vault backup: 2026-10-12 16:59:05
This commit is contained in:
parent
bf9bed6383
commit
8117db02c6
63 changed files with 2228 additions and 593 deletions
|
|
@ -14,10 +14,17 @@ tags:
|
|||
- CovertOperations
|
||||
- BritishGuiana
|
||||
- Chile
|
||||
summary: "The CIA-funded American Institute for Free Labor Development, the AFL-CIO's Latin American arm, which organized anticommunist labor unions throughout the hemisphere and whose operatives played a documented role in the 1964 Brazilian coup and other Cold War regime changes."
|
||||
summary: "The CIA-funded American Institute for Free Labor Development, the AFL-CIO's Latin American arm, organized anticommunist unions and played a documented role in the 1964 Brazilian coup and other Cold War regime changes."
|
||||
location: Washington, DC / Latin America
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: funded
|
||||
with: "[[Agency for International Development]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 1962
|
||||
role: "supplied $16 million of the roughly $18 million AIFLD received from 1962 through 1967 (87 per cent, per Greider)"
|
||||
fn: 7
|
||||
created: 2026-06-05
|
||||
updated: 2026-06-05
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-12
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) was established in 1962 as the [[AFL-CIO]]'s Latin American arm, jointly funded by the US government (through [[USAID]]), major US corporations, and the CIA. Its stated mission was to build democratic trade unions throughout [[Latin America]] as a counterweight to communist labor organizing. In practice, AIFLD played a documented role in the destabilization campaigns that preceded the 1964 Brazilian coup deposing President [[Joao Goulart]], the 1963 general strike that toppled [[Cheddi Jagan]]'s elected government in [[British Guiana]], and the 1973 Chilean coup against President [[Salvador Allende]].[^1]
|
||||
|
|
@ -32,23 +39,25 @@ George Meany served as president of AIFLD while simultaneously serving as presid
|
|||
|
||||
### Funding Structure and CIA Connection
|
||||
|
||||
AIFLD's funding was almost entirely governmental. USAID provided approximately 93 percent of AIFLD's budget from 1962 to 1974, totaling at least $15 million annually by the organization's peak years. The AFL-CIO's own contribution varied between 2.5 and 4.5 percent of the total budget. The corporate board's financial contribution was modest but its membership was strategically significant.[^5]
|
||||
AIFLD's funding was almost entirely governmental. Fred Hirsch's 1974 analysis, citing USAID budget data for 1962 to 1974, put USAID's share of AIFLD's budget at approximately 93 percent, totaling at least $15 million annually by the organization's peak years. The AFL-CIO's own contribution varied between 2.5 and 4.5 percent of the total budget. The corporate board's financial contribution was modest but its membership was strategically significant.[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
Corporate members of AIFLD's board included W.R. Grace & Co., [[Pan American Airways]], [[Anaconda Copper]] (the Anaconda Company), [[Standard Oil]] affiliates (including Exxon and Shell), [[Chase Manhattan Bank]], [[IBM]], [[Koppers]], [[Gillette]], and [[Johnson & Johnson]]. These corporations shared a common interest in stable, anticommunist labor conditions across Latin America, where their investments were concentrated. [[Berent Friele]], the Norwegian-born coffee dealer who served as [[Nelson Rockefeller]]'s personal representative on Latin American affairs and was on Rockefeller's payroll at [[Rockefeller Center]], also sat on the board, providing a direct link between AIFLD's governance and the Rockefeller network.[^6]
|
||||
The opening statement at an August 1969 hearing of the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] stated that AIFLD had "received a little over $28 million in foreign aid funds for its operations in Latin America" since 1962.[^6] [[William Greider]] reported in the [[Washington Post]] on April 21, 1969 that the [[Agency for International Development]] (AID) had supplied $16 million of the roughly $18 million AIFLD received from 1962 through 1967, and he put the government share of that money at 87 per cent; the remaining $2 million came from the AFL-CIO and 70 business firms.[^7] Greider also reported that AID's deputy administrator, [[Rutherford Poats]], questioned about AID's policy toward the AFL-CIO's African institute, said that AID took the same attitude it took toward other private groups it supported because "we are financing a union-to-union relationship."[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
The CIA's role was channeled through USAID and through a series of pass-through foundations. The Andrew Hamilton Foundation was identified as a CIA conduit at an August 31, 1964 hearing of a House Select Small Business Subcommittee chaired by Representative Wright Patman (D-TX). The Foundation channeled $25,000 per month to the International Federation of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers for use in Latin America in cooperation with AIFLD. A February 24, 1967, Drew Pearson column estimated CIA money flowing to labor organizations at approximately $100 million per year across all programs.[^7]
|
||||
Corporate members of AIFLD's board included W.R. Grace & Co., [[Pan American Airways]], [[Anaconda Copper]] (the Anaconda Company), [[Standard Oil]] affiliates (including Exxon and Shell), [[Chase Manhattan Bank]], [[IBM]], [[Koppers]], [[Gillette]], and [[Johnson & Johnson]]. These corporations shared a common interest in stable, anticommunist labor conditions across Latin America, where their investments were concentrated. [[Berent Friele]], the Norwegian-born coffee dealer who served as [[Nelson Rockefeller]]'s personal representative on Latin American affairs and was on Rockefeller's payroll at [[Rockefeller Center]], also sat on the board, providing a direct link between AIFLD's governance and the Rockefeller network.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
Philip Agee, the CIA case officer who served in Ecuador and Uruguay during the early 1960s before becoming the agency's most prominent defector, identified Romualdi as "the principal CIA agent for labor operations in Latin America" and described AIFLD as "a CIA controlled labor center financed through AID." Agee identified Doherty as a CIA agent in labor operations. In CIA records, Romualdi's operational pseudonym was "Charles Guymers."[^8]
|
||||
The CIA's role was channeled through USAID and through a series of pass-through foundations. The Andrew Hamilton Foundation was identified as a CIA conduit at an August 31, 1964 hearing of a House Select Small Business Subcommittee chaired by Representative Wright Patman (D-TX). The Foundation channeled $25,000 per month to the International Federation of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers for use in Latin America in cooperation with AIFLD. A February 24, 1967, Drew Pearson column estimated CIA money flowing to labor organizations at approximately $100 million per year across all programs.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
The CIA's [[International Organizations Division]], which ran relationships with international labor, student, and cultural organizations throughout the Cold War period, exercised operational control over AIFLD's activities through the local CIA station in each country where AIFLD operated, while nominal administrative control remained with AIFLD's Washington headquarters.[^9]
|
||||
Philip Agee, the CIA case officer who served in Ecuador and Uruguay during the early 1960s before becoming the agency's most prominent defector, identified Romualdi as "the principal CIA agent for labor operations in Latin America" and described AIFLD as "a CIA controlled labor center financed through AID." Agee identified Doherty as a CIA agent in labor operations. In CIA records, Romualdi's operational pseudonym was "Charles Guymers."[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
The CIA's [[International Organizations Division]], which ran relationships with international labor, student, and cultural organizations throughout the Cold War period, exercised operational control over AIFLD's activities through the local CIA station in each country where AIFLD operated, while nominal administrative control remained with AIFLD's Washington headquarters.[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
### Training Operations
|
||||
|
||||
AIFLD's Washington training school opened in June 1962 and provided three-month residential courses to Latin American trade union leaders. The curriculum included instruction on anticommunist union organizing, collective bargaining, and what were described internally as techniques for countering Communist influence within unions. Trainees received monthly stipends and per diem payments that typically exceeded their normal wages, creating material incentives for continued cooperation with AIFLD after their return home.
|
||||
|
||||
AIFLD also operated a residential training facility in Front Royal, Virginia, which was used for more intensive courses for selected Latin American labor leaders. By 1972, AIFLD claimed to have trained 133,755 trade unionists across its programs.[^10]
|
||||
AIFLD also operated a residential training facility in Front Royal, Virginia, which was used for more intensive courses for selected Latin American labor leaders. By 1972, AIFLD claimed to have trained 133,755 trade unionists across its programs.[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
After completing their coursework, selected graduates received nine-month internship stipends to continue organizing work in their home countries. AIFLD also ran a network of in-country programs across eleven Latin American nations and conducted development projects, including the construction of affordable worker housing in cities where ORIT-affiliated (Inter-American Regional Labor Organization) unions operated. Prospective residents of the AIFLD housing projects were required to complete detailed questionnaires about their union affiliations and activities.[^11]
|
||||
After completing their coursework, selected graduates received nine-month internship stipends to continue organizing work in their home countries. AIFLD also ran a network of in-country programs across eleven Latin American nations and conducted development projects, including the construction of affordable worker housing in cities where ORIT-affiliated (Inter-American Regional Labor Organization) unions operated. Prospective residents of the AIFLD housing projects were required to complete detailed questionnaires about their union affiliations and activities.[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
### British Guiana: 1962-1964
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -56,43 +65,43 @@ AIFLD's operations in British Guiana were among the earliest and most extensivel
|
|||
|
||||
Eight Guyanese trade union leaders participated in AIFLD's inaugural Washington training course in June 1962 and six returned to British Guiana in September 1962 on AIFLD internship stipends. When the [[British Guiana Trades Union Council]] (BGTUC) called a general strike in April 1963 against Jagan's labor relations bill, AIFLD interns were placed at the disposal of the strike committee and their stipends were extended. The 1963 general strike, which lasted approximately eighty days, has been described as one of the longest general strikes in modern history.
|
||||
|
||||
Financial support for the strike, coordinated through CIA channels, reached approximately $800,000 (equivalent to roughly $6.7 million in 2019 dollars), averaging around $10,000 per day. The funds were channeled through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Retail Clerks International Union, the American Newspaper Guild, and AIFLD. The CIA operative Howard McCabe worked directly with the strike committee; Sidney Lens documented that at least six AFL-CIO representatives were sent to Guyana carrying approximately $1 million in CIA funds. Richard Ishmael, leader of the BGTUC, was an AIFLD-trained operative. Jagan's government ultimately fell in 1964 when electoral rules were changed under British pressure coordinated with Washington.[^12]
|
||||
Financial support for the strike, coordinated through CIA channels, reached approximately $800,000 (equivalent to roughly $6.7 million in 2019 dollars), averaging around $10,000 per day. The funds were channeled through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Retail Clerks International Union, the American Newspaper Guild, and AIFLD. The CIA operative Howard McCabe worked directly with the strike committee; Sidney Lens documented that at least six AFL-CIO representatives were sent to Guyana carrying approximately $1 million in CIA funds. Richard Ishmael, leader of the BGTUC, was an AIFLD-trained operative. Jagan's government ultimately fell in 1964 when electoral rules were changed under British pressure coordinated with Washington.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### Brazil: Andrew McLellan and the 1964 Coup
|
||||
|
||||
AIFLD's Brazil representative was [[Andrew McLellan]], the AFL-CIO's Inter-American representative. McLellan operated in Brazil from the early 1960s, cultivating relationships with Brazilian labor leaders willing to organize against Goulart's proposed structural reforms, which included land redistribution and nationalization of foreign-owned enterprises.
|
||||
|
||||
In early 1963, AIFLD convened a special all-Brazilian training class of thirty-three unionists at its Washington facility. The course included approximately fifty hours of instruction on techniques for fighting Communist influence within unions, taught by Romualdi and Jay Lovestone (the AFL-CIO's international affairs director, himself a former Communist Party USA leader who became a CIA asset). The class then traveled to Western Europe and Israel with Romualdi before returning to Brazil.[^13]
|
||||
In early 1963, AIFLD convened a special all-Brazilian training class of thirty-three unionists at its Washington facility. The course included approximately fifty hours of instruction on techniques for fighting Communist influence within unions, taught by Romualdi and Jay Lovestone (the AFL-CIO's international affairs director, himself a former Communist Party USA leader who became a CIA asset). The class then traveled to Western Europe and Israel with Romualdi before returning to Brazil.[^15]
|
||||
|
||||
These thirty-three graduates returned to Brazil and participated in organizing employer lockouts, street demonstrations, and worker actions that destabilized the Goulart government in the months before the coup. On the night of March 31 - April 1, 1964, when the military moved against Goulart, AIFLD-trained union officials worked to ensure that calls for a general strike went unanswered. In the coup's immediate aftermath, the new military regime placed leftist-led unions into government trusteeships, with some AIFLD graduates installed as "intervenors" to purge these unions of Goulart sympathizers.[^14]
|
||||
These thirty-three graduates returned to Brazil and participated in organizing employer lockouts, street demonstrations, and worker actions that destabilized the Goulart government in the months before the coup. On the night of March 31 - April 1, 1964, when the military moved against Goulart, AIFLD-trained union officials worked to ensure that calls for a general strike went unanswered. In the coup's immediate aftermath, the new military regime placed leftist-led unions into government trusteeships, with some AIFLD graduates installed as "intervenors" to purge these unions of Goulart sympathizers.[^16]
|
||||
|
||||
At an AFL-CIO Labor News Conference in July 1964, three months after the coup, Doherty stated publicly that the Brazilian trainees "were very active in organizing workers" and that "some of them were so active that they became intimately involved in some of the clandestine operations of the revolution before it took place on April 1." This statement was notable for its candor. Doherty subsequently acknowledged that AIFLD's Brazilian program "was planned, and planned months in advance."[^15]
|
||||
At an AFL-CIO Labor News Conference in July 1964, three months after the coup, Doherty stated publicly that the Brazilian trainees "were very active in organizing workers" and that "some of them were so active that they became intimately involved in some of the clandestine operations of the revolution before it took place on April 1." This statement was notable for its candor. Doherty subsequently acknowledged that AIFLD's Brazilian program "was planned, and planned months in advance."[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
McLellan acknowledged in statements to [[NACLA]] (the [[North American Congress on Latin America]]) that AIFLD had been active in Brazil's labor politics during the coup period, while disputing characterizations of AIFLD as a CIA instrument.[^16]
|
||||
McLellan acknowledged in statements to [[NACLA]] (the [[North American Congress on Latin America]]) that AIFLD had been active in Brazil's labor politics during the coup period, while disputing characterizations of AIFLD as a CIA instrument.[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
After the coup, the AFL-CIO encouraged Brazilian workers to accept a military-imposed wage freeze. AIFLD-trained officials who had been installed as union intervenors cooperated with the regime's labor policies. NACLA documented AIFLD's subsequent role in Argentina in its 1975 report "AIFLD Losing Its Grip," tracking the pattern across the southern cone.[^17]
|
||||
After the coup, the AFL-CIO encouraged Brazilian workers to accept a military-imposed wage freeze. AIFLD-trained officials who had been installed as union intervenors cooperated with the regime's labor policies. NACLA documented AIFLD's subsequent role in Argentina in its 1975 report "AIFLD Losing Its Grip," tracking the pattern across the southern cone.[^19]
|
||||
|
||||
The AFL-CIO's own archives on Brazil for the period following the 1964 coup are notably sparse. An investigation of the AFL-CIO archives found the Chile file for 1973 and the Brazil file for 1964 both remarkably thin compared to surrounding years, with the archive director acknowledging "it sounds like there was a pattern of people looking through and pulling things."[^18]
|
||||
The AFL-CIO's own archives on Brazil for the period following the 1964 coup are notably sparse. An investigation of the AFL-CIO archives found the Chile file for 1973 and the Brazil file for 1964 both remarkably thin compared to surrounding years, with the archive director acknowledging "it sounds like there was a pattern of people looking through and pulling things."[^20]
|
||||
|
||||
### Chile: 1971-1973
|
||||
|
||||
From 1971 to 1973, AIFLD channeled millions of dollars to right-wing unions and business associations opposing President Salvador Allende's Unidad Popular government. AIFLD's Chile program was closely coordinated with the US Embassy in [[Santiago]] and dovetailed with the CIA's objective of splitting the Chilean labor movement, where workers overwhelmingly supported Allende.
|
||||
|
||||
AIFLD supported the gremios (associations of right-wing middle-class professionals) and the country's conservative maritime workers union. In 1972 and 1973, with CIA financial support, truck owners and merchants staged a series of strikes aimed at creating economic chaos and undermining Allende's government. AIFLD contributed to gathering information on Chilean unionists and their political affiliations. After the September 11, 1973 coup, hundreds of trade unionists were rounded up, some of whom had worked with AIFLD.[^19]
|
||||
AIFLD supported the gremios (associations of right-wing middle-class professionals) and the country's conservative maritime workers union. In 1972 and 1973, with CIA financial support, truck owners and merchants staged a series of strikes aimed at creating economic chaos and undermining Allende's government. AIFLD contributed to gathering information on Chilean unionists and their political affiliations. After the September 11, 1973 coup, hundreds of trade unionists were rounded up, some of whom had worked with AIFLD.[^21]
|
||||
|
||||
Following revelations of AIFLD's role in the Chilean coup, rank-and-file union members across the United States began demanding transparency about AIFLD's operations in the mid-1970s, with several union locals and labor councils calling on the AFL-CIO to fund its foreign programs independently rather than through USAID.[^20]
|
||||
Following revelations of AIFLD's role in the Chilean coup, rank-and-file union members across the United States began demanding transparency about AIFLD's operations in the mid-1970s, with several union locals and labor councils calling on the AFL-CIO to fund its foreign programs independently rather than through USAID.[^22]
|
||||
|
||||
### Operational Pattern
|
||||
|
||||
AIFLD's activities followed a pattern of parallel unionism: using the AFL-CIO's institutional credibility and labor movement relationships to organize anticommunist "parallel" unions in Latin American countries where US corporate and government interests faced nationalist labor movements. This pattern repeated in British Guiana (1962-1964), Brazil (1964), the Dominican Republic, and Chile (1973).
