When it comes to investigating the National Security State and disinformation about UFOs, nobody does it better than Nick Redfern.

However in this recent entry at Mysterious Universe, he posts a commentary on Greg Bishop‘s book Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth.

In the book Bishop writes about the very real sad story about physicist Paul Bennewitz and the way the government apparatus of the security state used and abused this man to drive away his sanity, thusly to stoke the mythology of UFOs into the American psyche:

Many people unacquainted with the complexities of the UFO puzzle assume that all talk of attempts by “the government” to silence certain players in the field is nothing but outright paranoia and lies. Even within Ufology there are those who dismiss such stories as X-Files-like nonsense. How wrong they all are. Published in 2005, Greg Bishop’s book, Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth, provided the field of UFO research with what was without doubt one if its most important contributions in years.

The subject matter of Project Beta was an unusual one; and while seasoned researchers were already aware of certain aspects of this dark and ultimately tragic affair, those unaccustomed to the events in question might have been forgiven for thinking that they had stumbled upon a high-tech, X-Files-meets-Robert Ludlum-style thriller. But Project Beta told a very real story – one that was as harrowing as it was informative.

In essence, the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction book related the saga of physicist Paul Bennewitz, who, after digging into Air Force and National Security Agency secret projects at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico in the late 1970s that he believed were connected to the activities of sinister extraterrestrials and UFOs, was put under deep surveillance by the US military and intelligence services, and was bombarded by the murky world of officialdom with a mass of disinformation, faked stories and outright lies in order to divert him from his research – which worked. In fact, it worked rather too well, and led to the mental and psychological disintegration of Bennewitz.

While everyone with an interest in UFOs should read Greg Bishop’s book, it will not please all – particularly those who are of the opinion that aliens inhabit underground bases in the United States, that cattle mutilations are the work of sinister extraterrestrials, or that the rumors of government-alien collusion have a firm basis in reality. As Greg skillfully demonstrated, many of the cornerstones upon which today’s ufological lore are built, had their origins in the fertile minds of military intelligence and the behind-the-scenes, spook-brigade.

Much of the UFO “truth” fed to the research community by purported and sympathetic insiders and whistleblowers might not be “out there” after all. It may all be one big con behind which a veritable plethora of classified, military projects have been hidden – and, in the Bennewitz caper, projects specifically focused upon NSA communications systems, test flights (and possibly crashes) of early, prototype Stealth aircraft, and Air Force technologies designed to track the orbital movements of space satellites launched by the former Soviet Union.

As Project Beta skillfully revealed, Bennewitz had come to the conclusion that the collective operations described above were related to the activities of extraterrestrials, when in reality the truth was far more down to earth, although most certainly not in a mundane fashion. The book demonstrated that the Intelligence community cared not a bit that Bennewitz thought that their secret operations were UFO-related – precisely because the UFO connection was one of Bennewitz’s own making.

However, there was deep concern on the part of the world of officialdom that by digging into classified activities at Kirtland in search of UFOs, Bennewitz would inadvertently reveal – to the Soviets, in a worst-case scenario – information and technology that had to be kept secret at all costs, even if those costs included Bennewitz’s own sanity.

And so a plan was initiated: Having learned the essential parts of Bennewitz’s theories – very ironically from the man himself, by actually breaking into his home while he was out and checking his files and research notes – that aliens were mutilating cattle as part of some weird medical experiment; that they were abducting American citizens and implanting them with devices for purposes unknown; that those same aliens were living deep underground in a secure fortress at Dulce, New Mexico; and that we were all very soon going to be in deep and dire trouble as a direct result of the presence of this brewing, intergalactic threat, the Air Force gave Bennewitz precisely what he was looking for – confirmation that his theories were all true, and more.

Of course, this was all just a carefully-planned ruse to bombard Bennewitz with so much faked UFO data in the hope that it would steer him away from the classified military projects of a non-UFO nature that he had uncovered. And, indeed, it worked.

When Bennewitz received conformation (albeit carefully controlled and utterly fabricated confirmation) that, yes, he had stumbled upon the horrible truth and that, yes, there really was an alien base deep below Dulce, the actions of the Intelligence community had the desired effect: Bennewitz became increasingly paranoid and unstable, and he began looking away from Kirtland (the hub of the secrets that had to be kept) and harmlessly towards the vicinity of Dulce, where his actions, research, and theories could be carefully controlled and manipulated by the Government.

As long-time watchers of the ufological research scene will be aware, American Intelligence even brought Bill Moore (co-author with Charles Berlitz of the 1980 book, The Roswell Incident) into the scheme and asked him to keep them informed of how their disinformation operations against Bennewitz were working. In return, Moore was promised – and provided with – data and documents on super-secret, official UFO projects, crashed saucers, dead aliens, and more.

