Search Results

FBI records obtained this week by Expanding Frontiers Research (EFR) describe an alleged 1962 plot to kill Sen. Barry Goldwater, later labeled a hoax. The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) alerted the Bureau it was informed by an enlisted Marine of a conversation in which another soldier purportedly offered to pay him to shoot the Senator during a scheduled trip to Los Angeles. The Bureau proceeded to use its resources to take action, including alerting Goldwater's staff and tapping well-positioned confidential informants to assess the threat level. This included obtaining status updates on the American Nazi Party of Chicago, a group allegedly involved in the assassination plot. Within a few months, however, ONI advised FBI it completed an investigation and concluded the whole matter was a hoax, calling the Marine's narrative a “cock and bull story,” according to FBI memos obtained. The records were among 23 pages of material recently released to EFR as the result of a successful FOIA appeal stemming from a 2022 request on Barry Goldwater. The Bureau initially provided some 430 pages of previously released records, while acknowledging existence of additional material withheld in full under certain cited exemptions. EFR subsequently appealed the withholding of the records to the Department of Justice, ultimately leading to a March 31 FBI letter stating 23 pages were reviewed and released. All of the records obtained, salient response letters, and the EFR appeal may be downloaded below. Other material in the recently released 23 pages includes a 1964 FBI memo, Subject: Edward Ellis Smith, Research-Satellite Matter. The memo reflects Bureau interest in Smith, described as campaigning for Goldwater and the former subject of a 1950 investigation as an applicant for CIA employment. He is further described as having served in Moscow as an Assistant Military Attache from 1948 to 1950, and later as a Department of State Security Officer from 1954 to 1956. Smith was compromised as the result of his relationship with a Russian woman, but the Bureau memo indicates it believes no loss of sensitive information occurred and refers to Smith as cooperative during interviews. The late Barry M. Goldwater was an Air Force major general and five-time Arizona Senator (1953-1965, 1969-1987). He was the Republican nominee for president of the United States in the 1964 election. Goldwater numbered among the high profile supporters of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), taking a position on the board of the UFO organization in the 1970s. “I and my colleagues on the Board of NICAP think it is high time more independent research on UFO's was undertaken,” the Senator wrote in a published letter of support (see pp4-8). Goldwater went on to chair the Senate Intelligence Committee in the early 1980s. Goldwater staffer Charles Lombard, heavily implicated as a CIA asset, joined Goldwater on the NICAP Board of Governors, as covered in this writer's book, Wayward Sons: NICAP and the IC. Lombard helped facilitate the acquisition of NICAP into the Center for UFO Studies, assisting in negotiations that took place from approximately 1978 to 1982. The FBI advised EFR of more responsive records in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). EFR requested the records, leading NARA to reply that about 90 pages pertaining to election law investigations will be processed and released. The processing is projected to be completed in approximately February 2026 at an estimated cost of $72 for a reproduction. --------------------------------------------------- FBI records on Barry Goldwater previously withheld and obtained this week by EFR: The EFR appeal, resulting affirmative response, and eventual FBI release letter: Previously released FBI records responsive to Barry Goldwater:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled in favor this week of a FOIA appeal submitted by Expanding Frontiers Research (EFR). The February appeal sought further release of records obtained from the SEC on ManyOne, LLC, a company operated by controversial Utah entrepreneur Joseph Firmage. The colorful Firmage, who more recently announced his candidacy for president of the United States, used ManyOne to attract investors for a number of loosely defined technology ventures, as explored in a recent EFR article. Records obtained by EFR were part of an SEC investigation of ManyOne, ultimately resulting in no recommended enforcement action in 2018. Material released to EFR through the FOIA thus far includes a 29-page pdf containing an interview conducted by the SEC of a former ManyOne employee. The testimony describes a corporation in which over-promising and under-delivering on both financial commitments and products were standard operating procedures. The 29-page pdf had a number of redactions and some eleven pages withheld in full. The SEC cited FOIA Exemptions b6 and b7c for the withheld material, each of which address privacy issues. Specifically mentioned by the SEC was the withholding of third-party and staff names and telephone numbers. However, the redacted material clearly included instances unrelated to such personally identifiable information. EFR subsequently appealed the response and select redactions, clarifying we had no objections to the withholding of staff names and similar material exempt from the FOIA, but sought release of other information, including the eleven pages withheld in full. The SEC explained in its March 20 response to the appeal that it remanded the matter for further review. “I have reviewed the transcript released to you in part and find that an adequate review was not performed, including the determination to withhold pages 18-29 of the PDF in their entirety as non-responsive,” the SEC wrote. View the appeal submitted by EFR and the favorable response received from the SEC: From the March 20 SEC response: EFR will publish and report on further records obtained from the SEC as applicable. To learn more about the FOIA process, view our video, FOIA Basics. Be sure and check out our Video page to browse our growing collection of exclusive interviews and informational clips. Questions or comments? Post them below or follow us and reach out on Twitter or Mastodon, among other ways to connect with us. If you enjoy and value our work, please consider joining the financial supporters of Expanding Frontiers Research. Your contributions help with our FOIA work, website maintenance, video production, and other activities. Contribute through the secure “donate” button located at the top of the Blog page and on our home page. EFR is a Utah nonprofit corporation, tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, dedicated to sharing resources that most effectively embody best research practices. Thank you for your consideration and interest.

FBI records obtained Wednesday from the National Archives on Frederick Durant III provide glimpses into the career of the guided missile expert who served alongside Dr. J. Allen Hynek as an associate member of the Robertson Panel. The Panel was a 1953 CIA-funded UFO think tank of which Durant authored the resulting document, sometimes referred to as the Durant Report. The 67-page FBI file, compiled from July 1952 to December 1953, reflects Bureau investigations undertaken to apparently allow Durant security clearance to participate on the Robertson Panel in his capacity as a CIA officer. The file is also indicative of Cold War concerns Russian spies and Communist sympathizers were infiltrating U.S. intelligence agencies and accessing sensitive national security information. The FOIA request was originally submitted to the FBI while this writer was composing Wayward Sons: NICAP and the IC. The Bureau advised in a 2020 FOIA response of the existence of the file maintained at the National Archives and Records Administration. A request subsequently submitted to NARA resulted in the eventual processing and release of the file, available below: Frederick Clark Durant III was born in Pennsylvania in 1916. He attended Lehigh University from 1934 to 1939, at which time he graduated with a degree in chemical engineering. Durant entered the Navy in 1941 and went on to work as the head of the engineering department at storied Wright Patterson Air Force Base in 1951, according to FBI records obtained. He also became a CIA officer in 1951. The career path of the Cold War aerospace expert: Reports compiled on Durant by FBI Special Agents in 1952 consistently indicate his good community standing and lack of derogatory information to be found among law enforcement and credit agencies. Likewise, former employers and professional contacts repeatedly told the Bureau they would recommend him for a position of trust. The findings and significance of the Robertson Panel, headed by physicist Dr. Harold P. Robertson, continue to be argued among UFO enthusiasts. The Panel, after hearing testimony from a variety of informed presenters, including representatives from intelligence agencies, advised the CIA it found no indication the reported phenomena constituted a direct physical threat to national security. It further advised that propaganda and resulting hysteria surrounding the topic posed a much greater risk and warranted attention. Secrecy surrounding the Robertson Panel and its CIA funding fueled largely unfounded speculation among UFO proponents. The Panel's lack of concern about literal mysterious flying objects certainly contributed to criticism from the UFO subculture. Frederick Durant himself became the subject of conspiracies and accusations that he was employed by the Agency to undermine UFO research and extract information for CIA benefit from the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, as explained in Wayward Sons. Although Durant passed FBI investigations with flying colors, even the seemingly all-American rocket expert was not entirely without an episode of temporary and urgent concern from the Bureau. In late 1953, months after the conclusion of the Robertson Panel proceedings, the FBI discovered Frederick to be the nephew of one Kenneth Durant, the subject of investigations undertaken by its Albany office. Kenneth had been identified as a “manager of the Tass News Agency 1920-1944” and “closely affiliated with Communist Party members.” FBI Director Hoover quickly called for investigations on Frederick Durant to be reopened and supplemental reports to be “submitted within five days without fail.” Others within the Bureau wanted explanations of the security lapse, asking, “How did we miss this?”: The answers to that question involved cross-referenced material that apparently escaped notice, and, somewhat curiously, a woman no longer employed with the Bureau. She was given blame for failing to thoroughly search files she reportedly marked as “NR,” meaning “no records” of relevance to the investigation were found within them. The info pertaining to Kenneth Durant was later, in fact, located in the files. Special Agents rapidly re-scoured the countryside searching for evidence of Frederick Durant interacting with and being influenced by his uncle. Interestingly, confidential informants included a telephone operator, a postmaster, and employees of the Kenneth Durant home, but much to (no doubt) the relief of the FBI, Frederick seemed to have little to no interactions with Kenneth. The FBI file received from NARA has select redactions. FOIA exemptions provided in justification of withholding the 70-year-old material include b3, “Intelligence Sources and Methods.” Those familiar with this writer's previous work and blogposts offered at Expanding Frontiers Research should not be entirely surprised to find a lack of UFO-related references in such records as compared to a relative abundance of espionage and counterintelligence implications, as suggested in the above screenshot. Such redactions will be appealed. In 2020 this writer submitted a FOIA request to the CIA, seeking records on Frederick C. Durant III. In an October 2022 response, CIA advised it located responsive material yet determined it must be denied in its entirety on the basis of FOIA exemptions b1 and b3. An administrative appeal was submitted and remains pending as of this writing.

