X Descending (2 page)

Attachments
288

A)
AFOSI Complaint Form (Signed by Richard Doty)
289

B)
Text of the “Weitzel Letter” sent anonymously to APRO in 1980.
291

C)
AFOSI Report of Doty and Miller’s visit with Paul Bennewitz
294

D)
AFOSI
Report of meeting at Kirtland AFB in November of 1980.
296

E)
Ernest Edwards briefing transcript log entry
298

F)
The Aquarius Telex
300

G)
UFO Hypothesis and Survival Questions
301

H)
UFOs and the Intelligence Community Blind Spot To Surprise or Deceptive Data
308

Index
315

About the author

Figure 1
: The Manzano Weapons Storage area and a depiction of a rooftop view from the Four Hills.

Figure 2
: New Mexico map, with insets showing the area of Kirtland Air Force Base.

Figure 3
: Computer generated aerial image of the entire region surrounding the MWSA with locations of interest.

Figure 4
: Illustration of four vehicles lifting off from the grounds of the MWSA.

Figure 5
: Actual image from Bennewitz film showing launch of 18’ vehicle (enhanced).

Figure 6
: Three frames from Bennewitz film showing vehicles at different stages (enhanced).

Figure 7
: Actual image of larger 36’ vehicle from Bennewitz film (enhanced).

Figure 8
: Enlargement of 18’ vehicle in flight (enhanced).

Figure 9
: Aerial view showing distance and field-of-view from the Four Hills to the MWSA.

Figure 10
: Diagram and illustration showing elevations in the MWSA, with flight path.

Figure 11
: Computer generated aerial image looking eastward over the MWSA into Coyote Canyon and Lurance Canyon.

Figure 12
: Recreation of one vehicle as seen in film taken by Ray Stanford, with diagrams indicating interesting details.

Figure 13
: Illustration showing comparative views of the vehicle in Stanford’s film and Lightcraft vehicle as conceived by Myrabo.

Figure 14
: Chronological timeline showing change in laser Lightcraft design and integration of Directed Energy Air Spike concept after 1988.

Figure 15
: Paul Bennewitz, the first Polaroid photo, and a map showing the Archuleta Mesa.

Figure 16
: Lima Site 20A in Laos.

Figure 17
: Illustration of the vehicle seen by Lonnie Zamora in Socorro, New Mexico.

Figure 18
: Zamora’s indications of the shape, position, and the symbol on the Socorro vehicle.

AFOSI:
Air Force Office of Special Investigations
—Provides the AF police function in conducting criminal investigations and other functions on military bases. OSI Special Agents are also trained in intelligence and counterintelligence work and OSI has been involved in investigating sightings of aerial objects over military installations for many years.

AFOSP:
Air Force Office of Security Police
—Headquartered at Kirtland AFB in 1980; among its functions it was responsibility for security inside the perimeter fence surrounding the four hills of the Manzano Weapon Storage Area.

AFRL:
Air Force Research Laboratory
—Formed from a consolidation of previously separate laboratories, it now oversees various directorates including the Space Vehicles Directorate and Beamed Energy Directorate at Kirtland AFB, and the Propulsion Directorate at Wright-Patterson/Edwards AFB.

AFTEC:
Air Force Test and Evaluation Center
—Formed at Kirtland AFB to oversee operational testing of newly developed aircraft and systems. It was later renamed the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC).

AFWL:
Air Force Weapons Laboratory
—Formed in 1963 at Kirtland AFB, it later became part of Phillips Labs, which then became the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate in the mid-1990’s.

BDM:
BDM Corporation
—Formed in 1959 by three Fordham University phycists, Braddock, Dunn and McDonald, BDM was a major defense contractor headquartered in McLean, Virginia with a major operating location in Albuquerque, NM. Acquired by TRW in 1997, BDM was subsequently acquired by Northrop-Grumman.

DIA:
Defense Intelligence Agency
—Part of the overall U.S. Intelligence Community, DIA is a combat support agency of the Department of Defense. It is headquartered at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. with operational activities at locations in Washington and Maryland and at the Missile and Space intelligence Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

DOE:
Department of Energy
—Created in 1977, it brought together most government energy programs as well as science and technology programs to ensure national energy and security capabilities. DOE responsibility for the design, construction, and testing of nuclear weapons now includes protection of the nuclear weapons stockpile today.

ISBEP:
International Symposium on Beamed Energy Propulsion
—An annual meeting held by the International Society for Beamed Energy Propulsion. It provides a forum for the presentation of papers on a variety of ideas and research topics dealing with the potential uses of beamed energy.

KAFB:
Kirtland Air Force Base
—Home to the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, the Space Development and Test Wing, Sandia National Laboratories, the Directed Energy Directorate and the Space Vehicles Directorate of AFRL, and others. It is located in Albuquerque, NM.

MWSA:
Manzano Weapons Storage Area
—Located on Manzano Mountains east of Albuquerque, in the early 1980’s nuclear weapons were stored in bunkers tunneled into the hillside and the entire 3-mile long range was surrounded by an electrified fence. It was one of the most secure facilities in the country prior to being deactivated in 1992.

NSA:
National Security Agency
—The national cryptologic organization. Perhaps the most secretive of all the Intelligence Community agencies, its mission is to protect sensitive U.S. information resources and codes while at the same time searching for weaknesses in foreign and enemy systems.

RPI:
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
—An academic and research institution located in Troy, N.Y. RPI’s distinguished School of Engineering has partnerships with a number of companies and organizations including NASA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy.

SNL:
Sandia National Laboratories
—Located within the Sandia military Reservation, SNL’s mission is to meet a broad range of needs encompassing defense systems, national security, energy, and nuclear weapons. It is a government owned, but contractor operated, laboratory currently managed by Sandia Corporation, which is owned by Lockheed Martin Company.

We live in a middle ground, a thin plane bordered by deep oceans and the edge of space. However comfortable we are, however sure we are in what we know and believe, the fact remains that we live our lives surrounded by vast unknowns. We can feel it at times. When dark shapes rise from the ocean depths and strange sounds reach out from the deep woods, the unknown grips us. And yet, as frightening as those experiences are, they are at least familiar. They come from our domain, our reality, and we know our place. But, when strange things descend from the sky—whose reality is it then? Of all the mysteries in our human experience, none fascinates and frightens us quite like the phenomenon called Unidentified Flying Objects.