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---
category: "City"
tags:
- City
- Lebanon
- CentralIntelligenceAgency
- HostageCrisis
- IranContra
- StargateProject
- RemoteViewing
- BCCI
- KimPhilby
- SabraAndShatila
- Mossad
- KahanCommission
- MarineBarracksBombing
summary: "Capital of Lebanon, site of the Philby disappearance of 1963, the Sabra and Shatila killings of 1982, the 1983 embassy and Marine barracks bombings, and the captivity of CIA station chief William Buckley."
aliases:
- Beyrouth
- Bayrut
- Beirut, Lebanon
created: 2026-10-15
updated: 2026-10-15
location: "Beirut, Lebanon"
---
Beirut is the capital of [[Lebanon]].[^1] The events on this page run from 1954 to 1991. In that period the city housed the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] station that handled Lebanese affairs, served as the meeting ground of British, American, Israeli and Palestinian services, and was the place where Americans were seized and held and where bombs killed Americans in 1983 and 1984.
### Philby and the 1963 Departure
[[Kim Philby]], the British intelligence officer recruited into Soviet intelligence at [[Cambridge University]] in 1934, disappeared from Beirut on January 23, 1963. [[Ben Macintyre]]'s account, based on British files and interviews, dates the departure to that day.[^2] On July 1, 1963 the [[Foreign Office]] told the [[House of Commons]] that it had made inquiries about Philby's whereabouts "from the Governments in both Cairo and Beirut, without success." The statement added that "when he left Beirut he may have gone to one of the countries of the Soviet bloc."[^3] Macintyre places Philby in [[Moscow]] by July of that year.[^2] The departure is also recorded on the [[James Jesus Angleton]] page, which dates Philby's disappearance from Beirut to the same day.[^4]
### Robert Maheu and the 1954 Papers
On September 24, 1954 Paul Gerrity of [[Maheu Associates]] called on State Department officials with a file containing a statement attributed to Cotopadis on the negotiation of the Onassis agreement with the Saudi government. Gerrity said that [[Stavros Niarchos]] had bought the statement and photostats, that a second copy was held by the CIA in Washington, and that a third copy was "in possession of Mr. Maheu who was in Beirut." Gerrity said the papers should reach King Saud quickly, before any publicity about bribery in the Onassis agreement. The official [[John Jernegan]] said the CIA should remain the channel.[^5] The Senate committee later described [[Robert Maheu]] as an ex-FBI agent who had entered a career as a private investigator in 1954.[^6]
### Saddam Hussein and the 1959 Attempt
On April 10, 2003 the journalist [[Richard Sale]] reported in [[United Press International]] that [[Saddam Hussein]] had been part of a CIA-authorized squad tasked with the 1959 attempt on [[Abd al-Karim Qasim]]. After the attempt failed, he crossed into Syria and was transferred by Egyptian intelligence agents to Beirut. The report states: "While Saddam was in Beirut, the CIA paid for Saddam's apartment and put him through a brief training course, former CIA officials said."[^7] Sale attributed the Beirut account to former officials and to the writer [[Adel Darwish]], who said the CIA handler was an Iraqi dentist working for the CIA and Egyptian intelligence.[^7]
### MI6 and the Nasser Plots
[[Stephen Dorril]] reported in 1985 that [[Wilbur Crane Eveland]]'s memoir *Ropes of Sand* describes a Beirut meeting at which a drunk envoy of the [[MI6]] deputy director George Young said that "Teams had been fielded to assassinate Nasser." Dorril placed the remark among the British plans against [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] in the period of the Suez crisis.[^8]
### Black September and Operation Spring of Youth
Operation Spring of Youth, the April 1973 Israeli operation in Beirut that targeted the [[Black September]] leadership, was led on the ground by [[Ehud Barak]], then commanding the Sayeret Matkal reconnaissance unit, who is recorded as having led the ground team disguised as a woman.[^9] Barak's later career took him to the head of Israeli military intelligence in 1983 and to the post of chief of the General Staff.[^9]
### The 1981 Beirut Cable on Osirak
The Israeli strike on the Iraqi reactor at [[Osirak bombing|Osirak]] took place on June 7, 1981. The Security Council resolution that condemned it, Resolution 487 of June 19, 1981, was adopted unanimously, and its text refers to the "premeditated Israeli air attack on Iraqi nuclear installations on 7 June 1981."[^10] On June 11 the U.S. embassy in Beirut cabled Washington that [[Yasser Arafat|Yasir Arafat]], speaking at a graduation ceremony for Palestinian commandos in Beirut the previous day, had claimed that the raid "had been carried out with full assistance from American satellites and radar." The cable reports that Arafat also claimed the raid took place "with the official approval of the Pentagon."[^11] The same cable reports that the Beirut newspaper As-Safir, citing "East European and Arab diplomatic sources," charged that U.S. AWACS aircraft had charted the route used by the Israeli aircraft and provided air cover over Saudi Arabia, and that a CIA network in Iraq had helped gather information about the Iraqi missile system.[^11]
### The 1982 War and the Siege of West Beirut
The Israeli campaign in Lebanon, which the Israeli government called Peace for the Galilee, began on June 6, 1982. According to the Kahan Commission, Israeli forces took over the suburbs of Beirut on June 12 to 14 and linked up with the Christian forces who controlled East Beirut, and on June 25 the encirclement of West Beirut was completed. About one and a half months of negotiations on the evacuation of the Palestinian fighters and the Syrian forces followed.[^12] After a negotiation mediated by the American diplomat [[Philip Habib]], Arafat and approximately fifteen thousand [[Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO]] personnel left Beirut by sea in August 1982 for Tunis and other Arab capitals.[^13]
[[Frank Terpil]], the former CIA officer, is recorded as having kept contacts with Palestinian clients from his Lebanon assignments, including reportedly figures connected to the PLO leadership in Beirut before the 1982 Israeli invasion.[^14] Robert Ames of the CIA had developed a relationship with the PLO intelligence chief [[Ali Hassan Salameh]], a Black September commander who was also a CIA asset before his assassination by Mossad in 1979.[^15]
### The Mossad, the Phalangists and the Kahan Commission
The Israeli Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut, chaired by Justice Yitzhak Kahan and known as the Kahan Commission, reported on February 8, 1983. Its report states that the link between the Christian forces and Israel was formed shortly after the start of the Lebanese civil war in 1975, that Israel supplied the Christian forces with arms, uniforms, training and instruction, and that "the Mossad was the organization that actually handled the relations between the Phalangists and Israel, and its representatives maintained close contacts with the Phalangist leadership."[^16] The [[Mossad]] and Israeli military intelligence disagreed about the relationship. The report states that the Mossad, "to a not inconsiderable extent under the influence of constant and close contact with the Phalangist elite," felt positively about strengthening it, while military intelligence emphasized the danger in the link because of the organization's unreliability and military weakness. The head of the Mossad testified on December 27, 1982 that "subjective, and not only objective, relations also emerged."[^17]
On the afternoon of September 14, 1982 a large bomb exploded in a building in the Ashrafiyeh district of Beirut where the Phalangist leader and president-elect [[Bashir Gemayel]] was meeting with Phalangist commanders. The report records that the news reached the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister and the Chief of Staff, and that Israeli forces entered West Beirut the next morning.[^18] Defense Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] went from the forward command post to Phalangist headquarters on September 15. The record of that meeting, which the commission cites as exhibit 79, was attended by Phalangist commanders, Sharon, the director of military intelligence, the head of the General Security Services and representatives of the Mossad, and in it Sharon stated that the Phalangist army would also have to enter West Beirut after the Israeli forces.[^19]
On Thursday, September 16, 1982 at about 6 p.m. members of the Phalangists entered the Shatila camp from the west and south in two groups. The Divisional Intelligence Officer on the roof of the forward command post tried to follow their movements with binoculars and could not.[^20] That evening a Phalangist officer in the camps was overheard on the Phalangist radio asking a commander what to do with 45 people; the reported reply, which the commission cites from the testimony of Brigadier General Amos Yaron, was to do with them what God orders.[^21] During the night between Thursday and Friday a Phalangist liaison officer asked for more illumination, and a staff officer at the command post answered that the Phalangists had killed 300 people and that he was unwilling to provide it; limited illumination was nevertheless ordered.[^22] The head of the Mossad gave the Cabinet a briefing on the situation after Bashir's assassination at the session of September 16 at 19:30 hours and made no reference to the Phalangists' entry into the camps.[^23]
The commission's summary states that the massacre was carried out by a Phalangist unit acting on its own, but that its entry was known to Israel. It found that no Israeli was directly responsible, and that Israel bore indirect responsibility because the Israeli forces held the area.[^24] The report found that Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]] bore responsibility for not exercising greater involvement and awareness in introducing the Phalangists into the camps, that Sharon was responsible for ignoring the danger of bloodshed and revenge when he approved the entry, that Foreign Minister [[Yitzhak Shamir]] erred by not acting after he was alerted by the Communications Minister, and that Chief of Staff [[Rafael Eitan]] did not give the appropriate orders. Of Sharon it said that he "bears personal responsibility" and that it was fitting for him to draw the appropriate personal conclusions, and if necessary for the Prime Minister to consider removing him from office.[^25] The commission recommended that the Director of Military Intelligence, Major General [[Yehoshua Sagi|Yehoshua Saguy]], not continue in that post, and that Brigadier General Amos Yaron not serve as a field commander for three years.[^25] On the head of the Mossad the report found that he had learned of the Phalangists' role only at the Cabinet session of September 16, and that he was nevertheless obligated to express his opinion on the dangers there.[^26]
The head of the Mossad received cables from the Mossad representative in Beirut on Friday, September 15, reporting the meetings of the Chief of Staff and the Defense Minister with the Phalangist leaders. The report records that neither cable mentioned a role for the Phalangists in the camps, and that a third cable sent on Thursday at noon stated that a coordination meeting with the commander of the northern front had taken place to prepare the Phalangists for operations to clear the city.[^27]
[[Ari Ben-Menashe]] wrote that Sharon was aware in advance that the massacres were likely, and that a letter from [[Pierre Gemayel]], leader of the Christian forces, to Sharon indicated an intention to seek revenge for the assassination of his son Bashir and that many Palestinians would die; Ben-Menashe wrote that the letter was delivered to Sharon's office and read by [[Moshe Hebroni]] and Saguy.[^28] [[Seymour Hersh]] writes in chapter 21 of *The Samson Option* that Sharon's plan for the invasion had the Israeli forces act as an anti-Syrian blocking force while the Phalangists cleaned out the city of PLO followers, that the Phalangists failed to move, and that the Israeli Air Force was called on to bomb Beirut.[^29] The [[Sabra and Shatila refugee camps]] are in Beirut, and the killings there are covered on the page for the [[Sabra and Shatila massacres]].
### The April 1983 Embassy Bombing
On April 18, 1983 a car bomb struck the [[United States Embassy in Beirut]]. Seventeen Americans died in the attack, among them [[Robert C. Ames]], the CIA's chief Middle East analyst, and several other CIA officers.[^30] [[Imad Mughniyah]] is recorded as having overseen the bombing, which killed sixty-three people in all, mostly CIA and embassy staff.[^31] A column by [[Jack Anderson]] published on May 10, 1983 reported that the [[National Security Agency]] had intercepted communications, and that the CIA had gathered human intelligence, warning that a pro-Iranian Shiite group planned to bomb the embassy about a month before the attack. The column said the warnings were hedged with the statement that the information could not be verified, and that the CIA had lost seven people in the bombing. It described the material as contained in the National Intelligence Daily of April 20, a document circulated to fewer than one hundred officials, and said Anderson's associate [[Dale Van Atta]] had reviewed it.[^32]
### The October 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing
On October 23, 1983 a truck carrying the equivalent of more than twelve thousand pounds of TNT crashed through the perimeter of the compound of the U.S. contingent of the Multinational Force at Beirut International Airport, entered the Battalion Landing Team Headquarters building and detonated; 241 American servicemen were killed.[^33] A Department of Defense commission chaired by Admiral [[Robert L. J. Long]] investigated the attack. [[Frederic C. Hof]], writing on the commission's report, quotes its central message: the attack was "tantamount to an act of war using the medium of terrorism."[^34] The commission concluded that the bombing "was committed by a revolutionary organization within the cognizance of, and with possible support from two neighboring states," and that it met the criteria of a terrorist act as defined in Department of Defense Directive 2000.12. Hof records the commission's description of Lebanon as "a veritable jungle of threats."[^35] Hof writes that the Shiite neighbors of the Marines in Beirut's southern suburbs had regarded the American forces as protectors after the September 1982 Sabra and Shatila killings and by October 1983 viewed them as partisans of their enemies, and that the United States had in September 1983 entered the Lebanese conflict openly with naval gunfire on Suq al-Gharb on behalf of Gemayel's army.[^36]
On November 17, 1983 the RAND analyst [[Brian Michael Jenkins]] gave the commission a briefing on the attack, later published as a RAND note titled "The Lessons of Beirut." The note describes the attack as one calculated to cause heavy casualties, involving a vehicle loaded with explosives, with "a high probability that the attack was instigated by a government."[^37]
A Washington Post report of February 1984 by [[Bob Woodward]], Richard Harwood and Christian Williams, in the CIA reading room, stated that three days before the bombing a man named Hassan Hamiz was given a voucher for approximately $50,000 that could be cashed only at Iranian embassies in Beirut or Damascus, according to reliable intelligence reports, and that after the bombing it was cashed at the embassy in Damascus. The report described the payment as believed to be a primary link in the financing of the two suicide truck-bomb attacks of that morning, which also killed 58 soldiers at the French military headquarters. It described Hamiz as a fixer with very close relations with the Iranian ambassador in Damascus, Ali Akbar Mohtashami, whom the CIA had identified as a key figure in Middle East terrorism. Among the thirteen individuals the report said intelligence services had tied to the bombings was Hussein Musawi, who the report said had denied a direct or indirect role while praising the bombing. The cleric [[Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah]], described as the leader of Hezbollah, denied involvement in an interview in Beirut and called the charges a frame-up by Phalangist militiamen and Lebanese Army intelligence.[^38]
A CIA reading room file of 1984 press clippings carries the headlines "Americans in Beirut threatened" and "New peril for Beirut Yanks," and reports that a "new strategy" had followed the October bombing of the barracks.[^39]
[[Carter Cornick]], a former [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] special agent, is recorded in a 1990 resume packet as having supervised the investigations of the 1983 bombings of the American embassy and the Marine compound in Beirut, and of the 1984 seizure of American hostages in Lebanon. The packet also credits him with creating the bureau's crisis management protocol for special events.[^40] In August 1988 United Press International reported that Cornick and the former assistant United States attorney [[Eugene Propper]] had formed [[Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc.]], a security consultancy seeded with about $500,000 from investors the founders declined to name. The UPI report also said Cornick had directed the investigations into the bombing of the U.S. Embassy and the Marine barracks in Beirut.[^41] [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]] is recorded as having worked on the inquiries into the 1983 bombings of the American embassies in Beirut and Kuwait and of the Marine garrison in Beirut.[^42]
Imad Mughniyah's page records that six months after the embassy attack he also oversaw the Marine barracks bombing, in which 241 service personnel died, including 220 Marines.[^31]
### The Inman Panel
After the second attack on the embassy in Beirut in September 1984, the State Department asked Congress for $366 million and 247 additional positions for security.[^43] The Secretary of State's Advisory Panel on Overseas Security, appointed in July 1984 and headed by the retired vice admiral [[Bobby Ray Inman]], former deputy director of Central Intelligence, made 91 recommendations in June 1985. The Washington Post reported that they included strengthening security at 126 of the department's 262 embassies and consulates and creating a diplomatic security bureau with more than 1,000 officers, at a cost of $3.5 billion over five years for rebuilding and refurbishing.[^44] The panel recommended creation of a Bureau for Diplomatic Security reporting to the Under Secretary for Management.[^45] At a House subcommittee hearing on diplomatic security on November 13, 1985, the chairman criticized the Administration for failing to supply a legislative package from the Inman recommendations more than four months after the report.[^46]
### William Buckley
[[William Buckley]], a lieutenant colonel of the [[United States Army]] who served as the CIA's chief of station in Beirut, was kidnapped in the city on March 16, 1984.[^47] The CIA's own memorial page lists him as an officer of the agency and a lieutenant colonel of the Army.[^47] The Washington Post reported that he had been assigned to Lebanon in mid-1983 to help the Lebanese develop methods for thwarting terrorism and to rebuild the American intelligence presence after the embassy bombing, and that the CIA called his kidnapping its "private hostage crisis."[^30] The District Court for the District of Columbia, in [[Surette v. Islamic Republic of Iran]] (2002), found that he was held for 444 days and died in captivity on June 3, 1985.[^48] The court's findings describe him as "the highest-ranking CIA official in Beirut," a position that was an "open secret" within the official Lebanese government and among the violent religious factions vying for power in the city.[^49]
Iran-Contra records place the first reports of his death in the autumn of 1985. In the spring of 1985 reports reached the CIA that Buckley was being tortured, and according to former Attorney General [[Edwin Meese]], his fate was of special concern to [[William Casey]].[^50] [[Lawrence Walsh]]'s final report records that in early October 1985 "the terrorist group believed to be holding the hostages in Beirut reported that Buckley was dead."[^51] The report of the [[Tower Commission]] quotes a memorandum that [[Oliver North]] sent on December 5, 1985, which states: "We are relatively confident of information that former Beirut Chief of Station, Bill Buckley, is dead."[^52] His remains were found on a Beirut highway in December 1991.[^53]
Buckley was also the subject of remote viewing tasks. A May 4, 1984 memorandum by Lieutenant Colonel Brian Buzby of the [[U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command]] argued that the [[Center Lane]] program should continue, because it "has established the feasibility and soundness of the remote viewing phenomenon as an intelligence collection tool."[^54] The memorandum's attached summary covers the Buckley case.[^55] The [[Stargate Project]] record places eleven remote viewing interviews on Buckley between March 21 and April 20, 1984, made at the request of the CIA.[^55]
A November 1984 final report from [[SRI International]], prepared under a Grill Flame contract with the Defense Intelligence Agency and written by [[Harold Puthoff]], [[Edwin C. May]] and Beverly Humphrey, carries a "Search Task, U.S. Envoy to Beirut, Buckley." Its product states that the individual of interest was alive, "in Lebanon but not in Beirut proper," south of the city, and it names a town called Jdaide.[^56]
### The Hostage Channel and Terry Waite
By the end of June 1985 six Americans were being held in Beirut by pro-Iranian Shiite groups: Buckley, the Presbyterian minister Benjamin Weir, the Catholic priest Lawrence Martin Jenco, the Associated Press reporter [[Terry Anderson]], the hospital administrator [[David Jacobsen]], and the university dean Thomas P. Sutherland.[^57] Walsh records that on September 14, 1985 a second shipment of 408 TOW missiles went from Israel to Iran, "finally resulting in the release of one American hostage, Reverend Benjamin Weir," and that [[Michael Ledeen]] said the release "confirmed the legitimacy of Ghorbanifar as a channel to powerful people in Iran." Officials had expected more, particularly the release of Buckley, whom the administration had sought first.[^58] A note by the Shultz aide Nicholas Platt of September 15, 1985, recording that "Polecat [is] beginning to Pay off" and that Weir "has been released," is quoted in the report.[^59] Walsh also reproduces a State Department cable of September 17, 1985 addressed to the embassies in Beirut, Damascus and London.[^60]
The report records that Poindexter's plan for the May 1986 Tehran trip by [[Robert McFarlane]] called for two American hostages to be released to the U.S. ambassador in Beirut when the American party arrived in Tehran, two more after a second aircraft carrying HAWK parts left Tel Aviv, and, after a third aircraft, for the remains of Buckley to be turned over.[^61] On May 27, 1986 the Iranian adviser told the American delegation that the hostage-holders in Beirut had been contacted and had put heavy conditions on the release, including the release of Dawa prisoners held in Kuwait.[^62] The release of Father Jenco on July 26, 1986 was attributed to the Iranians in a July 28 memorandum from Casey to [[John Poindexter]].[^63] Walsh also records the account of Ledeen that the CIA official [[Theodore Shackley|Shackley]] asked in April or May 1985 about ransoming Buckley.[^64]
Israeli accounts of the same period were published in the Israeli press in December 1986. [[Yoel Marcus]] of [[Haaretz]] wrote, from Israeli sources, that in March 1985 [[Shimon Peres]] told his adviser [[Al Schwimmer]] that the Americans had asked for help freeing their hostages, particularly the CIA station chief in Beirut, William Buckley. Marcus wrote that Schwimmer suggested using [[Yaacov Nimrodi]] and "came up with the idea of 'arms for Buckley.'"[^65] The [[New York Times]] correspondent [[Thomas L. Friedman]] reported that the Israeli account contained factual errors and conflicted with the American version, and Ledeen called it "total nonsense."[^66]
[[Terry Waite]], the special representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited Beirut in November 1985.[^67] North's December 5, 1985 memorandum cites that November 14 visit, together with a separate contact through Canada, as the basis for the statement that the other five American hostages (Anderson, Jacobsen, Jenco, Kilburn and Sutherland) were then alive.[^52] The same memorandum says that Waite and others reported the hostage holders were under "immense political and military pressure from the Syrians, Druze, Phalange, and Amal."[^52] North wrote again on December 9, 1985: "Terry Waite, our only access to events in Lebanon, readily admits that his influence is marginal at best."[^68] Waite was freed on November 18, 1991.[^69]
[[Ian Stuart Spiro]] is recorded as having lived in Beirut during the 1970s and 1980s, making contacts with Lebanese religious leaders and the Islamic Jihad, and as having helped negotiate the release of hostages according to the former hostage David Jacobsen.[^70]
### Sun Streak, Middle East Collection 10 and the Lebanon Hostages
The Defense Intelligence Agency's [[Sun Streak]] program ran remote viewing tasks from 1987 through 1990, including tasks on the Lebanon hostages. Project 8806 was tasked to locate the building in Beirut where Waite was held. Viewers 003, 011 and 095 worked the target in sessions on February 16, 1988. The report of one session records that viewer 003 determined the direction to Waite's present location from a map of Lebanon.[^71]
Project 8808 reports are headed "WRV," for written remote viewing, the method associated with [[Angela Dellafiora]].[^72] A DIA operational report of February 24, 1988 on Project 8808 describes a Lebanese Christian who had served with the [[Amal]] militia, and identifies him as involved in the execution of the kidnapping of Marine lieutenant colonel [[William Richard Higgins]], seized on February 17, 1988.[^73] A session report from viewer 011 in the same project records the tasking "to determine the current location" of the same officer.[^74] Higgins's mummified remains were found in a bag left in a school parking lot in southern Beirut about two and a half years later.[^75] The [[Louis Andre]] page draws on the same reports for its account of viewer 079.[^73]
[[Lester Coleman]], a [[Defense Intelligence Agency|DIA]] officer, is described in [[Cheri Seymour]]'s account as having run a network of agents in Beirut for six years with the secret unit [[Middle East Collection 10]] in [[Cyprus]], with the mission of finding American hostages. Two senior members of the cell, [[Matthew Kevin Gannon]] and Major [[Charles Dennis McKee]], were on [[Pan Am Flight 103]] after returning from a mission in Beirut. After the explosion the Beirut end of the cell was reportedly "blown": the German Lebanese member [[Werner Tony Asmar]] was killed in a bomb explosion at his office in east Beirut on May 26, 1988, and the Lebanese army officer [[Charlie Frezeli]] was shot dead at his home in east Beirut in November 1989.[^76] The account also describes a Beirut-Nicosia-United States pipeline of heroin, cash and documents running through the [[Euramae Trading Company]].[^77]
### The Army's Intelligence Support Activity
The [[United States Army Intelligence Support Activity]] page records that a five-person team of the unit returned to Beirut after the October 23, 1983 bombing, that in 1983 a survey team led by Lieutenant Colonel William V. Cowan had warned that the Marine headquarters was a tempting target, and that a 1985 message from North to Poindexter said "We already have one ISA officer in Beirut." It also records that in mid-September 1985 the CIA ordered the unit to cease contact with Lebanese Christian forces.[^78] CBS News reported on November 22, 1985 that a Sea Spray helicopter had flown a representative of the Lebanese Christian leader [[Camille Chamoun]] out of Beirut to Israel in 1981.[^79]
### FIDCO and the 1983 Reconstruction Letters
The July 12, 1983 letter from [[George K. Pender]], signing as president of [[First Intercontinental Development Corporation]] (FIDCO), was addressed to [[Amin Gemayel]], president of Lebanon. As reproduced by Cheri Seymour, the letter says that Pender had visited Beirut in February and May 1983 for meetings with the Chamouns, [[Maurice Ghanem]] and [[Mourad Baroudy]], and that FIDCO offered to arrange financing for government-sector projects, including the rebuilding of Damour and Alkhyam. The letter asks to meet Gemayel in Washington on July 21, 1983 and states: "As per copy of attached letter, the White House is actively interested in our efforts."[^80]
### BCCI, Bank of America and Mohammed Hammoud
[[Roy P. M. Carlson|Roy Carlson]] spent twenty years at [[Bank of America]], was stationed in [[Tehran]] in the 1960s and in Beirut in the early 1970s, and advised [[Agha Hasan Abedi]] on the formation of [[BCCI]] in 1972. The Senate report on BCCI records this career.[^81]
[[Mohammed Hammoud]], a Lebanese merchant, is described in the Senate report by the former BCCI general manager in New York, [[Abdur Sakhia]], who first knew him in Beirut, as "a small time money changer."[^82] Hammoud purchased the shares in [[First American Bank|First American]] that had been held by [[Clark Clifford]] and [[Robert Altman]]. The report records that Hammoud "had contact with officials from the State Department concerning the release of U.S. hostages from Beirut."[^83] His U.S. real estate investments were managed by [[Charles W. Hostler]], later U.S. ambassador to [[Bahrain]], who had met Hammoud in the 1960s, when Hostler was a young Air Force officer attached to Lebanon, Jordan and Cyprus and based in Beirut.[^83]
According to [[Michael Pillsbury]], Hammoud provided him with intelligence on U.S. hostages held in Lebanon, which Pillsbury then passed to U.S. government agencies. The report records this account and Pillsbury's denial of a separate allegation about the identification of Hammoud's body.[^84] The report also records that Hammoud allegedly died in [[Geneva]] in 1990 while visiting his doctor, that he is buried in Beirut, and that insurance companies reportedly refused to pay on his life policy because his body was found to be several inches shorter than the height recorded at his last medical examination.[^85]
### Other Records Placed in Beirut
An FBI memorandum of July 23, 1968 on the Sirhan investigation, in the CIA reading room, reports that a source told the bureau's Beirut representative that on June 22, 1968 [[Salim Lawzi]], publisher of the Beirut newspaper Hawadith, told [[Anwar Jamal]], press counselor of the United Arab Republic, that he had met Lebanese figures to organize Sirhan's defense; the memorandum records that the United Arab Republic considered Lawzi a strong pro-Nasserist who "sometimes strays for opportunistic reasons."[^86]
The Ninth Circuit's opinion in *United States v. Abouammo* describes a $100,000 wire in February 2015 to a Beirut account opened under the father's name of [[Ahmad Abouammo]], the former Twitter employee convicted of acting as an agent of Saudi Arabia, followed by a second $100,000 wire in July 2015 to the same Lebanese account.[^87]
### Carnegie Middle East Center
The [[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]] operates a Middle East center in Beirut. The Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center was founded in 2006. The endowment also runs centers in Asia, Berlin, Brussels and New Delhi.[^88]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Walsh, Lawrence E. *Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters*, 1993, chapter 1, note 73, identifying Buckley as "the CIA's chief of station in the Lebanese capital." https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
[^2]: Macintyre, Ben. *A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal*. Crown, 2014, on Philby's departure from Beirut on January 23, 1963 and his later presence in Moscow.
[^3]: House of Commons, statement "Mr. Harold Philby," *Hansard*, HC Deb, July 1, 1963. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1963/jul/01/mr-harold-philby
[^4]: Macintyre, Ben. *A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal*. Crown, 2014, on Philby's departure from Beirut on January 23, 1963.
[^5]: U.S. Department of State, *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954*, vol. IX, *The Near and Middle East*, part 1, doc. 367, memorandum of conversation by Jernegan, September 24, 1954, pp. 856-858. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v09p1/d367
[^6]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, *Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders: An Interim Report*, S. Rept. 94-465 (November 20, 1975), p. 74.
[^7]: Sale, Richard, "Exclusive: Saddam key in early CIA plot," United Press International, April 10, 2003. https://www.upi.com/Exclusive-Saddam-key-in-early-CIA-plot/65571050017416/
[^8]: Dorril, Stephen. "Trying to kill Nasser." *Lobster*, issue 9 (1985), citing Wilbur Crane Eveland, *Ropes of Sand* (Norton, 1980), on the Beirut meeting with the envoy of MI6 deputy director George Young.
[^9]: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Ehud Barak," official biography. https://www.gov.il/en/departments/people/ehud_barak
[^10]: U.S. Mission to the United Nations cable 2074, June 19, 1981, transmitting the text of Security Council Resolution 487 (adopted unanimously, 15-0, June 19, 1981). FOIA case F-1982-00753, document C09000076. https://archive.org/details/F-1982-00753
[^11]: U.S. Embassy Beirut, cable 3859, June 11, 1981, "Israeli Raid on Iraq: Claims of U.S. Involvement," FOIA case F-1982-00753, document C09000042, pp. 1 to 4. https://archive.org/details/F-1982-00753
[^12]: Commission of Inquiry into the Events at the Refugee Camps in Beirut, *Report*, February 8, 1983, chapter on the background of the events (war of June 1982 and the encirclement of West Beirut), Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, *Israel's Foreign Relations: Selected Documents*, vol. 8, 1982-1984, doc. 104. https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook6/Pages/104%20Report%20of%20the%20Commission%20of%20Inquiry%20into%20the%20e.aspx
[^13]: Rubin, Barry, and Judith Colp Rubin, *Yasser Arafat: A Political Biography* (Oxford University Press, 2003), and Shlaim, Avi, *The Iron Wall* (W.W. Norton, 2000), on the evacuation of Arafat and about 15,000 PLO personnel from Beirut by sea in August 1982 after Habib's mediation.
[^14]: Corn, David. *Blond Ghost: Ted Shackley and the CIA's Crusades*. Simon & Schuster, 1994, pp. 298-330.
[^15]: Rubin, Barry. *Revolution Until Victory? The Politics and History of the PLO* (Harvard University Press, 1994); Quandt, William B., *Peace Process*.
[^16]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, February 8, 1983, background chapter on the relations between the Christian forces and Israel. https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook6/Pages/104%20Report%20of%20the%20Commission%20of%20Inquiry%20into%20the%20e.aspx
[^17]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, background chapter, on the differences between the Mossad and Military Intelligence and the testimony of the head of the Mossad of December 27, 1982, transcript p. 1437.
[^18]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, chapter "The Assassination of Bashir Gemayel and the I.D.F.'s entry into West Beirut."
[^19]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, chapter on the events of September 15, 1982, record of the meeting at Phalangist headquarters (exhibit 79).
[^20]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, chapter on the entry of the Phalangists into the camps on Thursday, September 16, 1982.
[^21]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, section on the conversation overheard on the Phalangist transmitter, citing the testimony of Lieutenant Elul and of Brigadier General Yaron (pp. 696 and 730).
[^22]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, section on the night of Thursday to Friday, citing the testimony of Lieutenant Elul, pp. 1212-1213.
[^23]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, section on the Cabinet session of September 16, 1982 at 19:30 hours.
[^24]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, summary of the findings. https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook6/Pages/104%20Report%20of%20the%20Commission%20of%20Inquiry%20into%20the%20e.aspx
[^25]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, section "Recommendations," on the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff, the Director of Military Intelligence and the Division Commander.
[^26]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, section on the head of the Mossad (Institute for Intelligence and Special Projects).
[^27]: Kahan Commission, *Report*, section on the head of the Mossad, citing cables from the Mossad representative in Beirut of September 15, 1982 (exhibits 161 and 162).
[^28]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015). The claim about Sharon is Ben-Menashe's.
[^29]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991, chapter 21.
[^30]: Woodward, Bob, and Charles R. Babcock, "Captive Galvanized Hostage Search: Buckley's Plight Became Agency Crusade," *The Washington Post*, CIA reading room copy CIA-RDP96-00788R001900530002-3.
[^31]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^32]: Anderson, Jack, "U.S. Was Warned of Bombing at Beirut Embassy," *The Washington Post*, May 10, 1983, CIA reading room copy CIA-RDP90-00965R000100140083-8. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00965r000100140083-8
[^33]: Hof, "The Beirut Bombing of October 1983," *Parameters* 15, no. 2, section "Circumstances of the Bombing," DTIC ADA520359. https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA520359
[^34]: Hof, "The Beirut Bombing of October 1983," opening epigraph quoting the report of the Department of Defense Commission on Beirut International Airport Terrorist Act, December 20, 1983, DTIC ADA520359.
[^35]: Hof, "The Beirut Bombing of October 1983," *Parameters* 15, no. 2, notes 3, 6 and 9, quoting the Long Commission on "a veritable jungle of threats," on the perpetrators, and on DOD Directive 2000.12.
[^36]: Hof, "The Beirut Bombing of October 1983," on the altered perception of the American presence between September 1982 and October 1983 and the naval gunfire on Suq al-Gharb.
[^37]: Jenkins, Brian Michael. *The Lessons of Beirut: Testimony Before the Long Commission*. RAND Note N-2114-RC, February 1984, preface and text. https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA153072
[^38]: Woodward, Bob, Richard Harwood and Christian Williams, "Beirut Bombing: Mysterious Death Warriors," first report in the series on terrorism, *The Washington Post*, February 1984, CIA reading room copy CIA-RDP90-00965R000807600023-9.
[^39]: CIA reading room file CIA-RDP96-00788R000100330001-5, 1984 press clippings headed "Americans in Beirut threatened" and "New peril for Beirut Yanks."
[^40]: Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc., resume packet for Carter Cornick, 1990.
[^41]: United Press International, report of August 2, 1988, on the formation of Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc.
[^42]: Hevesi, Dennis. "E. Lawrence Barcella, Prosecutor of Terrorism Cases, Dies at 65." *The New York Times*, November 17, 2010 (corrected November 23, 2010). https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/us/18barcella.html
[^43]: Report of the Secretary of State's Advisory Panel on Overseas Security (the Inman Report), part 4, "FY-1985 Security Supplemental." https://irp.fas.org/threat/inman/part04.htm
[^44]: Lee, Gary, "Shultz Endorses Advice To Rebuild Embassies," *The Washington Post*, June 26, 1985, CIA reading room copy CIA-RDP90-00965R000403740009-8.
[^45]: Report of the Secretary of State's Advisory Panel on Overseas Security, part 1, introduction. https://irp.fas.org/threat/inman/part01.htm
[^46]: Central Intelligence Agency, memorandum on the hearing "Diplomatic Security" before the Subcommittee on International Operations of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, November 13, 1985, CIA-RDP87M01152R001101400030-7.
[^47]: Central Intelligence Agency, "William F. Buckley," Honoring Our Heroes. https://cia.gov/legacy/honoring-heroes/heroes/william-f-buckley
[^48]: *Surette v. Islamic Republic of Iran*, 231 F. Supp. 2d 260 (D.D.C. 2002) (Friedman, J.), Civil Action No. 01-0570 (PLF), findings of fact I.A and I.B and conclusions of law. Reporter text at https://thecjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/final-opinion-Surette.pdf
[^49]: *Surette*, 231 F. Supp. 2d 260, findings of fact I.A, quoting the court's description of Buckley's position in Beirut.
[^50]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 15, "William J. Casey," citing Meese, Grand Jury, November 20, 1987, p. 83. https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_15.htm
[^51]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 1, text and note 101 (citing Ledeen grand jury testimony of September 18, 1987, p. 105). https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
[^52]: *Report of the President's Special Review Board* (Tower Commission), February 26, 1987, pp. 177-178, text of the North memorandum of December 5, 1985. https://archive.org/details/towercommission00unit
[^53]: Abu-Nasr, Donna. "Hostage Crisis Is Finally Over for America: William Buckley's Remains Found on Beirut Highway," Associated Press, *The Seattle Times*, December 27, 1991.
[^54]: Buzby, Brian, Lieutenant Colonel, "Purpose: To Provide an Overview of Center Lane," May 4, 1984, CIA-RDP96-00788R001600510001-9, recommended position and points supporting it.
[^55]: Buzby, "Purpose: To Provide an Overview of Center Lane," May 4, 1984, with attached summary of information on the Buckley case and the CIA memorandum "Comments on Recent CENTER LANE Experience," May 1, 1984, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700220003-8.
[^56]: SRI International (Harold E. Puthoff, Edwin C. May and Beverly S. Humphrey), *Final Report, Covering the Period October 1983 to October 1984*, SRI/GF-0267, November 1984, Operational RV Tasks, item 2, "Search Task, U.S. Envoy to Beirut, Buckley (JS #44)," CIA-RDP96-00788R001800220001-9. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00788r001800220001-9
[^57]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 1, text and note 73, listing the American hostages held in Beirut by the end of June 1985. https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
[^58]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 1, text and notes 101 and 102, on the September 14, 1985 shipment of 408 TOW missiles and the release of Weir. https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
[^59]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 24, text and note 64, Platt note of September 15, 1985 (ALW 0036343). https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_24.htm
[^60]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 24, text and notes, citing the Department of State cable to Beirut, Damascus and London of September 17, 1985. https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/walsh/chap_24.htm
[^61]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 1, text and note 143, citing McFarlane, FBI 302, March 13, 1987, pp. 10-11. https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
[^62]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 1, text and note 151, citing Teicher Note, May 26, 1986. https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
[^63]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 15, text and note 71, citing Casey to Poindexter, July 28, 1986, ER 31324-26. https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_15.htm
[^64]: Walsh, *Final Report*, chapter 1, text and notes 73, 76 to 78, 82, 101 to 102, on Ledeen's account of Shackley's April or May 1985 inquiry. https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm
[^65]: Marcus, Yoel, *Haaretz*, December 1986, Israeli reconstruction of the arms channel, as summarized in Friedman, Thomas L., "Israelis' Account on Arms: How U.S. Set Up the Deals," *The New York Times*, December 11, 1986, CIA reading room document CIA-RDP90-00965R000403730010-7. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00965r000403730010-7
[^66]: Friedman, "Israelis' Account on Arms," *The New York Times*, December 11, 1986, CIA-RDP90-00965R000403730010-7, on the factual errors Friedman found and Ledeen's reply.
