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13
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Charles de Gaulle.md
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@ -13,10 +13,17 @@ location: "Lille, France"
Charles de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II and later founded the Fifth Republic, serving as its first President from 1959 to 1969. He was emphatically in favor of an independent nuclear deterrent for [[France]].[^1]
De Gaulle won a seven-year term as president of [[France]]'s newly constituted Fifth Republic in December 1958 by promising to find an acceptable compromise for ending the war in [[Algeria]]. The war sharply divided the nation, and other issues, such as continued support for [[Israel]], seemed secondary.[^1]
De Gaulle won a seven-year term as president of France's newly constituted Fifth Republic in December 1958 by promising to find an acceptable compromise for ending the war in [[Algeria]]. The war sharply divided the nation, and other issues, such as continued support for [[Israel]], seemed secondary.[^1]
De Gaulle responded to the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967 by accusing [[Israel]] of being the aggressor and canceling all of [[France]]'s arms sales to [[Israel]], abrogating twelve years of close French support. He also delayed the pending shipment of fifty previously purchased Mirage III jet fighters. He even claimed to newsmen that he had not known of Dassault's contract with [[Israel]] until the first field test in 1967 of the Jericho I missile.[^1]
De Gaulle responded to the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967 by accusing Israel of being the aggressor and canceling all of France's arms sales to Israel, abrogating twelve years of close French support. He also delayed the pending shipment of fifty previously purchased Mirage III jet fighters. He even claimed to newsmen that he had not known of Dassault's contract with Israel until the first field test in 1967 of the Jericho I missile.[^1]
### Embargo and the Dassault contract
A footnote to a [[Central Intelligence Agency]] Special National Intelligence Estimate of August 10, 1967 states that "On 2 June 1967, France imposed an embargo in shipments of military items to the Middle East, but the embargo does not apply to spare parts previously contracted for," and that "there probably has been some evasion of the ban."[^2] A Control Group paper dated by the editors of the Foreign Relations of the United States to June 17, 1967 states that Israel had a contract with the French firm [[Dassault Company|Dassault]] for the MD-620 missile, with a range of 250 nautical miles, and may already have contracted for or expressed interest in as many as 250 of them.[^3] On June 27, 1967, the American ambassador [[Walworth Barbour]] wrote from Tel Aviv that if the French embargo continued and delivery of the Dassault missile were precluded, the "quite possible effect would be to stimulate Israeli missile production."[^4]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3, 13.
[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3, 13.
[^2]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 414, footnote 3, Special National Intelligence Estimate, August 10, 1967. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d414
[^3]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 305, Paper Submitted by the Control Group, undated (dated June 17, 1967 by the editors), with annex. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d305
[^4]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 326, Telegram 4311 from the Embassy in Israel (Barbour) to the Department of State, June 27, 1967. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d326

8
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Clark Clifford.md
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@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
---
category: "Political Figure"
created: 2024-04-25
updated: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-10-08
tags:
- Person
- BCCI
@ -95,6 +95,10 @@ Clifford was too ill to stand trial with Altman, who was acquitted in Manhattan
The Federal Reserve's civil proceeding, opened on July 29, 1992, continued after the criminal cases ended. Its Second Amended Notice of Intent to Prohibit of January 14, 1997, charged that Clifford and Altman, as directors of CCAH and First American, had caused CCAH to borrow from BCCI beyond the acquisition debt allowed by the 1981 order, and had breached their fiduciary duties by accepting preferential loans and stock profits from BCCI and by failing to disclose BCCI's role in the purchase of the [[National Bank of Georgia]]. The settlement recited that "Clifford has submitted medical opinions to the Board of Governors indicating that because of his advanced age and ill health, there is no reasonable prospect that he will ever participate in any manner in the conduct of the affairs of a bank holding company or insured depository institution," and the two men relinquished 1,802 (Clifford) and 895 (Altman) CCAH shares to the court-appointed trustee of First American or the fiduciaries of BCCI; the payments, the order stated, "are not fines or civil money penalties." The order is dated effective February 1998, four months after Clifford's death, and carries a signature block in his name; the document does not state when he signed it.[^8][^11]
### USS Liberty, June 1967
Notes of the National Security Council Special Committee meeting of June 9, 1967 record Clifford saying of the attack on the [[USS Liberty Incident|USS Liberty]]: "My concern is that we're not tough enough. Handle as if Arabs or USSR had done it. Manner egregious. Inconceivable that it was accident. 3 strafing passes, 3 torpedo boats. Set forth facts. Punish Israelis responsible." The note-taker, [[Harold H. Saunders]], wrote in the margin next to Clifford's remarks: "President subscribed 100%."[^12][^13]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Clifford, Clark, with Richard Holbrooke. *Counsel to the President: A Memoir.* Random House, 1991.
@ -108,3 +112,5 @@ The Federal Reserve's civil proceeding, opened on July 29, 1992, continued after
[^9]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 6, "BCCI in the United States: Initial Entry." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/06early.htm
[^10]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 13, "Clark Clifford and Robert Altman." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/13clifford.htm
[^11]: "Clifford, Altman indicted in BCCI bank fraud," United Press International, July 29, 1992. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/07/29/Clifford-Altman-indicted-in-BCCI-bank-fraud/5122712382400/
[^12]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 236, Notes of a Meeting of the Special Committee of the National Security Council, June 9, 1967 (Saunders's handwritten notes). https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d236
[^13]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 12, p. 168, footnote, quoting the same notes from the LBJ Library.

43
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/David Grusch.md
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@ -32,19 +32,19 @@ relations:
with: "[[Eric Burlison]]"
role: "special advisor on the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, announced March 27, 2025"
start: 2025-03-27
fn: 9
fn: 10
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Sol Foundation]]"
start: 2023-05
role: "chief operating officer, per his own résumé submitted to the House Committee on Oversight; described by Garry Nolan in September 2023 as senior founding advisor and 'a founder'"
fn: 3
fn: 4
- type: represented
with: "[[I. Charles McCullough III]]"
reverse: true
start: 2022-05
role: "McCullough, of the Compass Rose Legal Group, filed a disclosure of urgent concern and complaint of reprisal with the Intelligence Community Inspector General on Grusch's behalf in May 2022"
fn: 8
updated: 2026-10-03
fn: 9
updated: 2026-10-08
created: 2026-10-03
---
[[David Grusch]] is a former intelligence officer from the [[National Reconnaissance Office]] (NRO) and the [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]] (NGA) who served as the NRO's representative on the [[UAP Task Force]]. He is a key whistleblower who has provided Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General with extensive classified information about deeply covert programs that he says have retrieved intact and partially intact craft of non-human origin.[^1]
@ -59,23 +59,25 @@ Elizondo wrote that Grusch has provided hours of classified testimony to congres
At the hearing of the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Grusch said: "I was an intelligence officer for 14 years both in the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]], both active-duty Air National Guard and Reserve at the rank of Major and most recently from 2021 to 2025, excuse me, 2023, at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, NGA, at the GS-15 civilian level, which is the military equivalent of a full bird colonel." He described himself as "my agency's co-lead in unidentified anomalous phenomena and trans medium object analysis" reporting to the UAP Task Force and then to the [[All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office]]; said he "became a whistleblower through a PPD-19 urgent concern filing in May 2022 with the intelligence community inspector general"; and said that, in his National Reconnaissance Office reservist capacity, "I was a member of the UAP Task Force from 2019 to 2021," and that "in 2019, the UAP Task Force Director asked me to identify all special access programs and controlled access programs."[^2] He said: "I was informed in the course of my official duties of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program to which I was denied access to those additional read-ons when I requested it," and "my testimony is based on information I have been given by individuals with a long-standing track record of legitimacy and service to this country."[^2] He also said "I have suffered retaliation for my decision."[^2]
In the question period, [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]] asked whether Grusch sat on "the unidentified anomalous phenomenon task force created in the 2020 NDAA." Grusch answered "Yes."[^3] Asked about the 2019 classification guidance for UAP, he said: "Yes, I am familiar with the UAP Task Force 2019 Security Classification guide. I think it is fair. I did actually help author that with the Director." On the release of videos, he said: "I will call it a lazy attitude about declassifying videos."[^3]
The record of the same hearing includes, as a document submitted by Representative [[Anna Paulina Luna]], the [[NewsNation]] article "We are not alone: The UFO whistleblower speaks," and, submitted by Representative [[Tim Burchett]], a statement for the record by [[George Knapp]] and a Defense Intelligence Reference Document titled "Advanced Space Propulsion Based on Vacuum (Spacetime Metric) Engineering."[^2]
### Sol Foundation
The résumé that David Grusch filed with the [[House Committee on Oversight and Accountability]] for its July 26, 2023 hearing lists, as its first entry under experience, "May 2023-Present, Chief Operating Officer (COO), The Sol Foundation," with the description "Managing day-to-day operations for a 501c3 federally recognized non-profit. The premier center for research in the natural and social sciences, engineering, and the humanities, but also extends activities to advisory and policy work for the U.S. government/public outreach," and lists "Non-Profit Leadership" among his key competencies. The same document lists "November 2021-April 2023, Senior GEOINT Capabilities Requirements Officer, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), [[Colorado Springs]], CO (GS-15, Colonel Equiv.)," and describes him as the NGA lead for unidentified anomalous phenomena and trans-medium anomaly issues who "executed new program of record responsive to direct tasking by the Congressional Intelligence Committees."[^3]
The résumé that David Grusch filed with the [[House Committee on Oversight and Accountability]] for its July 26, 2023 hearing lists, as its first entry under experience, "May 2023-Present, Chief Operating Officer (COO), The Sol Foundation," with the description "Managing day-to-day operations for a 501c3 federally recognized non-profit. The premier center for research in the natural and social sciences, engineering, and the humanities, but also extends activities to advisory and policy work for the U.S. government/public outreach," and lists "Non-Profit Leadership" among his key competencies. The same document lists "November 2021-April 2023, Senior GEOINT Capabilities Requirements Officer, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), [[Colorado Springs]], CO (GS-15, Colonel Equiv.)," and describes him as the NGA lead for unidentified anomalous phenomena and trans-medium anomaly issues who "executed new program of record responsive to direct tasking by the Congressional Intelligence Committees."[^4]
[[The Debrief]] reported that the existence of the [[Sol Foundation]] first became apparent through that résumé and related documents in early August 2023, and that the foundation was then described as "pending recognition as a 501c3 federal non-profit." [[Garry Nolan]] said in September 2023 that Grusch's title had since become "Senior Founding Advisor," that the earlier title "seemed the right thing at the time," and that Grusch "is a founder of the Sol Foundation."[^4] The foundation's [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] ruling date as a 501(c)(3) is June 2024, and its 2024 Form 990 does not list Grusch among its officers or directors; the foundation's website, read October 3, 2026, does not list him among its executive leadership or advisory board either.[^5][^6] On November 18, 2023 Grusch joined the foundation's first symposium in [[Palo Alto, California]] by video from Washington and said, "This is why we have the Sol Foundation. We need to basically create a parallel track of research and independent discovery that aren't necessarily dependent on the U.S. government to provide us all the answers."[^7]
[[The Debrief]] reported that the existence of the [[Sol Foundation]] first became apparent through that résumé and related documents in early August 2023, and that the foundation was then described as "pending recognition as a 501c3 federal non-profit." [[Garry Nolan]] said in September 2023 that Grusch's title had since become "Senior Founding Advisor," that the earlier title "seemed the right thing at the time," and that Grusch "is a founder of the Sol Foundation."[^5] The foundation's [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] ruling date as a 501(c)(3) is June 2024, and its 2024 Form 990 does not list Grusch among its officers or directors; the foundation's website, read October 3, 2026, does not list him among its executive leadership or advisory board either.[^6][^7] On November 18, 2023 Grusch joined the foundation's first symposium in [[Palo Alto, California]] by video from Washington and said, "This is why we have the Sol Foundation. We need to basically create a parallel track of research and independent discovery that aren't necessarily dependent on the U.S. government to provide us all the answers."[^8]
His attorney, [[I. Charles McCullough III]], senior partner of the [[Compass Rose Legal Group]] and the first Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, was named as the Sol Foundation's legal counsel in 2023.[^8][^4]
His attorney, [[I. Charles McCullough III]], senior partner of the [[Compass Rose Legal Group]] and the first Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, was named as the Sol Foundation's legal counsel in 2023.[^5][^9]
### Congressional adviser, 2025
A March 27, 2025 press release from the office of Representative [[Eric Burlison]] announced Grusch as a "Special Advisor" on the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. It described his career as 14 years in the Air Force, reaching the rank of Major, with a combat tour in [[Afghanistan]] "supporting counter-illicit finance, drug, and arms-trafficking operations with [[Joint Special Operations Command]] (JSOC) and [[International Security Assistance Force|ISAF]]," later work as a senior intelligence officer at NGA and the NRO, representation of the NRO on the UAP Task Force from 2019 to 2021, and a 2022 complaint to the Intelligence Community Inspector General "found 'credible and urgent' for reporting to the Congressional intelligence committees."[^9] Grusch is quoted: "I will use all my expertise to support Rep. Burlison and help the US Congress restore full oversight while enabling the Legislative Branch's ability to investigate and hold those accountable who have broken the law and lied not only to our Congress, but also to the [[White House|Executive Office of the President]], [[Director of National Intelligence]], and [[Department of Justice]]."[^9]
A March 27, 2025 press release from the office of Representative [[Eric Burlison]] announced Grusch as a "Special Advisor" on the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. It described his career as 14 years in the Air Force, reaching the rank of Major, with a combat tour in [[Afghanistan]] "supporting counter-illicit finance, drug, and arms-trafficking operations with [[Joint Special Operations Command]] (JSOC) and [[International Security Assistance Force|ISAF]]," later work as a senior intelligence officer at NGA and the NRO, representation of the NRO on the UAP Task Force from 2019 to 2021, and a 2022 complaint to the Intelligence Community Inspector General "found 'credible and urgent' for reporting to the Congressional intelligence committees."[^10] Grusch is quoted: "I will use all my expertise to support Rep. Burlison and help the US Congress restore full oversight while enabling the Legislative Branch's ability to investigate and hold those accountable who have broken the law and lied not only to our Congress, but also to the [[White House|Executive Office of the President]], [[Director of National Intelligence]], and [[Department of Justice]]."[^10]
### NewsNation and Skywatcher
[[Nexstar Media Group]]'s November 14, 2023 announcement of [[Ross Coulthart]] as a NewsNation special correspondent stated that he "will continue to provide reporting on UFO whistleblower David Grusch."[^10] NewsNation wrote in January 2025 that "In June 2023, NewsNation was the first television network to present an interview with Grusch."[^11] Grusch is listed among those interviewed or referenced in the Part I video of [[Sky Watcher]], alongside [[Alex Klokus]], [[Jake Barber]], Garry Nolan, Col. [[Karl Nell]] and [[Fred Baker]].[^12] NewsNation's full special on Barber stated that Grusch and [[Luis Elizondo]] "say they've been told about it, they believe it exists, but they weren't a part of it themselves," and that Barber, "however, is different. He says he was part of that covert program."[^13]
[[Nexstar Media Group]]'s November 14, 2023 announcement of [[Ross Coulthart]] as a NewsNation special correspondent stated that he "will continue to provide reporting on UFO whistleblower David Grusch."[^11] NewsNation wrote in January 2025 that "In June 2023, NewsNation was the first television network to present an interview with Grusch."[^12] Grusch is listed among those interviewed or referenced in the Part I video of [[Sky Watcher]], alongside [[Alex Klokus]], [[Jake Barber]], Garry Nolan, Col. [[Karl Nell]] and [[Fred Baker]].[^13] NewsNation's full special on Barber stated that Grusch and [[Luis Elizondo]] "say they've been told about it, they believe it exists, but they weren't a part of it themselves," and that Barber, "however, is different. He says he was part of that covert program."[^14]
### Retaliation and Impact
@ -85,14 +87,15 @@ Since coming forward, Grusch has faced a campaign of retaliation and character a
[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
[^2]: House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, hearing of July 26, 2023, Serial No. 118-53, statement of David Grusch and list of submitted documents. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-118hhrg53022/html/CHRG-118hhrg53022.htm
[^3]: "David C. Grusch" résumé, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, hearing of July 26, 2023. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO06/20230726/116282/HHRG-118-GO06-Bio-GruschD-20230726.pdf
[^4]: Micah Hanks, "The Sol Foundation: How a New Think Tank of Academics is Applying 'Cutting-Edge Research' to the UAP Mystery," *The Debrief*, September 12, 2023. https://thedebrief.org/the-sol-foundation-how-a-new-think-tank-of-academics-is-applying-cutting-edge-research-the-uap-mystery/
[^5]: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 93-3649160, and IRS Form 990 for 2024, Part VII. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/933649160/202543269349300004/full
[^6]: The Sol Foundation, home page, "People" section, https://thesolfoundation.org/ , read October 3, 2026.
[^7]: Micah Hanks, *The Debrief*, February 12, 2024. https://thedebrief.org/the-sol-foundation-academias-new-uap-think-tank-releases-videos-of-lectures-from-its-inaugural-symposium/
[^8]: Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal, "Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Non-Human Craft," *The Debrief*, June 5, 2023. https://thedebrief.org/intelligence-officials-say-u-s-has-retrieved-non-human-craft/
[^9]: Office of Representative Eric Burlison, "Rep. Burlison Welcomes Former U.S. Air Force Officer David Grusch as Special Advisor," March 27, 2025. https://burlison.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-burlison-welcomes-former-us-air-force-officer-david-grusch-special-advisor
[^10]: Nexstar Media Group, "NewsNation Signs Award-Winning Journalist Ross Coulthart as a Special Correspondent for the Network," November 14, 2023. https://www.nexstar.tv/newsnation-signs-ross-coulthart-as-special-correspondent/
[^11]: NewsNation, "UAP whistleblower says UFO retrieval program exists: NewsNation exclusive," January 16, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-whistleblower-ufo-retrieval-program/
[^12]: Skywatcher, "Media," retrieved October 3, 2026. https://skywatcher.ai/media
[^13]: Ross Coulthart, "Whistleblower reveals UAP retrieval program; object caught on video," NewsNation, updated January 27, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/hfr-uap-recovery-video-egg-shaped-object-exclusive/
[^3]: House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, hearing "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency," July 26, 2023, question period. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-118hhrg53022/html/CHRG-118hhrg53022.htm
[^4]: "David C. Grusch" résumé, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, hearing of July 26, 2023. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO06/20230726/116282/HHRG-118-GO06-Bio-GruschD-20230726.pdf
[^5]: Micah Hanks, "The Sol Foundation: How a New Think Tank of Academics is Applying 'Cutting-Edge Research' to the UAP Mystery," *The Debrief*, September 12, 2023. https://thedebrief.org/the-sol-foundation-how-a-new-think-tank-of-academics-is-applying-cutting-edge-research-the-uap-mystery/
[^6]: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 93-3649160, and IRS Form 990 for 2024, Part VII. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/933649160/202543269349300004/full
[^7]: The Sol Foundation, home page, "People" section, https://thesolfoundation.org/ , read October 3, 2026.
[^8]: Micah Hanks, *The Debrief*, February 12, 2024. https://thedebrief.org/the-sol-foundation-academias-new-uap-think-tank-releases-videos-of-lectures-from-its-inaugural-symposium/
[^9]: Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal, "Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Non-Human Craft," *The Debrief*, June 5, 2023. https://thedebrief.org/intelligence-officials-say-u-s-has-retrieved-non-human-craft/
[^10]: Office of Representative Eric Burlison, "Rep. Burlison Welcomes Former U.S. Air Force Officer David Grusch as Special Advisor," March 27, 2025. https://burlison.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-burlison-welcomes-former-us-air-force-officer-david-grusch-special-advisor
[^11]: Nexstar Media Group, "NewsNation Signs Award-Winning Journalist Ross Coulthart as a Special Correspondent for the Network," November 14, 2023. https://www.nexstar.tv/newsnation-signs-ross-coulthart-as-special-correspondent/
[^12]: NewsNation, "UAP whistleblower says UFO retrieval program exists: NewsNation exclusive," January 16, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-whistleblower-ufo-retrieval-program/
[^13]: Skywatcher, "Media," retrieved October 3, 2026. https://skywatcher.ai/media
[^14]: Ross Coulthart, "Whistleblower reveals UAP retrieval program; object caught on video," NewsNation, updated January 27, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/hfr-uap-recovery-video-egg-shaped-object-exclusive/

18
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Eugene Giaquinto.md
View file

@ -10,16 +10,28 @@ relations:
with: "[[Music Corporation of America]]"
role: "president, Home Entertainment division"
fn: 1
- type: director_of
with: "[[Meridian International Logistics]]"
role: "board member, per Seymour and Spy; resigned after the FBI investigation became known"
fn: 3
created: 2025-08-05
updated: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Eugene F. Giaquinto was the president of the home entertainment division of [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]]. He was a subject of a two-year investigation by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] and the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s [[Los Angeles]] Organized Crime Strike Force into suspected labor racketeering in the film industry, overseen by the strike force attorney [[Richard Stavin]]. In September 1987 MCA security officers discovered an attempt by agents to tap Giaquinto's office telephone and wrongly blamed it on the prosecutor [[Marvin Rudnick]]. The investigators did tap the telephone of Giaquinto's confidant Marty Bacow, a labor negotiator with ties to the Teamsters president Jackie Presser, and Giaquinto was one of the people Bacow talked to most.[^1]
A newspaper report said the FBI believed Giaquinto had passed MCA funds annually to [[Edward Sciandra]], underboss of the [[Bufalino Crime Family]], and had a longstanding relationship with [[John Gotti]] of the [[Gambino Crime Family]]. Stavin resigned from the strike force in May 1989 with the case unresolved. Giaquinto was never prosecuted, and as of 1993 the wiretaps of his conversations with Bacow remained sealed; he then ran a video production and duplication firm in the San Fernando Valley.[^1]
According to [[Cheri Seymour]], Giaquinto sat on the board of [[Robert Booth Nichols]]'s holding company, [[Meridian International Logistics]], which was under investigation as a source of funding for narcotics trafficking; FBI wiretaps recorded communications between the two men, and both were described in the intercepts as having a close working relationship with the Justice Department.[^2]
The 1987 continuation wiretap affidavit of the FBI agent [[Thomas Gates]] names Giaquinto and [[Joseph Garofalo]] as persons committing offenses "involving the sale and possession of controlled substances," and lists among the matters the intercepts were to establish "The source of funding for the purchasing of narcotics/controlled substances and the allocation and use of the proceeds from its trafficking."[^2] [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that Giaquinto sat on the board of [[Robert Booth Nichols]]'s holding company, [[Meridian International Logistics]], and that he resigned and returned his stock certificates when he and Nichols learned of the FBI investigation; a 1992 account of hers puts the shares at 10,000.[^3] John Connolly reported in [[Spy (magazine)|Spy]] in January 1993 that Giaquinto sat on the board of the parent company of Meridian Arms, left MCA and the board when reports of the investigation surfaced, and had proposed to [[Jack Valenti]] that the [[Motion Picture Association of America]] hire Nichols for anti-piracy work in Asia.[^4] Seymour reproduced reports she attributed to [[John Cohen]], an investigator for the [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]], in which Gates is recorded as saying that the wiretaps showed a close working relationship between the MCA board and high-level Justice Department officials, and that Giaquinto told Bacow he would call Attorney General [[Edwin Meese]] and have the FBI investigation of MCA stopped.[^5]
### Wiretaps
The affidavit records a July 20, 1987 call in which Giaquinto told Nichols that MCA stock had fallen four points, and a July 23 call in which Giaquinto told Nichols that [[ZZZZ Best]] was a money-laundering operation for heroin money and asked what to do if Nichols's name came up.[^2] An excerpt of Gates's affidavit reproduced in Meridian's Ninth Circuit brief describes agents investigating whether others were using extortionate practices "to ensure that Eugene Giaquinto retains his position as the president of Home Entertainment for MCA/Universal, Inc.," and whether Giaquinto, Garofalo, Bacow and Nichols bought or sold stock by manipulative practices.[^6]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Knoedelseder, William. *Stiffed: A True Story of MCA, the Music Business, and the Mafia.* HarperCollins, 1993, pp. xvii, 434-448, 464. Read through the archive.org BookReader search, item stiffedtruestory00knoe.
[^2]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. Sole source for the Meridian board seat, the narcotics-funding investigation, the Nichols intercepts and the Justice Department relationship.
[^2]: 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." https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (file Gates.pdf), paragraphs 5, 69 and 79.
[^3]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010, pp. 351 and 356; Seymour, "VORTEX," February 24, 1992. https://archive.org/details/VORTEXDocument . Sole source for the board seat and resignation. Seymour, *The Last Circle,* p. 356, paraphrases the narcotics-funding wording as describing Meridian International Logistics; the affidavit places it under the controlled-substance offenses of Giaquinto and Garofalo.
[^4]: Connolly, John. "The Story That Killed Danny Casolaro." *Spy,* January 1993. https://archive.org/details/SpyMagazine
[^5]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010, pp. 347-349 ("Report No. 5" and "Report No. 6"). Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^6]: Appellant's Opening Brief, *Meridian International Logistics, Inc. v. Gates,* No. 90-55281 (9th Cir.), certificate dated June 27, 1990 (case removed as CV 89-4383 RG (Kx), C.D. Cal.). https://archive.org/details/MeridianV.Gates