|
||||
|
||||
George Meany described AIFLD publicly as "a working agency of the United States government," a characterization that aligned with J. Peter Grace's description of AIFLD as a joint government-business-labor venture whose purpose was, in Grace's words, to make "the investment climate more attractive and inviting" for US corporate interests and to teach "workers to increase their company's business." Doherty echoed this framing in his own public statements: "Our collaboration [with business] takes the form of trying to make the investment climate more attractive and inviting."[^21]
|
||||
George Meany described AIFLD publicly as "a working agency of the United States government," a characterization that aligned with J. Peter Grace's description of AIFLD as a joint government-business-labor venture whose purpose was, in Grace's words, to make "the investment climate more attractive and inviting" for US corporate interests and to teach "workers to increase their company's business." Doherty echoed this framing in his own public statements: "Our collaboration [with business] takes the form of trying to make the investment climate more attractive and inviting."[^23]
|
||||
|
||||
AIFLD's training programs went beyond labor organizing to include civic and political organization techniques. Graduates moved into business associations, political parties, and government positions in the military governments that followed coups in which AIFLD had been active.[^22]
|
||||
AIFLD's training programs went beyond labor organizing to include civic and political organization techniques. Graduates moved into business associations, political parties, and government positions in the military governments that followed coups in which AIFLD had been active.[^24]
|
||||
|
||||
### Congressional Scrutiny
|
||||
|
||||
The [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] held hearings on AIFLD on August 1, 1969, examining its structure, funding, and activities. The Church Committee (the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, 1975-1976) examined the CIA's use of private organizational structures, including labor institutions, as pass-throughs for covert operations funding. Victor Reuther, a senior official of the United Auto Workers, told reporters in 1966 that [[Jay Lovestone]] and the AFL-CIO were "involved" with the CIA, criticizing AIFLD's role in the Brazilian coup; journalistic exposés the following year substantiated his claims by revealing the CIA's ties to the labor federation.[^23]
|
||||
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on AIFLD on August 1, 1969, examining its structure, funding, and activities. The Church Committee (the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, 1975-1976) examined the CIA's use of private organizational structures, including labor institutions, as pass-throughs for covert operations funding. Victor Reuther, a senior official of the United Auto Workers, told reporters in 1966 that [[Jay Lovestone]] and the AFL-CIO were "involved" with the CIA, criticizing AIFLD's role in the Brazilian coup; journalistic exposés the following year substantiated his claims by revealing the CIA's ties to the labor federation.[^25]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -101,21 +110,23 @@ The [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] held hearings on AIFLD on August 1, 1
|
|||
[^3]: Comptroller General of the United States report on AIFLD, cited in Fred Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role in Latin America; or, Under the Covers with the CIA" (San Jose, CA, January 25, 1974); Stanley Meisler, "Meddling in Latin America," *The Nation*, February 10, 1964.
|
||||
[^4]: Mary Ferrell Foundation, Cryptonym Database, ZRSIGN (Serafino Romualdi, pseudonym "Charles Guymers"), CIA cables October-December 1963; Philip Agee, *Inside the Company: CIA Diary* (Penguin, 1975), identifying Romualdi as "the principal CIA agent for labor operations in Latin America" and Doherty as a CIA agent in labor operations.
|
||||
[^5]: Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role," citing USAID budget data 1962-1974; Socialist Action, "Latin American Cloak and Daggers: The AFL-CIO and the CIA," May 2002.
|
||||
[^6]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 28; Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role"; Rockefeller Archive Center, Berent Friele papers; Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History," January 2020.
|
||||
[^7]: House Select Small Business Subcommittee, hearing of August 31, 1964 (chaired by Rep. Wright Patman, D-TX), identifying the Andrew Hamilton Foundation as a CIA front; Drew Pearson syndicated column, February 24, 1967; Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role."
|
||||
[^8]: Agee, *Inside the Company: CIA Diary* (1975); Mary Ferrell Foundation, ZRSIGN cryptonym database, confirming Romualdi pseudonym "Charles Guymers."
|
||||
[^9]: Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role"; Agee, *Inside the Company.*
|
||||
[^10]: Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role" (133,755 trainees by 1972); Meisler, "Meddling in Latin America" (first Washington course June 1962); Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History."
|
||||
[^11]: Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role" (nine-month stipends and housing questionnaires); Meisler, "Meddling in Latin America" (eleven-country programs).
|
||||
[^12]: National Security Archive, "CIA Covert Operations: The Overthrow of Cheddi Jagan in British Guiana, 1964," April 6, 2020 (documents on AFSCME, RCIU, ANG, and AIFLD roles; $800,000 figure; Richard Ishmael); Meisler, "Meddling in Latin America" (eight Guyanese in June 1962 class, six returned September 1962); Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role" (Sidney Lens, *Partners: Labor and the CIA*; Howard McCabe; $1 million figure).
|
||||
[^13]: Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (33-trainee class, 50 hours of instruction, Western Europe and Israel trip); Brasilwire, "1964: Brasil & CIA" (class composition and timing); Colby and Dennett, Ch. 28-29.
|
||||
[^14]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 29; Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (graduates preventing general strike, intervenors installed in unions).
|
||||
[^15]: Doherty statement at AFL-CIO Labor News Conference, July 1964, quoted in multiple secondary sources including Brasilwire, "1964: Brasil & CIA" and Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History"; Colby and Dennett, Ch. 29 ("planned months in advance").
|
||||
[^16]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 29.
|
||||
[^17]: NACLA, "AIFLD Losing Its Grip," in *Argentina in the Hour of the Furnaces* (New York: NACLA, 1975); Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (wage freeze cooperation).
|
||||
[^18]: *The Nation*, "Labor's Cold War," citing AFL-CIO archive investigation; archive director quoted on pattern of document removal.
|
||||
[^19]: Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (gremios support, maritime workers union, 1972-1973 truckers strikes, information gathering, post-coup roundups of unionists).
|
||||
[^20]: Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (rank-and-file demands for transparency, union locals calling for independent funding).
|
||||
[^21]: George Meany quoted in Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role"; J. Peter Grace and Doherty quotes from Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" and cosmonautmag.com, "Solidarity Sometimes."
|
||||
[^22]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 28-29.
|
||||
[^23]: University of Maryland Special Collections, Archives finding aid, "Senate Foreign Relations Committee, American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), 1969 Aug 1"; Church Committee (Senate Select Committee on Intelligence), 1975-76; Victor Reuther statements to reporters, 1966, cited in Jacobin, "How the 'AFL-CIA' Undermined Labor Movements Abroad," September 2024.
|
||||
[^6]: Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, hearing on the American Institute for Free Labor Development, 91st Congress, 1st session, 1969, opening statement of the chairman and statement of George Meany. Serial CHRG-91shrg33948. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-91shrg33948/pdf/CHRG-91shrg33948.pdf
|
||||
[^7]: William Greider, "Washington Post," April 21, 1969, reprinted in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing record, Serial CHRG-91shrg33948. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-91shrg33948/pdf/CHRG-91shrg33948.pdf
|
||||
[^8]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 28; Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role"; Rockefeller Archive Center, Berent Friele papers; Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History," January 2020.
|
||||
[^9]: House Select Small Business Subcommittee, hearing of August 31, 1964 (chaired by Rep. Wright Patman, D-TX), identifying the Andrew Hamilton Foundation as a CIA front; Drew Pearson syndicated column, February 24, 1967; Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role."
|
||||
[^10]: Agee, *Inside the Company: CIA Diary* (1975); Mary Ferrell Foundation, ZRSIGN cryptonym database, confirming Romualdi pseudonym "Charles Guymers."
|
||||
[^11]: Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role"; Agee, *Inside the Company.*
|
||||
[^12]: Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role" (133,755 trainees by 1972); Meisler, "Meddling in Latin America" (first Washington course June 1962); Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History."
|
||||
[^13]: Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role" (nine-month stipends and housing questionnaires); Meisler, "Meddling in Latin America" (eleven-country programs).
|
||||
[^14]: National Security Archive, "CIA Covert Operations: The Overthrow of Cheddi Jagan in British Guiana, 1964," April 6, 2020 (documents on AFSCME, RCIU, ANG, and AIFLD roles; $800,000 figure; Richard Ishmael); Meisler, "Meddling in Latin America" (eight Guyanese in June 1962 class, six returned September 1962); Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role" (Sidney Lens, *Partners: Labor and the CIA*; Howard McCabe; $1 million figure).
|
||||
[^15]: Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (33-trainee class, 50 hours of instruction, Western Europe and Israel trip); Brasilwire, "1964: Brasil & CIA" (class composition and timing); Colby and Dennett, Ch. 28-29.
|
||||
[^16]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 29; Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (graduates preventing general strike, intervenors installed in unions).
|
||||
[^17]: Doherty statement at AFL-CIO Labor News Conference, July 1964, quoted in multiple secondary sources including Brasilwire, "1964: Brasil & CIA" and Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History"; Colby and Dennett, Ch. 29 ("planned months in advance").
|
||||
[^18]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 29.
|
||||
[^19]: NACLA, "AIFLD Losing Its Grip," in *Argentina in the Hour of the Furnaces* (New York: NACLA, 1975); Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (wage freeze cooperation).
|
||||
[^20]: *The Nation*, "Labor's Cold War," citing AFL-CIO archive investigation; archive director quoted on pattern of document removal.
|
||||
[^21]: Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (gremios support, maritime workers union, 1972-1973 truckers strikes, information gathering, post-coup roundups of unionists).
|
||||
[^22]: Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" (rank-and-file demands for transparency, union locals calling for independent funding).
|
||||
[^23]: George Meany quoted in Hirsch, "An Analysis of Our AFL-CIO Role"; J. Peter Grace and Doherty quotes from Jacobin, "Reckoning With the AFL-CIO's Imperialist History" and cosmonautmag.com, "Solidarity Sometimes."
|
||||
[^24]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 28-29.
|
||||
[^25]: University of Maryland Special Collections, Archives finding aid, "Senate Foreign Relations Committee, American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD), 1969 Aug 1"; Church Committee (Senate Select Committee on Intelligence), 1975-76; Victor Reuther statements to reporters, 1966, cited in Jacobin, "How the 'AFL-CIA' Undermined Labor Movements Abroad," September 2024.
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Air America
|
|||
aliases:
|
||||
- Air America
|
||||
created: 2026-05-17
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-09
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-12
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Organization
|
||||
- CIA
|
||||
|
|
@ -30,9 +30,13 @@ Air America's role in heroin trafficking during the Vietnam War was well-documen
|
|||
|
||||
The 1993 Department of Justice inquiry into CIA involvement with The Finders examined these connections. The Washington Times reported in December 1993 that investigators had uncovered multiple links between the group and the intelligence community, including the Air America employment, the CIA training at Future Enterprises, and [[Isabelle Pettie]]'s employment with the CIA. The convergence of these connections suggested a pattern of overlap between The Finders and intelligence operations that went beyond coincidence.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Laos and AID Contracts
|
||||
|
||||
[[Civil Air Transport]], the predecessor of Air America, flew its first rice airdrops for the [[United States Operations Mission]] in [[Laos]] in September 1955.[^3] A January 17, 1964 memorandum from the [[Bureau of Intelligence and Research]] to the [[Special Group]] stated that the CIA's covert air support in Laos, "conducted by an ostensibly private and commercial company, has been able to continue operations in Laos under USAID contractual arrangements and through the flexibility of CIA's cover and funding mechanisms."[^4] A CIA record of the October 28, 1969 session of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee chaired by Senator [[Stuart Symington]] lists as follow-up that Senator [[Mike Mansfield]] was promised a list of the directors of Air America.[^5] A Senate staff report printed August 3, 1971 stated that Air America, [[Continental Air Services]] and [[Lao Air Transport]] "operate under contracts with [[Agency for International Development|AID]], although funds are provided by AID, the Defense Department, CIA, and the State Department," with fiscal 1970 air transport contract costs of $5 million for AID, an amount deleted from the published text for the CIA, and $11.7 million for the AID Requirements Office.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
### Nugan Hand Bank
|
||||
|
||||
In 1969 four men who gave their business address as Air America were among the shareholders of [[Australasian and Pacific Holding]], which was described as a "tourism" company and through which [[Frank Nugan]] and [[Michael Hand]] began their business partnership.[^3] The Progressive described the founders of the [[Nugan Hand Bank]] as listing their addresses as "c/o Air America, San Francisco," and described Air America as a wholly owned CIA subsidiary.[^4] The New York Times reported in 1987 that [[Richard Secord]] "played a large role in directing Air America's operations" in the period when Hand served in Laos.[^5]
|
||||
In 1969 four men who gave their business address as Air America were among the shareholders of [[Australasian and Pacific Holding]], which was described as a "tourism" company and through which [[Frank Nugan]] and [[Michael Hand]] began their business partnership.[^7] The Progressive described the founders of the [[Nugan Hand Bank]] as listing their addresses as "c/o Air America, San Francisco," and described Air America as a wholly owned CIA subsidiary.[^8] The New York Times reported in 1987 that [[Richard Secord]] "played a large role in directing Air America's operations" in the period when Hand served in Laos.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
### From Vietnam to Central America
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -42,6 +46,10 @@ In 1969 four men who gave their business address as Air America were among the s
|
|||
|
||||
[^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.
|
||||
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 16.
|
||||
[^3]: "Failed Bank Linked to CIA Ripoffs." New York Daily News, February 13, 1981, Washington News Bureau report. CIA CREST, CIA-RDP90-00806R000200820040-5. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00806r000200820040-5
|
||||
[^4]: "December Briefing" (items "Fighting words" and "Troubled waters"), The Progressive, December 1980. CIA CREST, CIA-RDP90-00806R000200820041-4. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00806r000200820041-4
|
||||
[^5]: Schneider, Keith. "North's Aides Linked to Australia Study." New York Times, March 8, 1987. CIA CREST, CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740024-7. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00965r000605740024-7
|
||||
[^3]: William M. Leary, "CIA Air Operations in Laos, 1955-1974: Supporting the 'Secret War'," Central Intelligence Agency, Studies in Intelligence (reproduced at https://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/nat-sec/Vietnam/air-america.htm).