[^67]: *Report of the President's Special Review Board* (Tower Commission), February 26, 1987, pp. 158 and 380, on Terry Waite's role in the hostage negotiations. https://archive.org/details/towercommission00unit
[^68]: *Report of the President's Special Review Board* (Tower Commission), pp. 193-194, North memorandum of December 9, 1985.
[^69]: BBC News, "Terry Waite freed," November 18, 1991, archive.org item bbc-news-report-terry-waite-freed-18th-november-1991.
[^70]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. TrineDay, 2010.
[^71]: DIA, Sun Streak Project 8806 session reports of February 16, 1988 (viewers 003, 011 and 095), CIA-RDP96-00789R003400090001-5. https://archive.org/details/CIA-RDP96-00789R003400090001-5
[^72]: DIA, "8808 WRV Session 1 - 18 Feb 88, Source 079, Summary, Notes & Drawings," CIA-RDP96-00789R003400750002-1, catalogued in the CIA FOIA reading room STARGATE collection on archive.org.
[^73]: DIA, "SUN STREAK Operational Report - 8808," February 24, 1988, CIA-RDP96-00789R003400980001-7. https://archive.org/download/CIA-RDP96-00789R003400980001-7/CIA-RDP96-00789R003400980001-7_djvu.txt
[^74]: DIA, "PROJECT SUN STREAK," project 8808, session of February 28, 1988, viewer 011, CIA-RDP96-00789R003401110001-1. https://archive.org/download/CIA-RDP96-00789R003401110001-1/CIA-RDP96-00789R003401110001-1_djvu.txt
[^75]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^76]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle*. TrineDay, 2010.
[^77]: Seymour, *The Last Circle*.
[^78]: Emerson, Steven. *Secret Warriors*, pp. 185 to 193 and 231 to 233; CBS Evening News, "CIA Activities," July 18, 1985, CIA reading room copy CIA-RDP90-00965R000504260013-4.
[^79]: Martin, David, "Secret Army Units," CBS Evening News, November 22, 1985, CIA reading room copy CIA-RDP90-00965R000504260010-7. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp90-00965r000504260010-7
[^80]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle*. TrineDay, 2010, chapter 7 (letters of July 12, 1983 as reproduced there).
[^81]: Kerry, John, and Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate*. December 1992, chapter 11. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/11intel.htm
[^82]: Kerry and Brown, *The BCCI Affair*, chapter 15, "Mohammed Hammoud: BCCI's Flexible Front-Man," testimony of Abdur Sakhia. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/15hammoud.htm
[^83]: Kerry and Brown, *The BCCI Affair*, chapter 15, on Hammoud's State Department contacts, the First American shares, and Hostler's management of his U.S. investments.
[^84]: Kerry and Brown, *The BCCI Affair*, chapter 15, on Michael Pillsbury's account and his denial.
[^85]: Kerry and Brown, *The BCCI Affair*, chapter 15, on Hammoud's death, burial and the insurance claim.
[^86]: Deputy Director to FBI, "Sirhan Investigation," July 23, 1968, CIA reading room document 07169746. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-07169746
[^87]: *United States v. Abouammo*, 122 F.4th 1072, No. 22-10348 (9th Cir. Dec. 4, 2024). https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/12/04/22-10348.pdf
[^88]: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "Our Story." https://carnegieendowment.org/our-story

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@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ Jerusalem is an ancient city in the [[Middle East]], situated on a plateau in th
### Political and Intelligence Significance
Jerusalem is the seat of Israel's government, including the [[Knesset]] (parliament), the [[Supreme Court]], and the prime minister's residence at Beit Aghion. Israel's intelligence community is centered on [[Tel Aviv]] (Mossad headquarters at Glilot), but political oversight, including [[Mossad]] director briefings to the prime minister, occurs in Jerusalem. Key decisions documented in this vault - including Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]]'s authorization of the [[Sabra and Shatila massacres|Sabra and Shatila]] operation, Begin's negotiations at [[Camp David summit|Camp David]], and the political direction of Israeli intelligence operations during the Iran-Contra period - were made by officials based in Jerusalem.[^1]
Jerusalem is the seat of Israel's government, including the [[Knesset]] (parliament), the [[Supreme Court of Israel|Supreme Court]], and the prime minister's residence at Beit Aghion. Israel's intelligence community is centered on [[Tel Aviv]] (Mossad headquarters at Glilot), but political oversight, including [[Mossad]] director briefings to the prime minister, occurs in Jerusalem. Key decisions documented in this vault - including Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]]'s authorization of the [[Sabra and Shatila massacres|Sabra and Shatila]] operation, Begin's negotiations at [[Camp David summit|Camp David]], and the political direction of Israeli intelligence operations during the Iran-Contra period - were made by officials based in Jerusalem.[^1]
### Camp David and Peace Negotiations

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@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
---
aliases:
- Philly
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
category: "City"
tags:
- Geography
- Pennsylvania
- OrganizedCrime
- ScarfoFamily
- BustOutBars
- PoliceCorruption
- MOVEBombing
- HolmesburgPrison
- PhiladelphiaExperiment
- MethamphetamineTrade
- BlackMass
- TissueTrafficking
- NuclearProcurement
summary: "Pennsylvania city whose vault record runs through the Locust Street bust-out bars, the Scarfo family and its methamphetamine trade, the 1985 MOVE bombing, the Holmesburg Army tests and the Horsch case."
created: 2026-10-15
updated: 2026-10-15
---
Philadelphia is the seat of Philadelphia County in southeastern [[Pennsylvania]], where the city and the county have operated under one government since the Act of Consolidation of 1854, the law that also created the [[Philadelphia Police Department]].[^1]
### Police payoffs and the Locust Street bust-out bars
The [[Pennsylvania Crime Commission]] issued its report on police corruption in Philadelphia in March 1974. It found that police corruption in the city was "ongoing, widespread, systematic, and occurring at all levels of the Police Department," in every police district and at ranks from patrolman to inspector, and it identified more than 400 individual officers by first name, last initial and badge or payroll number as having received improper payments in cash, merchandise, sexual services or meals. Among the liquor-licence findings, more than 20 officers had received illegal cash payments from bars and about 50 from after-hours clubs, and the commission found "widespread shakedowns of licensed liquor operators on the 'Locust Street Strip'" by members of the department, with evidence that payments to the police were directly responsible for several illegal and open "bust-out" operations.[^2] One bust-out bar owner cooperated with the commission for more than a year and recorded conversations about payoffs; the owner and his employees paid an aggregate of $800 a month to policemen in every unit that covered the area.[^2] The commission separately reported that in narcotics enforcement the corruption it found was more individual than squad-wide, with about eight officers identified and an estimated fifteen more unidentified.[^3]
The report traces the Strip back through earlier inquiries. A [[United States Senate]] subcommittee examined the failure of local unions to stop employers from forcing employees to solicit drinks in 1962, and heard from the commissioner of police and the inspector of the Central Division in which the Strip lies; under oath the inspector said the record would show that the department had done a job in this area "that cannot be equaled by any police department in the country." The commission's note to that passage records that in 1962 the inspector in charge of the Central Division, where most of the bust-out operations were located, was [[Frank Rizzo|Frank L. Rizzo]].[^4] Rizzo was police commissioner from 1967 to 1971 and mayor from 1972 to 1980, and the commission's history of the department cites accusations concerning Mayor Rizzo's use of a special squad from the Internal Affairs Bureau, drawn from the presentment of a special grand jury of June Term 1972.[^1][^4] The same history records [[Joseph F. O'Neill]] as acting commissioner from February 1971 and commissioner from 1972.[^4]
The Why Not Lounge, in a building that also housed the Versailles restaurant, was run by [[Irvin Goltzer]]. Goltzer paid an inspector each month through a "bagman" because he had not had enough contact with the officers to be trusted; his manager, [[Salvatore La Russa]], negotiated the payoffs, and when Goltzer did not want to pay, La Russa advised him that otherwise "they will bust the joint."[^5] For a month, at the request of its owner, Goltzer and La Russa also ran the [[Brass Monkey]] at 1227 Walnut Street as a bust-out, while the protection payments made for the Why Not Lounge kept police away.[^6] A separate chapter of the report describes a police lieutenant working as a bartender at a Gaslight Lounge, where obscene shows were performed when he was on duty.[^7]
La Russa, known as "Sam the Barber," immigrated from Sicily in 1951, worked as a barber in South Philadelphia, and later ran a series of bars on Locust Street that he called "bust-out" joints, then restaurants and clubs on South Street and Delaware Avenue.[^8] The 1990 report of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission lists his prior arrests for liquor law violations at bust-out bars around 13th and Locust Streets and his ownership of La Cucina Ristorante at 121 South Street, which it describes as a hangout for members of Scarfo's family. The former [[La Cosa Nostra|LCN]] members and government witnesses [[Thomas DelGiorno]] and [[Nicholas Caramandi]] testified that La Russa's house in Whitemarsh Township was used by [[Nicodemo Scarfo]] for an LCN induction ceremony.[^9] La Russa died of a heart attack at Chestnut Hill Hospital on Sunday, August 18, 1996, aged 58. He had said under oath that he first met Scarfo as a teenager around 11th and Carpenter Streets in South Philadelphia, and Scarfo hosted a Christmas party at La Cucina in 1985 that drew intense law-enforcement surveillance. Questioned before a federal grand jury in 1987 about the induction at his house, La Russa said he had invited Scarfo several times, that he was called away to work that day and did not share in the catered meal for about 40 people brought in from his restaurant, that he was a frequent guest at Scarfo's waterfront home in Fort Lauderdale and had supervised some construction work there, and that he was in the dark about Scarfo's mob activities: "I never ask him any questions." Caramandi testified later that he and two other mob figures were formally initiated that afternoon after La Russa left the house.[^8]
### The Bruno and Scarfo family
The Philadelphia branch of La Cosa Nostra was led by [[Angelo Bruno]]. The 1990 Pennsylvania Crime Commission report dates his tenure as boss from 1959 until his murder on March 21, 1980.[^9] The Third Circuit gave the start of his tenure as "approximately 1960," and wrote that [[Phillip Testa]] succeeded him, that Scarfo served as consigliere under Testa and became boss after Testa was "blown up in his house in early 1981."[^10] Scarfo and [[Salvatore Merlino]] took over the one-third interest in a business held by [[Salvatore Testa]], a partner, after Salvatore Testa was murdered on September 14, 1984.[^10]
In a RICO trial that ran ten weeks and concluded on November 19, 1988, in the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]], members of the Scarfo crime family were convicted of conspiring to participate in, and participating in, an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. [[Joseph Pungitore]] was also convicted of participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; Scarfo, Merlino and Joseph Ciancaglini were convicted of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute it; and Scarfo, Merlino and Pungitore were convicted of illegal sports bookmaking. The court of appeals called the case "the latest saga in the government's dismantling of the Philadelphia branch of La Cosa Nostra."[^11] DelGiorno testified that in May 1983 Ciancaglini, then a captain, authorized him to arrange a methamphetamine deal between two dealers, with Merlino's approval, under which members of the enterprise would receive $3,000 for every pound sold, and that he received $150,000 from transactions involving fifty pounds.[^11]
The Pennsylvania Crime Commission's 1990 report states that the Scarfo family was particularly active in methamphetamine production and distribution during the 1980s, that Philadelphia was known as the "meth" capital of the world in the early 1980s, that the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] had labeled the city the "methamphetamine capital of the world," that the mob associate [[Raymond Martorano]], who became a made member in April 1981, entered the Philadelphia methamphetamine market in the late 1970s, and that the family collected extortion payments from three major methamphetamine networks in the city.[^9] The same report records that a Scarfo family member became involved in 1981 with members of the [[Pagans Motorcycle Club|Pagan outlaw motorcycle gang]] in manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine.[^9] The 1990 report describes the chemical P2P as the precursor imported from Western Europe and names a Dresher, Pennsylvania, supplier who sold it to Martorano.[^9]
### Film, the Horsch circle and the Black Mass
Raymond Charles Hoersch, who later used the name [[R.C. Horsch]], opened [[Underground Cinema 16]], a 16-millimeter theater at 2021 Sansom Street, in October 1969. The [[Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections]], whose deputy commissioner was [[Leo Goldstein]], closed the theater that month in a license dispute.[^12] The [[Bandbox Theater]] then ran the Vietnam documentary [[In the Year of the Pig]], which Cinema 16 had under contract.[^13] [[Art Carduner]] bought the Bandbox in Germantown in 1966 and ran it until 1975; he exhibited foreign and art films and died at 90.[^14]
Horsch's directorial debut was [[The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig]], shot in Philadelphia in February 1973 with [[John Butterworth]], a photographer and cameraman whom Horsch described as a news cameraman for [[KYW-TV]]. The film was financed by La Russa, a nightclub owner and friend of Scarfo, and it depicts rape, bondage, underage sex and the title character's violent relationship with a drug-addicted woman.[^15] Its performers included [[Georgina Spelvin]], [[Tina Russell]] and [[Darby Lloyd Rains]].[^16] Horsch told the podcaster Ashley West that he sold the film to [[Sam Lake]], a New York distributor, for 50,000 dollars, and that the sale was arranged through La Russa and Philadelphia organized crime.[^17] The trade chart in *Boxoffice* listed the film's distributor as "Mature," with a review date of October 15, 1973, and *Take One* reported in the spring of 1973 that "Bob Sumner's Mature Films in New York followed up Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig (starring Ms. Spelvin) with High Rise."[^18][^19] In the same article John Morthland wrote that pornography "operates on the fringes of legality, and that area has always been ripe for organized crime, which started calling on various exhibitors around the country to offer 'protection' within a couple of weeks of the Court ruling," and named "the Mitchells, Mature Films, etc." among the few in the business in a highly visible way.[^19] On February 14, 1975, Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]] issued a preliminary injunction in *Walt Disney Productions v. Mature Pictures Corp.*, in a suit over the use of the "Mickey Mouse March" in a film titled *The Life and Times of the Happy Hooker* or *The Life and Times of Xaviera*; the opinion does not say whether the defendant is the distributor of the 1973 film.[^20]
*Black Mass*, Horsch's satanic-mass film, drew a public protest in February 1975. On Thursday, February 27, 1975, Christian and Jewish leaders of Greater Philadelphia combined to discourage the showing of the film, which was reported to be scheduled to open that weekend at a center-city theater and one in Germantown. The center-city house said the report "was a mistake," and the Germantown theater said it was not yet known whether the film would be shown. The producer-director, Ray Hoersch, was quoted as describing it as "the Satanic Mass ... the exact inverse of the Catholic ceremony." The statement was signed by 16 leaders, among them [[John Krol|John Cardinal Krol]], archbishop of Philadelphia, and Rabbis Charles Lacks and Harold Goldfarb of the Greater Philadelphia Board of Rabbis, together with Friends, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Greek Orthodox, Baptist, Methodist and Byzantine-Ukrainian Rite leaders. It called on those in the film industry in the Philadelphia area "to resist and reject every attempt to market or portray this film."[^21] The [[Arcadia Theatre (Philadelphia)]] on Chestnut Street cancelled a midnight showing, and the film was then booked at the Bandbox.[^22] The condemnation was reported in the diocesan press in Erie in March 1975.[^23] Horsch later said he made *Black Mass* with the proceeds of *Erotic Memoirs* and other films.[^17]
### The Horsch family and the Olney house
Raymond Horsch's criminal record begins with a counterfeiting arrest in the late 1970s and a methamphetamine laboratory a few years later. He skipped bail after the second arrest and went to coastal New Zealand after taking the identity of a real chemist. He worked at a chemical plant in Timaru under that alias, with a forged Stanford diploma, and was caught in New Zealand with five fake passports. He was later apprehended in Florida and returned to Philadelphia, where he was sentenced to federal prison.[^15] The Timaru employment is linked to [[Chemical Technology Limited]], a Clandeboye company working on milk byproducts that the Christchurch lawyer [[John Rutherford (New Zealand lawyer)|John Rutherford]] set up with a man he knew as Dr. Stanley Stokowski.[^24] He had married [[Myroslawa Ferkuniak]], the mother of Eugene Horsch, in Reno on September 12, 1980, while using that identity.[^25] The sentencing judge, [[Joseph L. McGlynn Jr.]], said in April 1985 that "anybody who has a speed lab ought to know he's going to jail," and a second judge, [[Donald W. Van Artsdalen]], added a year and a day for bail-jumping.[^26] The Drug Enforcement Administration, which the 1990 Crime Commission report credits with labelling Philadelphia the methamphetamine capital of the world, had arrested Horsch in February 1977.[^26][^9]
His father, [[Raymond C. Hoersch]], was an engineer and former glider pilot in the [[United States Army Air Forces]]. His grandfather, [[Albert Hoersch]], lived on West Chew Street in the [[Olney, Philadelphia|Olney]] section of the city and died on July 1, 1972, aged 81; his wife [[Helen E. Hoersch]] had died on August 27, 1968, and their daughter [[Helen M. Hoersch]] died on April 5, 2004.[^27][^28] His mother, [[Clara Hoersch]], was a daughter of [[Cecilia T. Hagerty]] of Stroudsburg, where he was born in 1943.[^29] [[Krista Killen]] is credited as a performer in multiple films he directed.[^30]
His son, [[Eugene Horsch]], was stopped in June 2026 near Independence Mall with a woman, carrying drugs, illegal guns and fake identification, one card bearing the name of a woman who had been missing for three years. That led local and federal investigators to the family's twin house in Olney, where they recovered vats of chemicals, notes describing serial killings and bank cards. Police had not charged him with any crime relating to the missing women.[^15] The [[Philadelphia District Attorney's Office]] had prosecuted him in 2025 on drug counts after a fire at the house, and after his June 2026 arrest it charged him with illegal gun and drug possession; on August 6, 2026, it withdrew those charges because the [[United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania|United States Attorney's Office]] would handle the case.[^31] On September 16, 2026, Police Commissioner [[Kevin Bethel]], with Deputy Commissioner [[Frank Vanore]] and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], said that 58 people had been identified in the material recovered.[^32] The case is covered on the [[Olney House Investigation]] page.
### Garzone Funeral Home and the tissue trade
The [[Garzone Funeral Home]] in the [[Kensington, Philadelphia|Kensington]] section of the city was operated by [[Louis Garzone]] and [[Gerald Garzone]], who with [[James McCafferty]] owned the Liberty Crematorium. In early 2004 the brothers and McCafferty agreed to supply cadavers to [[Michael Mastromarino]], owner of [[Biomedical Tissue Services]], for $1,000 each, without the knowledge or consent of the families; the arrangement continued until September 2005, when Mastromarino learned that the [[Food and Drug Administration]] was investigating him and advised the Garzones to destroy their records, which they did by incinerating them in a crematory just days before FDA investigators arrived. At least 244 cadavers were provided, for which the Garzones and McCafferty received more than $245,000.[^33][^34] The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed Louis Garzone's sentence in 2010 except for the award of costs for prosecutors' and detectives' salaries, and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held on January 19, 2012, that the costs-of-prosecution statute did not permit the district attorney's office to recover those salaries.[^35][^33] Raymond Horsch had access to a Kensington crematorium linked to illegal sales of body parts, years before the missing persons investigation.[^36]
The body-parts case centred on Biomedical Tissue Services, a New Jersey company based in Fort Lee. In February 2006 [[National Public Radio]] reported that Brooklyn prosecutors had indicted four men in connection with the company, including its principals, for harvesting bones and skin from corpses.[^37] Mastromarino, a former oral surgeon, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn in March 2008 to 14 counts, admitting that he had carried out the scheme from 2001 to 2005; he faced 18 to 54 years in prison and agreed to forfeit $4.68 million. The company shipped bones, skin and tendons to tissue processors, and about 10,000 people received tissue it supplied in transplant operations.[^38] In Philadelphia, after a grand jury investigation that began on May 4, 2006, Mastromarino entered an open guilty plea on August 29, 2008, and on October 22, 2008, was sentenced to 25 to 58 years, concurrent with his New York sentence. The trial court found that he had received more than $1,105,751 from tissue banks for the Philadelphia material alone, and gave aggravated sentences for abuse of corpse because the conduct was "so beyond the pale of what the guidelines contemplate." Because he had forfeited $800,000 in cash, the Commonwealth sought no further restitution. The Superior Court affirmed the sentence on July 21, 2010.[^34]
### The MOVE bombing of 1985
The Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission was established by Executive Order 5-85, signed by Mayor [[W. Wilson Goode]] on June 19, 1985, to examine the events at 6221 Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia. Its chairman was [[William H. Brown III]], and its members included the former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice [[Bruce W. Kauffman]], the Watergate special prosecutor [[Henry S. Ruth Jr.]] and the former FBI assistant director [[Neil J. Welch]]. It conducted more than 900 interviews, gathered the records of 36 government agencies, and held public hearings from October 8, 1985, with 90 witnesses over five weeks, broadcast live by [[WHYY]]. Its report of March 6, 1986, contains 68 findings, conclusions and recommendations, 66 of them unanimous.[^39]
The chronology in the report begins with the emergence of [[MOVE]], led by [[John Africa]] (Vincent Leaphart), in the early 1970s, and the 1978 blockade of its headquarters in Powelton Village, which ended in a gunfight in which Police Officer James Ramp was shot to death; nine MOVE members were sentenced to 30 to 100 years each. MOVE adults and children later took up residence at 6221 Osage Avenue, and the occupants made threats by loudspeaker. The commission found that the Mayor's policy toward MOVE was one of "appeasement, non-confrontation and avoidance," that in the summer of 1984 he was told that a legal basis existed to act against certain MOVE members, and that in May 1985, after neighbors pressed him, he authorized the Police Commissioner to prepare and execute a tactical plan under the supervision of the Managing Director. Police Commissioner [[Gregore J. Sambor]] chose as planners the head of the Bomb Disposal Unit, a sergeant from the pistol range and a uniformed patrolman, excluding the command structure of the department; no written plan was sought or received.[^40][^39]
On May 13, 1985, police fired more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition in under 90 minutes at the row house, which the commission called "clearly excessive and unreasonable," and used explosives to blow holes in the party walls. At 5:27 P.M. a bomb of Tovex and C-4, dropped from a [[Pennsylvania State Police]] helicopter, detonated on the roof, where, according to a police memo corroborated by a news photograph, a five-gallon gasoline can had been hoisted, and the commission found that the fire began a millisecond afterward when friction-heated metal fragments penetrated the can. Between 6:08 and 6:12 P.M. the Police Commissioner and the Fire Commissioner decided to let the bunker burn, which the commission called "unconscionable." Eleven people died, five of them children. The commission found that police gunfire prevented some occupants from escaping to the rear alley, that the deaths of the five children "appear to be unjustified homicides which should be investigated by a grand jury," that the medical examiner's performance was unprofessional, and that the fire destroyed the neighborhood and left sixty-one families homeless.[^41][^40][^42]
Finding 21 concerns the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In January 1985 an agent of the bureau's Philadelphia office delivered nearly 38 pounds of C-4, a military plastic explosive, to the Philadelphia police bomb squad. Neither agency kept any record of the transaction; the agent told the commission he "never had to keep any kind of records or anything" regarding C-4. After May 13, at least one agent deliberately withheld information about the cache from his own superiors, saying he was "in fear of losing my job," and FBI officials "unwittingly furnished the Commission with inaccurate and untruthful accounts" of the bureau's involvement. The commission wrote that because of the absence of record keeping "all the facts of the use of C-4 on May 13th may never be known." The commission's explosives expert found that the bomb contained substantially more C-4 than the officer who constructed it had reported.[^43][^42] Commissioner Kauffman dissented from several findings, including the finding on the alley gunfire, and from the majority's accusation of racism against the Mayor, the Managing Director, the Police Commissioner and the Fire Commissioner, writing that the events were caused "purely and simply, by incompetence, bad judment, and other errors."[^44] No city officials or employees were charged after the commission's report and a county grand jury report of May 15, 1986, and a federal grand jury declined to indict.[^45]
### Holmesburg Prison and the Army's human tests
[[Holmesburg Prison]] in northeast Philadelphia was the site of the experiments of [[Albert Kligman]], a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist who began testing on people incarcerated there in 1951 for such companies as [[Johnson & Johnson]] and [[Dow Chemical]] as well as the United States Army, which commissioned him to test hallucinogenic and psychotropic drugs. The program ran 23 years; Philadelphia banned medical testing at Holmesburg in 1974.[^46]
The Army's contract record was placed before the Senate in 1975. Lt. Gen. R. R. Taylor, the Surgeon General of the Army, told the joint hearings of the Senate health and judiciary subcommittees, questioned by Senator [[Edward M. Kennedy]], that in the period from the mid-1960s volunteers at Edgewood Arsenal had been active-duty personnel, and, asked about contract work, said the subjects were students and, "in one case they are prisoners in Holmesburg Prison near the University of Pennsylvania," adding when pressed, "Prisoners in one contract that I am aware of." The list the Army then supplied for the record shows prisoners at Holmesburg as the volunteers under three contracts of [[Edgewood Arsenal]]: "Threshold Doses in Humans" with the [[University of Pennsylvania]] from April 1, 1964, to March 31, 1967 (contract DA-18-035-AMC-126(A)), testing Ditran, atropine, scopolamine and a glycolate-type anticholinergic compound; and two contracts with [[Ivy Research Laboratories]], Inc., the first running from June 28, 1968, to December 1, 1969 ($78,135), to determine threshold doses of incapacitating agents, irritant agents and other chemicals, including a glycolate anticholinergic, an apomorphine-type emetic and a series of isomers of tetrahydrocannabinol, and the second ending September 30, 1971 ($46,700), in which an intravenous emetic was tested and "the study was discontinued after the fourth subject reacted adversely with retching and fainting."[^47]
Two years later Deanne C. Siemer, General Counsel of the Department of Defense, told Senator Kennedy's Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research, with Senator [[Richard S. Schweiker]] of Pennsylvania questioning her, that the Edgewood compound EA 3167 had been tested "in a different form and for different purposes at the Holmesburg State Prison in Pennsylvania" before the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]'s involvement in 1971, a testing that "may have involved from 5 to 12 prisoners; one document says 5, another one says 12." The Department of Defense's written account of the Edgewood project, part of [[MKOFTEN]] and recorded in the vault's [[MKSEARCH]] entry, states that Edgewood "also engaged in clinical testing on human volunteers at the Holmesburg State Prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, using prisoners as test subjects," that in 1971 the CIA reviewed that earlier work and transferred $37,000 to Edgewood, and that the CIA-sponsored human testing consisted of one experiment in June 1973 with two military volunteers.[^48][^49]
The University's own Army work was reported in 1995. Kligman worked at the University from 1951 to 1972 and conducted scores of experiments on inmates at Holmesburg, many through Ivy Research Laboratories, one of four research groups he founded in the mid-1960s. In 1964 he tested dioxin on prisoners under contract from Dow Chemical and the Department of Defense; Vernon Rowe, a former Dow employee to whom Kligman reported, testified before an [[Environmental Protection Agency]] hearing in January 1981 that Kligman applied 7,500 micrograms to ten prisoners, "468 times" Dow's authorized maximum, and that eight developed chloracne lasting more than seven months; Kligman has said the records were destroyed. In 1966 the Food and Drug Administration banned him from testing drugs on humans, and in about the same period the University signed a $386,486 contract with the Army to test chemical warfare agents, which the *Philadelphia Inquirer* reported at the time. His 1967 report to Edgewood Arsenal on skin "hardening" against blistering and other agents records that three prisoners exposed to ethylene glycol monomethyl ether "exhibited psychotic reactions (hallucinations, disorientation, stupor) within two weeks and had to be hospitalized." According to the 1975 report of the Army Inspector General, "Ivy Research [Laboratories] used at least 94 inmates to test choking agents, nerve agents, blister agents, vomiting agents, incapacitating agents, and toxins" and was banned from Holmesburg after its tests were blamed for a 1972 prison riot.[^50] A former inmate told Allen Hornblum, whose *Acres of Skin* (1998) first documented the program in detail, that researchers had injected him in a padded cell and videotaped him, after which he hallucinated.[^51][^52] Kligman is reported to have told a reporter in 1966, "All I saw before me were acres of skin."[^51] A suit by about 300 former participants against Kligman, the University, the city, Dow and Johnson & Johnson was filed in 2000 and a court ruled in 2001 that the statute of limitations had expired; the city apologized in 2022.[^46]
### The Navy Yard and the Philadelphia Experiment
The [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]] is the site named in the [[Philadelphia Experiment]] account, which places a Navy ship there in 1943. The [[Office of Naval Research]] states that the origin of the story dates to 1955 with the publication of *The Case for the UFO* by [[Morris K. Jessup]], who afterward received correspondence from a Carlos Miquel Allende giving details of an alleged secret naval experiment in Philadelphia in 1943 in which a ship was rendered invisible and teleported to and from Norfolk. In 1956 a copy of Jessup's book, with hand-written annotations, was mailed anonymously to ONR; two officers assigned to ONR "took a personal interest in the book," showed it to Jessup, and arranged for a typewritten reprint of 25 copies. ONR's information sheet of September 8, 1996, states that personnel at the Fourth Naval District believe the stories arise from "quite routine research" during the war at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, with degaussing experiments and a 1950s experiment on the generating plant of the destroyer USS Timmerman using a 1,000 hertz generator as the likely sources, and that "ONR has never conducted any investigations on invisibility, either in 1943 or at any other time."[^53][^54]
The Naval Historical Center's statement of June 17, 1996, says its Operational Archives had repeatedly searched and located no documents confirming the event, that the ship named in the account, the USS Eldridge, was commissioned on August 27, 1943, at the New York Navy Yard and was "never in Philadelphia" during the period reviewed, and that no records of a "Project Rainbow" relating to teleportation had been found.[^55]
### Frankford Arsenal and the Army in the city
The [[Frankford Arsenal]], the Army installation in the city, appears in a CIA memorandum for the record dated November 13, 1957, about a visit on October 30, 1957. The memorandum reviews a 24-hour clockwork project, including low-temperature failures of the mechanisms, and a planned comparison of three lubricants. It also records a .38 caliber slug of sintered tungsten carbide that the arsenal planned to test, and roughly $6,000 of the original project funds remaining.[^56]
### Nuclear procurement and the 1987 Philadelphia arrest
[[Arshad Pervez]], a native of Pakistan who moved to Canada in 1967, incorporated A.P. Enterprises in Toronto in 1986. In October 1986 he sought a source of maraging steel, a high-strength alloy used in gas centrifuge enrichment plants, and was referred to [[Carpenter Technology]], a Pennsylvania steelmaker. Carpenter had previously been directed by the Department of Commerce not to make maraging steel for Pakistan, because the material was believed to be destined for Pakistan's nuclear facility. Pervez identified his client as Inam Ul-Haq of the Multinational Corporation of Lahore.[^57] In November 1986 a U.S. Customs agent, working undercover as an international marketing analyst for Carpenter, met Pervez in Toronto. Pervez offered several contradictory end uses for the steel, among them a rocket motor project and a university engineering project. On January 13, 1987, he met an undercover Commerce Department licensing officer, [[Frank Rovello]], in Philadelphia and asked how to obtain an export license.[^57]
In July 1987 Pervez drove to Philadelphia to facilitate the first shipment of the steel and to make another payment to Rovello, and was arrested there. A federal grand jury returned an eight-count indictment on July 28, 1987, against Pervez and Ul-Haq.[^57] In 1989 the Third Circuit vacated his conspiracy and beryllium-export convictions and ordered a new trial on those counts, and it remanded for a limited hearing on entrapment for the false-documentation counts.[^57] Declassified prosecution records published by the [[National Security Archive]] describe Ul-Haq as "a key figure in the A. Q. Khan nuclear procurement network" who evaded arrest by leaving the United States, and describe the Khan front company Multinational as Pervez's counterparty.[^58]
[[James Guerin]], the founder of [[International Signal and Control]], was indicted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1991 with 19 codefendants, in a 67-count indictment over a conspiracy to evade the arms embargo against [[South Africa]].[^59] The Third Circuit described Guerin as ISC's majority shareholder, who founded the company in 1971 and afterwards served as an officer and director of its successor companies, after ISC went public in 1982.[^59] In September 1989 the British defense company [[Ferranti]] called in accountants to investigate ISC's contracts.[^60] In November 1992, at the trial of [[Thomas Jasin]], the *Baltimore Sun* reported that Guerin had already pleaded guilty and had begun serving a 15-year federal sentence.[^61]
### Police leadership, prosecutors and the courts
In 1974, the peak year under Rizzo, Philadelphia police shot ninety-seven suspects and killed thirty-one, and in August 1970 Rizzo's police raided the offices of the Black Panther Party and strip-searched members in front of news photographers.[^1] Goode, who as mayor approved the 1985 order, was the city's first black mayor.[^1]
[[Danielle Outlaw]] resigned as police commissioner in September 2023, and [[John M. Stanford Jr.]] and Vanore were appointed interim commissioner and interim first deputy commissioner on September 22, 2023.[^62][^63] Bethel was sworn in as commissioner on January 2, 2024.[^64] The city's courts include [[Jill Fertel]], a lawyer who was an assistant district attorney in the District Attorney's Office, and the criminal defense lawyer [[Jerome Brown]], who represented Horsch.[^65] The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania sits in Philadelphia and tried the Scarfo family RICO case in 1988.[^10] [[J.J. Klaver]] was a special agent of the FBI's Philadelphia field office from 1998 and its spokesman for his last seven years, until he retired on August 31, 2015.[^66]
### Companies, churches and the press
[[George R. Wackenhut]], who founded the [[Wackenhut Corporation]], was born in Philadelphia.[^67] On April 24, 1962, FBI SAC Letter 62-24(B) instructed all offices to refrain from any contact with the company, stating that the firm "has utilized misleading advertisements, attempts to capitalize on former FBI affiliation of its employees and its officials have reportedly engaged in personal misconduct and questionable business activities"; the bar was lifted by SAC Letter 65-1 of January 5, 1965.[^68] In May 1962 the investigative firm of [[Charles B. Flack Jr.]], a New Jersey firm, merged into Wackenhut, and Flack became district manager of the company's Philadelphia office at Two Penn Center Plaza, supervising operations in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area; the FBI's Newark office forwarded his letter and a Wackenhut folder to the Director on May 4, 1962.[^68] Horsch said in a recorded interview that after leaving high school in 1961 he worked freelance for Wackenhut, "a security firm staffed by FBI agents," until about 1965: "I bugged telephones and committed burglaries for them." He said one regular client, introduced as "Mr. Smith," was [[Howard Hunt|E. Howard Hunt]] of the CIA, and described jobs at the [[Fairchild Hiller]] plant in [[Hagerstown, Maryland]], in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], and in Philadelphia.[^69] When the Secret Service arrested him, then Raymond Hoersch, for counterfeiting in December 1974, authorities described him as unemployed and quoted him as saying that he "hadn't worked for 11 years."[^70] The law firm [[Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders|Pepper Hamilton]] employed [[John B. Hannum]] as a litigator in Philadelphia, and on July 1, 2020, it combined with [[Troutman Sanders]] of [[Atlanta]].[^71][^72]
Krol led the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia]] from 1961 and died in March 1996.[^73] *The Philadelphia Inquirer* was founded in 1829 as the Pennsylvania Inquirer.[^74]
### Natives and residents
[[John J. McCloy]] was born in Philadelphia on March 31, 1895.[^75] [[Noam Chomsky]], the linguist, was born in the city.[^76] [[Alex Karp]] grew up in the Philadelphia area and attended Central High School and Haverford College.[^77] [[Ro Khanna]] was born on September 13, 1976.[^78] [[Jed Rakoff]] was born in Philadelphia in 1943, [[Alison Nathan]] in 1972, [[John Milton Younge]] in 1955, and McGlynn on February 13, 1925.[^79] [[Marcus Foster]] moved to Philadelphia at the age of three, earned a doctorate in education at the University of Pennsylvania, and later served as superintendent of schools in [[Oakland, California]].[^80] [[Jack LaSota]], the leader of the [[The Zizians|Zizian]] group, staged a death in August 2022 after going off a boat in San Francisco Bay and next appeared on law enforcement's radar on January 12, 2023, at an airport hotel on the outskirts of Philadelphia, where state police came to serve a warrant in connection with a murder investigation.[^81]
[^1]: Alex Elkins, "Police Department, Philadelphia," *The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia* (Rutgers University, 2016), https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/police-department-philadelphia/.
[^2]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption and the Quality of Law Enforcement in Philadelphia* (Harrisburg, March 1974), Summary of findings ("Police Corruption" and "Liquor"), https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^3]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), Summary of findings, "Narcotics," https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^4]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), chapter on the Locust Street Strip, with its note citing the 1962 United States Senate subcommittee inquiry and stating that "In 1962, the inspector in charge of the Central Division where most of the bust-out operations were located was Frank L. Rizzo"; and the history of the Police Department (commissioners Gibbons, Brown, Leary, Bell and Rizzo; Joseph F. O'Neill acting commissioner from February 1971, permanent 1972), https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^5]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), Locust Street Strip chapter, the Why Not Lounge: Goltzer's monthly payments through a "bagman" to an inspector, with the manager Sam LaRussa negotiating them and advising Goltzer to pay or "they will bust the joint," https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^6]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), Locust Street Strip chapter, the Brass Monkey, 1227 Walnut Street, https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^7]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), chapter on lewd shows, the Gaslight Lounge, https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^8]: George Anastasia, "Salvatore Larussa, 58, Friend Of Mob Figures," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, August 21, 1996, Wayback copy, https://web.archive.org/web/20150928205738id_/http://articles.philly.com/1996-08-21/news/25645305_1_nicodemo-little-nicky-scarfo-grand-jury-mob-activities.
