a fluorescent orange glow. He told Kay that the object was kept under tight security by armed guards for at least a day in an aircraft scramble shelter. No one was allowed to go near or examine the object, but the next day a C-147 arrived at the base and took off with the mystery object for Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

Does any of this, and the reported revelations from the anonymous Dr. 'Nick' have any useful and meaningful substance? Such revelations do not constitute evidence, but they should not be entirely dismissed out of hand, and for one good reason - something quite unusual, some might say extraordinary, did occur over Moriches Bay on 28 September 1989. Quite what that 'something' was remains a puzzle.

No definitive explanation which could account for the only credible aspect of this affair - the witness testimony of dozens of people, who clearly saw something strange in the skies above their homes that night - has ever been afforded by the authorities. Why?

What though of John Ford? Will he reveal the identity of Dr. 'Nick' at his subsequent trial and force the issue of harassment? Will the incident at Moriches Bay be mentioned at all? We shall have to wait and see whether those members on the John Ford Defence Committee are ultimately proved correct in presuming that neither Ford nor Mazzuchelli were capable of conspiracy to murder.

It will also be interesting to see how much attention is focused on the trial by America's media 'circus'. Will its famed 'Court TV' series offer a 'fly-on- the-wall' opportunity for millions to follow proceedings, or will armchair viewers have to settle for their usual diet of celebrity and criminal trials?

One thing is for certain, not even Agatha Christie could have dreamed up a crime mystery where the murder weapon turned out to be radium in the toothpaste...

A Connection To The Alleged Moriches UFO Crash/Retrieval?

11-20-98

Dear Jeff,

I read with great interest your post about the arrest of LIUFON investigator John Ford and the alleged crashes and retrievals of UFOs over Moriches Bay, LI, in 1989 and in Southaven Park, LI, in 1995.

I lived most of my life on Long Island (I currently reside in Manhattan). My sister and her family, current residents of Ronkonkoma, LI, lived in Manorville in '89 and '95, not far from where the alleged activities took place. My mother and 3 of my brothers live in Garden City, LI, which is about 50 miles west of Moriches Bay.

I thought I'd share with you a few stories that may not be specifically related to the alleged activities in your post, but which, nonetheless, have compelled me to reconsider them in an entirely new light.

Story 1: On Monday night, May 25, 1987, my mother's neighborhood was buzzed by 3 dark helicopters. (My mother recalls them as being dark green, my brothers insist they were black; all agree they were unmarked.) The helicopters hovered at treetop level, and one of them touched down briefly in an athletic field that lies directly across the street from my mother's house. The entire incident lasted about 10 minutes, and it caused quite a stir both with my family and more than a few neighbors.

Newsday, the local newspaper, ran an article about the helicopter buzzing on May 27, 1987. According to their report, the "twin-blade Chinook-type" helicopters were apparently participating in an FBI training exercise. FBI spokesman Joseph Valiquette explained that the helicopter landing resulted when "the pilot of one of the helicopters thought the craft might be experiencing a mechanical malfunction." Valiquette added that "local authorities had been informed well in advance of the exercise." However, according to the story, "Garden City police officials said they were never informed of any landings," and "a spokesman for the Nassau [County] police department's air bureau declined to discuss" the incident, referring all calls back to the bureau. The story concludes with Valiquette saying, "I think the entire episode will have to remain a mystery."

Story 2: My sister, a devout Catholic, used to belong to a prayer group that met weekly during the early 1990s in Shirley, LI, a community situated not far from Moriches Bay. She told me that one night the group was discussing apparitions of the Virgin Mary. One of the members, a Shirley resident, wondered aloud whether there might be a connection between the apparitions and UFO activity, adding that she had seen a triangle-shaped UFO in her neighborhood. With that, several other members of the group, all local residents, interjected that they, too, had seen similar objects, both triangle- and disc-shaped, over the past few years.

Story 3: One night during August of this year, my sister (now a resident of Ronkonkoma, which is about 10 miles west of Manorville and not far from a Grumman facility) hopped into her car with her 8-year-old son to pick up her 16-year-old daughter from work. On the way home, she was driving along Hawkins Ave. with the sunroof open when her son exclaimed, "Look! A flying car!" Her daughter, looking out the back window, said, "Oh my God, it is a flying car!" The object, according to my sister, slowly caught up to their car and filled it with a bright light. She said the object couldn't have been more than 40 feet above the ground and didn't make a sound. As it passed over her car she could see red lights on the back of this object. The object seemingly followed them for 5 minutes until they turned off Hawkins Ave. My sister thought the object might have been some kind of craft being tested by Grumman. But the fact that this thing didn't make a sound makes me wonder.

So there you have it, Jeff. Could there be a connection between all of this activity and your posting about Ford and the alleged UFO crashes/retrievals? I'm the only UFO buff in the family. It figures I wasn't a party to any of these incidents.

UPDATE:
(name on file)

TO DATE (July 25, 2001) John Ford remains in prison. His accuser, John Powell, subsequently pled no contest to SIGNIFICANT racketeering charges, and to this writer's knowledge spent little if NO time in jail.

Forgetting that John Ford could have been all wet in his Ufological assertions, it is CRYSTAL clear that he was massing a competent investigation on John Powell just when Powell could tolerate NO investigation, given his PROVEN criminal activities. It is no stretch to this writer that Powell exercised a sizable criminal/political machine he controlled and torpedoed FORD to save his own criminal skin.

John Ford is innocent of ANY crime I'd wager. That crime only existed in the minds of his accusers to facilitate their criminal agenda. It is, almost certainly, BASELESS!

RESTORE JOHN FORD!


PS: Great show! Keep up the go

CONSPIRACY, INJUSTICE and Wrongful Prosecution, (plus a possible UFO COVERUP)

Restore JOHN FORD!

The following people were, at one time, on record as references for good character . . . where they stand now, and for what reasons, is anyone's speculation!

READ THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT BY A CREDIBLE PERSON WHO KNEW HIM!!!

THE ORDEAL OF JOHN FORD by Elaine Douglass