PROJECT MASK
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Preface 06-September-1997 - We've decided to bring this information to public attention at this time because enough time has elapsed and because, more than ever before, unverifiable UFO-related information and claims are coming out. The material presented below raises important questions which should stimulate thought and debate about unverified information and peoples' claims and motives. Project Mask In early 1986, the outline of a proposal to create a UFO hoax was sent to several members of the "UFO community." One of the people who received this material was Dale Goudie of the UFO Reporting and Information Service in Seattle, Washington. We are aware of one other person who received the plan, and John Lear has stated in email that he was approached with this plan, but asserts that he had nothing to do with it. How many others were contacted and who these persons were are unknown. The plan, dubbed "Project Mask," had the stated goal of conclusively proving whether or not elements of the US government actively managed UFO information. As you will see from the description of the plan below, it was presented as but the germ of an idea, born of frustration with the amount progress that UFO investigators had been able to make. That this plan existed at all raises several possibilities all of which might have far reaching implications for UFOlogy. Without knowledge of people's actions, impossible to know in full, we are left with the several questions which the existence of this plan raises.
Letter Received by Dale Goudie |
James J.
Speiser 7 March 1986 Mr. Dale Goudie Dear Dale: It was very interesting talking to you the other night. I can see you and I are kindred spirits in this field. I started to mention the enclosed idea to you the other night, but thought better of it; its much better presented as a whole. I must preface by saying I'm only half-serious about doing this at this stage; I'm really only at the point of trying to get people to talk me into it. I am fully aware that the plan is just this side of insane, but I would hate to abandon it if others in the field such as yourself thought it was actually do-able. Please read the enclosed with an open mind. If you feel you need to discuss it with someone, I'd appreciate it if you would restrict it to only the highest-ranking members of UFO groups, or individuals with recognizable names such as Fowler or Moore. Looking forward to hearing back from you, via US Mail, if you please; if further communication on this subject is warranted, I am working on an en- cryption program whereby we may be able to transfer data securely via computer. Please file this communication safely, Sincerely, /s/ Jim Jim Speiser |
Description of Project Mask The following was included By Jim Speiser in the letter to Dale Goudie |
James J.
Speiser
As promised, a brief synopsis of Project Mask. The basic idea is to prove (or disprove) once and for all the extent of the government's involvement in investigating the UFO phenomenon. The folks at CAUS will tell you that it's already a foregone conclusion that the government has been involved in the field; witness the volume of documents they have produced under FOIA. But to whom have they proven it? Readers of Just Cause? A few die-hard UFOnuts? Big deal! The skeptics aren't impressed and frankly, neither am I. They really haven't uncovered anything we didn't know or suspect in the past. What is needed is to catch the government with their pants down, and to do it in full view of the public eye. We need to observe first hand what role the government takes in the investigation of an actual UFO event. The problem is that actual UFO events don't take place when you want them to, and it would be only by providence that we would be in position at the time of a sighting. My proposal is to do the next best thing: CREATE a UFO event, and watch the Men In Black or whoever, come out of the woodwork. I'm not talking about your run-of-the-mill hoax. I'm talking about a well-financed, stringently planned, professionally executed Sting operation. Step one is to get a committment from some press or media organization (20/20 would love this stuff, but Geraldo Rivera's credibility factor gives me pause). They would be in on it from the beginning, perhaps even helping with the financing, with the guarantee of an exclusive. Step two is a trip to Hollywood, where we obtain the services of the very finest makeup artist (Rick Baker?) who will create for us the corpse of an alien. It doesn't have to be a million-dollar ET job, just good enough to be convincing at first glance. Step three is to somehow create a rash of unexplained sightings of the nocturnal lights variety -- daytime disks I think would be just too difficult. I'm leaning towards high intensity flares ejected from aircraft, perhaps over a body of water where there's no chance of recovery. Step Four -- and here we risk disclosure -- a rancher or farmer reports to the authorities that he has shot and killed "something" on his property. The authorities discover the alien corpse and call in The Authorities who call in THE AUTHORITIES. This is the point at which we begin our observations. If there's anything to the MIB theory, the government will swoop down like vultures and secure the area, taking witnesses into custody for debriefing sessions. And this will be the most difficult and most important part: at least one of the debriefings must be recorded. According to reports, these sessions are designed to "brainwash" the witness into thinking he didn't see that what he saw, or to scare him into keeping his mouth shut or both. To this point, such reports have been met with understandable skepticism, being branded paranoid ravings. A success at this juncture would strongly indicate that the government has something to hide. If tapes of the sessions were to be aired nationally, the UFO community would no longer be the only ones wondering what's going on, I know what you're thinking: "That's espionage!"