[^9]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Change, 1990 Report* (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1991), sections on the Bruno/Scarfo Family, drugs, and the entry for Salvatore "Sam" LaRussa, p. 159, https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/133208NCJRS.pdf.
[^10]: *United States v. Pungitore*, 910 F.2d 1084 (3d Cir. 1990) (Greenberg, J.), https://static.case.law/f2d/910/cases/1084-01.json.
[^11]: *United States v. Pungitore*, 910 F.2d 1084 (3d Cir. 1990), Part I (convictions of Pungitore, Scarfo, Merlino and Ciancaglini on methamphetamine counts) and the discussion of Ciancaglini, including DelGiorno's testimony about a May 1983 methamphetamine arrangement, https://static.case.law/f2d/910/cases/1084-01.json.
[^12]: "Police to Inspect Building: Cinema 16 Shut Down In License Dispute; Owner Is 'Confused'," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, October 30, 1969, p. 19, https://www.newspapers.com/image/169186622/.
[^13]: *The Distant Drummer*, no. 65, December 25, 1969, to January 1, 1970, p. 8, Temple University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center, https://digital.library.temple.edu/digital/collection/p16002coll34/id/473.
[^14]: "Art Carduner, a pioneer in exhibiting foreign films in Phila.," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, December 9, 2009, https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/20091209_Art_Carduner__a_pioneer_in_exhibiting_foreign_films_in_Phila_.html.
[^15]: Barbara Laker, Max Marin, Ryan W. Briggs and Ellie Rushing, "A fugitive pornographer, his troubled son, and missing women: 5 takeaways," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, August 4, 2026, https://www.inquirer.com/news/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-missing-women-20260804.html.
[^16]: Performer credits for *The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig*, Internet Adult Film Database, https://www.iafd.com/title.rme/id=b609e8df-4df6-46c4-8925-639ed9e91852; and John Morthland, *Take One* (March-April 1973) ("starring Ms. Spelvin").
[^17]: Ashley West, *The Rialto Report*, Podcast 172, "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," September 20, 2026 (republishing interviews recorded in 2013; passages at 25:43 to 25:45, 28:59 to 29:09 and 29:19 to 29:42), https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/. The account of the sale is Horsch's own.
[^18]: "Boxoffice Bookinguide," *Boxoffice* (Canadian edition), February 4, 1974, national booking chart, entry "Erotic Memoirs/Male Chauvinist Pig" (75 minutes, distributor "Mature," dated 10-15-73), https://archive.org/details/boxoffice-canadian-1974-02-04.
[^19]: John Morthland, "Porn Films: An In-Depth Report," *Take One*, vol. 3, no. 6 (March-April 1973), https://archive.org/details/take-one-1973-03.
[^20]: *Walt Disney Productions v. Mature Pictures Corp.*, 389 F. Supp. 1397 (S.D.N.Y. 1975) (Duffy, J., February 14, 1975), https://static.case.law/f-supp/389/cases/1397-01.json.
[^21]: "Protest Raised Here On 'Black Mass' Film," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, February 28, 1975, p. 11, https://www.newspapers.com/image/173364962/.
[^22]: Society and nightlife column, *Philadelphia Inquirer*, February 28, 1975, p. 21, https://www.newspapers.com/image/173366667/.
[^23]: "Offensive Material: Leaders Condemn Black Mass Film," Religious News Service, *Lake Shore Visitor* (Erie), March 7, 1975, p. 3, https://www.newspapers.com/image/951794835/.
[^24]: Anna Leask, "Man linked to multiple missing women in US had fled NZ 40 years ago after posing as scientist," *New Zealand Herald*, September 23, 2026, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/raymond-horsch-man-linked-to-philadelphia-house-of-horrors-lived-near-timaru-under-stolen-name/BVQSWBL3LZDL3.
[^25]: "Anna M. Horsch," obituary, *The Morning Call*, August 1, 1989, p. 18; Inquirer, "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," August 2, 2026, https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html.
[^26]: Jim Smith, "Fugitive's Luck Runs Out With 4-Year Jail Sentence," *Philadelphia Daily News*, April 27, 1985, p. 8, https://www.newspapers.com/image/185948055/.
[^27]: "Hoersch, Albert," death notice, *Philadelphia Inquirer*, July 3, 1972, p. 10, https://www.newspapers.com/image/180006503/.
[^28]: "Hoersch, Helen E. Wissman," death notice, *Philadelphia Inquirer*, August 29, 1968, p. 32, https://www.newspapers.com/image/182120759/; "Hoersch, Helen M.," death notice, *Philadelphia Inquirer*, April 7, 2004, p. B12, https://www.newspapers.com/image/201102740/.
[^29]: "Cecilia T. Hagerty," obituary, *The Morning Call*, October 26, 1991, p. 115, https://www.newspapers.com/image/283774999/.
[^30]: Ryan W. Briggs, Max Marin and Barbara Laker, "A woman missing since 2016 had close ties to the Olney house that's now the target of a massive investigation," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, June 27, 2026, https://www.inquirer.com/news/olney-raid-missing-women-mystery-drugs-20260627.html.
[^31]: Ellie Rushing, "Feds will take over gun case of Olney man at center of missing women investigation, as Philly DA withdraws charges," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, August 6, 2026, https://www.inquirer.com/crime/eugene-horsch-federal-charges-olney-missing-women-20260806.html; Max Marin, Ryan W. Briggs, Ellie Rushing and Barbara Laker, "Police searched Olney home last summer, but drugs, not missing women, were the focus," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, July 1, 2026, https://www.inquirer.com/news/eugene-raymond-horsch-olney-home-search-guns-drugs-20260701.html.
[^32]: Cory Sharber, "Police, FBI provide updates on Horsch missing women case," *WHYY*, September 16, 2026, https://whyy.org/articles/olney-home-investigation-abuse/.
[^33]: *Commonwealth v. Garzone*, 34 A.3d 67 (Pa. January 19, 2012) (Castille, C.J.), https://static.case.law/a3d/34/cases/0067-01.json.
[^34]: *Commonwealth v. Mastromarino*, 2 A.3d 581 (Pa. Super. Ct. July 21, 2010) (Stevens, J.), https://static.case.law/a3d/2/cases/0581-01.json.
[^35]: *Commonwealth v. Garzone*, 993 A.2d 1245 (Pa. Super. Ct. April 14, 2010) (Stevens, J.), https://static.case.law/a2d/993/cases/1245-01.json.
[^36]: Ryan W. Briggs, Max Marin, Barbara Laker and Ellie Rushing, "Raymond Horsch had access to a Kensington crematorium linked to illegal body parts sales, years before missing persons investigation," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, 2026.
[^37]: "Four Named in New York 'Body-Snatcher' Crimes," *Day to Day*, NPR, February 23, 2006, https://www.npr.org/transcripts/5230097.
[^38]: Adam Goldman, "Body-parts big pleads guilty," *Philadelphia Daily News* (also *Philadelphia Inquirer*), March 19, 2008, https://www.inquirer.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080319_Body-parts_big_pleads_guilty.html.
[^39]: PSIC, *Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations* (1986), Introduction, "The Investigation," "Public Hearings" and Chronology.
[^40]: PSIC, *Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations* (1986), Findings 1 to 31, including Findings 11 and 12 (the plan and its three planners), 18 (10,000 rounds), 21 (FBI C-4), 24 to 27 (the bomb and the decision to let the fire burn), 28 (gunfire in the alley) and 29 (the children).
[^41]: Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission, *The Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations of the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission* (Philadelphia, March 6, 1986), Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries (published online by *The Philly Declaration*, May 13, 2015), https://phillydeclaration.org/2015/05/13/30-years-later-primary-sources-on-the-move-conflagration/.
[^42]: PSIC, *Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations* (1986), Finding 25 and its supporting text (the Tovex and C-4 device, dropped at 5:27 P.M.).
[^43]: PSIC, *Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations* (1986), Finding 21 and its supporting text.
[^44]: PSIC, *Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations* (1986), statement of Commissioner Bruce W. Kauffman (dissenting from several findings, among them the finding on police gunfire in the alley, and from the accusation of racism), and the recommendation on law enforcement investigations.
[^45]: Austin Nolen, "30 Years Later: Primary Sources on the MOVE Conflagration," *The Philly Declaration*, May 13, 2015, https://phillydeclaration.org/2015/05/13/30-years-later-primary-sources-on-the-move-conflagration/ (publishing the Report of the County Investigating Grand Jury of May 15, 1986).
[^46]: Lynette Hazelton, "A brief history of the Holmesburg Prison experiments," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, October 22, 2024, https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/holmesburg-prison-experiments-timeline-20241022.html.
[^47]: *Biomedical and Behavioral Research, 1975*, joint hearings before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare and the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 94th Cong., 1st sess., September 10, 12 and November 7, 1975, testimony of Lt. Gen. R. R. Taylor, Surgeon General of the Army, and the Army list of "Research Contracts from Edgewood Arsenal Involving Drug Testing Volunteers, 1965-75," https://archive.org/details/US-Government-Medical-Experimentation-On-Humans.
[^48]: Statement of Deanne C. Siemer, General Counsel, Department of Defense, *Human Drug Testing by the CIA, 1977*, hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Committee on Human Resources, United States Senate, 95th Cong., 1st sess., September 20 and 21, 1977 (testimony of September 20), https://archive.org/details/human-drug-testing-by-the-cia-1977.
[^49]: *Human Drug Testing by the CIA, 1977*, Senate Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research, September 20, 1977, Department of Defense submission on the Edgewood project "Determination of clinical effects of a glycolate class chemical" (MKOFTEN), https://archive.org/details/human-drug-testing-by-the-cia-1977.
[^50]: Jonathan Kaye and Jeremy Kahn, "U. involved in chemical tests on prisoners," *The Daily Pennsylvanian*, May 19, 1995, https://thedp.com/article/1995/05/u-involved-in-chemical-tests-on-prisoners.
[^51]: Jennifer Gonnerman, "Living Lab Rats," *The Village Voice*, July 7, 1998, https://www.villagevoice.com/1998/07/07/lab-rats/.
[^52]: Allen M. Hornblum, *Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison* (New York: Routledge, 1998), as described in Gonnerman, *The Village Voice*, July 7, 1998.
[^53]: Office of Naval Research, "Information Sheet: Philadelphia Experiment," September 8, 1996, as published by the Naval Historical Center, https://web.archive.org/web/19981203102110/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq21-2.htm.
[^54]: Morris K. Jessup, *The Case for the UFO* (New York: Citadel Press, 1955), https://archive.org/details/caseforufo0000mkje.
[^55]: Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy, "The 'Philadelphia Experiment'," June 17, 1996, https://web.archive.org/web/19981203102110/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq21-1.htm.
[^56]: Memorandum for the record, "Trip to Frankford Arsenal," November 13, 1957, CIA Reading Room, document CIA-RDP78-03642A002500040063-1, https://archive.org/details/CIA-RDP78-03642A002500040063-1.
[^57]: *United States v. Pervez*, 871 F.2d 310 (3d Cir. 1989) (Scirica, J.), https://static.case.law/f2d/871/cases/0310-01.json.
[^58]: William Burr, ed., "The Pervez Case and Reagan Administration Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy, 1987," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 446, November 22, 2013, https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb446/.
[^59]: *United States v. Jasin*, 280 F.3d 355 (3d Cir. 2002) (Greenberg, J.), https://static.case.law/f3d/280/cases/0355-01.json.
[^60]: Computer Business Review, "Ferranti calls in Coopers & Lybrand to investigate ISC contracts," September 17, 1989, https://www.techmonitor.ai/?p=208120.
[^61]: Knight-Ridder News Service, "Weapons-smuggling plot tied to Pa. executive on trial for trade violations," *Baltimore Sun*, November 10, 1992, https://www.baltimoresun.com/1992/11/10/weapons-smuggling-plot-tied-to-pa-executive-on-trial-for-trade-violations/.
[^62]: Chris Palmer, Anna Orso and Oona Goodin-Smith, "Danielle Outlaw, Philadelphia Police Commissioner, resigns for a job at Port Authority of New York and New Jersey," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, September 5, 2023.
[^63]: Office of the Mayor, City of Philadelphia, "Mayor Jim Kenney Appoints John M. Stanford, Jr. as Interim Police Commissioner for the Philadelphia Police Department & Frank Vanore as Interim 1st Deputy Commissioner," September 22, 2023, https://www.phila.gov/2023-09-22-mayor-jim-kenney-appoints-john-m-stanford-jr-as-interim-police-commissioner-for-the-philadelphia-police-department-frank-vanore-as-interim-1st-deputy-commissioner/.
[^64]: "Kevin J. Bethel sworn in as Philadelphia's newest police commissioner," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, January 2, 2024, https://www.inquirer.com/crime/kevin-bethel-philadelphia-police-commissioner-sworn-in-20240102.html.
[^65]: *United States v. Horsch*, No. 2:09-cr-00794 (E.D. Pa.), notices of appearance of Jerome M. Brown; practice biography of Jill Fertel, https://klalegal.com/jill-fertel/.
[^66]: John Kopp, "Philly FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver retiring after 26-year career," *PhillyVoice*, August 31, 2015, https://www.phillyvoice.com/retiring-fbi-agent-reflects/.
[^67]: The Wackenhut Corporation, biographical sketch of George R. Wackenhut, company files, https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation; "Security industry pioneer George Wackenhut dies at 85," *SecurityInfoWatch*, January 2005.
[^68]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Wackenhut Corporation," headquarters file, Newark memorandum to the Director, May 4, 1962, and *Miami News* clipping on the Flack merger, https://archive.org/details/WackenhutCorporation.
[^69]: Ashley West, *The Rialto Report*, Podcast 171, "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 1: Youth," September 13, 2026 (audio at 18:34 to 22:49), https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/13/ray-horsch-2/. The account is Horsch's own.
[^70]: "[...] bogus $180,000 in Bucks raid," *The Morning Call* (Allentown), December 11, 1974, p. 5, https://www.newspapers.com/image/275702319/.
[^71]: Sally A. Downey, "John B. Hannum, 92, judge," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, April 25, 2007, https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/20070425_John_B__Hannum__92__judge.html.
[^72]: "Troutman Pepper Officially Launches," *PR Newswire*, July 1, 2020, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/troutman-pepper-officially-launches-301086794.html.
[^73]: Martin Weil, "Cardinal John Krol Dies; Philadelphia Archbishop," *The Washington Post*, March 4, 1996, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/03/04/cardinal-john-krol-dies/8d845f35-61a2-4b44-934a-0bdc39ca14df/.
[^74]: "The History of the Philadelphia Inquirer," Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, https://www.broadcastpioneers.com/inquirerhistory.html.
[^75]: John J. McCloy (AC 1916) Papers, finding aid MA.00035, Historical Note and Chronology, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/393545/original/McCloy%2BPapers.pdf.
[^76]: Noam Chomsky, biographical entry (born December 7, 1928, Philadelphia), Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[^77]: Fallon Roth, "Palantir CEO Alex Karp was raised in a liberal household outside Philly. Now he's a top Trump administration contractor," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, December 16, 2025, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/nation/palantir-ceo-alex-karp-trump-administration-20251216.html.
[^78]: United States Congress, legislator record for Ro Khanna (bioguide K000389), born 1976-09-13, congress-legislators dataset, https://unitedstates.github.io/congress-legislators/legislators-current.json.
[^79]: Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges: "Rakoff, Jed Saul," https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/rakoff-jed-saul; "Nathan, Alison Julie," https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/nathan-alison-julie; "Younge, John Milton," https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/younge-john-milton; "McGlynn, Joseph Leo, Jr.," https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/mcglynn-joseph-leo-jr.
[^80]: "50 Years After He Was Assassinated, Why Marcus Foster Is More Relevant Than Ever," *EdSource*, November 2023, https://edsource.org/2023/50-years-after-he-was-assassinated-why-marcus-foster-is-more-relevant-than-ever/688423.
[^81]: "The Radicalization of Ziz LaSota: How an AI Doomer Became an Accused Cult Leader," *Rolling Stone*, 2025, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ziz-lasota-zizians-ai-cult-1235468289/.

15
60 - PLACES/COUNTRIES/Belgium.md
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@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ tags:
- Elite
summary: "Belgium is the location of the Dutroux case and the X-Dossier, of NATO headquarters, and of the SDRA8 stay-behind network examined by a 1991 Senate inquiry and linked by Ganser to the Brabant massacres."
created: 2026-05-14
updated: 2026-10-12
updated: 2026-10-15
location: "Brussels, Belgium"
---
@ -23,16 +23,25 @@ The investigation generated the [[X-Dossier]], a collection of testimony from mu
Belgian investigative magistrate [[Jean-Marc Connerotte]] was controversially removed from the case in 1997 after attending a fundraising dinner for the victims' families, a decision that triggered mass public protests. The removal was widely interpreted as an attempt to shield powerful figures from investigation. Dutroux was ultimately convicted in 2004 of the murders of [[An Marchal]], [[Eefje Lambrecks]], Julie Lejeune, and Melissa Russo, as well as the abduction and rape of additional victims.[^1]
The Chamber's inquiry into the Dutroux-Nihoul investigation stated in its general conclusions of February 16, 1998 that there were indications that Dutroux and Nihoul had conducted polycriminal activity, that their networks had enjoyed "at various levels an indirect protection engendered by individual or collective phenomena of the blurring of the norm or of corrupting behaviours," and that it had found no indication of protections within the police, magistracy, administration or politics capable of explaining by themselves the failures in the investigations.[^3]
### NATO and Brussels
Belgium hosts NATO headquarters in Brussels, established there in 1967 after [[Charles de Gaulle]] expelled NATO from French soil. NATO's headquarters are at Evere in the Brussels region, and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ([[SHAPE]]) is at Casteau, where the American commands were transferred from Rocquencourt after France left the integrated military command.[^3] The Belgian intelligence service [[SURETE DE L'ETAT]] (State Security) maintained liaison relationships with partner services, and Belgian military intelligence had connections to the [[Gladio]] stay-behind network.[^2] In 1991 a Belgian Senate inquiry into an international clandestine intelligence network examined two units, the STC/Mob branch of the Sûreté and SDRA VIII. It recorded that the Belgian secretariat of the NATO Clandestine Planning Committee was a branch of SDRA and that the secretariat was abolished on April 1, 1991, according to two witnesses.[^3]
Belgium hosts NATO headquarters in Brussels, established there in 1967 after [[Charles de Gaulle]] expelled NATO from French soil. NATO's headquarters are at Evere in the Brussels region, and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ([[SHAPE]]) is at Casteau, where the American commands were transferred from Rocquencourt after France left the integrated military command.[^4] The Belgian intelligence service [[SURETE DE L'ETAT]] (State Security) maintained liaison relationships with partner services, and Belgian military intelligence had connections to the [[Gladio]] stay-behind network.[^2] In 1991 a Belgian Senate inquiry into an international clandestine intelligence network examined two units, the STC/Mob branch of the Sûreté and SDRA VIII. It recorded that the Belgian secretariat of the NATO Clandestine Planning Committee was a branch of SDRA and that the secretariat was abolished on April 1, 1991, according to two witnesses.[^4]
### Gladio and the Strategy of Tension
Belgium was among the NATO member states that hosted a Gladio stay-behind network during the Cold War. The Belgian network - known as [[SDRA8]] within military intelligence - maintained weapons caches and a trained paramilitary personnel roster, as in other NATO countries. Belgian investigations following the 1990 Italian disclosure of Gladio's existence revealed that the Belgian network had possible connections to the unsolved [[Brabant massacres]] (early 1982 to November 1985; [[Daniele Ganser]] dates them 1983 to 1985), in which a gang killed 28 people in supermarket robberies whose apparent purpose exceeded any criminal rationale - suggesting, to investigators, a connection to stay-behind network operations designed to destabilize the political landscape.[^1]
The Senate inquiry reported in October 1991 that it found no indication of any link between the network and terrorist acts or serious banditry committed in Belgium over the previous ten years, and that within the limits of its information no direct link could be established between SDRA VIII or STC/Mob and the persons and organizations investigated in the 1980 and 1988 inquiries into the Brabant killings. The same report recorded that its magistrate-experts had been refused the identities of the civilian agents of the two units, which it said had prevented verifications that would probably have eliminated all doubt, and that a State Security officer, an SDRA officer, an SDRI officer who had been a court-appointed expert in several Brabant cases and a gendarme had all been in sustained contact with Major Bougerol of the gendarmerie in the same period, two of them belonging with him to a confraternity. It also recorded contacts between the military Public Information Office, the [[Front de la Jeunesse]] and other extreme-right organizations.[^5] The word Gladio was unknown in Belgium until November 1990, according to the same report.[^5]
The Chamber of Representatives opened a separate parliamentary inquiry into the Brabant killings in June 1996 and reported on October 14, 1997 (Doc. 573/8). Its first annex, an inventory of publicly formulated grievances written for the commission by the law professors [[Cyrille Fijnaut]] and [[Raf Verstraeten]], examines the leads in the investigation, among them the extreme-right Front de la Jeunesse and the [[Westland New Post]] (WNP), which [[Paul Latinus]] formed in 1981. It records that the WNP was credited by some with contacts in the army and the gendarmerie, reproduces a journalist's 1983 view that the Brabant killers were terrorists who may have belonged to the WNP, and quotes the 1995 statement of the investigator Barrez that the WNP should have been investigated more thoroughly and that it remained open whether State Security had used the group. It quotes the Senate commission's magistrate-experts as finding no element showing that SDRA VIII or STC/Mob members played a role in the crimes, while calling the continued activity of Major Bougerol after the Public Information Office was wound up a "disturbing" finding and stating that the activities of extreme-right movements "manipulated or not by foreign services," tolerated and even patronized by authorities of military intelligence, "deserve the attention of Parliament."[^6]
### Footnotes
[^1]: "Belgium," *Encyclopaedia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/place/Belgium
[^2]: "Belgian X-Dossiers of the Dutroux Affair: the Accused," Institute for the Study of Globalization and Covert Politics, 2007. https://www.isgp-studies.com/belgian-x-dossiers-of-the-marc-dutroux-affair-the-accused
[^3]: Belgian Senate, Doc. 1117-4 (1990-1991), "Enquête parlementaire sur l'existence en Belgique d'un réseau de renseignements clandestin international," rapport fait au nom de la commission par MM. Erdman et Hasquin, October 1, 1991. https://senate.be/lexdocs/S0523/S05231297.pdf
[^3]: Belgian Chamber of Representatives, Doc. 713/8-96/97, February 16, 1998, section 6, "Conclusions générales," pp. 148-149 (translated from the French). https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/49/0713/49K0713008.pdf
[^4]: Belgian Senate, Doc. 1117-4 (1990-1991), "Enquête parlementaire sur l'existence en Belgique d'un réseau de renseignements clandestin international," rapport fait au nom de la commission par MM. Erdman et Hasquin, October 1, 1991. https://senate.be/lexdocs/S0523/S05231297.pdf
[^5]: Belgian Senate, Doc. 1117-4 (1990-1991), report of Erdman and Hasquin, October 1, 1991, sections on the Gladio affair, the STC/Mob and SDRA VIII units, and the conclusions on the Brabant investigations and on the fourth question. https://senate.be/lexdocs/S0523/S05231297.pdf
[^6]: Belgian Chamber of Representatives, Doc. 573/8 (1995-1996), report of Renaat Landuyt and Jean-Jacques Viseur, October 14, 1997, Annex I (C. Fijnaut and R. Verstraeten), sections III.3.3 and III.3.10 (translated from the French). Archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20070930043308/http://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/49/0573/49K0573008.pdf

4
60 - PLACES/COUNTRIES/Israel.md
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@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ tags:
- ArmsTrade
summary: "Middle Eastern state whose undeclared nuclear arsenal, intelligence operations in the United States, covert arms sales to Iran and Latin America, and surveillance-technology industry run through much of this vault."
created: 2025-07-22
updated: 2026-10-12
updated: 2026-10-15
---
The State of [[Israel]] was established in 1948. Its intelligence services are the [[Mossad]] (foreign intelligence), [[Shin Bet]] (internal security) and military intelligence, [[Aman]], whose signals arm is [[Unit 8200]]; a fourth agency under the defense ministry, the Science Liaison Bureau, [[LAKAM]], collected technical information abroad until the [[Jonathan Pollard]] case of 1985.[^1][^2]
@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Unit 8200 is a recruiting ground of the Israeli private surveillance industry; v
[^8]: Sick, Gary. *October Surprise: America's Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan.* Times Books, 1991.
[^9]: Walsh, Lawrence E. *Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters.* 1993.
[^10]: "Probe by House finds no 'October surprise,'" *The Baltimore Sun,* January 13, 1993. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1993-01-13-1993013111-story.html
[^11]: "Ex-agent of the Mossad Implicated in Drug Deals with Panamanian," *Jewish Telegraphic Agency,* February 1988. https://www.jta.org/archive/ex-agent-of-the-mossad-implicated-in-drug-deals-with-panamanian
[^11]: "Ex-agent of the Mossad Implicated in Drug Deals with Panamanian," *Jewish Telegraphic Agency,* April 14, 1988. https://www.jta.org/archive/ex-agent-of-the-mossad-implicated-in-drug-deals-with-panamanian
[^12]: "Media Baron Sues Seymour Hersh," *The Washington Post,* October 25, 1991. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/10/25/media-baron-sues-seymour-hersh/c16c29e2-04ba-4038-9fff-08113fa33b77/ ; "Maxwell, Colossus Even in Death, Laid to Rest on Mount of Olives," *Jewish Telegraphic Agency,* 1991. https://www.jta.org/archive/maxwell-colossus-even-in-death-laid-to-rest-on-mount-of-olives
[^13]: "Where NSO Group Came From and Why It's Just the Tip of the Iceberg," OCCRP, 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
[^14]: Ronen Bergman, "Weaving a cyber web," *Ynetnews*, January 11, 2019. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5444998,00.html

2
60 - PLACES/COUNTRIES/United Kingdom.md
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@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ The [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]] maintained its principal globa
### Robert Maxwell
Press baron [[Robert Maxwell]], a Czech-born British citizen whose claimed Mossad connections are attested by former Israeli intelligence officers [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] and [[Victor Ostrovsky]], built his empire from [[Oxford]]-based [[Pergamon Press]] and later [[Mirror Group Newspapers]]. [[Nicholas Davies]], the [[Daily Mirror]]'s foreign editor, was accused of being a Mossad asset. Maxwell died under disputed circumstances in November 1991; the subsequent collapse of his business empire revealed massive pension fund fraud.[^1]
Press baron [[Robert Maxwell]], a Czech-born British citizen whose claimed Mossad connections are attested by former Israeli intelligence officers [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] and [[Victor Ostrovsky]], built his empire from [[Oxford, England|Oxford]]-based [[Pergamon Press]] and later [[Mirror Group Newspapers]]. [[Nicholas Davies]], the [[Daily Mirror]]'s foreign editor, was accused of being a Mossad asset. Maxwell died under disputed circumstances in November 1991; the subsequent collapse of his business empire revealed massive pension fund fraud.[^1]
### Arms-to-Iraq

2
60 - PLACES/LANDMARKS/Deep Creek Lodge.md
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@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ After dinner on Thursday, November 19, Gottlieb produced a bottle of Cointreau a
### Olson's deterioration
Back at home Olson told his wife he had made "a terrible mistake" and felt humiliated by his behavior at the retreat. On Monday he reported to Ruwet, said he wanted to resign, and questioned his own competence. Ruwet and Lashbrook took him to [[New York]] to see Dr. [[Harold Abramson]], an allergist with a CIA clearance who served as the Agency's informal LSD consultant. Olson's condition worsened over the following days: he became convinced people were waiting outside a theater to arrest him, wandered the Manhattan streets at night, tore up his money, and discarded his wallet. In the early morning of November 28, 1953, Olson went through the closed window of his tenth-floor room at the [[Statler Hotel]], with Lashbrook present in the room, falling to his death on the street below.[^1]
Back at home Olson told his wife he had made "a terrible mistake" and felt humiliated by his behavior at the retreat. On Monday he reported to Ruwet, said he wanted to resign, and questioned his own competence. Ruwet and Lashbrook took him to [[New York City|New York]] to see Dr. [[Harold Abramson]], an allergist with a CIA clearance who served as the Agency's informal LSD consultant. Olson's condition worsened over the following days: he became convinced people were waiting outside a theater to arrest him, wandered the Manhattan streets at night, tore up his money, and discarded his wallet. In the early morning of November 28, 1953, Olson went through the closed window of his tenth-floor room at the [[Statler Hotel]], with Lashbrook present in the room, falling to his death on the street below.[^1]
### Public disclosure

4
60 - PLACES/MILITARY_INSTALLATIONS/Area 51.md
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@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ relations:
role: "citizen suit against the Environmental Protection Agency over inspection and disclosure of reports on the site"
fn: 2
created: 2026-10-01
updated: 2026-10-03
updated: 2026-10-15
---
Area 51 is the map designation, used in the Central Intelligence Agency's history of the U-2 and OXCART programs, of the strip at Groom Lake in [[Lincoln County, Nevada|Lincoln County]], Nevada. The government's own phrase in court and in presidential determinations is "the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake."[^1][^2] The CIA's history of the program was released in a less redacted form in 2013.[^3]
@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Title XXX of Public Law 106-65, the Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1999 (113 S
### Frost v. Perry and Kasza v. Browner
Helen Frost, the widow of a former worker, and others proceeding as Does, who had worked at a classified operating location near Groom Lake, brought a citizen suit under the [[Resource Conservation and Recovery Act]] against the Air Force, [[Frost v. Perry]]; Stella Kasza and Does sued the [[Environmental Protection Agency]] for failing to inspect, inventory and disclose, [[Kasza v. Browner]]. The Air Force refused nearly all discovery as privileged, and Secretary of the Air Force [[Sheila Widnall]] invoked the military and state secrets privilege over categories of information including "security sensitive environmental data," with an unclassified declaration and a classified declaration reviewed by the court in camera; the court also reviewed a classified declaration of Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General [[Thomas S. Moorman Jr.]] The district court entered summary judgment for the Air Force because the privilege barred evidence on whether hazardous waste had been generated, stored or disposed of at the location. Frost argued on appeal, among other things, that the Secretary could not have personally reviewed all the information withheld and suggested that the privilege was used to cover up environmental crimes at the location. The EPA inspected the location from December 6, 1994 to March 10, 1995, after Kasza was filed; the court ruled that the statute contained no exception for classified information but that the President could exempt a facility, and EPA then obtained a presidential exemption. Cox News Service reported on August 16, 1994, in the [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]], that [[Jonathan Turley]], a law professor at the George Washington University National Law Center, had sued the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to enforce environmental laws at a secret air base in Nevada. According to the report, Turley said he represented unidentified current and former workers at "Area 51," and the suit alleged that the burning of hazardous and toxic wastes at the base caused serious injuries to employees and at least one death, and that employees who handled hazardous wastes were refused protective clothing. The report said Turley would ask the United States District Court in Washington to force the EPA to inspect and monitor the base, that the complaint was under seal pending a ruling on the use of fictitious names for complainants who feared retaliation, and that an EPA spokesman said he had no information. It described the base as also known as "Dreamland," on the edge of Groom Dry Lake about 90 miles north of Las Vegas inside a restricted Air Force range, and quoted Turley as saying, "We want to establish that workers at secret bases should not be forced to rely on the arbitrary protections of the military." The portion read does not mention EG&G.[^22] The plaintiffs were represented by Turley and [[Joan Manley]] of George Washington University; the government by lawyers of the [[Department of Justice]]; and KLAS, Inc. appeared as amicus. The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]] affirmed on January 8, 1998, remanding only attorney's fees and a sealing order, applying the privilege as defined in [[United States v. Reynolds]] (1953), and approved the "mosaic theory" under which seemingly innocuous information that is part of a classified mosaic may be withheld.[^2]
Helen Frost, the widow of a former worker, and others proceeding as Does, who had worked at a classified operating location near Groom Lake, brought a citizen suit under the [[Resource Conservation and Recovery Act]] against the Air Force, [[Frost v. Perry]]; Stella Kasza and Does sued the [[Environmental Protection Agency]] for failing to inspect, inventory and disclose, [[Kasza v. Browner]]. The Air Force refused nearly all discovery as privileged, and Secretary of the Air Force [[Sheila Widnall]] invoked the military and state secrets privilege over categories of information including "security sensitive environmental data," with an unclassified declaration and a classified declaration reviewed by the court in camera; the court also reviewed a classified declaration of Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General [[Thomas S. Moorman Jr.]] The district court entered summary judgment for the Air Force because the privilege barred evidence on whether hazardous waste had been generated, stored or disposed of at the location. Frost argued on appeal, among other things, that the Secretary could not have personally reviewed all the information withheld and suggested that the privilege was used to cover up environmental crimes at the location. The EPA inspected the location from December 6, 1994 to March 10, 1995, after Kasza was filed; the court ruled that the statute contained no exception for classified information but that the President could exempt a facility, and EPA then obtained a presidential exemption. Cox News Service reported on August 16, 1994, in the [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]], that [[Jonathan Turley]], a law professor at the [[George Washington University]] National Law Center, had sued the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to enforce environmental laws at a secret air base in Nevada. According to the report, Turley said he represented unidentified current and former workers at "Area 51," and the suit alleged that the burning of hazardous and toxic wastes at the base caused serious injuries to employees and at least one death, and that employees who handled hazardous wastes were refused protective clothing. The report said Turley would ask the United States District Court in Washington to force the EPA to inspect and monitor the base, that the complaint was under seal pending a ruling on the use of fictitious names for complainants who feared retaliation, and that an EPA spokesman said he had no information. It described the base as also known as "Dreamland," on the edge of Groom Dry Lake about 90 miles north of Las Vegas inside a restricted Air Force range, and quoted Turley as saying, "We want to establish that workers at secret bases should not be forced to rely on the arbitrary protections of the military." The portion read does not mention EG&G.[^22] The plaintiffs were represented by Turley and [[Joan Manley]] of George Washington University; the government by lawyers of the [[Department of Justice]]; and KLAS, Inc. appeared as amicus. The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]] affirmed on January 8, 1998, remanding only attorney's fees and a sealing order, applying the privilege as defined in [[United States v. Reynolds]] (1953), and approved the "mosaic theory" under which seemingly innocuous information that is part of a classified mosaic may be withheld.[^2]
President [[Bill Clinton]] signed Presidential Determination No. 95-45 on September 29, 1995: "I hereby exempt the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada from any Federal, State, interstate or local provision respecting control and abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal that would require the disclosure of classified information concerning that operating location to any unauthorized person." It states that the exemption "shall be effective for the full one-year statutory period" and was published in the Federal Register on October 10, 1995.[^2][^23] The authorizing statute, 42 U.S.C. 6961(a), limits any such exemption to one year, and the Federal Register carries a renewal for each year from 1995 through 2003: Presidential Determination 96-54 of September 28, 1996 (published October 8, 1996), 97-35 of September 26, 1997 (October 8, 1997), a determination of September 25, 1998 reported in an Air Force notice of October 23, 1998, Presidential Determination 99-37 of September 20, 1999 (Air Force notice of October 26, 1999), 2000-30 of September 19, 2000 (October 5, 2000), 2001-27 of September 18, 2001 (October 4, 2001), 2002-30 of September 13, 2002 (Air Force notice of December 24, 2002) and 2003-39 of September 16, 2003 (October 21, 2003). Each text describes the location as the subject of litigation in Kasza v. Browner (D. Nev. CV-S-94-795-PMP) and Frost v. Perry (D. Nev. CV-S-94-714-PMP).[^24] The Federal Register's index returns no further document with the phrase "Groom Lake" after October 21, 2003.[^24]

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---
category: "Region"
tags:
- Place
- Region
- Europe
- OperationGladio
- StayBehind
- NATO
- Belgium
- Dutroux
- ArmsTrade
- Mossad
- Iran
- ColdWar
- Paperclip
- BCCI
- Rolodex
- Extremism
- EpsteinNetwork
aliases:
- European continent
summary: "Europe as the vault records it: Cold War stay-behind networks and their NATO committees, the Belgian and Dutch child-abuse inquiries, Paperclip and BCCI, arms transfers to Iran, Israeli operations, and the continent's extremist networks."
created: 2026-10-15
updated: 2026-10-15
---
Europe is the region in which the vault places the postwar stay-behind networks and the allied military command structure, the Belgian and Dutch inquiries into protected criminal networks, the recruitment of German scientists, the European base of [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]], a set of arms transfers to [[Iran]] and [[Panama]], Israeli and Palestinian operations, the Berlin and Hungarian crises of the [[Cold War]], and the continent's neo-Nazi and online violent networks.