By Jack Brewer and Erica Lukes A 2017 transcript of an interview with a former employee of the Joseph Firmage-operated ManyOne corporation, conducted as part of an investigation launched by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), tells a story of perpetual financial deficiency, questionable methods of managing capital, and off-the-cuff figures given to prospective investors. The transcript was obtained as part of a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed with the SEC and FBI by Expanding Frontiers Research (EFR). Records were sought pertaining to corporations maintained by Firmage, known for his longtime antics within the UFO subculture and more recent announcement as a candidate for president of the United States. The name of the former ManyOne employee, who was accompanied by legal counsel during the interview, was withheld as exempt from disclosure under the FOIA. The witness indicated they worked for ManyOne approximately 18 months beginning in June 2012. The interviewer, whose name was also redacted, conducted the examination on behalf of the SEC Salt Lake Regional Office. A March 2018 post made at the apparent LinkedIn account of Joseph Firmage indicated the SEC informed him an investigation into ManyOne, LLC was completed and no enforcement action would be recommended. A subsequent FOIA request obtained the January 2018 “no enforcement action” letter and confirmed the LinkedIn post to be correct. The 2017 SEC interview and 2018 "no enforcement action" letter obtained through the FOIA: EFR reached out to Joseph Firmage and offered him an opportunity to comment for potential inclusion in this blogpost. He did not immediately respond. The July 2022 SEC initial FOIA response advised of the existence of a voluminous amount of records potentially responsive to an investigation of ManyOne, LLC. The SEC notified EFR of the equivalent of some 138 boxes of hard copy and electronically maintained records. It was estimated up to 1500 hours might be required to search and process the material. EFR subsequently reduced the scope of the request to transcripts of interviews conducted during the course of the investigation and any resulting reports. The scope reduction led to obtaining the interview transcript, released in an SEC January 30, 2023, interim response, which stated it was “still consulting with other SEC staff regarding additional information that may be responsive to your request.” Firmage Corporations ManyOne was an LLC incorporated in 2011 and operated by Joseph Firmage. It was often thought to be working to develop internet technology in some capacity. A more accurate description, however, might point out ManyOne was part of a complex network of corporations, the purposes of which were often somewhat ambiguous. Among the numerous companies was ManyOne Networks, Inc., incorporated in Delaware in January 2002. Another entity by the name of ManyOne Foundation was launched with Corporations Canada in August 2002. Directors included Joseph Firmage. ManyOne, LLC was incorporated in Utah in 2011. It reportedly conducted business and sought investors out of Salt Lake City. Circular jargon was employed to not-so-clearly explain what kind of work was done at the many different companies, ultimately producing little that could be discerned about practical products or services. As one journalist put it in 1999, “To listen to Firmage is to hear of the Casimir effect and zero-point energy and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and quantum foam and the Roswell incident and the MJ-12 documents. Science, pseudo-science, truth and fiction, God and electromagnetism: It's all there, a thick and pungent stew.” The 1999 observation refers to tendencies Firmage had to discuss his Mormon upbringing and belief in UFO-friendly narratives. He claimed openly to believe he encountered what might be described as a nonhuman intelligence. A book Firmage wrote titled The Truth informs readers of his related philosophies and an awe-inspiring future in which humankind knows a cosmic intelligence - a future he declared was upon us over 20 years ago. While Joseph Firmage often uses words to invoke Arthur C. Clarke-like imagery among those who will listen, the FOIA process reflects much less mystical chains of events. Records obtained from the FBI demonstrate its San Jose office interviewed at least one, possibly two, ManyOne Networks employees in December 2008 and January 2009. The heavily redacted records, provided below, withhold the name(s) of the individual(s) interviewed and do not clarify the nature of the FBI inquiries. The Bureau advised some 18 additional responsive pages were withheld in full. EFR appealed the redactions and withheld pages but the initial ruling was upheld. Firmage had his sights set on a number of rather sensational projects – or at least purported to repeatedly believe grandiose outcomes were obtainable – and bounced from one company and idea to another. What moving parts could be identified often overlapped from one instance to the next. This is further reflected in the statements of the interviewee examined by the SEC, who referenced Firmage concerns such as “Academy of Science and Arts” and Motion Sciences. Those ventures are typically perceived to have been busts pertaining to anti-gravity research and related subject matter. Nonetheless, Firmage numbers among those in UFO circles who boastfully cite decades of work on projects framed as impressive, though little can be found of anything particularly relevant actually achieved. A Firmage-connected company called InterNASA was launched in 2016 and bore intriguing resemblances to the questionable To The Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences. The latter was an entertainment-slash-science-slash-spook hangout popularized by Tom DeLonge and an effective public relations campaign. Firmage's version was actually incorporated as the National Academy of Science and Arts, LLC, doing business as InterNASA. As with To The Stars, Firmage likewise had intelligence officer connections and “scientists” making careers out of what might generously be termed maverick science. Some of the same players were involved at To The Stars. InterNASA had not yet been formally created at the time the witness was employed from 2012-13, though they testified investments were sought for such sci-fi-like ventures. In 2019, former InterNASA employee Robert Kiviat filed a lawsuit against Joseph P. Firmage, InterNASA, Ronald Pandolfi, David Daniel Marriott, and others. The suit alleged a variety of circumstances were misrepresented to Kiviat, ranging from the amount of funds secured to the purported interest of the intelligence community in developing an alleged anti-gravity device. Kiviat claimed he was promised compensation never received, among other grievances. The suit was ultimately dismissed. Kiviat's allegations may be reviewed in detail in the document below, obtained from Superior Court of California. From the complaint filed by Kiviat: SEC Interview As people would be brought in for employment, the witness explained to the SEC, “[redacted] would often offer huge salaries of over $100,000 for tasks or skills that traditionally paid much less than that...” Did those people get paid? “No, not consistently.” The witness described a plan undertaken to sell domain names which would be elevated to the first three pages of any internet search engine. This was reportedly linked to a “huge computer program,” presumably related to one of Firmage's web ventures, and involving the ongoing purchase of a rather enormous number of domains. “Yeah, [redacted] did not sell the domain names,” the witness explained. “He bought them. And he bought them throughout his lifetime, from the time that he left U.S. Web, he had been purchasing these internet domain names... I think it was probably close to in the tens of thousands of internet domain names.” A client would purchase a package that would have their business connected into the network of domain names. The service somewhat worked for a while, the witness added, but was very difficult to sustain. “You'd purchase them for a year at a time, so those were always coming due in big blocks of domain names. And the funding for those, at a minimum, was $10 per domain name. “And so we would limp along and be okay, and then it would require a huge amount of funds to re-register or to keep the ownership of those domain names.” The interviewer asked if the “zero gravity device” worked. “No. It never worked while I was there.” Consistent results were never produced. Was the witness there when they tried to run it? “Yes, I was.” And they didn't see it working consistently? “Not consistently, ever.” The witness told the SEC they personally kept notes on investors, as well as composed what were termed intelligence summaries, which were described as background checks on persons or entities that might involve surveillance in addition to general research. They specifically mentioned Motion Sciences in this capacity, adding that “partners of Motion Sciences in Provo”, Utah, tried to take over the company. Notes were kept by the witness on who invested funds in Academy of Science and Arts, but not the amounts, and even though the witness was not employed with them, but a different corporation, ManyOne – at least in theory. In actuality, they were rarely paid, and this was described as the norm, even though Firmage reportedly made big promises in order to get people on board. Afterward, the witness indicated, an “employee” might be assigned more of a title to impress potential investors than fill any prestigious executive position. They might also be urged to sell products that were not yet functionally complete, something the witness claimed they personally refused to do. The witness further described questionable management tactics, such as promising equity in the corporations or institutes, yet averting from putting the commitments in writing. The attorney for the witness asked, of all of the institutes, did any of them actually function? “No. So they were great ideas, a lot of great ideas.” It was further stated there were some five “institutes” in all. Investors were remarkably promised 40 times the amount of funding in return. To the best of the witness's knowledge, those returns were never paid. When new investors were secured, minimal payments would be made to the squeakiest wheels, so to speak, chronically creating more wheels in need of oil. “I did find out that [redacted] was using those funds to repay people who had previously loaned him money, and that became another very sore spot between [redacted] and I, because I would be told, for operational purposes, that we had funding coming, and a certain amount of funding. And I was told to let everybody know that funding was coming.” The witness would then get on the phone and say funding was on the way, only for it to eventually be significantly less than promised. There was never enough money to pay employees and support personnel what was committed to them. A couple of specific redacted and prioritized investors were believed to have made millions, or at the least hundreds of thousands of dollars, over the years. The two were reportedly referred to as loan sharks, but ManyOne leadership expressed it “went to where they needed to get the funding.” Sometimes investments would be in “small increments,” such as $10,000 or $20,000. “People involved” would then receive $500 or $1,000 apiece, usually less. When larger amounts were obtained, say $30,000, about half would be gone right off the top, presumably to former investors and bills deemed mandatory. Payments to those owed funds were often made in cash. Explaining why that was the case, the witness indicated the investments arrived in cash. Also, people who were owed money refused to accept checks. Certain payments made by check, such as a property lease, would frequently bounce. The witness indicated prospects were pitched ideas for investments, often along with creative urgency that suggested ManyOne either needed to get over the next hurdle or it was at a particularly critical point in its research. “I do know that [redacted] often discussed the amount of money that would be made and provided facts and figures off [the top] of his head,” it was stated. A lot of potential investors walked away because there was nothing committed in writing. Asked in closing if there was anything the witness wanted to add that they were not asked about, they explained they had knowledge of people who were going to align their business with Academy of Arts and Science and suffered tremendous financial losses because of it. Due to one particular company out of Denmark, the witness “could never look at [redacted] the same way because of the things he promised them.” “These were just people who believed in what [redacted] promised. He promised to buy their company at a huge profit. And I think he made – might have made one payment towards that, and the agreed-to funds never came. And they had banked everything on that...”