27
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Jacques Bergier.md
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@ -10,21 +10,38 @@ summary: "Jacques Bergier was a journalist, former French resistance spy, and au
born: 1912-08-21
died: 1978-11-23
location: "Odessa, Ukraine"
relations:
- type: participant_in
with: "[[The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)]]"
start: 1959
role: "author of the Constellation article of December 1959 and co-author of Le Matin des magiciens"
fn: 2
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Jacques Bergier was a journalist, former French resistance spy, and author with strong ties to the intelligence community and an interest in the supernatural. He is known for bringing secret government [[Extrasensory Perception|ESP]] programs to public attention[^1].
In December 1959, Bergier published an article in the French magazine *Constellation* titled "Thought Transfer, Weapon of War." The article reported that ESP tests had been conducted aboard the [[USS Nautilus]], the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, in 1958. The purpose of the experiment was to determine if long-distance telepathic communication could be achieved through barriers like thousands of miles of seawater, thick polar ice, and the metal walls of a submarine[^1].
In December 1959, Bergier published an article in the French magazine *Constellation* titled "La transmission de pensée, arme de guerre" (thought transfer, weapon of war). The article reported that ESP tests had been conducted aboard the [[The Nautilus|USS Nautilus]], the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. The purpose of the experiment was to determine if long-distance telepathic communication could be achieved through barriers like thousands of miles of seawater, thick polar ice, and the metal walls of a submarine[^1].
According to Bergier, the ESP experiment involved simple sender-receiver trials using [[Zener Cards]]. He identified [[William H. Bowers]], director of the Biological Department of the Air Force Research Institute, as the man overseeing the joint-service ESP experiment. Bergier's story claimed that the sender and receiver communicated telepathically over a sixteen-day period starting on July 25, 1958[^1].
According to Bergier, the ESP experiment involved simple sender-receiver trials using [[Zener Cards]]. He identified [[William H. Bowers]], director of the Biological Department of the Air Force Research Institute, as the man overseeing the joint-service ESP experiment. Bergier's story claimed that the sender and receiver communicated telepathically over a sixteen-day period; Bergier and [[Louis Pauwels]] give July 25, 1959 as the date the submarine embarked and August 10, 1959 as its return to Groton.[^1]
An expanded version of his story, "The Secret of the Nautilus," was published in France's top science journal, *Science et Vie*, in February 1960. While no authors were identified, editor [[Gérald Messadié]] stated that multiple sources had confirmed the story. [[J. B. Rhine]] of the [[Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory]] was identified as the civilian scientist assigned to the project, with reports of "about 75% of the telepathic tries are said to have been successful"[^1].
In Le Matin des magiciens, Bergier and Pauwels wrote that the [[Rand Corporation]] laid a report before [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] at the beginning of 1957 proposing telepathic communication with submarines, and listed parapsychology laboratories at Rand, [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse]], [[General Electric]], Bell Telephone and [[Redstone Arsenal]]. A footnote in the passage cites a Rand Corporation report of August 31, 1958.[^2]
Whether Bergier's story was true or fabricated remains a debate, but it had real-world consequences. The Soviets used the news story to their strategic advantage, with [[Leonid Vasiliev|Leonid L. Vasilev]], Russia's leading ESP researcher, claiming that Soviet parapsychology research was stimulated by the *Nautilus* reports[^1].
An expanded version of his story, "The Secret of the Nautilus," was published in France's top science journal, *Science et Vie*, in February 1960. While no authors were identified, editor [[Gerard Messadie|Gérald Messadié]] stated, according to [[Annie Jacobsen]], that multiple sources had confirmed the story; [[Martin Ebon]] recorded in 1980 that Messadié named Bergier as his source. [[J. B. Rhine]] of the [[Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory]] was identified as the civilian scientist assigned to the project, with reports of "about 75% of the telepathic tries are said to have been successful"[^1].
The Soviets used the news story to their strategic advantage, with [[Leonid Vasiliev|Leonid L. Vasilev]], Russia's leading ESP researcher, claiming that Soviet parapsychology research was stimulated by the *Nautilus* reports[^1].
In 1963 the Sunday supplement [[This Week]] printed excerpts of the book as "The Great Nautilus ESP Hoax" and, according to the Parapsychology Foundation, reported that Bergier and Pauwels admitted they "had elaborated on reports they had heard, but not verified" and had "given the submarine a name."[^3] Ebon, who visited Messadié in 1980, wrote that Bergier concocted the story, quotes a New York Times obituary of November 24, 1978 describing Bergier as a part-time consultant for French intelligence after the war, and quotes Messadié as saying that Bergier claimed to have extracted the information from intelligence sources.[^4] [[Jim Schnabel]] wrote that Bergier "apparently had connections to French intelligence services."[^5] In 1992 the Soviet defense newspaper [[Trud]] named Bergier as the author of the French article that had caused considerable commotion in December 1959.[^6]
### Publications
* "Thought Transfer, Weapon of War" (*Constellation*, 1959)
* "La transmission de pensée, arme de guerre" (*Constellation*, December 1959)
* *Morning of the Magicians* (co-authored with Louis Pauwels)
### Footnotes
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^2]: Pauwels, Louis, and Jacques Bergier. *Le Matin des magiciens*, abridged and annotated university edition prepared by Yvonne Lenard with Monica Faulkner (Harper and Row, 1967), pp. 136-141. Annie Jacobsen, *Phenomena* (Little, Brown and Company, 2017), dates the sixteen-day period from July 25, 1958.
[^3]: Newsletter of the Parapsychology Foundation, "Nautilus Hoax Exposed," vol. 10, no. 6, November-December 1963, citing This Week, September 8, 1963. NSA-RDP96X00790R000100040002-2, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/nsa-rdp96x00790r000100040002-2.
[^4]: Ebon, Martin. *Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion?* McGraw-Hill, 1983, chapter 3, pp. 29-31.
[^5]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies*. Dell, 1997, pp. 90-93. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^6]: Trud, April 10, 1992, no. 61, FBIS translation, CIA-RDP96-00792R000500610010-5, https://cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00792r000500610010-5.

27
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/James Jesus Angleton.md
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
---
created: 2026-05-15
updated: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-08
title: James Jesus Angleton
aliases:
- James Angleton
@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ tags:
- 1960s
- 1970s
category: "Intelligence & Government"
summary: "James Jesus Angleton served as the CIA's chief of counterintelligence from 1954 to 1974, running the illegal HT/LINGUAL mail opening program, overseeing Operation CHAOS domestic surveillance, opening a 201 file on Lee Harvey Oswald in 1960 under a deliberately wrong name, maintaining the CIA's Israeli intelligence liaison under KK MOUNTAIN, and conducting a mole hunt triggered by his betrayal by Kim Philby that destroyed dozens of CIA officers' careers while the actual Soviet penetrations - Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen - operated undetected for years after his 1974 firing."
summary: "CIA counterintelligence chief from 1954 to 1974 who ran HT/LINGUAL mail opening, the Israeli liaison KK MOUNTAIN, the HONETOL mole hunt and an Oswald 201 file opened in 1960."
born: 1917-12-09
died: 1987-05-11
location: "Washington, D.C."
@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ The internal mole hunt, run under the codeword [[HONETOL]], focused primarily on
On February 4, 1964 - eleven weeks after Kennedy's assassination - KGB officer Yuri Nosenko defected in [[Geneva]]. His timing and central claim created an immediate crisis for Angleton: Nosenko stated he had personally reviewed the KGB's file on Oswald during Oswald's Soviet sojourn (1959-1962) and that the KGB had not recruited Oswald, had not run him as an agent, and had no connection to the [[JFK Assassination|Kennedy assassination]].
Angleton and Golitsyn insisted Nosenko was a Soviet "provocation" - a false defector dispatched specifically to mislead the Warren Commission. Acting on Angleton's assessment, the CIA subjected Nosenko to a program that amounted to illegal imprisonment. From April 1964 to October 1967 - three and a half years - Nosenko was held in solitary confinement in a specially constructed cell at [[Camp Peary]] ("The Farm"), the CIA's training facility in [[Virginia]]. He was subjected to hostile interrogation designed to break a fabricator. He was never charged with any crime. He never received access to counsel. The confinement ran 1,277 days and the questioning extended across roughly 292 sessions, many under polygraph, in conditions that replicated the [[Lawrence Hinkle|Hinkle]]-[[Harold Wolff|Wolff]] account of Soviet isolation interrogation: continuous light, no reading material, and round-the-clock observation. After Helms ordered the release, the [[CIA Office of Security]] officer [[Bruce Solie]] re-examined the case methodically and concluded the defection was genuine.[^5]
Angleton and Golitsyn insisted Nosenko was a Soviet "provocation" - a false defector dispatched specifically to mislead the Warren Commission. Acting on Angleton's assessment, the CIA subjected Nosenko to a program that amounted to illegal imprisonment. From April 1964 to October 1967 - three and a half years - Nosenko was held in solitary confinement in a specially constructed cell at [[Camp Peary]] ("The Farm"), the CIA's training facility in [[Virginia]]. He was subjected to hostile interrogation designed to break a fabricator. He was never charged with any crime. He never received access to counsel. The confinement ran 1,277 days and the questioning extended across roughly 292 sessions, many under polygraph, in conditions that replicated the [[Lawrence Hinkle|Hinkle]]-[[Harold Wolff|Wolff]] account of Soviet isolation interrogation: continuous light, no reading material, and round-the-clock observation. After Helms ordered the release, the [[CIA Office of Security]] officer [[Bruce Solie]] re-examined the case methodically and concluded the defection was genuine.[^3]
The CIA's Soviet division eventually concluded Nosenko was genuine. [[Tennent Bagley]], his principal case officer, remained convinced he was a plant and published that argument as late as 2007. The operational consequence of treating him as fabricated: the Warren Commission was denied access to what may have been the most direct available KGB testimony about Oswald, because Angleton had rendered Nosenko's evidence institutionally unusable. What Nosenko actually knew about Oswald's KGB file - and whether his account would have materially changed the Commission's conclusions - remains one of the assassination record's unresolved questions.[^2]
@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ From 1952 to 1973, Angleton ran HT/LINGUAL, a covert CIA program that intercepte
Over its operation, HT/LINGUAL opened approximately 215,820 letters and photographed the exterior envelopes of nearly 2.7 million pieces of mail. Recipients and senders included U.S. senators, journalists, academics, and private citizens with no intelligence connection. [[Richard Helms]] was briefed and approved continuation on multiple occasions. The Postmaster General was kept uninformed or given misleading characterizations of the program's scope. CIA lawyers repeatedly warned the program was illegal; it continued anyway.
HT/LINGUAL intercepted correspondence to and from Soviet addresses. Lee Harvey Oswald, having defected to the Soviet Union in 1959, maintained correspondence with American family members and later with the Soviet Embassy after his return to the United States in 1962. Whether his specific correspondence was intercepted and whether that interception contributed to the opening of his CI/SIG 201 file in December 1960 was examined by the [[Church Committee]] and the [[Assassination Records Review Board|ARRB]] without definitive resolution. The timing - Oswald's file opened December 9, 1960, as a "marked cards" file under the wrong middle name "Henry" - is consistent with HT/LINGUAL as a trigger, though no document has confirmed this directly.[^3]
HT/LINGUAL intercepted correspondence to and from Soviet addresses. Lee Harvey Oswald, having defected to the Soviet Union in 1959, maintained correspondence with American family members and later with the Soviet Embassy after his return to the United States in 1962. Whether his specific correspondence was intercepted and whether that interception contributed to the opening of his CI/SIG 201 file in December 1960 was examined by the [[Church Committee]] and the [[Assassination Records Review Board|ARRB]] without definitive resolution. The timing - Oswald's file opened December 9, 1960, as a "marked cards" file under the wrong middle name "Henry" - is consistent with HT/LINGUAL as a trigger, though no document has confirmed this directly.[^4]
### The Oswald File: An Unresolved Thread
@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ CI/SIG - Angleton's Counterintelligence Special Investigations Group - opened th
Angleton's personal counterintelligence operation, rather than the standard Soviet division - opened and held the Oswald file has never been satisfactorily explained. The standard explanation is that Oswald was a defector under CI watch. But the specific handling - the wrong name, the bifurcated October 10, 1963 cable in which Angleton's staff processed information about Oswald's Mexico City Soviet Embassy visit while omitting known facts about his background, and Jane Roman's 1994 admission to journalist [[John Newman (historian)|John Newman]] that she was "signing off on something I know isn't true" - suggests active management rather than passive monitoring.
The question that has never been answered is whether Angleton's CI Staff was running an operation that involved Oswald - whether as a monitored subject, an unwitting asset, or something more complex - that required protecting the file from standard Soviet division handling? The "marked cards" technique implies concern about Soviet access to the file. The omissions in the Mexico City cable imply concern about something else. What both concerns were, and how they related to each other, remains the central unresolved question in the Oswald counterintelligence record.[^3]
The question that has never been answered is whether Angleton's CI Staff was running an operation that involved Oswald - whether as a monitored subject, an unwitting asset, or something more complex - that required protecting the file from standard Soviet division handling? The "marked cards" technique implies concern about Soviet access to the file. The omissions in the Mexico City cable imply concern about something else. What both concerns were, and how they related to each other, remains the central unresolved question in the Oswald counterintelligence record.[^4]
### KK MOUNTAIN: The Israeli Intelligence Liaison
@ -101,9 +101,11 @@ The KK MOUNTAIN relationship also produced accountability failures. Angleton's p
His CI files reportedly included a running study of American Jews in government, employing what his documents called a "Jewishness index" - tracking synagogue attendance and other markers of Jewish identity as factors in assessing loyalty risks and potential Israeli intelligence targeting. This practice ran alongside his most intimate intelligence relationship with a foreign service and his role as the CIA's primary protector of Israeli interests inside the agency - a contradiction that neither his contemporaries nor subsequent investigators have fully examined.[^1]
In May 1967, according to [[David S. Robarge]], the CIA's chief historian, the Israelis may have tried to exploit this relationship by submitting to Washington a Mossad estimate claiming that the Israeli military was badly outgunned; Robarge writes that Angleton had for years run the Israeli account out of his Counterintelligence Staff without involving the Near East Division. The [[Office of National Estimates]] appraised the Israeli paper as "probably a gambit intended to influence the US."[^5][^6] Hersh reports, on the account of [[James H. Critchfield]], then chief of the Near East Division, that after the [[Six-Day War]] Angleton argued at a White House meeting with [[McGeorge Bundy]] and Nicholas Katzenbach that a quick land-for-peace accord with Jordan, supported by [[Moshe Dayan]] and [[Zvi Zamir]], had to be reached before Israeli settlement began, and that they "were told to knock it off"; Katzenbach, Hersh writes, had no recollection of the meeting.[^7]
### MKULTRA and Operational Hypnosis
In June 1960 Angleton's Counterintelligence Staff partnered with the [[TSS|Technical Services Staff]] on an expanded program of operational experiments in [[Hypnosis]], which CI officials characterized as a potential "breakthrough in clandestine technology." Under the arrangement, [[Project MKUltra|MKULTRA]] scientists developed techniques in the laboratory while Counterintelligence handled the "field experimentation." The program pursued three goals: inducing hypnosis rapidly in unwitting subjects, creating durable amnesia, and implanting durable, operationally useful posthypnotic suggestion, the building blocks of a programmed agent. The Agency released no information on any field experimentation toward the latter two goals.[^5]
In June 1960 Angleton's Counterintelligence Staff partnered with the [[TSS|Technical Services Staff]] on an expanded program of operational experiments in [[Hypnosis]], which CI officials characterized as a potential "breakthrough in clandestine technology." Under the arrangement, [[Project MKUltra|MKULTRA]] scientists developed techniques in the laboratory while Counterintelligence handled the "field experimentation." The program pursued three goals: inducing hypnosis rapidly in unwitting subjects, creating durable amnesia, and implanting durable, operationally useful posthypnotic suggestion, the building blocks of a programmed agent. The Agency released no information on any field experimentation toward the latter two goals.[^3]
### Operation CHAOS (MHCHAOS)
@ -111,7 +113,7 @@ Separate from the mail opening program, Angleton's Counterintelligence Staff ran
At its peak in 1971, the MHCHAOS Special Operations Group employed 52 personnel. The program maintained a computerized index called [[HYDRA]] that ultimately contained files on approximately 7,200 American citizens and cross-references to approximately 300,000 names and 1,000 organizations. [[Project MERRIMAC]], a subprogram, placed CIA infiltrators inside domestic antiwar and Black activist organizations in the [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] area. [[Project RESISTANCE]] involved CIA coordination with campus administrators, local police, and university security offices to compile dossiers on student organizations.
In a separate operation managed through Angleton's staff, the CIA purchased a Washington trash collection company holding contracts to collect garbage at various foreign embassies, including the Israeli Embassy - systematically sorting and analyzing the discarded material for intelligence. The program illustrated both Angleton's operational creativity and the blurring of foreign and domestic intelligence that characterized his tenure.[^4]
In a separate operation managed through Angleton's staff, the CIA purchased a Washington trash collection company holding contracts to collect garbage at various foreign embassies, including the Israeli Embassy - systematically sorting and analyzing the discarded material for intelligence. The program illustrated both Angleton's operational creativity and the blurring of foreign and domestic intelligence that characterized his tenure.[^8]
### Mary Meyer
@ -127,12 +129,15 @@ Whether Angleton's intervention was a personal act for a friend's family, an ins
His Church Committee testimony across 1975-1976 was extensive and carefully managed. He defended the principle of counterintelligence against what he characterized as Colby's reckless disclosure of sources and methods. He used T.S. Eliot's phrase "wilderness of mirrors" in testimony to characterize the nature of his work - the impossibility of distinguishing genuine intelligence from Soviet-fabricated provocation in an environment where the opponent's primary weapon was deception. He gave extended interviews to journalist [[Edward Jay Epstein]], published in *Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald* (1978), suggesting in carefully worded language that the Kennedy assassination needed to be understood in a context larger than what the Warren Commission had examined.
He never wrote a memoir. He grew orchids and tied fly-fishing lures and continued to believe in the reality of Soviet strategic penetration until his death from lung cancer on May 11, 1987.[^4]
He never wrote a memoir. He grew orchids and tied fly-fishing lures and continued to believe in the reality of Soviet strategic penetration until his death from lung cancer on May 11, 1987.[^8]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Mangold, Tom. *Cold Warrior: James Jesus Angleton - The CIA's Master Spy Hunter*. Simon & Schuster, 1991. Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Burleigh, Nina. *A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential Mistress Mary Meyer*. Bantam Books, 1998.
[^2]: Martin, David C. *Wilderness of Mirrors: Intrigue, Deception, and the Secrets that Destroyed Two of the Cold War's Most Important Agents*. Harper & Row, 1980. Bagley, Tennent H. *Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games*. Yale University Press, 2007. Golitsyn, Anatoli. *New Lies for Old: The Communist Strategy of Deception and Disinformation*. Dodd, Mead, 1984.
[^3]: Newman, John. *Oswald and the CIA: The Documented Truth About the Unknown Relationship Between the U.S. Government and the Alleged Killer of JFK*. Skyhorse Publishing, 2008 (updated ed.). Church Committee (Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities). Final Report, Book III: "Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans." S. Rept. 94-755, April 26, 1976.
[^4]: Church Committee. Final Report, Book II: "Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans." S. Rept. 94-755, April 26, 1976. Hersh, Seymour M. "Huge C.I.A. Operation Reported in U.S. Against Antiwar Forces." *New York Times*, December 22, 1974. Epstein, Edward Jay. *Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald*. Reader's Digest Press/McGraw-Hill, 1978. Colby, William, and Peter Forbath. *Honorable Men: My Life in the CIA*. Simon & Schuster, 1978.
[^5]: John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*. Times Books, 1979, Chapters 8 and 11.
[^3]: John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*. Times Books, 1979, Chapters 8 and 11.
[^4]: Newman, John. *Oswald and the CIA: The Documented Truth About the Unknown Relationship Between the U.S. Government and the Alleged Killer of JFK*. Skyhorse Publishing, 2008 (updated ed.). Church Committee (Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities). Final Report, Book III: "Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans." S. Rept. 94-755, April 26, 1976.
[^5]: Robarge, David S. "Getting it Right: CIA Analysis of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War." *Studies in Intelligence* 49, no. 1 (March 2005). https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/CIA-Analysis-1967-War.pdf Robarge cites Tom Mangold's Cold Warrior for the arrangement.
[^6]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 61, Memorandum from Rostow to President Johnson, May 25, 1967, with attached CIA appraisal. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d61
[^7]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 14, p. 185, footnote. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^8]: Church Committee. Final Report, Book II: "Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans." S. Rept. 94-755, April 26, 1976. Hersh, Seymour M. "Huge C.I.A. Operation Reported in U.S. Against Antiwar Forces." *New York Times*, December 22, 1974. Epstein, Edward Jay. *Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald*. Reader's Digest Press/McGraw-Hill, 1978. Colby, William, and Peter Forbath. *Honorable Men: My Life in the CIA*. Simon & Schuster, 1978.