### Stay-behind networks and the Gladio affair
The stay-behind arrangements in Western Europe enter the vault through [[Italy]]. The parliamentary commission on terrorism in Italy, in its report on [[Operation Gladio]] approved in April 1992, records that the Italian military intelligence service (SIFAR) and its American counterpart concluded an agreement on November 26, 1956, to organize and implement a post-occupation clandestine network, commonly called stay-behind. The name Gladio first appeared at a meeting between the two services on October 18, 1956. The report says the Italian services first obtained support from British intelligence and then turned to the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], which appeared to have ample resources, including financial ones.[^1]
The Italian network was set up after similar networks had already been organized in [[France]], the Netherlands and [[Belgium]], which were in turn extended to Denmark and Norway and to German and Austrian territory under Allied control.[^2] Italy joined the [[Clandestine Planning Committee]], which operated within the [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe]] (SHAPE), as an associate member on May 19, 1959. A second body, the [[Allied Clandestine Committee]], was created in 1958 on the initiative of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and [[Luxembourg]] as members. Italy entered it on April 15, 1964, shortly after [[West Germany]].[^3]
The [[European Parliament]] adopted a joint resolution on the affair on November 22, 1990 (Official Journal C 324, December 24, 1990, p. 201), replacing five earlier motions. Its recitals refer to "the existence for 40 years of a clandestine parallel intelligence and armed operations organization in several Member States of the Community" which "has escaped all democratic controls and has been run by the secret services of the states concerned in collaboration with NATO." They record the fear that the network "may have interfered illegally in the internal political affairs of Member States or may still do so," that "in certain Member States military secret services (or uncontrolled branches thereof) were involved in serious cases of terrorism and crime," and that the Gladio organizations had "independent arsenals and military resources which give them an unknown strike potential."[^4]
The operative paragraphs condemn "the clandestine creation of manipulative and operational networks" and call for a full investigation into their nature, structure and aims, "the problem of terrorism in Europe and the possible collusion of the secret services of Member States or third countries." Paragraph 2 "protests vigorously at the assumption by certain US military personnel at SHAPE and in NATO of the right to encourage the establishment in Europe of a clandestine intelligence and operation network." Paragraph 3 calls on the member state governments "to dismantle all clandestine military and paramilitary networks." The resolution was forwarded to the Commission, the Council, the Secretary-General of [[NATO]] and the member state governments.[^5]
### Belgium and the Brabant investigations
A Senate commission of inquiry reported on October 1, 1991, that the word Gladio was unknown in Belgium until November 1990.[^6] The commission examined a clandestine international intelligence network with two Belgian units, the branch of [[SURETE DE L'ETAT|State Security]] known as STC/Mob and the military intelligence unit SDRA VIII, which the report examines as the Belgian stay-behind component ([[SDRA8]]). The Belgian secretariat of the Clandestine Planning Committee was abolished on April 1, 1991, according to two witnesses.[^7]
The commission took up the [[Brabant massacres]] directly. Its report states that, within the limits of the information it could obtain, no direct link could be established between SDRA VIII and STC/Mob on the one hand and the persons and organizations investigated in the 1980 and 1988 inquiries on the other. It records that a State Security officer, an SDRA officer, an SDRI officer who had been a court-appointed expert in several of the Brabant cases and a gendarme had all been in sustained contact with Major Bougerol of the gendarmerie in the same period, and that two of them belonged with him to the confraternity of the Hospitallers of Notre-Dame d'Aulne. It also records that contacts took place between the military Public Information Office, the Front de la Jeunesse and other extreme-right organizations.[^8]
Asked whether the network had any connection with terrorist acts or serious banditry committed in Belgium over the previous ten years, the Senate commission answered that it had no indication of one, and added that the refusal of the heads of SDRA VIII and STC/Mob to give the expert magistrates the identities of their civilian agents "did not allow the verifications that would probably have eliminated all doubt."[^9]
The Chamber of Representatives later opened its own inquiry into the Brabant killings, established in June 1996 with the Landuyt and Viseur report of October 14, 1997. Its first annex, an inventory of the publicly formulated grievances written for the commission by the law professors C. Fijnaut and R. Verstraeten of the Catholic University of Leuven, analyses the leads followed in the investigation and places the Westland New Post (WNP), an extreme-right group formed in 1981 by Paul Latinus from the dissolved Front de la Jeunesse, among the principal ones. The annex states that the WNP was credited by some with contacts in the army and the police, in particular the gendarmerie, and that its strength was put at between twenty and fifty members. It reproduces the 1983 view of a journalist, Haquin, that the Brabant killers were terrorists who possibly belonged to the WNP, and the 1995 statement of the investigator Barrez that the WNP "should have been the subject of a more thorough investigation long ago" and that it remained open whether State Security had gathered intelligence on the group or had used it.[^10]
The same annex quotes the final conclusions of the magistrate-experts who assisted the Senate commission. They found "no element making it possible to believe that members of SDRA VIII or STC/Mob" played a role in the criminal activities that alarmed public opinion, and added three observations: that Major Bougerol continued his activities after the Public Information Office was wound up and with the agreement of military security, which they called a disturbing finding; that the silence kept on the identity of agents prevented the necessary verifications; and that the activities of extreme-right movements, "manipulated or not by foreign services," tolerated and even patronized by authorities of the military intelligence service, "deserve the attention of Parliament."[^11] The experts also cite the theft of NATO documents, possibly by WNP members, and the theft of ammunition at Florennes as demonstrating "the manipulation of Belgian citizens by foreign services."[^12] The annex records that the former gendarme Martial Lekeu, interviewed in 1990, named Francis Dossogne, [[Baron Benoit de Bonvoisin]] and the CEPIC as the people behind the killers, and that the Belgian press reported at one point that former gendarmes frequently named in the case might have been used by the American Drug Enforcement Administration and the CIA. The Chamber annex also records that the Senate commission itself noted that Paul Latinus had claimed several times around 1981 to work for American services.[^13]
### Dutroux, Nihoul and the X-Dossier
A jury at Arlon convicted [[Marc Dutroux]] on June 17, 2004, of abducting six girls in 1995 and 1996 and of killing two of them and an accomplice, and convicted [[Jean-Michel Nihoul]] of belonging to a gang that smuggled drugs and people into Belgium.[^14] The Chamber's inquiry into the police and judicial handling of the case reported on April 14, 1997 (Doc. 713/6), and its supplementary report of February 16, 1998 (Doc. 713/8) states in its general conclusions that there were indications that Dutroux and Nihoul, separately or together, had conducted polycriminal activity covering fraud, drug trafficking, abduction and rape of children followed by murder, trafficking in human beings and car trafficking, and that the networks they set up had enjoyed "at various levels an indirect protection engendered by individual or collective phenomena of the blurring of the norm or of corrupting behaviours." In the same paragraph the commission stated that, on the data available to it and without prejudice to later judicial inquiries, it had found no indication that the criminal circles in question had enjoyed, within the police, the magistracy, the administration or politics, protections capable of explaining by themselves the failures, delays and anomalies in the investigations. It added that its work had been hampered "by the will of some to conceal information, to deny the obvious, to camouflage realities."[^15]
The commission's chapter on the Neufchâteau investigators, which belongs to the history of the [[X-Dossier]], records that it had been informed of a possible involvement of some protagonists in an unsolved murder in the Brussels region, that its investigator-counsellor Marique had contacted the Neufchâteau investigators working on the reopened inquiry, and that the Brussels examining magistrate [[Jean-Claude Van Espen]], who had led the investigation in the 1980s, reacted to those contacts in a manner the commission described as violent.[^16]
### The Rolodex investigation in the Netherlands
A Dutch government summary of the [[Rolodex Investigation]], dated December 23, 2013, describes the inquiry as growing out of a 1997 investigation into a homosexual brothel with an attached escort agency in [[Amsterdam]], which was halted for tactical reasons and reopened in May 1998. A witness in a separate sex case began describing the brothel in July 1998 and stated that he had seen the names of two chief public prosecutors on the brothel owner's client list, a rolodex. The summary states that the rolodex was never found in searches of the suspects' homes and premises.[^17]
A multidisciplinary team formed in August 1998 was given three tasks, one of them an inquiry into alleged sexual abuse of boys under sixteen by justice officials. The brothel owner and an associate were convicted by the Amsterdam district court on February 26, 1999, and sentenced to three years and fifteen months, with six months of the second sentence suspended. The [[College of Procurators-General]] concluded on March 24, 1999, that the allegations against the two prosecutors rested on the statements of one person whom the police regarded as unreliable. On September 21, 1999, it decided that no further criminal investigation of two other justice officials was warranted.[^18] The summary also states that the former secretary-general of the [[Ministry of Justice (Netherlands)|Ministry of Justice]] did not come up in the investigation in any way and that no information showed any involvement on his part.[^19]
The [[Public Prosecution Service]] asked the court on June 30, 2017, to approve a request to refrain from prosecuting [[Joris Demmink]].[^20]
### Italy: the P2 lodge
The final report of the Italian parliamentary commission on the P2 lodge, chaired by Tina Anselmi and communicated to the presidents of both chambers on July 12, 1984, examines the seizure at Castiglion Fibocchi, carried out by the Guardia di Finanza on the order of the Milan magistrates Turone and Colombo during their inquiry into the Sindona affair. The commission recorded that [[Licio Gelli]] was the Venerable Master of [[Propaganda Due]], that the General Commander of the Guardia di Finanza, General Orazio Giannini, telephoned the colonel conducting the search to warn him that the list of names contained "all the top levels" and that the operation could be extremely prejudicial to the corps, and that Giannini could not explain how he knew the contents of the lists. The report discusses a list of 962 presumed affiliates, and notes that a report of the civilian intelligence service SISDE on the lodge excluded the hypothesis that the list had been falsified. It treats the affair of the president of [[Banco Ambrosiano]], [[Roberto Calvi]], as part of the system of relations that centred on the lodge and on Gelli.[^21]
### Arms transfers through European cities
The 1988 report of the Senate subcommittee whose findings are known as the [[Kerry Report]] states that [[Manuel Noriega]] used his control of the Panamanian security apparatus to arrange end-user certificates, resold weapons to the highest bidder, and counted the [[Sandinistas]] among his earliest clients. The report says the weapons were bought in Europe by [[Michael Barari]] and [[Jorge Krupnick]], who worked with Noriega, and were moved to [[Costa Rica]] for shipment.[^22]
The [[Hashemi brothers]] appear in the record of a 1988 federal appeal. The Second Circuit described an indictment of Samuel Evans, general counsel to [[Adnan Khashoggi]], and other defendants who allegedly planned to sell to Iran arms manufactured in or licensed from the United States, then owned by foreign countries, by deceiving the government about the buyer. The arms were destined for [[Cyrus Hashemi]], whom the court identified as a government agent posing as an Iranian buyer, and the undercover operation ended before any arms changed hands.[^23]
[[Ari Ben-Menashe]] wrote in 1992 that [[Liege]] served as a hand-over point for American matériel that [[Israel]] bought from NATO stocks in Europe. According to his account, Israeli chartered cargo planes picked up the weapons there and returned to [[Tel Aviv]] before carrying them to Iran.[^24] He also wrote that the Israeli Defense Ministry bureau [[LAKAM]] set up front companies in Europe and Latin America to buy high-technology equipment from the United States, and that Iran spent more than 82 billion dollars on equipment from the United States, Israel, Europe, South America and South Africa between March 1981 and the end of 1987.[^25][^26] He wrote as well that, as a duty officer in [[Unit 8200]], he intercepted in 1976 a telegram recording bribes of 3.5 million dollars paid by a [[Lockheed Aircraft Company|Lockheed]] representative to Defense Minister [[Shimon Peres]], deposited in one of Peres's brother's business accounts in Europe. The account is also recorded on the [[Lockheed bribe scandal]] entry.[^27]
[[Seymour Hersh]] wrote in *The Samson Option* that depleted uranium processed at [[Machons (Dimona Facilities)]] was prepared for shipment to the [[Israel Defense Forces]] or for sale to arms manufacturers in Europe.[^28]
A Central Intelligence Agency paper of October 19, 1973, on the Arab oil embargo that followed the [[Yom Kippur War]], is cited in the [[Foreign Relations of the United States]] volume on the crisis. It judged that the embargo's effect on the United States "would be relatively small, and after the first month, the brunt of the cutback would fall on Europe and Japan."[^29]
### Israeli operations and Palestinian militant networks
Ben-Menashe wrote that after the 1972 attack at the [[Munich Olympic Massacre|Munich Olympics]], [[Black September]] fought a battle with [[Mossad]] agents in Europe.[^30] The Mossad campaign that followed, [[Operation Wrath of God]], is described by [[Simon Reeve]] and [[George Jonas]] as a series of killings across Europe over several years, including the July 1973 killing in [[Lillehammer]], Norway, of a Moroccan waiter mistaken for a Black September operations chief.[^31] Ben-Menashe also describes booking an [[Air France]] flight from Europe to Israel for [[Sayeed Mehdi Kashani]], and he describes [[Strategic Intelligence Services]], a firm that recruited mercenaries and was involved in an unsuccessful coup in the [[Seychelles]] in November 1981.[^32][^33]
### Operation Paperclip
The final report of the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group to Congress records that by 1946 the Pentagon's Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) was pushing for a larger program of recruiting German and Austrian scientists and technicians, that the JIOA wanted 1,000 of them and the authority to grant them citizenship, and that President [[Harry S. Truman]] authorized the plan in September 1946 while insisting that only "nominal participants" in the Nazi party be admitted. The report states that between 1945 and 1955, 765 scientists, engineers and technicians were brought to the United States under Overcast, [[Operation Paperclip]] and similar programs, and quotes the historian Clarence Lasby's estimate that up to 80 percent of the immigrant specialists had been Nazi Party members.[^34]
### The Bank of Credit and Commerce International in Luxembourg and London
The 1992 Kerry and Brown report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee records that [[Agha Hasan Abedi]] needed five things to create Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the first being a bank secrecy and confidentiality haven, "which he found first in Luxembourg, and then in Grand Caymans." The report states that BCCI was initially incorporated in Luxembourg alone, that a holding company was created two years later with the bank beneath it split into BCCI S.A., headquartered in Luxembourg, and BCCI Overseas, headquartered in [[Grand Cayman]], and that Luxembourg was used mostly for BCCI's European and Middle East locations. Its account of the share register notes that several of the shareholders on BCCI's Luxembourg register were nominees acting for the bank.[^35]
The Bank of England closed BCCI on July 5, 1991. The Bingham inquiry reported to the British government in October 1992, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont, summarised it to the House of Commons on October 22, 1992: BCCI's first branch had opened in London in 1972, the Bank of England had been "slow to impose on BCCI an appropriate supervisory regime," and it had "continued for too long to rely on the Luxembourg authorities to play the leading role." Lamont told the House that the report showed "no duplicity or bad faith" and that the Bank "was party to no conspiracy or cover-up," made after he referred to wild allegations about the Bank's role in the affair.[^36]
### Epstein's Paris investigation
The Paris prosecutor's office opened its own investigation into [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in August 2019, a month after his arrest in New York, citing his ownership of an apartment in an upmarket district of Paris and the accounts of women who said they were abused in France, and issued a call for witnesses in September 2019. The inquiry targeted "acts of sexual nature likely to have been committed by Jeffrey Epstein and possible accomplices." On December 19, 2020, French prosecutors announced that they had charged [[Jean-Luc Brunel]], the model-agency founder who had founded MC2 Model Management in the United States with Epstein, with rape of minors over fifteen and sexual harassment.[^37]
### The Congress for Cultural Freedom
The [[Office of Policy Coordination]] of the CIA financed the planned Berlin meeting of the [[Congress for Cultural Freedom]]. A CIA document released by the [[Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel]] records that [[Frank Wisner]] approved a 50,000 dollar project on April 7, 1950, and asked that [[Melvin Lasky]] and [[James Burnham]] be kept out of sight, for fear that their presence would give critics ammunition against the Berlin conference. The congress met in Berlin in June 1950. The OPC bought tickets for the American delegation and passed most of the money through the [[National Committee for Free Europe]] and [[Jay Lovestone]]'s [[Free Trade Union Conference]].[^38]
### Information libraries and the McCarthy subcommittee
[[G. David Schine]], the only unpaid staff member of the Senate investigations subcommittee chaired by [[Joseph McCarthy]], made an April 1953 tour with [[Roy Cohn]] of U.S. information libraries in Europe. The Senate's historical introduction to the subcommittee's executive sessions records the tour, and it records that the closed hearings then turned to the Voice of America and the overseas information libraries, where the subcommittee questioned the availability of books by suspected Communists.[^39][^40]
### Intelligence careers
[[Stephen Kappes]] joined the CIA in January 1981 and, according to the agency's biography of him, had more than twelve years of overseas assignments in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.[^41]
### Cold War crises: Berlin and Budapest
On August 13, 1961, the [[East Germany|German Democratic Republic]] introduced control measures that effectively prevented residents of the Soviet sector and East Berlin from entering West Berlin, according to the State Department editorial note on the [[Berlin Crisis]].[^42]
Legation telegrams from [[Budapest]] reported contact with the insurgents of the [[Hungarian Revolution]] on October 25 and 26, 1956, and on October 27 reported that the wives of two leaders of the insurgent writers had asked the Legation for U.S. assistance in arranging a twelve-hour armistice.[^43]
### The Cutler travel record and the MJ-12 documents
The Majestic 12 documents, which [[Jaime Shandera]] and [[William L. Moore]] published, were examined by the National Archives. Its reference report records a memorandum dated July 20, 1954, from [[Robert Cutler]] that refers to his visits to installations in Europe and North Africa between July 3 and 15, 1954.[^44]
### SAVAK and Iranian students abroad
A telegram from the Embassy in Tehran of November 1, 1976, printed in the State Department's volume on Iran, carries an editorial footnote citing an article in [[The Washington Post]] of October 26, 1976, by [[Jack Anderson]] and [[Les Whitten]] which claimed that [[SAVAK]] agents "hound and harass Iranians in the United States, with the full knowledge and sometimes the assistance of the CIA." The same footnote records that other sources claimed SAVAK was sending assassination squads into Europe and the United States to eliminate Iranian dissidents, one of whom, [[Reza Baraheni]], requested that the Attorney General investigate.[^45]
### Extremist and online violent networks
The Europol terrorism situation and trend report for 2024 (published 2025) states that 449 individuals were arrested for terrorism-related offences across 20 member states, that the number of minors and young people involved in terrorist and violent extremist activity continued to grow, and that "in the right-wing milieu, the very young age of some of the suspects arrested for planning and preparing attacks poses great concerns." It describes "the growing engagement of right-wing extremists with online occultism and satanist communities" and online communities with ideological overlaps with jihadist terrorism, violent right-wing extremism and accelerationism, "but also satanism and occultism."[^46]
In the United Kingdom, Schedule 2 to the Terrorism Act 2000 lists [[National Action]], added by an order made on December 15, 2016, together with the [[Sonnenkrieg Division]], the Feuerkrieg Division, [[Atomwaffen Division]] (including the National Socialist Order) and The Base. The schedule does not list [[Combat 18]] or the [[Order of Nine Angles]].[^47] The German interior minister banned Combat 18 Deutschland under the association law on January 23, 2020, in raids that involved 210 police officers in six states.[^48] The Supreme Court of Finland ordered the [[Nordic Resistance Movement]] and its registered association disbanded on September 22, 2020, the first court-ordered dissolution of an extreme-right group in Finland since 1977.[^49]
Dutch media reported in October 2025 that a 25-year-old from [[Eindhoven]] had been arrested at the end of July 2025 and was held in the terrorism wing of the [[Vught Prison]]. Prosecutors say he led the online network [[No Lives Matter]], which is reportedly an offshoot of the international chat group [[764]], and that he encouraged others to extreme violence and self-harm and blackmailed young people with sexually explicit material. The prosecution treats the alleged offenses as crimes with a terrorist intent.[^50] His lawyer said that he admitted founding the group, that he left it in 2021 or 2022, and that not every young person who behaves violently online is a terrorist.[^51]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Commissione parlamentare d'inchiesta sul terrorismo in Italia e sulle cause della mancata individuazione dei responsabili delle stragi, *Relazione sull'inchiesta condotta sulle vicende connesse all'operazione Gladio*, Doc. XXIII n. 51, approved April 14 and 15, 1992, communicated April 22, 1992, chapter on the origins of the network (translated from the Italian). https://www.parlamento.it/service/PDF/PDFServer/BGT/909971.pdf
[^2]: Same report, origins chapter, on the networks in France, the Netherlands and Belgium and their extension to Denmark, Norway and the German and Austrian territories under Allied control.
[^3]: Same report, chapters on the Clandestine Planning Committee and the Allied Clandestine Committee, including the Italian entries of May 19, 1959 and April 15, 1964.
[^4]: European Parliament, "Resolution on the Gladio affair," joint resolution replacing motions B3-2021, B3-2058, B3-2068, B3-2078 and B3-2087/90, November 22, 1990, *Official Journal of the European Communities* C 324, December 24, 1990, p. 201, recitals A to G; text as reproduced by Statewatch, "GLADIO - resolution of the European Parliament." https://www.statewatch.org/statewatch-database/gladio-resolution-of-the-european-parliament (archived copy at https://web.archive.org/web/2023/https://www.statewatch.org/statewatch-database/gladio-resolution-of-the-european-parliament)
[^5]: Same resolution, operative paragraphs 1 to 8.
[^6]: Belgian Senate, Doc. 1117-4 (1990-1991), report of Erdman and Hasquin on behalf of the parliamentary inquiry into a clandestine international intelligence network, October 1, 1991, section on the Gladio affair. https://senate.be/lexdocs/S0523/S05231297.pdf
[^7]: Same report, sections on the STC/Mob and SDRA VIII units and on the Belgian secretariat of the Clandestine Planning Committee, citing two witnesses on its abolition on April 1, 1991.
[^8]: Same report, conclusions on the Brabant investigations (point A, no direct link established with the persons and organizations of the 1980 and 1988 inquiries; point B, sustained contacts of Massart, Fagnart, Dery and Mayerus with Major Bougerol and the confraternity of the Hospitallers of Notre-Dame d'Aulne; point C, contacts between the Public Information Office, the Front de la Jeunesse and other extreme-right organizations).
[^9]: Same report, fourth question: "La Commission ne dispose d'aucune indication permettant de conclure qu'il y a eu le moindre lien entre le réseau et les actes de terrorisme et de grand banditisme," followed by the passage on the refusal to identify civilian agents (translated from the French).
[^10]: Belgian Chamber of Representatives, Doc. 573/8 (1995-1996), parliamentary inquiry into the organization and functioning of the police and judicial apparatus in light of the difficulties of the investigation into the "tueurs du Brabant," report of Renaat Landuyt and Jean-Jacques Viseur, October 14, 1997, Annex I (inventory of the publicly formulated grievances, by C. Fijnaut and R. Verstraeten), section III.3.3, "La piste en direction du WNP" (translated from the French). Archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20070930043308/http://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/49/0573/49K0573008.pdf
[^11]: Same annex, section III.3.10, "Le réseau allié 'stay-behind' était-il impliqué ?", quoting the final report of the Senate commission (CEP4, 152-153).
[^12]: Same annex, section III.3.10, on the theft of NATO documents and of ammunition at Florennes and the undated note on "secret diplomacy" appended to the Senate report.
[^13]: Same annex, sections III.3.3 and III.3.10, including footnote 191 on press reports concerning the DEA and the CIA and the Senate commission's note on Paul Latinus's claims of working for American services around 1981.
[^14]: "Notorious child rapist-murderer convicted," Associated Press via NBC News, June 17, 2004. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5233011
[^15]: Belgian Chamber of Representatives, Doc. 713/8-96/97, supplementary report of February 16, 1998, section 6, "Conclusions générales," pp. 148-149 (translated from the French); first report Doc. 713/6-96/97, April 14, 1997. https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/49/0713/49K0713008.pdf and https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/49/0713/49K0713006.pdf (archived copies at web.archive.org/web/2024id_/ followed by each address)
[^16]: Same Doc. 713/8-96/97, chapter V, "Problèmes internes au sein de l'antenne de Neufchâteau," section 1, "Justification."
[^17]: Summary of the background, course, results and decision-making of the Rolodex investigation, December 23, 2013, attachment to Dutch parliamentary documents (Eerste Kamer). https://eerstekamer.nl/9370000/1/j4nvgs5kjg27kof_j9vvkfvj6b325az/vjigib8p5szh
[^18]: Same summary, sections on the team of August 1998, the convictions of February 26, 1999, and the decisions of the College of Procurators-General of March 24 and September 21, 1999.
[^19]: Same summary, section on the former secretary-general of the Ministry of Security and Justice.
[^20]: Openbaar Ministerie, press release, "OM vraagt bewilliging van verzoek af te zien van vervolging Demmink," June 30, 2017. https://www.om.nl/actueel/nieuws/2017/06/30/om-vraagt-bewilliging-van-verzoek-af-te-zien-van-vervolging-demmink
[^21]: Camera dei Deputati and Senato della Repubblica, IX Legislatura, Doc. XXIII n. 2, *Relazione della Commissione parlamentare d'inchiesta sulla loggia massonica P2* (Anselmi), communicated July 12, 1984, introductory section on Calvi and Gelli and section I, "Il sequestro di Castiglion Fibocchi," and section II on the authenticity of the lists (translated from the Italian). https://www.parlamento.it/service/PDF/PDFServer/BGT/909679.pdf
[^22]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy*, S. Prt. 100-165, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. (December 1988), Panama chapter, on Noriega's earliest arms clients, the European purchases by Barari and Krupnick, and the shipment through Costa Rica. https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
[^23]: *United States v. Evans*, 844 F.2d 36 (2d Cir. 1988), opinion of Chief Judge Feinberg. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/504381/united-states-v-evans/
[^24]: Ari Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network* (Sheridan Square Press, 1992; TrineDay reprint, 2015), account of Liege.
[^25]: Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War*, account of LAKAM and its front companies in Europe and Latin America.
[^26]: Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War*, account of Iranian expenditure from March 1981 to the end of 1987.
[^27]: Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War*, account of the 1976 telegram on Lockheed payments to Peres.
[^28]: Seymour M. Hersh, *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy* (Random House, 1991), chapter 15, on Machon 10.
[^29]: *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976*, vol. XXV, *Arab-Israeli Crisis and War, 1973*, editorial note on the oil embargo citing a Central Intelligence Agency paper of October 19, 1973. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v25
[^30]: Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War*, account of Black September.
[^31]: Simon Reeve, *One Day in September: The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre* (Faber and Faber, 2000); George Jonas, *Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team* (1984), on the campaign and the Lillehammer killing.
[^32]: Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War*, account of the Air France booking for Sayeed Mehdi Kashani.
[^33]: Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War*, account of Strategic Intelligence Services and the Seychelles.
[^34]: Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group, *Final Report to Congress* (April 2007), pp. 14-15, citing Clarence Lasby, *Project Paperclip* (Atheneum, 1975). https://www.archives.gov/files/iwg/reports/final-report-2007.pdf
[^35]: Senator John Kerry and Senator Hank Brown, *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate*, December 1992, ch. 3, "The Origin and Early Years of BCCI" (critical elements of BCCI's creation; rapid expansion; nominee shareholders on the Luxembourg register). https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/03hist.htm
[^36]: House of Commons, "BCCI (Bingham Report)," statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Norman Lamont, *Hansard*, October 22, 1992. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1992/oct/22/bcci-bingham-report; on the closure date of July 5, 1991, Kerry and Brown, *The BCCI Affair*, ch. 1, "Executive Summary." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/01exec.htm
[^37]: "France charges Epstein ex-associate over sex crime claims," *Al Jazeera*, December 19, 2020, reporting the statement of the Paris prosecutor's office. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/19/france-charges-epstein-ex-associate-over-sex-crime-claims
[^38]: National Archives, Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel, release 2014-090, Doc. 1, pt. 3 of 12, CIA history of the origins of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, including the April 7, 1950 approval, the instruction on Lasky and Burnham, the OPC ticket purchases and the funding routes. https://www.archives.gov/files/declassification/iscap/pdf/2014-090-doc-1-part-3.pdf
[^39]: U.S. Senate, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, *Executive Sessions*, vol. 1, S. Prt. 107-84 (2003), historical introduction by Donald A. Ritchie, on the Schine tour and the information libraries. https://www.senate.gov/about/resources/pdf/mccarthy-hearings-volume1.pdf
[^40]: Same, historical introduction, on the closed hearings and the overseas information libraries.
[^41]: Central Intelligence Agency, "Stephen R. Kappes," About CIA, Leadership, archived April 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070612215306/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/kappes.html
[^42]: *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963*, vol. XIV, *Berlin Crisis, 1961-1962*, editorial note on the events of August 13, 1961. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v14
[^43]: *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955-1957*, vol. XXV, *Eastern Europe*, Legation telegrams from Budapest of October 26 to 27, 1956, including Telegrams 161, 163, 166 and 169. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v25
[^44]: National Archives, "Majestic 12 or 'MJ-12' Reference Report," in "Project BLUE BOOK - Unidentified Flying Objects," on the Cutler memorandum of July 20, 1954 and the July 3 to 15 travel. https://www.archives.gov/research/military/air-force/ufos
[^45]: *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976*, vol. XXVII, *Iran; Iraq, 1973-1976*, Document 193, telegram from the Embassy in Iran to the Department of State, November 1, 1976, editorial footnote citing *The Washington Post*, October 26, 1976. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v27
[^46]: Europol, *European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) 2025*, summary, "Key points" and "Developments across the spectrum of terrorism and violent extremism in the EU," pp. 2-4. https://www.europol.europa.eu/cms/sites/default/files/documents/TE-SAT%202025%20-%20Summary%20-%20EN.pdf
[^47]: Terrorism Act 2000, Schedule 2 (proscribed organisations), https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/schedule/2; The Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 2016, SI 2016/1238, made December 15, 2016, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/1238/made; The Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2021, SI 2021/501 (Atomwaffen Division), https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/501/made
[^48]: "Seehofer verbietet rechtsextremistischen Verein 'Combat 18 Deutschland,'" *beck-aktuell*, January 23, 2020. https://www.beck-aktuell.de/heute-im-recht/rechtsgeschehen/seehofer-verbietet-rechtsextremistischen-verein-combat-18-deutschland-2020-01-23
[^49]: Daniel Sallamaa and Tommi Kotonen, "The case against the Nordic Resistance Movement in Finland: an overview and some explanations," C-REX Center for Research on Extremism, University of Oslo, November 2, 2020. https://www.sv.uio.no/c-rex/english/news-and-events/right-now/2020/the-case-against-the-nordic-resistance-movement.html
[^50]: "Oprichter (25) van sadistisch netwerk zegt dat hij zijn leven had gebeterd," *NOS*, October 28, 2025, on the prosecution's allegations and the terrorist intent of the alleged offenses. https://nos.nl/l/2588258
[^51]: Same article, on the defense statement of the suspect's lawyer.

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---
category: "U.S. State"
tags:
- Place
- USState
- CorporateShells
- CourtOfChancery
- BankruptcyCourt
- Epstein
- CentralIntelligenceAgency
- HowardHughes
summary: "State of incorporation for the Epstein aircraft companies, In-Q-Tel and most of the vault's corporate shells, and the forum of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute trustee suit and the FTX bankruptcy."
aliases:
- State of Delaware
- Delaware, United States
created: 2026-10-15
updated: 2026-10-15
relations:
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Howard Hughes Medical Institute]]"
start: 1979-06-26
end: 1979-10-26
role: "Attorney General of Delaware, joint plaintiff with William R. Lummis, in Wier v. Howard Hughes Medical Institute"
fn: 53
---
Delaware is a Mid-Atlantic state and the legal domicile of most of the corporations, limited partnerships and limited liability companies named on this site. Delaware law allows an entity to come into existence on a filing with the state and gives it a file number.[^1][^2] The state's courts appear as well, chiefly the [[Delaware Court of Chancery]], which heard the trustee suit over the [[Howard Hughes Medical Institute]], and the [[United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware]], where the FTX Chapter 11 case and several adversary proceedings involving SkyBridge-related parties were filed. In the Supreme Court record the state is the respondent in [[Franks v. Delaware]].
### Delaware General Corporation Law and the registry
Any person, partnership, association or corporation, without regard to residence, domicile or state of incorporation, may incorporate under the General Corporation Law by filing a certificate of incorporation with the Division of Corporations in the Department of State.[^3] The certificate must state the corporation's name, the address of its registered office in the state and the name of its registered agent at that address.[^4] The Limited Liability Company Act likewise requires a certificate of formation that sets out the name, the registered office and the registered agent, and the company exists from the moment of filing.[^2] The corporation law also permits the certificate to eliminate the personal liability of directors and officers to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty, subject to enumerated exceptions.[^5] A stockholder may inspect the corporation's books and records for a proper purpose on written demand under oath, and the Court of Chancery hears the proceedings to compel it.[^6]
The federal Corporate Transparency Act, enacted on January 1, 2021 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, directed the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to collect beneficial ownership information from entities formed by a state filing.[^7] On March 26, 2025, FinCEN published an interim final rule (90 Fed. Reg. 13688) that confined the reporting requirement to entities formed under foreign law and registered to do business in the United States, exempting entities previously defined as domestic reporting companies from reporting beneficial ownership information.[^8] A final rule of August 14, 2026 (91 Fed. Reg. 52508) adopted the interim rule with changes, and also exempted reporting companies from submitting information about their U.S. person company applicants.[^9]
### Corporate domicile and the Division of Corporations
The Division of Corporations record for a Delaware entity gives a file number, a formation date and the name of a registered agent. [[GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp.]] appears under file number 2015058, with a formation date of August 15, 1983, and [[Corporation Guarantee and Trust Company]] of [[Wilmington, Delaware|Wilmington]] as registered agent.[^10] [[Christopher Byron]] wrote in 1991 that court records showed the company incorporated in July 1983.[^11] [[Mark Phythian]] gives August 15, 1983 as the date on which a company presented as private was formed in Delaware to sell or exchange weapons.[^12]
The [[Counter Terrorism Consultants, Inc.]] partnership, CounterTerrorism Consultants, L.P., was filed as a Delaware limited partnership under file number 2168210 on August 1, 1988.[^13] It registered in the District of Columbia as a foreign limited partnership on August 5, 1988, under file number 058088, with the corporation at 2300 M Street NW as its registered agent.[^14] The 1988 membership directory of the [[International Association of Chiefs of Police]] lists [[Carter Cornick]] as president of the corporation at that address.[^15] On August 2, 1988, [[United Press International]] reported that a group of former FBI agents and federal prosecutors had formed a consulting firm, a report that appeared the day after the partnership's filing.[^16]
The [[Commodity Credit Corporation]] holds its present federal charter under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act of June 29, 1948. That act dissolved an earlier corporation of the same name organized under Delaware law and transferred its rights, duties, assets and liabilities to the new body, as the [[Government Corporation Control Act]] of 1945 required of wholly owned government corporations.[^17]
[[Discord]] Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its business address in [[San Francisco|San Francisco, California]].[^18] In his January 31, 2024 testimony before the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary]], [[Jason Citron]] stated that he had co-founded the company in 2015, that more than 150 million people used the service each month, that more than 75 percent of them were outside the [[United States]], and that Discord sold no advertising and charged for subscriptions and server boosts.[^19]
### Epstein aircraft and the AdFin shareholding
[[Air Ghislaine, Inc.]] was a Delaware corporation with a registered address in Wilmington and an office address for [[Jeffrey Epstein]] in New York. It held fractional jet shares and helicopters from at least January 2000.[^20] Its name carried the first name of [[Ghislaine Maxwell]]. It was renamed Shmitka Air, Inc. on February 11, 2010, and Freedom Air International, Inc. on July 6, 2010.[^21] A forensic accountant's table of Epstein entities lists Freedom Air International as wholly owned by Epstein and cites a consent of the sole stockholder dated December 7, 2012.[^20] The company's filings with the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] list as signing officers Epstein's chief pilot [[Larry Visoski]] until the 2010 renaming.[^21]
[[JEGE, Inc.]] was a Delaware corporation through which Epstein owned the Boeing 727-31 registered N908JE, the aircraft the press called the [[Lolita Express]]. A 2007 federal draft indictment, never filed, describes Epstein as its principal owner, its president, sole director and sole shareholder, and says its sole business activities concerned the operation and ownership of that aircraft.[^22] A separate company, JEGE, LLC, was organized in [[St. Thomas]], [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], on October 19, 2012, with Epstein and Visoski as members.[^22]
[[Hyperion Air]], Inc. was a Delaware corporation with a registered address in Wilmington. It bought Epstein's Gulfstream jet N909JE in 1994. The same unfiled 2007 draft indictment describes Epstein as its president, sole director and sole shareholder, and says its sole business activities concerned that Gulfstream.[^23] Hyperion Air, LLC was organized in St. Thomas on October 19, 2012, and held his helicopters until after his death. The corporation's account at [[JPMorgan Chase]] carried Epstein's aviation cash withdrawals from about 2011, according to an expert report filed in the Virgin Islands litigation against the bank.[^20]
[[AdFin Solutions]], Inc., styled AD/FIN, was a Delaware corporation incorporated on April 25, 2011.[^24] It ingested and harmonized log-file data on winning bid transactions in programmatic advertising and sold pricing and media-audit analytics built on it.[^25] Its Series A preferred stock was bought in 2012 and 2013 by [[Jonathan Leitersdorf]], [[David Mitchell]], [[Tom Glocer]], [[Southern Trust Company]] and [[CVAFH I LLC]].[^26] The counterpart signature pages for the purchase agreement name Southern Trust Company, Inc., with Jeffrey Epstein as its president.[^26] The Schedule of Purchasers lists Southern Trust Company for 1,142,857 shares at $499,999.94 in a closing of April 10, 2013.[^27] CVAFH I LLC bought 800,000 shares for $350,000 on July 23, 2013, under a letter agreement that names [[Cantor Fitzgerald]], L.P. as the ultimate holding company of CVAFH.[^28] AdFin ceased operations in October 2019.[^29]
### Funds, advisers and trading firms
The Form D notices filed under the name [[1517 Fund]] begin in August 2015. Fund I, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, filed on August 31, 2015, with a first sale on August 14, 2015, and reported 6,400,000 dollars sold to twelve investors.[^30] Its executive officers were two individuals and a general partner entity, 1517 Fund I GP, LLC. A sidecar vehicle, 1517 Fund I Sidecar LP, filed on December 1, 2015 and reported 290,000 dollars sold to six investors.[^31]
[[Bridgewater Associates]], LP is a Delaware limited partnership and an investment adviser registered with the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] since January 12, 1990, with offices in [[Westport, Connecticut]].[^32] A Connecticut fiscal analysis prepared for a 2016 bond commission meeting gave its founding year as 1975 and described its clients as foreign governments and central banks, corporate and public pension funds, university endowments and charitable foundations.[^33]
[[ICONIQ Capital]], LLC is a Delaware limited liability company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser, with CRD number 159198 and SEC file number 801-72878. Its registration took effect on December 1, 2011. Its brochure of March 26, 2026 names [[Divesh Makan]], [[Michael Anders]], [[Will Griffith]] and [[Matthew Jacobson]] as its principals.[^34]
[[Jane Street Capital]], LLC is a broker-dealer formed in Delaware on August 31, 1999 and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 27, 2000, with its main office at 250 Vesey Street in New York. Its direct owner is Jane Street Group, LLC, which it reports as its member from January 2014. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority record lists the members of the Jane Street Group management committee as control persons, among them [[Robert Granieri]] from January 2014 and, from December 2024, [[James McClave]].[^35] The Securities and Exchange Board of India issued an interim order on July 3, 2025 concerning index manipulation by Jane Street Group.[^36]
[[Minerva Project]], Inc. is incorporated in Delaware. [[Ben Nelson]] is listed on each of its five Form D notices as an executive officer and director. The first, filed April 6, 2012, gives March 26, 2012 as the date of first sale, an offering of 25,000,000 dollars, and 16,666,667 dollars sold. It lists [[Kevin Harvey]] as a director beside Nelson.[^37]
[[Braintree]], which [[Bryan Johnson]] led as chief executive officer, was incorporated in Delaware. Its Form D filed on July 13, 2011 lists Johnson as chief executive officer and director, [[Dan Manges]] as an executive officer, and [[Ryan Sweeney]] of [[Accel Partners]] as a director. It reports 34,200,097 dollars sold to six investors in an offering whose first sale was June 28, 2011. A second Form D followed on November 21, 2011.[^38]
The annual amendment of the Form ADV of [[SkyBridge Capital II]], LLC, printed March 31, 2026, lists on Schedule A [[Anthony Scaramucci]] as manager and member since May 2018, with control person status. It also lists [[Island Bay Ventures]], Inc., a Delaware company, as a member since September 2022, with 25 percent but less than 50 percent ownership. Beneath Island Bay the schedule lists Paper Bird Inc. and, as its shareholder since September 2022, [[Sam Bankman-Fried]]. Item 7.B lists among the adviser's private funds SkyBridge FTX LP, whose general partner is SkyBridge FTX GP LLC.[^39]
[[Cambridge Analytica]], LLC was a Delaware limited liability company formed in December 2013, with its principal office at 597 Fifth Avenue in New York and part of the family of companies of the British firm [[SCL Group]].[^40] [[Robert Mercer]] capitalized the company, [[Steve Bannon]] served on its board, and [[Alexander Nix]] was its chief executive officer.[^41] The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the [[United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York]] on May 17, 2018, as In re Cambridge Analytica LLC, Case No. 18-11500.[^41]
### Intelligence contractors and defense firms
[[In-Q-Tel]] was incorporated in Delaware on February 16, 1999, as Peleus, Inc., began work as In-Q-It, and took its present name in January 2000. It reported its 800th investment in 2025.[^42][^43][^44] The company invests money from the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] and other intelligence agencies in technology companies.