|
||||
[^4]: Memorandum from the Deputy Director for Coordination, Bureau of Intelligence and Research (Scott) to the Special Group, January 17, 1964, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XXVIII, Laos, document 1. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v28/d1
|
||||
[^5]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Legislative Counsel, Memorandum for the Record, "DCI Briefing of Subcommittee on U.S. Security Agreements and Commitments Abroad of Senate Foreign Relations Committee - 28 October 1969," OLC 69-0905. CIA reading room, CIA-RDP72-00337R000100150001-1. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp72-00337r000100150001-1
|
||||
[^6]: Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Laos: April 1971, a staff report prepared for the Subcommittee on U.S. Security Agreements and Commitments Abroad (James G. Lowenstein and Richard M. Moose), 92d Congress, committee print, August 3, 1971, section IV (air operations). CIA reading room, CIA-RDP73B00296R000300080001-0. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp73b00296r000300080001-0
|
||||
[^7]: "Failed Bank Linked to CIA Ripoffs." New York Daily News, February 13, 1981, Washington News Bureau report. CIA CREST, CIA-RDP90-00806R000200820040-5. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00806r000200820040-5
|
||||
[^8]: "December Briefing" (items "Fighting words" and "Troubled waters"), The Progressive, December 1980. CIA CREST, CIA-RDP90-00806R000200820041-4. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00806r000200820041-4
|
||||
[^9]: Schneider, Keith. "North's Aides Linked to Australia Study." New York Times, March 8, 1987. CIA CREST, CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740024-7. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00965r000605740024-7
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -25,20 +25,27 @@ relations:
|
|||
role: "sole bidder and awardee, firm fixed price order HHM402-08-C-0072 (Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications)"
|
||||
start: 2008-09-22
|
||||
end: 2010-12-21
|
||||
fn: 8
|
||||
fn: 12
|
||||
- type: investigated
|
||||
with: "[[Marc Cecotti]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2021-12-08
|
||||
end: 2023-06-20
|
||||
role: "filed FOIA request to the Department of Homeland Security for records mentioning AAWSAP and BAASS (2008 to 2012); one responsive document, 'BAASS Goals 2011/2012', released June 20, 2023 under case 2022-HQFO-00386"
|
||||
fn: 6
|
||||
fn: 10
|
||||
- type: subject_of
|
||||
with: "[[Department of Homeland Security]]"
|
||||
start: 2023-06-20
|
||||
role: "the Office of the Chief Information Officer's search for BAASS and AAWSAP records dated 2008 to 2012 returned one document, released in full without exemptions"
|
||||
fn: 6
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-04
|
||||
fn: 10
|
||||
- type: employed_by
|
||||
with: "[[Colm Kelleher]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "deputy administrator, 2008 to 2011 (offering circular); deputy administrator running day-to-day AAWSAP operations (Micah Hanks Program description, May 2023)"
|
||||
start: 2008
|
||||
end: 2011
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-12
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) was a subsidiary of [[Robert Bigelow]]'s aerospace and real estate enterprise, established as a scientific research and contracting organization to pursue anomalous phenomena investigation, including unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). It was the primary contractor for the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]]'s [[Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program|AATIP]]-related research program (formally designated the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program, AAWSAP) from 2008 to approximately 2010.[^1]
|
||||
|
|
@ -55,25 +62,27 @@ In 2008, the Defense Intelligence Agency awarded a firm fixed price order to BAA
|
|||
|
||||
BAASS employed approximately 50 full-time researchers and contracted hundreds more to staff the program. The chief scientist was [[Hal Puthoff]], the physicist who had directed the original [[Stanford Research Institute|SRI]] remote viewing program in the 1970s and maintained decades of research interest in advanced propulsion and UAP physics. BAASS investigators conducted site visits to UAP encounter locations, collected witness testimony, analyzed materials, and commissioned studies on advanced propulsion, exotic physics, and human physiological effects from UAP encounters.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
[[Colm Kelleher]], a biochemist who had led the National Institute for Discovery Science team at Skinwalker Ranch, is described in the September 29, 2017 offering circular of [[To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science]] as having served from 2008 to 2011 as "Deputy Administrator of a United States Government funded threat assessment program focused on advanced aerospace technology." The circular does not name BAASS, the program or the agency.[^2] The description of a May 2023 episode of [[The Micah Hanks Program]], published by [[The Debrief]], states that in 2008 Kelleher became deputy administrator of BAASS, "where he led the day-to-day operations in executing the AAWSAP contract with Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)."[^3] In written testimony to the House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets for its hearing of September 9, 2025, [[George Knapp]] described Kelleher as the principal manager of AAWSAP in Las Vegas, said that Kelleher worked for Bigelow, and said that BAASS was awarded the DIA contract.[^4] The Black Vault's AAWSAP archive describes [[James Lacatski]] as the director of the program.[^5]
|
||||
|
||||
### Skinwalker Ranch and Anomalous Phenomena
|
||||
|
||||
BAASS investigators conducted detailed ongoing research at Skinwalker Ranch during the contract period. The ranch had been the site of continued anomalous events since NIDS's initial investigation, and BAASS deployed instrumented observation posts, camera systems, and resident researchers. The scope of reported phenomena at the ranch - which [[Colm Kelleher]] and [[George Knapp]] documented in *[[Hunt for the Skinwalker]]* (Paraview Pocket Books, 2005) - included UAP, cattle mutilations, poltergeist-type effects, and what researchers described as a "hitchhiker effect," in which phenomena reportedly followed investigators home.[^1]
|
||||
BAASS investigators conducted detailed ongoing research at Skinwalker Ranch during the contract period. The ranch had been the site of continued anomalous events since NIDS's initial investigation, and BAASS deployed instrumented observation posts, camera systems, and resident researchers. The scope of reported phenomena at the ranch - which Colm Kelleher and George Knapp documented in *[[Hunt for the Skinwalker]]* (Paraview Pocket Books, 2005) - included UAP, cattle mutilations, poltergeist-type effects, and what researchers described as a "hitchhiker effect," in which phenomena reportedly followed investigators home.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Reports and DIRD Studies
|
||||
|
||||
BAASS produced a series of Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs) - technical reports on advanced aerospace science topics relevant to UAP propulsion and performance. Hal Puthoff and other contributors addressed topics including warp drives, traversable wormholes, high-frequency gravitational wave communications, and exotic materials. The reports, produced between 2009 and 2010, were contracted at $25,000 each from subject matter experts in theoretical physics and advanced engineering. Several were later declassified and released as part of the post-2017 UAP transparency process.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
A document titled "BAASS Ten Month Report," 530 pages, dated July 30, 2009, circulated online from May 30, 2025, when researchers including [[Jonathan Davies]] received an email from the [[Phenomainon]] website announcing a function called PhenomGPT through which two BAASS files could be retrieved. A second file, 141 pages, carries the title "BAASS Summary Report on BAASS' UAP Analysis Capabilities" and the date November 23, 2010. [[Keith Basterfield]] wrote on June 5, 2025 that he used no images from these documents and gave no links, and noted that Appendix 1 of [[James Lacatski]], Colm Kelleher and George Knapp's [[Skinwalkers at the Pentagon]] (2021) lists "BAASS July 2009 Ten Month report" (530 pages) and "Summary Report on BAASS UAP Analysis Capabilities" (141 pages) among the BAASS deliverables lodged with the Defense Intelligence Agency.[^2]
|
||||
A document titled "BAASS Ten Month Report," 530 pages, dated July 30, 2009, circulated online from May 30, 2025, when researchers including [[Jonathan Davies]] received an email from the [[Phenomainon]] website announcing a function called PhenomGPT through which two BAASS files could be retrieved. A second file, 141 pages, carries the title "BAASS Summary Report on BAASS' UAP Analysis Capabilities" and the date November 23, 2010. [[Keith Basterfield]] wrote on June 5, 2025 that he used no images from these documents and gave no links, and noted that Appendix 1 of James Lacatski, Colm Kelleher and George Knapp's [[Skinwalkers at the Pentagon]] (2021) lists "BAASS July 2009 Ten Month report" (530 pages) and "Summary Report on BAASS UAP Analysis Capabilities" (141 pages) among the BAASS deliverables lodged with the Defense Intelligence Agency.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
Basterfield wrote on June 28, 2025, citing page 3 of the Ten Month Report, that the first BAASS monthly report (for September 22 to October 2008) records two employees, "Robert Bigelow and senior analyst [[John Schuessler]] (In September 2008, a BAASS administrator was hired, but shortly thereafter resigned.)"[^3]
|
||||
Basterfield wrote on June 28, 2025, citing page 3 of the Ten Month Report, that the first BAASS monthly report (for September 22 to October 2008) records two employees, "Robert Bigelow and senior analyst [[John Schuessler]] (In September 2008, a BAASS administrator was hired, but shortly thereafter resigned.)"[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
Basterfield wrote on July 7, 2025, quoting the Ten Month Report, that its description of Project Campus gives the objective as "to stimulate, motivate and encourage the senior levels of the academic community within the [[United States]] to involve themselves in study and research of very advanced aerial spacecraft that is presently considered phenomenological." As a "test case" BAASS approached senior management at the [[University of Nevada, Las Vegas]], which "responded positively"; BAASS proposed ten scenarios, including announcements by the [[United States Air Force]] or other officials that unidentified aerial phenomena were real and extraterrestrial, for the university to study with regard to "the media, economy, department of defense, political groups, science, the general public, religion, public health and academia." The report states: "Dr. Smith and four others have expressed strong interest in submitting a specific proposal to BAASS by August 2009."[^4]
|
||||
Basterfield wrote on July 7, 2025, quoting the Ten Month Report, that its description of Project Campus gives the objective as "to stimulate, motivate and encourage the senior levels of the academic community within the [[United States]] to involve themselves in study and research of very advanced aerial spacecraft that is presently considered phenomenological." As a "test case" BAASS approached senior management at the [[University of Nevada, Las Vegas]], which "responded positively"; BAASS proposed ten scenarios, including announcements by the [[United States Air Force]] or other officials that unidentified aerial phenomena were real and extraterrestrial, for the university to study with regard to "the media, economy, department of defense, political groups, science, the general public, religion, public health and academia." The report states: "Dr. Smith and four others have expressed strong interest in submitting a specific proposal to BAASS by August 2009."[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
According to Basterfield's quotation, BAASS also sought proposals from [[Battelle Memorial Institute]], Southwestern Research Institute, the [[Center for American Progress]] and [[Sandia National Laboratories]] for a study budgeted at 400,000 dollars. The request for proposals states: "For the purpose of the proposed study we take the presence of such advanced exotic aerospace craft as a given." It asks whether "by 2050 there will be confirmation to the public by the U.S. government and its military authorities" of craft "beyond those of our own most advanced military craft," what format such a confirmation should take and what its effects would be on the military and "the U.S. body politic in the areas of commerce, religion, academia and so forth," and what steps could be taken to "soften the societal blow." As of the report date: "BAASS has not received a reply from CAP or SWRI regarding the RFP. Sandia National Laboratories volunteered that they did not have the expertise for the project and Battelle Memorial Institute declined the RFP."[^4]
|
||||
According to Basterfield's quotation, BAASS also sought proposals from [[Battelle Memorial Institute]], Southwestern Research Institute, the [[Center for American Progress]] and [[Sandia National Laboratories]] for a study budgeted at 400,000 dollars. The request for proposals states: "For the purpose of the proposed study we take the presence of such advanced exotic aerospace craft as a given." It asks whether "by 2050 there will be confirmation to the public by the U.S. government and its military authorities" of craft "beyond those of our own most advanced military craft," what format such a confirmation should take and what its effects would be on the military and "the U.S. body politic in the areas of commerce, religion, academia and so forth," and what steps could be taken to "soften the societal blow." As of the report date: "BAASS has not received a reply from CAP or SWRI regarding the RFP. Sandia National Laboratories volunteered that they did not have the expertise for the project and Battelle Memorial Institute declined the RFP."[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Medical Effects Research
|
||||
|
||||
BAASS research included investigation of physiological effects reported by individuals claiming proximity to UAP, building on a database of cases with reported biological effects. [[Kit Green]], the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] neurophysiologist who had overseen the original SRI remote viewing program from 1972, contributed to this aspect of the research, applying forensic neurological analysis to reported injury patterns. The physiological effects research represented a continuity between the 1970s government anomalous phenomena programs and the AATIP-era research.[^5]
|
||||
BAASS research included investigation of physiological effects reported by individuals claiming proximity to UAP, building on a database of cases with reported biological effects. [[Kit Green]], the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] neurophysiologist who had overseen the original SRI remote viewing program from 1972, contributed to this aspect of the research, applying forensic neurological analysis to reported injury patterns. The physiological effects research represented a continuity between the 1970s government anomalous phenomena programs and the AATIP-era research.[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
### Termination and Legacy
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -81,9 +90,9 @@ The BAASS contract was not renewed after its initial two-year period. The AAWSAP
|
|||
|
||||
### Department of Homeland Security Records, Case 2022-HQFO-00386
|
||||
|
||||
[[Marc Cecotti]] submitted a [[Freedom of Information Act]] request to the [[Department of Homeland Security]] on December 8, 2021 for "a copy of all records, including but not limited to e-mails, reports, memorandum, presentations, mentioning: 'Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program' or the acronym 'AAWSAP' 'Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies' or the acronym 'BAASS.'" with a record-search date range of January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2012. The department's final response, dated June 20, 2023 and signed by Jimmy Wolfrey, Senior Director, FOIA Operations and Management, was assigned case number 2022-HQFO-00386. It states: "Following a search of the Office of the Chief Information officer (OCIO), we are granting your request under FOIA ... After carefully reviewing the responsive document, we have determined that it is appropriate for public release. The documents are enclosed in their entirety; DHS has claimed no deletions or exemptions."[^6]
|
||||
[[Marc Cecotti]] submitted a [[Freedom of Information Act]] request to the [[Department of Homeland Security]] on December 8, 2021 for "a copy of all records, including but not limited to e-mails, reports, memorandum, presentations, mentioning: 'Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program' or the acronym 'AAWSAP' 'Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies' or the acronym 'BAASS.'" with a record-search date range of January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2012. The department's final response, dated June 20, 2023 and signed by Jimmy Wolfrey, Senior Director, FOIA Operations and Management, was assigned case number 2022-HQFO-00386. It states: "Following a search of the Office of the Chief Information officer (OCIO), we are granting your request under FOIA ... After carefully reviewing the responsive document, we have determined that it is appropriate for public release. The documents are enclosed in their entirety; DHS has claimed no deletions or exemptions."[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
Cecotti posted the letter and its enclosure on [[X]] on June 20, 2023, writing: "According to Skinwalkers at the Pentagon, AAWSAP officials tried to find alternative locations to house the program and attempts were made to transfer it to the Dept of Homeland Security in 2011. I went after DHS records, this is what they found."[^6]
|
||||
Cecotti posted the letter and its enclosure on [[X]] on June 20, 2023, writing: "According to Skinwalkers at the Pentagon, AAWSAP officials tried to find alternative locations to house the program and attempts were made to transfer it to the Dept of Homeland Security in 2011. I went after DHS records, this is what they found."[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
The enclosure is a single page headed "BAASS Goals 2011/2012." It has no author, date or letterhead on its face. Its text reads in full:
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -107,67 +116,71 @@ Area 3
|
|||
NOTE: Unclassified separate organization
|
||||
|
||||
1. Create an open organization for collection of data on AAV performance.
|
||||
2. Liaison with civilian groups for AAV data collection.[^6]
|
||||
2. Liaison with civilian groups for AAV data collection.[^10]
|
||||
|
||||
Basterfield transcribed the page on June 22, 2023 and set beside it the nine areas of work in BAASS's original proposal to the DIA as listed in *Skinwalkers at the Pentagon* (global data collection; contact with people who know of novel technologies; a laboratory program with Skinwalker Ranch as a "living lab"; oral history; use of Bigelow space platforms; existing DIA data; biological effects; remote sensing; expert analysis and synthesis), of which the DIA approved areas 1 to 4, 6 and 9 for the first year. His comments on the DHS page were: "Area 1:1. Analyze recovered AAV technolgy - to my knowledge, no such recovered material ever found its way to AAWSAP, and therefore none was ever analyzed"; and "Areas 2:1 and 2:2. These read very much like the current goals of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)." On November 30, 2023 he called it "a very overlooked BAASS document."[^7]
|
||||
Basterfield transcribed the page on June 22, 2023 and set beside it the nine areas of work in BAASS's original proposal to the DIA as listed in *Skinwalkers at the Pentagon* (global data collection; contact with people who know of novel technologies; a laboratory program with Skinwalker Ranch as a "living lab"; oral history; use of Bigelow space platforms; existing DIA data; biological effects; remote sensing; expert analysis and synthesis), of which the DIA approved areas 1 to 4, 6 and 9 for the first year. His comments on the DHS page were: "Area 1:1. Analyze recovered AAV technolgy - to my knowledge, no such recovered material ever found its way to AAWSAP, and therefore none was ever analyzed"; and "Areas 2:1 and 2:2. These read very much like the current goals of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)." On November 30, 2023 he called it "a very overlooked BAASS document."[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
### Solicitation and award
|
||||
|
||||
The Defense Intelligence Agency published its request for proposals on August 18, 2008, listing twelve technical areas: lift, propulsion, control, armament (radio-frequency and directed energy), spatial and temporal translation, signature reduction, materials, configuration and structure, power generation, human effects, human interface, and technology integration. A DIA talking paper dated May 4, 2009 states that DIA "received only one bid, from Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), in response to the RFP," determined the proposal responsive, and signed the contract on September 22, 2008.[^8] A second DIA memorandum describes BAASS as "the only bid, headquartered in [[North Las Vegas]], Nevada." The November 17, 2009 talking points describe the award to "the sole bidder" as covering "unclassified research in 11 technical areas" with technical reports due July 31, 2009.[^9][^10] The solicitation number is HHM402-08-R-0211, and the awarded contract number appears on DIA's own forms as HHM402-08-C-0072.[^11][^12] Block 6 of the order form gives the solicitation issue date as September 1, 2008, block 8 gives an offer due date of September 10, 2008, and the order incorporates the BAASS proposal dated September 3, 2008; the DIA talking paper dates the request for proposals August 18, 2008.[^8][^11]
|
||||
The Defense Intelligence Agency published its request for proposals on August 18, 2008, listing twelve technical areas: lift, propulsion, control, armament (radio-frequency and directed energy), spatial and temporal translation, signature reduction, materials, configuration and structure, power generation, human effects, human interface, and technology integration. A DIA talking paper dated May 4, 2009 states that DIA "received only one bid, from Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), in response to the RFP," determined the proposal responsive, and signed the contract on September 22, 2008.[^12] A second DIA memorandum describes BAASS as "the only bid, headquartered in [[North Las Vegas]], Nevada." The November 17, 2009 talking points describe the award to "the sole bidder" as covering "unclassified research in 11 technical areas" with technical reports due July 31, 2009.[^13][^14] The solicitation number is HHM402-08-R-0211, and the awarded contract number appears on DIA's own forms as HHM402-08-C-0072.[^15][^16] Block 6 of the order form gives the solicitation issue date as September 1, 2008, block 8 gives an offer due date of September 10, 2008, and the order incorporates the BAASS proposal dated September 3, 2008; the DIA talking paper dates the request for proposals August 18, 2008.[^12][^15]
|
||||
|
||||
The award document is a Standard Form 1449 (Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items) issued by the [[Virginia Contracting Activity]] at [[Bolling Air Force Base]] (issuing office code HHQ402, administered by ZD50). It names "Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, LLC, 4640 S Eastern Ave, Las Vegas NV 89119" as contractor (CAGE 54JU7) and designates the [[NSA]] Finance and Accounting Office at [[Fort Meade|Fort George G. Meade]], Maryland as the paying office. Block 26 of this copy gives the total award amount as 21,948,810 dollars. The copy of the same Standard Form 1449 reproduced at the front of the modification P00001 package (block 3 award date September 22, 2008, block 6 solicitation issue date September 1, 2008) gives the total award amount in block 26 as 10,000,000 dollars.[^13] The contract type is firm fixed price, with a base year of September 22, 2008 to September 29, 2009 and an option year of September 22, 2009 to September 21, 2010; the order incorporates BAASS's proposal dated September 3, 2008. The line items are monthly status reports, project management plans for the tasks listed as 3.a.1 through 3.a.12, research reports for the same tasks, a "Comprehensive Integrated Threat Assessment," travel, and other direct costs; the unit prices and line amounts are redacted under FOIA Exemption 4.[^11] The statement of work (section 5.1) required the contractor to provide a work facility with a Top Secret facility clearance granted by the [[Defense Security Service]], and states that cleared facilities "are not required at contract inception."[^12] Modification P00001 refers to the order as dated September 22, 2008.[^13]
|
||||
The award document is a Standard Form 1449 (Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items) issued by the [[Virginia Contracting Activity]] at [[Bolling Air Force Base]] (issuing office code HHQ402, administered by ZD50). It names "Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies, LLC, 4640 S Eastern Ave, Las Vegas NV 89119" as contractor (CAGE 54JU7) and designates the [[NSA]] Finance and Accounting Office at [[Fort Meade|Fort George G. Meade]], Maryland as the paying office. Block 26 of this copy gives the total award amount as 21,948,810 dollars. The copy of the same Standard Form 1449 reproduced at the front of the modification P00001 package (block 3 award date September 22, 2008, block 6 solicitation issue date September 1, 2008) gives the total award amount in block 26 as 10,000,000 dollars.[^17] The contract type is firm fixed price, with a base year of September 22, 2008 to September 29, 2009 and an option year of September 22, 2009 to September 21, 2010; the order incorporates BAASS's proposal dated September 3, 2008. The line items are monthly status reports, project management plans for the tasks listed as 3.a.1 through 3.a.12, research reports for the same tasks, a "Comprehensive Integrated Threat Assessment," travel, and other direct costs; the unit prices and line amounts are redacted under FOIA Exemption 4.[^15] The statement of work (section 5.1) required the contractor to provide a work facility with a Top Secret facility clearance granted by the [[Defense Security Service]], and states that cleared facilities "are not required at contract inception."[^16] Modification P00001 refers to the order as dated September 22, 2008.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
DIA's response letter in case FOIA-00269-2018, which released a single six-page document, is dated June 26, 2023; its response letter in case FOIA-00349-2018, a request that cited contract HHM402-08-R-0211, is dated October 13, 2022 and covers nine documents (36 pages).[^11][^12] Two documents (13 pages) were withheld in full under 10 U.S.C. 424 and 41 U.S.C. 2102(a)(1) (contract source selection information).[^12]
|
||||
DIA's response letter in case FOIA-00269-2018, which released a single six-page document, is dated June 26, 2023; its response letter in case FOIA-00349-2018, a request that cited contract HHM402-08-R-0211, is dated October 13, 2022 and covers nine documents (36 pages).[^15][^16] Two documents (13 pages) were withheld in full under 10 U.S.C. 424 and 41 U.S.C. 2102(a)(1) (contract source selection information).[^16]
|
||||
|
||||
### Payments, funding and modifications
|
||||
|
||||
A DIA contract status briefing dated December 16, 2008 for contract HHM402-08-C-0072 states that "equal amount monthly payments to contractor have commenced and allow for research subcontracts to be put into place quickly," that the technical approaches were "established, traditional techniques within intended scope of contract," and that the effort was "on track, on schedule, and within cost." It records that the first contract status brief was given on November 10, that Senator Harry Reid raised the subject in a meeting on November 13, and that BAASS submitted program management plans for the twelve technical areas on November 21, 2008.[^14]
|
||||
A DIA contract status briefing dated December 16, 2008 for contract HHM402-08-C-0072 states that "equal amount monthly payments to contractor have commenced and allow for research subcontracts to be put into place quickly," that the technical approaches were "established, traditional techniques within intended scope of contract," and that the effort was "on track, on schedule, and within cost." It records that the first contract status brief was given on November 10, that Senator Harry Reid raised the subject in a meeting on November 13, and that BAASS submitted program management plans for the twelve technical areas on November 21, 2008.[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
A briefing of August 24, 2009 states that BAASS was "in full compliance," had delivered 12 project management plans and 26 detailed research reports ("twice minimum requirement") by June 30, 2009, that DIA should proceed with option year 1 "subject to available funding," and that 12 million dollars for continuation had been submitted in the fiscal 2010 defense budget. It records that the contracting officer would extend the contract through September 30 to use fiscal 2010 funds in option year 1 at no additional cost to the government, and that BAASS had indicated it was "willing to operate 'at risk' in option year 1 until FY10 funding arrives."[^15] A later briefing states that the 12 million dollars "also covers BAASS overhead, staff, facilities, IT, security, databases, etc."[^16]
|
||||
A briefing of August 24, 2009 states that BAASS was "in full compliance," had delivered 12 project management plans and 26 detailed research reports ("twice minimum requirement") by June 30, 2009, that DIA should proceed with option year 1 "subject to available funding," and that 12 million dollars for continuation had been submitted in the fiscal 2010 defense budget. It records that the contracting officer would extend the contract through September 30 to use fiscal 2010 funds in option year 1 at no additional cost to the government, and that BAASS had indicated it was "willing to operate 'at risk' in option year 1 until FY10 funding arrives."[^19] A later briefing states that the 12 million dollars "also covers BAASS overhead, staff, facilities, IT, security, databases, etc."[^20]
|
||||
|
||||
The modifications released in FOIA-00349-2018 are:
|
||||
|
||||
Modification P00001, effective September 2, 2009 (signed September 4, 2009): extended the period of performance to September 30, 2009, revised the option year to October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010, and exercised option year 1 "subject to availability of funds" under FAR 52.217-9, with a modification amount of 0.00 dollars. The contractor address on this form is 1899 W Brooks Ave, North Las Vegas.[^13]
|
||||
Modification P00001, effective September 2, 2009 (signed September 4, 2009): extended the period of performance to September 30, 2009, revised the option year to October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010, and exercised option year 1 "subject to availability of funds" under FAR 52.217-9, with a modification amount of 0.00 dollars. The contractor address on this form is 1899 W Brooks Ave, North Las Vegas.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
Modification P00002, effective February 2, 2010: provided funding (amount redacted) for the exercise of option year 1, removed the availability-of-funds clause of P00001, and directed BAASS to "identify impacts to deliverables as a result of reduced funding for Option Year 1" and to identify "technical risks of reduced funding."[^17]
|
||||
Modification P00002, effective February 2, 2010: provided funding (amount redacted) for the exercise of option year 1, removed the availability-of-funds clause of P00001, and directed BAASS to "identify impacts to deliverables as a result of reduced funding for Option Year 1" and to identify "technical risks of reduced funding."[^21]
|
||||
|
||||
Modifications P00003 and P00004, both distributed May 18, 2010: administrative changes concerning the contracting officer's representative.[^17]
|
||||
Modifications P00003 and P00004, both distributed May 18, 2010: administrative changes concerning the contracting officer's representative.[^21]
|
||||
|
||||
Modification P00005, September 28, 2010: extended the period of performance from September 21, 2010 to December 21, 2010 under FAR 52.217-8, with no funding required.[^17]
|
||||
Modification P00005, September 28, 2010: extended the period of performance from September 21, 2010 to December 21, 2010 under FAR 52.217-8, with no funding required.[^21]
|
||||
|
||||
DIA's October 30, 2009 memorandum lists 26 technical reports delivered in fiscal 2009. It states that eight reviews were performed by other authors listed in its table and five by outside reviewers, among them three research staff members at Sandia National Laboratories, and that "based on draft budget guidance, [[U.S. Congress|Congress]] apparently will fund the contract's option year one at $12 million."[^10] A 2010 memorandum to the [[Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics]] states that the fiscal 2010 Defense Appropriations Act "included a $12 million add for the project," that twelve additional reports were produced and delivered, and that one of the 26 reports, "Advanced Space Propulsion Based on Vacuum (Spacetime Metric) Engineering," was published in March 2010.[^10]
|
||||
DIA's October 30, 2009 memorandum lists 26 technical reports delivered in fiscal 2009. It states that eight reviews were performed by other authors listed in its table and five by outside reviewers, among them three research staff members at Sandia National Laboratories, and that "based on draft budget guidance, [[U.S. Congress|Congress]] apparently will fund the contract's option year one at $12 million."[^14] A 2010 memorandum to the [[Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics]] states that the fiscal 2010 Defense Appropriations Act "included a $12 million add for the project," that twelve additional reports were produced and delivered, and that one of the 26 reports, "Advanced Space Propulsion Based on Vacuum (Spacetime Metric) Engineering," was published in March 2010.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### Counterintelligence notation
|
||||
|
||||
Talking points prepared for the Deputy Secretary of Defense's November 17, 2009 meeting with Senator Reid contain the entry "August 2008: DIA learned of counter-intelligence concerns with Bigelow Aerospace, the parent company of Bigelow Aerospace Advance Space Studies. These concerns do not appear to be directly related to Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Application Program (AAWSAP)." The next entry reads "September 2008: DIA awarded the contract to the sole bidder." The document does not state the nature of the concerns. The talking points are attached to a memorandum signed by [[James Clapper|James R. Clapper Jr.]], [[Under Secretary of Defense]] for Intelligence, recommending against a Special Access Program; it states that the program manager and his leadership "saw no justification for Special Access protections based on the content of the FY09 deliverables or the anticipated FY10 work."[^9]
|
||||
Talking points prepared for the Deputy Secretary of Defense's November 17, 2009 meeting with Senator Reid contain the entry "August 2008: DIA learned of counter-intelligence concerns with Bigelow Aerospace, the parent company of Bigelow Aerospace Advance Space Studies. These concerns do not appear to be directly related to Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Application Program (AAWSAP)." The next entry reads "September 2008: DIA awarded the contract to the sole bidder." The document does not state the nature of the concerns. The talking points are attached to a memorandum signed by [[James Clapper|James R. Clapper Jr.]], [[Under Secretary of Defense]] for Intelligence, recommending against a Special Access Program; it states that the program manager and his leadership "saw no justification for Special Access protections based on the content of the FY09 deliverables or the anticipated FY10 work."[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
The redactions leave the nature of the concerns and the component that learned of them unstated.
|
||||
|
||||
### Appropriation as described in DIA papers
|
||||
|
||||
The talking points state that "Senators Reid and Inouye co-sponsored a $10M earmark in the July 2008 supplemental" and that "a $12M earmark has been allocated to support the program in FY2010," and record that Reid met a DIA analyst "at a technical conference" in early 2008. They list that a Reid staff member, [[Robert T. Herbert|Bob Herbert]], made "multiple phone calls" between July and October 2009 to [[Marcel Lettre]] (listed as "PDASDILA"), asking about the status of the response to Reid's June 24, 2009 letter, and that DIA met Herbert on November 4, 2009, who "relayed the Senator's impatience."[^9]
|
||||
The talking points state that "Senators Reid and Inouye co-sponsored a $10M earmark in the July 2008 supplemental" and that "a $12M earmark has been allocated to support the program in FY2010," and record that Reid met a DIA analyst "at a technical conference" in early 2008. They list that a Reid staff member, [[Robert T. Herbert|Bob Herbert]], made "multiple phone calls" between July and October 2009 to [[Marcel Lettre]] (listed as "PDASDILA"), asking about the status of the response to Reid's June 24, 2009 letter, and that DIA met Herbert on November 4, 2009, who "relayed the Senator's impatience."[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
### Foundations at the contractor's address
|
||||
|
||||
The [[Robert Thomas Bigelow Educational Foundation]] Inc (EIN 93-3962948) and the [[Robert Thomas Bigelow Medical Foundation]] Inc (EIN 93-3974535), both with a March 2024 [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] ruling date as 501(c)(3) organizations, list their address as 4640 S Eastern Ave, Las Vegas, Nevada, the contractor address on the 2008 order. Their Forms 990-PF for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024 report contributions of 62,000 dollars to each, all from Robert Thomas Bigelow, expenses of 105 and 8,158 dollars, and year-end assets of 61,895 and 53,953 dollars. The returns list Robert Thomas Bigelow as president and director and as treasurer and director, [[Donna Stauch]] as secretary and director, and Colm Kelleher and [[Jody Erickson]] as directors.[^18]
|
||||
The [[Robert Thomas Bigelow Educational Foundation]] Inc (EIN 93-3962948) and the [[Robert Thomas Bigelow Medical Foundation]] Inc (EIN 93-3974535), both with a March 2024 [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] ruling date as 501(c)(3) organizations, list their address as 4640 S Eastern Ave, Las Vegas, Nevada, the contractor address on the 2008 order. Their Forms 990-PF for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024 report contributions of 62,000 dollars to each, all from Robert Thomas Bigelow, expenses of 105 and 8,158 dollars, and year-end assets of 61,895 and 53,953 dollars. The returns list Robert Thomas Bigelow as president and director and as treasurer and director, [[Donna Stauch]] as secretary and director, and Colm Kelleher and [[Jody Erickson]] as directors.[^22]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Lacatski, James T., Kelleher, Colm A., and Knapp, George. *Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: An Insider's Account of the Secret Government UAP Program*. RTMA, 2021. Elizondo, Luis. *IMMINENT: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs*. Morrow, 2024.
|
||||
[^2]: Keith Basterfield, "More BAASS AAWSAP documents emerge," June 5, 2025. https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2025/06/more-baass-aawsap-documents-emerge.html . Lacatski, James T., Kelleher, Colm A., and Knapp, George. *Skinwalkers at the Pentagon*. RTMA, 2021, Appendix 1 (as described by Basterfield).
|
||||
[^3]: Keith Basterfield, "There was a BAASS AAWSAP administrator before Robert Bigelow," June 28, 2025. https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2025/06/there-was-baass-aawsap-administrator.html .
|
||||
[^4]: Keith Basterfield, "The BAASS 'Project Campus,'" July 7, 2025, quoting the BAASS Ten Month Report (July 30, 2009). https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-baass-project-campus.html .
|
||||
[^5]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
|
||||
[^6]: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, final response letter of June 20, 2023, case 2022-HQFO-00386, to Marc Cecotti, signed Jimmy Wolfrey, Senior Director, FOIA Operations and Management, and one-page enclosure "BAASS Goals 2011/2012," as posted by Marc Cecotti on X, June 20, 2023. https://x.com/MC05A/status/1671217484685246478 ; images https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzFa762X0AA4b7W.jpg (letter) and https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzFa76yXwAE4d8N.png (enclosure).
|
||||
[^7]: Keith Basterfield, "Was the Department of Homeland Security keen to take on the AAWSAP?," June 22, 2023, https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2023/06/was-department-of-homeland-security.html ; "Lockheed Martin and BAASS," November 30, 2023, https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2023/11/lockheed-martin-and-baass.html .
|
||||
[^8]: Defense Intelligence Agency, Talking Paper, "Senator Reid Visit to Director, DIA," May 4, 2009, released by DIA to The Black Vault. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/DR_Reid_Mtg_May09.pdf
|
||||
[^9]: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, final packet for the Deputy Secretary of Defense's November 17, 2009 meeting with Senator Harry Reid, including the memorandum signed by James R. Clapper Jr. and the talking points. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/09117-Final_Packet_Presented_to_DepSecDef.pdf
|
||||
[^10]: Defense Intelligence Agency, Info Memo U-10-2552CE to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, "Advanced Aerospace Threat and Identification Program," 2010; and Info Memo U-429-09 of October 30, 2009, "Review of Advanced Aerospace Contract Deliverables." https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/U-10-2552CE-IM-ATL.pdf and https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/U-429-09-DWO-IM.pdf
|
||||
[^11]: Defense Intelligence Agency, Standard Form 1449, order HHM402-08-C-0072, signed September 22, 2008, released with a DIA letter dated June 26, 2023 in FOIA-00269-2018. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/FOIA-00269-2018-.pdf
|
||||
[^12]: DIA letter U-22-8017/IMO-2 (FOIA) of October 13, 2022 and attached records (statement of work sections 5.1 and 9; modifications), FOIA-00349-2018. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/FOIA-00349-2018.pdf ; document index with release notes: https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/the-advanced-aerospace-weapon-system-applications-program-aawsap-documentation/
|
||||
[^13]: Modification P00001 (Standard Form 30), effective September 2, 2009, with the attached copy of Standard Form 1449 for order HHM402-08-C-0072. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/Contract_FY10.pdf
|
||||
[^14]: Defense Intelligence Agency, briefing "Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Contract Status," contract HHM402-08-C-0072, December 16, 2008. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/DI_Brief_2008.pdf
|
||||
[^15]: Defense Intelligence Agency, briefing "Aerospace Contract Status," August 24, 2009. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/Contract_Status_24Aug09.pdf
|
||||
[^16]: Defense Intelligence Agency, briefing "Contract Status," 2009 (undated), slide on option year 1 deliverables. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/Contract_Status_Briefing.pdf
|
||||
[^17]: Modifications P00002 (February 2, 2010), P00003 and P00004 (May 18, 2010) and P00005 (September 28, 2010), contract HHM402-08-C-0072, in FOIA-00349-2018. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/FOIA-00349-2018.pdf
|
||||
[^18]: Internal Revenue Service, Tax Exempt Organization Search e-file data, Form 990-PF, The Robert Thomas Bigelow Educational Foundation Inc (EIN 93-3962948, object ID 202403379349100410) and The Robert Thomas Bigelow Medical Foundation Inc (EIN 93-3974535, object ID 202413379349100411), tax period ended January 31, 2024, in https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/990/xml/2024/2024_TEOS_XML_12A.zip ; ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer API records for the same EINs. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/api/v2/organizations/933962948.json and https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/api/v2/organizations/933974535.json
|
||||
[^2]: To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science, Form 253G2 offering circular, September 29, 2017, biography of Dr. Colm Kelleher. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1710274/000114420417050693/
|
||||
[^3]: Micah Hanks, "Colm Kelleher: AAWSAP and the Skinwalker Enigma," The Debrief, May 25, 2023, description of The Micah Hanks Program episode. https://thedebrief.org/colm-kelleher-aawsap-and-the-skinwalker-enigma/
|
||||
[^4]: George Knapp, written testimony, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, hearing "Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection," Serial No. 119-44, September 9, 2025. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/George-Knapp-Written-Testimony.pdf ; https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-119hhrg61718/html/CHRG-119hhrg61718.htm
|
||||
[^5]: John Greenewald, The Black Vault, AAWSAP documentation archive. https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/?p=16063
|
||||
[^6]: Keith Basterfield, "More BAASS AAWSAP documents emerge," June 5, 2025. https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2025/06/more-baass-aawsap-documents-emerge.html . Lacatski, James T., Kelleher, Colm A., and Knapp, George. *Skinwalkers at the Pentagon*. RTMA, 2021, Appendix 1 (as described by Basterfield).