77
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Luis Elizondo.md
View file

@ -12,25 +12,25 @@ relations:
start: 2008
end: 2017-10-04
role: "GS-15 civilian; information-sharing work with DHS and state, local and tribal law enforcement from 2008, counterintelligence and security for AAWSAP from 2009, Director of National Programs, Special Management Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense (Guantanamo portfolio); resignation effective October 4, 2017, as he wrote"
fn: 5
fn: 6
- type: employed_by
with: "[[To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science]]"
start: 2017
end: 2020-12
role: "chief of security and special programs, in his account; salary cut in half during the period; relationship ended by a call from Tom DeLonge a few days before Christmas 2020"
fn: 20
fn: 20?UNUSED
- type: reported_to
with: "[[Garry Reid]]"
start: 2017
end: 2017-10-04
role: "top boss in the Pentagon chain of command, whom Elizondo wrote he kept out of the loop on AATIP; Elizondo wrote that Reid opened an Air Force Office of Special Investigations inquiry after the resignation"
fn: 20
fn: 20?UNUSED
- type: subject_of
with: "[[NewsNation]]"
role: "NewsNation reported on June 30 and July 29, 2026 on disputes between Elizondo and its correspondent Ross Coulthart and the researcher UAPGerb over his role in the Legacy Program and a rumored disclosure post"
start: 2026-06-30
fn: 12
updated: 2026-10-03
fn: 13
updated: 2026-10-08
created: 2026-10-03
---
[[Luis Elizondo]] is a former U.S. Army Counterintelligence Special Agent and former employee of the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. He is a central figure in the effort to disclose information about [[Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena]] (UAP), due to his role leading the [[Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program]] (AATIP), a clandestine [[Pentagon]] program that studied the phenomenon.[^1]
@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ His career as an intelligence officer was extensive, involving missions across t
### Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP)
In early 2009, Elizondo was approached by [[Jay Stratton]] and a colleague, "[[Rosemary Caine]]," for a role in a highly classified [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] (DIA) program. He was introduced to [[James Lacatski]], a rocket scientist who revealed the program's true purpose: the investigation of UAP. The program was initially called the [[Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program]] (AAWSAP) and was funded by a bipartisan group of senators: [[Harry Reid]], [[Ted Stevens]], and [[Daniel Inouye]]. The primary contractor was [[Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies]] (BAASS), owned by [[Robert Bigelow]], with [[Hal Puthoff]] serving as chief scientist.[^1]
In early 2009, Elizondo was approached by [[Jay Stratton]] and a colleague, "[[Rosemary Caine]]," for a role in a highly classified [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] (DIA) program. He was introduced to [[James Lacatski]], a rocket scientist who revealed the program's true purpose: the investigation of UAP. The program was initially called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AAWSAP) and was funded by a bipartisan group of senators: [[Harry Reid]], [[Ted Stevens]], and [[Daniel Inouye]]. The primary contractor was [[Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies]] (BAASS), owned by [[Robert Bigelow]], with [[Hal Puthoff]] serving as chief scientist.[^1]
AATIP investigated numerous UAP cases, developing a framework of five key "observables" to analyze their behavior: hypersonic velocity, instantaneous acceleration, low observability, transmedium travel, and antigravity. A sixth observable, biological effects, was also noted. The program explored a wide range of phenomena, from the 2004 [[Tic Tac]] to the [[Colares Incidents]] in Brazil and the strange occurrences at [[Skinwalker Ranch]].[^1]
@ -61,61 +61,64 @@ Elizondo's involvement with AATIP was not without personal cost. He and his fami
### Resignation and Public Disclosure
Frustrated by the bureaucratic stonewalling, the refusal of the [[United States Air Force|US Air Force]] to cooperate, and the inability to brief senior leadership like Secretary of Defense [[James Mattis]], Elizondo resigned from the Pentagon on October 4, 2017. His resignation letter to Secretary Mattis, which was later made public, explicitly stated that the Department was not taking the potential threat posed by UAP seriously.[^1]
Frustrated by the bureaucratic stonewalling, the refusal of the [[United States Air Force|US Air Force]] to cooperate, and the inability to brief senior leadership like Secretary of Defense [[James Mattis]], Elizondo resigned from the Pentagon on October 4, 2017. His resignation letter to Secretary Mattis, which was later made public, explicitly stated that the Department was not taking the potential threat posed by UAP seriously.[^1][^2]
Working with [[Christopher Mellon]] and [[Jim Semivan]], Elizondo went public. He was the primary source for a landmark New York Times article in December 2017 that disclosed the existence of AATIP. The article carried the Navy videos later known as "FLIR1" (Tic Tac) and "[[GIMBAL]]" (the article carried two videos; "GOFAST" followed in March 2018). [[Politico]] reported in 2021 that the [[Washington Headquarters Services]] declassification division approved the videos "for unlimited distribution" inside the government; the Department of Defense stated on April 27, 2020 that it authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos, which had been circulating in the public domain after "unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017."[^2][^3] The Office of the Secretary of Defense file released to [[The Black Vault]] under the Freedom of Information Act in August 2019 contains an August 23, 2017 email in which Elizondo asked Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review to "consider our request for unrestricted release"; an August 24, 2017 reply from Russo that if the service-level classification authority verified that removing the metadata made the videos unclassified, "please feel free to move forward with release"; and a DD Form 1910 whose publication-data block reads "Not Applicable. Not for publication. Research and analysis ONLY and info sharing with other USG and industry partners for the purposes of developing a database to help identify, analyze and ultimately defeat UAS threats." Joseph Gradisher, a Navy spokesman, said in 2019 that neither the cognizant Navy offices nor the review office had a record of correspondence responding to a request for unrestricted release of the videos in 2017.[^4] This event ignited a global conversation and marked a pivotal moment for the disclosure movement.[^1]
Working with [[Christopher Mellon]] and [[Jim Semivan]], Elizondo went public. He was the primary source for a landmark New York Times article in December 2017 that disclosed the existence of AATIP. The article carried the Navy videos later known as "FLIR1" (Tic Tac) and "[[GIMBAL]]" (the article carried two videos; "GOFAST" followed in March 2018). [[Politico]] reported in 2021 that the [[Washington Headquarters Services]] declassification division approved the videos "for unlimited distribution" inside the government; the Department of Defense stated on April 27, 2020 that it authorized the release of three unclassified Navy videos, which had been circulating in the public domain after "unauthorized releases in 2007 and 2017."[^3][^4] The Office of the Secretary of Defense file released to [[The Black Vault]] under the Freedom of Information Act in August 2019 contains an August 23, 2017 email in which Elizondo asked Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review to "consider our request for unrestricted release"; an August 24, 2017 reply from Russo that if the service-level classification authority verified that removing the metadata made the videos unclassified, "please feel free to move forward with release"; and a DD Form 1910 whose publication-data block reads "Not Applicable. Not for publication. Research and analysis ONLY and info sharing with other USG and industry partners for the purposes of developing a database to help identify, analyze and ultimately defeat UAS threats." Joseph Gradisher, a Navy spokesman, said in 2019 that neither the cognizant Navy offices nor the review office had a record of correspondence responding to a request for unrestricted release of the videos in 2017.[^5] This event ignited a global conversation and marked a pivotal moment for the disclosure movement.[^1]
Post-resignation, Elizondo joined [[To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science]] (TTSA), founded by musician [[Tom DeLonge]], and has worked relentlessly to advocate for UAP transparency. His efforts, in concert with Mellon and others, have been crucial in briefing members of Congress, which led directly to the creation of the [[All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office]] (AARO) and the passage of historic UAP disclosure legislation within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).[^1]
### Recruitment, offices and resignation, in Elizondo's account
Elizondo wrote that in 2008 he returned to the Department of Defense in the [[Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence]], working on information sharing among the department, the [[Department of Homeland Security]] and state, local and tribal law enforcement, from an eleventh-floor corner office in a building in [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington]] that the Pentagon rented and that housed divisions of [[Boeing]] including Phantom Works, at the GS-15 grade, and that in early 2009 his assistant announced two visitors, Jay Stratton and a colleague he calls "Rosemary Caine," who asked for his counterintelligence and security experience for "a highly classified program led out of our office at DIA," which Stratton said he had helped create under the name AAWSAP, later AATIP, and which they said reported "directly to the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and to Congress." After two more meetings he was taken to a tenth-floor office in a Virginia building where he met James Lacatski, who asked "What do you think about UFOs?"; at a second meeting Lacatski told him the program had the support of the DIA director, Lieutenant General [[Michael D. Maples]], and had been funded by Harry Reid, Ted Stevens and Daniel Inouye. Elizondo wrote that an Army friend he calls "John Robert," who served with him in Korea in the 1990s and acted as liaison between another intelligence agency and AAWSAP, had referred him.[^5]
Elizondo wrote that in 2008 he returned to the Department of Defense in the [[Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence]], working on information sharing among the department, the [[Department of Homeland Security]] and state, local and tribal law enforcement, from an eleventh-floor corner office in a building in [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington]] that the Pentagon rented and that housed divisions of [[Boeing]] including Phantom Works, at the GS-15 grade, and that in early 2009 his assistant announced two visitors, Jay Stratton and a colleague he calls "Rosemary Caine," who asked for his counterintelligence and security experience for "a highly classified program led out of our office at DIA," which Stratton said he had helped create under the name AAWSAP, later AATIP, and which they said reported "directly to the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and to Congress." After two more meetings he was taken to a tenth-floor office in a Virginia building where he met James Lacatski, who asked "What do you think about UFOs?"; at a second meeting Lacatski told him the program had the support of the DIA director, Lieutenant General [[Michael D. Maples]], and had been funded by Harry Reid, Ted Stevens and Daniel Inouye. Elizondo wrote that an Army friend he calls "John Robert," who served with him in Korea in the 1990s and acted as liaison between another intelligence agency and AAWSAP, had referred him.[^6]
He wrote that after the program lost support at DIA, in 2010, he moved its remnants into his own portfolio as Director of National Programs, Special Management Staff, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which managed national-level special access programs for the National Security Council and the White House and, in his case, Guantanamo Bay; that his base was office 3C503A in the Pentagon; that he "dual-used" existing funds so that a video sent for analysis could be tested both as a possible Russian MiG-25 and as a UAP; and that the only contractors who remained with Stratton and himself were Puthoff, a physician he calls Will Livingston and [[Eric Davis]]. He named as his superiors in this period [[Neill Tipton]], whom he described as running the Intelligence Sharing and Foreign Intelligence Relationship Office, and Tipton's boss John Pede.[^6]
He wrote that after the program lost support at DIA, in 2010, he moved its remnants into his own portfolio as Director of National Programs, Special Management Staff, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which managed national-level special access programs for the National Security Council and the White House and, in his case, Guantanamo Bay; that his base was office 3C503A in the Pentagon; that he "dual-used" existing funds so that a video sent for analysis could be tested both as a possible Russian MiG-25 and as a UAP; and that the only contractors who remained with Stratton and himself were Puthoff, a physician he calls Will Livingston and [[Eric Davis]]. He named as his superiors in this period [[Neill Tipton]], whom he described as running the Intelligence Sharing and Foreign Intelligence Relationship Office, and Tipton's boss John Pede.[^7]
Elizondo wrote that in 2016 the Joint Staff declined to give Stratton's OPLAN Interloper an Alternative Compensatory Control Measures designation, that in 2017 he sought a briefing of Secretary of Defense James Mattis through a SECDEF liaison, a White House advisor named Brad Byers and a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] liaison officer he calls "Shari Smith," that Tipton agreed to take over AATIP and accepted a draft memo but delayed signing it; and that he resigned in a letter to Mattis "effective 4 October 2017," after more than twenty-two years of service, with a second, shorter letter to his chain of command.[^7] He wrote that his immediate supervisor on the Guantanamo portfolio, John Garrity, telephoned that day to say that Garry Reid, whom he described as controlling security, law enforcement and security clearances for the department, wanted to see him; that Reid said he would have to tell people Elizondo was "acting crazy"; and that Reid seized his computers and files, questioned his staff and began an inquiry through the Air Force [[Office of Special Investigations]] which, he wrote, "found no impropriety in my actions."[^8]
Elizondo wrote that in 2016 the Joint Staff declined to give Stratton's OPLAN Interloper an Alternative Compensatory Control Measures designation, that in 2017 he sought a briefing of Secretary of Defense James Mattis through a SECDEF liaison, a White House advisor named Brad Byers and a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] liaison officer he calls "Shari Smith," that Tipton agreed to take over AATIP and accepted a draft memo but delayed signing it; and that he resigned in a letter to Mattis "effective 4 October 2017," after more than twenty-two years of service, with a second, shorter letter to his chain of command.[^8] He wrote that his immediate supervisor on the Guantanamo portfolio, John Garrity, telephoned that day to say that Garry Reid, whom he described as controlling security, law enforcement and security clearances for the department, wanted to see him; that Reid said he would have to tell people Elizondo was "acting crazy"; and that Reid seized his computers and files, questioned his staff and began an inquiry through the Air Force [[Office of Special Investigations]] which, he wrote, "found no impropriety in my actions."[^9]
After the [[New York Times]] story of December 16, 2017, Elizondo wrote, the Pentagon spokesperson Dana White confirmed his role in AATIP to Politico, but in 2019 the spokesperson [[Christopher Sherwood]] told reporters that "Mr. Elizondo had no responsibilities with regard to the AATIP program," which Elizondo wrote Sherwood privately acknowledged was untrue; that a [[Freedom of Information Act]] response said his electronic files had been deleted as having "no historic value," and that an email transferring AATIP duties to Tipton in 2017 was released in May 2024 after a FOIA appeal; and that after a Defense Department inspector general review Garry Reid was reassigned to DIA as a "special advisor." Elizondo wrote that a Pentagon spokesperson later confirmed that he "provides technical advice on a variety of classified topics for the US Space Force."[^9] The Department of Defense's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office found in 2024 that AATIP "was never an official DoD program" (see Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program).
After the [[New York Times]] story of December 16, 2017, Elizondo wrote, the Pentagon spokesperson Dana White confirmed his role in AATIP to Politico, but in 2019 the spokesperson [[Christopher Sherwood]] told reporters that "Mr. Elizondo had no responsibilities with regard to the AATIP program," which Elizondo wrote Sherwood privately acknowledged was untrue; that a [[Freedom of Information Act]] response said his electronic files had been deleted as having "no historic value," and that an email transferring AATIP duties to Tipton in 2017 was released in May 2024 after a FOIA appeal; and that after a Defense Department inspector general review Garry Reid was reassigned to DIA as a "special advisor." Elizondo wrote that a Pentagon spokesperson later confirmed that he "provides technical advice on a variety of classified topics for the US Space Force."[^10] The Department of Defense's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office found in 2024 that AATIP "was never an official DoD program" (see Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program).
### NewsNation, 2025 and 2026
NewsNation's January 16, 2025 article on [[Jake Barber]] stated that "other whistleblowers, including Lue Elizondo and [[David Grusch]], have alleged a secret government UFO program exists but Barber says he knows it's true because he's part of it," and the full-special article of the same month stated that Grusch and Elizondo "say they've been told about it, they believe it exists, but they weren't a part of it themselves."[^10][^11]
NewsNation's January 16, 2025 article on [[Jake Barber]] stated that "other whistleblowers, including Lue Elizondo and [[David Grusch]], have alleged a secret government UFO program exists but Barber says he knows it's true because he's part of it," and the full-special article of the same month stated that Grusch and Elizondo "say they've been told about it, they believe it exists, but they weren't a part of it themselves."[^11][^12]
On June 30, 2026 NewsNation reported that its special correspondent [[Ross Coulthart]] had said on his "[[Reality Check (NewsNation)|Reality Check]]" podcast that "There are people who bitterly resent and don't think it's a good idea that Lue be appointed to a position of power in UAP transparency, because they think that he was part of a previous agenda that was essentially to try to control the narrative, to restrict what the public is entitled to know about the UAP disclosure," and "I've spoken to people in the [[Legacy Program]] who knew Lue." Elizondo told NewsNation's [[Chris Cuomo]] that "I've committed myself to transparency to the degree that I could," that "I didn't say I worked for the Legacy Program," that "we cannot confirm or deny" statements are not "some sort of implicit 'yes,'" and that "I think Ross is an excellent investigative journalist." The article gives Elizondo's account that he directed the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program and "resigned in 2017 in protest."[^12]
On June 30, 2026 NewsNation reported that its special correspondent [[Ross Coulthart]] had said on his "[[Reality Check (NewsNation)|Reality Check]]" podcast that "There are people who bitterly resent and don't think it's a good idea that Lue be appointed to a position of power in UAP transparency, because they think that he was part of a previous agenda that was essentially to try to control the narrative, to restrict what the public is entitled to know about the UAP disclosure," and "I've spoken to people in the [[Legacy Program]] who knew Lue." Elizondo told NewsNation's [[Chris Cuomo]] that "I've committed myself to transparency to the degree that I could," that "I didn't say I worked for the Legacy Program," that "we cannot confirm or deny" statements are not "some sort of implicit 'yes,'" and that "I think Ross is an excellent investigative journalist." The article gives Elizondo's account that he directed the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program and "resigned in 2017 in protest."[^13]
On July 29, 2026 NewsNation reported that the anonymous researcher known online as [[UAPGerb]] (named Sam in the article), speaking to Coulthart, said Elizondo was part of a "controlled narrative" and noted speculation that he was "being positioned for a role with the National Security Council or as an adviser to the White House"; the article states "Elizondo has not confirmed the rumors." In a [[YouTube]] video Elizondo called the claims false, confirmed he was moving to [[Washington, D.C.]] because "fighting for UAP disclosure is a full-time job," and told Coulthart "please, for the love of God, be more careful with who you decide to have on your program." The article states that Elizondo said one narrative, which he claims the researcher made up, was that he and [[James Clapper]], the former [[Director of National Intelligence]], "had colluded to create a network" for "soft disclosure," and quotes Elizondo: "That is 1,000% not accurate. In fact, we never had such a conversation, and Jim Clapper and I never met to have that conversation."[^13]
On July 29, 2026 NewsNation reported that the anonymous researcher known online as [[UAPGerb]] (named Sam in the article), speaking to Coulthart, said Elizondo was part of a "controlled narrative" and noted speculation that he was "being positioned for a role with the National Security Council or as an adviser to the White House"; the article states "Elizondo has not confirmed the rumors." In a [[YouTube]] video Elizondo called the claims false, confirmed he was moving to [[Washington, D.C.]] because "fighting for UAP disclosure is a full-time job," and told Coulthart "please, for the love of God, be more careful with who you decide to have on your program." The article states that Elizondo said one narrative, which he claims the researcher made up, was that he and [[James Clapper]], the former [[Director of National Intelligence]], "had colluded to create a network" for "soft disclosure," and quotes Elizondo: "That is 1,000% not accurate. In fact, we never had such a conversation, and Jim Clapper and I never met to have that conversation."[^14]
### Resignation and the December 2017 placement
Elizondo's resignation took effect October 4, 2017, according to the Pentagon; a Pentagon official told Politico that Mattis's receipt of the letter could not be confirmed. His letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis cited "bureaucratic challenges and inflexible mindsets" and the "overwhelming evidence" at "both the classified and unclassified levels," and, [[Keith Kloor]] wrote in *[[The Intercept]]*, "does not mention AATIP or Elizondo's role as its director."[^14][^15] [[Gideon Lewis-Kraus]] wrote that the previous day had been his last day of work, and that on October 4, 2017 [[Leslie Kean]] met him, Hal Puthoff and Jim Semivan in a hotel bar near the Pentagon at the request of Christopher Mellon; Kean told Lewis-Kraus that Elizondo "had incredible gravitas."[^16] Elizondo spoke onstage at the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science launch later in October 2017.[^16] In an August 2017 email reviewed by Politico he proposed an unclassified "community of interest" database; "Washington Headquarters Services" approved three [[United States Navy|Navy]] videos "for unlimited distribution" within government, and Elizondo, Mellon and others concluded that more was needed. Politico reported in 2021 that the Pentagon "officially acknowledged the existence of the AATIP program and Elizondo's role in it."[^2] In December 2017 Politico quoted Elizondo: "We tried to work within the system. We were trying to take the voodoo out of voodoo science," and he described sightings "often reported in the vicinity of nuclear facilities, either ships at sea or power plants"; the Times quoted his resignation letter's phrase "unusual aerial systems interfering with military weapon platforms and displaying beyond-next-generation capabilities."[^17]
Elizondo's resignation took effect October 4, 2017, according to the Pentagon; a Pentagon official told Politico that Mattis's receipt of the letter could not be confirmed. His letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis cited "bureaucratic challenges and inflexible mindsets" and the "overwhelming evidence" at "both the classified and unclassified levels," and, [[Keith Kloor]] wrote in *[[The Intercept]]*, "does not mention AATIP or Elizondo's role as its director."[^15][^16] [[Gideon Lewis-Kraus]] wrote that the previous day had been his last day of work, and that on October 4, 2017 [[Leslie Kean]] met him, Hal Puthoff and Jim Semivan in a hotel bar near the Pentagon at the request of Christopher Mellon; Kean told Lewis-Kraus that Elizondo "had incredible gravitas."[^17] Elizondo spoke onstage at the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science launch later in October 2017.[^17] In an August 2017 email reviewed by Politico he proposed an unclassified "community of interest" database; "Washington Headquarters Services" approved three [[United States Navy|Navy]] videos "for unlimited distribution" within government, and Elizondo, Mellon and others concluded that more was needed. Politico reported in 2021 that the Pentagon "officially acknowledged the existence of the AATIP program and Elizondo's role in it."[^3] In December 2017 Politico quoted Elizondo: "We tried to work within the system. We were trying to take the voodoo out of voodoo science," and he described sightings "often reported in the vicinity of nuclear facilities, either ships at sea or power plants"; the Times quoted his resignation letter's phrase "unusual aerial systems interfering with military weapon platforms and displaying beyond-next-generation capabilities."[^18]
The resignation letter, dated October 3, 2017, states: "Effective 4 October 2017, I humbly submit my resignation as Director, National Programs Special Management Staff," and says the resignation is submitted "in hopes it will encourage you to ask the hard questions."[^19] An information memorandum from [[Garry Reid]], Director for Defense Intelligence, states that Elizondo "has provided three different explanations for his sudden resignation," that he first told his supervisor he was leaving for a job opportunity "that required his immediate availability," and that an informal Air Force assessment "did not find any wrongdoing by Mr. Elizondo."[^19]
### Pentagon statements beside his account
December 2017: Politico's [[Bryan Bender]] wrote that Pentagon spokeswoman [[Dana White]] "confirmed to Politico that the program existed and was run by Elizondo." June 1, 2019: spokesperson Christopher Sherwood told *The Intercept* that AATIP "did pursue research and investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena" but that "Mr. Elizondo had no responsibilities with regard to the AATIP program while he worked in OUSDI," that he "cannot confirm" White's statement, and that Elizondo "worked for other organizations in DoD." June 13, 2019: [[Susan Gough]] told [[The Black Vault]] that Reid's July 24, 2009 memorandum was authentic and "makes no change to previous statements," and that "Elizondo did interact with the DIA office managing the program while the program was still ongoing, but he did not lead it." Bender wrote on June 2, 2019 that he expected "a much more definitive statement from the Pentagon" and that The Intercept's "assertions and innuendo" were wrong. Elizondo, in the Intercept article, did not respond to requests for comment; he told Kloor earlier in 2019 that he was a government contractor "but it's not what you think it is."[^15][^18]
December 2017: Politico's [[Bryan Bender]] wrote that Pentagon spokeswoman [[Dana White]] "confirmed to Politico that the program existed and was run by Elizondo." June 1, 2019: spokesperson Christopher Sherwood told *The Intercept* that AATIP "did pursue research and investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena" but that "Mr. Elizondo had no responsibilities with regard to the AATIP program while he worked in OUSDI," that he "cannot confirm" White's statement, and that Elizondo "worked for other organizations in DoD." June 13, 2019: [[Susan Gough]] told The Black Vault that Reid's July 24, 2009 memorandum was authentic and "makes no change to previous statements," and that "Elizondo did interact with the DIA office managing the program while the program was still ongoing, but he did not lead it." Bender wrote on June 2, 2019 that he expected "a much more definitive statement from the Pentagon" and that The Intercept's "assertions and innuendo" were wrong. Elizondo, in the Intercept article, did not respond to requests for comment; he told Kloor earlier in 2019 that he was a government contractor "but it's not what you think it is."[^16][^20]
### Galileo Project
On October 30, 2021 Elizondo and Mellon became research affiliates of [[Harvard University|Harvard]]'s [[Galileo Project]]; Elizondo was quoted: "Deliberate and methodical research, along with strict rigor will help ensure the tenets of the scientific method are followed."[^19] The October 2021 announcement credits both with "two years of patient public and private lobbying" behind the June 2021 ODNI report.[^19]
On October 30, 2021 Elizondo and Mellon became research affiliates of [[Harvard University|Harvard]]'s [[Galileo Project]]; Elizondo was quoted: "Deliberate and methodical research, along with strict rigor will help ensure the tenets of the scientific method are followed."[^21] The October 2021 announcement credits both with "two years of patient public and private lobbying" behind the June 2021 ODNI report.[^21]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
[^2]: Bender, Bryan. *Politico Magazine,* May 28, 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/28/ufos-secret-history-government-washington-dc-487900
[^3]: U.S. Department of Defense. "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," April 27, 2020. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/ (read through the Internet Archive capture, https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/).
[^4]: [[The Black Vault]], FOIA release of Office of the Secretary of Defense case 18-F-0644, August 2019 (emails of August 23 and 24, 2017 between Luis Elizondo and Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review, with the DD Form 1910; the form's text is poorly legible in the scan and is quoted as transcribed in the research notes), https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/18-F-0644.pdf ; Joseph Gradisher quoted in "U.S. Navy Confirms Videos Depict Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Not Cleared for Public Release," The Black Vault, September 2019, https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/u-s-navy-confirms-videos-depict-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-not-cleared-for-public-release/
[^5]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 3 to 14 (Caine indexed at p. 5; Reid, Bigelow and Maples at pp. 13 to 14). Page numbers are those of the printed index where it lists the passage.
[^6]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 82 to 93 (Higgins, Tipton and Pede at pp. 87 to 89; Will at p. 90; office 3C503A at p. 93).
[^7]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 147 to 202 (Interloper at pp. 147 and 186; Byers at pp. 189 and 217; Tipton at p. 192; resignation letter at p. 202).
[^8]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 202 to 203 and 211.
[^9]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 209 to 217 and 238 (Dana White at p. 210; Sherwood at p. 217; deletion at p. 212; Space Force statement at p. 238); photograph captions on the email released in May 2024.
[^10]: NewsNation, "UAP whistleblower says UFO retrieval program exists: NewsNation exclusive," January 16, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-whistleblower-ufo-retrieval-program/
[^11]: NewsNation, "Whistleblower reveals UAP retrieval program; object caught on video," January 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/hfr-uap-recovery-video-egg-shaped-object-exclusive/
[^12]: Alicia Sitz, "UAP whistleblower Luis Elizondo neither confirms nor denies he was part of government secrecy efforts," NewsNation, updated June 30, 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/luis-elizondo-denies-uap-secrecy-efforts/
[^13]: Steph Whiteside and Alicia Sitz, "Elizondo responds to researcher's 'controlled narrative' role rumors," NewsNation, updated July 29, 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/elizondo-uap-role-controlled-narrative/
[^14]: Kloor, Keith. "UFOs Won't Go Away." *Issues in Science and Technology,* March 1, 2019. https://issues.org/ufos-wont-go-away/
[^15]: Kloor, Keith. *The Intercept,* June 1, 2019. https://theintercept.com/2019/06/01/ufo-unidentified-history-channel-luis-elizondo-pentagon/
[^16]: Lewis-Kraus, Gideon. *The New Yorker,* May 10, 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/how-the-pentagon-started-taking-ufos-seriously
[^17]: Bender, Bryan. "The Pentagon's Secret Search for UFOs." *Politico Magazine,* December 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/2018id_/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/16/pentagon-ufo-search-harry-reid-216111 ; Cooper, Helene, Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean. *The New York Times,* December 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/2023id_/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html
[^18]: Greenewald, John, Jr. The Black Vault, June 14, 2019. https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/pentagon-reinforces-mr-luis-elizondo-had-no-responsibilities-on-aatip-senator-harry-reids-2009-memo-changes-nothing
[^19]: The Galileo Project, October 30, 2021. https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/galileo/files/mellon-elizondo_announcement_final_2.pdf (Internet Archive copy).
[^20]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 202 to 217 (resignation at p. 202; Garry Reid indexed at pp. 143 to 144, 202 to 203, 209, 212, 215 to 217, 238 to 239) and pp. 205 to 207, 218 and 219 (offer from Tom DeLonge, salary cut and end of the arrangement).
[^2]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 202 to 217 (resignation at p. 202; Garry Reid indexed at pp. 143 to 144, 202 to 203, 209, 212, 215 to 217, 238 to 239) and pp. 205 to 207, 218 and 219 (offer from Tom DeLonge, salary cut and end of the arrangement).
[^3]: Bender, Bryan. *Politico Magazine,* May 28, 2021. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/28/ufos-secret-history-government-washington-dc-487900
[^4]: U.S. Department of Defense. "Statement by the Department of Defense on the Release of Historical Navy Videos," April 27, 2020. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/ (read through the Internet Archive capture, https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/2165713/statement-by-the-department-of-defense-on-the-release-of-historical-navy-videos/).
[^5]: [[The Black Vault]], FOIA release of Office of the Secretary of Defense case 18-F-0644, August 2019 (emails of August 23 and 24, 2017 between Luis Elizondo and Michael Russo of the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review, with the DD Form 1910; the form's text is poorly legible in the scan and is quoted as transcribed in the research notes), https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/18-F-0644.pdf ; Joseph Gradisher quoted in "U.S. Navy Confirms Videos Depict Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Not Cleared for Public Release," The Black Vault, September 2019, https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/u-s-navy-confirms-videos-depict-unidentified-aerial-phenomena-not-cleared-for-public-release/
[^6]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 3 to 14 (Caine indexed at p. 5; Reid, Bigelow and Maples at pp. 13 to 14). Page numbers are those of the printed index where it lists the passage.
[^7]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 82 to 93 (Higgins, Tipton and Pede at pp. 87 to 89; Will at p. 90; office 3C503A at p. 93).
[^8]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 147 to 202 (Interloper at pp. 147 and 186; Byers at pp. 189 and 217; Tipton at p. 192; resignation letter at p. 202).
[^9]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 202 to 203 and 211.
[^10]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 209 to 217 and 238 (Dana White at p. 210; Sherwood at p. 217; deletion at p. 212; Space Force statement at p. 238); photograph captions on the email released in May 2024.
[^11]: NewsNation, "UAP whistleblower says UFO retrieval program exists: NewsNation exclusive," January 16, 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/uap-whistleblower-ufo-retrieval-program/
[^12]: NewsNation, "Whistleblower reveals UAP retrieval program; object caught on video," January 2025. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/hfr-uap-recovery-video-egg-shaped-object-exclusive/
[^13]: Alicia Sitz, "UAP whistleblower Luis Elizondo neither confirms nor denies he was part of government secrecy efforts," NewsNation, updated June 30, 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/luis-elizondo-denies-uap-secrecy-efforts/
[^14]: Steph Whiteside and Alicia Sitz, "Elizondo responds to researcher's 'controlled narrative' role rumors," NewsNation, updated July 29, 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/elizondo-uap-role-controlled-narrative/
[^15]: Kloor, Keith. "UFOs Won't Go Away." *Issues in Science and Technology,* March 1, 2019. https://issues.org/ufos-wont-go-away/
[^16]: Kloor, Keith. *The Intercept,* June 1, 2019. https://theintercept.com/2019/06/01/ufo-unidentified-history-channel-luis-elizondo-pentagon/
[^17]: Lewis-Kraus, Gideon. *The New Yorker,* May 10, 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/how-the-pentagon-started-taking-ufos-seriously
[^18]: Bender, Bryan. "The Pentagon's Secret Search for UFOs." *Politico Magazine,* December 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/2018id_/https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/16/pentagon-ufo-search-harry-reid-216111 ; Cooper, Helene, Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean. *The New York Times,* December 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/2023id_/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html
[^19]: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, information memoranda, "Response to Your Questions on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and Actions of Former DoD Employee Luis Elizondo," from Garry Reid, Director for Defense Intelligence, and "Update on Media Reporting Related to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program," both undated, with Elizondo's resignation letter of October 3, 2017 at Tab B. https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/UFOsandUAPs/18-F-0324_Docs.pdf
[^20]: Greenewald, John, Jr. The Black Vault, June 14, 2019. https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/pentagon-reinforces-mr-luis-elizondo-had-no-responsibilities-on-aatip-senator-harry-reids-2009-memo-changes-nothing
[^21]: The Galileo Project, October 30, 2021. https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/galileo/files/mellon-elizondo_announcement_final_2.pdf (Internet Archive copy).