[[Aerojet]] Engineering Corporation was incorporated in Delaware on March 19, 1942. Its incorporators were [[Theodore von Kármán]], [[Frank Malina]], [[Jack Parsons]], Edward Forman, [[Martin Summerfield]] and the Washington attorney [[Andrew Haley]].[^45] In his autobiography von Kármán wrote that each founder agreed to contribute 200 dollars and that Haley agreed to advance 2,500 dollars to cover the cost of starting the company.[^45]
[[Intertel]] was incorporated in Delaware in January 1970 as a management advisory and consulting business intended to protect business firms from infiltration by crime and criminals. [[Robert Peloquin]] was its president, and [[William Hundley]] was its secretary and general counsel.[^46] The treasurer was [[Raymond M. Gore]], also vice president for finance of [[Resorts International]].[^46] Its officers included [[Fenelon Richards]], formerly director of enforcement of the [[United States Customs Service]], and [[Thomas McKeon]], formerly a Justice Department organized crime attorney.[^46]
### Oil, aviation and the Bush and Baker names
[[Harken Energy]] was incorporated in California in 1973 and reincorporated in Delaware in 1979. [[George W. Bush]] served as a director and consultant from 1986 until October 26, 1993. In January 1990 its subsidiary, Harken Bahrain Oil Company, obtained exclusive exploration rights over most of Bahrain's offshore territory.[^47][^48][^49]
[[Atlantic Aviation]], a Delaware company selling business aircraft, hired [[James R. Bath]] in 1968 to open its Houston office, and he later became an aircraft broker on his own.[^50] In 1973 Bath formed a real estate partnership with [[Lan Bentsen]], a son of [[Lloyd Bentsen]]. Sources whom Time did not name said that one purpose was to find investments for the senator's blind trust. Bath and Bentsen said they had not been partners for years, but in 1991 secretaries at Bath's office still answered the telephone under the name Bath Bentsen Interests, and Bath said he had not got around to changing it.[^51] Unger wrote that Bath counted among his friends the Bentsen family, the younger and elder Bush, the Houston lawyer [[James A. Baker III]], his duck-hunting companion, and [[John Connally]].[^50]
### Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Court of Chancery
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute was incorporated in Delaware on December 17, 1953, with [[Howard Hughes]] as its sole trustee. The same day its incorporators established an executive committee to exercise such powers as the trustee designated. The institute was funded by the transfer of the electronics division of the Hughes holdings, the [[Hughes Aircraft Company]]. On March 1, 1957 the [[Internal Revenue Service]] ruled that the institute was a charitable corporation exempt from federal income tax.[^52] On July 3, 1968 Hughes caused a "Resolution of Trustee" to be adopted, delegating to the executive committee the duties and powers "which Delaware law had conferred upon the boards of directors of corporations organized for profit."[^52]
Hughes died on April 5, 1976 without naming a successor trustee or a means of selecting one. The affairs of the institute were then largely controlled by two majority members of the executive committee, identified in the opinions as [[F. W. Gay]] and [[Chester C. Davis]]. On July 10, 1978 the institute's restated certificate of incorporation provided that the corporation "shall be managed and controlled by an Executive Committee."[^53]
The Delaware Court of Chancery heard the first round in 1979. On June 26, 1979 the Chancellor, [[William Marvel]], considered a motion by [[Robert L. Shevin]], Attorney General of Florida, to intervene. Shevin argued that Florida had an interest in a charitable trust and in the [[University of Miami Medical Center]], which had received gifts from the institute. Marvel denied the motion without prejudice, finding that the Attorney General of Delaware was fully qualified to litigate the narrow issue before the court.[^53] The opinion records that the institute carried on medical research in laboratories associated with twelve university hospitals and employed more than 275 persons.[^53]
On October 26, 1979 the court considered a complaint filed jointly by the Attorney General of Delaware and [[William R. Lummis]], the Delaware ancillary administrator of the Hughes estate. The institute moved to dismiss the claim of Lummis for lack of standing. Lummis argued that he had succeeded to Hughes's position as trustee and, in the alternative, that as ancillary administrator he had a duty to see a qualified successor appointed. The opinion concluded that Hughes's powers as trustee did not of themselves constitute a property interest of the institute, citing [[In re Buck Trust]].[^52]
### The Court of Chancery and the BGC derivative suit
The Court of Chancery is a court of equity without juries. In 1979 it was headed by William Marvel, who had joined the court as a Vice Chancellor in 1954.[^53]
On October 5, 2018 the [[Roofers Local 149 Pension Fund]] filed a derivative complaint in the Delaware Court of Chancery against the directors of [[BGC Group]], [[Howard Lutnick]], [[CF Group Management]] and Cantor Fitzgerald. The complaint challenged BGC's purchase of [[Berkeley Point]] from [[Cantor Commercial Real Estate]] for 875 million dollars on September 8, 2017 and its simultaneous investment of 100 million dollars for a 27 percent interest in Cantor's remaining commercial mortgage-backed securities business.[^54] The opinion records that the Roofers fund and the Northern California Pipe Trades Trust Funds filed derivative actions in October and November 2018, and that the actions were consolidated on December 4, 2018 as C.A. No. 2018-0722-AGB.[^55]
In the memorandum opinion of September 30, 2019, Chancellor [[Andre G. Bouchard]] described BGC as a public company controlled by Lutnick that had paid 875 million dollars for a private company also controlled by Lutnick. The plaintiffs alleged that Lutnick stood on both sides of the transaction, held a 60 percent economic interest in Berkeley Point against 13.8 percent in BGC, and so had every reason to cause BGC to overpay. Cantor, CF Group and Lutnick controlled BGC through all of its Class B super-voting stock, giving them 60 percent of the voting power, and Lutnick owned about 60 percent of Cantor and held sole voting control of it.[^55] The defendants moved to dismiss on demand futility and, for the four outside directors, for failure to state a claim. Those directors were Linda Bell, Stephen Curwood, [[William Moran]] and John Dalton, appointed to a special committee on March 14, 2017. The court found that the complaint pleaded facts creating reasonable doubt about the independence of a majority of the board. As to Moran, it recited a professional relationship with Lutnick of about twenty years across four Cantor-affiliated boards, board compensation from Cantor affiliates of 931,986 dollars, and public and social contacts between their families. It denied both motions without findings on the merits.[^55]
The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Chancery's final judgment of September 27, 2022 by order of August 10, 2023, on the basis of the Court of Chancery's memorandum opinion of August 19, 2022.[^56]
### The UPI injunction of 1985
On May 20, 1985, in Wilmington, Vice Chancellor Joseph Walsh of the Court of Chancery granted Douglas Ruhe and William Geissler, the owners of United Press International, a preliminary injunction that removed Luis Nogales as chairman of UPI's parent company and removed its board of directors. UPI was then operating under Chapter 11 protection.[^57] On May 28, 1985 a consent order in the [[United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia]] abolished UPI's own board and gave Nogales exclusive operating authority as chairman and chief executive officer.[^58]
### The District of Delaware bankruptcy court
The FTX Chapter 11 case was filed in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on November 11, 2022, as In re FTX Trading Ltd., No. 22-11068 (JTD), with [[John T. Dorsey]] assigned as judge; the court's case page lists Dorsey's opinion and order of June 26, 2024 on digital asset estimation.[^59] On July 19, 2023 [[Alameda Research]] Ltd. and [[FTX|FTX Trading]] Ltd. filed an adversary complaint against [[Platform Life Sciences]], [[Lumen Bioscience]], [[GreenLight Biosciences]] Holdings, Riboscience, Genetic Networks and 4J Therapeutics.[^59]
On November 8, 2024 FTX Trading Ltd., Island Bay Ventures Inc. and [[Clifton Bay Investments]] LLC filed an adversary complaint in the same case against SkyBridge Capital II LLC, SkyBridge GP Holdings LLC, Digital Macro Fund LP (formerly SkyBridge Coin Fund LP) and [[SALT Venture Group]] LLC, Anthony Scaramucci and [[Brett Messing]]. As reported from the pleading, FTX bought a 30 percent stake in the operating companies that manage the SkyBridge vehicles for 45 million dollars in September 2022, and the plaintiffs sought to recover about 100 million dollars in all and to disallow a 45 million dollar claim by SkyBridge. As pleaded, Alameda Research Ventures, now Clifton Bay, invested 10 million dollars in the SkyBridge Coin Fund in March 2022.[^60]
[[Southern Air Holdings]] filed Chapter 11 petitions in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on September 28, 2012. It described itself as a long-haul wide-body air cargo provider for governments and commercial users, with [[DHL]] as its largest commercial customer, and attributed the filing to reduced Department of Defense air cargo spending as [[Afghanistan]] deployments wound down.[^61] [[Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings]] completed its acquisition of Southern Air Holdings, including [[Southern Air Transport]] and [[Florida West International Airways]], for about 110 million dollars in cash on April 7, 2016.[^62]
### Franks v. Delaware
Franks v. Delaware was decided on June 26, 1978. The case arose from a Delaware Supreme Court holding that a defendant "under no circumstances may so challenge the veracity of a sworn statement used by police to procure a search warrant." The United States Supreme Court reversed and held that where a defendant makes a "substantial preliminary showing" that a false statement was included in a warrant affidavit knowingly, intentionally or with reckless disregard for the truth, and the statement is necessary to the finding of probable cause, the Fourth Amendment requires a hearing.[^63]
The doctrine was invoked in [[United States v. Shea et al. (2020)]], where a defense motion to suppress filed on August 13, 2021 argued that the warrant affidavit omitted material information about the confidential informant who provided the basis for the warrant.[^64]
### Wilmington and the Passport Foundation
Air Ghislaine, Inc. and Hyperion Air both gave Wilmington registered addresses. The [[Passport Foundation]], an organization with its address in Wilmington and administered by [[Foundation Source]], reports [[SALT Fund Management LLC]]'s SALT Fund I, L.P. among its other investments on its Form 990-PF from 2021 onward.[^65]
### Valmy, Greenville and the Psychosynthesis Research Foundation
[[Roberto Assagioli]] wrote that the [[Psychosynthesis Research Foundation]] was created in 1957 with its own seat at Valmy in Greenville, Delaware, and that an international congress was held at Valmy in 1959.[^66] The London institute's history states that the foundation was created in New York under the patronage of the [[DuPont]] family and names [[Frank Hilton]] as its head in New York.[^67] A Saturday Review directory of July 12, 1969 lists the foundation in New York with Hilton as director.[^68]
On January 24, 1966, Governor [[Charles L. Terry Jr.]] of Delaware proclaimed the repeal of the charters of corporations that had failed for two years to pay assessed taxes, and the list printed in the Laws of Delaware includes the Psychosynthesis Research Foundation.[^69] The foundation's notice of December 1, 1967 gives its New York office and, as its registered office and treasurer, an address in Wilmington.[^70]
### Joe Biden and the DuPont family
[[Joe Biden]] represented Delaware in the United States Senate. The writer [[S. Dovey]] wrote that his first senatorial campaign in the early 1970s was funded and staffed by DuPont employees, that his victory party was held in a DuPont ballroom, and that his family soon moved into an old DuPont family mansion.[^71]
### Other Delaware references
[[Sarah Beth Clendaniel]] grew up in rural Cecil County, Maryland, a conservative area bordering Delaware and [[Pennsylvania]] in the northeastern corner of Maryland.[^72]
The western part of Pennsylvania was split off as the [[Diocese of Pittsburgh]] in 1843. At the death of Bishop [[John Neumann]] on January 5, 1860, the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia]], then the Diocese of Philadelphia, still included Delaware. Its estimated Catholic population was 200,000, with 157 churches and 147 priests.[^73]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Delaware General Corporation Law, 8 Del. C. ch. 1. https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/index.html
[^2]: Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, 6 Del. C. § 18-201 (certificate of formation). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title6/c018/index.html
[^3]: 8 Del. C. § 101(a) (incorporators; how corporation formed). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc01/index.html
[^4]: 8 Del. C. § 102(a)(1)-(2) (contents of certificate of incorporation). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc01/index.html
[^5]: 8 Del. C. § 102(b)(7) (exculpation of directors and officers). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc01/index.html
[^6]: 8 Del. C. § 220 (inspection of books and records). https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/c001/sc07/index.html
[^7]: Corporate Transparency Act, Pub. L. 116-283, div. F, tit. LXIV, §§ 6401-6403 (Jan. 1, 2021), codified at 31 U.S.C. § 5336.
[^8]: FinCEN, "Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision and Deadline Extension," interim final rule, 90 Fed. Reg. 13688 (Mar. 26, 2025). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/26/2025-05199/beneficial-ownership-information-reporting-requirement-revision-and-deadline-extension
[^9]: FinCEN, "Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision," final rule, 91 Fed. Reg. 52508 (Aug. 14, 2026). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/14/2026-16576/beneficial-ownership-information-reporting-requirement-revision
[^10]: State of Delaware, Division of Corporations, Entity Details, GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp., File Number 2015058, formation date 8/15/1983, registered agent Corporation Guarantee and Trust Company, Rodney Square, Wilmington. https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/ecorp/entitysearch/namesearch.aspx
[^11]: Christopher Byron, "Did Convict Arif Durrani Help Set the Stage for Iran/Contra?" New York, December 16, 1991, pp. 42, 44. https://books.google.com/books?id=6ugCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42
[^12]: Mark Phythian, ed., Under the Counter and Over the Border (Springer, 2013), p. 65.
[^13]: OpenCorporates, company record us_de/2168210 (CounterTerrorism Consultants, L.P.), reproducing the Delaware Division of Corporations registry. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_de/2168210
[^14]: District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Business One Stop Shop entity record 058088, Counterterrorism Consultants L.P. https://boss.dc.gov
[^15]: The Police Chief, vol. 55 (1988), p. 93, membership directory of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
[^16]: "A group of top former FBI agents and federal prosecutors," United Press International, August 2, 1988. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/08/02/A-group-of-top-former-FBI-agents-and-federal/9684730900658/
[^17]: Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, Pub. L. 80-806, ch. 704, 62 Stat. 1070-1071, June 29, 1948. https://nationalaglawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/farmbills/ccc1948.pdf
[^18]: Discord Inc., SEC Form D filings (CIK 0001763840), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR.
[^19]: Jason Citron, testimony, "Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis," hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, January 31, 2024, pp. 1-9. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings
[^20]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), Expert Report of Jorge Amador, ECF No. 238-31 (filed July 25, 2023).
[^21]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00021675 to EFTA00021684, DataSet 8, email chain "RE: FAA Question" between a Special Agent, Federal Aviation Administration, Law Enforcement Assistance Program, Atlanta, and an assistant.
[^22]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01703108 to EFTA01703163, DataSet 10, draft indictment, United States v. Epstein (S.D. Fla., unfiled, 2007), paragraphs 3 and 4 and overt acts.
[^23]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01703108 to EFTA01703163, DataSet 10, draft indictment, United States v. Epstein (S.D. Fla., unfiled, 2007), paragraphs 5 and 6 and overt acts.
[^24]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00289540, DataSet 9, Delaware Secretary of State certificate for AdFin Solutions, Inc., incorporated on the twenty-fifth day of April, A.D. 2011.
[^25]: Alison Weissbrot, "How Ad/Fin Got Caught In The Crossfire Of The Industry's Transparency Crusade," AdExchanger, July 29, 2019. https://www.adexchanger.com/agencies/how-ad-fin-got-caught-in-the-crossfire-of-the-industrys-transparency
[^26]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00289560, DataSet 9, AdFin Solutions, Inc. Series A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement dated December 28, 2012, sections 1.2, 2.1, 5.7 and Exhibit A.
[^27]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00289560, DataSet 9, Exhibit A, Schedule of Purchasers (pages EFTA00289583 to EFTA00289585).
[^28]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00289560, DataSet 9, letter agreement of July 2013 between AdFin Solutions, Inc. and CVAFH I LLC (pages EFTA00289678 to EFTA00289680).
[^29]: Alison Weissbrot, "After A Rocky Road, Ad/Fin Shuts Its Doors," AdExchanger, October 17, 2019. https://www.adexchanger.com/agencies/after-a-rocky-road-ad-fin-shuts-its-doors/
[^30]: Form D, 1517 Fund I, L.P., CIK 0001651759, accession 0001651759-15-000001, filed August 31, 2015. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1651759/000165175915000001/primary_doc.xml
[^31]: Form D, 1517 Fund I Sidecar LP, CIK 0001658654, accession 0001658654-15-000001, filed December 1, 2015. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1658654/000165865415000001/primary_doc.xml
[^32]: Bridgewater Associates, LP, Form ADV Part 1A, SEC File No. 801-35875, CRD No. 105129, filing date August 18, 2026, Schedules A, B and D.
[^33]: Connecticut General Assembly, Office of Fiscal Analysis, "Analysis of State Bond Commission Agenda Items for May 27, 2016 Meeting," item D, Bridgewater Associates, First Five (22,000,000).
[^34]: ICONIQ Capital, LLC, Form ADV Part 2A, Firm Brochure, March 26, 2026, CRD 159198, SEC file 801-72878. https://files.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Common/crd_iapd_Brochure.asp
[^35]: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, BrokerCheck Report, Jane Street Capital, LLC, CRD 103782, SEC 8-52275, firm profile, direct and indirect owners.
[^36]: Securities and Exchange Board of India, "Interim Order in the matter of Index manipulation by Jane Street Group," WTM/AN/MRD/MRD-SEC-3/31516/2025-26, July 3, 2025.
[^37]: Form D, Minerva Project, Inc., filed April 6, 2012, accession 0001546672-12-000001, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR.
[^38]: Braintree, Inc., Form D, filed July 13, 2011, SEC accession 0001524770-11-000001. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1524770/000152477011000001/primary_doc.xml
[^39]: SkyBridge Capital II, LLC, Form ADV Part 1A, annual amendment printed March 31, 2026, CRD 148152, SEC file 801-71056, Schedule A and Section 7.B.(1). https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/148152
[^40]: Federal Trade Commission, In the Matter of Cambridge Analytica, LLC, Docket No. 9383, Opinion of the Commission, November 25, 2019, section I. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/d09389_comm_final_opinion
[^41]: U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities (August 18, 2020), pp. 664-667, 679.
[^42]: Rick E. Yannuzzi, "In-Q-Tel: A New Partnership Between the CIA and the Private Sector," Defense Intelligence Journal 9, no. 1 (Winter 2000): 25-37.
[^43]: In-Q-Tel, "Our Milestones." https://www.iqt.org/about/our-milestones
[^44]: In-Q-Tel, Inc., Internal Revenue Service Form 990, fiscal years 2011 to 2025, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
[^45]: Stephen E. Doyle and Michael Ciancone, "Aerojet Engineering Corporation: Stimulation and Creation, 1935-1942," IAC-19-E4.2.1, 53rd IAA History of Astronautics Symposium (2019).
[^46]: FBI, Peloquin file, Part 01, Director to SAC New York, July 24, 1970, p. 8; New York office transmittal of August 5, 1970, enclosing the International Intelligence, Inc. brochure (officers, purposes, incorporation). https://archive.org/details/robert-peloquin-fbi-file
[^47]: Harken Energy Corporation, proxy statement (Schedule 14A), filed April 25, 1994. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/313478/0000950134-94-000454.txt
[^48]: Harken Energy Corporation, Form 10-K for 1993, filed March 29, 1994, "Bahrain Operations." https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/313478/0000950134-94-000289.txt
[^49]: Richard Behar, "Global Intrigue: The Wackiest Rig in Texas," Time, October 28, 1991. https://time.com/archive/6718865/global-intrigue-the-wackiest-rig-in-texas/
[^50]: Craig Unger, "Mystery man," Salon, April 28, 2004. https://www.salon.com/2004/04/28/james_bath/
[^51]: Jonathan Beaty, "A Mysterious Mover of Money and Planes," Time, October 28, 1991. https://time.com/archive/6718843/a-mysterious-mover-of-money-and-planes/
[^52]: Wier v. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 407 A.2d 1051 (Del. Ch. 1979), decided October 26, 1979 (Marvel, Ch.), citing In re Buck Trust, 301 A.2d 328 (Del. Ch. 1973). https://static.case.law/a2d/407/cases/1051-01.json
[^53]: Wier v. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 404 A.2d 140 (Del. Ch. 1979), decided June 26, 1979 (Marvel, Ch.). https://static.case.law/a2d/404/cases/0140-01.json. On Marvel's service (Vice Chancellor from September 8, 1954 and later Chancellor, until May 1, 1982): Delaware Court of Chancery, history of the court, https://courts.delaware.gov/chancery/history.aspx
[^54]: BGC Partners, Inc., Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed February 28, 2020, sections "Newmark IPO, Separation Transaction and Spin-Off" and Legal Proceedings; In re BGC Partners, Inc. Consolidated Derivative Litigation, C.A. No. 2018-0722-AGB, Memorandum Opinion (Del. Ch. Sept. 30, 2019), pp. 1-2.
[^55]: In re BGC Partners, Inc. Consolidated Derivative Litigation, C.A. No. 2018-0722-AGB, Memorandum Opinion (Del. Ch. Sept. 30, 2019) (Bouchard, C.), submitted June 6, 2019, pp. 1-3, 14, 38-40. https://courts.delaware.gov/Opinions/Download.aspx?id=295730
[^56]: In re BGC Partners, Inc. Derivative Litigation, No. 359, 2022 (Del. Aug. 10, 2023) (order). https://courts.delaware.gov/Opinions/Download.aspx?id=351370
[^57]: Robert Engler, "In a ruling that soon may be moot," United Press International, Wilmington, Del., May 20, 1985. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/05/20/In-a-ruling-that-soon-may-be-moot-a/3317485409600/
[^58]: In re United Press International, Inc., 60 B.R. 265 (Bankr. D.D.C. Apr. 22, 1986) (Bason, J.) (Bankruptcy No. 85-00257; consent order of May 28, 1985). https://static.case.law/br/60/cases/0265-01.json
[^59]: In re FTX Trading Ltd., No. 22-11068 (JTD) (Bankr. D. Del.), petition filed November 11, 2022, Judge John T. Dorsey; United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, case page. https://www.deb.uscourts.gov/22-11068
[^60]: Complaint of FTX Trading Ltd., Island Bay Ventures Inc. and Clifton Bay Investments LLC v. SkyBridge Capital II LLC et al. (Bankr. D. Del., filed Nov. 8, 2024), as reported by Offshore Alert, https://offshorealert.com/ftx-trading-ltd-et-al-v-anthony-scaramucci-et-al-complaint-100m-damages, and Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph.com/news/ftx-estate-sues-scaramucci-s-sky-bridge-capital
[^61]: American Bankruptcy Institute case summary, Southern Air Holdings, Chapter 11 petitions, Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, September 28, 2012.
[^62]: Ivan Nadalet, "Atlas Air completes acquisition of Southern Air," ch-aviation, April 8, 2016. https://www.ch-aviation.com/news/45363-atlas-air-completes-acquisition-of-southern-air
[^63]: Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978), decided June 26, 1978, quoting the Delaware Supreme Court's holding that a defendant "under no circumstances may so challenge the veracity of a sworn statement used by police to procure a search warrant." https://static.case.law/us/438/cases/0154-01.json
[^64]: Motion to Suppress, United States v. Shea et al., No. 2:20-cr-00032 (W.D. Wash.), August 13, 2021. https://archive.org/details/kaleb-cole-august-13-2021-motion-to-suppress-1
[^65]: Passport Foundation, Form 990-PF filings, EIN 26-1580196, Wilmington, Delaware, 2021 onward, administered by Foundation Source.
[^66]: Roberto Assagioli, "Psicosintesi e parapsicologia," typescript, Archivio Assagioli, Istituto di Psicosintesi, Florence, pp. 1-2 (Italian; translated here).
[^67]: "History of the Institute of Psychosynthesis, London," psychosynthesis.org.
[^68]: Saturday Review, July 12, 1969 (vol. 52, no. 28), directory of organizations, "Psychosynthesis Research Foundation," New York, "Frank Hilton, director." https://archive.org/details/saturday-review_202511
[^69]: Laws of Delaware, vol. 55, part 2, chapter 559, Proclamation of Governor Charles L. Terry Jr., January 24, 1966, under 8 Del. C. sections 511 and 512, pp. 1694-1714.
[^70]: Psychosynthesis Research Foundation, notice of December 1, 1967, Delaware filing.
[^71]: S. Dovey, Eye of the Chickenhawk (2023), passages on Joe Biden's first Senate campaign and the DuPont family.
[^72]: Cecil Daily, "Woman charged in neo-Nazi plot has criminal record in Cecil County," February 2023. https://www.cecildaily.com/news/woman-charged-in-neo-nazi-plot-has-criminal-record-in-cecil-county/article_b079a3b8-c164-5fd2-8562-2b2d092d690f.html
[^73]: James Loughlin, "Archdiocese of Philadelphia," The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 11 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911). https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11793b.htm

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---
category: "U.S. State"
tags:
- Place
- USState
- BCCI
- MKULTRA
- OrganizedCrime
- Epstein
- ChemicalWarfare
- Psychiatry
- Spiritualism
- NXIVM
aliases:
- "State of New York"
- "New York State"
- "New York (state)"
summary: "State whose banking regulators, Manhattan prosecutors, psychiatric institute, prison system, governors and attorney general appear in the vault's BCCI, MKULTRA, Luciano, Attica, NXIVM, PayPal and Epstein records."
created: 2026-10-15
updated: 2026-10-15
relations:
- type: investigated
with: "[[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]]"
start: 1989-05
end: 1991-07-29
role: "New York County District Attorney's investigation and indictment"
fn: 12
- type: investigated
with: "[[Deutsche Bank]]"
start: 2020-07-06
role: "Department of Financial Services consent order, $150 million penalty"
fn: 15
- type: appointed
with: "[[Paul Hoch]]"
start: 1955-07
role: "Commissioner of Mental Hygiene under Governor Averell Harriman"
fn: 26
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Payton Gendron]]"
start: 2022-11
end: 2023-02-15
role: "State prosecution in Erie County court for the 2022 Buffalo supermarket shooting"
fn: 54
---
New York is a state of the United States whose capital is [[Albany, New York|Albany]] and whose largest city, [[New York City]], has its own page. The state bodies that recur in the vault's record are the banking regulators (the Banking Department and its successor, the Department of Financial Services), the attorney general, the Department of Mental Hygiene and the [[New York State Psychiatric Institute]], the prison system, the governors' offices, and the upstate and Long Island institutions that held federal contracts. The Manhattan district attorney is a county official of the state court system and appears here for that reason.