By Jack Brewer and Erica Lukes Expanding Frontiers Research obtained numerous records pertaining to SafeMoon from the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The records, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, include dozens of complaints filed on the volatile cryptocurrency. Ironically named for its purported safe financial ride to the moon, the current value of the token is a mere fraction of its all time high in 2021, a quick climb that preceded a spiral in which investors lost the bulk of their money in most cases. The complaints leveled accusations ranging from deception and misrepresentation to outright scamming for the purpose of decreasing the account values of those holding the tokens. One complaint logged by the FTC on May 24, 2022, alleged that the account holder's $183,000 in tokens was converted to $201 after they used the SafeMoon app as instructed “to convert from V1 to V2.” The complainant further alleged, “[T]hey will not respond other than to send me the V2 guidelines.” Other reports include allegations SafeMoon skimmed funds from a liquidity pool. One complaint described the actions as stealing from hardworking investors. SafeMoon CEO John Karony was sent a link to the records obtained and requested to clarify his position on the integrity of the cryptocurrency. He did not immediately respond. Following reported allegations and denials of the launching of an FBI investigation into SafeMoon, Expanding Frontiers Research submitted a FOIA request to the Bureau in June 2022 for records pertaining to the cryptocurrency. Recent correspondence with the FBI indicates responsive records are currently under review by a disclosure analyst to determine if any redactions are required. The estimated completion date of the request is March 2023. Additional records are also anticipated from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, based on correspondence provided in response to a FOIA request submitted by EFR. The Dec. 1 final response from the SEC cited privacy exemptions in the withholding of certain records, as well as FOIA Exemption 7a, which protects records from release which were compiled for law enforcement purposes. The use of the exemption does not necessarily indicate a violation of law is reflected in reports withheld. The FTC advised in its Jan. 25 response that, in addition to the 143 responsive complaints released, two additional complaints were withheld under FOIA Exemption 3. FTC stated it “may not disclose any material reflecting a consumer complaint obtained from a foreign source if that foreign source has requested confidential treatment.” View the response letters and records obtained from the SEC and FTC below: SafeMoon operations gained interest to EFR as circumstances of crypto promotion became increasingly apparent in UFO and adjacent circles. Multiple personalities featured at a May 2022 “UFO Mega Conference,” also billed as the “UFO Disclosure Symposium” and conducted in Vernal, Utah, allocated portions of their presentations to promoting cryptocurrencies. Similarly, reported Skinwalker Ranch owner Brandon Fugal emphasized his confidence in what has become known as decentralized finance, while repeatedly referencing SafeMoon and using its hashtags from his Twitter account of over 60,000 followers. The UFO-crypto overlap is also evident on YouTube. It is not necessary to fully identify the motives behind such actions in order to see why consumers who wade into fringe culture should be concerned about financial exploitation or, at best, poorly conceived investment advice. We will explore such circumstances below. UFO = Unlimited Financial Opportunity Flying saucer enthusiasts - or perhaps more aptly stated, the cash and assets of flying saucer enthusiasts - have been targeted since the outset of the modern UFO phenomenon. Harold Berney was arrested in 1957 for what FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and others called the “Trip to Venus” swindle (see pp184-185). Berney used a story about collaborating with beings from Venus as a means to separate a trusting woman from $38,000. With inflation, that's about 400 grand. Such sagas were unfortunately not uncommon, with opportunists sometimes employing spiritualism and patriotism as tools to invoke favorable emotional responses from their targeted audiences. Investigative journalist and author David Troy noted to EFR in a Feb. 3 email how the Ballards' “I AM” cult and William Dudley Pelley's Silver Shirts shared interests in the gold standard and anti-New Deal sentiments. “These ideas found a seamless transition into ufology networks in the post-war space age after 1945,” Troy continued. “Pelley transitioned straight into ufology in the 1950s.” In more recent times, self-described psychic and ufologist Sean David Morton and his wife were convicted in 2017 of conspiracy to defraud the United States, among other charges. They advocated the “sovereign citizen” conspiracy and subsequently filed tax returns for millions of dollars to which the federal government ruled they were not entitled. The winding saga additionally involved their attempts to obstruct Uncle Sam from recovering money already erroneously refunded to them, as well as their efforts to pay the IRS with bogus documents. According to the Department of Justice, the Mortons also received thousands of dollars from clients to teach them the scheme and prepare and file fraudulent documents on their behalf. The couple was arrested on the charges in 2016 as they rather fittingly disembarked from a “Conspira-Sea Cruise.” They were previously accused of using such venues to prospect for people who could be convinced Morton, who called himself “America's Prophet,” could use time travel and psychic powers to predict the stock market. In 2010 he was reported to have received some $6 million from investors who wanted in on the purported financial opportunity. Conspiracy culture's dance with dubious financial transactions does not always so clearly rise to the level of illegal activity. Sometimes it may be more matters of breaches of reasonable ethics and eroding public trust that, while involving sky high tales, does not result in criminal charges. Such examples include George Filer, who sold “flu lights” through a variety of UFO websites and e-lists, and Steven Greer's repeated crowd-funding of supposed tell-all UFO documentaries that were long on sensation and short on fact. Greer's ventures, which include workshops of close encounter protocols that purportedly teach participants how to interact with a non-human intelligence at thousands of dollars per seat, generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual revenue for years. It only seems natural that people discussing cryptocurrency and related products, and apparently representing those products as compensated consultants in at least some instances, would make their ways into UFO subculture. By nature, UFO speakers often express a stance of distrust for government and authority figures. The above mentioned Steven Greer, for instance, long told audiences an extraterrestrial presence among us meant us only good will, but the powers that be spin it as nonexistent or malevolent. This, he suggested, obstructs the unsuspecting public from knowing the beings could teach humanity how to generate free energy, circumstances the government wants to keep deeply hidden for supposed economic reasons. Such themes are common. The benefits of cryptocurrency, likewise, are often built around ideas of decentralization and escaping a ruling class. The lack of regulation, or taking the funds and banking procedures out of the restrictive hands of the feds, is often described as a benefit, not something to be concerned about. Stories of insider knowledge passed along to visionaries who get in on ground floors are popular. It stands to reason crypto entrepreneurs who share such common premises with various fringe speakers would want the audiences of those speakers to be made aware of their financial products and services. And scams. In 2022 a fraudulent portfolio of cryptocurrency was used to extract some $2 million from investors sympathetic to QAnon. EFR spoke with reporter Ernie Piper whose team broke the story, and the interview may be viewed on the Feb. 3 edition of Expanding Frontiers. The saga included high profile QAnon influencers telling their thousands of followers they had access to secret military intelligence information. This, they claimed, revealed the types of cryptocurrencies that were going to explode in value. Reality subsequently proved to be much different, resulting in lost savings and at least one related suicide. “Crypto, like gold before it, is attractive to people who are skeptical of government and fiat money,” David Troy explained to EFR. “There are few people more skeptical of governments than people who are convinced that they are withholding information about extraterrestrial contact. Therefore it is natural that gold, crypto, and UFO audiences have long overlapped.” All of which brings us to the 2022 UFO Disclosure Symposium in Utah. UFO Mega Con It wasn't the usual dubious pre-conference hype, credulous narratives, or over-promising and under-delivering of supposed groundbreaking evidence that attracted the attention of EFR to the 2022 UFO Mega Con, aka UFO Disclosure Symposium. The event conducted in May in Vernal, Utah, indeed had those characteristics, but that did not particularly differentiate it from most any other gathering on the UFO circuit where buyers should beware. What became of interest to EFR was the sowing of cryptocurrency promotion into the usual banter. This was not only an emerging theme at the conference but proved to be identifiable across multiple platforms. Professor Avi Loeb was billed as an expert, presumably of UAP-related subject matter, for the 2022 UFO Disclosure Symposium. The celebrated Harvard Professor of Science made news since 2021 with the launching of his ambitious Galileo Project, goals of which include getting a lock on extraterrestrial technological signatures. That loosely includes identifying an ET that might be buzzing our neighborhood. Loeb showed a tendency to give the media fantastic statements, resulting in stirring up attention well beyond the UFO bubble. The Galileo story dovetailed rather conveniently for writers with the Pentagon UFO story, personalities of which included Dr. Travis Taylor, who also appeared at the Disclosure Symposium and is a popular cast member of the show The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch. Whatever Loeb's motives for arguably courting the credulous, which of course might include building funding channels, the professor could objectively be described as UFO-friendly. He has been a rather frequent guest at various UFO shows and events. In April, the Professor of Science was rather remarkably a speaker at Bitcoin 2022. This occurred in conjunction with Eric Weinstein, who was previously reported to be managing the hedge fund Thiel Capital. Weinstein and Loeb reportedly “postulated about other cultures living in the stars,” and “focused on the cultural implications of using Bitcoin, specifically as a means to diversify the human race across the cosmos.” EFR reached out to Professor Loeb and asked if he cared to clarify how Bitcoin will diversify humanity across the cosmos. He was also offered an opportunity to comment on his involvement with events and individuals promoting cryptocurrency. Loeb was particularly encouraged to clarify his relationship with Bitcoin and how the token is relevant to his work. Avi Loeb did not immediately respond to the request for comment. Paul Hynek Also appearing at the 2022 UFO Disclosure Symposium was Paul Hynek, son of famed scientist and pioneering ufologist Dr. J. Allen Hynek. He is reportedly “active in cryptocurrency and Blockchain, advising several companies in the space,” and his interests have not been omitted from his involvement in the UFO genre. Hynek offered high praise to Bitcoin during a YouTube appearance titled Bitcoin, UFOs and You. Asked about his “research on Bitcoin,” Hynek proceeded to make parallels between the token and UFOs, stating the origin of neither is conclusively known: “Bitcoin and UFOs, together at last,” Hynek remarked. The video goes on to include discussion of the use of Bitcoin as a “celestial exchange system.” Hynek further expressed his assessment to viewers of benefits of Bitcoin, such as paper currency keeps getting printed, while the cryptocurrency has a contracted finite number. This would guarantee at least a certain degree of value, it was questionably suggested. Paul Hynek did not immediately respond to a request to ask a few questions about the overlapping of cryptocurrency and the UFO community. He was advised EFR was seeking clarification on his position on the use of Bitcoin as a “celestial exchange system.” No responses were received as of this writing. Nouriel Roubini is much less convinced than Hynek, Loeb, Fugal and others purport to be of the promising future of cryptocurrency. As a matter of fact, Roubini told Yahoo Finance in January that belly-up crypto ventures are not the exception but the rule, and that “99% of crypto is a scam.” Serving as a senior economic advisor in the Clinton and Obama administrations, the holder of a BA in political economics and a doctorate in international economics has a CV from here to there. Let's just say Roubini has a qualified opinion. The vast majority who invested in Bitcoin, Roubini went on, did not get onboard early, but purchased after the price was high. They bought well above current market value, “so they lost their shirts.” “Out of 20,000 [Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs] officially 80% were a scam and another 17% have gone to zero. You have to stay away,” Roubini warned. “And most of these people belong literally in jail.” Nouriel Roubini's statements to Yahoo Finance: Chris Lehto Chris Lehto appeared at the 2022 UFO Disclosure Symposium. He is apparently a former F-16 pilot who makes his home in Portugal, where he contributes UFO-related articles to local media. He is also the founder of the UAP Society, whose website proclaims, “The DeSci NFT funded UAP research revolution has begun.” That means something to the effect decentralized science is funded through the sale of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which is ultimately supposed to reveal answers about unidentified aerial phenomena. Chris Lehto sells NFTs, which are unique digital images that some seem to believe are - or will be - of value. You have probably seen some “bored ape” NFT images around, for instance. Lehto's hundreds of NFTs were created on the Ethereum Blockchain. The digital images are offered for purchase in ETH, or Ethereum cryptocurrency. They have alien and UFO themes, and start in price around 100 bucks or so and go up from there. Most are under $1,000 with a couple of offerings at substantial 5-digit prices, or at least that was the case with the “Alien Dreams Genesis Collection” posted on a page at a site called OpenSea. There's a lot to unpack. The page says, for instance, sales of the NFTs fund UAP detectors on land and in space. Part of royalties fund science initiatives, it is further stated, and the UAP Society is propelling the world's transition to a deeper awareness and understanding of the phenomenon using disruptive Web3 initiatives. “The key technology that I believe makes WEB3 and digital collectibles especially exciting is they are fully decentralized,” Chris Lehto wrote to EFR in a Feb. 3 email. “This means no government, bank, or company approves the transaction of UAP Society digital collectibles. This means anyone in the world with an internet connection can take part in UAP Society’s exciting projects. You don’t have to be on an approved stock exchange and you aren’t just giving a donation. Of course you can donate but we want invested people. We want an unstoppable decentralized digital behemoth. You build that with exciting, desirable