167
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Marcos Aguado.md
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@ -2,39 +2,170 @@
title: Marcos Aguado
aliases:
- Marcos Aguado
- Marco Aguado
- Marco Antonio Aguado Arguello
- Marcus Aguado
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
category: "Organized Crime"
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Military"
tags:
- Person
- Intelligence
- CIA
- DrugTrafficker
- Military
- Contras
- ARDE
- Nicaragua
- CostaRica
- 1980s
- ContraWar
- ElSalvador
- Ilopango
- CIADrugTrafficking
- KerrySubcommittee
- DarkAllianceInvestigation
summary: "CIA-trained Nicaraguan pilot who managed drug trafficking logistics for Norwin Meneses and Eden Pastora, later became a colonel in the Salvadoran Air Force at Ilopango."
- 1980s
- 1990s
summary: "Nicaraguan pilot who ran air operations for Eden Pastora's ARDE forces, named in CIA and Senate records of Contra drug allegations, later based at Ilopango in El Salvador."
location: "Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador"
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Eden Pastora]]"
start: 1984-09
role: "personal pilot, per the CIA inspector general's Volume II account"
fn: 1
- type: head_of
with: "[[ARDE]]"
start: 1984-09
role: "Chief of Air Operations, FRS/ARDE, per the CIA inspector general's Volume II account"
fn: 1
- type: relative_of
with: "[[Eden Pastora]]"
role: "son-in-law, according to Pastora as recorded by the CIA inspector general"
fn: 1
- type: partner_of
with: "[[Norwin Meneses]]"
start: 1986-05
role: "C-47 sale and business association, per Webb's account of Aguado's statements"
fn: 2
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Contras]]"
start: 1983
end: 1986-05
role: "Southern Front air operations; quit in May 1986 according to Webb"
fn: 1
- type: investigated
with: "[[Kerry Committee]]"
reverse: true
start: 1986-04
end: 1988-12
role: "Senate subcommittee deposition and hearing testimony on Contra drug links"
fn: 4
- type: investigated
with: "[[Fred Hitz]]"
reverse: true
start: 1998-10
role: "CIA inspector general, Volume II review of Contra drug allegations"
fn: 1
---
Marcos Aguado was a [[Central Intelligence Agency]]-trained Nicaraguan pilot and business associate of [[Norwin Meneses]] who managed drug trafficking logistics for the Contra forces, first in [[Costa Rica]] and later at [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango Air Force Base]] in [[El Salvador]]. He was identified in 1987 congressional testimony as a CIA agent.[^1]
### Costa Rican Operations
Marcos Aguado, recorded in the official files as Marco Antonio Aguado Arguello and in the Justice Department glossary as Marcus Aguado, was a Nicaraguan pilot who served as air operations chief of [[Eden Pastora]]'s [[ARDE]] forces in [[Costa Rica]] from 1984. [[Central Intelligence Agency]] cables, Senate subcommittee hearings and a [[Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General|Justice Department Inspector General]] review recorded allegations that he was involved in drug trafficking, and the reporter [[Gary Webb]] named him in the [[Dark Alliance]] series. He later worked at [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango Air Force Base]] in [[El Salvador]].
Aguado was the chief pilot for [[Eden Pastora]]'s ARDE Contra forces in Costa Rica. He was instrumental in arranging the Contras' 1984 arms-and-drugs deals with Colombian trafficker [[George Morales]]. Aguado moved between the Contra war zones and Colombian drug operations, flying weapons and cocaine as part of the covert supply network. He was formally accused of cocaine trafficking in Costa Rica and became unwelcome in the country.[^1]
### Early service
### Ilopango and the Drug Pipeline
The CIA inspector general's account of Aguado's background states that he was a [[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] Air Force pilot from 1979 to 1980 and then a commercial pilot for [[Aeronica]] until he defected in 1983 and joined the [[Contras]].[^1] Webb's cast of characters calls him a "CIA-trained pilot" and a business associate of [[Norwin Meneses]].[^2] In his October 31, 1987 videotaped deposition, played at the April 1988 hearing, Aguado said that he became head of the southern air force and then second in command to Pastora.[^3]
After [[Oliver North]] set up his resupply operation at Ilopango, Aguado moved there permanently, working as an aide to a high-ranking Salvadoran air force commander. [[Enrique Miranda]] testified that Aguado "became a colonel in the Salvadoran Air Force, sharing all the privileges of a high-ranking military officer in El Salvador and was accepted by subordinate ranks as Deputy Commander of the Salvadoran Air Force." Miranda said Aguado directed flights that "went as far as [[Colombia]], where they were loaded with cocaine and then redirected to the United States, to a U.S. Air Force base located in the state of Texas."[^1]
In an April 1983 cable the agency recorded that Aguado had been offered a job flying an aircraft for the Southern Front. By September 1984 it recorded him as Chief of Air Operations for the [[Sandino Revolutionary Front]] (FRS) and ARDE and as Pastora's personal pilot. According to Pastora, Aguado was also his son-in-law.[^1]
Miranda and former Nicaraguan antidrug czar Roger Mayorga identified the base as near Fort Worth - likely the now-closed Carswell Air Force Base, home of a Strategic Air Command bomber squadron. The U.S. Air Force told FOIA requesters that all flight records that may have shown arrivals and departures of Salvadoran military aircraft during the mid-1980s were destroyed years ago.[^1]
### Air operations for ARDE, 1984 to 1986
Miranda testified that at Ilopango, Aguado and Norwin Meneses supervised the loading of cocaine onto U.S.-bound aircraft owned by the Salvadoran Air Force and, on occasion, the Miami-based CIA contractor [[Southern Air Transport]]. Miranda met Aguado for dinner at Meneses's mansion in [[Managua]] in 1991, where Aguado boasted of flying for the Colombian cartels - including once taking a Salvadoran Air Force bomber to level a warehouse full of [[Medellin Cartel|Medellín cartel]] cocaine on behalf of the rival Cali cartel, and making plans to bomb the prison where Medellín cartel chief Pablo Escobar was briefly imprisoned. Aguado also boasted of flying weapons from the Salvadoran military to the Colombian cartels, a story Miranda said he doubted until a Salvadoran Air Force colonel and associates were arrested in 1992 for selling bombs and high explosives to Colombian drug dealers.[^1]
A December 1984 cable reported that Pastora had designated Aguado "one of his 18 commandantes, to be in charge of air operations and logistics at Ilopango." The same cable said that Aguado had not flown any missions inside [[Nicaragua]] since September 1983, that he "is closely associated with" Pastora, [[Adolfo Chamorro]] and [[Gerardo Duran]], and that "as such he may very well be actively participating in alleged narcotics activities . . . or at least aware of such activities."[^1]
### Role in the Meneses Network
The [[Kerry Committee|Senate subcommittee]] described Aguado in its December 1988 report as "Eden Pastora's air force chief." In his deposition Aguado said that traffickers "took advantage of the anti-Communist sentiment which existed in Central America" and "undoubtedly used it for drug trafficking," and that "They fooled people."[^3][^4] Referring to the Contra resupply operations, he said the traffickers used "the same connections, the same air strips, the same people," and that the drugs "would later on go to the U.S."[^4]
Aguado was a key operative in Norwin Meneses's drug organization, identified as a business associate and logistics coordinator. Miranda testified that "Norwin was selling drugs and tunneled the benefits to the Contras with help of high-ranking military officials of the Salvadoran Army, especially with the help of the head of the Salvadoran Air Force and a Nicaraguan pilot named Marcos Aguado."[^1]
### The Morales aircraft
The subcommittee report reproduces a notarized purchase order dated October 1, 1984, under which a McDonnell-Douglas DC-3, the civilian designation for a C-47, was transferred to Aguado for one dollar, signed by [[George Morales]] as seller and by Aguado as purchaser.[^4] The subcommittee found that $10,000 had been given to Chamorro to cover the cost of moving the aircraft from [[Haiti]] to Ilopango.[^4] The CIA inspector general records a C-47 flown from Haiti to El Salvador by Aguado on October 16, 1984, under an agreement that Chamorro reached in Miami with an unidentified Cuban trafficker.[^1] The subcommittee identifies the trafficker as Morales.[^4]
Between October 18, 1984 and February 12, 1986, the subcommittee reported, some 156,000 pounds of material were moved from Ilopango to airfields in Costa Rica on 24 flights, eleven of them to [[La Penca]] on the Nicaraguan side of the San Juan River.[^4] A [[U.S. Customs Service|Customs]] document furnished to the subcommittee showed that Morales entered the United States from the [[Bahamas]] on October 13, 1984 with Aguado, [[Octaviano Cesar]] and Chamorro, and that the three declared $400,000 in cash and checks. They said the money had been returned to Morales after clearing Customs.[^4]
Webb quotes [[Jonathan Kwitny]]'s 1987 reporting in [[The Nation]] that the C-47 was "repeatedly piloted into and out of Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador by Marcos Aguado."[^2] Webb also reports that when Aguado quit the war in May 1986 he sold the aircraft for $30,000, to Meneses, and that in 1997 Aguado said the plane was still being used by Meneses in [[Venezuela]].[^2]
### Where Morales met the Contra leaders
The subcommittee report says that [[Marta Healey]] introduced Morales to Chamorro, Aguado and Cesar at a meeting in [[Miami]], and that Morales was then under indictment for marijuana smuggling. According to the report, each of the three Contra leaders denied knowing of the indictment when they first met Morales at Healey's house in Miami.[^4] Webb places a March 1984 meeting at Morales's offices in [[Fort Lauderdale]].[^2] The Justice Department Inspector General records Morales as saying that after Healey's May 1984 approach he met with Cesar, Chamarro and Aguado in Miami.[^5] [[Celerino Castillo]] writes that Healey, the former wife of Chamorro, approached Morales in 1984 after his second arrest and arranged a meeting with Chamorro, "Southern group air force chief Marcos Aguado" and Cesar, and that Aguado and Cesar told Morales they were CIA agents and asked for financial and military assistance.[^6] Morales told the subcommittee that he agreed to help the Contras "with their needs," and that "they in exchange would help me with my objective, which was solving my indictment."[^4]
The same debriefing places a June 1983 meeting at [[Opa Locka]] airport, attended by members of the [[Medellin Cartel]], which Morales said Aguado and Gerardo Duran had flown a group into. Morales said that Aguado refused to fly the cocaine shipments because of his "CIA connections."[^5]
[[Alan Fiers]], then chief of the agency's Contra program, told the [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]] on July 31, 1987 that Morales had seen [[John Hull]] in Morales's office with Aguado in 1983, but that Morales had not met Hull.[^7]
### Morales's testimony that they were CIA agents
In the July 15, 1987 hearing Morales testified that the Contra leaders "represent themselves as CIA agents," and that he "heard about they being CIA agents," naming Cesar and Aguado.[^8] At the April 7, 1988 hearing he gave the fuller account that "they told me that they were CIA agents. Two of them said they were," followed by the names of Cesar and Aguado.[^3]
### Cables from 1985 to 1988
A May 1985 cable stated that Aguado, then an FRS/ARDE pilot, could "easily" provide concrete evidence linking [[Karol Prado]], Pastora and other Southern Front Contras to drug trafficking.[^1] A January 1986 cable said that Aguado "should have knowledge of the recent arrest" of Gerardo Duran, which the cable tied to a 600-kilogram shipment of cocaine from Morales.[^1]
In April 1986, Adolfo Chamorro planned to denounce Carol Prado, Eden Pastora and Marco Aguado as being the ones involved in drug trafficking, and said he had the evidence to prove it. A DEA debriefing of Chamorro on April 25, 1986 produced no narcotics information, and the cable reported that "all Chamorro wanted to talk about were politics and war."[^1]
In April 1987 a station reported that an embassy officer had been told that Aguado, Prado, [[David Mayorga]], Chamorro and Duran "are presently involved in shipping cocaine from Nicaragua via Costa Rica to the United States."[^1] In July 1987 a message from Octaviano Cesar said that Aguado wanted to contact the CIA to provide information tying Pastora to "past drug trafficking." The station declined to meet Aguado because of counterintelligence concerns and passed the information to the local DEA office.[^1]
On July 31, 1987, Fiers gave the Senate Intelligence Committee an account of the narcotics allegations concerning Aguado, Cesar, Mayorga, Adolfo and Roberto Chamorro and Duran.[^9]
In March 1988 a station cable reported that [[Reyner Veliz Cruz]], a Guatemalan described as a suspected drug trafficker, had been traveling with Aguado, and that the two had flown twin-engine aircraft into Ilopango in February 1988 and again in March 1988, after customs officers had left. The cable said that Aguado "has bragged that he still works for CIA," that customs personnel at Ilopango "assume that Aguado has connections with drug trafficking," and that Aguado could not obtain a United States visa.[^1][^9]
The agency's own assessment reads: "No information has been found to indicate that CIA ever attempted to develop additional independent information that would confirm or refute the allegations against Aguado."[^1]
### Iran-Contra testimony
[[Robert Owen]], a courier for [[Oliver North]], testified in his [[Iran-Contra Affair|Iran-Contra]] deposition that Aguado was Pastora's pilot: "He was Pastora's pilot. There was concern about him."[^10] The subcommittee report says that Owen told the Iran-Contra committees he had told North that Prado was involved in trafficking drugs out of [[Panama]], and that Pastora's pilot, Marco Aguado, "was also involved." The subcommittee was unable to validate Owen's claims. Prado denied the allegations and said he believed the drug trafficking allegations against Pastora were the result of a CIA effort to discredit him.[^4]
### Costa Rica and the Hull ranch
Webb says Aguado was "formally accused" of cocaine trafficking in Costa Rica and was no longer welcome there.[^2] The CIA inspector general reports that in a March 7, 1989 summary, a Costa Rican judge had charged Hull with "hostile acts" and "drug trafficking." Costa Rican court documents claimed that planes piloted by Duran and Aguado had landed at Hull's airstrips carrying military supplies and, with Hull's knowledge, left loaded with drugs.[^7] Hull has said that the allegations of [[Gary Wayne Betzner]] are "not true, not true!"[^7]
### Ilopango
The Mercury News reported in 1996 that Meneses described Aguado as one of his oldest friends and said he worked for the Salvadoran air force high command.[^11] Webb states that Aguado made arrangements for Pastora's planes to be hangared at Ilopango from 1983 under an agreement with the [[Salvadoran Air Force]].[^2] Soon after North set up his resupply operation at the base, Webb writes, Aguado moved there permanently as an aide to a high-ranking Salvadoran air force commander.[^2] The [[Christian Science Monitor]] reported in October 1986 that the Contras had used Ilopango "at least since 1984," and that General [[Juan Rafael Bustillo]] "has been a major contact person for aiding the contra shipments, according to diplomats and other informed sources."[^12]
The Justice Department Inspector General glossary lists "AGUADO, Marcus" as "Contra pilot at Ilopango Airport, alleged drug trafficker, and reportedly Eden Pastora's representative in El Salvador."[^13]
### Enrique Miranda's account
Webb describes [[Enrique Miranda]] as a former Sandinista intelligence officer who became a CIA double agent during the Contra war. Webb dates Miranda's testimony to a 1992 trial in Nicaragua and quotes it: "Norwin was selling drugs and tunneled the benefits to the Contras with help of high-ranking military officials of the Salvadoran Army, especially with the help of the head of the Salvadoran Air Force and a Nicaraguan pilot named Marcos Aguado."[^2] Webb's notes date the testimony to a Nicaraguan case against Meneses filed in 1991.[^14] The Justice Department Inspector General dates the Nicaraguan trial to 1991 and records Miranda's sentence of fourteen years in August 1992.[^15]
The CIA inspector general summarizes Miranda's allegation that Aguado flew weapons to Medellín, Colombia, during the 1980s and returned with cocaine that he stored at Ilopango.[^1] Miranda told the Justice Department Inspector General's investigators in 1997 that Aguado had said he flew Salvadoran military planes from Ilopango to a military airport in [[Texas]], that Aguado frequently described flying to [[Colombia]] with weapons and returning with cocaine stored at Ilopango, and that American planes then came to El Salvador with weapons and went back to the United States with drugs.[^15] Webb quotes Miranda as saying that Aguado "became a colonel in the Salvadoran Air Force, sharing all the privileges of a high-ranking military officer in El Salvador and was accepted by subordinate ranks as Deputy Commander of the Salvadoran Air Force," and that "The flights he directed went as far as Colombia, where they were loaded with cocaine and then redirected to the United States, to a U.S. Air Force base located in the state of Texas."[^2] Webb reports that Miranda said Aguado and Meneses supervised the loading of cocaine at Ilopango onto U.S.-bound aircraft owned by the Salvadoran Air Force and, on occasion, by [[Southern Air Transport]], a Miami-based CIA contractor.[^2]
Webb reports that Miranda testified he had dined with Aguado at Meneses's mansion in [[Managua]] in 1991, where Aguado described flying for the Colombian cartels. Aguado is quoted as saying that he once took a Salvadoran Air Force bomber and leveled a warehouse of Medellín cartel cocaine on behalf of the rival Cali cartel, and that he planned to bomb the prison where [[Pablo Escobar]] had been briefly held.[^2] Webb reports that Miranda doubted Aguado's boast about flying weapons to the cartels until a Salvadoran Air Force colonel and his associates were arrested in 1992 for selling bombs and high explosives to Colombian drug dealers.[^2]
The inspector general's assessment is that "the failure to report such important information in 1996 makes it difficult to credit Miranda's account in 1997."[^15] The same chapter records that Miranda said Meneses had invited him to watch the Texas operation, but that when pressed he said he had not seen it occur, and that most of what he told the investigators came second-hand, mostly from Meneses.[^15] The CIA inspector general's summary states: "No information has been found to support Miranda's allegations."[^1]
Webb reports that Miranda and former Nicaraguan antidrug official [[Roger Mayorga]] placed the Texas base near [[Fort Worth]], without knowing its name. Webb says that the only air force base near Fort Worth at the time of the alleged flights was the now-closed [[Carswell Air Force Base]], home of a [[Strategic Air Command]] bomber squadron, and that the [[U.S. Air Force]] told a requester in a 1997 Freedom of Information Act case that the flight records for Salvadoran military aircraft in the mid-1980s had been destroyed years ago.[^2]
### The Meneses trailer and the 1991 seizure
The San Jose Mercury News reported on August 18, 1996 that during Meneses's 1991 trial in Nicaragua, Meneses testified that Aguado sold him an auto transport trailer that Meneses's men were stuffing with cocaine when Nicaraguan police arrived. Aguado was not charged, and the newspaper could not reach him for comment.[^11] Webb gives the price as $125,000, and writes that in an interview Aguado denied knowing how Meneses would use the trailer, although Miranda said he was present when Aguado and Meneses discussed drug trafficking one evening at Meneses's mansion.[^2] The Justice Department Inspector General records that Miranda and Meneses were arrested by Nicaraguan authorities in November 1991 in connection with the seizure of 764 kilograms of cocaine bound from Managua to the United States.[^15]
### The 1992 bomb case
In April 1992 [[Semana]] reported that Salvadoran authorities had uncovered a plan to kill Escobar in the [[Envigado]] prison. An immigration officer at San Salvador's airport noticed two Colombians who had changed their names to re-enter El Salvador, and detectives followed them to a February 22, 1992 meeting with [[Roberto Antonio Leiva Jacobo]], whom Semana identified as an army colonel. The Colombians were lost to surveillance on February 25. Semana reports that five 500-pound bombs were taken from a battalion at the San Salvador airport on February 26, that Leiva and his men were arrested on March 4 with one of the bombs, after a small aircraft they had used left with part of the cargo, and that Leiva and his associates confessed that they had been hired by members of the Cali cartel, which paid four million dollars for the bombs.[^16]
### Later record
Webb's cast of characters lists Aguado as "Currently in San Salvador," and describes John Hull as having worked closely with suspected drug traffickers Aguado and [[Dagoberto Nunez]] on Contra projects in Costa Rica.[^2] Webb also writes that Aguado was a close associate of Hull, and that Morales said in testimony that Cesar and Aguado made clear that if he assisted them they could make his legal problems disappear.[^2]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 13: "The wrong kind of friends"
[^1]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), section on Marcos Antonio Aguado in the Southern Front chapter, https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/south.html
[^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion* (Seven Stories Press, 1998), Chapter 13, "The wrong kind of friends," and the Cast of Characters entry for Aguado. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^3]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: The Cartel, Haiti and Central America*, Part 3, hearing of April 7, 1988, testimony of Jorge Morales (pp. 297-300) and the videotaped deposition of Marcos Aguado taken October 31, 1987 (pp. 277-286 as cited in the subcommittee report), https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0005
[^4]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy*, S. Prt. 100-165 (December 1988), pp. 37, 50-52 and notes 74-84, https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter XI, section on the debriefing of George Morales, https://irp.fas.org/agency/doj/oig/c4rpt/ch11p1.htm
[^6]: Celerino Castillo III and Dave Harmon, *Powderburns: Cocaine, Contras and the Drug War* (1994), pp. 141 and 143 (p. 143 also reports that Aguado, Cesar and Karol Prado gave depositions to Senator Kerry in Costa Rica), archive.org lending copy powderburnscocai00cast_0.
[^7]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), chapter on other individuals (John Hull; March 7, 1989 reporting; July 31, 1987 SSCI briefing transcript), https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/other.html
[^8]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: Hearings Before the Subcommittees ... May 27, July 15, and October 30, 1987*, Part 1 (1988), testimony of Jorge Morales, July 15, 1987, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0003 Gary Webb, in Dark Alliance (1998) and its chapter notes to Chapter 13, dates the "CIA agents" statement to "1986 congressional testimony" and gives the dates April 7, 1986 and March 27, 1987.
[^9]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), chapter on pilots, companies and other individuals (October 24, 1984 Nicaraguan Program Summary; July 31, 1987 Fiers briefing; March 23, 1988 cable on Reyner Veliz Cruz), https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/pilots.html
[^10]: *Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair*, Appendix B, Volume 20, deposition of Robert Owen, pp. 849-850, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152840_0248
[^11]: San Jose Mercury News, August 18, 1996 (Gary Webb, "Testimony Links U.S. to Drugs-Guns Trade Dealers Got Their 'Own Little Arsenal,'" the Dark Alliance series; newspaper text as reproduced at the URL), https://people.duke.edu/~ldbaker/clippings/da1.html.
[^12]: "Salvador airport said to be transfer point for arms to contras," *Christian Science Monitor*, October 10, 1986, https://proof.csmonitor.com/1986/1010/omerc.html
[^13]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Appendix F (glossary of names), https://irp.fas.org/agency/doj/oig/c4rpt/appf.htm
[^14]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion* (Seven Stories Press, 1998), chapter notes to Chapter 13 (notes on "they told me they were CIA agents" and the Morales hearing dates).
[^15]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter VII, "Enrique Miranda-Jaime," sections A-E, https://irp.fas.org/agency/doj/oig/c4rpt/ch07.htm
[^16]: "¿Bombas contra Escobar?", *Semana*, April 12, 1992, https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/bombas-contra-escobar/17208-3. Sole source for the 1992 bomb-case details in this section; the Cali cartel link is Semana's report of an unnamed Salvadoran government source and of the arrested men's statements.