### Banking Regulation and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
[[John Heimann]] was New York's superintendent of banks when the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]] (BCCI) first tried to buy a New York bank. New York law required the superintendent to approve any change of control of a New York chartered bank. According to the Senate subcommittee's 1992 report, the first applicant was a young Pakistani national whose uncertified statement showed total assets of $4.5 million, $3 million of it a loan from his sister, and who said he would rely on BCCI for advice.[^1] Heimann put a hold on the application because BCCI had no central regulator and divided its audits between two auditors, so no consolidated financial report existed. A second application through a second nominee for a second New York bank met the same result, and [[Agha Hasan Abedi]] then approached Heimann directly. Heimann's statement to the subcommittee was that "I expressed my concern that BCCI did not have a primary regulator, and that, until it did, my office was reluctant to permit entry into the US." The report concluded that New York, "the most important U.S. banking market for BCCI, would be closed to BCCI so long as Heimann was its chief regulator."[^2]
Heimann was appointed [[Office of the Comptroller of the Currency|Comptroller of the Currency]] in 1977. The subcommittee report says that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency still had the most information about BCCI among federal bodies, and that "the main historical accident that placed OCC in this position was the coincidence of John Heimann" having run New York's banking supervision during BCCI's attempts on the state.[^3]
In 1981 and 1982 the investors who had bought the [[Financial General Bankshares]] group's New York banks were required to divest the bank in New York City and created [[First American Bank]] of New York to replace it. The report places the matter in the state's proceedings, which included an application to the [[New York State Banking Board]] that, "due to strong opposition," ended with the investors agreeing to divest. It quotes a statement contending that "BCCI has not in any way controlled First American Bank of New York."[^4]
The case against BCCI in New York began with the Manhattan district attorney, [[Robert Morgenthau]]. In the late spring of 1989 [[Jack Blum]], formerly chief counsel to a Senate subcommittee on drugs and foreign policy, went to New York after the federal prosecutors in [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] had not acted on what he had brought them. Morgenthau had testified to the same subcommittee in February 1988 that "some $5 billion to $10 billion a year" was being laundered through New York banks.[^5][^6] Blum said he "essentially told him what I knew" and that Morgenthau's office produced the indictment on the same evidence.[^7] Morgenthau's chief of investigations, [[Michael Cherkasky]], later said that Blum's account, when first heard, had seemed unlikely: "Blum's story was ridiculous. [He said] the entire Third World was involved and that they had bought and sold entire governments and maybe some United States officials."[^8]
The district attorney's office could subpoena BCCI records held by BCCI New York and by First American in New York, but not the records held in the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, the [[Cayman Islands]], Panama and [[Abu Dhabi]]. The report records that the [[Serious Fraud Office]] refused to provide documents and that the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] also refused. Morgenthau obtained the [[Price Waterhouse]] audit reports after contacting [[Eddie George]], then deputy governor of the [[Bank of England]]: "We are going to charge this bank."[^9] The [[Federal Reserve Board]] was the one agency that cooperated; Morgenthau testified in May 1991 that "[t]he one organization that has been very helpful to us is the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Federal Reserve Board in Washington."[^10] Federal Reserve investigators Richard Small and Thomas Baxter went to Abu Dhabi and found the documents showing BCCI's secret ownership of First American through nominees, which were passed to the district attorney's office.[^11]
A New York State grand jury indicted BCCI on July 29, 1991, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York. The indictment alleged a scheme in which BCCI relied on the reputations of prominent nominees, including ruling families of Middle Eastern states, and used Luxembourg and Cayman Islands subsidiaries to avoid consolidated regulation.[^12] By December 1991 BCCI's liquidators had pleaded guilty to the first six counts. The report's authors wrote that the Bank of England had begun BCCI's international closure in June 1991 because of the probability of the New York indictment, which "proved sufficient to shut down a $23 billion criminal bank operating in some 73 countries."[^13]
### The Department of Financial Services and the Epstein Accounts
The Banking Department's successor, the [[New York State Department of Financial Services]] (DFS), licenses and examines the New York branches of foreign banks. [[Credit Suisse]]'s annual report states that its New York branch is licensed by the New York Superintendent of Financial Services and examined by DFS, and that in May 2014, as part of a settlement of US cross-border tax matters totaling $2,815 million, the bank agreed to pay $715 million to DFS, $2,000 million to the Justice Department and $100 million to the Federal Reserve, after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to assist US customers in presenting false income tax returns.[^14]
The consent order between DFS and [[Deutsche Bank]] was signed on July 6, 2020 by Associate Counsel R. Bruce Wells and Superintendent [[Linda Lacewell]] among others for the department, and the department announced it on July 7, 2020.[^15] It imposed a $150 million penalty and covered three relationships: [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s accounts, and correspondent banking with [[Danske Bank]]'s Estonia branch and with [[FBME Bank]]. The order records that Deutsche Bank held Epstein and related individuals and entities as clients from August 2013 until December 2018; that the relationship "officially began" on August 19, 2013, when the bank opened brokerage accounts for Southern Trust Company Inc. and its subsidiary [[Southern Financial LLC]]; and that Epstein, his entities and his associates eventually opened more than 40 accounts. It refers to [[Gratitude America]] as "Mr. Epstein's private charity."[^16] The department's release called the action the first enforcement action by a regulator against a financial institution for dealings with Epstein. It lists payments to individuals publicly alleged to have been co-conspirators, settlement payments totaling over $7 million, payments to law firms totaling over $6 million, and periodic cash withdrawals of more than $800,000 over about four years. Lacewell is quoted in the release as saying that "despite knowing Mr. Epstein's terrible criminal history, the Bank inexcusably failed to detect or prevent millions of dollars of suspicious transactions."[^17]
DFS also entered a consent order with [[PayPal]] on January 23, 2025, with a $2,000,000 penalty, on its handling of a December 2022 event in which a message online claimed an exploit to obtain Social Security numbers from Form 1099-K documents on PayPal's platform.[^18]
### The Attorney General
In August 2002 PayPal signed an Assurance of Discontinuance with the [[New York State Attorney General]] after the attorney general's inquiry into payments to online gambling merchants. PayPal agreed to stop processing payments from its New York members to online gambling merchants by September 1, 2002 and to pay penalties of $200,000 to the State of New York. PayPal said it was acting in voluntary cooperation and was not admitting a violation of law.[^19]
### Mental Hygiene and the New York State Psychiatric Institute
The New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), a [[Columbia University]] affiliate, held contracts with the [[Army Chemical Corps]] under which it tested a mescaline derivative on human subjects so that the Corps could determine its suitability as a chemical warfare agent. A CIA inspector general's memorandum of August 13, 1975 states that the Army's Special Operations Division at [[Fort Detrick]] had a two-year contract with the institute for 1952 and 1953 "to test various mescaline-related and other drugs that the Army was interested in," and that CIA funds had been transferred to the Army on an annual basis starting in fiscal year 1953 in support of a mutual program.[^20]
[[Harold Blauer]], 42, entered NYSPI voluntarily in December 1952 for depression. The Second Circuit's later opinion records that he died on January 8, 1953 after an injection of the compound by institute personnel, one of a series; the CIA inspector general's memorandum puts the dose at 450 milligrams of EA 1298 and the interval before death at two and a half hours. The New York City medical examiner's death certificate gave the cause as "Coronary arteriosclerosis; sudden death after intravenous injection of a mescaline derivative." The institute's record described the drug study as "for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes." The contracts barred NYSPI from disclosing information developed under them.[^21]
Blauer's estate sued the State of New York in the [[New York Court of Claims]] in April 1953. [[David Marcus]], then an assistant attorney general, was assigned to defend the case, and his investigation uncovered the Army's role. The Court of Claims authorized production of NYSPI's records and examination of its doctors on January 4, 1954. Marcus conferred with the Army's litigation division on January 13 and 14, 1954 about a settlement in which the federal government would pay part. After the Justice Department was informed, a conference of federal counsel and medical personnel in early July 1954 recorded apprehension, expressed by Dr. Amedeo Marazzi of the Chemical Corps and by [[Paul Hoch]], the NYSPI medical official in charge of administering the compound to Blauer, about anticipated malpractice claims. At a July 12, 1954 meeting in Washington, Hoch stated that he would not have used the new compound for experimental purposes but for the institute's contract with the Army. George S. Leonard, first assistant to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, advised that the case was worth $60,000 to $75,000 if the circumstances were revealed and should be settled to avoid disclosure of the Army's interest. An Army Judge Advocate General attorney, Harris J. North, recommended moving the Chemical Corps contracts from New York to the Chemical Corps Procurement Agency in Maryland, where "they would be beyond subpoena power."[^22]
A tentative settlement of $15,000 was raised to $18,000 after Marcus told the Court of Claims judge about the Army's involvement in an ex parte conference. Hoch testified that the injection caused the death and was not in accordance with generally accepted medical practice. The estate alleged that he also testified falsely that the drug was given "for diagnostic purposes," and that, "in fact, according to the estate, Dr. Hoch was well aware that the mescaline derivative was a new compound not being administered for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes but as an experiment to study its effect for chemical warfare purposes." The Court of Claims entered the $18,000 order on July 7, 1955; the Army had paid $9,000 of it to the State on June 9, 1955. The release signed for the estate covered the "governmental body or agency which furnished the drug."[^23] The CIA inspector general's 1975 memorandum gives different figures, stating that the estate sued New York State for $500,000 and that the claim "was settled out of court for $125 K."[^20]
The Army's role became public through the Secretary of the Army on August 12, 1975. Blauer's daughter, as successor administratrix, failed in an effort to reopen the Court of Claims case (*Barrett v. State of New York*, 1976) and brought three actions in the Southern District of New York. On July 31, 1986 the Second Circuit upheld Marcus's absolute immunity as a state attorney defending the state, and held that if the estate proved its allegations the four federal attorneys would not be entitled to absolute or qualified immunity.[^24] The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research printed a note in the August 3, 1977 MKULTRA hearing stating that Blauer "died of circulatory collapse and heart failure following an intravenous injection of a synthetic mescaline derivative while a subject of tests conducted by New York State Psychiatric Institute under a contract let by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps."[^25]
[[Averell Harriman]] was elected governor in 1954. [[Mary Lasker]], in her Columbia oral history, recalled that Harriman asked for suggestions for a commissioner of mental hygiene soon after the election, that [[Lester Markel]], the Sunday editor of the [[New York Times]], telephoned to ask whether she knew Hoch, then in charge of research at the institute, and that the appointment was "finally announced in July of '55." A 1956 University at Albany record identifies Hoch as Commissioner of Mental Hygiene, the official who oversaw the state's psychiatric hospitals.[^26][^27]
### Willowbrook State School
The Department of Mental Hygiene also ran the state schools for people with intellectual disabilities. [[Saul Krugman]] wrote in 1986 that studies of the natural history and prevention of viral hepatitis were initiated at Willowbrook State School in 1955 and that "during the subsequent two decades there was considerable controversy regarding the ethical aspects of these studies"; he had published an account, "Experiments at the Willowbrook State School," in *The Lancet* in May 1971.[^28] In 1972 [[Geraldo Rivera]] broadcast an exposé of the school's conditions on television.[^29]
The federal class action *New York State Association for Retarded Children v. Rockefeller* was heard by Judge Orrin Judd of the Eastern District of New York. His memorandum of April 10, 1973 granting a preliminary injunction found a resident population of 4,727 on December 10, 1972, down from a high of 6,200 in 1969; found that "conditions are still inhumane"; and noted a hiring freeze from December 1970 to November 1971 and legislative reports of overcrowding dating from 1964. It named Governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]] as a defendant, individually and as governor.[^30] The case ended in a consent judgment, with Governor [[Hugh Carey]] as the defendant, approved on May 5, 1975. It was negotiated with the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department and the state attorney general, with a 29-page appendix of standards in 23 areas and a Review Panel to monitor compliance.[^31]
### Human Ecology and the Mind-Control Contracts
The 1977 MKULTRA hearing record defines the cryptonym QKHILLTOP as a project assigned in 1954 to study Chinese Communist brainwashing and to develop interrogation techniques, stating that "most of the early studies are believed to have been conducted by the Cornell University Medical School Human Ecology Study Programs" and that the Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology, later the Human Ecology Fund, "was an outgrowth of the QKHILLTOP."[^32] The Cornell medical school, [[Cornell University Medical College]], was in Manhattan. The same hearing record includes testimony about CIA safehouses in New York City and San Francisco, a transfer of money for the use of the [[Federal Bureau of Narcotics]] in an apartment in New York, and the trip to Manhattan on which [[Robert Lashbrook]] and [[Vincent Ruwet]] took Frank Olson to see [[Harold Abramson]].[^33]
### The Luciano Commutation and the State Prison System
In May 1942 [[Charles R. Haffenden]] of Naval Intelligence asked the state Commissioner of Correction, John A. Lyons, in writing to move [[Charles Luciano]] from [[Clinton Correctional Facility]] at Dannemora to a more accessible prison for intelligence purposes, after Colonel [[Murray Gurfein]] had cleared the plan with District Attorney [[Frank Hogan]]. The transfer to [[Great Meadow Correctional Facility]] at Comstock took place on May 12, 1942, during the administration of Governor [[Herbert Lehman]].[^34] The report by [[William B. Herlands]], the state Commissioner of Investigation, records that the arrangement ran through Luciano's lawyer, [[Moses Polakoff]], and [[Meyer Lansky]], and that for about two years Luciano's visitors at Great Meadow included Polakoff, Lansky, Joe "Socks" Lanza, Mike Lascari, [[Frank Costello]], Willie Moretti and Mike Miranda; other participants who did not visit him included [[Joe Adonis]], Jerry Sullivan and Johnny "Cockeye" Dunn. The network was used to report on the waterfront and to place Naval Intelligence agents through union books and cards. Herlands titled the arrangement the War-Aid Project, and a letter of July 26, 1954 from Rear Admiral [[Carl F. Espe]], director of Naval Intelligence, confirmed it.[^35]
On December 3, 1945 the state Board of Parole recommended that Luciano's sentence be commuted solely so that he could be deported. [[Thomas Dewey]], as governor, commuted it on January 3, 1946 on the express condition that he be deported at once, and in the same action commuted the sentences of six other alien criminals for the same purpose; Luciano was deported to Italy on the SS Laura Keane on or about February 9, 1946. Herlands' report to Dewey, dated September 17, 1954, reviewed the wartime arrangement. The Dewey papers that hold it are kept at the [[University of Rochester]].[^36]
### Governors
Nelson Rockefeller was elected governor in 1958. [[Berent Friele]], who had served as Rockefeller's private representative in Brazil for three decades, was appointed as his formal advisor on international affairs at that time, a post he held through Rockefeller's governorship and his later vice presidency under [[Gerald Ford]]. The account is drawn from Friele's papers at the [[Rockefeller Archive Center]].[^37]
The state's 1973 narcotics statutes were enacted in Rockefeller's governorship. In *People v. Broadie* (June 18, 1975) the Court of Appeals described the challenge to laws that classed street sales of heroin and cocaine as class A felonies with a mandatory maximum of life imprisonment and lifetime parole. The opinion cites Rockefeller's 1973 annual message for the premise that rehabilitation efforts had failed and that the epidemic of drug abuse could be quelled only by the threat of inflexible, and therefore certain, exceptionally severe punishment, and states that "drug dealing in its present epidemic proportions is a grave offense of high rank."[^38]
[[Risa Heller]], a former press secretary to Senator [[Chuck Schumer]] from 2005, later held a similar post under Governor [[David Paterson]].[^39]
### Attica
Between September 9 and 13, 1971, forty-three people died at [[Attica Correctional Facility]]. The report of the state's Special Commission on Attica, chaired by [[Robert B. McKay]] and set up by Rockefeller and legislative leaders through Chief Judge [[Stanley H. Fuld]] of the Court of Appeals, states that "thirty-nine of that number were killed and more than 80 others were wounded by gunfire during the 15 minutes it took the State Police to retake the prison on September 13," and that "with the exception of Indian massacres in the late 19th century, the State Police assault which ended the four-day prison uprising was the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War." On September 15 Rockefeller announced that Deputy Attorney General [[Robert E. Fischer]] would supersede the local district attorney to investigate. The commission's narrative records that on the Sunday of the standoff the governor decided there would be no assault that day, that Commissioner [[Russell G. Oswald]] and a state police general recommended that Rockefeller come to the prison, that the governor asked whether it would be productive and save lives, and that Rockefeller finished a press release explaining why he would not come.[^40]
### Spiritualism: Hydesville and Lily Dale
Modern Spiritualism began in New York State. The sisters Margaret and Catherine Fox, living in a small house at Hydesville in the town of Arcadia, Wayne County, reported rappings there in 1848.[^41] Reuben Briggs Davenport wrote in 1888 that "the first so-called phenomena came to the two youngest girls in 1848, at Hydesville, in this State," and that their elder sister Leah, "twenty-three years older than Margaret," gave exhibitions in "all the principal cities, which were attended by the most eminent men and the most brilliant women in the country."[^42] Davenport described an investigation by three members of the University of Buffalo faculty, [[Austin Flint]], Charles A. Lee and C. B. Coventry, who attributed the noises to the knee joint and who, in his view, "hit upon the right principle at the inception of the inquiry, but were misled into a wrong application of it."[^43]
On October 21, 1888 Margaret Fox Kane read a statement at the Academy of Music in New York City, published that morning in the *New York World*, saying that the raps had been produced by the sisters. Davenport's book printed her account and that of Catherine Fox Jencken, and reproduced an article of October 11, 1888 on the pressure brought on Kane to retract. In November 1889 Margaret recanted the confession, stating that she had made it under pressure from opponents of Spiritualism.[^44] Addresses delivered "under the auspices of the Cassadaga Lake Free Association, Lily Dale, N.Y.," were published in 1894.[^45]
### NXIVM
[[Keith Raniere]] founded NXIVM around 2003 as a self-styled executive coaching and self-help organization. The Eastern District of New York announced his arrest in a release describing NXIVM as a purported self-help organization based in Albany.[^46] In 2015 Raniere created the secret society DOS, structured as a pyramid with himself at the head, whose "slaves" were expected to provide "collateral." After a six-week jury trial before Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, Raniere was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, forced labor conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking and attempted sex trafficking, and was sentenced to 120 years. [[Clare Bronfman]] is a co-appellant in the Second Circuit's opinion of December 9, 2022, which affirmed the sex trafficking convictions, and the opinion names [[Allison Mack]] as a DOS "master"; each of Raniere's co-defendants pleaded guilty.[^47]
### Upstate Installations and Institutions
[[George Estabrooks]] headed the psychology department at [[Colgate University]] in Hamilton and advised the military on the uses of hypnosis from the early 1930s, a role described in [[John Marks]]'s account of the agency's mind-control programs.[^48] [[Allen Dulles]], later director of central intelligence, was born in Watertown, New York.[^49]
The Air Force's [[Rome Air Development Center]] at [[Griffiss Air Force Base]], later the Rome Laboratory and now the Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate, appears in the vault in two contract chains. In December 1973 the Braddock, Dunn and McDonald firm, later [[BDM Corporation]], delivered report RADC-TR-73-325, "Hertzian Generator Development," under contract F30602-72-C-0388 for the center, on a "frozen wave" concept for electromagnetic wave generation.[^50] On June 8, 2022 the Air Force awarded [[Radiance Technologies]] a position on the indefinite-delivery contract FA875022D1005, "Agile Cyber Technology 3," issued from Rome.[^51]
### Long Island and Western New York
The 1953 [[Robertson Panel]], a CIA advisory group on unidentified aerial reports, included [[Samuel Goudsmit]] of [[Brookhaven National Laboratories]] on Long Island. Records in the panel file propose the Navy's [[Special Devices Center]] at [[Sands Point, New York|Sands Point]], Long Island, as a channel for the panel's work.[^52]
[[Bill Moore]] and Jaime Shandera wrote that in early March 1983 Moore received a telephone call telling him to "go and pick up" information. At a motel on the edge of a mid-sized city in upstate New York, a man delivered a sealed envelope containing eleven pages of a purported document headed "Executive Briefing, Subject: Project Aquarius." That account is the authors' own.[^53]
### Criminal Cases and Other Appearances
In November 2022 [[Payton Gendron]] pleaded guilty in Erie County court to first-degree murder, second-degree murder as a hate crime, attempted murder as a hate crime and domestic terrorism in the first degree, arising from the [[2022 Buffalo Supermarket Shooting]]. On February 15, 2023 Judge [[Susan Eagan]] sentenced him to life in prison without parole, because the state does not use the death penalty. Gendron also faced a federal indictment on 27 charges, including hate crimes resulting in death.[^54]
[[Nicholas Tartaglione]], a former officer of the [[Briarcliff Manor Police Department]] in Westchester County, was convicted in federal court in White Plains in April 2023 of the murders of four men in 2016, whose bodies were buried on his property in Otisville. In June 2024 he was sentenced to four consecutive life terms.[^55] The Justice Department inspector general's report on Epstein's custody states that from July 2019 he shared a cell in the Special Housing Unit at the [[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York]] with Jeffrey Epstein.[^56]
[[Hassie Hunt]], the son of [[H.L. Hunt|H. L. Hunt]], was placed in an institution in New York State after a lobotomy in the late 1940s, according to Harry Hurt III.[^57] [[Ricardo Cañete]] told FBI agents in May 1977 that an associate wrote on a restaurant guest check the papers he wanted, among them a New York State temporary security card in the name Frederick Pagan.[^58]
### New York in Federal Office and Elections
[[Hillary Clinton]] served as a senator from New York from January 3, 2001 to January 21, 2009, and sat on the [[Senate Armed Services Committee]].[^59] [[Irving Ives]], also a New York senator, spoke on the Senate floor on July 21, 1950 on the majority report of the subcommittee that examined [[Joseph McCarthy]]'s charges against the [[State Department]].[^60]
In the 2026 Democratic primary for New York's 12th congressional district, the Assembly member [[Alex Bores]], sponsor of the state's [[RAISE Act]], was the target of Think Big, the spending vehicle of the super PAC [[Leading the Future]]. The Federal Election Commission's aggregation for his candidate committee shows Think Big spending $8,155,897.68 in opposition in 56 transactions, and the Jobs and Democracy PAC, funded through [[Public First Action]], spending $15,026,937.99 in support.[^61]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Kerry, John, and Hank Brown, *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,* December 1992, ch. 6, "BCCI's Early Activities in the United States," account of the first New York nominee application. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/06early.htm
[^2]: Kerry, John, and Hank Brown, *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,* December 1992, ch. 6, Heimann's statement (S. Hrg. 102-379, p. 76, as cited in ch. 6, n. 6) and the subcommittee's conclusion on Abedi's approaches to Heimann. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/06early.htm
[^3]: Kerry, John, and Hank Brown, *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,* December 1992, ch. 12, "The OCC and John Heimann." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/12reg.htm
[^4]: Kerry, John, and Hank Brown, *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,* December 1992, ch. 13, passage on the 1981-1982 proceedings before the New York State Banking Board and First American Bank of New York. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/13clifford.htm
[^5]: Kerry, John, and Hank Brown, *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,* December 1992, ch. 9, "BCCI and Law Enforcement: District Attorney of New York," introduction and "Information From Senate Aide Initiates Investigation." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/09ny.htm
[^6]: Robert Morgenthau testimony, February 1988, Senate subcommittee hearing, S. Hrg. 100-773, pt. 2, pp. 20-21, as cited in Kerry-Brown report, ch. 9, n. 2.
[^7]: Jack Blum testimony, S. Hrg. 102-350, p. 33, as cited in Kerry-Brown report, ch. 9, n. 4. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/09ny.htm
[^8]: Michael Cherkasky, quoted in *Vanity Fair,* April 1992, "How They Broke the Bank," p. 261, and in S. Hrg. 102-350, pt. 3, as cited in Kerry-Brown report, ch. 9, nn. 5-6. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/09ny.htm
[^9]: *Vanity Fair,* April 1992, "How They Broke the Bank," p. 266, as quoted in Kerry-Brown report, ch. 9, n. 15; report text on the Serious Fraud Office, the Justice Department and Price Waterhouse in ch. 9. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/09ny.htm
[^10]: Morgenthau testimony, May 23, 1991, S. Hrg. 102-379, p. 167, as quoted in Kerry-Brown report, ch. 9, n. 16. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/09ny.htm
[^11]: Kerry, John, and Hank Brown, *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,* December 1992, ch. 9, section "The Federal Reserve" (Richard Small and Thomas Baxter in Abu Dhabi). https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/09ny.htm
[^12]: *People v. Bank of Credit and Commerce International,* indictment, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, July 29, 1991, as quoted in Kerry-Brown report, ch. 9, nn. 17-18. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/09ny.htm
[^13]: Kerry, John, and Hank Brown, *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,* December 1992, ch. 9, "The New York Indictment" and "Consequences of New York's Investigation." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/09ny.htm
[^14]: Credit Suisse Group AG, Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2014, filed March 20, 2015, "Regulation and supervision" and "Tax and securities law matters." https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1159510/000137036815000028/a140320ar20f.htm
[^15]: New York State Department of Financial Services, In the Matter of Deutsche Bank AG, Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, and Deutsche Bank Trust Company of the Americas, Consent Order Under New York Banking Law sections 39 and 44, signature pages ("signed this 6th day of July, 2020"); New York State Department of Financial Services, press release of July 7, 2020. https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/enforcement_discipline/ea20200706_deutsche_bank ; https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr202007071
[^16]: Deutsche Bank consent order, July 6, 2020, paras. 16-23 and 44 (relationship from August 2013 until December 2018; accounts opened August 19, 2013; more than 40 accounts; "Mr. Epstein's private charity"). https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/enforcement_discipline/ea20200706_deutsche_bank
[^17]: New York State Department of Financial Services, press release, "Superintendent Lacewell Announces DFS Imposes $150 Million Penalty on Deutsche Bank," July 7, 2020. https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr202007071
[^18]: New York State Department of Financial Services, Consent Order in the matter of PayPal, Inc., January 23, 2025, paras. 7-11 and 25. https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry-guidance/enforcement-discipline/ea20250123-paypal-inc
[^19]: PayPal, Inc., press release of August 21, 2002, Exhibit 99.2 to Form 8-K, SEC EDGAR. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001103415/000091205702033059/a2087861zex-99_2.htm
[^20]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Inspector General, memorandum to the Legislative Counsel, "Drug-Related Death of Harold Blauer," August 13, 1975, CIA Reading Room document 00146161. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-00146161
[^21]: *Barrett v. United States,* 798 F.2d 565 (2d Cir. July 31, 1986), statement of facts. https://static.case.law/f2d/798/cases/0565-01.json
[^22]: *Barrett v. United States,* 798 F.2d 565 (2d Cir. 1986), statement of facts (Court of Claims action of April 1953; conferences of early July and July 12, 1954). https://static.case.law/f2d/798/cases/0565-01.json
[^23]: *Barrett v. United States,* 798 F.2d 565 (2d Cir. 1986), statement of facts (1955 settlement, order of July 7, 1955) and discussion (estate's allegations on Hoch's testimony). https://static.case.law/f2d/798/cases/0565-01.json
[^24]: *Barrett v. United States,* 798 F.2d 565 (2d Cir. 1986), disposition as to Marcus and the federal attorneys; the earlier Court of Claims decision is *Barrett v. State of New York,* 85 Misc. 2d 456, 378 N.Y.S.2d 946 (Ct. Cl. 1976), cited in the opinion. https://static.case.law/f2d/798/cases/0565-01.json
[^25]: *Project MKULTRA, the CIA's Program of Research in Behavioral Modification,* joint hearing before the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Committee on Human Resources, U.S. Senate, 95th Cong., 1st sess., August 3, 1977, p. 67 and note. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-00163357
[^26]: Columbia University Libraries, Oral History Research Office, Mary Lasker oral history, transcript pages laskerm_1_19_570 and laskerm_1_19_592. https://columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/nny/laskerm/transcripts/laskerm_1_19_570.html
[^27]: University at Albany, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, record of a 1956 interview of Dr. Paul H. Hoch, Commissioner of Mental Hygiene. https://archives.albany.edu/description/catalog/apap015aspace_033e27487bc26a06ec8cf9fd535fb0c3
[^28]: Saul Krugman, "The Willowbrook Hepatitis Studies Revisited: Ethical Aspects," *Reviews of Infectious Diseases* 8 (1986): 157-162 (PMID 3952423); Krugman, "Experiments at the Willowbrook State School," *The Lancet* 1 (May 8, 1971): 966-967 (PMID 4102289).
[^29]: Geraldo Rivera, Willowbrook exposé, 1972 television broadcast, Internet Archive item "Willowbrook-Geraldo Rivera." https://archive.org/details/willowbrook
[^30]: *New York State Association for Retarded Children, Inc. v. Rockefeller,* 357 F. Supp. 752 (E.D.N.Y. Apr. 10, 1973) (Judd, J.). https://static.case.law/f-supp/357/cases/0752-01.json
[^31]: *New York State Association for Retarded Children, Inc. v. Carey,* 393 F. Supp. 715 (E.D.N.Y. May 5, 1975) (Judd, J.), memorandum approving consent judgment. https://static.case.law/f-supp/393/cases/0715-01.json
[^32]: Joint hearing on Project MKULTRA, August 3, 1977, appendix, "QKHILLTOP Definition," p. 171. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-00163357
[^33]: Joint hearing on Project MKULTRA, August 3, 1977, opening statement of Admiral Stansfield Turner on safehouses; testimony on the New York apartment; staff account of the Olson case (trip to New York to see Dr. Harold Abramson, November 1953). https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-00163357
[^34]: William B. Herlands, report to Governor Thomas E. Dewey on the commutation of the sentence of Charles Luciano, September 17, 1954, Thomas E. Dewey Papers, Series 13, University of Rochester Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, "Synopsis of the Evidence." https://www.lib.rochester.edu/IN/RBSCP/ATTACHMENTS/Series-13-17-2-Herlands-report.pdf
[^35]: Herlands report, September 17, 1954, synopsis (visitors to Luciano at Great Meadow; network of contacts) and "Official Confirmation of the War-Aid Project," reproducing the letter of Rear Admiral Carl Espe, July 26, 1954. https://www.lib.rochester.edu/IN/RBSCP/ATTACHMENTS/Series-13-17-2-Herlands-report.pdf
[^36]: Herlands report, September 17, 1954, commutation section (Board of Parole recommendation of December 3, 1945; commutation of January 3, 1946; six other alien criminals; deportation on the SS Laura Keane). https://www.lib.rochester.edu/IN/RBSCP/ATTACHMENTS/Series-13-17-2-Herlands-report.pdf
[^37]: Stig Arild Pettersen, "Berent Friele: Nelson Rockefeller's Shadow Diplomat in Latin America," Rockefeller Archive Center Research Reports, 2019, drawing on the Berent Friele papers, Rockefeller Archive Center, FA468.
[^38]: *People v. Broadie,* 37 N.Y.2d 100 (N.Y. June 18, 1975). https://static.case.law/ny-2d/37/cases/0100-01.json
[^39]: Shawn McCreesh, "Get Me Risa Heller!" *New York* (Intelligencer), February 14, 2023. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/risa-heller-communications-profile.html
[^40]: *Attica: The Official Report of the New York State Special Commission on Attica* (1972), Preface; "The Governor's Decisions"; chapter on the Sunday of the standoff; Oswald testimony on the call to the governor; Rockefeller announcement of September 15, 1971. https://archive.org/details/McKayCommissionAtticaReport
[^41]: Emma Hardinge Britten, *Modern American Spiritualism: A Twenty Years' Record of the Communion between Earth and the World of Spirits* (1870), chapter on Hydesville. https://archive.org/details/modernamericansp00brit
[^42]: Reuben Briggs Davenport, *The Death-Blow to Spiritualism: Being the True Story of the Fox Sisters, as Revealed by Authority of Margaret Fox Kane and Catherine Fox Jencken* (New York: G. W. Dillingham, 1888), pp. 41-42. https://archive.org/details/deathblowtospiri00daverich
[^43]: Davenport, *The Death-Blow to Spiritualism,* chapter "Spiritualistic Boomerangs," pp. 130-133. https://archive.org/details/deathblowtospiri00daverich
[^44]: Davenport, *The Death-Blow to Spiritualism,* pp. 19-20, 34-40 and 63-64; Society for Psychical Research, *Psi Encyclopedia,* "Fox Sisters" (statement of October 21, 1888 at the Academy of Music, published that morning in the *New York World;* retraction of November 1889). https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/fox-sisters/
[^45]: Virchand R. Gandhi, *India's Message to America and Other Addresses Delivered under the Auspices of the Cassadaga Lake Free Association, Lily Dale, N.Y.* (1894). https://archive.org/details/indiasmessagetoa00gand
[^46]: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York, press release, "Founder of NXIVM, a Purported Self-Help Organization Based in Albany, NY, Arrested for Sex Trafficking." https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/founder-nxivm-purported-self-help-organization-based-albany-ny-arrested-sex-trafficking
[^47]: *United States v. Raniere,* 55 F.4th 354 (2d Cir. Dec. 9, 2022), Nos. 20-3520-cr, 20-3789-cr, Background. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/9328889/united-states-v-raniere/
[^48]: John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control.* Times Books, 1979, ch. 1.
[^49]: Stephen Kinzer, *The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War.* Times Books, 2013.
[^50]: Defense Technical Information Center, report AD0774567, *Hertzian Generator Development,* RADC-TR-73-325, Braddock, Dunn and McDonald, Inc., December 1973, contract F30602-72-C-0388. https://archive.org/details/DTIC_AD0774567
[^51]: USAspending.gov, award FA875022D1005, Radiance Technologies Inc., Department of the Air Force, "Agile Cyber Technology 3," start date June 8, 2022. https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_IDV_FA875022D1005_9700
[^52]: Frederick C. Durant, memorandum on the meetings of the Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, January 14-18, 1953, CIA Office of Scientific Intelligence, with Tab A (panel report) and Tab B (associate members).
[^53]: William L. Moore and Jaime H. Shandera, *The MJ-12 Documents: An Analytical Report* (Fund for UFO Research, 1990), "The Carter Briefing Notes (Mar. '83)," p. 21.
[^54]: National Public Radio, "The Buffalo Tops shooter has been sentenced to life in prison without parole," February 15, 2023. https://www.wvtf.org/2023-02-15/the-buffalo-tops-shooter-has-been-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-without-parole ; "Buffalo mass shooting suspect pleads guilty, will spend life in prison," ABC News, November 2022. https://abcnews4.com/news/nation-world/buffalo-mass-shooting-suspect-in-court-monday-payton-gendron-tops-shooting-murder-hate-crime-charges
[^55]: Phil Helsel, "Ex-New York police officer sentenced to life in execution of 4 men," *NBC News,* June 10, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-new-york-police-officer-sentenced-life-execution-4-men-rcna156462 ; News 12 Hudson Valley, report of the April 2023 verdict, White Plains. https://hudsonvalley.news12.com/jury-deliberations-continue-in-quadruple-murder-trial-of-ex-briarcliff-manor-police-officer
[^56]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Report 23-085, *Investigation and Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Custody, Care, and Supervision of Jeffrey Epstein at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, New York,* as cited on the [[Nicholas Tartaglione]] page.
[^57]: Harry Hurt III, *Texas Rich: The Hunt Dynasty from the Early Oil Days through the Silver Crash.* W.W. Norton, 1981, pp. 135-137.
[^58]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York office, reports of interviews of Ricardo Cañete by Special Agent Larry E. Wack, May 10 to May 18, 1977. https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/MNC/canete.pdf
[^59]: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "CLINTON, Hillary Rodham," capture of February 1, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160201012933/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C001041
[^60]: Congressional Record, vol. 96, pt. 8, July 21, 1950, p. 10773, remarks of Senator Irving M. Ives on the majority report of the subcommittee under S. Res. 231. https://archive.org/details/sim_congressional-record-proceedings-and-debates_july-12-31-1950_96
[^61]: Federal Election Commission, schedule E independent expenditures by candidate, Alexander Bores (H6NY12214), 2026 cycle, committees C00923417 (Think Big, opposing, 56 transactions) and C00928374 (Jobs and Democracy PAC, supporting), queried October 15, 2026. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_e/by_candidate/

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---
category: "U.S. State"
tags:
- Place
- USState
- UFO
- ProjectBlueBook
- WrightPatterson
- Battelle
- KentState
- Epstein
- Thiel
- PredictionMarkets
- MatrixChurchill
summary: "U.S. state whose Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Columbus research institute, 1966 and 1973 sightings, and 1970 Kent State shootings anchor a record of UFO files, intelligence contracts and campus violence."
aliases:
- OH
- State of Ohio
- Buckeye State
created: 2026-10-15
updated: 2026-10-15
---
Ohio is a Midwestern state whose capital is [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]]. Its record runs through the [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]] near [[Dayton, Ohio|Dayton]], where [[Project Blue Book]] was headquartered, and through the [[Battelle Memorial Institute]] in Columbus, which held a contract supporting the same UFO work. Two Ohio sightings, one in April 1966 and one in October 1973, involved county deputies and an Army helicopter crew. The state is also the setting of the May 1970 shootings at [[Kent State University]], the Cleveland-area American affiliate of a British machine-tool maker that Iraqi state interests acquired, and the careers of several people born or active there.
### Wright-Patterson, Dayton and the Blue Book files
[[Project Grudge]] and its successor Project Blue Book were run from the base. The Air Force fact sheet of January 1985 states that the project "was headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base," and gives 12,618 sightings reported from 1947 to 1969, of which 701 remained unidentified.[^1] The project was terminated by an announcement of the Secretary of the Air Force on December 17, 1969.[^2]
The same fact sheet states: "Periodically, it is erroneously stated that the remains of extraterrestrial visitors are or have been stored at Wright-Patterson AFB. There are not now nor ever have been, any extraterrestrial visitors or equipment on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base."[^1]
The 1997 Air Force report on the Roswell crash, written by [[James McAndrew]] and titled [[Roswell Incident|The Roswell Report: Case Closed]], describes accounts in which bodies from Roswell were moved to "usually Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio," which it calls a point of disagreement among UFO theorists.[^3] [[Thomas J. Carey]] and [[Donald R. Schmitt]] wrote that the original flight plan for the Roswell wreckage had a second leg to Wright Field, that the leg was publicly cancelled at a press conference on July 8, 1947, and that there was never a Hangar 18 on the base. They wrote that the name "Blue Room" was first used publicly in connection with the repository at Wright-Patterson in *The Roswell Incident* (1980).[^4]
[[Barry Goldwater]] wrote to [[Shlomo Arnon]] on March 28, 1975 that about ten or twelve years earlier he had tried to learn what was in the building at Wright-Patterson where Air Force UFO information was stored, and had been denied. He wrote that the material "is still classified above Top Secret."[^5] In letters to [[Lee Graham]] of April 11, 1979 and October 19, 1981 he wrote that he had been denied access to "a facility at Wright-Patterson" and had "long ago given up acquiring access to the so-called blue room at Wright-Patterson."[^5] [[Timothy Good]] reproduced the letters in *Above Top Secret* and wrote that Goldwater had hoped to obtain permission from [[Curtis LeMay]] to examine the material there and was refused.[^5]
On CNN's *Larry King Live* on October 1, 1994 Goldwater described asking LeMay about "a room at Wright-Patterson where you put all this secret stuff." In his account LeMay replied, "Don't ever ask me that question again!"[^6] In written testimony to the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]] dated September 9, 2025, [[George Knapp]] stated that former Nevada senator [[Howard Cannon]] told him that Goldwater had raised the same question several times, and that the response was "hell no, and never ask again."[^7] Knapp stated that Goldwater confirmed the account in early-1990s correspondence and that Cannon confirmed it on camera.[^7]
[[William L. Moore]]'s Freedom of Information Act request of December 1980 to the Foreign Technology Division about a "Project Blue Room" drew a reply that no records could be found. In 1982 the division told Lee Graham that it could not locate documents on the Blue Room, and added that Goldwater had visited earlier that year and received a technology update briefing. On October 9, 1991 the Air Force told [[Brian Parks]] that a film titled "Blue Room, Wright Patterson AFB OH, 1955" existed in its records and had been destroyed on September 9, 1965.[^4]
The [[Foreign Technology Division]] was established on July 1, 1961 under [[Air Force Systems Command]]. From 1961 to 1991 it was the Air Force's scientific and technical intelligence center for foreign air, space and ballistic missile systems, working under [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] production guidance.[^8] [[Robert M. Collins]] wrote that he came to the UFO subject in the summer of 1985 as an analyst in theoretical and applied physics at the division, and that in the group around Moore he was given the bird name Condor. He named a retired division lieutenant colonel in Dayton, [[Anthony J. Cacioppo]], and [[Dale Graff]], by then reassigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency, as persons with in-depth knowledge of the UFO subject.[^9]
In August 1988 Moore, [[Jaime Shandera]], [[Richard Doty]], Collins and the retired Air Force lieutenant colonel [[Ernie Kellerstrass]] met at a state park near Dayton, each at a separate contact point, according to Collins. He wrote that in the fall of 1987 Kellerstrass had hosted Moore, Shandera, [[Harold Puthoff]], Colonel [[John B. Alexander]], [[C.B. Scott Jones]] and Collins at dinner at his house in [[Beavercreek, Ohio]]. Collins wrote that Kellerstrass brought a companion from "DET 22," and that the men "all checked out."[^10]
A purchase order awarded on January 9, 2013 by the [[General Services Administration]] to [[HII Mission Technologies]] for foreign materiel exploitation engineering and maintenance support carried the place of performance Dayton, Ohio. USAspending records list $53,916,532.23 obligated under the order, a funding office of the [[National Air and Space Intelligence Center]], and a period of performance from February 1, 2013 to July 31, 2018.[^11]
In 1953 [[J. Allen Hynek]] ran [[Project Henry]] from [[Ohio State University]], reviewing teletype reports from the base. His assistant [[Jennie Zeidman]] wrote in 1991 that Hynek was paid to investigate only the reports Blue Book assigned to him, and that Hynek often said he knew the best cases were withheld. She also wrote that Parks had obtained, under the Freedom of Information Act, Hynek's record as a Foreign Technology Division consultant from 1970 to 1974.[^12]
### Foreign materiel and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center
The base's foreign materiel mission runs through the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. A 2016 Air Force story describes the center handing foreign materiel to an 87-member Foreign Materiel Exploitation Squadron.[^13] The [[Department of Defense]] Inspector General's audit report 98-005, dated October 8, 1997, reviewed how the military departments used exploitation results.[^14]
Notes attributed to the physicist [[Eric Davis]], dated October 16, 2002, record Vice Admiral [[Thomas R. Wilson]] describing a June 1997 meeting at which program managers said they ran a reverse engineering program. The notes have Wilson first assuming the program concerned recovered Soviet or Chinese hardware, and then saying the managers "said they weren't that either." Wilson told the [[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]] in 2020: "It's all fiction."[^15]
In June 2023 [[The Debrief]] reported, in an article by [[Leslie Kean]] and [[Ross Coulthart]], that a NASIC officer identified as Jonathan Grey worked on UAP analysis there. The article quotes Grey: "I have been the recipient of such briefings for almost a decade," and reports Christopher Mellon's account of briefings he arranged for congressional staff on retrieved materials.[^16] [[The War Zone]] reported that a Department of Defense spokesperson, [[Sue Gough]], said that the [[All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office]] had not discovered verifiable information substantiating claims of reverse engineering of extraterrestrial materials.[^17]
### The Portage County sightings of April 1966
On April 17, 1966 a [[Portage County Sheriff's Office|Portage County]] deputy, Dale F. Spaur, badge number 15, reported a UFO near [[Ravenna, Ohio|Ravenna]], the county seat. In the Blue Book teletype record, Spaur said the object was first sighted along the highway into Ravenna and that he followed it east to [[Conway, Pennsylvania|Conway]], Pennsylvania, with a second deputy, W. L. Neff, and two patrol cars.[^18] Other accounts in the file give the chase as 85 and 86 miles, and identify the second deputy as Wilbur Neff.[^19][^20] [[Gerald F. Buchert]], chief of police in [[Mantua, Ohio|Mantua]], told the Associated Press that he photographed the object from his front yard in Mantua, about eight miles north of Ravenna, and that the Air Force told him not to release the picture.[^20]
The file records that the [[662nd Radar Squadron]] station at Oakdale, Pennsylvania, had nothing on radar between 0530 and 0615 that morning, and that the Air National Guard fighters based at the [[Pittsburgh International Airport|Greater Pittsburgh Airport]] were not scrambled.[^18] In a telephone account recorded in the file, Spaur said the object was "So bright that we couldn't look directly at it," and that its sound was "a humming sound like a power transformer," with "no thrust like from a jet."[^21]
The case was handled by the Blue Book office under [[Hector Quintanilla]]. The file's telephone record says that Quintanilla told Spaur the Air Force wanted the negative so that it could be enlarged, and that Spaur expected the sheriff to hand it over.[^21] A memorandum for the record in the same file notes that Air National Guard interceptors at Greater Pittsburgh were not sent up because nothing showed on radar, and that both Spaur and Buchert had given the Air Force excellent testimony by telephone, so that little more was expected from a personal interview.[^18]
An Air Force photo analysis of Buchert's negative found that the "very bright light" he tried to photograph "does not appear as an image," and that the two images on the negative were "probably the result of processing defects due to old fogged film and poor handling." The analysis concluded: "The probable cause of the sighting by Deputy Sheriff Spaur of Ravenna, Ohio was the passage of a satellite over northeastern Ohio." It continues: "It is believed that Deputy Sheriff Spaur was chasing the planet Venus. Radar indicates that no airborne objects were in the area of the sighting during the period that Deputy Sheriff Spaur was chasing the UFO."[^22]
A letter dated May 1966 from [[Robert E. Cook]], who wrote as a private citizen and a former United States congressman, went to [[William Stanton]], the representative for the district. Cook called the Venus conclusion "ridiculous," wrote that Air Force investigators had not come to Portage County to interview the three eyewitnesses, and said the inquiry had consisted of telephone calls and an examination of Buchert's photographs. He urged Stanton to insist that investigators be sent.[^19] The Blue Book files also include a ground-visual sighting at [[Mansfield, Ohio|Mansfield]] on August 16, 1966, for which Quintanilla wrote to the observer on August 29 that the information received was not sufficient for evaluation and asked for a completed questionnaire; the case form carries the conclusion "Insufficient Data for Evaluation."[^23]
The case file's cover sheet is headed "PROJECT 10073 RECORD." [[Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14]], the 1955 statistical study described in the Battelle section below, carries the same "Project No. 10073" on its cover.[^24]
### Battelle Memorial Institute and the Columbus contracts
Battelle Memorial Institute is a nonprofit contract research organization in Columbus, created under the will of the Columbus industrialist [[Gordon Battelle]]. The institute was incorporated in 1925, and its first laboratory opened in October 1929.[^25] Its UFO work began in late 1951. [[Edward J. Ruppelt]], then chief of Project Grudge, wrote that he set up a contract with a research organization because no one on his staff could answer the questions that UFO reports raised. He called the arrangement "Project Bear," and wrote that "Their organization cannot be identified by name because they are doing other highly secret work for the government." He described it as "a large, well-known research organization in the Midwest."[^26]
The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office listed the arrangement in February 2024 as "Project BEAR (Late 1951 to Late 1954)," and stated that "BMI released a report under the cover of ATIC to maintain its anonymity."[^27] The resulting report was dated May 5, 1955 and issued by the [[Air Technical Intelligence Center]] at Wright-Patterson. It rests on "approximately 4,000 reports" from June 1947 to December 1952, reduced to IBM punched-card abstracts, and was undertaken "to determine if 'flying saucers' represented technological developments not known to this country."[^24] Its conclusions state that "there was a complete lack of any valid evidence consisting of physical matter in any case of a reported unidentified" object.[^24]
The [[Robertson Panel]] memorandum, prepared for the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] after the panel's meetings in January 1953, records in its minutes for January 15 that "The Project STORK support at Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, was described by Dr. Hynek."[^28] The arrangement outlasted the early years. A CIA memorandum of October 11, 1960 reports a visit to the "Air Force's Project White Stork (PWS) at Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio," and states that White Stork "has assumed increasing importance to OSI analysts because it is able to provide considerably more assistance for many scientific and technical Intelligence research projects than any other repository in the Intelligence Community."[^29]
Battelle also hosted tests on a model of a Soviet-designed biological bomblet. The [[New York Times]] reported on September 4, 2001 that the Central Intelligence Agency, in a program code-named [[Clear Vision]] that began in 1997, "conducted two sets of tests at Battelle, the military contractor," and that the Defense Intelligence Agency had taken over a project to replicate a genetically altered anthrax strain, for which the [[West Jefferson, Ohio]], laboratory of Battelle had been selected.[^30] The [[Department of Energy]]'s Office of Legacy Management lists the institute's King Avenue site in Columbus and its West Jefferson site, about 15 miles west of the city, as a Manhattan Engineer District and Atomic Energy Commission legacy site, and states that Battelle conducted nuclear research at both for the department and its predecessor agencies between 1943 and 1986.[^31] At King Avenue, part of the federal fuel and target fabrication program, the work included processing and machining enriched, natural and depleted uranium and thorium and fabricating fuel elements; at West Jefferson a hot cell facility was used for examination of power and research reactor fuels and post-irradiation examination of control rod, source and structural materials, beside a critical assembly laboratory, a reactor research building and an engineering area for fuel element fabrication and ballistics studies.[^31] The department reports that 1.7 million tons of low-level and mixed low-level waste and 41 tons of transuranic waste were shipped from the two sites, that cleanup was completed in 2006, and that the [[Nuclear Regulatory Commission]] terminated Battelle's special nuclear materials license for both sites in 2008.[^31] On January 4, 1965 the key to the [[Hanford Laboratories]] was transferred to Battelle, which operated the laboratory for the [[Atomic Energy Commission]]. In the 1960s and 1970s the [[Ohio Attorney General]] challenged the institute's reading of Gordon Battelle's will, and the dispute was settled in 1975 with a distribution of $80 million to other charities.[^25]
### The Coyne helicopter incident over Mansfield, 1973
On November 27, 1978 [[Lawrence J. Coyne]], who gave his rank as lieutenant colonel, described the incident to the Special Political Committee of the [[United Nations General Assembly]], in the summary record of its 35th meeting, during a session in which [[Jacques Vallee]] and Hynek also spoke.[^32] The summary records that Coyne described an incident of October 18, 1973 involving a United States Army utility helicopter, of which he had been in command, and an unidentified flying object. The incident "had almost resulted in a mid-air collision."[^32]
According to the summary, the helicopter had left Columbus for Cleveland at 10:30 p.m. with a crew of four. A red-lighted aircraft approached at very high speed, and Coyne contacted Mansfield approach control by radio. The object was described as "50 to 60 feet long," with "a large, steady, bright red light" on the front and a green light from its undercarriage that "swung through an angle of 90 degrees to shine directly into the cockpit." The magnetic compass was "spinning slowly," and the helicopter climbed at 1,000 feet per minute although its controls were still set for a descent. Coyne told the committee he was convinced that the object had been real and that such incidents should be thoroughly investigated.[^32]
A news account published in the [[Mansfield News Journal]] on November 4, 1973 identified the pilot as Army Reserve Captain Lawrence Coyne, a member of the 316th Medical Detachment at [[Cleveland Hopkins International Airport]]. It quoted him: "We were on a collision course," and "The thing was terrifically fast." It reported that none of the F-100 jets of the nearby Air National Guard squadron were in the air when the object appeared.[^33] The case file states that the helicopter's commander was 36 years old and had nineteen years of Army Reserve service, and that the crew included a flight medic and a crew chief.[^34]
The case file cites an Army Disposition Form incident report reproduced in [[Larry Fawcett]] and [[Barry Greenwood]], *Clear Intent* (1984).[^35] It also cites Jennie Zeidman's 1979 monograph for the [[Center for UFO Studies]], and states that her second-by-second timeline showed the object in continuous view of the crew for at least five minutes. The case file states that this timeline rules out a meteor.[^36] Witnesses on the ground, including a family returning to a rural home near the Charles Mill Reservoir, reported a red light and then green illumination.[^34]
A [[J. Patrick Coyne]] was executive secretary of the [[President's Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities]] and of its successor, the [[President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board]]. The UN summary gives the helicopter commander's rank as lieutenant colonel, and the 1973 news account gives it as captain.[^32][^33] Whether J. Patrick Coyne and Lawrence J. Coyne are the same man is not established by the records cited here.
