Robert Stark Central to FBI Probe of UFO Group

FBI records responsive to Robert T. Stark were recently obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by Expanding Frontiers Research. The FOIA request was part of an ongoing research collaboration between Erica Lukes and this writer into FBI espionage investigations and informants within the Cold War era UFO community.

"Subject's activities and unverifiable legend suggest he may be an illegal agent," a 1962 FBI memo states, a summary of intelligence collected on Robert Stark by the New York Field Office.

A 1963 FBI memo included in the recent release contains information concerning Cristell Vorwitt, a German-born immigrant and close Stark contact. She and Stark resided "as husband and wife" in Brooklyn from 1960-62, the memo indicates, at which time he left and went to Los Angeles. FBI expended significant resources to track and surveil Stark, including documenting his use of Vorwitt's last name and immediately contacting her upon his return to New York City in 1962.

FBI could establish no history of Stark prior to 1956, documenting thereafter he used multiple aliases, false social security numbers, and birth data not supported by records. He was confirmed by FBI to have been employed in 1957 by the Bogen-Presto Division of the Siegler Corporation in Paramus, NJ. Further research indicates Russian immigrant David Bogen (of Bogen-Presto) ran successful electronics and audio companies in New York before selling them in the 1950s. Siegler was among the purchasers in 1957. Stark was experienced in electronics, as described in FBI records, and was periodically employed in the field.

The newly obtained records provide more pieces to a puzzle that emerged from a previously obtained 1958 FBI memo referencing Ivan Sanderson and several mid-20^th century UFO personalities. The memo documented Sanderson initiating contact with the FBI, leading to an interview in which he and associate Hans Santesson advised agents of potentially subversive activity taking place at meetings of the New York Saucer Information Bureau (NYSIB). Sanderson and Santesson directly identified purported UFO contactees Daniel Fry and Truman Bethurum as regular attendees before offering to assist the Bureau further if needed.

The memo led to a series of FOIA requests submitted by EFR, including following up to learn if FBI documented more interactions with Sanderson, which it did. In 1963, FBI re-interviewed him about the possibility Stark was involved with the New York Saucer Information Bureau.

FOIA requests submitted to FBI on individuals named in records obtained to that point, which include requests on NYSIB key personnel, as well as purported UFO contactees Daniel Fry and Truman Bethurum, reveal they were all referenced in records compiled during investigation of Robert Stark. EFR continues to systematically request records from the FBI as well as the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which is the custodian of an FBI file compiled on Stark estimated to consist of over 400 pages. Related correspondence with NARA includes a Sep. 5 email in which NARA described the file and confirmed its subject to be Robert T. Stark, aka Robert Starkowski, aka Thadeus Stanislaw Gzula, compiled as part of an espionage investigation from 1954 to 1964.

FBI records responsive to self-described UFO contactee Daniel Fry number among those compiled under the Stark espionage investigation umbrella. Though much of the material is heavily redacted, there are direct references to Stark and strong inferences to potential adversaries, with surveillance of their actions thoroughly documented throughout the pdf.

A profile of New York Saucer Information Bureau is also contained in the Fry records, including suggestion mail was exchanged within the circles of Stark and the NYSIB. It can also be surmised that someone of interest to FBI, possibly Stark and his associates, tried to persuade Fry to publish certain material in his newsletter.

The most recently obtained records further document FBI concern and surveillance of Stark and his contacts. Several dates are referenced which solidify a timeline of his movements between New York and Los Angeles, continuing to clarify the extent the Cold War era U.S. saucer genre was involved with the global intelligence community, unwittingly or otherwise.

This is part of a continuing research project and series of FOIA requests. View the EFR GoFundMe - set up to raise funds for FOIA fees to the National Archives – and please consider making a donation to support our research.