23
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Meir Amit.md
View file

@ -2,6 +2,16 @@
aliases:
- Meir Amit
category: "Intelligence & Government"
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[Mossad]]"
fn: 2
- type: participant_in
with: "[[Six-Day War]]"
start: 1967-05-31
end: 1967-06-05
role: "Mossad chief; Washington visit and meeting with McNamara before the war"
fn: 2
tags:
- Person
summary: "Meir Amit was the former chief of the Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency."
@ -12,5 +22,18 @@ location: "Tiberias, Mandatory Palestine"
Meir Amit was the former chief of the [[Mossad]], [[Israel]]'s national intelligence agency. He was one of the high-profile Israeli figures who met with [[Uri Geller]], with reports indicating that Geller bent a spoon for him[^1].
### Washington visit, May 31 to June 2, 1967
Major General Amit, then head of the Mossad, visited Washington from May 31 to June 2, 1967. On the afternoon of June 1 he met Secretary of Defense [[Robert S. McNamara]]. Vice Admiral [[Rufus Taylor]], the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, wrote the memorandum of the conversation, which carries the handling caption "Personal and Eyes Only for the Secretary of Defense and the Director of Central Intelligence."[^2] The memorandum records that Amit described the blockade of the [[Strait of Tiran]] as "window dressing" for a Soviet-backed grand design he called the "Domino Effect," said that time was against Israel, that Israel had mobilized 100,000 people and that a pre-emptive air attack by the United Arab Republic was a main worry, said "there were no differences between the U.S. and the Israelis on the military intelligence picture or its interpretation" and that the Russian story of a planned attack on Syria was "a sheer fabrication," and said his remarks were informal and not an official representation of the Israeli government. McNamara told him he would be seeing the President shortly and would convey his views. After the meeting Amit wondered aloud whether he should have tried to see the President and whether he should stay longer; Taylor told him to go back to Israel as soon as possible.[^2]
At a conference on the war in June 1992, Amit said his objectives had included "to tell the Americans, I, Meir Amit, am going to recommend that our government strike," and said that McNamara told him "it was all right, the president knows that you are here and I have a direct line to the president," and asked how long a war would last, to which Amit answered "Seven days."[^3] [[David S. Robarge]], the CIA's chief historian, writes that [[Richard Helms]] met a senior Israeli official on June 1 who hinted that Israel could no longer avoid a decision, that the official left the United States on June 2, and that Helms wrote an "Eyes Only" letter to Johnson that morning forewarning that Israel would probably start a war within days.[^4]
On June 5, 1967, Amit met Ambassador [[Walworth Barbour]] and the presidential special counsel Harry C. McPherson, Jr. in Tel Aviv. [[Walt Rostow]] told Johnson that Amit argued there had been artillery fire on three Israeli villages and air incursions, and that the Israelis had then "punched all the buttons," and added: "At least that's his story."[^5]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^2]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 124, Memorandum for the Record by Vice Admiral Rufus Taylor, June 1, 1967 (prepared June 2). https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d124
[^3]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 124, Memorandum for the Record by Vice Admiral Rufus Taylor, June 1, 1967 (prepared June 2), with the editors' note quoting Amit at the conference of June 3 to 5, 1992, in Richard B. Parker, ed., The Six-Day War: A Retrospective (University Press of Florida, 1996), pp. 139-140. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d124
[^4]: Robarge, David S. "Getting it Right: CIA Analysis of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War." *Studies in Intelligence* 49, no. 1 (March 2005). https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/CIA-Analysis-1967-War.pdf For the June 1 to 2 meeting Robarge relies on published accounts, among them Michael B. Oren's, which rest on Amit's interviews and writings.
[^5]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 158, editors' note on telegram 3937 from Tel Aviv, June 5, 1967. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d158

41
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Moshe Dayan.md
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@ -5,12 +5,12 @@ tags:
- Stargate
- CIA
- Military
summary: "Dayan's rise to prominence began when David Ben-Gurion appointed him as the new army chief of staff in late 1953, with the strategic aim of ensuring that Moshe Sharett's dovish views on the Arab question would not go unchallenged."
summary: "Israeli chief of staff, Defense Minister during the 1967 and 1973 wars and Foreign Minister, associated with the nuclear weapons program and in office during the 1967 USS Liberty attack."
born: 1915-05-20
died: 1981-10-16
location: "Deganya Alef, Ottoman Palestine"
---
[[Moshe Dayan]] (1915–1981) was a highly prominent [[Israel|Israeli]] military leader and politician, famous for his signature black eye-patch and his pivotal role in shaping [[Israel]]'s military doctrine and nuclear policy. Throughout his career, he served in various high-level positions including army chief of staff, Defense Minister, and Foreign Minister, while also developing an unusual passion for archaeological treasure hunting.[^1][^2][^3]
Moshe Dayan (1915 to 1981) was a highly prominent [[Israel|Israeli]] military leader and politician, famous for his signature black eye-patch and his pivotal role in shaping Israel's military doctrine and nuclear policy. Throughout his career, he served in various high-level positions including army chief of staff, Defense Minister, and Foreign Minister, while also developing an unusual passion for archaeological treasure hunting.[^1][^2][^3]
### Early Military Leadership
@ -18,35 +18,37 @@ Dayan's rise to prominence began when [[David Ben-Gurion]] appointed him as the
### Major Military Campaigns and Nuclear Policy
As Defense Minister, [[Moshe Dayan|Dayan]] emerged as a hero of the 1956 [[Suez Crisis]] campaign, establishing his reputation as a formidable military strategist. His influence continued to grow, and in 1967, he became Defense Minister as part of the reconstituted coalition government under [[Levi Eshkol]]. In this capacity, he oversaw the capture of [[East Jerusalem]] during the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], cementing his status as one of [[Israel]]'s most celebrated military leaders.[^2]
As Defense Minister, Dayan emerged as a hero of the 1956 [[Suez Crisis]] campaign, establishing his reputation as a formidable military strategist. His influence continued to grow, and in 1967, he became Defense Minister as part of the reconstituted coalition government under [[Levi Eshkol]]. In this capacity, he oversaw the capture of [[East Jerusalem]] during the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], cementing his status as one of Israel's most celebrated military leaders.[^2]
Dayan's involvement in [[Israel]]'s nuclear program was extensive and controversial. He was Defense Minister when [[Israel]] agreed to show the [[Dimona]] to [[United States|American]] inspectors, and when [[Israel]] refused to sign a [[United Nations]] agreement not to test nuclear weapons. During the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], when [[Syria|Syrian]] forces penetrated the [[Golan Heights]], [[Moshe Dayan|Dayan]] made the dramatic decision to order the arming of all 13 [[Israel|Israeli]] nuclear bombs and put 24 [[B-52 bombers]] on standby, bringing the region perilously close to nuclear conflict.[^2]
Dayan's involvement in Israel's nuclear program was extensive and controversial. He was Defense Minister when Israel agreed to show the [[Dimona]] to [[United States|American]] inspectors, and when Israel refused to sign a [[United Nations]] agreement not to test nuclear weapons. During the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], when [[Syria|Syrian]] forces penetrated the [[Golan Heights]], Dayan made the dramatic decision to order the arming of all 13 Israeli nuclear bombs and put 24 [[B-52 bombers]] on standby, bringing the region perilously close to nuclear conflict.[^2]
His tenure as Defense Minister also included oversight of controversial military actions, including when [[Israel]] bombed the [[USS Liberty]] in 1967. Additionally, he managed [[Israel|Israel's]] efforts to develop its nuclear capabilities with new international partners, particularly [[South Africa]], after [[France]] severed relations following the 1967 war.[^2]
A telegram from the American embassy in Tel Aviv of June 27, 1967 reported that Dayan's popularity had increased in recent weeks and that he "has been associated with those favoring the nuclear weapons development," and that if his star, and that of his associates Peres and Ben-Gurion, "who made the decisions to build Dimona," continued to rise, Israel might be led closer to the nuclear route.[^4] Hersh reports, on the account of [[James H. Critchfield]], that after the war Dayan and [[Zvi Zamir]] joined Critchfield and [[James Jesus Angleton]] of the CIA in an attempt to open land-for-peace negotiations with King Hussein of Jordan, and that the effort was stopped at a White House meeting.[^5]
Dayan's drive for the bomb was heightened by his conviction that [[Israel]] could not depend on [[America]] to deter a Soviet attack. He believed that [[Moscow]] would be willing to come to the aid of the Arabs to protect its prestige and international interests, and that unless [[Israel]] armed itself fully, the superpowers would dictate events in the [[Middle East]]. In Dayan's view, [[Israel]]'s survival was dependent on its ability to mass-produce nuclear weapons and target them at the [[Soviet Union]], mirroring [[France]]'s *force de frappe*.[^4]
His tenure as Defense Minister also included the June 8, 1967 attack on the [[USS Liberty Incident|USS Liberty]], in which jet aircraft strafed the ship and torpedo boats torpedoed it.[^6] A CIA memorandum of June 21, 1967 states that IDF Headquarters had identified the ship "probably more than four hours before the attack"; the Israeli court of inquiry's preliminary findings, as read to the American naval attache on June 17, called the attack an "innocent mistake."[^7][^8] Additionally, he managed Israel's efforts to develop its nuclear capabilities with new international partners, particularly [[South Africa]], after [[France]] severed relations following the 1967 war.[^2]
Dayan's mission in late 1967 and early 1968 was to convince his fellow cabinet members that a credible Israeli nuclear threat would deter the Soviets from supporting an all-out Arab attack on [[Israel]] or supplying an Arab nation with nuclear weapons. He envisioned a scenario where Israeli intelligence agents would secretly inform their Soviet counterparts once [[Dimona]]'s assembly line went into full production, and when [[Israel]] developed its first bomb in a suitcase. For the rest of the world, including the [[United States]], there would still be studied ambiguity on the question of whether [[Israel]] had the bomb, thus giving birth to the argument for an Israeli "bomb in the basement."[^4]
Dayan's drive for the bomb was heightened by his conviction that Israel could not depend on [[America]] to deter a Soviet attack. He believed that [[Moscow]] would be willing to come to the aid of the Arabs to protect its prestige and international interests, and that unless Israel armed itself fully, the superpowers would dictate events in the [[Middle East]]. In Dayan's view, Israel's survival was dependent on its ability to mass-produce nuclear weapons and target them at the [[Soviet Union]], mirroring France's *force de frappe*.[^9]
During the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]], Dayan's panic on Monday, October 8, was widely known among Israelis. He assessed the situation as desperate, stating, "Everything is lost. We must withdraw." This led to a dramatic meeting in [[Golda Meir]]'s office, where the Israeli leadership resolved to implement three critical decisions: rally its collapsing forces for a major counterattack; arm and target its nuclear arsenal in the event of total collapse and subsequent need for the [[Samson Option]]; and inform [[Washington, D.C.]] of its unprecedented nuclear action to demand an emergency airlift of replacement arms and ammunition.[^5]
Dayan's mission in late 1967 and early 1968 was to convince his fellow cabinet members that a credible Israeli nuclear threat would deter the Soviets from supporting an all-out Arab attack on Israel or supplying an Arab nation with nuclear weapons. He envisioned a scenario where Israeli intelligence agents would secretly inform their Soviet counterparts once Dimona's assembly line went into full production, and when Israel developed its first bomb in a suitcase. For the rest of the world, including the United States, there would still be studied ambiguity on the question of whether Israel had the bomb, thus giving birth to the argument for an Israeli "bomb in the basement."[^9]
Dayan's standing among his peers in the military and the upper echelons of the Israeli government declined due to his incessant womanizing, financial dealings, and propensity to talk. He was considered a "loose cannon" at a time when [[Israel]] was in a precarious situation. While he lost no authority, it was eventually made clear to him that he was no longer welcome at [[Dimona]], as he no longer had a military need to know anything about the Israeli nuclear program, which was being managed out of the prime minister's office.[^5]
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Dayan's panic on Monday, October 8, was widely known among Israelis. He assessed the situation as desperate, stating, "Everything is lost. We must withdraw." This led to a dramatic meeting in [[Golda Meir]]'s office, where the Israeli leadership resolved to implement three critical decisions: rally its collapsing forces for a major counterattack; arm and target its nuclear arsenal in the event of total collapse and subsequent need for the [[Samson Option]]; and inform [[Washington, D.C.]] of its unprecedented nuclear action to demand an emergency airlift of replacement arms and ammunition.[^10]
His perspective on the Palestinian problem remained notably limited. Along with [[Golda Meir]], he believed the Palestinian issue would eventually resolve itself, a view that reflected the thinking of many [[Israel|Israeli]] leaders of his generation but would prove overly optimistic in the decades that followed.[^2]
Dayan's standing among his peers in the military and the upper echelons of the Israeli government declined due to his incessant womanizing, financial dealings, and propensity to talk. He was considered a "loose cannon" at a time when Israel was in a precarious situation. While he lost no authority, it was eventually made clear to him that he was no longer welcome at Dimona, as he no longer had a military need to know anything about the Israeli nuclear program, which was being managed out of the prime minister's office.[^10]
His perspective on the Palestinian problem remained notably limited. Along with Golda Meir, he believed the Palestinian issue would eventually resolve itself, a view that reflected the thinking of many Israeli leaders of his generation but would prove overly optimistic in the decades that followed.[^2]
### Archaeological Pursuits and Psychic Collaborations
Beyond his official duties, Dayan developed an illicit pastime of digging up archaeological treasures across [[Israel]] and the [[Sinai Desert|Sinai]] without a license or scientific oversight. His unconventional method for finding ancient sites often involved "visions" he experienced early in the morning. He would then drive to these sites, comb through the earth, and bring home relics for display in his home. The dangers of this unauthorized archaeological work became evident in 1968, when he was badly injured by a landslide while looting artifacts from a cave.[^1]
Beyond his official duties, Dayan developed an illicit pastime of digging up archaeological treasures across Israel and the [[Sinai Desert|Sinai]] without a license or scientific oversight. His unconventional method for finding ancient sites often involved "visions" he experienced early in the morning. He would then drive to these sites, comb through the earth, and bring home relics for display in his home. The dangers of this unauthorized archaeological work became evident in 1968, when he was badly injured by a landslide while looting artifacts from a cave.[^1]
In the summer of 1970, Dayan began an unusual collaboration with [[Uri Geller]], who was then becoming [[Israel|Israel's]] most famous psychic. Geller recalls spending hours over maps, using an ancient form of [[Clairvoyance|clairvoyance]] called [[Dowsing]] to help Dayan locate ancient artifacts and archaeological finds illegally. Reflecting on this period, Geller later stated, "I was young and naïve at the time. Here I was, talking to the Moshe Dayan."[^1]
In the summer of 1970, Dayan began an unusual collaboration with [[Uri Geller]], who was then becoming Israel's most famous psychic. Geller recalls spending hours over maps, using an ancient form of [[Clairvoyance|clairvoyance]] called [[Dowsing]] to help Dayan locate ancient artifacts and archaeological finds illegally. Reflecting on this period, Geller later stated, "I was young and naïve at the time. Here I was, talking to the Moshe Dayan."[^1]
This controversial partnership came to an end in 1971 after a group of twenty [[Israel|Israeli]] archaeologists signed a petition urging Dayan to give up his "legally questionable hobby." While Dayan discussed his illegally acquired collection in his 1978 memoir, _Living with the Bible_, he notably did not mention using Geller as a map dowser, perhaps seeking to distance himself from the more eccentric aspects of his archaeological pursuits.[^1]
This controversial partnership came to an end in 1971 after a group of twenty Israeli archaeologists signed a petition urging Dayan to give up his "legally questionable hobby." While Dayan discussed his illegally acquired collection in his 1978 memoir, _Living with the Bible_, he notably did not mention using Geller as a map dowser, perhaps seeking to distance himself from the more eccentric aspects of his archaeological pursuits.[^1]
### Diplomatic Career and Political Philosophy
In his later political career, [[Moshe Dayan|Dayan]] transitioned to diplomatic roles, serving as Foreign Minister and becoming a key figure who urged [[Menachem Begin]] to sign the [[Camp David summit|Camp David Accords]]. [[Menachem Begin|Begin]] reluctantly agreed to the accords under significant pressure from [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]], with Dayan's advocacy playing a crucial role in this historic peace agreement.[^2]
In his later political career, Dayan transitioned to diplomatic roles, serving as Foreign Minister and becoming a key figure who urged [[Menachem Begin]] to sign the [[Camp David summit|Camp David Accords]]. Begin reluctantly agreed to the accords under significant pressure from [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]], with Dayan's advocacy playing a crucial role in this historic peace agreement.[^2]
Despite his military prowess and diplomatic involvement, Dayan's perspective on the Palestinian problem remained notably limited. Along with [[Golda Meir]], he believed the Palestinian issue would eventually resolve itself, a view that reflected the thinking of many [[Israel|Israeli]] leaders of his generatzion but would prove overly optimistic in the decades that followed.[^2]
Despite his military prowess and diplomatic involvement, Dayan's perspective on the Palestinian problem remained notably limited. Along with Golda Meir, he believed the Palestinian issue would eventually resolve itself, a view that reflected the thinking of many Israeli leaders of his generatzion but would prove overly optimistic in the decades that followed.[^2]
### Publications
@ -57,5 +59,10 @@ Despite his military prowess and diplomatic involvement, Dayan's perspective on
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. _Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis_. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^2]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. _Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network_. TrineDay, 1992.
[^3]: Hersh, Seymour M. _The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy_. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3.
[^4]: Hersh, Seymour M. _The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy_. Random House, 1991. Chapter 13.
[^5]: Hersh, Seymour M. _The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy_. Random House, 1991. Chapter 17.
[^4]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 326, Telegram 4311 from the Embassy in Israel (Barbour) to the Department of State, June 27, 1967. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d326
[^5]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 14, p. 185, footnote. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^6]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 284, Intelligence Memorandum, "The Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty," June 13, 1967, with source note on Helms's notes of the June 12 meeting and Rostow's covering memorandum of June 13. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d284
[^7]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 317, Intelligence Memorandum, June 21, 1967. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d317
[^8]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 307, Telegram from the Defense Attache Office in Israel to the White House, June 18, 1967, "Israeli Court of Inquiry in USS Liberty incident." https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d307
[^9]: Hersh, Seymour M. _The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy_. Random House, 1991. Chapter 13.
[^10]: Hersh, Seymour M. _The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy_. Random House, 1991. Chapter 17.