products that last. We want a product that will increase in value in the future.” But will it increase in value? “We will increase the value of our digital collectibles by giving the people (us!) what we want. We (at least me personally) want actual movement and progress on anomalous phenomena investigation. We want open source ambitious investigation projects that aim directly at the heart of the mystery. We want projects that are not afraid of the woo and will ask difficult questions that mainstream science and academic institutions are scared to ask. And, if it produces results, we want our investment to reward us with a share of the winnings. If we pool our resources together, then we should all reap from the benefits.” As stated, there's a lot to unpack. Lehto was encouraged to describe what kind of science projects he's undertaking. “We are in the final stages of our next product launch, the CryptoUAPeez digital collectible. We will launch the white paper shortly but the outline is UAP Society’s mission is to propel the world to a deeper awareness and understanding of the phenomena through disruptive WEB3 initiatives. Our next product, CrytpoUAPeez, will at a minimum fund Sky360 camera placement and management at Mount Wilson Ranch.” “We are working hard in the background during the bear market so we are ready,” Lehto concluded. By the way, Lehto says Paul Hynek is on board. This time they're making a visible college, Lehto asserted, by leveraging Web3 technology and using NFTs to fund science pointed at UAP: SafeMoon SafeMoon LLC was created in March 2021. In April its currency reached its all time high market cap of $17 billion. As of this writing, it is valued at $295 million, a decrease of over 98% from April 2021. The CEO of the Pleasant Grove, Utah-based company, John Karony, is a reported former Department of Defense analyst (2015-2021). He's had his share of challenges with SafeMoon, to put it mildly. Internet searches quickly turn up everything from allegations of Ponzi schemes and fraud to a lawsuit between the CEO and his mother. The SafeMoon saga is complex and muddy. Vice reported a 23,225% increase in SafeMoon value between March and April of 2021. This, the outlet noted, was despite the coin having no clear use. It was also noted in the May 2021 article that celebrity endorsements and social media hype aided in the price explosion. By February 2022 it was reported those celebrities were being named in a class action lawsuit. The suit accused Karony and company of misleadingly inflating the value of SafeMoon in order to sell their personal holdings at maximum profits, or what is known as a “pump and dump” scheme. The celebrities, which included popular musical performers, reportedly received compensation in the form of payment and/or cryptocurrency for their involvement. The lawsuit alleged the scheme was to trigger the initial price boost that subsequently plummeted over 80% by the end of 2021. Notably, television star Kim Kardashian agreed to pay a $1.26 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle civil charges resulting from an Instagram post she made endorsing crypto asset EthereumMax. Kardashian was charged by the SEC for failing to disclose she was paid a quarter of a million dollars to publish the post. SEC Chair Gary Gensler emphasized the case was a reminder that when celebrities and influencers endorse investment choices and cryptocurrencies, it doesn't mean the investment products are right for all investors. The Wall Street of Crypto In May 2022, KUTV in Salt Lake City reported on Utah's bid to become “the Wall Street of crypto.” Utah State Representative Jordan Teuscher and Senator Kirk Cullimore sponsored digital currency and blockchain technology bills to encourage the use of crypto and allow the state to accept it as payment. It was suggested Utah wanted to signal that it is a state welcoming to virtual currency. Proponents suggested that many people, like refugees, were left out of the traditional banking structure. Companies turning to crypto were supposedly helping provide them with banking services. In June, “mixed emotions” were expressed about Utah's blockchain bills. Some had concerns about technological details of putting a crypto state economy into actual practice. While Rep. Teuscher wrote on Facebook the bills would be “HUGE for our state in attracting web3 companies and further enable Utah to lead the nation in digital innovation,” others shared concerns about the state's ability to control the types of entities that would be structured in Utah. Expressing this concern was Attorney Sam Mehr of the Utah Blockchain Coalition Advisory Board. By September, the Department of Justice accused the New Jersey-based BitClub Network of conducting a $722 million investment scam which ensnared several Utah properties. Court documents reportedly traced a path of how investments received by Utah companies were sent through BitClub and its affiliates. While all of the circumstances had not developed in the time since Utah began more aggressively courting the crypto scene, the story nonetheless served as a potential foreboding omen. David Troy considered in his writings how crypto gained interest in the political sector during 2021. Leaders of New York and Miami expressed commitments to make their cities “crypto capitals.” While such movements attract players like Peter Thiel, Troy warned that new kinds of cryptocurrencies can undermine the dollar and even other forms of crypto. Troy further suggested such undermining is attractive and opportunistic to foreign adversaries. “The attack on government control over the dollar and the idea that money, like gold, should be private and out of the hands of government officials is fundamentally a fascist idea,” Troy further explained, “more aligned with the vision of Mussolini than of Roosevelt. The gold standard has always been brittle and required departures when crisis finally came; likewise, cryptocurrencies, which are expensive, difficult to use, environmentally hazardous, and lacking in legal frameworks for dealing with errors or crime, are ill suited to the complex, highly evolved world of modern banking. It is neither practical nor reasonable to expect the entire world to shift to 'hard money' banking, not least because so many would be harmed in the process and others, who had done little besides get in on the Ponzi scheme early, would be unfairly enriched.” Brandon Fugal In spite of such circumstances as SafeMoon crashing 80% by December 2021, news surfacing of a class action lawsuit no later than early 2022, and Brandon Fugal's participation on the above referenced Utah Blockchain Coalition Advisory Board, the cast member of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch repeatedly tweeted favorably about the failing cryptocurrency company in 2022. Moreover, the “SafeMoon Army,” as it was known, showed enthusiasm for Fugal's support and popular crypto analysts considered it newsworthy when Fugal confirmed he owned SafeMoon tokens. During a March 8, 2022, YouTube video, the creator of which has over 20,000 subscribers, Fugal's tweets were explored in which he defended his knowledge of crypto and qualified he owned SafeMoon cryptocurrency, "More than most.": Records obtained by EFR and posted above indicate complaints were submitted to the Federal Trade Commission on SafeMoon starting in April 2021, throughout 2022, and into 2023. A July 24, 2021, complaint, pictured below, indirectly references SafeMoon strategies such as building a group liquidity pool and charging token holders 10% fees for withdrawals in order to retain funds and investors. Other complaints, such as this one from May 7, 2021, alleged that investors were unable to withdraw funds: Brandon Fugal was provided a link to the FOIA records obtained and offered an opportunity to express his position on the integrity of SafeMoon. Fugal initially suggested, obtusely or otherwise, he did not understand why EFR would seek his comment. Fugal went on to acknowledge his support for digital currency and decentralized finance while distancing himself from SafeMoon management. “I met with SafeMoon executives several times last year in response to requests for information regarding options to accommodate office expansion and strategic planning for potential future growth,” Fugal wrote in a Feb. 4 message. He hadn't met with them since June, he continued, adding that last time he looked, he had lost over 90% of his investment in SafeMoon. Giddy is the only company in “that market” in which he stayed in close contact, Fugal wrote. Was he provided compensation from SafeMoon or Giddy? “Absolutely not.” EFR did not inquire about the extent Brandon Fugal takes responsibility for how his social media followers may be influenced by his words or if he continues to defend his knowledge of crypto. Caveat Emptor Economist Nouriel Roubini could hardly disagree more with those clinging to crypto dreams. “The crypto bubble has burst for good and will not recover as these were assets with no intrinsic value,” he explained in an interview posted at London Speaker Bureau. Since their peak, he points out, Bitcoin has lost a significant percentage of its value while other top cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum, have as well. He reiterates that over 80% of all Initial Coin Offerings were a scam in the first place. There is indeed a revolution in financial services, Roubini asserts, but it's not about crypto or blockchain. It's called “FinTech” and is based on three related elements: Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI), Big Data (BD), and the Internet of Things (IoT). The Professor of Economics envisions it will revolutionize digital payment systems and asset management, among other financial necessities. “I do not believe that the problems of security and scalability of cryptocurrencies can ever be resolved,” he explained. “At the conceptual level security and scalability are incompatible with the decentralization that crypto and blockchain claim to want to achieve. And if you have a system that gets you scalability and security with centralization you are back to traditional financial systems and/or their modern evolution that is non-blockchain based FinTech.” “There is a reason why all societies rely on trusted institutions with a history of reputation, credibility and redress of fraud to ensure the safety and legality of financial and other transactions,” Roubini concluded. “The utopia of having decentralized, permission-less, trust-less algorithms that replace trusted and reputable institutions is a delusion that technology can provide a solution to fundamental problems of trust that only human institutions that have developed for millennia can resolve. There is no decentralized trust-less security or scalability in crypto and there will never be one.” Buyers should always beware and exercise caution with investment products and services, and perhaps nowhere is that more the case than with venues and individuals who encourage uncritical belief in the fantastic prior to urging loosening of purse strings. To be as clear as possible, it's typically a bad idea to take financial advice from people actively trying to convince the public of stories surrounding the general concept that otherworldly beings are regularly flying the skies. Don't make important decisions for yourself and loved ones based on the statements of unreliable narrators.

The Department of Justice announced Wednesday its most significant effort to date to target and arrest cyber criminals exploiting Americans and the cryptocurrency market. Working in partnership with the Treasury Department and French law enforcement, the DOJ disrupted Bitzlato, a China-based cryptocurrency exchange described as notorious for laundering criminal proceeds from the darknet, the DOJ explained at a live afternoon press conference. FBI agents arrested Bitzlato founder, senior executive, and majority shareholder Anatoly Legkodymov, a Russian national reportedly residing in China. He was taken into custody Tuesday night in Miami and charged with conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business. The DOJ indicated Bitzlato accounted for some $700 million in transactions. Those transactions were allegedly funded by illegal activity conducted through the darknet that rely on currencies that allow easy access with minimal identity verification and restrictions. The funds are then easily laundered. Bitzlato failed to implement safeguards required by U.S. law, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told reporters. Those safeguards enable law enforcement agencies to detect and investigate financial crimes. “Instead, Bitzlato facilitated the transmission of hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds, fueling darknet market places and laundering the proceeds of ransomware attacks,” Monaco asserted. She further explained her office will not only target hackers and fraudsters that profit from cryptocurrencies, but that she is unleashing the full force of the Department of Justice on the illicit actors and entities that court cyber criminals.

Emails recently obtained from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) further document circumstances surrounding a 2020 message sent to the NRC by “a concerned citizen” who wrote about what they believed to be an undiscovered uranium deposit at Skinwalker Ranch. The email suggested the alleged uranium deposit was the cause of “health dangers” purportedly experienced at the ranch. Expanding Frontiers Research (EFR) has now obtained several pages of responsive emails from the NRC through the Freedom of Information Act. The FOIA request was submitted after EFR learned of the 2020 “concerned citizen” email message via a series of public records requests submitted to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). As previously reported by EFR, the DEQ was queried in an effort to establish if Skinwalker Ranch personnel ever reported to proper authorities any of the circumstances suggested in what have become recurring claims of concerning radiation levels and potentially related health hazards. DEQ advised in an Oct. 18 email to EFR it was unable to follow up “because the property is held by a private entity which has not sought the Division's assistance for any incidents that may have occurred on-site.” DEQ additionally provided EFR records indicating the Nuclear Regulatory Commission forwarded it the 2020 message from the “concerned citizen.” This prompted the FOIA request to the NRC. The email in question, subject line “Skinwalker Ranch Has Uranium” and shown below, demonstrates the sender desired to remain anonymous. NRC redacted personal identifying information of the sender as exempt from the FOIA. Inter-agency emails were subsequently exchanged between NRC and DEQ, discussing the message from the “CI,” or concerned individual, and were recently included in the NRC FOIA response. One such message, pictured below, shows how an employee brought colleagues up to speed on the cable television show, The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch. Note the use of quotes to what might be interpreted as doubtfully describe “'high' radiation readings shown on the show.” If history is any indicator, Skinwalker Ranch cast members will continue to receive a certain amount of loyal fan support for their sensational claims, virtually regardless of discrepancies, while critics stockpile contradictions in logic. This becomes increasingly significant as public funds are used to propagate those claims while state and federal employees spend time and attention sorting out irresponsibly manufactured byproducts. Perhaps at its most fundamental level, one of the greatest contradictions may be that the property is either dangerous or it's not: Skinwalker Ranch can't be both a public safety hazard and a tourist attraction. View and download the documents recently obtained from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission below.

