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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?
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