|
||||
[^7]: Keith Basterfield, "There was a BAASS AAWSAP administrator before Robert Bigelow," June 28, 2025. https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2025/06/there-was-baass-aawsap-administrator.html .
|
||||
[^8]: Keith Basterfield, "The BAASS 'Project Campus,'" July 7, 2025, quoting the BAASS Ten Month Report (July 30, 2009). https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-baass-project-campus.html .
|
||||
[^9]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
|
||||
[^10]: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, final response letter of June 20, 2023, case 2022-HQFO-00386, to Marc Cecotti, signed Jimmy Wolfrey, Senior Director, FOIA Operations and Management, and one-page enclosure "BAASS Goals 2011/2012," as posted by Marc Cecotti on X, June 20, 2023. https://x.com/MC05A/status/1671217484685246478 ; images https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzFa762X0AA4b7W.jpg (letter) and https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzFa76yXwAE4d8N.png (enclosure).
|
||||
[^11]: Keith Basterfield, "Was the Department of Homeland Security keen to take on the AAWSAP?," June 22, 2023, https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2023/06/was-department-of-homeland-security.html ; "Lockheed Martin and BAASS," November 30, 2023, https://ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com/2023/11/lockheed-martin-and-baass.html .
|
||||
[^12]: Defense Intelligence Agency, Talking Paper, "Senator Reid Visit to Director, DIA," May 4, 2009, released by DIA to The Black Vault. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/DR_Reid_Mtg_May09.pdf
|
||||
[^13]: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, final packet for the Deputy Secretary of Defense's November 17, 2009 meeting with Senator Harry Reid, including the memorandum signed by James R. Clapper Jr. and the talking points. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/09117-Final_Packet_Presented_to_DepSecDef.pdf
|
||||
[^14]: Defense Intelligence Agency, Info Memo U-10-2552CE to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, "Advanced Aerospace Threat and Identification Program," 2010; and Info Memo U-429-09 of October 30, 2009, "Review of Advanced Aerospace Contract Deliverables." https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/U-10-2552CE-IM-ATL.pdf and https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/U-429-09-DWO-IM.pdf
|
||||
[^15]: Defense Intelligence Agency, Standard Form 1449, order HHM402-08-C-0072, signed September 22, 2008, released with a DIA letter dated June 26, 2023 in FOIA-00269-2018. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/FOIA-00269-2018-.pdf
|
||||
[^16]: DIA letter U-22-8017/IMO-2 (FOIA) of October 13, 2022 and attached records (statement of work sections 5.1 and 9; modifications), FOIA-00349-2018. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/FOIA-00349-2018.pdf ; document index with release notes: https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/the-advanced-aerospace-weapon-system-applications-program-aawsap-documentation/
|
||||
[^17]: Modification P00001 (Standard Form 30), effective September 2, 2009, with the attached copy of Standard Form 1449 for order HHM402-08-C-0072. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/Contract_FY10.pdf
|
||||
[^18]: Defense Intelligence Agency, briefing "Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Contract Status," contract HHM402-08-C-0072, December 16, 2008. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/DI_Brief_2008.pdf
|
||||
[^19]: Defense Intelligence Agency, briefing "Aerospace Contract Status," August 24, 2009. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/Contract_Status_24Aug09.pdf
|
||||
[^20]: Defense Intelligence Agency, briefing "Contract Status," 2009 (undated), slide on option year 1 deliverables. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/Contract_Status_Briefing.pdf
|
||||
[^21]: Modifications P00002 (February 2, 2010), P00003 and P00004 (May 18, 2010) and P00005 (September 28, 2010), contract HHM402-08-C-0072, in FOIA-00349-2018. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/dia/AAWSAP/FOIA-00349-2018.pdf
|
||||
[^22]: Internal Revenue Service, Tax Exempt Organization Search e-file data, Form 990-PF, The Robert Thomas Bigelow Educational Foundation Inc (EIN 93-3962948, object ID 202403379349100410) and The Robert Thomas Bigelow Medical Foundation Inc (EIN 93-3974535, object ID 202413379349100411), tax period ended January 31, 2024, in https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/990/xml/2024/2024_TEOS_XML_12A.zip ; ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer API records for the same EINs. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/api/v2/organizations/933962948.json and https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/api/v2/organizations/933974535.json
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -16,94 +16,103 @@ tags:
|
|||
summary: "Carbyne, founded as Reporty, is an Israeli emergency-call and surveillance technology company in which Jeffrey Epstein invested through Ehud Barak in 2015, and which Axon Enterprise bought for 625 million dollars."
|
||||
location: "Tel Aviv, Israel; New York, New York"
|
||||
created: 2026-06-18
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-25
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-12
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: funded
|
||||
with: "[[Jeffrey Epstein]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "about one million dollars invested in Reporty, arranged through Ehud Barak"
|
||||
start: 2015
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
- type: funded
|
||||
with: "[[Founders Fund]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "Series B investor"
|
||||
fn: 3
|
||||
fn: 4
|
||||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[Axon Enterprise]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "acquired for 625 million dollars"
|
||||
start: 2026-02
|
||||
fn: 4
|
||||
fn: 5
|
||||
- type: funded
|
||||
with: "[[Nicole Junkermann]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "limited partner through NJF Capital in SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership; 1.2 million dollars toward the warrant exercise"
|
||||
start: 2019-03
|
||||
fn: 8
|
||||
fn: 11
|
||||
- type: member_of
|
||||
with: "[[Pinhas Buchris]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "director of Reporty Homeland Security, present at the December 23, 2015 board meeting; listed as a Carbyne director in 2017"
|
||||
start: 2015-12
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
- type: head_of
|
||||
with: "[[Amir Elichai]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "founder and chief executive"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Carbyne (originally incorporated as [[Reporty|Reporty Homeland Security]]) is an Israeli-American technology company that develops cloud-native emergency-communication and 911-response platforms providing real-time video, location, and data transmission from callers to emergency dispatchers. [[Forbes|Forbes]] reported in February 2026 that [[Jeffrey Epstein|Jeffrey Epstein]] quietly invested approximately one million dollars in Reporty in 2015 through an arrangement brokered by [[Ehud Barak|former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak]], after Epstein was already a registered sex offender. Carbyne has also received backing from [[Founders Fund]], the [[Peter Thiel|Peter Thiel]] venture firm, and has been deployed by U.S. police departments including the [[Miami-Dade Police Department|Miami-Dade Police Department]]. Its board included [[Pinhas Buchris]], a former commander of the Israeli signals-intelligence [[Unit 8200]]. The police-technology company [[Axon Enterprise]] agreed to acquire Carbyne for 625 million dollars in cash.[^1][^2][^3][^4]
|
||||
Carbyne (originally incorporated as [[Reporty|Reporty Homeland Security]]) is an Israeli-American technology company that develops cloud-native emergency-communication and 911-response platforms providing real-time video, location, and data transmission from callers to emergency dispatchers. [[Forbes|Forbes]] reported in February 2026 that [[Jeffrey Epstein|Jeffrey Epstein]] quietly invested approximately one million dollars in Reporty in 2015 through an arrangement brokered by [[Ehud Barak|former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak]], after Epstein was already a registered sex offender. Carbyne has also received backing from [[Founders Fund]], the [[Peter Thiel|Peter Thiel]] venture firm, and has been deployed by U.S. police departments including the [[Miami-Dade Police Department|Miami-Dade Police Department]]. Its board included [[Pinhas Buchris]], a former commander of the Israeli signals-intelligence [[Unit 8200]].[^1] The police-technology company [[Axon Enterprise]] agreed to acquire Carbyne for 625 million dollars in cash.[^2][^3][^4][^5]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Epstein-Barak Investment Arrangement (2015)
|
||||
|
||||
Forbes reported in February 2026 (Thomas Brewster) that Barak helped Epstein invest approximately one million dollars in Reporty in 2015, an investment that could have grown to be worth up to one hundred million dollars. The arrangement was made after Epstein's 2008 federal [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]] and his subsequent [[Florida|Florida]] sex-offender registration. Barak was a key figure in the company and channeled Epstein's money into the startup. The [[Miami Herald|Miami Herald]] reported separately that Epstein secretly funded the startup subsequently used by the Miami-Dade Police Department.[^1][^2]
|
||||
Forbes reported in February 2026 (Thomas Brewster) that Barak helped Epstein invest approximately one million dollars in Reporty in 2015, an investment that could have grown to be worth up to one hundred million dollars. The arrangement was made after Epstein's 2008 federal [[Epstein non-prosecution agreement|non-prosecution agreement]] and his subsequent [[Florida|Florida]] sex-offender registration. Barak was a key figure in the company and channeled Epstein's money into the startup. The [[Miami Herald|Miami Herald]] reported separately that Epstein secretly funded the startup subsequently used by the Miami-Dade Police Department.[^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
Through the Barak-Epstein-Carbyne arrangement, Epstein moved from social-network brokerage to direct commercial investment in surveillance-adjacent technology. Barak was the channel through which the investment was arranged. The company's emergency-response product integrates smartphone location, live video, and incident data into a centralized dispatcher view, and the same architecture supports population-level monitoring.[^1][^5]
|
||||
Through the Barak-Epstein-Carbyne arrangement, Epstein moved from social-network brokerage to direct commercial investment in surveillance-adjacent technology. Barak was the channel through which the investment was arranged. The company's emergency-response product integrates smartphone location, live video, and incident data into a centralized dispatcher view, and the same architecture supports population-level monitoring.[^2][^6]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Founders Fund Backing
|
||||
|
||||
Founders Fund is a documented backer of Carbyne, placing the company in the Thiel venture portfolio alongside [[Palantir Technologies|Palantir]], [[Anduril Industries|Anduril]], and [[Clearview AI|Clearview]]. The Founders Fund backing and the Epstein-Barak investment ran alongside each other, meaning the company simultaneously held Epstein investment (brokered by the former Israeli prime minister Barak) and Thiel-network venture backing.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
Founders Fund is a documented backer of Carbyne, placing the company in the Thiel venture portfolio alongside [[Palantir Technologies|Palantir]], [[Anduril Industries|Anduril]], and [[Clearview AI|Clearview]]. The Founders Fund backing and the Epstein-Barak investment ran alongside each other, meaning the company simultaneously held Epstein investment (brokered by the former Israeli prime minister Barak) and Thiel-network venture backing.[^2][^3][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
Carbyne has been deployed in U.S. emergency-response systems including [[New Orleans|New Orleans]], where the platform was integrated into the city's 911 dispatch infrastructure. The Miami-Dade Police Department used the product that Epstein's money had funded, per the Miami Herald reporting on the Epstein-Carbyne investment chain. The documented deployment of an Epstein-funded product by a U.S. law-enforcement agency is the concrete operational outcome of the investment arrangement.[^1][^2]
|
||||
Carbyne has been deployed in U.S. emergency-response systems including [[New Orleans|New Orleans]], where the platform was integrated into the city's 911 dispatch infrastructure. The Miami-Dade Police Department used the product that Epstein's money had funded, per the Miami Herald reporting on the Epstein-Carbyne investment chain. The documented deployment of an Epstein-funded product by a U.S. law-enforcement agency is the concrete operational outcome of the investment arrangement.[^2][^3]
|
||||
|
||||
The simultaneous Epstein-Barak and Founders Fund backing of a single Israeli surveillance-tech startup connects three networks through one company: the Epstein-Barak Israeli-intelligence channel, the Thiel commercial network, and the Israeli surveillance-technology export sector (documented on the [[NSO Group|NSO Group]] and Barak pages). Carbyne is the node where all three converge in a single corporate entity.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
The simultaneous Epstein-Barak and Founders Fund backing of a single Israeli surveillance-tech startup connects three networks through one company: the Epstein-Barak Israeli-intelligence channel, the Thiel commercial network, and the Israeli surveillance-technology export sector (documented on the [[NSO Group|NSO Group]] and Barak pages). Carbyne is the node where all three converge in a single corporate entity.[^2][^3][^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Israeli Surveillance-Technology Export Context
|
||||
|
||||
[[Jacobin|Jacobin]] reported in July 2023 that [[Israel|Israel]]'s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories has functioned as a "laboratory" for surveillance and security technology, giving Israeli firms specialized know-how in monitoring civilian populations. The Carbyne/Reporty emergency-response platform sits within this broader Israeli surveillance-technology export sector, and the [[Reason|Reason]] reporting on Epstein's spy-industry connections (August 2025) documented that Epstein and Barak marketed Israeli surveillance technology internationally, including to [[Nigeria|Nigeria]], with technology reportedly tested on Palestinian populations.[^5][^6]
|
||||
[[Jacobin|Jacobin]] reported in July 2023 that [[Israel|Israel]]'s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories has functioned as a "laboratory" for surveillance and security technology, giving Israeli firms specialized know-how in monitoring civilian populations. The Carbyne/Reporty emergency-response platform sits within this broader Israeli surveillance-technology export sector, and the [[Reason|Reason]] reporting on Epstein's spy-industry connections (August 2025) documented that Epstein and Barak marketed Israeli surveillance technology internationally, including to [[Nigeria|Nigeria]], with technology reportedly tested on Palestinian populations.[^6][^7]
|
||||
|
||||
The [[Black Agenda Report|Black Agenda Report]] documented a parallel pipeline in which Israel's Gaza-tested biometric and surveillance scanners were routed into a Nigerian ports deal through [[United Arab Emirates|UAE]] channels. Nigeria is documented as [[Africa|Africa]]'s largest customer of surveillance-technology contracts, spending at least 470 million dollars on AI-powered surveillance devices. The Israeli surveillance-technology export sector, of which Carbyne is a part, operates across the documented chain from Palestinian-population testing through international marketing to deployment in authoritarian and democratic states alike.[^6][^7]
|
||||
The [[Black Agenda Report|Black Agenda Report]] documented a parallel pipeline in which Israel's Gaza-tested biometric and surveillance scanners were routed into a Nigerian ports deal through [[United Arab Emirates|UAE]] channels. Nigeria is documented as [[Africa|Africa]]'s largest customer of surveillance-technology contracts, spending at least 470 million dollars on AI-powered surveillance devices. The Israeli surveillance-technology export sector, of which Carbyne is a part, operates across the documented chain from Palestinian-population testing through international marketing to deployment in authoritarian and democratic states alike.[^7][^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Board and Investors
|
||||
|
||||
Barak served on the board of Reporty and Carbyne and left the board in 2019, the year Epstein was arrested and died.[^1] The board also included Pinhas Buchris, who commanded Unit 8200 and later served as director general of the Israeli [[Ministry of Defense (Israel)|Ministry of Defense]].[^4] The investment firm of [[Nicole Junkermann]] took part in Carbyne's Series A round. Forbes reported that Carbyne's website listed her as a director until 2020; Carbyne's chief executive, [[Amir Elichai]], said that "she is not and was never a board member," attributed the listing to a mistake by the company's marketing team, and said she no longer held a stake.[^1]
|
||||
Barak served on the board of Reporty and Carbyne and left the board in 2019, the year Epstein was arrested and died.[^2] The board also included Pinhas Buchris, who commanded Unit 8200 and later served as director general of the Israeli [[Ministry of Defense (Israel)|Ministry of Defense]].[^1][^9] Minutes of the December 23, 2015 meeting of Reporty's board list Elichai, [[Alex Dizengof]], Barak and Buchris as directors present, and record Barak's expected additional investment of $500,000 by February 1, 2016.[^10] The investment firm of [[Nicole Junkermann]] took part in Carbyne's Series A round. Forbes reported that Carbyne's website listed her as a director until 2020; Carbyne's chief executive, [[Amir Elichai]], said that "she is not and was never a board member," attributed the listing to a mistake by the company's marketing team, and said she no longer held a stake.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Investment Structure and the 2019 Warrants
|
||||
|
||||
Epstein's stake was held through an Israeli limited partnership, SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership, whose general partner was Ergo (E.B. 2014) Ltd. On February 28, 2019 the partnership's lawyer, [[Tomer Toor]] of the [[Tel Aviv]] firm Furth, Wilensky, Mizrachi, Knaani, wrote to Epstein's attorney [[Darren Indyke]] and to NJF Capital, the renamed Montilla International Corporation of Nicole Junkermann, that "At the time of the initial investment in Carbyne Ltd. (formerly Reporty Ltd.), SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership received Warrants to purchase additional 61,251 Preferred A Shares of Carbyne for an aggregate exercise price of US$ 3,500,000," and that exercising them would "increase the holdings % of SUM in Carbyne - from about 13% to about 26.33%, on a fully diluted basis."[^8] On March 7 Toor confirmed that [[Southern Trust Company]], Epstein's Virgin Islands company, had signed the Additional Investment Agreement and "transferred its share in the investment (US$2.4mm)," and on March 11 that the full 3.6 million dollars had reached Ergo's account.[^8]
|
||||