Bishop and Redfern aren’t the only folks to write extensively about the connection between UFOs and government disinformation. Chris Knowles over at the Secret Sun posted about another plan that was fed to another unfortunate individual, Serge Monast, which was none other than a script written by Gene Roddenberry in the 1970s for a future episode of Star Trek — in case it got revived!:

Anyone who spends anytime looking into the UFO phenomena has probably seen the words “Project Blue Beam” – often misspelled – show up when any aerial anomalies are being discussed online.
“Blue Beam” has become such a catch-all that it’s now applied to any sighting, no matter how trivial. It’s also been stretched to explain phenomena that have nothing to do with UFOs at all. You often see it conflated with HAARP, a very real program that’s also been stretched to explain anything that might otherwise require actual thought to deal with.
We saw any number of claims that the balloon show on October 13 was itself the work of this mythical Blue Beam, even though the event itself has little to do with the claims of the original “Project Blue Beam” essay, which was published online by the radical Fundamentalist and Quebec separatist Serge Monast. “Blue Beam” has been dated to 1994, but I don’t remember hearing anything about it until at least 1996, when Monast died of an apparent heart attack. But 1994 is very, very important to the chain of events we’re going to look at in this piece.
UFOs and the National Security State author Richard Dolan got so sick of hearing about the mythical Project Blue Beam that he wrote a scathing essay entitled “Project Blue Beam Countdown? Don’t Bet on It”in the run-up to an alleged Blue Beam event on October 13. In it, Dolan outlined the claims made in Monast’s original essay:

First, a series of artificially created earthquakes at “certain precise locations on the planet,” which will uncover archaeological evidence that will “be used to discredit all fundamental religious doctrines.”
Second, we will be subjected to “a gigantic space show.” This will involve “three-dimensional optical holograms and sounds, laser projection of multiple holographic images to different parts of the world, each receiving a different image according to predominating regional national religious faith. This new ‘god’s’ voice will be speaking in all languages.” These staged events will show the “new Christ” or Messiah, and will be a false Second Coming.
Third will be the “Telepathic Electronic Two-Way.” This involves “telepathic and electronically augmented two-way communication where ELF, VLF and LF waves will reach each person from within his or her own mind.” These communications will fake a communication from god.
Fourth, according to Monast, would be “the universal supernatural manifestation with electronic means.” He said it would take on three specific “orientations.” One would simulate an alien invasion, which would then provoke nations with nuclear weapons to strike back.

Dolan quoted extensively from Monast’s writings so that reasonable individuals could get a measure of the man and the extremist religious views that dictated his view of world events:

I included this long passage just so that you could get a whiff of the mind of this man. Very intense, no understanding of science. At no point in any of Monast’s writings is anything like evidence offered for any of this. To say nothing of the fantastic capabilities he attributes to NASA or the United Nations.

The logistics of the various sky shows also seems daunting, to say the least. First there is the false alien invasion scenario — presumably this could be done with a fleet of black triangles, although could they blanket the world? Doubtful. But then, regarding the religious fakery, are “they” really going to blanket the world with holographic images of, what — God? Jesus? Krishna? Allah? All the while sending a message into our brains via extra low frequencies in all languages of the world? All in a way that convinces us to abandon our previously held faiths?

What Dolan may not have realized it is that Monast – rather, the mischeivous spooks who fed him the whole Blue Beam scenario in the first place – was/were borrowing plots points left, right and center from another source.
We’ll get to that in a moment, but first Dolan took the time to dismiss most of the current Blue Beam theorizing as regurgitated bullshit:

None of these sites offer anything resembling evidence to support the alleged existence of Blue Beam. I am not asking for proof, only evidence. And I see nothing.

Well, there is evidence of Blue Beam, only it comes from a source one would never confuse with Jane’s Defence Weekly or Covert Action Quarterly. For some deep background on all of this alleged devilry, let’s travel back to 1994.
RECYCLED STAR TREK SCRIPTS
Not long before Serge Monast stunned the conspiracy circuit with his “Project Blue Beam,” a book was released on Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. It recounted information that hardcore Trekkers were well familiar with; Roddenberry’s proposed Star Trek feature film script from the mid-70s:

“In May 1975, Gene Roddenberry accepted an offer from Paramount to develop Star Trek into a feature film, and moved back into his old office on the Paramount lot. His proposed story told of a flying saucer, hovering above Earth, that was programmed to send down people who looked like prophets, including Jesus Christ.
Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek by Joel Engel, p.165, Hyperion, 1994

Shortly thereafter, Monast writes of a very similar situation- a satellite that will project images of holy figures:

With computer animation and sounds appearing to emanate from the very depths of space, astonished ardent followers of the various creeds will witness their own returned messiahs in convincing lifelike reality.
Then the projections of Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, etc., will merge into one after correct explanations of the mysteries and revelations will have been disclosed.

So, already we see two of Monast’s Blue Beam claims – an alien “invasion” and a false reappearance of the Earth’s major historical prophets – taken straight out of the Star Trek script.
How are these images of these gods to be received? In both cases, telepathically.

Monast again, 1994: The advancement of techniques propel us toward the third step in the Blue Beam Project that goes along with the telepathic and electronically augmented two-way communication where ELF, VLF and LF waves will reach each person from within his or her own mind, convincing each of them that their own god is speaking to them from the very depths of their own soul.