12
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Octaviano Cesar.md
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@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Octaviano Cesar
aliases:
- Octaviano Cesar
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Organized Crime"
tags:
- Person
@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Octaviano Cesar was the former social director of [[Norwin Meneses]]'s VIP night
### Drug Deals for the Contras
In March 1984, Cesar and two other Contra officials close to the CIA - ARDE logistics chief Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro and ARDE air force commander [[Marcos Aguado]] - met with Colombian drug trafficker [[George Morales]] at his offices in Fort Lauderdale and asked him to contribute to [[Eden Pastora|Eden Pastora's]] [[ARDE]] Contra army. "During our conversation they told me they were CIA agents. Two of them said they were, Octaviano Cesar and Marcos Aguado," Morales testified before Congress.[^1]
In March 1984, Cesar and two other Contra officials close to the CIA, ARDE logistics chief [[Adolfo Chamorro|Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro]] and ARDE air force commander [[Marcos Aguado]], met with Colombian drug trafficker [[George Morales]] at his offices in Fort Lauderdale and asked him to contribute to [[Eden Pastora|Eden Pastora's]] [[ARDE]] Contra army. "During our conversation they told me they were CIA agents. Two of them said they were, Octaviano Cesar and Marcos Aguado," Morales testified before the Senate subcommittee, on July 15, 1987 and again on April 7, 1988.[^1][^2][^3]
Cesar assured Morales that if he assisted the Contras, his pending cocaine indictment would be resolved through CIA intervention. Cesar "told me he had plenty of friends, being him, the CIA, can advise the superiors about my financial support and airplane and training and therefore they will finally, eventually, will take care of my problem, which they did," Morales testified.[^1]
@ -33,6 +33,14 @@ In a 1996 interview with the Washington Post, Cesar said the CIA was fully aware
When money from drug sales was collected, Carrasco delivered it to Cesar and Chamorro, "sometimes in the United States, sometimes in Costa Rica. . .I paid a lot of money, maybe millions." After the exposure of Pastora's involvement with drug dealers, Cesar quickly joined forces with the CIA's new Contra army replacing Pastora.[^1]
### The 1984 Bahamas Trip
A Customs Service record given to the Senate subcommittee showed Morales entering the United States from the [[Bahamas]] on October 13, 1984 with Cesar, Aguado and Chamorro, and the three declared $400,000 in cash and checks, which they said had been returned to Morales after clearing customs. Cesar's videotaped deposition of October 31, 1987 in San José was played at the April 1988 hearing; the subcommittee reported that Cesar, Aguado and Karol Prado each denied receiving more than $10,000 from Morales personally and each confirmed elements of Morales's account.[^4] In April 1987 CIA Security interviewed Cesar about his association with Morales. Cesar said the purpose of the Bahamas trip was to test Aguado's flying skills, and that he knew of no other purpose until the return flight, when Morales asked Cesar and Chamorro to claim several checks as theirs when clearing U.S. Customs. He said he had suspected Morales was involved with drug money, but that his wish to help the Southern Front drove him to work with Morales.[^5]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 11: "They were looking in the other direction"
[^2]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: Hearings ... May 27, July 15, and October 30, 1987*, Part 1 (1988), testimony of Jorge Morales, July 15, 1987, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0003
[^3]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: The Cartel, Haiti and Central America*, Part 3, hearing of April 7, 1988, testimony of Jorge Morales (pp. 297 to 300) and videotaped depositions of October 31, 1987, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0005. Gary Webb, in Dark Alliance (1998), dates the "CIA agents" statement to 1986 congressional testimony, and his chapter notes give April 7, 1986 and March 27, 1987.
[^4]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy*, S. Prt. 100-165 (December 1988), pp. 37, 50 to 52, https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
[^5]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), Octaviano Cesar section of the Southern Front chapter, https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/south.html

6
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Richard DeLauer.md
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@ -9,11 +9,17 @@ summary: "Richard DeLauer was the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Eng
born: 1918-09-26
died: 1990-04-22
location: "Oakland, California"
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Richard DeLauer was the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. He was an alumnus of [[California Institute of Technology|Caltech]], the same institution where [[Qian Xuesen|H. S. Tsien]] had studied and co-founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory[^1].
DeLauer was aware of the power and influence wielded by Tsien, whom he called the "elder statesman" of Chinese scientific technology and development. After receiving [[Hal Puthoff]]'s sixty-page classified report, "Psychoenergetics Research in the People’s Republic of China (1982)," and a back-up briefing, DeLauer signed a memo allocating additional resources, Program Six funds, for the psychic research program [[Stargate Project|Grill Flame]] (later renamed Star Gate)[^1].
An INSCOM information paper of February 21, 1983 states that "The Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering) Memo dated 19 Jan 83, has lifted the prohibition on the use of P6 funds in support of Project GRILL FLAME," that the Director of the GDIP Program, Mr. Hurwitz, "wrote the Memo for the Under Secretary," and that one of Hurwitz's objectives was to "Keep the SRI team intact - Use the Dr DeLaurer Memo to get funds to SRI." The paper states that, based on the memorandum, Dr. [[Jack Vorona]] of the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] had obtained or received a commitment of $200,000 from [[DARPA]].[^2] A paper of February 28, 1983 asks the assistant chief of staff for intelligence to clarify the wording of the "Dr DeLauer Memo," quoting it as stating "... Program 6 resources may be used to maintain the current Army INSCOM capability...", and whether it limits INSCOM to the five people authorized by Congress in fiscal 1982.[^3]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^2]: INSCOM information paper IAOPS-H-S, "GRILL FLAME," February 21, 1983, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100350001-2. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001100350001-2.pdf
[^3]: INSCOM information paper IAOPS-H, "Information for ACSI-INSCOM Meeting," February 28, 1983, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700030007-5. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001700030007-5.pdf

15
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Richard S. Cesaro.md
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@ -7,9 +7,18 @@ tags:
- Person
- Researcher
summary: "Under Cesaro's direction, scientists with Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory constructed an elaborate facility inside the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research."
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[DARPA|Advanced Research Projects Agency]]"
start: 1967
role: "Advanced Sensors office (acting director in September 1967)"
fn: 2
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Richard S. Cesaro was a scientist at the [[Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (ARPA) and was in charge of [[Project Pandora]], a classified program initiated by the [[Pentagon]] to duplicate the effects of the [[Moscow Signal]]. The Moscow Signal was a series of microwave beams aimed at the [[U.S. Embassy in Moscow]] by the [[Soviet Union]], believed to be an [[Electromagnetic Weapons|electromagnetic weapon]] designed to adversely affect the behavior of embassy personnel[^1].
Richard S. Cesaro was a scientist at the [[DARPA|Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (ARPA) and was in charge of [[Project Pandora]], a classified program initiated by the [[Pentagon]] to duplicate the effects of the [[Moscow Signal]]. The Moscow Signal was a series of microwave beams aimed at the [[U.S. Embassy in Moscow]] by the [[Soviet Union]], believed to be an [[Electromagnetic Weapons|electromagnetic weapon]] designed to adversely affect the behavior of embassy personnel[^1].
A declassified ARPA memorandum of September 27, 1967, ARPA-AS-TS-67-20, on Project BIZARRE, addressed to the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, is signed by Cesaro as acting director of Advanced Sensors. It refers to Top Secret memoranda of the Deputy Director, Advanced Sensors, of December 15, 1966 and June 28, 1967 on Projects PANDORA and BIZARRE, and to an Air Force Avionics Laboratory memorandum of August 15, 1967 addressed to "Mr. Cesaro." It reports that the latest embassy power levels "were always below 50 microwatts/cm2 (. 05 mw/cm2)," and states that "The ARPA test results have demonstrated the feasibility of causing adverse biological effects on the central nervous system of primates."[^2]
Under Cesaro's direction, scientists with [[Johns Hopkins University]]'s Applied Physics Laboratory constructed an elaborate facility inside the [[Walter Reed Army Institute of Research]]. There, in an anechoic chamber, primates were irradiated with microwave beams with a power density similar to that of the Moscow Signal[^1].
@ -20,4 +29,6 @@ Cesaro vehemently disagreed with those who insisted the Moscow Signal was harmle
In 1969, the [[Department of Defense]] quietly expanded ARPA's Project Pandora to include "the human," with highly classified studies code-named Big Boy and Project Bizarre projecting microwave beams at unwitting sailors stationed in the Philadelphia Naval Yard[^1].
### Footnotes
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^2]: ARPA memorandum ARPA-AS-TS-67-20, "Project BIZARRE," September 27, 1967, signed Richard S. Cesaro, Acting Director, Advanced Sensors, declassified copy, National Security Archive. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/rhwvuj-tzy4b/08.pdf

124
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Stephen Deckoff.md
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@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
---
aliases:
- Stephen H. Deckoff
- Stephen Henry Deckoff
- Steve Deckoff
- Deckoff
category: "Business & Finance"
tags:
- Person
@ -9,52 +11,134 @@ tags:
- HedgeFund
- VirginIslands
- JeffreyEpstein
- EpsteinLibrary
- Property
- EconomicDevelopmentCommission
summary: "Stephen Deckoff is the founder of Black Diamond Capital Management and a U.S. Virgin Islands resident since 2011 who bought Jeffrey Epstein's Little St. James and Great St. James from the estate in 2023."
- CampaignFinance
summary: "Stephen H. Deckoff is the founder of Black Diamond Capital Management, a Virgin Islands resident since 2011, whose entity SD Investments bought Jeffrey Epstein's Little St. James and Great St. James in 2023."
location: "St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands"
relations:
- type: founded
with: "[[Black Diamond Capital Management]]"
role: "founder and managing principal"
fn: 1
role: "founder, 1995"
start: 1995
fn: 3
- type: head_of
with: "[[Black Diamond Capital Management]]"
role: "managing principal (Form ADV Schedule A)"
fn: 4
- type: owned
with: "[[SD Investments]]"
fn: 1
role: "member, 75 percent or more (Form ADV Schedule B)"
start: 1997-02
fn: 4
- type: owned
with: "[[Little St. James]]"
start: 2023-05
role: "through SD Investments"
fn: 1
fn: 2
- type: owned
with: "[[Great St. James]]"
start: 2023-05
role: "through SD Investments"
fn: 1
fn: 2
- type: director_of
with: "[[KVH Industries]]"
start: 2026-08-20
role: "director (Form 4 dated August 20, 2026)"
fn: 20
- type: funded
with: "[[Emmer for Congress]]"
start: 2025-05-27
role: "two itemized contributions of 3,500 dollars each, 7,000 dollars total"
fn: 23
created: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Stephen Deckoff is an American investor, founder and managing principal of the credit and distressed-investment firm [[Black Diamond Capital Management]], and a resident of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] since 2011. In May 2023 his firm SD Investments bought [[Little St. James]] and [[Great St. James]], the two islands off [[St. Thomas]] owned by [[Jeffrey Epstein]], from Epstein's estate for 60 million dollars, less than half the 125 million dollar asking price set in March 2022, announcing a 25-room luxury resort to open in 2025. As of February 2026 no resort had been built and the only construction permit he had sought was for a warehouse. Companies affiliated with Black Diamond have held tax benefits from the territory's [[Economic Development Commission]] since 2012, and a 2014 email in the [[Epstein Files|Epstein files]] shows Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]] asking Epstein's pilot to look into the firm; Deckoff's name does not appear in the files, and it is unclear whether the two men had any association.[^1][^2][^3]
Stephen H. Deckoff is an American investor, the founder and managing principal of the credit and distressed-investment firm [[Black Diamond Capital Management]], and a resident of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] since 2011.[^1] In May 2023 his entity [[SD Investments]] bought [[Little St. James]] and [[Great St. James]], the two islands off [[St. Thomas]] that had belonged to [[Jeffrey Epstein]], from Epstein's estate for 60 million dollars, less than half of the initial asking price of 125 million dollars.[^1][^2]
### Black Diamond
### Early career
Deckoff founded Black Diamond Capital Management, and in the SD Investments announcement described his career as "crafting and executing plans to turn distressed situations into successful enterprises, across numerous companies and industries." Black Diamond has related companies including Black Diamond Advisors and Black Diamond Holdings, both of which have received Economic Development Commission tax-incentive benefits since 2012, the same program under which Epstein's [[Southern Trust Company]] received its certificate. SD Investments said Deckoff had supported the territory's economic development after the back-to-back hurricanes of 2017 closed several of its resorts.[^1][^2]
Forbes described Deckoff as a native of New York City who moved to the Virgin Islands in 2011. Forbes reported that he built a fortune in private equity, working his way up at several firms, including [[Drexel Burnham|Drexel Burnham Lambert]], [[Bear Stearns]] and [[Kidder, Peabody & Co.]], before striking out on his own in 1995 with Black Diamond Capital. Forbes estimated his net worth at 3 billion dollars and said the firm managed some 9 billion dollars in assets.[^1] The firm's website as archived in 2020 stated that it was founded in 1995 by Deckoff and managed more than 8 billion dollars across credit, distressed-credit and private-equity platforms.[^3] The May 2023 release described his career as "crafting and executing plans to turn distressed situations into successful enterprises, across numerous companies and industries," and said that after the back-to-back hurricanes of 2017 closed several territorial resorts he had supported the area's economic development.[^2]
### Epstein's Staff and Black Diamond, 2014
### Black Diamond Capital Management
On May 16, 2014, Kahn asked Epstein's pilot [[Larry Visoski]] to "poke around tonight about Black Diamond Trading," having heard that the company was trying to buy the St. Thomas Jet Center. "They appear to be an nyc hedge fund" with "an office in stt as an EDC company as well," Kahn wrote. "who are principals? type of plane? tail? anything else relevant." Visoski replied, "Here you go Rich ask and ye shall receive," supplied the tail number of the Black Diamond Learjet, said the aircraft would be arriving on St. Thomas soon, and asked, "can you ask if you want me to introduce myself?" Kahn forwarded the information to Epstein with links to Black Diamond Capital Management's website, told him that "Larry has obtained some good info on them," and asked whether Visoski should "meet the aircraft and poke around." Visoski was listed as sole manager of Plan D LLC, the Virgin Islands company that owned Epstein's Gulfstream, until a July 2019 filing named Epstein as its principal.[^2][^4]
The principal office of the firm, as given in its Form ADV filed with the [[Securities and Exchange Commission|U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]], is 5330 Yacht Haven Grande in St. Thomas, with a mailing address in [[Stamford, Connecticut]]. Item 5.F of the filing reports total regulatory assets under management of 10,714,142,774 dollars. Schedule A lists Deckoff as managing principal and a control person with an ownership code of E, meaning 75 percent or more. Schedule B lists SD Investments, LLC, a domestic entity, as holding 75 percent or more of [[Black Diamond Capital Holdings]], and lists Deckoff as holding 75 percent or more of SD Investments. The firm's state notice filings are dated 2010 for Connecticut and April 1, 2013 for the Virgin Islands.[^4]
### The Islands
The Epstein estate listed the two islands in March 2022 at 125 million dollars. Under the estate's November 2022 settlement with the Virgin Islands government, half the proceeds of the Little St. James sale went to the territory, about 11 million dollars, and the estate was required to sell both islands to independent third parties and wind down its business in the territory. SD Investments announced the purchase on May 3, 2023. "I've been proud to call the U.S. Virgin Islands home for more than a decade and am tremendously pleased to be able to bring the area a world-class destination befitting its natural grace and beauty," Deckoff said.[^1][^3][^5]
### Business card in the Epstein Library
Deckoff applied in December 2025 for a Coastal Zone Management major permit to replace a metal-framed warehouse on Little St. James with an 8,800 square foot semicircular concrete warehouse over a cistern. The territory's Coastal Zone Management director, Marlon Hibbert, said in February 2026 that the application remained incomplete because no environmental assessment had been submitted. Attempts to reach Deckoff for comment were unsuccessful.[^2]
A business card for "Stephen H. Deckoff, Managing Principal" at Black Diamond Capital Management, L.L.C., with an office at One Sound Shore Drive in Greenwich, Connecticut, appears in the [[Epstein Files]] material released by the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] in Data Set 9 as document EFTA01204007, a single-page photograph of the card lying on a concrete surface, with the telephone and fax numbers redacted. The card is undated.[^5][^6] The document numbered immediately before it in the same data set, EFTA01204006, is a screenshot of the [[ForeFlight]] aviation application on an iPad on the AT&T network, with the device clock at 5:49 PM, a weather radar timestamp of 5:40 PM AST, and the route "TIST KEWR" (Cyril E. King Airport, St. Thomas, to [[Newark Liberty International Airport]]) entered in the search field and drawn on the map.[^7]
### Epstein's staff and Black Diamond, 2014
On May 16, 2014, at 5:15 PM, Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]] wrote to Epstein's pilot [[Larry Visoski]]: "Can you poke around tonight about Black Diamond Trading as Danny says they are trying to buy Jet Center." Kahn added, "They appear to be an nyc hedge fund with an office in stt as an EDC company as well," and asked, "who are principals? type of plane? tail? anything else relevant.."[^8]
At 5:40 PM Visoski replied with a message reading "LearJet 60," "N114BD," and "Is Blackdiamond." At 6:08 PM he wrote, "Here you go Rich ask and ye shall receive," and "They arrived this evening at 7 PM in the Learjet, can you ask if you want me to introduce myself?"[^8][^9]
At 6:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time, according to the quoted header in the reply, Kahn forwarded the exchange to Epstein. He wrote, "after speaking with Danny it appears these are the black diamond guys trying to buy aircraft," linked two pages of the firm's website, wrote that "larry has obtained some good info on them," and asked, "should larry meet the aircraft and poke around with them tonight at 7:30pm?" A reply from the account "jeffrey E." to Kahn reads "yes why not?" and carries a header time of Friday, May 16, 2014, 10:35 PM. Kahn's forward of the same chain to Visoski carries a header time of 10:18 PM on the same date.[^9]
Visoski was listed in the original Articles of Organization of Plan D, LLC, filed October 19, 2012, and in its annual reports as the company's sole manager and member. The territory's Second Amended Complaint in the Epstein estate case states that the July 31, 2019 annual report named Epstein as the principal behind the company, which owned or operated some of the aircraft that Epstein used.[^10]
### The aircraft and the tail number
The FAA's releasable aircraft database, downloaded October 8, 2026, lists the mark N114BD as a 2009 Dassault Falcon 7X (serial number 42) registered to Black Diamond Aviation Group LLC, 1 Sound Shore Drive, Suite 200, Greenwich, Connecticut, with a certificate issued November 4, 2023.[^11] The deregistered-aircraft file of the same database lists a 1999 [[Learjet]] 60 (serial number 166) under the mark N112BD, with the registration cancelled on July 1, 2025 under the status "sale reported."[^11] A listing of FAA registry records for Greenwich, Connecticut shows N114BD on a 1999 Learjet 60 (serial number 166, certificate issued December 9, 2004) registered to Black Diamond Aviation Group LLC, and on the 2009 Falcon 7X (serial number 42, certificate issued December 12, 2017) registered to Bdag 7x LLC.[^12]
### The islands
The two islands went on the market in March 2022 with an asking price of 125 million dollars.[^13] The estate's settlement with the Virgin Islands government, announced in December 2022, required the estate to pay the territory 105 million dollars in cash, plus one half of the proceeds from the sale of Little St. James. It also required the estate to sell Little St. James and Great St. James to independent third parties and to wind down its business in the territory.[^14] SD Investments announced the purchase on May 3, 2023.[^2] The release quoted Deckoff: "I've been proud to call the U.S. Virgin Islands home for more than a decade and am tremendously pleased to be able to bring the area a world-class destination befitting its natural grace and beauty."[^2] Forbes reported that Deckoff said he had never met Epstein and had never set foot on the islands until they were marketed following Epstein's 2019 death.[^1] Forbes wrote that the settlement gives the government half the proceeds from the sale of the islands, which it put at about 30 million dollars, to be placed in a trust for counseling and other services for victims. Carlson reported that half the sale price of Little St. James came to about 11 million dollars.[^15]
The May 2023 release announced a five-star, 25-room luxury resort "anticipated to open in 2025," and Forbes reported that Deckoff said he planned to open it in about two years.[^1][^2] [[Suzanne Carlson]] of the [[Virgin Islands Daily News]] reported in February 2026 that no resort had been built and that the only construction permit Deckoff had requested was for an 8,800 square foot warehouse on Little St. James, and that the application for a Coastal Zone Management major permit was submitted in December 2025.[^15] Carlson wrote that the Daily News reviewed the application, which describes replacing an existing metal-framed warehouse with a single large semicircular concrete warehouse over a new concrete cistern. The [[Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources]] coastal zone management director, [[Marlon Hibbert]], said that the application was still incomplete because no environmental assessment had been submitted. Carlson wrote that attempts to reach Deckoff for comment were unsuccessful.[^15]
### Economic Development Commission benefits
Carlson reported that Black Diamond Advisors and Black Diamond Holdings had received tax-incentive benefits from the [[Economic Development Commission]] since 2012.[^15] The territory's suit against the Epstein estate alleged that [[Southern Trust Company]], an Epstein company, made fraudulent misrepresentations to the authority about its qualifications for those benefits, and the 2022 settlement returns more than 80 million dollars in such benefits.[^14] The annual reports of the [[Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority]] name the firm's affiliates. Its fiscal 2016 report lists [[Black Diamond Advisors, LLLP]] and [[Black Diamond Holding, LLLP]] among the site visits for beneficiaries.[^16] Its fiscal 2023 report lists certificate orientations on February 7, 2023 for Black Diamond Advisors, LLC and Black Diamond Holdings, LLC, both recorded as modifications on St. Thomas.[^17]
### Jet Center
The 2014 email chain says that Black Diamond Trading was "trying to buy Jet Center." In November 2018, [[Signature Flight Support]] agreed to buy the [[St. Thomas Jet Center]] and its affiliate [[Alliance Aviation]], according to Aviation International News. The report says that [[Michael Hancock]] and [[Susan Hancock]] had owned the St. Thomas fixed-base operator for more than two decades and would remain with the business.[^18]
### PTC Alliance Acquisition, 2009
In October 2009, [[PTC Alliance]], a steel-tubing maker, filed a Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company had signed an asset purchase agreement with funds managed by Black Diamond Capital Management, the pre-petition term lenders, to act as a "stalking horse" bidder for substantially all of its assets under Section 363. Deckoff, identified as managing principal of Black Diamond Capital Management LLC, said: "Our proposed transaction will establish a new corporation with a stronger balance sheet and lower cost structure that it will be well positioned now and in the future to provide PTC's customers with high-quality tubing products and precision components."[^19]
### Filings naming Deckoff
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lists Deckoff as a reporting person on Forms 3 and 4 for several issuers. A Form 3 with a reporting date of August 19, 2022, and a Form 4 dated August 20, 2026, record him as a 10 percent owner of [[KVH Industries]]. The 2026 Form 4 also marks him as a director.[^20] A Form 4 for [[Hawaiian Telcom Holdco]], with a reporting date of March 20, 2017, records him as a 10 percent owner. The EDGAR index also lists Forms 3 and 4 for [[Tropicana Entertainment]] (2010), [[Viasystems Group]] (2013 and 2015) and [[Consumer Portfolio Services]] (2021 and 2022).[^20]
### Schedule 13D and 13G filings
Black Diamond Capital Management, L.L.C. (CIK 0001282197) and Deckoff are joint reporting persons on Schedule 13D statements for two issuers in 2022 and 2023. In Amendment No. 3 to its Schedule 13D for Consumer Portfolio Services (event date March 10, 2022, filed March 14, 2022), the two reported shared voting and dispositive power over 4,647,042 shares, 22.05 percent of the class, bought for approximately 21,156,734.98 dollars from the capital of Black Diamond investment vehicles. The filing states that on March 10, 2022 the reporting persons told the company's chief executive officer and chief financial officer that they wished to propose two nominees for the board, Deckoff and James E. Walker III, and that a nomination letter was submitted on March 14, 2022.[^21] In Amendment No. 1 to its Schedule 13D for KVH Industries (event date February 3, 2023), the two reported shared power over 3,298,597 shares, 17.20 percent of the class. The filing states that on February 3, 2023 they entered a cooperation agreement with the company under which the board agreed to nominate and support Deckoff as a Class III director at the 2023 annual meeting and to waive the company's stockholder rights plan so that the reporting persons could acquire up to 25 percent of the shares; the amendment refers to an original Schedule 13D filed August 26, 2022.[^21]
The EDGAR full-text index also lists Schedule 13D filings by Black Diamond Capital Management for Hawaiian Telcom Holdco (February 25, 2016 and July 10, 2018), Schedule 13G filings for Hawaiian Telcom Holdco (2012 to 2015), Viasystems Group (July 8, 2015), Saratoga Investment Corp (2014 to 2024) and Canterbury Park Holding Corp (2022 to 2024), and Form D notices for funds including BDCM Opportunity Fund III, L.P. (December 21, 2010) and Black Diamond Credit Strategies, L.P. (2017 to 2026).[^22]
### Political giving and philanthropy
The [[Federal Election Commission]] records two itemized contributions of 3,500 dollars each, both dated May 27, 2025, from a contributor named Stephen H. Deckoff of Stamford, Connecticut, to [[Emmer for Congress]].[^23] Forbes reported that Deckoff had given more than 1.2 million dollars to nonprofits in the Virgin Islands, mostly to private schools and nature-preservation organizations.[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: "SD Investments Announces Acquisition of Great St. James and Little St. James Islands in the United States Virgin Islands." *PR Newswire,* May 3, 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sd-investments-announces-acquisition-of-great-st-james-and-little-st-james-islands-in-the-united-states-virgin-islands-301815032.html
[^2]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html (warehouse permit; Hibbert statement; Black Diamond Advisors and Holdings EDC benefits since 2012; May 16, 2014 Kahn and Visoski emails; Deckoff not named in the files).
[^3]: "Billionaire Stephen Deckoff buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands." *CNBC,* May 3, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/03/jeffrey-epstein-private-islands-bought-by-billionaire.html ; "Financier buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands, with plans to create a resort." *NPR,* May 4, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173956903/jeffrey-epstein-island-sold-st-james
[^4]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 33 to 34, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022), ECF pp. 8 to 9. https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
[^5]: "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million." *U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice,* December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/ ; Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html (11 million dollars from the Little St. James sale).
[^1]: Chang, Richard J. "Exclusive: Billionaire Investor Buys Jeffrey Epstein's Private Islands For $60 Million." *Forbes,* May 2023. Copy filed as Exhibit 29 to document 226-30, *Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.,* No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), filed July 24, 2023; U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02810216. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/EFTA02810216.pdf. Sole source for the passages so cited (the statement that Deckoff never met Epstein, and the Forbes figure for the government share of sale proceeds). Suzanne Carlson of the Virgin Islands Daily News wrote on February 6, 2026 that Deckoff's name did not appear to be in the files and that it was unclear whether the two men had any association before Epstein's death.
[^2]: "SD Investments Announces Acquisition of Great St. James and Little St. James Islands in the United States Virgin Islands." *PR Newswire,* May 3, 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sd-investments-announces-acquisition-of-great-st-james-and-little-st-james-islands-in-the-united-states-virgin-islands-301815032.html
[^3]: Black Diamond Capital Management, "About," archived page, Wayback Machine snapshot dated 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/2020/http://www.bdcm.com/about.html
[^4]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Investment Adviser Public Disclosure, firm record for Black Diamond Capital Management (firm ID 154495, Form ADV filing dated July 13, 2026), including Form ADV Part 1A Items 1.F, 1.G, 5.F, Schedule A, Schedule B and Schedule D Section 1.F, and the state notice filing records. https://api.adviserinfo.sec.gov/search/firm/154495 and https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/reports/ADV/154495/PDF/154495.pdf
[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01204007, DataSet 9, photograph of a Black Diamond Capital Management, L.L.C. business card. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01204007.pdf
[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library. The only other library document naming Deckoff is EFTA02810216, a copy of the Forbes article cited in note 1, filed as a court exhibit.
[^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01204006, DataSet 9, screenshot of an aviation application, undated. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01204006.pdf
[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02383246, DataSet 11, email chain headed "Jeffrey Epstein," May 16, 2014, including the message from Richard Kahn at 5:15 PM and the reply from Larry Visoski at 5:40 PM. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02383246.pdf
[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02583238, DataSet 11, email chain headed "Re: Barn," May 16, 2014, including Richard Kahn's forward (quoted as sent at 6:17 PM), Visoski's message at 6:08 PM, and the reply headed "jeffrey E." (header time 10:35 PM, header times as printed in the release). EFTA02383246 is Kahn's forward of the chain to Visoski with the subject line "Jeffrey Epstein" (header time 10:18 PM), also cited in note 8. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02583238.pdf
[^10]: *Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein*, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 33 to 34, filed as Exhibit 1 to *Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.,* No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
[^11]: Federal Aviation Administration, Aircraft Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database, MASTER.txt entry for N-number 114BD and DEREG.txt, downloaded October 8, 2026. https://registry.faa.gov/database/ReleasableAircraft.zip
[^12]: City-Data.com, "FAA Registered Aircraft, Dealers and Manufacturers in Greenwich, Connecticut" (listing derived from FAA registry data; undated snapshot, retrieved October 8, 2026). https://www.city-data.com/aircraft/air-Greenwich-Connecticut.html
[^13]: NPR, "Financier buys Jeffrey Epstein's private islands, with plans to create a resort," May 4, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173956903/jeffrey-epstein-island-sold-st-james
[^14]: U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice, "U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General Settles Sex Trafficking Case Against Estate Of Jeffrey Epstein And Co-Defendants For Over $105 Million," December 1, 2022. https://usvidoj.com/u-s-virgin-islands-attorney-general-settles-sex-trafficking-case-against-estate-of-jeffrey-epstein-and-co-defendants-for-over-105-million/
[^15]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html ; Carlson, Suzanne. "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026, reporting that half the sale price of Little St. James came to about 11 million dollars. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html.
[^16]: Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority, *FY 2016 Annual Report,* Table 3, Site Visits, p. 30. https://usvieda.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2016_EDA_Annual_Report_FINAL.pdf
[^17]: Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority, *FY 2023 Annual Report,* Certificate Orientations, pp. 24 to 25. https://usvieda.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2023-Annual-Report_Revised-Apr-4-2025.pdf
[^18]: "Signature Acquires Virgin Islands Bases." *Aviation International News,* November 1, 2018. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-11-01/signature-acquires-virgin-islands-bases
[^19]: "PTC Alliance Files for Chapter 11 Protection." Association for Iron & Steel Technology, posted October 2, 2009, quoting the company's announcement and Deckoff's statement. https://www.aist.org/ptc-alliance-files-for-chapter-11-protection
[^20]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR filing index for reporting person Deckoff Stephen H (CIK 0001486844), including the Form 4 for KVH Industries Inc. (period August 20, 2026), the Form 3 for KVH Industries Inc. (period August 19, 2022), and the Form 4 for Hawaiian Telcom Holdco, Inc. (period March 20, 2017). https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001486844
[^21]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR, Schedule 13D/A Amendment No. 3, Consumer Portfolio Services Inc., accession 0001140361-22-009441; Schedule 13D/A Amendment No. 1, KVH Industries, Inc., accession 0001140361-23-004863. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/889609/000114036122009441/brhc10035210_sc13da.htm and https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1007587/000114036123004863/brhc10047604_sc13da.htm
[^22]: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR full-text search, query "Black Diamond Capital Management," forms SC 13D, SC 13G and D, run October 8, 2026 (filer CIK 0001282197 for the adviser). https://efts.sec.gov/LATEST/search-index?q=%22Black%20Diamond%20Capital%20Management%22
[^23]: Federal Election Commission, Schedule A itemized individual contributions, contributor "DECKOFF, STEPHEN H.", recipient committee C00545749 (Emmer for Congress), two entries dated May 27, 2025, 3,500 dollars each. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=DECKOFF&committee_id=C00545749