### Kent State University and the Ohio National Guard, 1970
The [[President's Commission on Campus Unrest]], chaired by former Pennsylvania governor [[William Scranton]], reported that about 750 [[Ohio National Guard]] members were sent to Kent State University in May 1970. It reported that on May 4 students congregated on the commons and defied an order to disperse, that the Guard fired tear gas, and that "some fired their weapons." Four students were killed and nine wounded.[^37]
The Commission wrote of the shooting: "The 61 shots by 28 guardsmen certainly cannot be justified. Apparently, no order to fire was given, and there was inadequate fire control discipline on Blanket Hill."[^38] The report also states: "This was not the case at Kent State, yet each guardsman carried a loaded M-1 rifle."[^38]
On the presence of a gun, the Commission wrote: "Terry Norman, a free-lance photographer, was taking pictures of the demonstration and was seen with a pistol after the Guard fired. Several civilians chased him from Taylor Hall into the Guard line, where he surrendered a .38 caliber revolver. The gun was immediately examined by a campus policeman, who found that it had not been fired."[^39] The Commission added that "The activities of two persons at the scene may have given rise to the belief that a sniper was present."[^39]
Reuters reported in May 2016 that Norman was a student and FBI informant, that some experts speculated he fired the shots that provoked the Guard volley, and that he told investigators he never fired his gun.[^40] The FBI cited privacy protections for not releasing documents about Norman or confirming that they exist. A Buffalo attorney, Michael Kuzma, had filed a lawsuit seeking the FBI's records on Norman.[^40]
In a piece inserted in the [[Congressional Record]] on December 14, 2010 by [[Dennis Kucinich]], the co-founder of the [[Kent State Truth Tribunal]] wrote that a forensic audio analysis by [[Stuart Allen]], commissioned by the [[Cleveland Plain Dealer]], had heard "a violent altercation with FBI-paid Terry Norman," and that the last word of a Guard order to fire was "stepped on by a barrage of 67 shots over 13 seconds."[^41]
### Matrix-Churchill and the Cleveland office
[[Matrix-Churchill Corporation]] was an Ohio company with its office in the Cleveland area, the American affiliate of the British machine-tool maker [[Matrix Churchill]]. On March 14, 1989 Secretary of State [[James Baker]] signed State Department documents authenticating the company so that it could open a branch in Baghdad. On May 10, 1989 Acting Secretary [[Lawrence Eagleburger]] signed a similar set.[^42] Representative [[Henry Gonzalez]] told the House on August 10, 1992 that Baker and Eagleburger had, unwittingly, helped the company establish its Baghdad branch.[^42]
Gonzalez also described the Cleveland operation as headed on the procurement side by an Iraqi, [[Saalim Naman]], and placed the company inside a network that had "numerous, almost daily contacts with BNL in Atlanta and Matrix-Churchill in Cleveland."[^42] Eagleburger had been an officer of [[Kissinger Associates]] until 1989.[^43]
### Standard Oil Company of Ohio
The government's bill in the [[Standard Oil]] case alleged that the conspiracy was formed "in or about the year 1870" by [[John D. Rockefeller]], [[William Rockefeller]] and [[Henry Flagler|Henry M. Flagler]]. The bill named "Standard Oil Company of Ohio, and sixty-two other corporations and partnerships, as also seven individuals" as defendants.[^44] The Ohio company had already been the object of a state proceeding. On March 2, 1892 the [[Ohio Supreme Court]], in a quo warranto action brought in the name of the state on the relation of the attorney general, held that the company's participation in the trust agreement, under which all but seven of its 35,000 shares had been transferred to trustees, was beyond its corporate powers, and entered "Judgment ousting the defendant from the right to make the agreement set forth in the petition and of the power to perform the same."[^45]
### Facts Forum, H.L. Hunt and Representative Wayne Hays
In 1954 Representative [[Wayne Hays]] of Ohio, a member of the [[Reece Committee]] investigating tax-exempt foundations, demanded that the exemption of [[Facts Forum]] be lifted. "Facts Forum is not only a propaganda machine," he said, "but it puts up money to defeat people for Congress like me."[^46] The [[Internal Revenue Service]] gave the organization what the trade weekly Broadcasting-Telecasting called "a clean bill of health." A Facts Forum spokesman, [[Hardy Burt]], wrote to Hays asking whether his "vociferous antagonism" was connected with the Daily Worker's endorsement of his 1948 candidacy. [[H.L. Hunt]] put $5,000 on Hays's opponent in a later race and lost.[^47]
### Wexner Foundation and the Epstein record in Ohio
The [[Wexner Foundation]] is an Ohio private charitable foundation formed in 1973 by the family of the retailer [[Leslie Wexner]] to develop Jewish communal leadership in North America and public-sector leadership in Israel. [[Jeffrey Epstein]], Wexner's money manager, was a trustee from December 15, 1992 until September 4, 2007, and was president of the Wexner family office, N.A. Property, Inc., which kept the foundation's books.[^48] Between 2004 and 2006 the foundation paid the former Israeli prime minister [[Ehud Barak]] 2.3 million dollars for two commissioned studies. According to a foundation statement reported by the Times of Israel, one of the two studies was never finished.[^49] [[Maria Farmer]], a painter, alleged in her 2025 complaint against the United States that in the summer of 1996 Epstein invited her to be an artist-in-residence at his home in [[New Albany, Ohio]], which the complaint describes as part of or adjacent to the Wexner estate. She alleged that in late July or early August 1996 Epstein and [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] assaulted her there, that they took images from her cataloged collection of source material for her artwork and carried them by airplane from Ohio to New York, and that a local sheriff and other persons connected with Wexner prevented her from leaving the property for days.[^50] She reported Epstein and Maxwell to the [[New York City Police Department]] and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] in August 1996.[^50] A February 2020 review commissioned by the foundation, conducted by the law firm Kegler Brown Hill and Ritter, found no evidence that Epstein used the foundation to commit any crime.[^48]
### Prediction markets and the Ohio Casino Control Commission
In 2025 the [[Ohio Casino Control Commission]] sent cease-and-desist letters to prediction markets. Kalshi sued the commission and the Ohio Attorney General, [[Dave Yost]], in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio]], where Judge Sarah Daggett Morrison denied [[Kalshi]] a preliminary injunction on March 9, 2026.[^51] On September 25, 2026 a panel of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]], in an opinion by Judge Julia Gibbons, affirmed the Ohio denial. The panel held that Kalshi had not shown that sports event contracts are swaps, and alternatively that the Commodity Exchange Act neither expressly nor impliedly preempts the states' gambling laws.[^52] The commission's letter had told Kalshi that offering event contracts on sporting events to people in Ohio without a sports gaming license violated Ohio law, and the commission separately warned licensed sportsbooks that associating with an unlicensed operator would call their own licenses into question.[^52] Covers reported on October 5, 2026 that Kalshi, which sued Ohio in 2025, had been fined $5 million by the state in April.[^53]
Lobbying disclosure filings for Kalshi by [[Miller Strategies]] list covered positions that include chief counsel to Representative [[Jim Jordan]], according to the Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act database.[^54] Jordan managed the House debate on the [[Epstein Files Transparency Act]] on November 18, 2025, when the House passed it by 427 to 1.[^55]
### Radiance Technologies and the Dayton contractors
[[Radiance Technologies]], a Huntsville, Alabama company, announced on October 6, 2014 that it and "its Dayton partners" had been awarded a $960,000,000 indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract (Advanced Technical Exploitation Program II) for research, development, system sustainment and intelligence production using geospatial-intelligence and non-nuclear measurement and signature intelligence data at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.[^56] The company's political action committee has disbursed to Citizens for Turner, the committee of Representative [[Mike Turner]] of Ohio, according to the Federal Election Commission's records.[^57] In December 2023 the attorney [[Daniel Sheehan]] named Radiance among the entities he said were pressuring Turner and Representative [[Mike Rogers]] over the [[Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act]]; the interviewing outlet wrote that it had been unable to substantiate the involvement of those organizations, and reported that multiple sources told it the allegations about Radiance were untrue.[^58]
### Project Monarch and the Youngstown account
[[Cathy O'Brien]] described, in the account of [[Project Monarch]] summarized in a PROBE article of about 1996, being subjected to further conditioning by [[Michael Aquino]] at [[NASA]] bases and being sent to what she called "Charm School" in [[Youngstown, Ohio|Youngstown]]. She described it as a stone building with a basement dungeon equipped with chains, a stretching rack, whips and altars. She also claimed to have delivered messages to foreign leaders, including the Mexican president [[Carlos Salinas]], on behalf of the vice president, [[George H.W. Bush]].[^59]
### Born in Ohio: Kappes and Manson
[[Stephen Kappes]] was born in Cincinnati on August 22, 1951, took a bachelor's degree in pre-medicine at [[Ohio University]] and a master's degree in pathology at Ohio State University, served as a [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] officer from 1976, and joined the Central Intelligence Agency in January 1981.[^60]
[[Charles Manson]] was born in [[Cincinnati]] on November 12, 1934 and spent his childhood in and out of institutions.[^61]
### Political figures: JD Vance, Peter Thiel and Public First Action
[[JD Vance]] was born James Donald Bowman in [[Middletown, Ohio|Middletown]] on August 2, 1984. He served as U.S. Senator from Ohio from 2023 to 2025 and as Vice President of the United States from January 2025.[^62] Vance's political career was built on the financial backing of [[Peter Thiel]], who employed him at [[Mithril Capital]] from 2017 and gave to the [[Protect Ohio Values]] super PAC supporting his 2022 Senate primary.[^62] His contributions to the committee totaled approximately fifteen million dollars across the 2022 cycle.[^63] A [[Cincinnati Enquirer]] report of March 15, 2021 headlined a donation of $10 million from Thiel to a super PAC supporting Vance.[^64] [[Politico]]'s account of the Ohio primary of May 3, 2022 carried the headline "A mole hunt, a secret website and Peter Thiel's big risk."[^65]
The Jobs and Democracy PAC, which received most of the money of the [[Public First Action]] super PAC, reported expenditures supporting [[Brian Poindexter]] in Ohio.[^66]
### Mordecai Vanunu and the Daily Mirror in Ohio
The [[Daily Mirror]] dismissed its foreign editor, [[Nicholas Davies]], on October 29, 1991, for denying that he had been in Ohio in 1985 at the home of an arms dealer, after a rival paper printed a photograph of him. The dismissal came in the period of press coverage of [[Mordecai Vanunu]].[^67]
### Footnotes
[^1]: National Archives, "Project BLUE BOOK - Unidentified Flying Objects," reproducing the United States Air Force fact sheet "UFOs & Project BLUE BOOK" distributed by the Public Affairs Division, Wright-Patterson AFB, January 1985, https://www.archives.gov/research/military/air-force/ufos
[^2]: Air Force news release No. 1077-69, "Air Force to Terminate Project 'Blue Book,'" 17 December 1969, reproduced in the Office of Naval Research information sheet and Air Force "UFO Fact Sheet," https://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/UFOs/dod174.pdf
[^3]: James McAndrew, *The Roswell Report: Case Closed* (U.S. Air Force, 1997), Project Gutenberg ebook 63659, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/63659/pg63659-images.html
[^4]: Thomas J. Carey and Donald R. Schmitt, *Inside the Real Area 51: The Secret History of Wright-Patterson* (Career Press, 2013), chapter 2, "The Mystery of Hangar 18 Solved!" and chapter 5, "The Senator and the Blue Room," including the Blue Room correspondence of 1980 to 1991.
[^5]: Timothy Good, *Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-Up* (New York: William Morrow, 1988), chapter 15, "Senator Goldwater Confirms Withheld UFO Data," pp. 404 to 405, reproducing Barry Goldwater's letters to Shlomo Arnon (March 28, 1975) and to Lee Graham (April 11, 1979 and October 19, 1981).
[^6]: Carey and Schmitt, chapter 5, quoting the Larry King Live broadcast of October 1, 1994, CNN; Goldwater's 1988 radio statement is discussed in the same chapter.
[^7]: 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," September 9, 2025, https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/George-Knapp-Written-Testimony.pdf
[^8]: National Air and Space Intelligence Center, "National Air and Space Intelligence Center Heritage," fact sheet published July 31, 2015, read from the Wayback Machine copy of https://www.nasic.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Article/611728/national-air-and-space-intelligence-center-heritage/
[^9]: Robert Collins and Richard Doty, *Exempt from Disclosure: The Black World of UFOs* (Peregrine Communications, 2010), introduction and section 1, chapter 1, "FTD Is Not a Florist."
[^10]: Robert Collins and Richard Doty, *Exempt from Disclosure: The Black World of UFOs*, section 1, "August 1988: Cloak & Dagger," https://archive.org/details/exempt-from-disclosure (Collins's account).
[^11]: USAspending.gov, award GS05T13BMC0003, purchase order, funding office NASIC, recipient HII Mission Technologies Corp., retrieved October 9, 2026, https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_GS05T13BMC0003_4732_-NONE-_-NONE-
[^12]: Jennie Zeidman, "I Remember Blue Book," *International UFO Reporter*, March/April 1991, sections "Project Henry" and the closing section on the Foreign Technology Division, read from the Wayback Machine copy of https://www.project1947.com/articles/jzbluebook.htm
[^13]: TSgt Brandon Shapiro, "Acquire, Assess, Exploit: NASIC reverse engineers an advantage for pilots and leaders," Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, December 1, 2016, https://www.dvidshub.net/news/printable/216127
[^14]: Inspector General, Department of Defense, "Use of Foreign Materiel Exploitation Results," Audit Report No. 98-005, October 8, 1997, https://media.defense.gov/1997/Oct/08/2001715489/-1/-1/1/98-005.pdf
[^15]: "EWD NOTES 10/16/02, Eric Davis Meeting with Adm. Wilson," p. 12, https://documents2.theblackvault.com/casefiles/wilsonleak.pdf ; The Black Vault, "The Admiral Wilson Leak: An Analysis" (statement of Thomas R. Wilson to Billy Cox of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 2020), https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/the-admiral-wilson-leak-an-analysis/
[^16]: Leslie Kean and Ross Coulthart, "Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin," The Debrief, June 5, 2023, https://thedebrief.org/intelligence-officials-say-u-s-has-retrieved-non-human-craft/
[^17]: Joseph Trevithick and Tyler Rogoway, "Aliens Or Not, Secret Crash Retrieval Programs Are A Very Real Thing," The War Zone, June 15, 2023, https://www.twz.com/aliens-or-not-secret-crash-retrieval-programs-are-a-very-real-thing
[^18]: U.S. Air Force, Project Blue Book case file, "Project 10073 Record," April 17, 1966 sighting at Ravenna and Mantua, Ohio, including the Greater Pittsburgh Airport teletype, the Oakdale radar memorandum for the record and the Spaur report, National Archives microfilm T-1206 as digitized at https://archive.org/details/1966-04-7104469-Ravenna-Mantua-Ohio
[^19]: Same case file, letter of May 1966 from Robert E. Cook, addressed to Congressman William Stanton (page 2 signed by Cook), reporting the Spaur and Neff pursuit and the Venus conclusion.
[^20]: Same case file, clippings: Syracuse Herald-Journal, April 18, 1966, "UFO chased 86 miles" (Associated Press); the Mantua photograph account; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette clipping of April 19, 1966.
[^21]: Same case file, "Report by Telephone Conversation," April 1966, with Sheriff Spaur, and the memorandum of the Air Force contact with the Mantua chief of police.
[^22]: Same case file, photo analysis of the negative submitted by Chief of Police Gerald F. Buchert, April 1966 (Northeastern Ohio analysis), and the Summary section.
[^23]: U.S. Air Force, Project Blue Book case file, Mansfield, Ohio, August 16, 1966 (ground-visual, one object), with letter of August 29, 1966 from Major Hector Quintanilla, Jr., Chief, Project Blue Book, https://archive.org/details/1966-08-8728405-Mansfield-Ohio
[^24]: Air Technical Intelligence Center, Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14, "Analysis of Reports of Unidentified Aerial Objects," Study No. 102-EL-55/2-79, Project No. 10073, 5 May 1955, https://archive.org/details/ProjectBlueBookSpecialReport14 (cover, introduction and conclusions).
[^25]: "Battelle Memorial Institute, Inc.," International Directory of Company Histories, Gale (entry reprinted at Reference for Business), https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/88/Battelle-Memorial-Institute-Inc.html (incorporation in 1925, first laboratory October 1929, Ohio Attorney General challenge and 1975 settlement).
[^26]: Edward J. Ruppelt, *The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects* (Garden City: Doubleday, 1956), chapters nine and ten, Project Gutenberg ebook 17346, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17346/pg17346.txt
[^27]: Department of Defense, All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, *Report on the Historical Record of U.S. Government Involvement with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena*, Volume I, February 2024, "Project BEAR (Late 1951 to Late 1954)," https://media.defense.gov/2024/Mar/08/2003409233/-1/-1/0/DOPSR-CLEARED-508-COMPLIANT-HRRV1-08-MAR-2024-FINAL.PDF
[^28]: F. C. Durant, "Report of Meetings of the Office of Scientific Intelligence Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects," Central Intelligence Agency, 16 February 1953, Appendix U of the Condon Report, https://files.ncas.org/condon/text/appndx-u.htm (Part I, Thursday morning; Tab C, "Evidence Presented").
[^29]: Chief, Intelligence Production Faculty, Intelligence School, Central Intelligence Agency, memorandum "Weekly Activities Report No. 36, 5-11 October 1960," 11 October 1960, CIA-RDP78-04836A000100040080-9, https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp78-04836a000100040080-9
[^30]: Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William J. Broad, "U.S. Germ Warfare Research Pushes Treaty Limits," *The New York Times*, September 4, 2001, https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/04/world/us-germ-warfare-research-pushes-treaty-limits.html
[^31]: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Legacy Management, "Columbus, Ohio, Sites: An MED/AEC legacy site," fact sheet, May 2020, https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/05/f75/ColumbusFactSheet.pdf
[^32]: United Nations General Assembly, 33rd session, Special Political Committee, summary record of the 35th meeting, November 27, 1978, A/SPC/33/SR.35, paras. 18 to 21, https://documents.un.org/api/symbol/access?s=A%2FSPC%2F33%2FSR.35&l=en&t=pdf
[^33]: United Press International, "Incident named after pilot," *Mansfield News Journal*, November 4, 1973, reproduced at https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/press/mansfieldnewsjournal4nov1973.htm
[^34]: Patrick Gross, "The Coyne incident, Mansfield, Ohio, USA, 1973," case file, https://www.ufology.patrickgross.org/htm/coyne.htm (crew, rank and service summary; timeline; witness accounts).
[^35]: Larry Fawcett and Barry Greenwood, *Clear Intent* (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1984), p. 239, as cited in Patrick Gross, "The Coyne incident, Mansfield, Ohio, USA, 1973," https://www.ufology.patrickgross.org/htm/coyne.htm
[^36]: Jennie Zeidman, "Helicopter-UFO Encounter Over Ohio," Center for UFO Studies, Chicago, 1979, as cited in Patrick Gross, "The Coyne incident, Mansfield, Ohio, USA, 1973," https://www.ufology.patrickgross.org/htm/coyne.htm
[^37]: The Report of the President's Commission on Campus Unrest (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1970), p. 18, ERIC ED083899, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED083899.pdf
[^38]: Same report, Special Report on Kent State, pp. 289 to 290, ERIC ED083899, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED083899.pdf
[^39]: Same report, Special Report on Kent State, pp. 279 to 280, ERIC ED083899, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED083899.pdf
[^40]: Daniel Trotta, "Lawsuit extends fascination with Kent State deaths 46 years on," Reuters, May 4, 2016, https://news.yahoo.com/lawsuit-extends-fascination-kent-state-deaths-46-years-171552928.html
[^41]: Congressional Record, vol. 156, no. 165, December 14, 2010, Extension of Remarks of Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, inserting "Truth Emerging in the Kent State Cold Case Homicide" by the co-founder of the Kent State Truth Tribunal, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2010-12-14/html/CREC-2010-12-14-pt1-PgE2124-3.htm
[^42]: Henry B. Gonzalez, "Details on Iraq's Procurement Network," *Congressional Record*, House, August 10, 1992, https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/congress/1992_cr/h920810g.htm
[^43]: Lacey, Frederick B. "The Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Investigation: Report of the Independent Counsel," reproduced in House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, Serial No. 103-95. https://archive.org/details/testimonyofforme1994unit
[^44]: *Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States*, 221 U.S. 1 (decided May 15, 1911), statement of the bill ("Standard Oil Company of Ohio, and sixty-two other corporations and partnerships, as also seven individuals, were named as defendants"). https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/221/1
[^45]: *State ex rel. Attorney General v. Standard Oil Co.*, 49 Ohio St. 137 (Ohio March 2, 1892), https://static.case.law/ohio-st/49/cases/0137-01.json
[^46]: Facts Forum, pamphlet in reply to Representative Wayne Hays, c. 1954, reproduced in the FBI headquarters file on H.L. Hunt, part 1.
[^47]: Sherrill, Robert G. "H.L. Hunt: Portrait of a Superpatriot," *The Nation,* February 24, 1964.
[^48]: Kegler, Charles J., and Loriann E. Fuhrer. *Independent Review of Jeffrey Epstein's Involvement and Interactions with The Wexner Foundation.* Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter Co., LPA, February 24, 2020, pp. 1-18. https://www.wexnerfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/Wexner-Foundation-Report-Following-Independent-Review4.pdf
[^49]: *The Times of Israel,* on the Wexner Foundation's statement that its 2.3 million dollars to Barak paid for two reports, one unfinished. https://www.timesofisrael.com/wexner-foundation-2-3-million-to-barak-was-for-2-reports-1-wasnt-finished/
[^50]: Complaint, *Farmer v. United States*, No. 1:25-cv-01709-RBW (D.D.C. filed May 29, 2025), paras. 95 to 104, https://www.jamesmarshlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Doc-1-Complaint-05-29-2025.pdf
[^51]: Gambling Insider, report on the March 9, 2026 denial of Kalshi's preliminary injunction in the Southern District of Ohio, https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/117023/kalshi-ohio-injunction-sixth-circuit-split-jpg ; *KalshiEX LLC v. Schuler*, Nos. 26-3196/5235 (6th Cir. Sept. 25, 2026), procedural history.
[^52]: KalshiEX LLC v. Schuler, Nos. 26-3196/5235, and KalshiEX LLC v. Orgel (6th Cir. September 25, 2026) (Clay, Gibbons and Bloomekatz; opinion by Gibbons; argued July 30, 2026; S.D. Ohio No. 2:25-cv-01165, Judge Morrison; M.D. Tenn. No. 3:26-cv-00034, Judge Trauger). https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/26a0272p-06.pdf Gambling Insider reports the March 9, 2026 denial of the preliminary injunction (note 51).
[^53]: Covers, "Ohio Sends Cease-and-Desists to 10 Prediction Market Companies," October 5, 2026 (notices dated October 2; Kalshi not among them; "Kalshi, which sued Ohio in 2025, was fined $5 million by the Buckeye State in April"). https://www.covers.com/industry/ohio-regulator-sends-cease-and-desist-notices-to-10-prediction-market-companies-oct-5-2026 ; Gambling Insider on the March 9, 2026 denial and the April 2025 letters. https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/117023/kalshi-ohio-injunction-sixth-circuit-split-jpg
[^54]: U.S. Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act database, 75 filings with client "Kalshi," queried October 13, 2026, with covered positions and amounts as listed on each filing: https://lda.senate.gov/api/v1/filings/?client_name=Kalshi ; registrant record, Kalshi Inc., LDA ID 401109813, https://lda.senate.gov/api/v1/registrants/401109813/
[^55]: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 289, H.R. 4405, "On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass," November 18, 2025. https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025289 ; Congressional Record, vol. 171, November 18, 2025, H4725. https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2025/11/18/171/194/modified/CREC-2025-11-18-pt1-PgH4725-2.htm
[^56]: "NASIC picks Radiance for $960 Million Advanced Technical Exploitation Program II," Radiance Technologies, October 6, 2014, Internet Archive capture of February 1, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20160201010423/https://www.radiancetech.com/nasic-picks-radiance-for-960-million-advanced-technical-exploitation-program-ii/
[^57]: Federal Election Commission, committee C00373001 (Citizens for Turner, Ohio, candidate H2OH03067) and Schedule B disbursements of committee C00372979 (Radiance Technologies, Inc. Political Action Committee), https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_b/?committee_id=C00372979
[^58]: Christopher Sharp, "Daniel Sheehan Exposes Five Powerful Republicans Blocking UFO Disclosure Act, As The Clock Ticks Down," Liberation Times, December 3, 2023, https://www.liberationtimes.com/home/daniel-sheehan-exposes-five-powerful-republicans-blocking-ufo-disclosure-act-as-the-clock-ticks-down
[^59]: A.B.H. Alexander, "Sex, Drugs, the CIA, MIND CONTROL and Your Children," PROBE, c. 1996.
[^60]: "Stephen R. Kappes," Central Intelligence Agency, About CIA, Leadership, posted April 5, 2007, last updated April 15, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070612215306/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/leadership/kappes.html
[^61]: Curt Rowlett, "Project Mind Kontrol: Did the U.S. Government Actually Create Programmed Assassins?," Steamshovel Press #16, 1998.; O'Neill, Tom, and Dan Piepenbring. *Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties*. Little, Brown and Company, 2019.
[^62]: "The billionaire who fueled JD Vance's rapid rise to the Trump VP spot." *CBS News,* 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jd-vance-trump-vp-peter-thiel-billionaire/
[^63]: "Super PAC discloses raising, spending millions helping J.D. Vance," *Cleveland.com*, July 2022, https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/07/super-pac-discloses-raising-spending-millions-helping-jd-vance-win-ohios-us-senate-republican-primary.html ; "Peter Thiel-tied dark money group helping bankroll super PAC," *OpenSecrets*, February 2022, https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/02/peter-thiel-tied-dark-money-group-helping-bankroll-super-pac-spending-on-2022-election/
[^64]: "Super PAC supporting potential Senate candidate J.D. Vance gets $10M donation from Peter Thiel." *Cincinnati Enquirer,* March 15, 2021. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/03/15/super-pac-supporting-possible-ohio-senate-candidate-j-d-vance-gets-10-m-donation-peter-thiel/4700540001/
[^65]: "A mole hunt, a secret website and Peter Thiel's big risk: How J.D. Vance won the Ohio primary." *Politico,* May 3, 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/03/jd-vance-win-ohio-primary-00029881
[^66]: Federal Election Commission, committees C00928374 ("Jobs and Democracy PAC") and C00928390 ("Defending Our Values PAC"), financial totals and independent expenditures (Schedule E), including the by-candidate aggregation for Alex Bores, retrieved September 23, 2026. https://www.fec.gov/data/independent-expenditures/?committee_id=C00928374 ; https://www.fec.gov/data/independent-expenditures/?committee_id=C00928390
[^67]: United Press International, report on the dismissal of Nicholas Davies, October 29, 1991.

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---
category: "U.S. State"
tags:
- Place
- USState
- PennsylvaniaCrimeCommission
- OrganizedCrime
- PoliceCorruption
- BufalinoFamily
- Kecksburg
- UFO
- ThreeMileIsland
- NuclearProcurement
- NUMEC
- Holmesburg
- TissueTrafficking
- CatholicChurch
- GrandJury
- Zizians
aliases:
- "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania"
- "State of Pennsylvania"
- "Pennsylvania (state)"
summary: "Pennsylvania appears through its Crime Commission reports, Three Mile Island, the Kecksburg FOIA suit, the NUMEC uranium inquiry and the 2018 grand jury."
created: 2026-10-15
updated: 2026-10-15
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[Richard Thornburgh]]"
reverse: true
start: 1979-01-16
end: 1987-01-20
role: "Governor of Pennsylvania"
fn: 1
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Michael Mastromarino]]"
start: 2008-08-29
role: "Philadelphia prosecution; open guilty plea, sentenced to 25 to 58 years"
fn: 2
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Louis Garzone]]"
start: 2008-09-02
role: "Philadelphia prosecution; guilty plea to corrupt organizations and body-part counts"
fn: 3
- type: investigated
with: "[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia]]"
start: 2016-09-01
end: 2018-08-14
role: "Fortieth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury (six other dioceses; Philadelphia was the subject of earlier grand juries)"
fn: 4
---
Pennsylvania is a state of the United States whose capital is [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] and whose largest city, [[Philadelphia]], has its own page.[^5] The state bodies include the [[Pennsylvania Crime Commission]], the state appellate courts, the [[Pennsylvania State Police]], the [[Pennsylvania Army National Guard]], the statewide investigating grand juries and the governor's office, together with the federal courts in the state and the industrial and research sites of the western and central counties, among them the [[Three Mile Island]] plant near Harrisburg, the uranium plant at [[Apollo, Pennsylvania|Apollo]] and the village of [[Kecksburg incident|Kecksburg]] in [[Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania|Westmoreland County]].
### Courts and the Crime Commission
The [[Superior Court of Pennsylvania|Superior Court]], established in 1895 to hear appeals from the Courts of Common Pleas, and the [[Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania|Commonwealth Court]] are the two statewide intermediate appellate courts, and the [[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania]] sits above them.[^6] The Supreme Court's decisions and the Superior Court's rulings on the Philadelphia prosecutions recur in the record of the [[Garzone Funeral Home]] and the Garzone brothers.
The Pennsylvania Crime Commission was created as a fact-finding agency within the Pennsylvania Department of Justice. The Crime Commission Act was signed into law on July 31, 1968, the same day that an executive order made the Commission the state's criminal justice planning agency for federal block grants under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.[^7] The Commission issued two reports on police corruption and organized crime: the March 1974 report on the Philadelphia police and the 1990 report on organized crime, titled *Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Change*, which opens by quoting the 1967 federal task force recommendation that states with organized crime groups create investigation commissions with independent, permanent status, adequate investigators and subpoena powers.[^8]
### Police corruption in Philadelphia, 1974
The Commission's March 1974 report found that corruption in the Philadelphia Police Department was "ongoing, widespread, systematic, and occurring at all levels of the Police Department." Corrupt practices were uncovered "in every police district," and the report identified more than 400 individual officers, by first name, last initial and badge or payroll number, as having received improper payments in cash and merchandise from gamblers, racketeers, bar owners and after-hours club operators.[^9] Its Locust Street chapter records that the owner of the [[Why Not Lounge]], Irvin Goltzer, was told by his manager, identified as Mr. LaRussa, to pay or "they will bust the joint," that payments went to the inspector of the Central Division, and that Goltzer made tape recordings of payoffs for the Commission.[^10][^11] The report's chapters also cover the After-Hours Clubs, the Road Drivers Association, the Liberty Clown Club, the Randolph Social Club and the Croatian Club.[^12] The bars, the manager [[Salvatore La Russa]] and the later history of the police inquiry are set out on the Philadelphia page.