Lawyer and former FBI agent Asha Rangappa made a noteworthy description “for disentangling truth from fiction” in her Jan. 10 article. While the piece competently addressed events in the political spectrum, Rangappa's three-step series of questions could be aptly applied to any area of interest: 1. What is the evidence for your claim? 2. What is the source of evidence for this claim? 3. What is the reasoning that links your evidence back to the claim? We should indeed be asking ourselves such questions as we scroll through social media, browse endless articles on one hyped topic or another, or view intelligence-insulting cable television shows shamelessly presented as serious scientific inquiry. We should simply not be granting our time and attention to writers and reporters who avert from the questions posed by Rangappa. As a wise individual once suggested, we can argue hearsay all day, but facts are quickly established if access is granted to the evidence. The third question above, how the evidence is linked to the claim, is particularly relevant in that context. “Evidence” may, in itself, be subjective and most anything. The student's lack of turning in their homework assignment is evidence of a mischievous dog. It's just not strong evidence. The source of the evidence, in that scenario, is the student said so: the student who has a social incentive to deflect responsibility for the missing homework assignment. Therefore, the reasoning that links the evidence back to the claim might be considered shaky at best. The fact that is quickly established in this particular instance is the student is unable to produce a conclusive explanation for why the assignment was not completed. Sometimes evidence may be a bit more intriguing. Authentic videos are evidence of what is captured in the recorded footage. In such a scenario, the second question listed above, about the source of the evidence, becomes important. How difficult is it to find the original source and verify a chain of custody? How much is the source being obstructed by people who seem to have an interest in outcomes of investigations and swaying public opinion? These questions are relevant, but in a manner of speaking, may at times even serve as red herrings and lend the video unearned significance in light of question number three. If interpretation is subjective and inconclusive of what is portrayed in the video, many questions become relatively moot. We're ultimately arguing opinions, whether or not all parties recognize that's the case. The fact-finding process is unforgiving and unambiguous. Beware those who try to massage and contort it. There really can be only two fundamental reasons people avert from respecting universally recognized standards of evidence: they either don't understand them or they're trying to take advantage of those who don't. It's never a good thing if someone's best argument for why they keep demanding you accept unverified claims is they don't know any better.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently declined to further declassify a heavily redacted 1949 FBI letter to the Director sent from the New York Field Office. NARA explained in a Dec. 2 email it identified biological warfare as the subject of the records composed as part of a domestic security investigation. Download the letter below: The letter is part of a large, partially released FBI file identified as number 100-HQ-93216 and maintained by NARA. The file consists of some 8,500 mostly not yet released pages pertaining to mid-20th century investigations of potential bacteriological warfare threats. It first came to the attention of this writer in 2019 when the Bureau advised that the file contained material responsive to a FOIA request submitted on Col. Joseph Bryan III, a deceased former CIA officer and member of the Board of Governors of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP). After publishing a blogpost about the records subsequently obtained, an attentive reader pointed out an interesting item they found while browsing the hefty FBI file on bacteriological warfare: A May 31, 1949, FBI memo in which Asst. Director Ladd updated Director Hoover on an advisory committee operating under the Secretary of Defense. The committee consisted of representatives from universities and intelligence agencies, including the CIA, which met at a doctor's apartment on Park Avenue in New York City. Clearly indicative of the 1949 Project Bluebird, which was a forerunner to Artichoke (1951) and MKULTRA (1953), Ladd informed Hoover that a CIA chief scientist, Dr. Willard Machle, told the advisory committee the Agency was seeking its support “for a program of vigorous exploration” using drugs and hypnosis for “methods of isolation of the subconscious mind.” Of particular historic interest was Machle's apparent claim the 1949 Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Defense was the first group outside the CIA notified about the ongoing research. Ladd further informed Hoover the Committee reportedly expressed “considerable interest.” This writer subsequently requested NARA do a Mandatory Declassification Review on the intriguing document, resulting in some further clarification of committee attendees and activity. From the further declassified May 31, 1949, memo: Bryan and Hillenkoetter Additional FOIA research revealed the FBI conducted investigation of Joseph Bryan III in 1947. By 1948, Bryan was touring FBI headquarters with Asst. Director Nichols and meeting with Director Hoover. According to FBI records, this was because Bryan, an accomplished writer in addition to his military service, was identified by the Bureau as a favorable choice to author a series of articles profiling the FBI in the Saturday Evening Post. The articles never materialized, at least not from Bryan, for reasons quite possibly including his 1949 recruitment into the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). These and related circumstances are documented at length in Wayward Sons: NICAP and the IC. Bryan was destined to lead a psychological warfare team, operating as a covert arm of the CIA and State Department within the OPC, from 1949 into the early 1950s. That was before the colonel became a staple of the board of NICAP, which was incorporated in 1957. Along the way, Bryan was reportedly responsible for a variety of skilled and colorful characters, ranging from future Watergate plumber E. Howard Hunt and accomplished perception manager Hugh Troy, to Lewis “Pinky” Thompson, who was implicated heavily in providing support for behavior modification projects, both domestic and abroad. Such were the members of Bryan's psy warfare unit. Among other items of note, Dr. Charles Geschickter testified in 1963 court proceedings on Pinky's behalf when a racehorse Pinky owned failed a post-race drug test and was disqualified. History might view the doctor's testimony and Pinky's integrity more favorably were it not for the fact Geschickter managed a foundation, the Geschickter Fund, he later acknowledged during 1977 Senate hearings operated as a conduit for distributing CIA funds. Geschickter was integral in MKULTRA Subproject 35, which involved the infamous construction of a wing at Georgetown Hospital, enabling the CIA free roam and cover for “research involving covert biological and chemical techniques of warfare.” Pinky's 1965 obituary identified him as an official of the CIA and a related death announcement requested in lieu of flowers contributions be made to the Geschickter Fund for Medical Research, Georgetown University. Bryan was similarly obstructive without apology when it came to non-explaining such activities as his presence in Paris and New York during 1951, which included meeting with senior officials of New York Times offices in each city. He later claimed he could not remember details of the purposes of the meetings (See “The CIA and the New York Times: An Unanswered Question”, Athan G. Theoharris, Government Publications Review, Vol 10, pp257-259, 1983). The OPC, which hosted Bryan's psy warfare squad, unquestionably provided a variety of support for Bluebird during the MKULTRA formative years. At a bare minimum, Col. Bryan was well aware of the culture in the Agency both in the United States and across the globe, arguably much more so than most. To the other extreme, he was potentially an influential asset to human rights atrocities on an unconscionable scale. Bryan is more currently and most often intermittently described as either a proponent of UFOs or a NICAP villain who sabotaged the UFO org to thwart it from disclosing the proverbial truth, depending on which Bryan quote and who's school of thought you happen to be browsing. The popular public perception of Bryan's CIA boss, however, is now much more – and arguably much less deservedly – reduced to a rather one-dimensional stream of Pollyanna pro-UFO quotes. Adm. Roscoe Hillenkoetter was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1947-1950. That means eventual family jewels were not just somewhere down the hall while he worked there, but under his guidance and direction. Specifically, under Roscoe Hillenkoetter the Office of Policy Coordination was set up and received CIA financial backing; Bluebird was launched and soon morphed into Artichoke; and the OPC provided Bluebird operational support. Documentation is provided by the CIA itself: Hillenkoetter signed off on Bluebird budget and project plans, which included psychiatrists setting up an office in Washington, DC, as cover for experiments and “indoctrination.” OPC was explicitly identified as a provider of support personnel for the office and operations abroad. The above referenced Dr. Machle, it could be emphasized, worked in the Hillenkoetter administration of the 1949 CIA. Hillenkoetter was later reunited with Bryan on the NICAP board, which the admiral chaired from 1957-1962. Today, one is much more likely to see quotes attributed to Hillenkoetter about purported intelligently controlled flying saucers – lines NICAP distributed far and wide in its day – adorning the banners of UFO websites and UFO-themed social media accounts than they are apt to hear anything about his key role in initiating mind control research. Would Hillenkoetter have a different, much less respected and more nefarious legacy had he never become involved with NICAP and mouthed off about UFOs? It might seem that way, certainly among UFO enthusiasts. It's a relevant question and raises intriguing implications for both the past and present, but there are other issues to consider as well. Counterintelligence Let's circle back to the latest response from NARA, the one in which it declined to further declassify the 1949 letter to the Director located in the large bacteriological warfare file. The letter from the New York Field Office to Hoover is dated June 20, 1949, just three weeks after the above referenced May 31 memo in which Ladd briefed Hoover on developments within the Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Defense – which was meeting in New York. Among the few lines released of the heavily redacted June 20, 1949, letter are the opening words. The author of the document initially indicated a forthcoming message regarding Bureau letter (“rebulet”) of May 13, in which the New York Office was assigned to study a topic which has been redacted from view. The author then goes on to indicate the Bureau desires to place a trustworthy Communist Party informant in a position where he has the complete confidence of his Communist associates: The rest of the letter remains almost fully redacted, as such: NARA explained in its Dec. 2 email response it completed a line-by-line review of the letter. “Please be advised,” the email continued, “we have considered the foreseeable harm standard when reviewing records and applying FOIA exemptions for this request. Information was released to the greatest extent possible. Below is a summary of our review:”: A lot was going on in 1949 in NYC and DC. A lot was going on when NICAP incorporated in 1957. Hillenkoetter was not necessarily collaborating with Hoover on his spy schemes, either in 1949 or later. But Hillenkoetter and Bryan knew the people being recruited and targeted. You can bet on that. They'd all seen each other around, and that should get its fair share of attention in proportion to hyperbole about intelligently controlled flying saucers, as should the actual nature of these officers' careers.