36
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Thomas Gates.md
View file

@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ aliases:
- Special Agent Thomas Gates
- Thomas Gates (FBI)
created: 2026-10-05
updated: 2026-10-05
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
tags:
- Person
@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ relations:
start: 1992-03-25
end: 1992-03-26
role: "gave a sworn statement on Danny Casolaro and Nichols in the INSLAW investigation"
fn: 4
fn: 7
---
Thomas Gates was a special agent of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] assigned to its [[Los Angeles]] Division, where in September 1987 he began leading the investigation of [[Robert Booth Nichols]], who was suspected, "acting through Meridian," of involvement in organized crime.[^1] The Ninth Circuit's opinion in the later civil suit records that Gates learned Nichols "had potential illegal contacts with individuals in both Japan and Australia" and pursued those leads through the Japanese and Australian legal attaches.[^1] He is not the same person as [[Thomas S. Gates]] (Thomas S. Gates Jr.), the Secretary of Defense under [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].
@ -49,34 +49,42 @@ On June 16, 1989, Nichols's company [[Meridian International Logistics]] sued Ga
On July 20, 1989, the [[United States Attorney]] certified that Gates had acted within the scope of his FBI employment, which removed the case to federal court and substituted the United States as sole defendant. The government filed declarations from Gates, his supervisor and a [[Department of Justice]] attorney, which the district court sealed on an ex parte application and reviewed in camera. Meridian filed a declaration from the former FBI special agent [[Ted Gunderson]], who stated that the types of foreign contacts Gates made "would never, under FBI policies, be initiated by an agent assigned to the Los Angeles field office." On September 25, 1989, the district court found that Gates had at all material times acted within the scope of his employment and dismissed the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the Federal Tort Claims Act. On July 19, 1991, the [[Ninth Circuit]] (Judge Wiggins) reversed the dismissal and remanded.[^1]
### The MCA wiretap, as described by Seymour
The Ninth Circuit (No. 90-55281) held the sealed ex parte procedure proper, limiting its holding "to the precise facts of this case," but reversed because the FBI declarations "only assert generally that Gates' investigation was proper" and "do not address the specific factual allegations of Meridian's complaint with regards to the foreign contacts"; it directed the district court to take further documentary proof on remand.[^1] Meridian's brief states the case was removed as CV 89-4383 RG (Kx) before Judge Richard A. Gadbois, Jr., and quotes the alleged statements: a $500,000,000 "share fraud," a Sydney-based confidence scheme, and involvement with the Gambino family and the [[Yakuza]].[^3] [[Spy (magazine)|Spy]] reported in January 1993 that the case had recently been dismissed.[^4]
The writer [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that Gates conducted a wiretap of [[Music Corporation of America]] under the supervision of the Los Angeles Organized Crime Strike Force prosecutors [[Marvin Rudnick]] and later [[Richard Stavin]] (both Department of Justice attorneys, not United States Attorneys), and that the three believed on the basis of the recorded calls that MCA had been penetrated by organized crime. In Seymour's account the calls were between Nichols and [[Eugene Giaquinto]], then president of MCA's home entertainment division, and showed connections to [[La Cosa Nostra]], including the [[Gambino Crime Family]] and the [[Bufalino Crime Family]]. Seymour wrote that the Department of Justice sealed the wiretaps, that no prosecutions followed, that the Los Angeles Strike Force was disbanded, and that Gates closed the FBI investigation.[^3] Seymour is the sole source for the passages so cited.
### The MCA wiretap
Stavin gave the House Judiciary Committee a 72-page affidavit that Gates had submitted to a federal court, containing the results of an FBI wiretap on individuals in the entertainment industry suspected of ties to organized crime.[^4] The committee wrote that it "takes no position on any of Gates' assertions or suppositions vis-a-vis Nichols, except to note again that they were duly sworn statements."[^4]
Gates's continuation affidavit states that he had been an FBI agent for 10 1/2 years and had worked organized-crime cases since 1981. It covers intercepts of [[Martin Bacow]], [[Eugene Giaquinto]], Angelo Commito, [[Edward Sciandra]], Michael Del Gaizo, [[Joseph Garofalo]] and Nichols through September 1, 1987, and incorporates his affidavits of March 27, May 20, June 25, July 15 and August 3, 1987 as exhibits. Its list of matters the intercepts of Giaquinto and Garofalo were to establish under the controlled-substance offenses includes "The source of funding for the purchasing of narcotics/controlled substances and the allocation and use of the proceeds from its trafficking"; the stock-fraud offenses in the same paragraph name Nichols.[^5]
The writer [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that Gates conducted a wiretap of [[Music Corporation of America]] under the supervision of the Los Angeles Organized Crime Strike Force prosecutors [[Marvin Rudnick]] and later [[Richard Stavin]] (both Department of Justice attorneys, not United States Attorneys), and that the three believed on the basis of the recorded calls that MCA had been penetrated by organized crime. In Seymour's account the calls were between Nichols and Eugene Giaquinto, then president of MCA's home entertainment division, and showed connections to [[La Cosa Nostra]], including the [[Gambino Crime Family]] and the [[Bufalino Crime Family]]. Seymour wrote that the Department of Justice sealed the wiretaps, that no prosecutions followed, that the Los Angeles Strike Force was disbanded, and that Gates closed the FBI investigation.[^6]
Stavin gave the House Judiciary Committee a 72-page affidavit that Gates had submitted to a federal court, containing the results of an FBI wiretap on individuals in the entertainment industry suspected of ties to organized crime.[^7] The committee wrote that it "takes no position on any of Gates' assertions or suppositions vis-a-vis Nichols, except to note again that they were duly sworn statements."[^7]
### Danny Casolaro
[[Danny Casolaro]], the writer investigating what he called [[The Octopus]], was found dead in a Martinsburg, West Virginia hotel room on August 10, 1991, with his wrists cut numerous times. The Martinsburg Police investigation concluded in January 1992 that the death was a suicide.[^4] Three separate people (Riconosciuto's attorney, a private investigator and an FBI agent) told House Judiciary Committee investigators that Gates likely had information on Casolaro's efforts to investigate the INSLAW matter; Director [[William S. Sessions]] agreed to let Gates give a sworn statement, which the committee described as the first time it knew of that the FBI permitted a field agent to do so, after "initial resistance from the Bureau."[^4]
[[Danny Casolaro]], the writer investigating what he called [[The Octopus]], was found dead in a Martinsburg, West Virginia hotel room on August 10, 1991, with his wrists cut numerous times. The Martinsburg Police investigation concluded in January 1992 that the death was a suicide.[^7] Three separate people (Riconosciuto's attorney, a private investigator and an FBI agent) told House Judiciary Committee investigators that Gates likely had information on Casolaro's efforts to investigate the INSLAW matter; Director [[William S. Sessions]] agreed to let Gates give a sworn statement, which the committee described as the first time it knew of that the FBI permitted a field agent to do so, after "initial resistance from the Bureau."[^7]
Gates gave the statement on March 25 and 26, 1992, after Rudnick and Stavin had given theirs on March 13 and 14. According to the committee's summary, Gates stated that Casolaro claimed to have found a link between the [[INSLAW]] matter, the activities at the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]], and the federal investigation of organized crime influence in the entertainment industry in which Gates had been involved; that Casolaro had several conversations with Nichols in the weeks preceding his death; and that Casolaro called Gates several times beginning approximately four weeks before his death. Gates said Casolaro sounded "upbeat" in conversations held even days before the death, that a phone book of Casolaro's containing Gates's number had not been located in the police investigation, that Martinsburg police told him the wounds were "hacking" wounds inconsistent in his view with a self-inflicted wrist cut, and that an open bottle of wine had been reported in the room but not tested when he spoke to the local authorities. He called the Martinsburg authorities and the local FBI office with his suspicions, and concluded under oath that "there is cause for suspicions to be raised."[^4]
Gates gave the statement on March 25 and 26, 1992, after Rudnick and Stavin had given theirs on March 13 and 14. According to the committee's summary, Gates stated that Casolaro claimed to have found a link between the [[INSLAW]] matter, the activities at the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]], and the federal investigation of organized crime influence in the entertainment industry in which Gates had been involved; that Casolaro had several conversations with Nichols in the weeks preceding his death; and that Casolaro called Gates several times beginning approximately four weeks before his death. Gates said Casolaro sounded "upbeat" in conversations held even days before the death, that a phone book of Casolaro's containing Gates's number had not been located in the police investigation, that Martinsburg police told him the wounds were "hacking" wounds inconsistent in his view with a self-inflicted wrist cut, and that an open bottle of wine had been reported in the room but not tested when he spoke to the local authorities. He called the Martinsburg authorities and the local FBI office with his suspicions, and concluded under oath that "there is cause for suspicions to be raised."[^7]
Throughout the statement Gates tied several strands of his conversations with Casolaro to Nichols, and acknowledged that Nichols had sued him over another crime investigation centered in southern California; he maintained that important information on Nichols's past remained in sealed wiretap and confidential grand jury investigations that by law he could not disclose without a subpoena.[^4] Seymour wrote that Casolaro told Gates that Nichols had warned him to drop his investigation of the Octopus, and that Gates spoke with Casolaro until three days before his death.[^3] The House report places the start of the calls at about four weeks before the death.[^4]
Throughout the statement Gates tied several strands of his conversations with Casolaro to Nichols, and acknowledged that Nichols had sued him over another crime investigation centered in southern California; he maintained that important information on Nichols's past remained in sealed wiretap and confidential grand jury investigations that by law he could not disclose without a subpoena.[^7] Seymour wrote that Casolaro told Gates that Nichols had warned him to drop his investigation of the Octopus, and that Gates spoke with Casolaro until three days before his death.[^6] The House report places the start of the calls at about four weeks before the death.[^7]
### Faith Burton and the Department's transcripts
At the March 25 statement Gates and his attorney Richard Bauer said that Faith Burton of the Department of Justice's Office of Congressional Affairs had told them the committee routinely gave the Department copies of all depositions in the INSLAW investigation, and that "to date, the Department has reviewed all transcripts and no wrongdoing has been found." The committee wrote that the implication was that the Department would know everything Gates said, that this may have had a "chilling effect" on his testimony, and that its policy in fact barred giving the confidential statements to anyone but the witness or the witness's attorney. On March 26 Burton told committee investigators the allegation was "totally false" and that Gates and Bauer must have misunderstood her, which she attributed to their long flight; asked whether he could have misunderstood, Gates answered "It's always possible, but it was fairly clear to me, what she said." Bauer said there had been a clear indication of receipt and review of transcripts. The committee listed the episode under the heading "Department Official May Have Attempted to Influence a Key Witness."[^4]
At the March 25 statement Gates and his attorney Richard Bauer said that Faith Burton of the Department of Justice's Office of Congressional Affairs had told them the committee routinely gave the Department copies of all depositions in the INSLAW investigation, and that "to date, the Department has reviewed all transcripts and no wrongdoing has been found." The committee wrote that the implication was that the Department would know everything Gates said, that this may have had a "chilling effect" on his testimony, and that its policy in fact barred giving the confidential statements to anyone but the witness or the witness's attorney. On March 26 Burton told committee investigators the allegation was "totally false" and that Gates and Bauer must have misunderstood her, which she attributed to their long flight; asked whether he could have misunderstood, Gates answered "It's always possible, but it was fairly clear to me, what she said." Bauer said there had been a clear indication of receipt and review of transcripts. The committee listed the episode under the heading "Department Official May Have Attempted to Influence a Key Witness."[^7]
### After the House report
Seymour wrote that in early 1992 [[John Cohen]] began communicating closely with Gates, and that in October 1992 Gates and Cohen learned of [[Michael Riconosciuto]]'s statement to the FBI implicating Nichols, [[Glenn Shockley]], [[Jose Santacruz Londono]], [[Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela]] and [[Michael Abbell]] in illicit financial activities.[^3] Seymour is the sole source for the passages so cited.
Seymour wrote that in early 1992 [[John Cohen]] began communicating closely with Gates, and that in October 1992 Gates and Cohen learned of [[Michael Riconosciuto]]'s statement to the FBI implicating Nichols, [[Glenn Shockley]], [[Jose Santacruz Londono]], [[Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela]] and [[Michael Abbell]] in illicit financial activities.[^6] Seymour reproduced reports she attributed to Cohen of conversations with Gates, in which Gates is recorded as saying that high-level Department of Justice officials had a close working relationship with the MCA board, that a wiretap showed Nichols warned by a Justice Department official of the FBI investigation, and that the FBI regarded Casolaro's death as an ITAR murder.[^8]
The Department of Justice's 1993 report by Special Counsel [[Nicholas J. Bua]] concluded that Casolaro's death was a suicide, that the physical evidence in the hotel room supported that conclusion, and that there was no evidence of any Justice Department influence on the West Virginia authorities' investigation; the report does not name Gates.[^5] The House committee, for its part, wrote that "the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death have led some law enforcement professionals and others to believe that his death may not have been a suicide" and that further investigation was "imperative."[^4]
The Department of Justice's 1993 report by Special Counsel [[Nicholas J. Bua]] concluded that Casolaro's death was a suicide, that the physical evidence in the hotel room supported that conclusion, and that there was no evidence of any Justice Department influence on the West Virginia authorities' investigation; the report does not name Gates.[^9] The House committee, for its part, wrote that "the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death have led some law enforcement professionals and others to believe that his death may not have been a suicide" and that further investigation was "imperative."[^7]
### Footnotes
[^1]: *Meridian International Logistics, Inc. v. United States*, 939 F.2d 740 (9th Cir. July 19, 1991) (Wiggins, J.). https://static.case.law/f2d/939/cases/0740-01.json ; also https://openjurist.org/939/f2d/740
[^2]: Same, Facts and Procedural Background (complaint filed June 16, 1989; certification July 20, 1989).
[^3]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^4]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, *The INSLAW Affair: Investigative Report*, H. Rept. 102-857, September 10, 1992, sections "Additional Questions," "Possible Connection Between Earl Brian, Michael Riconosciuto, Robert Booth Nichols and the Cabazon Indian Reservation," "Department Official May Have Attempted to Influence a Key Witness," and notes 214 to 217 and 323 (citing Gates's sworn statement of March 26, 1992, pp. 10, 56, 61). https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, March 1993, section "The Death of Joseph Daniel Casolaro," pp. 246 to 248. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
[^3]: Appellant's Opening Brief, *Meridian International Logistics, Inc. v. Gates,* No. 90-55281 (9th Cir.), certificate dated June 27, 1990 (case removed as CV 89-4383 RG (Kx), C.D. Cal.). https://archive.org/details/MeridianV.Gates
[^4]: Connolly, John. "The Story That Killed Danny Casolaro." *Spy,* January 1993. https://archive.org/details/SpyMagazine
[^5]: 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." https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (file Gates.pdf), paragraphs 1-5. Seymour, *The Last Circle,* p. 356, paraphrases the narcotics-funding wording as describing Meridian International Logistics; the affidavit places it under the controlled-substance offenses of Giaquinto and Garofalo.
[^6]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^7]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, *The INSLAW Affair: Investigative Report*, H. Rept. 102-857, September 10, 1992, sections "Additional Questions," "Possible Connection Between Earl Brian, Michael Riconosciuto, Robert Booth Nichols and the Cabazon Indian Reservation," "Department Official May Have Attempted to Influence a Key Witness," and notes 214 to 217 and 323 (citing Gates's sworn statement of March 26, 1992, pp. 10, 56, 61). https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
[^8]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010, pp. 347-349 ("Report No. 5" and "Report No. 6"). Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, March 1993, section "The Death of Joseph Daniel Casolaro," pp. 246 to 248. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993