Epstein's stake was held through an Israeli limited partnership, SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership, whose general partner was Ergo (E.B. 2014) Ltd. On February 28, 2019 the partnership's lawyer, [[Tomer Toor]] of the [[Tel Aviv]] firm Furth, Wilensky, Mizrachi, Knaani, wrote to Epstein's attorney [[Darren Indyke]] and to NJF Capital, the renamed Montilla International Corporation of Nicole Junkermann, that "At the time of the initial investment in Carbyne Ltd. (formerly Reporty Ltd.), SUM (E.B.) Limited Partnership received Warrants to purchase additional 61,251 Preferred A Shares of Carbyne for an aggregate exercise price of US$ 3,500,000," and that exercising them would "increase the holdings % of SUM in Carbyne - from about 13% to about 26.33%, on a fully diluted basis."[^11] On March 7 Toor confirmed that [[Southern Trust Company]], Epstein's Virgin Islands company, had signed the Additional Investment Agreement and "transferred its share in the investment (US$2.4mm)," and on March 11 that the full 3.6 million dollars had reached Ergo's account.[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
The receiving bank then asked, under what Toor called "its own anti money laundry regulations," for a list of "the controlling person(s) of each limited partner, name and his/her citizenship" and a recommendation letter from each partner's transferring bank.[^8] Epstein forwarded the request to Barak, who replied on March 11, 2019: "Jeff, That's the Israeli banks paranoia after they paid the penalties they've paid to the US authorities for past mistakes. According to our experience it was never leaked out of the banks. Just kept with them as an insurance policy. We have to follow on it. On a minimal but satisfying base."[^9] On March 12 Indyke wrote to Epstein: "Not sure how to respond. I thought we did not want your name associated with this Investment? Also, Tomer is asking for a bank rec letter from the transferring bank which is DB," referring to [[Deutsche Bank]]. Epstein answered "ok," and on March 14, asked whether that meant Indyke could confirm that Epstein was "the controlling person of the STC," replied, "Yes."[^10]
|
||||
The receiving bank then asked, under what Toor called "its own anti money laundry regulations," for a list of "the controlling person(s) of each limited partner, name and his/her citizenship" and a recommendation letter from each partner's transferring bank.[^11] Epstein forwarded the request to Barak, who replied on March 11, 2019: "Jeff, That's the Israeli banks paranoia after they paid the penalties they've paid to the US authorities for past mistakes. According to our experience it was never leaked out of the banks. Just kept with them as an insurance policy. We have to follow on it. On a minimal but satisfying base."[^12] On March 12 Indyke wrote to Epstein: "Not sure how to respond. I thought we did not want your name associated with this Investment? Also, Tomer is asking for a bank rec letter from the transferring bank which is DB," referring to [[Deutsche Bank]]. Epstein answered "ok," and on March 14, asked whether that meant Indyke could confirm that Epstein was "the controlling person of the STC," replied, "Yes."[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
A month earlier, on February 18, 2019, Junkermann had written to Epstein: "Carbyne invested 1.5 m (1m you and 0.5m me) net of fees is3.9m your share, Ehud carry1.5 m and my share 2m." Epstein had written that he had "litle idea of carbyne results to date."[^11]
|
||||
A month earlier, on February 18, 2019, Junkermann had written to Epstein: "Carbyne invested 1.5 m (1m you and 0.5m me) net of fees is3.9m your share, Ehud carry1.5 m and my share 2m." Epstein had written that he had "litle idea of carbyne results to date."[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Qatar Pitch
|
||||
|
||||
On May 21, 2018 Epstein wrote to Peter Thiel, whose Founders Fund was a Carbyne investor: "FYI trae is meeting carbyne Ehud Barak co."[^12] On January 1, 2019 Barak forwarded Carbyne's Qatar presentation, prepared by Elichai, to [[Jabor Al Thani]] with Epstein copied: "Please find attached short presentation of Carbine. Public safety company of which I'm the chairman and leading investor. We are interested in participating in the security effort for the 2022 Games. We can work through a European company of your choice and minimize Israeli profile."[^13] In a reply of January 20 quoted in the same thread, Jabor Al Thani wrote that his "security services company" wanted to begin discussions on the presentation "for the Qatar 2022 Games" and asked for help with "any anti-drone services or technologies." On February 3 Barak, signing "Ehud Barak, Carbyne, Chairman," named Elichai as contact and promised a separate email on "the anti-drone issue"; Elichai wrote, "Ehud, thanks for the intro." On February 4 Jabor Al Thani named the country manager of [[Lysys WLL]] as the Qatari contact. Epstein was shown as a recipient of the January 1, February 3, and February 4 messages.[^14]
|
||||
On May 21, 2018 Epstein wrote to Peter Thiel, whose Founders Fund was a Carbyne investor: "FYI trae is meeting carbyne Ehud Barak co."[^15] On January 1, 2019 Barak forwarded Carbyne's Qatar presentation, prepared by Elichai, to [[Jabor Al Thani]] with Epstein copied: "Please find attached short presentation of Carbine. Public safety company of which I'm the chairman and leading investor. We are interested in participating in the security effort for the 2022 Games. We can work through a European company of your choice and minimize Israeli profile."[^16] In a reply of January 20 quoted in the same thread, Jabor Al Thani wrote that his "security services company" wanted to begin discussions on the presentation "for the Qatar 2022 Games" and asked for help with "any anti-drone services or technologies." On February 3 Barak, signing "Ehud Barak, Carbyne, Chairman," named Elichai as contact and promised a separate email on "the anti-drone issue"; Elichai wrote, "Ehud, thanks for the intro." On February 4 Jabor Al Thani named the country manager of [[Lysys WLL]] as the Qatari contact. Epstein was shown as a recipient of the January 1, February 3, and February 4 messages.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Axon Acquisition
|
||||
|
||||
Axon Enterprise, the maker of Taser weapons and police body cameras, announced that it would acquire Carbyne for 625 million dollars in cash, with the transaction expected to close in the first quarter of 2026; it closed in February 2026.[^4][^15] Axon, led by its founder and chief executive [[Rick Smith]], described the purchase as "uniting cloud infrastructure and AI to redefine the 911 experience."[^15] Epstein's 2015 stake of about one million dollars was the one Forbes estimated could have grown to as much as one hundred million dollars.[^1]
|
||||
Axon Enterprise, the maker of Taser weapons and police body cameras, announced that it would acquire Carbyne for 625 million dollars in cash, with the transaction expected to close in the first quarter of 2026; it closed in February 2026.[^5][^18] Axon, led by its founder and chief executive [[Rick Smith]], described the purchase as "uniting cloud infrastructure and AI to redefine the 911 experience."[^18] Epstein's 2015 stake of about one million dollars was the one Forbes estimated could have grown to as much as one hundred million dollars.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Brewster, Thomas. "Epstein Could Have Made $100 Million On A Secret Police Tech Investment With Ehud Barak." *Forbes,* February 10, 2026. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/02/10/epstein-police-surveillance-investments-with-ehud-barak/
|
||||
[^2]: "Epstein secretly funded start-up used by Miami-Dade police." *Miami Herald,* 2020.
|
||||
[^3]: "Founders Fund Invests in a 911 Startup Backed by Ehud Barak." *CTech (Calcalist),* documenting Peter Thiel's Founders Fund joining a Series B round in Carbyne/Reporty, the firm's first Israeli investment. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744302,00.html
|
||||
[^4]: *Coverager,* on Axon's agreement to acquire Carbyne for 625 million dollars. https://coverager.com/axon-to-acquire-carbyne-for-625-million/ ; *CTech (Calcalist),* on the Axon acquisition. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rj4vnuokwg
|
||||
[^5]: "Inside Jeffrey Epstein's spy industry connections." *Reason,* August 27, 2025. https://reason.com/2025/08/27/inside-jeffrey-epsteins-spy-industry-connections/
|
||||
[^6]: "Israel Has Turned the Occupied Territories Into a Laboratory for Surveillance." *Jacobin,* July 2023. https://jacobin.com/2023/07/israel-occupation-surveillance-security-state-technology-export
|
||||
[^7]: "Epstein Flipped Israel's Gaza-Tested Biometric Scanners Into Nigeria Ports Deal." *Black Agenda Report.* For the Nigeria surveillance-technology spending, see the IDS Sussex and Punch Nigeria reporting.
|
||||
[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02634615, DataSet 11, email chain "Carbyne warrants" among Tomer Toor, NJF Capital, Darren Indyke, and Jeffrey Epstein, February 28 to March 14, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf
|
||||
[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02632339, DataSet 11, email from Ehud Barak to Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: Carbyne warrants," March 11, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02632339.pdf
|
||||
[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02634615, DataSet 11, email exchange between Darren Indyke and Jeffrey Epstein, March 12-14, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf
|
||||
[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02630791, DataSet 11, email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Nicole Junkermann, February 18, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02630791.pdf
|
||||
[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01052344, DataSet 9, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel, May 21, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01052344.pdf
|
||||
[^13]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02607775, DataSet 11, email from Ehud Barak to Jabor Al Thani, copied to Jeffrey Epstein, January 1, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02607775.pdf
|
||||
[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02628648, DataSet 11, email thread "Qatar Presentation <> Carbyne 911," January 1 to February 4, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02628648.pdf
|
||||
[^15]: Axon Enterprise. "Axon to Acquire Carbyne, Uniting Cloud Infrastructure and AI to Redefine the 911 Experience." Press release, *PR Newswire.* https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/axon-to-acquire-carbyne-uniting-cloud-infrastructure-and-ai-to-redefine-the-911-experience-302604614.html
|
||||
[^1]: "The Ties That Bind: Ehud Barak's Business Network," *CTech (Calcalist)*, July 18, 2019. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3766639,00.html
|
||||
[^2]: Brewster, Thomas. "Epstein Could Have Made $100 Million On A Secret Police Tech Investment With Ehud Barak." *Forbes,* February 10, 2026. https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/02/10/epstein-police-surveillance-investments-with-ehud-barak/
|
||||
[^3]: "Epstein secretly funded start-up used by Miami-Dade police." *Miami Herald,* 2020.
|
||||
[^4]: "Founders Fund Invests in a 911 Startup Backed by Ehud Barak." *CTech (Calcalist),* documenting Peter Thiel's Founders Fund joining a Series B round in Carbyne/Reporty, the firm's first Israeli investment. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3744302,00.html
|
||||
[^5]: *Coverager,* on Axon's agreement to acquire Carbyne for 625 million dollars. https://coverager.com/axon-to-acquire-carbyne-for-625-million/ ; *CTech (Calcalist),* on the Axon acquisition. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rj4vnuokwg
|
||||
[^6]: "Inside Jeffrey Epstein's spy industry connections." *Reason,* August 27, 2025. https://reason.com/2025/08/27/inside-jeffrey-epsteins-spy-industry-connections/
|
||||
[^7]: "Israel Has Turned the Occupied Territories Into a Laboratory for Surveillance." *Jacobin,* July 2023. https://jacobin.com/2023/07/israel-occupation-surveillance-security-state-technology-export
|
||||
[^8]: "Epstein Flipped Israel's Gaza-Tested Biometric Scanners Into Nigeria Ports Deal." *Black Agenda Report.* For the Nigeria surveillance-technology spending, see the IDS Sussex and Punch Nigeria reporting.
|
||||
[^9]: "A Buchris story: The rise, fall, and comeback of an Israeli hero," *CTech (Calcalist)*, December 16, 2022. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/lwigv8m1o
|
||||
[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01074544, DataSet 9, minutes of the meeting of the board of directors of Reporty Homeland Security Ltd., December 23, 2015. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01074544.pdf
|
||||
[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02634615, DataSet 11, email chain "Carbyne warrants" among Tomer Toor, NJF Capital, Darren Indyke, and Jeffrey Epstein, February 28 to March 14, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf
|
||||
[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02632339, DataSet 11, email from Ehud Barak to Jeffrey Epstein, "Re: Carbyne warrants," March 11, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02632339.pdf
|
||||
[^13]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02634615, DataSet 11, email exchange between Darren Indyke and Jeffrey Epstein, March 12-14, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf
|
||||
[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02630791, DataSet 11, email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Nicole Junkermann, February 18, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02630791.pdf
|
||||
[^15]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01052344, DataSet 9, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel, May 21, 2018. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01052344.pdf
|
||||
[^16]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02607775, DataSet 11, email from Ehud Barak to Jabor Al Thani, copied to Jeffrey Epstein, January 1, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02607775.pdf
|
||||
[^17]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02628648, DataSet 11, email thread "Qatar Presentation <> Carbyne 911," January 1 to February 4, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02628648.pdf
|
||||
[^18]: Axon Enterprise. "Axon to Acquire Carbyne, Uniting Cloud Infrastructure and AI to Redefine the 911 Experience." Press release, *PR Newswire.* https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/axon-to-acquire-carbyne-uniting-cloud-infrastructure-and-ai-to-redefine-the-911-experience-302604614.html
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-12
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Organization
|
||||
- Media
|
||||
|
|
@ -6,7 +7,9 @@ tags:
|
|||
category: "Private Organization"
|
||||
summary: "Esquire is an American magazine whose October 1991 article by Craig Unger repeated Ari Ben-Menashe's allegations that Robert McFarlane was recruited by Rafi Eitan and identified McFarlane as 'Mr. X' in the Jonathan Pollard case."
|
||||
---
|
||||
*[[Esquire]]* is an [[United States|American]] magazine. In October 1991, it published an article by [[Craig Unger]] that repeated [[Ari Ben-Menashe|Ben-Menashe's]] allegations that [[Robert McFarlane]] had been recruited by [[Rafael Eitan|Rafi]] and named [[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] as "Mr. X" in the [[Jonathan Pollard]] case. [[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] subsequently sued the magazine, but the suit was dismissed in June 1994.[^1]
|
||||
*[[Esquire]]* is an [[United States|American]] magazine. In October 1991, it published an article by [[Craig Unger]] that repeated [[Ari Ben-Menashe|Ben-Menashe's]] allegations that [[Robert McFarlane]] had been recruited by [[Rafael Eitan|Rafi]] and named McFarlane as "Mr. X" in the [[Jonathan Pollard]] case.[^1] The article was the subject of a libel suit by McFarlane. The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed the judgment for the magazine on January 30, 1996.[^2] The opinion records that the magazine's editor, William Blythe, approved the phrase "Yet it's almost impossible to dismiss him" directly after the passage listing Ben-Menashe's vulnerabilities. Explaining the decision, Blythe testified: "We wouldn't have used him as a source unless we thought he had some knowledgeability."[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
|
||||
[^2]: *McFarlane v. Esquire Magazine*, 74 F.3d 1296 (D.C. Cir. 1996), No. 94-7137, decided January 30, 1996. https://static.case.law/f3d/74/cases/1296-01.json
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ On July 26, 2023 the [[House Committee on Oversight and Accountability]] held a
|
|||
[^18]: George Knapp and Matt Adams, "I-Team Exclusive: Nevada senator fought to save secret UFO program," originally posted on 8NewsNow.com June 28, 2018, republished on Mystery Wire September 27, 2019, https://www.mysterywire.com/ufo/i-team-exclusive-nevada-senator-fought-to-save-secret-ufo-program/
|
||||
[^19]: George Knapp and Matt Adams, "EXCLUSIVE: I-Team obtains some key documents related to Pentagon UFO study," originally aired July 25, 2018, KLAS-TV, republished on Mystery Wire September 27, 2019, https://www.mysterywire.com/ufo/exclusive-i-team-obtains-some-key-documents-related-to-pentagon-ufo-study/
|
||||
[^20]: John Forest, "Bob Lazar's UFO claims gain traction with 'S4' success," KLAS 8 News Now (Mystery Wire), posted April 16, 2026, https://digital-release.8newsnow.com/mystery-wire/bob-lazars-ufo-claims-gain-traction-with-s4-success/
|
||||
[^21]: George Knapp, written testimony "For the Record," Committee on Oversight and Accountability, hearing on "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena," September 9, 2025, https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/George-Knapp-Written-Testimony.pdf
|
||||
[^21]: George Knapp, written testimony "For the Record" (headed Hearing on "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena"), House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, hearing "Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection," Serial No. 119-44, September 9, 2025, https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/George-Knapp-Written-Testimony.pdf
|
||||
[^22]: George Knapp, "Statement to Congress," submitted by Rep. Burchett for the record, hearing of July 26, 2023, 4 pp., House Committee Repository, https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO06/20230726/116282/HHRG-118-GO06-20230726-SD004.pdf
|
||||
[^23]: National Institute for Discovery Science, "Personnel," nidsci.org, Internet Archive capture of December 6, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20001206032200/http://www.nidsci.org/personnel.html ; capture of December 14, 2001, https://web.archive.org/web/20011214082825/http://www.nidsci.org/personnel.html
|
||||
[^24]: Open Library, work records for "Hunt for the skinwalker" (2005, Paraview Pocket Books, ISBN 9781416505211), https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5850693W ; "Hunt for the Skinwalker" audio edition (2017, Dreamscape Media, credits Colm A. Kelleher, George Knapp and David Bendena), https://openlibrary.org/works/OL24850199W ; work record for "Skinwalkers at the Pentagon" (2021, Independently published, ISBN 9798487639653, credits James T Lacatski, Colm A. Kelleher and George Knapp), https://openlibrary.org/works/OL37495767W
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ tags:
|
|||
- Aerospace
|
||||
- USA
|
||||
category: "Private Organization"
|
||||
summary: "The Lockheed Aircraft Company is an USA aerospace manufacturer that developed advanced military aircraft and became involved in a bribe scandal affecting Israel politics."
|
||||
summary: "The Lockheed Aircraft Company is a U.S. aerospace manufacturer that built the U-2, named in Ari Ben-Menashe's account of a bribe in Israeli politics and in 1970s SEC disclosures of questionable overseas payments."