Roddenberry, 1976: “On the planet below, people are beginning to receive mental impressions of a returning God.”

The projected images are only part of Blue Beam; there’s also the “massive UFO invasion.” Note: Monast’s “UFO over every major city” scenario is stolen from the original V (1983), which in turn was borrowed from Roddenberry’s original 70s script for Earth: Final Conflict.:

Monast, 1994: “The first is the ‘space show.’ Where does the space show come from? The space show, the holographic images will be used in a simulation of the ending during which all nations will be shown scenes that will be the fulfillment of that which they desire to verify the prophecies and adversary events.
“One is to make mankind believe that an alien (off-world) invasion is about to occur at every major city on earth in order to provoke each major nation to use its nuclear weapons in order to strike back.”
Roddenberry, 1976: “At the same time a huge object, one thousand times larger than a starship, is moving toward Earth, knocking off the U.S.S. Potemkin and hurtling a cluster of asteroids toward Earth. Kirk, now a grounded admiral, assembles his old crew (all of whom have risen higher in rank), and they take the newly refitted Enterprise on a mission of interception with the alien claiming to be God.”

The whole point of all of this is to convince the world that these computers on these orbital platforms are the work of God, but it’s all a grand deception. In both cases:

Monast, 1994: The result of these deliberately staged events will be to show the world the new ‘christ,’ the new messiah, Matraia (Maitreya), for the immediate implementation of the new world religion. Enough truth will be foisted upon an unsuspecting world to hook them into the lie. “Even the most learned will be deceived.”
Roddenberry, 1976: “The Object turns out to be more than just a vessel–it is a computer form so advanced it is a living entity itself. However, we discover that this God they’ve worshipped is actually the Deceiver, the computer-programmed remains of a race who were “cast out” from their dimension and into this one.”
Roddenberry quotes taken from The Making of Star Trek-The Motion Picture, by Susan Sackett and Gene Roddenberry, Pocket/Wallaby, 1980

So again, Monast’s Blue Beam is essentially the same as Roddenberry’s “God Thing.” Both are computer programs on orbital platforms creating electronic visions and apparitions, tailor-made to the beliefs of certain populations. The difference is that Monast chalks it all up to NASA while Roddenberry was describing a malfunctioning alien craft:

Monast, 1994: “Computers will coordinate the satellites and software already in place will run the sky show. Holographic images are based on nearly identical signals combining to produce an image or hologram with deep perspective which is equally applicable to acoustic ELF, VLF and LF waves and optical phenomena.” Roddenberry: “Somewhere out there,” [Gene] starts off, his eyes widening as he continues, “there’s this massive … entity, this abstract, unknown life force that seems mechanical in nature, although it actually possesses its own highly advanced consciousness. It’s a force thousands of times greater than anything intergalactic civilization has ever witnessed. It could be God, it could be Satan, and it’s heading toward earth. It demands worship and assistance, and it’s also in a highly volatile state of disrepair.”
Star Trek Movie Memories by William Shatner with Chris Kreski, HarperCollins, 1994 (note publication date)

Themes from Roddenberry’s unused script were recycled throughout the franchise’s history, including the ST: TNG episode “Justice” and the now-notorious Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Then there was the Next Generation episode, “Devil’s Due,” which was one of the highest rated episode’s in the series history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izwxbmwo9qw&feature=player_embedded
This episode, which ran in 1991, had even stronger echoes of Monast’s 1994 “Blue Beam” theories. Here’s the synopsis:

The USS Enterprise-D responds to a distress signal from a science station on Ventax II, where the planet is in chaos over the return of a being who claims to be that culture’s “devil.”

Not coincidentally, that devil is there to install a new world order on the alien planet. Which brings us to Monast’s “Blue Beam” denouement:

The second is to make the Christians believe that the Rapture is going to occur with the supposed divine intervention of an alien (off-world) civilization coming to rescue earthlings from a savage and merciless demon. Its goal will be to dispose of all significant opposition to the implementation of the New World Order in one major stroke, actually within hours of the beginning of the sky show!

Again, this is the same scenario we see before in “Devil’s Due,” which is based in themes Roddenberry first explored in his God Thing script. The parallels continue: Monast writes in Blue Beam that “the first step in the NASA Blue Beam Project concerns the breakdown [re-evaluation] of all archaeological knowledge. It deals with the set-up, with artificially created earthquakes at certain precise locations on the planet.”

I must also note that investigator Richard Dolan has written about the national security state and disinformation. Despite of this evidence, folks such as Stephen Bassett and Dr. Steven Greer spread the religious mythology of “good aliens” into the memestream.

Stay tuned for more fun!

Update: I find it interesting that Wikipedia doesn’t have an entry on Stephen Bassett. Anyone have a “theory” on this parculiarity?

NASA Gets Sirius on the 17th (UPDATE)

Project Blue Beam Exposed! (UPDATED)

UFOs: The Project Beta Scandal

Special hat tips to The Anomalist and the Daily Grail.