A consulting firm founded by cast members of the cable television show The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch was contracted with three county governments in Utah for a fee of $58,500 per county to provide economic consulting services and strengthen business while simultaneously appearing on the show, according to public records and statements obtained by Expanding Frontiers Research (EFR). The records include a contract signed with Uintah County in January 2021 by Thomas Winterton on behalf of his and co-founder Brandon Fugal's Intermountain Economic Consulting. Uintah County used sensational Skinwalker Ranch claims as a tool in what officials maintain were efforts to increase tourism, as recently reported by EFR. In a chain of events reminiscent of a Scooby-Doo plotline, Uintah County officials acknowledged their efforts to attract visitors included paying Skinwalker Ranch cast members tens of thousands of dollars to appear at PhenomeCon events held at the Uintah Conference Center in the county seat of Vernal. In addition to the consulting contracts, Winterton and his limited liability company Dabato were paid over $10,000 by Uintah County for his appearances at the 2021 and 2022 PhenomeCon paranormal conferences. In a recent Zoom discussion with EFR, provided in its 35-minute unedited entirety at the end of this article, Winterton confirmed he was on a Uintah County organizing committee for PhenomeCon. All records recently obtained and referenced throughout this article are likewise posted for downloading at the conclusion of the piece. Thomas Winterton, the manager of Skinwalker Ranch, maintained he is proud of his work and the surrounding circumstances. He repeatedly suggested he interprets no conflicts of interest arising from his financial incentives to promote the Skinwalker Ranch paranormal narrative. Neither, he suggested, does he identify conflicts of interest among the different hats he wears from Secret of Skinwalker Ranch cast member to PhenomeCon personality for hire to member of the PhenomeCon organizing committee to county economic consultant, much of which is funded by tax dollars. They are all completely separate, he asserted, adding that he takes issue with being referred to as a cast member of Secret of Skinwalker Ranch in the context of his other business ventures. Urged to directly address if he sees a conflict of interest between the ventures, Winterton told EFR, “No, I see zero conflict, zero conflict.” Intermountain Economic Consulting Thomas Winterton co-founded Intermountain Economic Consulting with reported ranch owner and fellow Secret of Skinwalker Ranch cast member Brandon Fugal, according to the company website. Another frequent figure of the show and promoter of the Skinwalker Ranch paranormal narrative, James Morse, is listed on the website as a team member. Records recently obtained by EFR from Uintah County show that Intermountain Economic Consulting secured a $58,500 contract. Two more contracts, each for the same amount, were undertaken between the firm and both Daggett County and Duchesne County, totaling at least $175,500 in county economic development funding awarded to the firm. The contracts state economic consulting services were to be provided, but accompanying public records obtained from the counties do not clarify exactly what was ultimately delivered for the expenditures. None of the one-year contracts were renewed for a second year. Winterton asserted he extended each of the contracts an additional eight weeks at no further expense to the counties, for reasons he attributed to time he had spent “filming,” apparently The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch. He wanted to feel certain he met his company's contractual obligations, he maintained, but also emphasized that he felt the commitments were already met, for reasons including James Morse reportedly spent substantial amounts of time devoted to the Uintah County contract. It is Winterton's position that the counties received strong returns on the money paid to his and Fugal's consulting firm. He asserted he was instrumental in bringing the counties significant economic opportunities, such as his involvement in securing deals that led to job creation, even if the contributions or growth are not readily apparent in public records. County commissioners did not immediately respond to requests for comment about their impressions of the services delivered or value of contracts entered into with Intermountain Economic Consulting. Confusion with Colliers International The Uintah County contract undertaken with Intermountain Economic Consulting was initially discovered after review of an approved county budget which included a $58,500 expenditure in 2021 to Colliers International. Colliers is a global real estate and investment firm which names Brandon Fugal as chairman and lead partner of its Utah office. The Canada-based Colliers International boasts some 400 offices in 68 countries with a reported annual revenue of $3 billion. A subsequent records request for further information on the Colliers expenditure resulted in receiving documents that include the minutes from a January 2021 Uintah County Commission Meeting. The minutes indicate public discussion of a “consulting agreement with Colliers International for economic development,”; that a “representative from Colliers International” was believed to be present; and that “Commissioner [Bart] Haslam moved to enter into a contract with Colliers International.” However, the resulting contract was not drawn up with Colliers, but was undertaken with and funds were disbursed to Intermountain Economic Consulting. An invoice from the consulting company, requesting full payment and shown below, directed questions to Winterton. Documentation payment was issued: Attempts to learn why Intermountain Economic Consulting was contracted and paid the $58,500, rather than Colliers International, led to meeting minutes of the Daggett County Commission. During a March 16, 2021, meeting, county commissioners considered a contract for economic development services, in which Colliers International was again named as the potential contractor. The minutes indicate Winterton was in remote attendance. Documentation of the meeting minutes states, “Thomas [Winterton] said the contract is actually with Intermountain Economic Consulting and Colliers is a strategic Partner, so the contract needs to reflect that.” Records obtained do not make it clear exactly how Colliers became repeatedly represented as the company of record on the agendas of public county proceedings and in the Uintah budget expenditures. During the Nov. 11 Zoom call, Winterton asserted he informed his government prospects that Intermountain Economic Consulting was the company being contracted. Winterton attributed the confusion to Fugal's affiliation with Colliers and maintained Intermountain Economic Consulting “never misrepresented” the circumstances. It is not his responsibility, he suggested, if county commissioners and personnel “have it in their heads” they are doing business with Colliers International. Asked how they would have gotten that in their heads, Winterton responded, “Because Brandon [Fugal] is the chairman of [Utah] Colliers International; when he gives them a business card, it says Colliers on it.” Consulting Contracts A Jan. 11, 2021, contract obtained from Duchesne County rather questionably states the agreement is specifically entered into between Colliers International and Duchesne County. The contract, shown below, is signed by Winterton, who is listed as the Managing Director of Intermountain Economic Consulting. It appears additional confusion may have arisen if Winterton and Fugal's consulting firm was in the habit of using the same contracts Fugal used when conducting business as Colliers. The above contract was signed on behalf of Duchesne County by Commissioner Irene Hansen. Commissioner Hansen did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on her assessment of circumstances surrounding consultation services undertaken with Intermountain Economic Consulting. The contracts state the consultants are obligated to provide ongoing economic development services, use proprietary knowledge to facilitate projects, act in the best interest of clients, and similar commitments that might be considered somewhat difficult to quantify. A proposal from Intermountain Economic Consulting that was submitted to Duchesne County was much more specific. It committed to such deliverables as creating an action plan; generating detailed demographic reports and maps tailored to the County; organizing programs for recruiting companies; creating a collateral library to showcase research; administering key training for economic development officials, and much more. However, the EFR records request that obtained the proposal, which sought documents pertaining to Intermountain Economic Consulting and/or Colliers International, as well as reports submitted and documentation of products and services delivered, produced no records reflecting such items or any further reference to them. Multiple records requests sent to various offices of the contracted Utah counties failed to produce documentation of what was delivered by Intermountain Economic Consulting. It remains unverified as of this writing if progress reports or any similar documentation of activities were ever submitted or recorded. Public records obtained from Daggett County include referenced statements from Fugal and Winterton pertaining to attempts to sell the ill-fated Daggett County Jail. The real estate listing for the property, which was apparently never sold, was seemingly with Colliers, arguably further confusing the boundaries between Intermountain Economic Consulting and “strategic partner” Colliers International. The two companies also share the same Salt Lake City address, a suite on South Millrock Drive. Meeting minutes obtained from a Jan. 11, 2021, Uintah County Commission Meeting contain reference to the statements of County Commissioner Brad Horrocks. During discussion of entering into a contract with “Colliers International,” the commissioner apparently suggested he was impressed with presentations attended and felt the county should be moving forward and trying new things. However, Commissioner Horrocks added the county would be very demanding on its return for its money. The commissioner did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the quality of service provided for payment actually issued to Intermountain Economic Consulting or if he felt his expectations were met. In that same 2021 meeting, County Commissioner Bill Stringer expressed reluctance. “[Commissioner Stringer] does not support this for the reasons being that there is not promise on return for our money,” the meeting minutes reflect. “He was also concerned that they came to us, we did not find them. He did not want to hope for something. Commissioner [Bart] Haslem understood Commissioner Stringers [sic] concerns but as they have looked into this felt comfortable moving forward.” Commissioner Stringer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his thoughts in hindsight on the contract award. PhenomeCon Organizing Committee Vernal City Manager Quinn Bennion told EFR during an October email exchange that PhenomeCon speakers and amounts of compensation were decided by an organizing committee of which he was a member. Bennion averted from describing the process in more detail when asked to do so, advising that he would not be responding to further emails. An Oct. 26 records request was subsequently submitted to Travis Campbell, director of the office of Uintah County Economic Development. The request sought records pertaining to the PhenomeCon organizing committee as described by City Manager Bennion, a list of its members, minutes of its meetings, and policies and procedures for selecting PhenomeCon service providers and compensation. After receiving no acknowledgment of or response to the request, Campbell was emailed again on Nov. 10 and asked the status of the request. Campbell briefly replied by email the same day, “I am not associated with the organizing committee you mentioned so I do not have any records pertaining to your request.” He then suggested EFR seek documentation elsewhere. In a follow up Nov. 10 email, Travis Campbell was asked, to be as clear as possible, if it was his position the office of Economic Development has no association with a PhenomeCon organizing committee as described by Bennion. As of this writing, Campbell has not responded to the email. Thomas Winterton, when asked if he was a member of the PhenomeCon organizing committee, replied, “I am, and I'm very proud to be part of it.” Apparently alluding to formulas for arriving at amounts of compensation, he added that he offered Uintah County comparison figures as to “what had been paid to us in other conferences that we have attended.” “But I did not ask for a specific amount,” Winterton continued, raising the palms of his hands to the computer screen, “nor did I have anything to do with the amounts of my compensation or the rest of the team.” There was “a discussion,” he added, but it was ultimately the Uintah County Travel and Tourism directors that made that call, Winterton maintained. As indicated above, Thomas Winterton adamantly defends the integrity of Intermountain Economic Consulting and his actions. He repeatedly made statements to that effect. He also explained he felt personally attacked by EFR inquiries and reporting. It was subsequently suggested that from this side of the inquiries, a more accurate description might be that a thread of entitlement and resistance to government transparency runs through several of the people who populate this story. They may very well experience the circumstances as feeling personally attacked. Records obtained from Uintah County: Duchesne County: Daggett County:

Expanding Frontiers Research (EFR) is committed to sharing information and resources that most effectively embody best research practices. We conduct and publish research on a wide range of topics and take a multi-tiered approach to providing the public credible information. This approach includes both compiling original research as well as archiving historic material. This inherently means that EFR values standards of evidence recognized by the professional research community. This does not mean the organization or its supporters are opposed to exploring maverick science or fascinating possibilities, but that those possibilities must be subjected to rigorous examination to advance from conjecture to fact. Likewise, there are certain definitions that apply to select terms and those definitions should not be lost in ambiguous and obtuse framing for reasons that have traditionally included insincere efforts to gain otherwise unearned credibility and prestige. For instance, bad actors have long tried to hijack the term “scientific research” in order to deceive the masses. In reality, it takes more than credentials and rhetoric to qualify any given activity as a scientific endeavor. Actual scientific research might, by definition, include stated goals, methodologies, plans for how progress is measured, and progress reports, among other dynamics. It is a systematic process that should have minimal ambiguity and maximum transparency and accountability. If an individual or organization claims to be conducting scientific investigation, they should be accountable for adhering to universally recognized protocols. Research does not have to be scientific to be of value. Journalists and many types of investigators conduct fact-finding activities of merit that are not scientific. It should be noted whether or not the activities are claimed to be scientific, and the extent standards of evidence are valued. EFR Director Erica Lukes regularly interviews individuals who express values and vision with which we share. Among those individuals is Paul Carr of Aerial Phenomena Investigations, a Washington, DC-based UFO investigation group that takes a grounded and sober approach to its work. Aerial Phenomena Investigations posts and adheres to policies on ethics and witness confidentiality. The organization's website gives visitors access to API reports, UFO investigation training videos, and similar useful resources. Erica Lukes recently had a discussion with researcher Leah Prime, who described what it means to be a good steward in ufology. This includes changing opinions based on provision of evidence, she explained, and, importantly, being willing to do so publicly when applicable: Vanessa Walilko is a popular podcaster with a diverse range of interests. Her achievements include published academic research and promoting inclusion among often marginalized populations. Erica Lukes and she discussed such topics as questionable origins of modern UFO research, tendencies to avert from salient issues in lieu of sensational stories, and differentiating between personal attacks and otherwise reasonable criticism of assertions put forth: Barry Greenwood is a researcher, an author, and recognized as a foremost leading archivist on UFO and related material. He has contributed material to many books, articles, and films. Greenwood is also a member of the EFR Board of Directors. He and Erica Lukes discussed archiving: We at Expanding Frontiers Research hope you find our contributions and efforts to be worthwhile. Your interest is appreciated, and we look forward to ongoing work and rewarding collaborations.