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-12
|
||||
start: 1926
|
||||
end: 1995
|
||||
location: "Burbank, California, USA"
|
||||
|
|
@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ relations:
|
|||
start: 1975
|
||||
fn: 3
|
||||
---
|
||||
The [[Lockheed Aircraft Company]] is an [[United States|American]] aerospace manufacturer that developed advanced military aircraft and became involved in a bribe scandal affecting [[Israel|Israeli]] politics.
|
||||
The [[Lockheed Aircraft Company]] is an [[United States|American]] aerospace manufacturer that developed advanced military aircraft and is named in [[Ari Ben-Menashe]]'s account of a bribe affecting [[Israel|Israeli]] politics.
|
||||
|
||||
### U-2 Spy Plane Development
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ Lockheed built the revolutionary [[U-2 Spy Plane]] under cover in Burbank, Calif
|
|||
|
||||
### Israeli Bribery Scandal
|
||||
|
||||
In 1976, a telegram intercepted by [[Unit 8200]] revealed details of bribes paid by a Lockheed representative in Israel to Defense Minister [[Shimon Peres]]. The sum involved was $3.5 million, deposited in one of Peres's brother's business accounts in [[Europe]]. This information, discovered by [[Ari Ben-Menashe]], was subsequently covered up by Israeli military intelligence superiors, including [[Yoel Ben-Porat|Col. Ben-Porat]] and [[Sasson Yishaek|Lt. Col. Yishaek]].[^2]
|
||||
Ari Ben-Menashe wrote that in 1976 he intercepted, as a duty officer in [[Unit 8200]], a telegram that revealed details of bribes paid by a Lockheed representative in Israel to Defense Minister [[Shimon Peres]]. He wrote that the sum involved was $3.5 million, deposited in one of Peres's brother's business accounts in [[Europe]], and that the information was subsequently covered up by Israeli military intelligence superiors, including [[Yoel Ben-Porat|Col. Ben-Porat]] and [[Sasson Yishaek|Lt. Col. Yishaek]].[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission, 1975 to 1977
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,29 +0,0 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
category: "Private Organization"
|
||||
start: 1985
|
||||
location: "Washington, D.C., USA"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Organization
|
||||
- Drug_Trafficking
|
||||
- United_States
|
||||
- 1980s
|
||||
- Contra_War
|
||||
summary: The Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office was a State Department unit hijacked by Oliver North to distribute aid to the Contras through companies owned and operated by drug traffickers.
|
||||
---
|
||||
The Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office (NHAO) was created in mid-1985 to oversee delivery of $27 million in "humanitarian" aid Congress agreed to give the [[Contras]]. [[Oliver North]] and the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] first tried to place the operation inside the [[National Security Council]] for direct control, but when that failed, North "hijacked" it from the [[State Department]], according to CIA official [[Alan Fiers]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### North's Control
|
||||
|
||||
North pressured the NHAO to hire his aide [[Robert Owen|Rob Owen]] as a $50,000 "facilitator" - a move opposed by NHAO director Robert Duemling, who said he didn't see the need for a middleman. North had Contra leaders write letters demanding Owen's hiring and lobbied Duemling's superior, Assistant Secretary [[Elliott Abrams]]. After one meeting, Abrams told Duemling: "Well, Bob, I suppose you probably ought to hire Owen." Meeting minutes show Abrams and North agreed Owen "will be expendable if he becomes a political or diplomatic liability" and could be dismissed as "an experiment that hadn't worked out."[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Drug Trafficker Contractors
|
||||
|
||||
The NHAO hired companies run by drug traffickers to deliver aid. [[Frigorificos de Puntarenas]], created by the [[Medellin Cartel|Medellín cartel]] as a money-laundering front, received more than $260,000 in taxpayer funds. [[DIACSA]], a Miami aircraft company used for years as the U.S. headquarters of Floyd Carlton's Panamanian drug-smuggling venture with [[Manuel Noriega]], was hired despite being penetrated by an undercover DEA agent at the time. Vortex Aviation, operated by Detroit drug dealer [[Michael Palmer]], received contracts despite the CIA knowing Palmer was dealing drugs. [[SETCO]], owned by Honduran drug kingpin [[Juan Matta Ballesteros]], was the "principal company used by the Contras in Honduras."[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### CIA Guidance
|
||||
|
||||
Fiers confirmed the CIA guided the selection of these carriers: "I believe we guided them toward the carriers they ultimately used." Duemling testified that North instructed him not to "dislodge or replace their existing arrangements, which seemed to be working perfectly well." When the GAO audited the NHAO's broker accounts, it could not trace most of the money. Of $4.4 million that went into the accounts, less than $1 million could be accounted for. The rest was traced to offshore banks and disappeared.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 12: "This guy talks to God"
|
||||
|
|
@ -13,50 +13,74 @@ tags:
|
|||
- MBS
|
||||
- PrivateIntelligence
|
||||
- Surveillance
|
||||
summary: "NSO Group is an Israeli cyber-intelligence company founded in 2010 by Unit 8200 alumni Omri Lavie, Shalev Hulio, and Niv Karmi, developer of the Pegasus spyware capable of zero-click mobile-phone compromise, whose government clients used the product to surveil over 50,000 targets including Jamal Khashoggi's family, 180 journalists, Catalan independence leaders, and Mexican activists before the July 2021 Pegasus Project exposure."
|
||||
summary: "Israeli spyware company founded in 2010 by Omri Lavie, Shalev Hulio, and Niv Carmi, developer of Pegasus, whose government clients selected over 50,000 potential targets, including Khashoggi's family, before the July 2021 Pegasus Project exposure."
|
||||
location: "Herzliya, Israel"
|
||||
created: 2026-06-18
|
||||
updated: 2026-06-18
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-12
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: partner_of
|
||||
with: "[[Unit 8200]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "veterans of the unit helped develop NSO technology, per OCCRP; founder Hulio did not serve in the unit, per Ynet"
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
NSO Group is an Israeli cyber-intelligence company founded in 2010 in [[Herzliya]], [[Israel]], by [[Omri Lavie|Omri Lavie]], [[Shalev Hulio|Shalev Hulio]], and [[Niv Karmi|Niv Karmi]] (the company name derives from their first initials: N-S-O). The founders are alumni of [[Unit 8200|Unit 8200]], Israel's elite military intelligence signals-and-cyber unit that serves as the incubator of the Israeli private surveillance-technology sector. NSO developed [[Pegasus (spyware)|Pegasus]], a spyware capable of zero-click mobile-phone compromise that extracts messages, emails, photos, location data, and activates cameras and microphones without the target's knowledge. The [[Pegasus Project|Pegasus Project]] investigation (July 2021), coordinated by [[Forbidden Stories|Forbidden Stories]] and [[Amnesty International|Amnesty International]] across 80 journalists from 17 media outlets, documented a leaked list of over 50,000 phone numbers selected as potential surveillance targets by NSO's government clients.[^1][^2][^3]
|
||||
NSO Group is an Israeli cyber-intelligence company founded in 2010 in [[Herzliya]], [[Israel]], by [[Omri Lavie|Omri Lavie]], [[Shalev Hulio|Shalev Hulio]], and [[Niv Carmi]] (the company name derives from their first initials: N-S-O). [[Unit 8200]] is Israel's elite military intelligence signals-and-cyber unit, described as the incubator of the Israeli private surveillance-technology sector. Veterans of the unit are known to have helped develop the company's technology, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.[^1] Ynet reported in 2019 that Hulio did not serve in the unit and that Hulio said an early engineer may have.[^2] NSO developed [[Pegasus (spyware)|Pegasus]], a spyware capable of zero-click mobile-phone compromise that extracts messages, emails, photos, location data, and activates cameras and microphones without the target's knowledge. The [[Pegasus Project|Pegasus Project]] investigation (July 2021), coordinated by [[Forbidden Stories|Forbidden Stories]] and [[Amnesty International|Amnesty International]] across 80 journalists from 17 media outlets, documented a leaked list of over 50,000 phone numbers selected as potential surveillance targets by NSO's government clients.[^3][^4][^5]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Unit 8200 Pipeline
|
||||
|
||||
Unit 8200 is the IDF signals-intelligence and cyber-warfare unit that functions as the documented talent pipeline for the Israeli private cybersecurity and surveillance industry. NSO Group's founders are alumni of the unit, as are the founders of a documented network of Israeli surveillance-technology firms that collectively constitute the "tip of the iceberg" of what the [[OCCRP|OCCRP]] and the [[Boston Review|Boston Review]] describe as a largely unregulated transnational Israeli surveillance industry. Former IDF intelligence officers and former NSO employees have gone on to found additional firms developing zero-click weapons and offensive cyber tools, extending the Unit 8200 pipeline into the broader commercial-surveillance sector.[^4][^5]
|
||||
Unit 8200 is the IDF signals-intelligence and cyber-warfare unit that functions as the documented talent pipeline for the Israeli private cybersecurity and surveillance industry. Founders of a documented network of Israeli surveillance-technology firms are alumni of the unit; those firms, with NSO, constitute the "tip of the iceberg" of what the [[OCCRP|OCCRP]] and the [[Boston Review|Boston Review]] describe as a largely unregulated transnational Israeli surveillance industry. Former IDF intelligence officers and former NSO employees have gone on to found additional firms developing zero-click weapons and offensive cyber tools, extending the Unit 8200 pipeline into the broader commercial-surveillance sector.[^1][^6]
|
||||
|
||||
The Unit 8200 pipeline connects the NSO Group to the broader Israeli surveillance-technology export sector documented on the [[Carbyne|Carbyne]] page (the Epstein-Barak-Israeli surveillance-tech investment chain) and to the [[Palantir Technologies|Palantir]]-Israel strategic partnership. The sector operates on the model documented by the [[Jacobin|Jacobin]] reporting: Israeli surveillance technology developed through the occupation of Palestinian territories is exported commercially, with the occupied territories functioning as what critics describe as a testing laboratory.[^5][^6]
|
||||
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project wrote that veterans of Unit 8200 "are known to have helped develop" the company's technology, and that its workforce had risen to more than 700. OCCRP quoted [[Gadi Aviran]], who founded the intelligence firm [[Terrogence]], telling *The New Yorker* in 2019: "There was this huge pipeline of talent coming out of the military every year."[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
In a January 2019 profile, [[Ronen Bergman]] wrote in Ynet that Hulio "didn't serve in the IDF's elite Unit 8200," that his last IDF posting was commander of a Home Front Command search and rescue team, and that he met Lavie at Hugim High School in Haifa. Hulio told Bergman that an early NSO engineer "may have served in Unit 8200" but that the technology did not come from there. A senior intelligence official told Bergman that NSO's capabilities had been "proliferated by former members of the intelligence community." The profile names Niv Carmi, who worked at the Prime Minister's Office as a student, as the technical expert brought in when the founders were recruited.[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
The Unit 8200 pipeline connects the NSO Group to the broader Israeli surveillance-technology export sector documented on the [[Carbyne|Carbyne]] page (the Epstein-Barak-Israeli surveillance-tech investment chain) and to the [[Palantir Technologies|Palantir]]-Israel strategic partnership. The sector operates on the model documented by the [[Jacobin|Jacobin]] reporting: Israeli surveillance technology developed through the occupation of Palestinian territories is exported commercially, with the occupied territories functioning as what critics describe as a testing laboratory.[^6][^7]
|
||||
|
||||
### Pegasus and the Government-Client Model
|
||||
|
||||
NSO licensed Pegasus exclusively to government clients, framing the product as a counterterrorism tool. The documented deployment went far beyond counterterrorism. The Pegasus Project investigation documented that NSO's clients used Pegasus against heads of state, government officials, journalists, activists, political opponents, and the family members of targeted individuals. The leaked list of 50,000+ phone numbers includes targets across multiple countries.[^1][^3]
|
||||
NSO licensed Pegasus exclusively to government clients, framing the product as a counterterrorism tool. The documented deployment went far beyond counterterrorism. The Pegasus Project investigation documented that NSO's clients used Pegasus against heads of state, government officials, journalists, activists, political opponents, and the family members of targeted individuals. The leaked list of 50,000+ phone numbers includes targets across multiple countries.[^3][^5]
|
||||
|
||||
The documented deployment patterns include: [[Mexico|Mexico]] (one of NSO's largest clients, where multiple administrations used Pegasus against journalists including [[Cecilio Pineda Brito|Cecilio Pineda Brito]], activists, lawyers, and even a child, per the [[Citizen Lab|Citizen Lab]] investigation); [[Catalonia|Catalonia]] (the "[[CatalanGate|CatalanGate]]" finding by Citizen Lab in 2022 documenting dozens of Catalan independence politicians and activists targeted by the Spanish state); [[El Salvador|El Salvador]] (surveillance continuing through 2022 despite NSO's reform pledges); and the [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] targeting of [[Jamal Khashoggi|Khashoggi]]'s associates.[^1][^7][^8][^9]
|
||||
The documented deployment patterns include: [[Mexico|Mexico]] (one of NSO's largest clients, where multiple administrations used Pegasus against journalists including [[Cecilio Pineda Brito|Cecilio Pineda Brito]], activists, lawyers, and even a child, per the [[Citizen Lab|Citizen Lab]] investigation); [[Catalonia|Catalonia]] (the "[[CatalanGate|CatalanGate]]" finding by Citizen Lab in 2022 documenting dozens of Catalan independence politicians and activists targeted by the Spanish state); [[El Salvador|El Salvador]] (surveillance continuing through 2022 despite NSO's reform pledges); and the [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] targeting of [[Jamal Khashoggi|Khashoggi]]'s associates.[^3][^8][^9][^10]
|
||||
|
||||
### The Khashoggi Surveillance
|
||||
|
||||
Pegasus was deployed against the associates of Jamal Khashoggi before the October 2018 murder inside the Saudi consulate in [[Istanbul|Istanbul]]. [[The Guardian|The Guardian]] reported in July 2021, based on the Pegasus Project leak, that Pegasus was found on the phone of Khashoggi's wife [[Hanan Elatr|Hanan Elatr]] months before the killing. An Emirati government agency separately placed NSO spyware on the phone of a Khashoggi associate, [[Al Jazeera|Al Jazeera]] reported. Khashoggi's friend [[Omar Abdul Aziz|Omar Abdul Aziz]] sued NSO Group, claiming the spyware enabled the murder by mapping Khashoggi's network and communications. A federal judge dismissed the widow's lawsuit against NSO in October 2023.[^10]
|
||||
Pegasus was deployed against the associates of Jamal Khashoggi before the October 2018 murder inside the Saudi consulate in [[Istanbul|Istanbul]]. [[The Guardian|The Guardian]] reported in July 2021, based on the Pegasus Project leak, that Pegasus was found on the phone of Khashoggi's wife [[Hanan Elatr|Hanan Elatr]] months before the killing. An Emirati government agency separately placed NSO spyware on the phone of a Khashoggi associate, [[Al Jazeera|Al Jazeera]] reported. Khashoggi's friend [[Omar Abdul Aziz|Omar Abdul Aziz]] sued NSO Group, claiming the spyware enabled the murder by mapping Khashoggi's network and communications. A federal judge dismissed the widow's lawsuit against NSO in October 2023.[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
The Khashoggi surveillance ran through the same [[Mohammed bin Salman|MBS]]-[[WhatsApp|WhatsApp]] channel that [[Jared Kushner|Jared Kushner]] used to communicate with the Saudi crown prince, and through the broader Saudi-Emirati intelligence network that operated Pegasus against the targets. The NSO Group sits at the intersection of the documented surveillance infrastructure that enabled the Khashoggi assassination and the Kushner-MBS relationship that shaped the Trump administration's response to it.[^10]
|
||||
The Khashoggi surveillance ran through the same [[Mohammed bin Salman|MBS]]-[[WhatsApp|WhatsApp]] channel that [[Jared Kushner|Jared Kushner]] used to communicate with the Saudi crown prince, and through the broader Saudi-Emirati intelligence network that operated Pegasus against the targets. The NSO Group sits at the intersection of the documented surveillance infrastructure that enabled the Khashoggi assassination and the Kushner-MBS relationship that shaped the Trump administration's response to it.[^11]
|
||||
|
||||
### Ownership and the Novalpina Deal
|
||||
|
||||
NSO was acquired by [[Francisco Partners|Francisco Partners]], a technology-focused private equity firm, in 2014. Francisco Partners's ownership period covered the initial expansion of the Pegasus client base across multiple governments, including the documented deployments in Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and the [[United Arab Emirates|United Arab Emirates]]. The Francisco Partners ownership placed a standard private-equity firm in operational control of a cyber-arms company in its portfolio.[^1][^11]