### The Cosa Nostra families of the 1990 report
The Commission's 1990 report divides the state's [[La Cosa Nostra]] between three families: the Bruno/Scarfo family in the Philadelphia area, the [[Bufalino Crime Family]] in the northeast and the LaRocca/Genovese family in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania.[^13] Its summary states that the Philadelphia family, "known for its reckless use of violence and powerful corruptive influence," had been seriously weakened by a cooperative law enforcement effort "unprecedented in the history of Pennsylvania"; that its leader, [[Nicodemo Scarfo]], had been imprisoned for life; and that six members, including the underboss, had become protected government witnesses.[^14]
In the northeast the report places Russell Bufalino, "the aging boss of the Bufalino Family," in federal prison from 1981 to 1989 and states that the family "has become a second-rate operation" that would likely be merged with another family.[^14] The report traces the family's origin in Pittston through Stephen LaTorre, who came to the United States in the late 1800s and died in 1984; records that the Kefauver Committee's 1951 report focused on gambling in the Scranton area; names the family member John Parente as the dominant figure in illegal gambling in the Lehigh Valley until his death in 1978; and describes the Scranton video poker proprietor Elie "Al" Baldassari as a close friend of Russell Bufalino and records the July 1990 FBI extortion arrest of Elmo Baldassari.[^15] [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that the family's name surfaced in FBI wiretaps of [[Music Corporation of America]] run by the Los Angeles Organized Crime Strike Force, in calls between [[Robert Booth Nichols]] and [[Eugene Giaquinto]].[^16][^17]
In the west the report states that with the death of John LaRocca in 1984 leadership passed to Michael Genovese, that Genovese's confidant Charles Porter was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to 20 years, and that from the information available the organization "remains the most powerful Cosa Nostra Family in Pennsylvania today."[^14] The summary also states that the 1980s were marked by the use of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which Pennsylvania had adopted in a version of its own.[^14] The Philadelphia family under Scarfo, the Third Circuit's account of the 1988 racketeering trial and the methamphetamine trade are set out on the Philadelphia page.
### The Garzone Funeral Home and the tissue trade
The Philadelphia cadaver case runs through the state courts. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recorded that the brothers Gerald and Louis Garzone, with James McCafferty, supplied at least 244 cadavers to [[Michael Mastromarino]] of [[Biomedical Tissue Services]] from early 2004 to September 2005 for over $245,000, and incinerated their records days before [[Food and Drug Administration]] investigators arrived.[^18] The Superior Court upheld Mastromarino's sentence of twenty-five to fifty-eight years in 2010; Louis Garzone pleaded guilty on September 2, 2008, the day his trial was to begin; and on April 13, 2010 the Superior Court vacated the salary portion of the costs of prosecution ordered against Gerald Garzone.[^2][^3][^19] The funeral home, the plea terms and the Brooklyn prosecution are set out on the Philadelphia page and on the Garzone Funeral Home page.
### Hoersch v. Froehlke and the National Guard
On October 11, 1974, the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]] decided [[Hoersch v. Froehlke]], a suit by Raymond C. Hoersch against the Secretary of the Army, [[Robert F. Froehlke]]. The opinion was written by Judge [[John B. Hannum]].[^20][^21] Hannum had sat on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania by appointment before President [[Richard Nixon]] nominated him to the federal bench on March 24, 1969.[^21] The court recorded that Hoersch had enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 1965, that he was taken off the rolls of the Guard in July 1970 by an order to active duty as an Army reservist, and that he was absent without leave from [[Fort Dix]] from July 19, 1970. He returned to military control there on April 5, 1972, and went absent again the next day.[^20]
Hoersch argued that the Guard had failed to consider his request to wear long hair "as required for his employment as a motion picture producer." The court held that the unit commander's discretion still controlled an individual's appearance, even where a reservist showed that long hair contributed to his livelihood.[^20] The court quoted the opinion in *Harris v. Kaine*, 352 F. Supp. 769 (S.D.N.Y. 1972), that as long as the reservist "presents a neat and soldierly appearance and can perform all the duties required of him, the Army has no authority to order his hair cut, absent a showing of need."[^20] The Philadelphia filmmaker Ray Hoersch, later known as [[R.C. Horsch]], made the film [[Black Mass (1975 film)|Black Mass]], which ran in the city in 1975.[^22] A Raymond C. Hoersch, an engineer, is named as the filmmaker's father, and the plaintiff shares his name with both.
### Holmesburg Prison and the Army's tests
[[Holmesburg Prison]] in northeast Philadelphia was the site of the experiments of [[Albert Kligman]], a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist who began testing incarcerated men there in 1951 for companies and for the Army; the program ran 23 years and the city banned medical testing at Holmesburg in 1974.[^23] Allen M. Hornblum's history of the program is [[Acres of Skin]].[^24] The Department of Defense general counsel, [[Deanne C. Siemer]], told the Senate in 1977 of the Edgewood compound EA-3167: "In 1971, the Agency transferred some $37,000 to Edgewood to pursue testing of this compound, which was designated EA-3167," a project begun in 1971 and terminated in 1973.[^25] The Army's list of Edgewood drug-testing contracts printed in the 1975 Senate hearings records volunteer testing at Holmesburg.[^26]
### Three Mile Island
The Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg suffered a core accident on March 28, 1979. On March 30 the governor, [[Richard Thornburgh]], "advised pregnant women and preschool aged children to leave the area within a 5-mile radius of TMI until further notice," according to the report of the President's Commission chaired by [[John G. Kemeny]], which reported in October 1979 under the title *The Need for Change: The Legacy of TMI*.[^27][^28] Thornburgh, born in Pittsburgh, had been [[United States Attorney]] for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1975 and Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division from 1975 to 1977 before his election as governor in 1978.[^29]
The Kemeny report records an informal agreement between Thornburgh and the White House under which the release of information was centralized beginning on the third day of the accident, with [[Harold Denton]] of the [[Nuclear Regulatory Commission]] issuing all statements from the site. It also records that on the Thursday afternoon the NRC's Charles Gallina told reporters that the danger was over for people off the island, and that Thornburgh distrusted the statement at the time.[^30] A report of the Senate Subcommittee on Nuclear Regulation, issued in June 1980, lists Thornburgh among the persons involved and describes him as responsible for determining whether an evacuation was necessary; the subcommittee described its own inquiry as one that "was kept small in size and selective in scope, to avoid duplication" of the President's Commission and the NRC's Special Inquiry Group.[^31] The same report records that in April 1979 Thornburgh asked the [[Union of Concerned Scientists]] to review the NRC staff recommendations on venting krypton from the containment building.[^32] Thornburgh served as governor from January 1979 to January 1987 and later as Attorney General of the United States from 1988 to 1991. The House Judiciary Committee's 1992 INSLAW report names him with [[Edwin Meese]] as having blocked congressional inquiries and refused an independent counsel.[^1][^33]
### Kecksburg
On December 9, 1965, an object that witnesses described as acorn-shaped came down in the woods near the village of Kecksburg, about seven miles southeast of Greensburg, at about 4:45 p.m.; the 1991 article gives 4:46 p.m.[^34][^35] Witnesses described a fireball moving at low speeds and altitudes across the southwestern Pennsylvania sky, and some said they saw a craft half buried in a gully. Others said they saw personnel from the [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], the Army and [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]] at the site that evening, and one account describes a Volkswagen-sized object removed under a tarpaulin on a military flatbed truck, taken, some said, to [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]] in Dayton, Ohio.[^36] The military's public position, as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette summarized it in 1998, was that the object was a meteorite that was never recovered.[^37]
The Tribune-Review's account of the 2003 Sci Fi Channel documentary lists the witnesses it presented. Robert Blystone described a "controlled fireball." Bill Weaver, then 19, saw a bluish light in the woods "like a welder's light." Don Sebastian of Johnstown described "probably 100 soldiers" and two "unearthly screams," and the Pittsburgh jazz musician Jerry Betters said he saw an "acorn-shaped object with hieroglyphics" hauled away on a flatbed truck. The article reports that onlookers were told a meteor had crashed and that persistent curiosity-seekers were turned away by police and military personnel, some, it says, at gunpoint.[^38] The documentary also presented John Murphy, a reporter for the Greensburg radio station WHJB who photographed the scene and interviewed witnesses that evening. The station's office manager, Mable Mazza, recalled that Murphy received several "unexpected visitors" at the station; the article states that he was later killed in a hit-and-run accident in California, that the driver was never found, and that his notebooks, tapes and photographs disappeared. His former wife, Bonnie Millslagle, was quoted as saying: "If someone did away with John, it was because he saw and knew too much."[^38] Two West Virginia University professors, J. Stephen Kite and Ray Hicks, took soil and tree core samples at the location witnesses Bill Bulebush and John Hays identified, and Hicks said the samples indicated a "traumatic event" at or near 1965.[^38]
The journalist [[David Templeton]] wrote about the case for the [[Pittsburgh Press]] in 1991. In that article [[James Oberg]], a Houston space engineer and author who had written about Soviet spacecraft, gave the Soviet Venus probe Kosmos 96 as a candidate, said that a Venus probe was designed to withstand entry into Venus's atmosphere and could have landed on Earth intact, and argued that the United States and the Soviet Union had an oral agreement to return each other's spacecraft debris, so that secrecy would have been paramount if either power kept the other's recovered debris.[^35] After examining the tracking data Oberg concluded, "Cosmos 96 is not guilty."[^35] In a follow-up printed in 1998, Oberg's account of an interview with the cosmonaut Viktor Savinykh, then rector of the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography, says that Savinykh "suggested rather emphatically, and with some laughter, that whatever plunged into Kecksburg surely was some faulty American technology."[^39] The 1998 Post-Gazette piece reported that the U.S. Space Command had said Kosmos 96 crash-landed in Canada shortly after 3 a.m. on December 9, more than 12 hours before the Kecksburg event.[^40] The Kecksburg researcher [[Stan Gordon]], who had studied the case since the day it happened, told the paper: "It's been almost 33 years and we still don't have an answer."[^37]
### Kean v. NASA
In 2002 [[Larry Landsman]] of the Sci Fi Channel invited the journalist [[Leslie Kean]] to lead a public effort on Kecksburg.[^41] In October 2003 the channel's counsel told the Tribune-Review that a suit against NASA was expected within the week, with action possible against the [[Department of Defense]] and the Army.[^38] On January 31, 2003, Kean had already submitted a [[Freedom of Information Act]] request to NASA for documents relating to Kecksburg and the December 9, 1965 incident, the "Fragology Files" for 1962 to 1967, Richard M. Schulherr, Project Moon Dust and "Cosmos 96."[^42] The case was *Kean v. National Aeronautics and Space Administration*, Civil Action No. 03-2509 (EGS), in the [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia]], before Judge Emmet G. Sullivan.
The court's memorandum opinion of March 27, 2007 recites that NASA admitted its first two searches were inadequate. The first, by a FOIA specialist and a History Office archivist, found only published accounts of Cosmos 96 and produced a "no records" response dated April 11, 2003; the recommendation that the request go to the Goddard Space Flight Center was not carried out "for reasons that are not clear." NASA's associate deputy administrator granted Kean's appeal on June 18, 2003 and promised a search of all NASA centers, including the missing fragology files, which the opinion says was not acted on because of "poor tracking and the relocation of NASA's FOIA Office in August 2003." A third search was ordered on December 2, 2003. Nineteen boxes of archived records were sought from the Washington National Record Center on accession numbers Kean supplied; three were "reported as having been missing for quite some time," and when NASA's fourth search in July 2006 re-examined the other sixteen boxes, "responsive documents were found and disclosed to plaintiff." NASA withheld two emails between its FOIA officer and a NASA attorney under the deliberative process privilege, which the court upheld after in camera review. The court granted NASA's motion in part, denied it in part without prejudice on the adequacy of the searches, denied Kean's cross-motion without prejudice and directed the parties to propose search and documentation procedures by April 30, 2007.[^42]
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press reported in October 2007 that NASA had agreed to search its archives again as the result of Kean's four-year-old suit, and in December 2007 that a settlement required NASA to "meticulously comb its files for documents about what many residents of Kecksburg, Pa., believe was a UFO sighting 42-yers ago."[^43] The *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette* reported on March 9, 2003 on the wish of Kecksburg residents to resolve what fell from the sky in 1965.[^44]
### Apollo and the NUMEC diversion inquiry
The [[Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation]] (NUMEC), a privately owned nuclear fuel plant at Apollo, about thirty miles northeast of Pittsburgh, was owned by [[Zalman Mordecai Shapiro]].[^45] A Washington Star report of August 19, 1977 stated that a CIA spokesman had told congressional investigators that a CIA probe led investigators to believe that bomb-grade nuclear material had been diverted from a U.S. facility and sent to Israel. According to three government sources familiar with the investigation, it started in Europe in the mid-1960s, when CIA operatives received information that Israel had obtained a sizable quantity of highly enriched uranium. The CIA investigation came to focus on the Apollo company, which produced highly enriched uranium submarine fuel for the U.S. Navy and had a subsidiary owned in partnership with the Israeli government.[^45] The same paper reported that the CIA's conclusion appeared to conflict with statements by officials of the Energy Research and Development Administration and the NRC that they had seen no evidence of significant diversion. The specifics had first been divulged to top NRC officials at a secret conference in early 1976, where the briefing was given by [[Carl E. Duckett|Carl Duckett]], then the CIA's third-ranking official.[^46]
The Comptroller General's report to Congress of December 18, 1978, *Nuclear Diversion in the U.S.? 13 Years of Contradiction and Confusion*, was classified until its redacted release on May 6, 2010. It records that an inspection in April 1965, the sixth consecutive inspection to find fundamental problems with NUMEC's control of material, concluded that "safeguards control of [nuclear material] at NUMEC is inadequate," and that the Department of Energy's predecessor found about 206 pounds of uranium-235 could not be accounted for, an amount it estimated could make at least four or five nuclear weapons. A November 1965 investigation found a cumulative loss since the plant's start-up in 1957 of 178 kilograms (392 pounds); 186 pounds were traced to waste and gas filters, and the remaining 206 pounds were not accounted for.[^47] NUMEC's president contended that the material was "unavoidably lost" in the processing system; the investigators concluded that the agency "could not say, unequivocally, that the material was not stolen or diverted from the facility."[^47] In June 1965 the agency had asked the FBI whether NUMEC's president needed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, its concern stemming from his associations with Israeli officials and from his capacity as a sales agent for the Israeli Ministry of Defense; the FBI began that inquiry in August 1965 and reported in October 1966 that registration was not required.[^48]
The Comptroller General's report states that in February 1966 the agency asked the FBI to determine whether a theft or diversion had occurred and that its files contain a memorandum recording that the Bureau had decided not to investigate, though required to do so under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; that the FBI "did not focus on the question of a possible nuclear diversion until May 1976 nearly 11 years later," after a request by President [[Gerald Ford]] in April 1976; and that the investigations were "uncoordinated, limited in scope and timeliness, and, in GAO's opinion, less than adequate."[^49] It states that GAO was "continually denied" access to reports and documentation by the CIA and the FBI, that it "cannot say whether or not there was a diversion of material from the NUMEC facility," and that FBI agents told it that while "circumstantial information" exists which could lead an individual to conclude that a diversion occurred, there is no substantive proof.[^50] Seymour Hersh's account of the same period, attributed here to him, describes a meeting at the Pittsburgh airport between Shapiro and the Israeli scientific attaché [[Jeruham Kafkafi]]; the FBI reported that Kafkafi flew from Washington for the meeting and returned at once, and Hersh wrote that Shapiro later told congressional investigators that he had asked for the meeting because he had not been paid for antiterrorist equipment his company had shipped to Israel.[^51]
A Washington Star report of December 31, 1977 stated that the NRC had disclosed the existence of top-secret government files on a loss of highly enriched uranium discovered in 1965 at the Apollo plant; according to the documents, the files were jointly held by the [[U.S. Department of Justice]], the CIA and the Atomic Energy Commission, and the NRC had initially been denied access to them.[^52] A Washington Post report of March 2, 1978 said a former CIA official stated that President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] had ordered CIA director [[Richard Helms]] to keep an Israeli weapons report from Secretary of State [[Dean Rusk]] and Defense Secretary [[Robert McNamara]], and noted that a 550-page NRC document released in response to a House committee inquiry stated that the NRC's Lee V. Gossick had "testified incorrectly" when he said the agency had no evidence that a significant amount of nuclear material had been stolen from the plant.[^53] A New York Times report by [[David Burnham]] of April 29, 1979 stated that the Energy Department's Inspector General had concluded that [[Robert W. Fri]], formerly acting head of the Energy Research and Development Administration, may have made intentionally inaccurate statements to a House subcommittee about a U.S. intelligence agency's views on the diversion of special nuclear material from the NUMEC plant; the Justice Department declined to bring criminal charges, citing "insufficient evidence."[^54]
A CIA memorandum of April 25, 1978 records that the CIA had delivered documents on NUMEC to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy in response to a request of March 25, 1976 from Senator [[Howard Baker]], which had been narrowed to the documents discussed at the committee's briefing of February 19, 1976; the memorandum states that Chairman [[John Dingell]]'s request for all documents on the subject had resulted in an additional package being compiled, that the additional documents "do not contain any significant information," and recommends offering the package to Baker's staff. The letter from Director [[George H. W. Bush]] to Baker that accompanies it reads in full: "I have been informed by my staff that copies of all documents originated or controlled by this Agency in the files identified in your letter of 25 March 1976 have been delivered to Mr. George Murphy, Jr., Executive Director, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. I am further advised that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has not authorized us to release their documents in those files but instead expects to deal directly with Mr. Murphy on this matter. Likewise, the FBI advised that it would be inappropriate for us to transmit an inventory listing of their documents."[^55]
### The Archdiocese and the 2018 grand jury
The [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia]] is the see of the [[Catholic Church]] for southeastern Pennsylvania. Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Philadelphia on April 8, 1808, and the diocese became an archdiocese on February 12, 1875. The western part of the state was separated as the Diocese of Pittsburgh on August 8, 1843, and the Dioceses of Scranton and Harrisburg on March 3, 1868.[^56] In February 1975 the midnight showing of the film *Black Mass* at the Arcadia Theatre on Chestnut Street was cancelled, according to the *Philadelphia Inquirer*, after reported pressure from the Archdiocese, and the film was shown instead at the Bandbox Theater in Germantown.[^57]
Report I of the Fortieth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, released on August 14, 2018 by order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court of July 27, 2018, examined six dioceses (Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton), "every diocese in the state except Philadelphia and Altoona-Johnstown, which were the subject of previous grand juries." The jurors wrote that the six account for 54 of the state's 67 counties, that they heard dozens of witnesses and reviewed half a million pages of internal diocesan documents, and that those documents contained credible allegations against over three hundred priests and identified over one thousand child victims. The report states that almost every instance was too old to prosecute and that the grand jury issued presentments against a priest in the Greensburg diocese and a priest in the Erie diocese.[^4] It describes the diocesan records as including a "secret archive" that canon law requires and to which only the bishop holds the key, and states that agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime reviewed a significant portion of the evidence and identified practices that recurred across the files, summarized by the jurors as "a playbook for concealing the truth," ending with the rule "don't tell the police."[^58] The Diocese of Allentown, the report notes, was created in 1961 from part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and the report refers to an earlier Philadelphia archdiocese grand jury report of 2005.[^59] On the day of release the Pennsylvania Office of Victim Advocate, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the Archdiocese's Office for Child and Youth Protection issued a joint response that directed survivors and parishioners to counseling resources.[^60]
### Aircraft, Lakeland and the Mellon family
The Senate hearing record of [[Gary Betzner]]'s testimony describes his aircraft business in Florida and an aircraft bought in Pennsylvania. In 1983 Betzner set up a business at [[Tamiami Airport]] that modified aircraft for smugglers, and he bought a twin Comanche from [[Air America]] in Pennsylvania, operating it from Lakeland, Florida.[^61]
The [[Mellon family]] of Pittsburgh includes [[Christopher Mellon]]. In February 2003 *Roll Call* described him as a member of the Mellon family whose great-grandfather had started the Gulf Oil Company, and reported that Senator [[Jay Rockefeller]] had hired him as minority staff director of the [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]].[^62] On October 30, 2021 he became a research affiliate of the [[Galileo Project]]. On April 26, 2024 the project announced a grant of $575,000 from the [[Richard King Mellon Foundation]] for a third observatory station in Allegheny or Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.[^63] An Alabama corporation, [[The Sol Foundation]], lists a director by the name "Cristopher Mellon" of Laughlintown, Pennsylvania, among its three initial directors in 2022.[^64]
### Congress and the Senate
[[Arlen Specter]] served as an assistant counsel to the [[Warren Commission]] in 1964. The commission's report lists him on the staff, and in the chapter on [[Jack Ruby]] it records "Assistant Counsel Arlen Specter" discussing by telephone with defense counsel Joe H. Tonahill the question of a polygraph examination for Ruby.[^65] Specter later represented Pennsylvania in the [[United States Senate]] from 1981 to 2011.[^66]
The Senate's resolution creating the standing Senate Select Committee on Intelligence passed in May 1976. The Rules and Administration Committee reported it after a 5 to 4 vote on an amendment offered by its chairman, [[Howard Cannon]], and the Senate's leaders, [[Mike Mansfield]] and [[Hugh Scott]] of Pennsylvania, endorsed the compromise version. The Senate agreed to S. Res. 400 on May 19, 1976, by 72 to 22.[^67]
### Delaware County and the Zizians
[[Michelle Zajko]] is a member of the [[The Zizians|Zizian]] group. Her parents, [[Richard Zajko]] and [[Rita Zajko]], were found shot to death in their home in Chester Heights, in [[Delaware County, Pennsylvania|Delaware County]], on the night of December 31, 2022. On June 24, 2026, Delaware County District Attorney [[Tanner Rouse]] charged her with her parents' killing, as the *[[The Philadelphia Inquirer|Philadelphia Inquirer]]* reported.[^68]
### Natives and academic links
The psychologist [[Charles Tart]] was born in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, on April 29, 1937, according to an obituary written by [[Stephan Schwartz|Stephan A. Schwartz]].[^69] The federal judge [[Alison Nathan]] was born in Philadelphia in 1972, according to the Federal Judicial Center's biographical directory.[^70]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia, "Richard Thornburgh," for the terms of 1979 to 1987.
[^2]: *Commonwealth v. Mastromarino*, 2 A.3d 581 (Pa. Super. 2010), as recited in *Commonwealth v. Garzone*, 34 A.3d 67 (Pa. 2012), and *Commonwealth v. Garzone* (Louis Garzone), 993 A.2d 1245 (Pa. Super. Ct., filed April 14, 2010). https://static.case.law/a3d/34/cases/0067-01.json.
[^3]: Commonwealth v. Garzone (Louis Garzone), 993 A.2d 1245 (Pa. Super. Ct., filed April 14, 2010), No. 780 EDA 2009 (the September 2, 2008 plea and forfeitures).
[^4]: Report I of the Fortieth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, redacted by order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court of July 27, 2018, released August 14, 2018, Section I (Introduction), pp. 1 to 2. Archived copy of the Office of Attorney General posting: https://web.archive.org/web/20180815113910/https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/A-Report-of-the-Fortieth-Statewide-Investigating-Grand-Jury_Cleland-Redactions-8-12-08_Redacted.pdf.
[^5]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption and the Quality of Law Enforcement in Philadelphia* (Harrisburg, March 1974), title page. https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^6]: Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, "Superior Court." https://www.pacourts.us/courts/superior-court; "Pennsylvania Superior Court: Over 125 Years of Justice," Jenkins Law Library, December 1, 2023. https://www.jenkinslaw.org/blog/2023/12/01/pennsylvania-superior-court-over-125-years-justice.
[^7]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), history of the Commission, describing the permanent Commission, the executive order of July 31, 1968 and the Crime Commission Act signed the same day, and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^8]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Change, 1990 Report* (Conshohocken, 1991), NCJRS 133208, front matter quoting the 1967 Task Force Report: Organized Crime. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/133208NCJRS.pdf.
[^9]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), summary of findings, "Police Corruption," and the summary paragraph on payments to officers by gamblers, racketeers, bar and after-hours club owners. https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^10]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), Locust Street Strip chapter, account of the Why Not Lounge and the advice to pay "or 'they will bust the joint.'" https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^11]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), Locust Street Strip chapter (payments to the inspector of the Central Division) and the summary account of informants, including Irvin Goltzer's tape recordings of payoffs. https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^12]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Report on Police Corruption* (1974), table of contents, chapters "After-Hours Clubs," "Road Drivers Association," "Liberty Clown Club," "Randolph Social Club," "Croatian Club" and "Societal Pressures: 'A Policeman's Lot.'" https://archive.org/details/reportonpoliceco00penn.
[^13]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Change* (1990), chapter "La Cosa Nostra - The American Mafia," introduction (p. 97 ff.; chapters on the LaRocca/Genovese family p. 111, the Bufalino family p. 135, the Bruno/Scarfo family p. 149). https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/133208NCJRS.pdf.
[^14]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Change* (1990), executive summary paragraphs on the Bruno/Scarfo, Bufalino and LaRocca/Genovese families and on RICO. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/133208NCJRS.pdf.
[^15]: Pennsylvania Crime Commission, *Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: A Decade of Change* (1990), La Cosa Nostra introduction (Stephen LaTorre of Pittston) and the gambling chapter (Scranton area and the Kefauver Report of 1951; John Parente and the Lehigh Valley; Baldassari family video poker proprietors of Scranton and the July 1990 FBI arrest of Elmo Baldassari). https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/133208NCJRS.pdf.
[^16]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010.
[^17]: Affidavit of Special Agent Thomas G. Gates in support of an application to continue interception of wire communications of Martin Bacow, Eugene Giaquinto, Joseph Garofalo, Robert Nichols and others, before Judge J. Spencer Letts, C.D. Cal. (continuation affidavit citing intercepts through September 1, 1987), Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Gates," paragraphs 5, 69 and 79. https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (file Gates.pdf)
[^18]: *Commonwealth v. Garzone*, 34 A.3d 67 (Pa. 2012), decided January 19, 2012, opinion of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, describing the cadaver arrangement from early 2004 through September 2005, the at-least-244 cadavers, the payments of over $245,000, and the destruction of records days before FDA investigators arrived. https://static.case.law/a3d/34/cases/0067-01.json.
[^19]: *Commonwealth v. Garzone* (Gerald Garzone), 993 A.2d 306, 2010 PA Super 57 (Pa. Super. Ct., filed April 13, 2010).
[^20]: *Hoersch v. Froehlke*, 382 F. Supp. 1235 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 11, 1974), Civ. A. No. 72-1759 (Hannum, J.), including the discharge order of July 1970, the AWOL dates at Fort Dix, the April 5, 1972 return to military control, and the long-hair passage. https://static.case.law/f-supp/382/cases/1235-01.json.
[^21]: Federal Judicial Center, "Hannum, John Berne," Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges. https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/hannum-john-berne; Downey, Sally A., "John B. Hannum, 92, judge," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, April 25, 2007. https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/20070425_John_B__Hannum__92__judge.html.
[^22]: *Philadelphia Inquirer*, society column, February 28, 1975, p. 21. https://www.newspapers.com/image/173366667/.
[^23]: Lynette Hazelton, "A brief history of the Holmesburg Prison experiments," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, October 22, 2024, https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/holmesburg-prison-experiments-timeline-20241022.html.
[^24]: Allen M. Hornblum, *Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison* (New York: Routledge, 1998).
[^25]: Statement of Deanne C. Siemer, General Counsel, Department of Defense, *Human Drug Testing by the CIA, 1977*, hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Committee on Human Resources, United States Senate, 95th Cong., 1st sess., September 20, 1977, testimony of Deanne C. Siemer on EA-3167. https://archive.org/details/human-drug-testing-by-the-cia-1977.
[^26]: *Biomedical and Behavioral Research, 1975*, joint hearings before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare and the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 94th Cong., 1st sess., September 10, 12 and November 7, 1975, testimony of Lt. Gen. R. R. Taylor and the Army list of "Research Contracts from Edgewood Arsenal Involving Drug Testing Volunteers, 1965-75,".
[^27]: *Report of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island* (Washington, October 1979), chronology, paragraph 17 (advice to pregnant women and preschool aged children to leave within a 5-mile radius, March 30, 1979). https://archive.org/details/needforchangeleg00unitrich.
[^28]: *The Need for Change: The Legacy of TMI*, report of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island, John G. Kemeny, Chairman (October 1979), Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 79-25694. https://archive.org/details/needforchangeleg00unitrich.
[^29]: Office of the Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, "Richard Lewis Thornburgh," *Attorneys General of the United States* (service as United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, 1969 to 1975, and as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, 1975 to 1977).
[^30]: Kemeny Commission, chronology, paragraphs 6 and the Thursday press conference account (informal agreement between Governor Thornburgh and the White House; Harold Denton's role; Charles Gallina's statement and Thornburgh's distrust). https://archive.org/details/needforchangeleg00unitrich.
[^31]: *Nuclear Accident and Recovery at Three Mile Island: A Report*, prepared by the Subcommittee on Nuclear Regulation for the Committee on Environment and Public Works, U.S. Senate, Committee Print, Serial No. 96-14 (June 1980), appendix of persons involved (Thornburgh, "Responsible for determining whether an evacuation was necessary"). https://archive.org/details/nuclearaccidentr00unitrich.
[^32]: *Nuclear Accident and Recovery at Three Mile Island* (Senate Subcommittee on Nuclear Regulation, June 1980), account of the April krypton venting recommendation and Governor Thornburgh's request to the Union of Concerned Scientists. https://archive.org/details/nuclearaccidentr00unitrich.
[^33]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, *The INSLAW Affair: Investigative Report*, House Report 102-857, 102nd Congress, 2nd Session, September 10, 1992.
[^34]: David Templeton, Westmoreland County article, *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*, September 9, 1998, reprinted in UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 351 (1998), description of the 4:45 p.m. landing and the village location. https://archive.org/details/UFO_Newsclipping_Service_1998_10_no_351.
[^35]: Templeton, *Pittsburgh Press*, May 19, 1991, reprinted in UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 263 (1991), passages on James Oberg, Kosmos 96, the Venus probe and the debris-return agreement. https://archive.org/details/UFO_Newsclipping_Service_1991_06_no_263.
[^36]: David Templeton, "Something Dropped in on Kecksburg Unexpectedly 25 Years Ago," *Pittsburgh Press*, May 19, 1991, reprinted in UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 263 (1991), witness accounts of the fireball, the acorn-shaped craft, the Air Force, Army and NASA personnel, and the flatbed truck. https://archive.org/details/UFO_Newsclipping_Service_1991_06_no_263.
[^37]: David Templeton, *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*, September 9, 1998, reprinted in UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 351 (1998), including the military's meteorite statement and the Gordon quotation. https://archive.org/details/UFO_Newsclipping_Service_1998_10_no_351.
[^38]: Ann Saul Dudurich, "Sci Fi special puts Kecksburg mystery under a microscope," *Tribune-Review* (Greensburg), October 24, 2003, reprinted in UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 412 (2003). https://archive.org/details/UFO_Newsclipping_Service_2003_11_no_412.
[^39]: David Templeton, *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*, September 9, 1998, reprinted in UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 351 (1998), account of Oberg's interview with Savinykh. https://archive.org/details/UFO_Newsclipping_Service_1998_10_no_351.
[^40]: Templeton, *Post-Gazette*, September 9, 1998, reprinted in UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 351 (1998), account of the U.S. Space Command report on Kosmos 96 crashing in Canada after 3 a.m. https://archive.org/details/UFO_Newsclipping_Service_1998_10_no_351.
[^41]: Lewis-Kraus, Gideon. "How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously." *The New Yorker*, May 10, 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/how-the-pentagon-started-taking-ufos-seriously (Sci Fi Channel invitation of 2002 through its director of projects, Larry Landsman).
[^42]: *Kean v. National Aeronautics and Space Administration*, Civil Action No. 03-2509 (EGS) (D.D.C.), Memorandum Opinion, Document 45, filed March 27, 2007 (Sullivan, J.), pp. 1 to 10 and 19 to 21. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.106063/gov.uscourts.dcd.106063.45.0.pdf.
[^43]: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, "Was It a UFO? NASA Agrees to Search Its Files on 1965 Incident Again," October 29, 2007, https://www.rcfp.org/was-it-ufo-nasa-agrees-search-its-files-1965-incident-again/; "NASA Ordered to Review Its Records for Data on 'UFO' Sighting," December 10, 2007, https://www.rcfp.org/nasa-ordered-review-its-records-data-ufo-sighting/.
[^44]: Gibb, Tom. "Reality 'X-file': People in Kecksburg want to resolve what fell from the sky in 1965." *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*, March 9, 2003, p. 21.
[^45]: Washington Star, August 19, 1977, "CIA Thinks Israel Got Uranium Diverted," CIA Reading Room document CIA-RDP88-01315R000400060029-4. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp88-01315r000400060029-4.
[^46]: Washington Star, August 19, 1977, CIA Reading Room document CIA-RDP88-01315R000400060029-4, the account of the February 1976 NRC briefing given by Carl Duckett. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp88-01315r000400060029-4.
[^47]: Comptroller General of the United States, *Nuclear Diversion in the U.S.? 13 Years of Contradiction and Confusion*, report EMD-79-8 (December 18, 1978), redacted release of May 6, 2010, Introduction and the account of the April 1965 inspection and the November 1965 investigation. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/3149993/38-Nuclear-Diversion-in-the-U-S-13-Years-of.pdf.
[^48]: Comptroller General, *Nuclear Diversion in the U.S.?* (1978), account of the FBI briefings of October 1977 on the Foreign Agent Registration Act inquiry opened August 1965 and reported October 1966. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/3149993/38-Nuclear-Diversion-in-the-U-S-13-Years-of.pdf.
[^49]: Comptroller General, *Nuclear Diversion in the U.S.?* (1978), digest and chapter on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (February 1966 request; investigation of diversion not focused until May 1976; request by President Ford of April 1976). https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/3149993/38-Nuclear-Diversion-in-the-U-S-13-Years-of.pdf.
[^50]: Comptroller General, *Nuclear Diversion in the U.S.?* (1978), digest and chapter on the FBI, quoting the agents' statement that circumstantial information exists but there is no substantive proof; Federation of American Scientists, "GAO Report on the 1965 NUMEC Affair Declassified," May 13, 2010, quoting the report's statement on denied access. https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2010/05/gao_numec.
[^51]: Hersh, Seymour M., *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy* (Random House, 1991), chapter 18.
[^52]: Washington Star, December 31, 1977, "Top-Secret Government File on Missing Uranium Revealed," CIA Reading Room document CIA-RDP88-01315R000400060014-0. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp88-01315r000400060014-0.
[^53]: *Washington Post*, March 2, 1978, article on the former CIA official's account of the 1976 NRC briefing, CIA Reading Room document CIA-RDP88-01315R000400060010-4. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp88-01315r000400060010-4.
[^54]: David Burnham, *New York Times*, April 29, 1979, article on the Inspector General's report of April 27, 1979, CIA Reading Room document CIA-RDP88-01315R000400060002-3. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp88-01315r000400060002-3.
[^55]: Memorandum, "Material for Senator Howard Baker," April 25, 1978, and letter of George Bush, Director of Central Intelligence, to Senator Howard Baker, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, April 1978, CIA Reading Room document CIA-RDP81M00980R000700010020-2. https://archive.org/details/CIA-RDP81M00980R000700010020-2.
[^56]: Loughlin, James. "Archdiocese of Philadelphia," *The Catholic Encyclopedia*, vol. 11, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11793b.htm.
[^57]: *Philadelphia Inquirer*, society and nightlife column, February 28, 1975, p. 21. https://www.newspapers.com/image/173366667/.
[^58]: Report I of the Fortieth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury (2018), Section I, pp. 2 to 3, on the secret archive and the practices identified by the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.
[^59]: Report I of the Fortieth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury (2018), Section II, Diocese of Allentown history, and the reference to the 2005 Philadelphia archdiocese grand jury report.
[^60]: "Joint Response to Release of Grand Jury Report," Pennsylvania Office of Victim Advocate, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and Archdiocese of Philadelphia Office for Child and Youth Protection, press release, August 14, 2018. https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/ova/documents/resources/documents/press-releases/rls%20-%20Joint%20Response%20to%20Grand%20Jury%20Report%2008142018%20FINAL.pdf.
[^61]: S. Hrg. 100-773, Part 3, pp. 254 to 255 (the Tamiami business, the twin Comanche bought from Air America, Lakeland operations).
[^62]: Henry, Ed. "Unholy Alliance?" *Roll Call*, February 12, 2003. https://rollcall.com/2003/02/12/unholy-alliance/.
[^63]: "Richard King Mellon Foundation awards $575,000 to Galileo Project," The Galileo Project, Harvard University, April 26, 2024.
[^64]: Alabama Secretary of State, entity 001-041-463, The Sol Foundation: Certificate of Formation (filed September 23, 2022) and board consent (August 31, 2022).
[^65]: *Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy* (Washington, 1964), staff list and the chapter on Jack Ruby (telephone discussion of the polygraph examination between Assistant Counsel Arlen Specter and Defense Counsel Joe H. Tonahill). https://archive.org/details/warrenreportrepo00unit.
[^66]: Britannica, "Arlen Specter," entry on Specter's Senate service, 1981 to 2011. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arlen-Specter.
[^67]: Kaiser, Frederick M., *Legislative History of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence* (Congressional Research Service, 1978), part III (Government Operations Committee vote of February 24, 1976; Rules and Administration Committee report of April 29, 1976; compromise endorsed by Majority Leader Mansfield and Minority Leader Scott; S. Res. 400 agreed May 19, 1976). https://sgp.fas.org/crs/intel/leghist.pdf.
[^68]: Vinny Vella, "A former Delco woman tied to the Zizians extremist group has been charged with her parents' killing," *Philadelphia Inquirer*, June 24, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/crime/michelle-zajko-zizians-group-parents-murder-charges-chester-heights-20260624.html
[^69]: Stephan A. Schwartz, "Charles T. Tart Obituary, 29 April 1937 - 5 March 2025," Institut Metapsychique International, April 2025. https://www.metapsychique.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Tart-VO.pdf.
[^70]: Federal Judicial Center, "Nathan, Alison Julie," Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges. https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/nathan-alison-julie.