....Well, it you define espionage as obtaining information for purposes of aiding and abetting an enemy of the United States, then you put the government in the rather embarassing position of having to define that enemy. And if the government has reason to believe that the United States has enemies in outer space, shouldn't the public know something of that threat? I think it can be shown that we would be acting in the public interest, not in the interest of some unseen "enemy". In any case the trial would be very interesting. There's more to the plan, and much more I haven't even begun to work out, but I think you get the general idea. you probably also have some idea why I don't expect it to be anything but a good novel, and possibly a TV movie. (But I'm receptive to being talked back into it.....!) Let me know what you think. And I'm sure it goes without saying, mum's the word -- please dispose of this after you've read and absorbed it. |
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Response to Project Mask proposal by UFOlogist John Aultman
Comment The plan as outlined seems unworkable for several reasons. A fake "alien" body would not fool even a first year medical student for more than a few minutes at best. And expecting to be able to plant a "bug" at the location of a future debriefing session is naive in the extreme, as is the alternate of having the "witness" wear a wire which would remain undetected. The possibility of criminal charges seems to be played down. However, if initially credible-appearing faked documents detailing an incident with many of the proposed elements were created, most of the personal danger would be eliminated. The idea of person or persons who have some reputation in the UFO community creating a hoax is a very troubling idea. Certainly, eager debunkers would seize upon such an event to bolster their position. An idea such as this casts an unkind light on the credibility many UFO investigators have worked hard to attain. Issues and Questions Raised by Project Mask What was the real purpose of Project Mask? The fact that it was "shopped around" to several members of the UFO community shows that, regardless of how it was described by its author, it could not have seriously intended to be a plan which would remain secret. Perhaps its purpose was really to test the attitudes of various UFOlogists towards the creation and implementation of a hoax; to see who would go along with such an idea, and who would vehemently oppose it; who would would be willing to participate in the execution of a hoax and who would report or expose it. If so, the results of such a survey would be interesting indeed. Perhaps the real plan was completely different than the (mostly unworkable) plan described. Now the question becomes: was a hoax of any nature actually perpetrated? Perpetrated by the person proposing Project Mask and those allies recruited? Or perpetrated by a separate group of people who took the idea from the Project Mask proposal? If so what was the nature of the hoax perpetrated? 1986 was an interesting time for such a proposal to appear. Remember that it was in the Spring of the following year that The MJ-12 briefing papers were released by Bill Moore, Jaime Shandera and Stanton Friedman, all of whom the author of Project Mask was acquainted with. Many people reject the claim that circumstantial "evidence" proves anything other than that the MJ-12 briefing paper is a well planned hoax. The need for careful planning and execution are prominently mentioned in the Project mask documents. Is there any possible connection between Project Mask, proposed in early 1986, and MJ-12 brought out in 1987? The Project Mask plan as proposed has a direct echo in the Santilli "alien autopsy" film. Like the MJ-12 papers, the actual items pictured in the purported alien autopsy film cannot be directly examined, only the images can be analyzed. This sort of isolation provides a great advantage to those creating a hoax, and provides a direct answer to the doubts expressed that the fake alien body proposed in Project Mask could fool the target audience. Is there any possible connection between the ideas presented in Project Mask and the "alien autopsy" film? Since we do not, and most probably can not know the true motives behind proposing a plan to create a hoax, and whether or not a hoax of any nature was executed, the actions of a person who suggested such a plan, and those close to him or her must be examined closely. |
CUFONSM Special Report
No. 3 - 10-September-1997
Updated 3-September-1998
The Computer UFO Network
Seattle Washington USA
SYSOP - Jim Klotz -- Information Director - Dale Goudie
UFO Reporting and Information Service
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