|
||||
NSO was acquired by [[Francisco Partners|Francisco Partners]], a technology-focused private equity firm, in 2014. Francisco Partners's ownership period covered the initial expansion of the Pegasus client base across multiple governments, including the documented deployments in Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and the [[United Arab Emirates|United Arab Emirates]]. The Francisco Partners ownership placed a standard private-equity firm in operational control of a cyber-arms company in its portfolio.[^3][^12]
|
||||
|
||||
In 2019, the co-founders Hulio and Lavie re-acquired NSO from Francisco Partners with funding from [[Novalpina Capital|Novalpina Capital]], a London-based private equity firm founded by [[Stephen Peel|Stephen Peel]]. The Novalpina acquisition valued NSO at approximately 1 billion dollars. The re-acquisition coincided with the period of intensifying scrutiny on NSO's government-client deployments, and the Novalpina ownership became itself a subject of controversy when Novalpina's limited partners raised concerns about the ethical implications of owning a cyber-arms company. Novalpina subsequently underwent its own internal crisis, and the ownership structure of NSO entered a period of documented instability.[^1][^11]
|
||||
In 2019, the co-founders Hulio and Lavie re-acquired NSO from Francisco Partners with funding from [[Novalpina Capital|Novalpina Capital]], a London-based private equity firm founded by [[Stephen Peel|Stephen Peel]]. The Novalpina acquisition valued NSO at approximately 1 billion dollars. The re-acquisition coincided with the period of intensifying scrutiny on NSO's government-client deployments, and the Novalpina ownership became itself a subject of controversy when Novalpina's limited partners raised concerns about the ethical implications of owning a cyber-arms company. Novalpina subsequently underwent its own internal crisis, and the ownership structure of NSO entered a period of documented instability.[^3][^12]
|
||||
|
||||
The Pegasus Project investigation (July 2021) and the subsequent regulatory and legal pressure (including [[Apple|Apple]]'s lawsuit against NSO, the U.S. Commerce Department's addition of NSO to the [[Entity List|Entity List]] in November 2021, and the WhatsApp v. NSO litigation) have constrained the company's operations. The ownership trajectory from startup to Francisco Partners portfolio company to Novalpina-controlled entity to a constrained and legally challenged operation documents the arc of a private intelligence firm that operated with limited accountability through multiple ownership regimes.[^1][^11]
|
||||
The Pegasus Project investigation (July 2021) and the subsequent regulatory and legal pressure (including [[Apple|Apple]]'s lawsuit against NSO, the U.S. Commerce Department's addition of NSO to the [[Entity List|Entity List]] in November 2021, and the WhatsApp v. NSO litigation) have constrained the company's operations. The ownership trajectory from startup to Francisco Partners portfolio company to Novalpina-controlled entity to a constrained and legally challenged operation documents the arc of a private intelligence firm that operated with limited accountability through multiple ownership regimes.[^3][^12]
|
||||
|
||||
### WhatsApp Litigation
|
||||
|
||||
WhatsApp sued NSO in October 2019 in the Northern District of California. A July 16, 2020 order described NSO as an Israeli limited liability company, described [[Q Cyber Technologies]] as an Israeli corporation and NSO's only active director and majority shareholder, and recorded the complaint's allegation that defendants sent malware through WhatsApp's system to about 1,400 mobile devices.[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
On December 20, 2024, Judge Phyllis Hamilton granted WhatsApp's motion for partial summary judgment on liability under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, and denied NSO's motion for summary judgment. The order granted the sanctions motion in part, considered terminating sanctions, preferred evidentiary sanctions, and stated that a trial would proceed only on damages.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
On May 6, 2025 a jury returned a unanimous verdict of $444,719 in compensatory damages and $167,254,000 in punitive damages (Dkt. 736), a total of $167,698,719.[^15] On October 17, 2025 Judge Hamilton granted a permanent injunction and remitted the punitive award to $4,002,471 (a nine-to-one ratio to compensatory damages); WhatsApp accepted the remittitur on October 31, 2025; on November 12, 2025 the court entered the permanent injunction, which excludes NSO's foreign sovereign customers, and a final judgment of $4,447,190.[^15][^16] On December 19, 2025 the court denied a stay of the injunction pending appeal.[^17]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: For NSO Group founding, ownership history, and the founders' Unit 8200 background, see the published NSO Group documentation and the Wikipedia record.
|
||||
[^2]: "The Pegasus Project." *Amnesty International,* July 2021. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/07/the-pegasus-project-2/
|
||||
[^3]: "Pegasus: The New Global Weapon for Silencing Journalists." *Forbidden Stories.* https://forbiddenstories.org/pegasus-the-new-global-weapon-for-silencing-journalists/
|
||||
[^4]: "Where NSO Group Came From and Why It's Just the Tip of the Iceberg." *OCCRP.* https://www.occrp.org/en/project/the-pegasus-project/where-nso-group-came-from-and-why-its-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg
|
||||
[^5]: "Cyberespionage with Benefits." *Boston Review.* https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/cyberespionage-with-benefits/
|
||||
[^6]: "Israel Has Turned the Occupied Territories Into a Laboratory for Surveillance." *Jacobin,* July 2023. https://jacobin.com/2023/07/israel-occupation-surveillance-security-state-technology-export
|
||||
[^7]: "Reckless Exploit: Mexican Journalists, Lawyers, and a Child Targeted with NSO Spyware." *Citizen Lab.* https://citizenlab.ca/research/reckless-exploit-mexico-nso/
|
||||
[^8]: For the Catalonia (CatalanGate) finding, see the Citizen Lab 2022 CatalanGate report.
|
||||
[^9]: "NSO Group's Continued Surveillance." *Rest of World,* 2022 (El Salvador). https://restofworld.org/2022/nso-pegasus-el-salvador/
|
||||
[^10]: "NSO spyware used to target family of Jamal Khashoggi, leaked data shows." *The Guardian,* July 18, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/nso-spyware-used-to-target-family-of-jamal-khashoggi-leaked-data-shows-saudis-pegasus
|
||||
[^11]: For the Novalpina Capital ownership deal, see the published NSO Group and Novalpina Capital documentation.
|
||||
[^1]: "Where NSO Group Came From and Why It's Just the Tip of the Iceberg." *OCCRP.* https://www.occrp.org/en/project/the-pegasus-project/where-nso-group-came-from-and-why-its-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg
|
||||
[^2]: Ronen Bergman, "Weaving a cyber web," *Ynetnews*, January 11, 2019. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5444998,00.html
|
||||
[^3]: Co-founders Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie were high-school friends who founded the company in 2010, according to OCCRP, "Where NSO Group Came From and Why It's Just the Tip of the Iceberg," The Pegasus Project. https://www.occrp.org/en/project/the-pegasus-project/where-nso-group-came-from-and-why-its-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg
|
||||
[^4]: "The Pegasus Project." *Amnesty International,* July 2021. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/07/the-pegasus-project-2/
|
||||
[^5]: "Pegasus: The New Global Weapon for Silencing Journalists." *Forbidden Stories.* https://forbiddenstories.org/pegasus-the-new-global-weapon-for-silencing-journalists/
|
||||
[^6]: "Cyberespionage with Benefits." *Boston Review.* https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/cyberespionage-with-benefits/
|
||||
[^7]: "Israel Has Turned the Occupied Territories Into a Laboratory for Surveillance." *Jacobin,* July 2023. https://jacobin.com/2023/07/israel-occupation-surveillance-security-state-technology-export
|
||||
[^8]: "Reckless Exploit: Mexican Journalists, Lawyers, and a Child Targeted with NSO Spyware." *Citizen Lab.* https://citizenlab.ca/research/reckless-exploit-mexico-nso/
|
||||
[^9]: For the Catalonia (CatalanGate) finding, see the Citizen Lab 2022 CatalanGate report.
|
||||
[^10]: "NSO Group's Continued Surveillance." *Rest of World,* 2022 (El Salvador). https://restofworld.org/2022/nso-pegasus-el-salvador/
|
||||
[^11]: "NSO spyware used to target family of Jamal Khashoggi, leaked data shows." *The Guardian,* July 18, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/nso-spyware-used-to-target-family-of-jamal-khashoggi-leaked-data-shows-saudis-pegasus
|
||||
[^12]: For the Novalpina Capital ownership deal, see the published NSO Group and Novalpina Capital documentation.
|
||||
[^13]: *WhatsApp Inc. v. NSO Group Technologies Limited*, No. 4:19-cv-07123-PJH (N.D. Cal.), Order on motions to dismiss (Dkt. 111, July 16, 2020), pp. 1-2. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123/pdf/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123-5.pdf
|
||||
[^14]: *WhatsApp Inc. v. NSO Group Technologies Limited*, No. 4:19-cv-07123-PJH (N.D. Cal.), Order re motions for summary judgment and sanctions (Dkt. 494, December 20, 2024), at 16. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123/pdf/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123-24.pdf
|
||||
[^15]: *WhatsApp LLC v. NSO Group Technologies Limited*, No. 4:19-cv-07123-PJH (N.D. Cal.), Final Judgment (Dkt. 810, November 12, 2025), p. 2. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123/pdf/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123-44.pdf
|
||||
[^16]: Same case, Order re permanent injunction and remittitur (Dkt. 802, October 17, 2025), pp. 1-2 and conclusion. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123/pdf/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123-40.pdf ; Order granting permanent injunction (Dkt. 809, November 12, 2025), p. 2. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123/pdf/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123-43.pdf
|
||||
[^17]: Same case, Order denying motion to stay permanent injunction (Dkt. 824, December 19, 2025). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123/pdf/USCOURTS-cand-4_19-cv-07123-46.pdf
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -9,7 +9,15 @@ summary: "The National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) was a privately fu
|
|||
start: 1995
|
||||
end: 2004
|
||||
location: "Las Vegas, Nevada, USA"
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-09
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-12
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: employed_by
|
||||
with: "[[Colm Kelleher]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
role: "deputy administrator, molecular biology and biochemistry (2000 to 2003 captures); administrator (February 2004 capture)"
|
||||
start: 1996
|
||||
end: 2004
|
||||
fn: 6
|
||||
---
|
||||
The [[National Institute for Discovery Science]] (NIDS) was a privately funded research organization founded by billionaire [[Robert Bigelow]] in 1995. The organization was dedicated to the scientific study of [[Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena]] (UAP) and other paranormal phenomena.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -25,9 +33,11 @@ One of the most well-known projects undertaken by NIDS was the investigation of
|
|||
|
||||
The institute's personnel page as captured on December 6, 2000 listed a Science Advisory Board of [[Warren Burggren]] (chairman), [[Douglas P. Ferraro]], [[Albert A. Harrison]], [[Edgar Mitchell]], [[Melvin Morse]], [[Martin Piltch]], [[Hal Puthoff]], [[Theodore Rockwell]], [[John F. Schuessler]], [[Jessica Utts]], [[Jacques Vallee]] and [[Jim Whinnery]]. The staff list named Robert Bigelow as president and founder, [[Colm Kelleher]] as deputy administrator (molecular biology and biochemistry), [[John B. Alexander]] as "Discrete Project Scout," [[Eric W. Davis]] (aerospace physics and astrophysics), [[George E. Onet]] (veterinary pathology) and [[Marcel Kuijsten]] (communications officer and webmaster).[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
The capture of October 21, 2001 lists Colm Kelleher with the same title and Hal Puthoff as chairman of the board.[^4] The capture of February 6, 2003 still lists Kelleher as deputy administrator. The capture of February 4, 2004 lists him as administrator for molecular biology and biochemistry, names [[Bruce Cornet]] as deputy administrator for geology, botany and earth history, names Marcel Kuijsten as the only other staff member, and moves John B. Alexander to the science advisory board; Puthoff is again chairman.[^5] The 2017 offering circular of [[To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science]] states that Kelleher "worked for eight years as Deputy Director of the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS)."[^6] His Goodreads author biography and a May 2023 episode description of the Micah Hanks Program give 1996 to 2004 as the years he led the NIDS team at Skinwalker Ranch.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
### Press Report of April 1997
|
||||
|
||||
The *[[Deseret News]]* reporter [[Zack Van Eyck]] wrote in April 1997 (reprinted in *The [[Uintah Basin Standard]]* on April 29) that research scientists who had taken control of a 480-acre [[Uintah County, Utah|Uintah County]] ranch near [[Randlett, Utah|Randlett]] the previous fall remained there although they had not seen the phenomena that its former owners, [[Terry Sherman|Terry]] and [[Gwen Sherman|Gwen]] Sherman, described. A spokesman for the [[Las Vegas]]-based institute said the researchers had yet to see flying craft, cattle mutilations or the "balls of light" that the Shermans said killed dogs. John B. Alexander, identified as the institute's director for scientific liaison, was quoted: "There have been some minor observations, but nothing you would stand behind." The story described Bigelow as a Las Vegas real estate magnate who founded the institute and who bought the ranch in September 1996, three months after the Shermans first told their account publicly in the *Deseret News*; it said two scientists and a veterinarian had set up an observation post, that the institute had not released details to other UFO researchers who were frustrated by that, and that Alexander said findings would be posted on the institute's web page (accessnv.com/nids).[^4]
|
||||
The *[[Deseret News]]* reporter [[Zack Van Eyck]] wrote in April 1997 (reprinted in *The [[Uintah Basin Standard]]* on April 29) that research scientists who had taken control of a 480-acre [[Uintah County, Utah|Uintah County]] ranch near [[Randlett, Utah|Randlett]] the previous fall remained there although they had not seen the phenomena that its former owners, [[Terry Sherman|Terry]] and [[Gwen Sherman|Gwen]] Sherman, described. A spokesman for the [[Las Vegas]]-based institute said the researchers had yet to see flying craft, cattle mutilations or the "balls of light" that the Shermans said killed dogs. John B. Alexander, identified as the institute's director for scientific liaison, was quoted: "There have been some minor observations, but nothing you would stand behind." The story described Bigelow as a Las Vegas real estate magnate who founded the institute and who bought the ranch in September 1996, three months after the Shermans first told their account publicly in the *Deseret News*; it said two scientists and a veterinarian had set up an observation post, that the institute had not released details to other UFO researchers who were frustrated by that, and that Alexander said findings would be posted on the institute's web page (accessnv.com/nids).[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Connection to AATIP
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -38,4 +48,8 @@ The work of NIDS was a precursor to the research conducted by the [[Advanced Aer
|
|||
[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
|
||||
[^2]: George Knapp, "Statement to Congress," July 26, 2023 hearing record, https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO06/20230726/116282/HHRG-118-GO06-20230726-SD004.pdf
|
||||
[^3]: National Institute for Discovery Science, "Personnel," capture of December 6, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20001206032200/http://www.nidsci.org/personnel.html
|
||||
[^4]: Zack Van Eyck, "No UFOs or ETs have dropped in at spooky ranch," *The Uintah Basin Standard* (Roosevelt, Utah; reprinted from the *Deseret News*), April 29, 1997, p. 2, https://www.newspapers.com/image/725294178/.
|
||||
[^4]: National Institute for Discovery Science, "Personnel and Science Advisory Board," Internet Archive capture of October 21, 2001, https://web.archive.org/web/20011021020155/http://www.nidsci.org/personnel.html
|
||||
[^5]: National Institute for Discovery Science, "Personnel and Science Advisory Board," captures of February 6, 2003 (https://web.archive.org/web/20030206081535/http://www.nidsci.org/personnel.html) and February 4, 2004 (https://web.archive.org/web/20040204181441/http://www.nidsci.org/personnel.html)
|
||||
[^6]: To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science, Form 253G2 offering circular, September 29, 2017, EDGAR accession 0001144204-17-050693. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1710274/000114420417050693/
|
||||
[^7]: Colm A. Kelleher, author biography, Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/162220 ; Micah Hanks, "Colm Kelleher: AAWSAP and the Skinwalker Enigma," The Debrief, May 25, 2023, https://thedebrief.org/colm-kelleher-aawsap-and-the-skinwalker-enigma/
|
||||
[^8]: Zack Van Eyck, "No UFOs or ETs have dropped in at spooky ranch," *The Uintah Basin Standard* (Roosevelt, Utah; reprinted from the *Deseret News*), April 29, 1997, p. 2, https://www.newspapers.com/image/725294178/.
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Add table
Add a link
Reference in a new issue