Financial records obtained from Uintah County indicate it spent over $133,000 on the 2022 PhenomeCon while raising about $124,000 in revenue, compiling a reported debt of some $9,000 for sponsoring the paranormal-themed conference. The inaugural 2021 PhenomeCon likewise tallied over $74,000 in payouts while collecting about $59,000 in revenue, finishing some $15,000 in the hole. Expenses for the two conferences, confirmed to be sponsored by Uintah County, include tens of thousands of dollars in payments to dubious speakers and catered “VIP” meals in which unsupported rumors were spread of dangerous paranormal phenomena. Payouts also include workshops promoting such topics as Remote Viewing and payments for rental car reimbursements. During the 2022 PhenomeCon, payments issued for speaking engagements, consultation services, and appearances at events totaled over $60,000, while hotel chains were paid in excess of $10,000, according to the financial reports. Expanding Frontiers Research (EFR) obtained the information through public records requests submitted to the Uintah County offices of the Clerk-Auditor and Travel and Tourism. The requests were submitted as part of a joint effort between this writer and EFR Director Erica Lukes, who contributed substantial research to this article. Uintah County is home to the property in Utah known as Skinwalker Ranch, where unsubstantiated stories of spooky goings ons have been popularized by late night talk radio, cable television, and credulous books co-authored by fringe reporter George Knapp with former defense officials harboring unclear agendas. Many of the PhenomeCon speakers are associated with Skinwalker Ranch. The records obtained contain an entry from 2021 indicating $850 was paid to a law firm, apparently for trademark search and filing services. Further research indicated a “PhenomeCon” trademark was filed in 2021 and owned by Uintah County. Uintah County Travel and Tourism Director Lesha Coltharp confirmed during an Oct. 3 telephone call that PhenomeCon is a Uintah County-sponsored conference. Websites which advertised and collected payment to attend PhenomeCon, which carries the tagline, "We believe," did not as of this writing indicate Uintah County puts on the event. Coltharp and personnel from the Clerk-Auditor's office additionally verified interpretation of the financial records. The records indicate over $207,000 in funds were spent on the two PhenomeCon conferences at a combined loss of about $24,000. Perhaps even more significant is how the money was spent and that county government is involved at all. Disbursements recorded by the Uintah County offices of the Clerk-Auditor and Travel and Tourism include over $6,100 to George Knapp in 2021; over $5,100 in payments were recorded to Dr. Travis Taylor in 2021 and over $5,400 in combined payouts in 2022; $5,495 in payments were made in 2021 to Skinwalker Ranch superintendent Thomas Winterton's company, Dabato, LLC, and nearly $5,000 in payments were logged to Winterton in 2022. Lesha Coltharp credited Thomas Winterton with initially planning PhenomeCon with government officials. Additional PhenomeCon expenses include Dragon Security, also affiliated with Skinwalker Ranch, which was issued over $2,000 in payments in 2021 and over $5,000 in 2022. Scientist Erik Bard, yet another Skinwalker alumni, was issued over $2,000 in payments in 2021 and in excess of $2,700 in 2022. At the 2022 PhenomeCon, held Sep. 7-11 at the Uintah Conference Center in the county seat of Vernal, Christopher Duncan was allocated $960 for a Remote Viewing workshop. According to additional entries, he was paid another combined $1,500. Other 2022 events include a “Voices of Believers Dinner,” for which caterers were paid $4,200. The tab for a “Behind the Scenes Dinner with Skinwalker Ranch” weighed in at $7,351, while records indicate a combined $7,000 was paid to caterers for what were termed opening and closing receptions. Miscellaneous expenses include over $2,300 for tee shirts, over $850 for “PhenomeCon Pens,” and nearly $900 for “Candy for Speakers.” Lesha Coltharp defended the PhenomeCon financial losses and Uintah County's decision-making process, stating the conference brings some thousand tourists to the area. “It was a huge success,” she contended. “We had people attend from 38 states and four different countries and they were here for anywhere from five days to 14 days.” Attendees would praise the event, she added, saying it is above and beyond anything they get anywhere else in the country. “We bring in high caliber speakers so that it's the real deal.” Coltharp was advised EFR does not share her assessment of the caliber of speakers. She was further informed EFR has concerns when a county government facilitates spreading unverified claims about purported paranormal activity as perpetrated by PhenomeCon and speakers it pays and promotes. Dr. Travis Taylor is a consultant in the intelligence community and is employed at Radiance Technologies. He is also a cast member of the cable television show The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch. He publicly asserts mysterious and serious harm is subject to come to people associated with the property. At an event labeled a VIP lunch conducted during the 2022 PhenomeCon, Taylor stated a woman “ended up with a very dangerous form of cancer” as a result of an orb passing through her. He claimed the orb was linked to the ranch through the purported “hitchhiker phenomenon.” The hitchhiker phenomenon is an entirely unverified speculation that suggests people who encounter select paranormal phenomena become enmeshed with the phenomena, which accompanies them across potentially long distances and transfers to others with whom they interact. It should be noted the alleged paranormal phenomena to which Taylor refers has yet to be established to so much as exist, much less its associated hitchhiker effect. Nonetheless, Taylor further asserted during the PhenomeCon VIP lunch that former ranch owner Robert Bigelow “got rid of the place” because “he was convinced it killed his wife.” Multiple requests sent to Dr. Taylor to field questions for this article did not receive responses. Lesha Coltharp was advised of Taylor's statements and asked how it squares with tourism when a PhenomeCon speaker suggests Robert Bigelow's wife died as a result of Skinwalker Ranch. “I'm not sure of that and I didn't hear Dr. Taylor speak, so if I wasn't there and he had that claim, I don't know,” Coltharp responded. It was pointed out to the Travel and Tourism Director there are obvious concerns and breakdowns in logic when the ranch personnel and associates chronically assert the existence of some type of harmful contagion or toxic radiation, yet ignore responsibilities to report such circumstances to proper authorities. Such authorities might include environmental agencies or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Environmental agencies would potentially conduct an investigation and subsequently implement a series of protocols if reports were deemed valid. While that is the case, rather than involve agencies and more effectively ensure public and personal safety, the narrative is used to promote tourism, up to advertising a PhenomeCon escorted trip to the ranch and using the story as a means to create income for speakers. Can she empathize with the concerns? “I guess that's not Tourism, that's not anything that we have a part of,” Coltharp offered in response. “Does that make sense? We're in it because we have over a thousand people who come here and stay in our hotels and eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores and buy our gas. That's why Tourism's involved – our economic impact of it – that's why we help facilitate the conference. That's why we're involved. We're not involved in any of the science part of it or anything like that.” It might be reasonably surmised Uintah County officials do not believe anyone is in danger from phenomena purported to menace Skinwalker Ranch or cause alleged hitchhiker horrors. One would otherwise have to account for why decisions are made by county government to financially sponsor the event. Specifically, it results in a reported thousand people per year visiting an area of Utah in which George Knapp and others who were paid to attend and speak maintain that poltergeist-like energies attach themselves to human beings, accompany them home, spread to others like a virus and – according to Travis Taylor – cause cancer. If government officials and community leaders sincerely believe those tales, they are arguably acting with substantial negligence to exploit the circumstances as a means to boost the local economy and create financial opportunities for PhenomeCon speakers and consultants. In contrast, if PhenomeCon sponsors and participants do not believe the tales, that raises a different - yet arguably equally important - series of ethical questions. Requests for comment were sent to the Uintah County Commissioners, seeking statements on their stances either opposing or supporting the County's policies on conducting and financially sponsoring PhenomeCon. A voicemail message was left for Commission Chairman Bart Haslem, requesting he clarify his position on PhenomeCon, as well as offer a statement on the safety of conference attendees and Uintah County tourists in general, given the assertions of Dr. Taylor and his fellow Secret of Skinwalker cast members and conference speakers. No responses were received from the County Commission as of this writing. Coltharp described how PhenomeCon began. “We were working with Skinwalker Ranch,” she explained. “So many people go over there to their ranch, over there to their gate, you know? And they wanted people to have some kind of experience - for guests - but they can't let anybody on the ranch because of their paranormal activity, right? So they kind of came up with an idea, 'Hey, what if we call it some kind of a conference where we, you know, are there and help support it?', and then, they had met with our City Manager and our Economic Development Director at the time and they came up with this idea, PhenomeCon. In the process of that, Blind Frog Ranch got involved, and then Russ with Expedition Bigfoot.” Expedition Bigfoot is another cable television show. It features Russell Acord, who Lesha Coltharp was apparently referencing. The Uintah County financial records pertaining to the 2021 PhenomeCon indicate Lorraine Acord was issued $1200. In 2022, records show she received seven payments of $500 each, totaling $3,500, between January and July. Russell Acord was paid eight installments of $500 each during the same period, plus additional payments totaling at least $2,585, bringing his personal grand total for 2022 PhenomeCon to no less than $6,585. He hunts Bigfoot on television. Requests for comment were sent to the office of Vernal City Manager Quinn Bennion. He was asked to comment on if he supports Uintah County sponsoring PhenomeCon. The City Manager was also asked to clarify his position on the safety of conference attendees, given the statements of PhenomeCon speakers pertaining to alleged head injuries and the purported "hitchhiker phenomena" associated with supposed mysterious energies at Skinwalker Ranch. "I am on the organizing committee and assist with conference arrangements. I support the conference occurring in Vernal," Bennion wrote in an Oct. 19 email. He echoed points expressed by Coltharp about a thousand participants from 38 states and four countries, adding, "Phenomecon is a boost to the Vernal economy and tourism." "The conference does not facilitate or transport participants onto private property including Skinwalker Ranch," the City Manager continued, apparently implying tourists are guaranteed to remain out of harm's way as long as they don't go on the real estate parcel. "The add-on tour turns around at the gate." Bennion was asked in a follow-up email if it was fair to say he does not believe tourists are in any danger associated with alleged Skinwalker Ranch paranormal phenomena or "hitchhiker phenomena" as described at the 2022 PhenomeCon by Dr. Travis Taylor. He was provided a link to Taylor's related statements. Bennion was also asked, as a member of the organizing committee, to please summarize the process of how speakers and their amounts of compensation are selected. Some speakers were reportedly paid $300 while others received thousands for attendance at various events. Is there a call for proposals for potential speakers? Who makes these decisions and what are the decisions based on? "I am not qualified to respond about 'hitchhiker phenomena,'" Vernal City Manager Bennion emailed in response. He added that he was the committee host at the VIP lunch and did not hear Taylor's statements, which might be considered beside the point, given he was provided a link to a video clip containing the doctor's claims. "The organizing committee makes the decisions on speakers and compensation," Bennion briefly wrote, apparently opting to decline summarizing the process as was requested. He concluded he would not respond further to emails "unless you have an open records request to Vernal City." Lesha Coltharp explained the Skinwalker Ranch “casting crew” wanted to do some kind of conference, “so they could interact with the community.” She was asked, when she stated “they” wanted people to have some kind of experience and met with the City Manager and an economic developer, who specifically was she referencing? “Thomas Winterton. So he's from the Uintah Basin and so, yeah, he wanted to do something to help have an economic impact for the community.” As cited above, records indicate over $10,000 in combined payments were made from Uintah County offices to Thomas Winterton and his LLC for the 2021 and 2022 PhenomeCon conferences. This apparently includes payment in 2022 for appearances at the Behind the Scenes Dinner with Skinwalker Ranch and a VIP breakfast, as well as his involvement with an “Escorted Trip to Skinwalker Ranch.” Winterton publicly claims he sustained repeated head injuries, spanning many years, associated with inexplicable energies at the ranch. In spite of that being the case, he remarkably continues to apparently spend significant amounts of time at Skinwalker Ranch and encourages people to visit the surrounding area, seemingly including taking an escorted trip, or "add-on tour," as City Manager Bennion put it. Speculation about Havana Syndrome and its relationship to Uintah County is fueled by figures such as Dr. Garry Nolan of Stanford University. During a 2021 interview with Motherboard, Nolan directly described a victim of what he labeled Havana Syndrome at Skinwalker Ranch. The immunologist further asserted he and colleagues "can actually estimate the amount of energy required in the electromagnetic wave someone aimed at them." Researchers, presumably including Kit Green and he, think the alleged case at Skinwalker was perpetrated by some sort of state actor, Nolan explained. Nolan has to this point failed to adequately establish an electromagnetic wave was involved in the case at all, much less positively and intentionally aimed by anyone, state actor or otherwise. It should nonetheless not escape consideration that government officials and Skinwalker personnel apparently proceed with plans for conferences and activities while presumably aware of Nolan's allegations. It could be interpreted as difficult to think they believe there is danger, for whatever reasons. In addition to claims of mysterious injuries, Winterton, Taylor, and their fellow Secret of Skinwalker cast members, along with George Knapp and his co-authors, persist in suggesting the presence of some type of potentially toxic or harmful phenomena. The television show itself is widely known for its claims of measuring radiation levels which cast members identify as alarming. EFR filed several records requests with Utah and federal environmental agencies, namely, multiple offices of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency. As of this writing, no evidence has been obtained that indicates such circumstances as asserted by promoters of the Skinwalker narrative were ever reported to proper authorities. As a matter of fact, in certain instances, it is evident they were not. EFR notified the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) of dates of injuries reportedly occurring in the vicinity of Skinwalker Ranch via a records request seeking material pertaining to the events and geographic location. The DEQ Division of Water Quality responded in an Oct. 14 email a search was conducted for incidents occurring on and within a mile-and-a-half of the property. One “environmental incident” was identified, a 2019 circumstance in which a truck hauling crude oil leaked an unknown quantity onto the surface of the road where the oil reportedly solidified in place with no waterways or soil impacted. A map of reported incidents, or primary lack thereof, on and surrounding Skinwalker Ranch as provided by the Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality: In addition to the Division of Water Quality, EFR queried the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality for records that might reflect incidents that populate the sensational Skinwalker Ranch narrative. A recently received response advised EFR of an allegation filed in 2020 to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that was subsequently forwarded to the Utah DEQ in 2021. The allegation was authored by someone describing them self as a “concerned citizen” who believed there to be a uranium deposit on Skinwalker Ranch, causing “the majority of the health dangers that people are experiencing there.” The author of the message somewhat erratically went on to suggest an investigation should be secret, include people on the ranch, and findings should not be made public for national security reasons. “Unfortunately,” the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control explained in its Oct. 18 email response to EFR, “because the property is held by a private entity which has not sought the Division’s assistance for any incidents that may have occurred on-site, the Division has been unable to follow up on the allegation at this time.” It is clear that Skinwalker Ranch personnel, television show cast members, production crew employees, public officials nor anyone else directly or indirectly promoting claims of harmful phenomena inherent to the property have notified Waste Management and Radiation Control. A number of salient, yet unanswered, questions revolve around that fact. At a bare minimum, the concerns expressed in the allegation submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission do not reflect well on the people promoting the story for a living and for various financially motivated reasons, particularly if those people in actuality doubt the authenticity of the narrative. The allegation submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is shown below. The personal information of the submitter was withheld by the DEQ as stipulated in applicable Utah public records laws. A Freedom of Information Act request was submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the circumstances and remains open as of this writing. The apparent lack of ranch personnel documenting purported incidents with applicable agencies might be considered even more questionable in light of the fact Sen. Ronald Winterton, the reported father of Thomas Winterton, chaired the 2020 Utah House Health and Human Services Committee. A March 2020 memo to Committee members from the office of Sen. Winterton demonstrates the group explored legislation concerning health and human services, emergency medical services, and fatalities, among other issues, just apparently none that have anything to do with cancer-inducing contagions originating from Skinwalker Ranch and Uintah County. Thomas Winterton did not respond to several invitations to discuss his involvement with PhenomeCon for inclusion in this article. Prof. William F. Hall is a former Field Office Director at the Department of Justice, Community Relations Service Division. His professional career includes serving as a special assistant in the U.S. Senate to Sen. John Danforth (R-MO); in the Office of the Mayor in New York for Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Paul Gibson, Jr. (D-NYC); and as a member of the Chicago Mayoral Transition Team for Mayor-Elect, Harold L. Washington (D-IL). He earned degrees and conducted studies in political science, public policy, and social welfare. Prof. Hall is a longtime educator, currently serving Webster University and Washington University. He agreed to speak by phone about government ethics on Oct. 17. Should government sponsorship of a public event be overt and clearly posted? “Yes, it should,” Prof. Hall responded, adding that he recommends for further reference on such issues the National Association of Counties and the American Society for Public Administration. These organizations set industry standards and spell out specific guidelines on government ethics and transparency. Any citizen is entitled to information about the purposes, speakers employed, and other aspects of government activities. Information is made available to people who pay for the activities, Prof. Hall explained, which, in this case, is the taxpayer. “The National Association of Counties and the American Society for Public Administration both have codes of ethics and one of the most important components is the need to have business conducted in the public eye,” he continued. What responsibilities does a county government have in the validity of the stances the speakers take at the events it sponsors? There is typically a request for proposals in which a government body will seek services or, in this instance, speakers. The request for proposals should outline the parameters, the expectations, the qualifications – all of the things that you really need to have – to make an informed and intelligent decision on such matters, the professor explained. The process must of course be within the limits of the law, but sometimes ethical conflicts may be present that do not rise to the level of criminal culpability, yet could violate standards of morality or ethics, or some other benchmark, that governments should attempt to respect and observe. In a best-case scenario, public officials do not settle for mere compliance or trying to avoid breaking the law, but conduct their activities in ways that instill confidence in the public they serve. “In terms of speakers and their views,” Prof. Hall continued, “as far as I'm aware, there is no general prohibition against government agencies contracting with services or speakers that they may not necessarily agree with. I think part of the value of conferences often is being able to expose attendees to views that may be out of the box. Now, having said that, certainly I think there are lines that may be beyond the bounds or beyond the pale of reasonability, and that's when you get into a gray area.” Hall explained the National Association of Counties website references with its code of ethics a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” That speaks volumes, the professor emphasized. Something that may not necessarily violate the letter of the law, reasonable minds could ascertain violates the spirit of the law. That's where ethics come into play. Without seeing the specific calls for proposals and the specific county guidelines that dictate how speakers and service providers may be contracted, it would be impossible to offer an informed opinion, but the importance of the process can indeed be explored. It was explained to Hall that one of the compensated speakers was reportedly involved in the initial planning stages with county and city officials of what led to the two conferences. Was the professor suggesting a key aspect of the process was the procedure in which the county selected speakers and arrived at amounts of compensation? “I think that is the crux of the issue,” Prof. Hall replied. “Almost any code of ethics that I am familiar with, and I am familiar with many – in the codes of ethics of the National Association of Counties and American Society for Public Administration, for instances - a major component is there needs to be clear showing that no participant, no one who would vote or select a contractor, would have any 'skin in the game,' or benefit. A big red flag always flies when there is evidence that someone who is deciding also has some stake in the decision, either a monetary one or some other way that ultimately they may value. That is always a red flag, so in the process of selection there should be some evidence that great pains were taken to make sure that no one would be involved in the process that stands to gain anything of value.” Relevant questions might include 'Who were the stakeholders?' and 'Did anyone have a chance to influence the selection that might benefit through personal gain?'. “It doesn't necessarily have to mean money,” Prof. Hall continued, “it could also mean setting the stage for something down the road.” Is it different when a county government gets involved in the Bigfoot and UFO business as compared to a for-profit entity or an entertainment-based company? “I think that's a fair statement,” Prof. Hall responded, while emphasizing the importance of process and procedures. The specific wording of policies and codes adopted by a government administration must be reviewed to determine the extent its actions adhered to or varied from its guidelines. It's all about the process. “A major component of any code of ethics, particularly those that are on point with this particular situation, is the need to demonstrate integrity of the organization, agency or government,” he explained, “the need to adhere to the highest forms of conduct to inspire confidence and trust in public service. Any actions, behavior or decisions that do not enhance or support that integrity diminish the role of government and tend to make the public hesitant to feel their interests are being held to the highest standards. You get into the gray areas at your own peril because, after all, the main issue and goal in a federal system of government, where we disperse power among many different governments, is to advance the public interest.” That's the beauty and the strength of America, Prof. Hall emphasized and concluded. We don't have an authoritarian government at the top that makes all the decisions. We have many different governments with levels of responsibility, but the one constant in democracy, from federal to state to county and townships, is the need for government to advance the public interest.