14
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Uri Geller.md
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
---
created: 2026-05-15
updated: 2026-09-21
updated: 2026-10-08
title: Uri Geller
aliases:
- Uri Geller
@ -39,13 +39,21 @@ In the winter of 1975, Geller was tested by a group of nuclear physicists and en
On January 23, 1973, Russell Targ and Hal Puthoff showed a CIA audience a film of their experiments with "Uri Geller, an Israeli magician with claimed capabilities in ESP." The Office of Research and Development's memorandum of the next day recorded that "the SRI work with Geller has been supported by Edgar Mitchell's foundation, by something with a name like Mind Science Institute of Los Angeles, and by TSD," the [[Technical Services Division]]. The film showed Geller reproducing sealed drawings, calling dice, finding metal or water in one of twelve containers, "and bending spoons by touching them with apparently much less force than would be required normally." The writer added: "On the basis of meetings I have attended at ARPA, whose Drs. Austin Kibler and George Lawrence have been to SRI to observe Geller, Puthoff and Targ in action, there is serious doubt that Geller's accomplishment transcends the range of activities a skillful magician can perform and much concern that Puthoff's and Targ's own experimental bias in favor of successful outcomes is undermining their objectivity in designing properly controlled experimental procedures. Geller's connections with Dr. A. Puharich, with whom many unsavory reports have been linked, also is disturbing." He recommended asking TSD about "their plans for future research at SRI, both with Geller and with other subjects such as Ingo Swann," and noted that one manager in the science and technology directorate had said he was "humbled" by the film. A further file, "Experiments - Uri Geller at SRI, August 4-11, 1973," is in the same collection.[^3]
### The ARPA team, 1972 to 1973
[[Ray Hyman]] wrote that he visited SRI on December 8, 1972 with [[George Lawrence]] of [[DARPA|ARPA]], and that Geller sent everyone out of the room except Lawrence and Hyman.[^4] [[Roger A. Beaumont]] wrote that in 1972 the agency sent a team headed by Lawrence, including Hyman and [[Robert Van de Castle]], and that the team's report was totally negative.[^5] According to Schnabel, the agency's corporate stance was not to pursue Geller further, while Van de Castle was impressed by Geller's abilities.[^1] Time reported in 1974 that Hyman, accompanied by Lawrence, caught Geller in some outright deceptions, and quoted Hyman as calling the SRI tests conducted with "incredible sloppiness."[^6] [[David Suter]], in an undated Washington Post article, wrote that DARPA consultants concluded that SRI's work with Geller was conducted with "incredible sloppiness," and quoted Van de Castle, "a member of the DARPA team that investigated Geller," on two CIA men who visited him: "One thing they wanted to know was if Geller could jam computers."[^7]
### August 1973
Targ's log of the sessions of August 4 to 11, 1973, in an "electrically shielded room" once used for EEG research, records that on August 5 for the target word "fuse" (a firecracker) Geller "saw 'a cylinder with noise coming out of it'" and drew a drum; for "bunch" (grapes) he drew grapes, and "both the target picture and Geller's rendition had 24 grapes in the bunch"; that evening he could not draw a devil with a trident, producing "Moses' Tablets" and an apple with a snake, Targ noting "the inability on Geller's part to draw the devil may be culturally induced." On August 6, with a target drawn "by a scientist of whom Geller is not fond," he "got no clear impression and passed," but named the artist. On August 7, with EEG electrodes, he passed twice; on August 8 he passed on a camel and the Golden Gate Bridge and drew a flying gull correctly. "Good results were obtained on the four days when there was no openly skeptical observer (except the experimenters whom Geller has learned to accept)." On August 9, 150 feet from a kite drawn on a computer terminal, "his first drawing was a good representation of the actual target picture"; on August 10 he passed on a church stored in computer memory and drew "an arrow inside a suitcase" for an arrow through a heart, Targ allowing either "clairvoyant perception of information stored in the computer, or telepathy since there were several people in the computer room who knew the nature of the target." Of two long-distance trials with East Coast scientists, Targ called the first "suggestive of communication but not conclusive" and left the second unjudged. "In our detailed examination of the shielded room and the protocol used in these experiments no sensory leakage has been found."[^4]
Targ's log of the sessions of August 4 to 11, 1973, in an "electrically shielded room" once used for EEG research, records that on August 5 for the target word "fuse" (a firecracker) Geller "saw 'a cylinder with noise coming out of it'" and drew a drum; for "bunch" (grapes) he drew grapes, and "both the target picture and Geller's rendition had 24 grapes in the bunch"; that evening he could not draw a devil with a trident, producing "Moses' Tablets" and an apple with a snake, Targ noting "the inability on Geller's part to draw the devil may be culturally induced." On August 6, with a target drawn "by a scientist of whom Geller is not fond," he "got no clear impression and passed," but named the artist. On August 7, with EEG electrodes, he passed twice; on August 8 he passed on a camel and the Golden Gate Bridge and drew a flying gull correctly. "Good results were obtained on the four days when there was no openly skeptical observer (except the experimenters whom Geller has learned to accept)." On August 9, 150 feet from a kite drawn on a computer terminal, "his first drawing was a good representation of the actual target picture"; on August 10 he passed on a church stored in computer memory and drew "an arrow inside a suitcase" for an arrow through a heart, Targ allowing either "clairvoyant perception of information stored in the computer, or telepathy since there were several people in the computer room who knew the nature of the target." Of two long-distance trials with East Coast scientists, Targ called the first "suggestive of communication but not conclusive" and left the second unjudged. "In our detailed examination of the shielded room and the protocol used in these experiments no sensory leakage has been found."[^8]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies.* Dell, 1997.
[^2]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis.* Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^3]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Research and Development, memorandum ORD-413-73, "Briefing by Stanford Research Institute," January 24, 1973, CIA-RDP96-00787R000400070029-2. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. "Experiments - Uri Geller at SRI, August 4-11, 1973," CIA-RDP96-00787R000700110003-2.
[^4]: Targ, Russell. "Experiments: Uri Geller at SRI, August 4-11, 1973," memorandum of August 13, 1973, CIA-RDP96-00787R000700110003-2. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^4]: Ray Hyman, "Psychics and Scientists: 'Mind-Reach' and Remote Viewing," *The Humanist*, May/June 1977, CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080037-4. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080037-4.pdf Jim Schnabel, *Remote Viewers* (Dell, 1997), p. 138, dates the visit of the agency's three-man team to early 1973.
[^5]: Roger A. Beaumont, "On the Strategic Potential of ESP," clipping reproduced in the 1983 Center Lane staff study, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700360003-3. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001700360003-3.pdf
[^6]: "Boom Times on the Psychic Frontier," *Time*, March 4, 1974, CIA-RDP96-00787R000100030002-8. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00787R000100030002-8.pdf
[^7]: David Suter, article for *The Washington Post*, undated clipping reproduced in CIA-RDP96-00788R001700360003-3. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001700360003-3.pdf
[^8]: Targ, Russell. "Experiments: Uri Geller at SRI, August 4-11, 1973," memorandum of August 13, 1973, CIA-RDP96-00787R000700110003-2. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.

21
10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/Walworth Barbour.md
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@ -10,20 +10,27 @@ died: 1982-07-21
location: "Cambridge, Massachusetts"
---
Walworth Barbour was the American ambassador to [[Israel]] from 1961 to 1973, serving longer in one post than all but three other American ambassadors. He was a compelling presence, described as a tall, shy, hugely overweight diplomat with a gluttonous appetite and acute emphysema. He constantly sprayed his throat with a vaporizer, wore yellowing white suits with brown-and-white shoes, and walked with a shambling gait. Barbour spoke no Hebrew and rarely attended educational, cultural, or social events, yet he was beloved by [[Israel]]'s leadership.[^1]
Walworth Barbour was the American ambassador to [[Israel]] from 1961 to 1973, serving longer in one post than all but three other American ambassadors. He was a compelling presence, described as a tall, shy, hugely overweight diplomat with a gluttonous appetite and acute emphysema. He constantly sprayed his throat with a vaporizer, wore yellowing white suits with brown-and-white shoes, and walked with a shambling gait. Barbour spoke no Hebrew and rarely attended educational, cultural, or social events, yet he was beloved by Israel's leadership.[^1]
Barbour's long assignment was a testament to his understanding of when and when not to accept every Israeli assertion at face value, and his willingness to operate the American embassy as a subsidiary, if necessary, of the Israeli foreign ministry. He often reminded his questioning subordinates that he was a President's man with a personal mandate, not a servant of the [[State Department]].[^1]
In his first six years as ambassador, Barbour rarely interfered with the job of those working in his embassy, and some of the most accurate reporting on [[Dimona]] was forwarded to [[Washington, D.C.]]. However, these reports had no impact and disappeared into the bureaucratic maze. After the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], he ordered his staff to stop reporting on nuclear weapons in [[Israel]], over the objection of one key aide. His primary assignment was to insulate President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and his men from facts that would compel action regarding [[Israel]]'s nuclear program.[^1]
In his first six years as ambassador, Barbour rarely interfered with the job of those working in his embassy, and some of the most accurate reporting on [[Dimona]] was forwarded to [[Washington, D.C.]]. However, these reports had no impact and disappeared into the bureaucratic maze. After the 1967 [[Six-Day War]], he ordered his staff to stop reporting on nuclear weapons in Israel, over the objection of one key aide. His primary assignment was to insulate President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] and his men from facts that would compel action regarding Israel's nuclear program.[^1]
Barbour's closest associates were senior officials of the Israeli government, including [[Golda Meir]] and Major General [[Aharon Yariv]]. He shared the taboo of not discussing nuclear weapons with outsiders. However, it was Barbour's men who reported before the June 1967 war that [[Israel]] had completed its basic weapons design and was capable of manufacturing warheads for deployment on missiles.[^1]
On June 5, 1967, Barbour and the presidential special counsel Harry C. McPherson, Jr. met Major General [[Meir Amit]] in Tel Aviv; [[Walt Rostow]]'s covering note to Johnson reported Amit's argument that there had been artillery fire on three Israeli villages and air incursions and that the Israelis had then "punched all the buttons," and added: "At least that's his story."[^2] Hersh writes that Barbour spent much of the war in the Israeli war room, and quotes a cable he sent hours after the attack on the [[USS Liberty Incident|USS Liberty]]: "Urge strongly that we too avoid publicity."[^3]
In 1970, Barbour made a rare public appearance, sharing a podium with Prime Minister [[Golda Meir]] at the opening of an American school in [[Tel Aviv]]. After his retirement in 1973, he became a board member of the American branch of Bank Leumi, the Israeli state bank, a move that confounded and distressed many of his former colleagues in the Foreign Service who saw it as a conflict of interest.[^1]
On June 27, 1967, Barbour sent telegram 4311 from Tel Aviv, answering a State Department request of June 24 for an estimate of the war's effect on Israeli nuclear and missile policy. He wrote that the embassy had not discussed the subject with Israelis since the crisis began, that Israeli officials had not raised it in his many talks with them, and that there had been no press speculation. He wrote that Israelis "who have technical capability to build bomb, would, it may be argued, be foolish not to produce extra-conventional weapons against enemies whose total conventional military capabilities conceivably could outstrip Israel's within another decade," that if Israel achieved a durable peace "any reason for, and indeed any rationale for, going nuclear would be undermined," and that he did not believe there was "any compelling reason at present time for change in" the government's policy of abstinence from nuclear weapons and missile production.[^4]
Upon the inauguration of President [[Richard Nixon]] in January 1969, Barbour became even less interested in [[Dimona]], effectively exorcising the issue. He famously told a senior American intelligence officer who briefed him on [[Israel]]'s nuclear weapons program, "Gentlemen, I don't believe a word of it," explaining that if he acknowledged it, he would have to go to the President, and the President did not want bad news.[^1]
Barbour's closest associates were senior officials of the Israeli government, including [[Golda Meir]] and Major General [[Aharon Yariv]]. He shared the taboo of not discussing nuclear weapons with outsiders. However, it was Barbour's men who reported before the June 1967 war that Israel had completed its basic weapons design and was capable of manufacturing warheads for deployment on missiles.[^1]
Barbour's support for [[Israel]] was profound and heartfelt. He remained on the board of Bank Leumi until his death, seemingly unconcerned with his peers' opinions.[^1]
In 1970, Barbour made a rare public appearance, sharing a podium with Prime Minister Golda Meir at the opening of an American school in [[Tel Aviv]]. After his retirement in 1973, he became a board member of the American branch of Bank Leumi, the Israeli state bank, a move that confounded and distressed many of his former colleagues in the Foreign Service who saw it as a conflict of interest.[^1]
Upon the inauguration of President [[Richard Nixon]] in January 1969, Barbour became even less interested in Dimona, effectively exorcising the issue. He famously told a senior American intelligence officer who briefed him on Israel's nuclear weapons program, "Gentlemen, I don't believe a word of it," explaining that if he acknowledged it, he would have to go to the President, and the President did not want bad news.[^1]
Barbour's support for Israel was profound and heartfelt. He remained on the board of Bank Leumi until his death, seemingly unconcerned with his peers' opinions.[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 12.
[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 12.
[^2]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 158, editors' note on telegram 3937 from Tel Aviv, June 5, 1967. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d158
[^3]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 12, pp. 167-168, quoting a declassified cable in the LBJ Library. Sole source for the cable text.
[^4]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 326, Telegram 4311 from the Embassy in Israel (Barbour) to the Department of State, June 27, 1967. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d326

20
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Enrique Miranda.md
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@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ aliases:
- Enrique Miranda
- Enrique Miranda Jaime
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Intelligence & Government"
tags:
- Person
@ -21,25 +21,31 @@ Enrique Miranda Jaime was a former [[Sandinistas|Sandinista]] intelligence offic
### Testimony on the Ilopango Drug Pipeline
Miranda testified in a 1992 trial in [[Nicaragua]] that "Norwin was selling drugs and tunneled the benefits to the Contras with help of high-ranking military officials of the Salvadoran Army, especially with the help of the head of the Salvadoran Air Force and a Nicaraguan pilot named [[Marcos Aguado]]." Miranda said the cocaine brought from Colombia by [[Medellin Cartel|Medellín cartel]] pilots arrived in [[Costa Rica]] in square twenty-five-kilo packages, was unloaded at various airstrips including one on CIA operative [[John Hull]]'s farm, and was placed aboard Contra planes flown into [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango Air Force Base]].[^1]
Miranda testified at the 1991 trial in [[Nicaragua]] that "Norwin was selling drugs and tunneled the benefits to the Contras with help of high-ranking military officials of the Salvadoran Army, especially with the help of the head of the Salvadoran Air Force and a Nicaraguan pilot named [[Marcos Aguado]]." Miranda said the cocaine brought from Colombia by [[Medellin Cartel|Medellín cartel]] pilots arrived in [[Costa Rica]] in square twenty-five-kilo packages, was unloaded at various airstrips including one on CIA operative [[John Hull]]'s farm, and was placed aboard Contra planes flown into [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango Air Force Base]].[^1]
Once at Ilopango, Miranda said, Aguado and Meneses supervised loading the cocaine onto U.S.-bound aircraft owned by the Salvadoran Air Force and the Miami-based CIA contractor [[Southern Air Transport]]. Miranda said Meneses told him U.S. military hardware stockpiled at Ilopango was loaded onto Salvadoran transport planes and flown south, where guns were traded for cocaine and flown back.[^1]
### Aguado's Cartel Operations
Miranda met CIA pilot Marcos Aguado for dinner at Meneses's mansion in [[Managua]] in 1991, where Aguado described flying for the Colombian cartels. Aguado claimed he once took a Salvadoran Air Force bomber and leveled a warehouse full of Medellín cartel cocaine on behalf of the rival Cali cartel. He also made plans to bomb the prison where Medellín cartel chief Pablo Escobar was briefly imprisoned. Aguado boasted of flying weapons from the Salvadoran military to the Colombian cartels - claims Miranda said he doubted until a Salvadoran Air Force colonel and associates were arrested in 1992 for selling bombs and high explosives to Colombian drug dealers.[^1]
Miranda met CIA pilot Marcos Aguado for dinner at Meneses's mansion in [[Managua]] in 1991, where Aguado described flying for the Colombian cartels. Aguado claimed he once took a Salvadoran Air Force bomber and leveled a warehouse full of Medellín cartel cocaine on behalf of the rival Cali cartel. He also made plans to bomb the prison where Medellín cartel chief Pablo Escobar was briefly imprisoned. Aguado boasted of flying weapons from the Salvadoran military to the Colombian cartels, claims Miranda said he doubted until a Salvadoran Air Force colonel and associates were arrested in 1992 for selling bombs and high explosives to Colombian drug dealers.[^1]
### Background
Miranda was arrested by former Nicaraguan antidrug czar Roger Mayorga. He and Mayorga told interviewers the U.S. air base where drugs from Ilopango were flown was near Fort Worth, Texas - likely the now-closed Carswell Air Force Base, home of a Strategic Air Command bomber squadron.[^1]
Miranda was arrested by former Nicaraguan antidrug czar Roger Mayorga. Miranda and Mayorga told Gary Webb that the U.S. air base where drugs from Ilopango were flown was near Fort Worth, Texas. Webb identified it as the now-closed Carswell Air Force Base, home of a Strategic Air Command bomber squadron, the only air force base near Fort Worth at the time, and reported that the Air Force told a 1997 Freedom of Information Act requester that flight records for Salvadoran military aircraft in the mid-1980s had been destroyed.[^1]
### Justice Department Review of His Account
Miranda told DEA agent Jose Delgado about cocaine smuggling for the Sandinistas during debriefings as a confidential source in 1996, and did not raise Contra trafficking then. Interviewed by the Justice Department Inspector General's investigators in 1997, he described Contra trafficking through Ilopango and said he had heard it from Aguado, who claimed to fly Salvadoran military planes from Ilopango to a military airport in Texas. He said Meneses had invited him to watch the Texas operation and, when pressed, said he had not seen it occur. The Inspector General wrote: "The failure to report such important information in 1996 makes it difficult to credit Miranda's account in 1997." The same review records that the Sandinista government jailed him for treason in September 1985, that he was released in 1989 for health reasons, that he was arrested with Meneses in November 1991 in connection with the seizure of 764 kilograms of cocaine bound from Managua to the United States, and that he was sentenced to fourteen years in August 1992.[^2] The CIA Inspector General's Volume II summarizes Miranda's claim that Aguado flew weapons to Medellín and returned with cocaine stored at Ilopango, and states: "No information has been found to support Miranda's allegations."[^3]
### Escape from Prison and DEA Recruitment
In early 1996, journalist [[Georg Hodel]] requested permission from the Nicaraguan Ministry of the Interior to interview Miranda, who had been moved to a prison in the city of Granada after Meneses allegedly hired someone to kill him. Miranda "escaped" the same day Hodel made his request, leaving on a weekend furlough and never returning. Prison officials called it "extremely out of character" for a model inmate nearing the end of his sentence. The police had not been notified of the escape, and Hodel's discovery became front-page news in Managua.[^2]
In early 1996, journalist [[Georg Hodel]] requested permission from the Nicaraguan Ministry of the Interior to interview Miranda, who had been moved to a prison in the city of Granada after Meneses allegedly hired someone to kill him. Miranda "escaped" the same day Hodel made his request, leaving on a weekend furlough and never returning. Prison officials called it "extremely out of character" for a model inmate nearing the end of his sentence. The police had not been notified of the escape, and Hodel's discovery became front-page news in Managua.[^4]
Miranda was captured in [[Miami]] in December 1996, where he was living with his wife. He had entered the [[United States]] with a visa the U.S. Embassy in Managua issued him the day he escaped. Despite being listed in the State Department's computers as a convicted drug trafficker and therefore ineligible for a visa, the State Department claimed two simultaneous computer failures resulted in him "erroneously" receiving one. The DEA denied involvement but admitted Miranda was placed on the DEA payroll as an informant "soon after he came to Miami" and was sent to Central and South America to work drug cases. The DEA never informed Nicaraguan authorities it was harboring one of their fugitives.[^2]
Miranda was captured in [[Miami]] in December 1996, where he was living with his wife. He had entered the [[United States]] with a visa the U.S. Embassy in Managua issued him the day he escaped. Despite being listed in the State Department's computers as a convicted drug trafficker and therefore ineligible for a visa, the State Department claimed two simultaneous computer failures resulted in him "erroneously" receiving one. The DEA denied involvement but admitted Miranda was placed on the DEA payroll as an informant "soon after he came to Miami" and was sent to Central and South America to work drug cases. The DEA never informed Nicaraguan authorities it was harboring one of their fugitives.[^4]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 13: "The wrong kind of friends"
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 25: "Things are moving all around us"
[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter VII, "Enrique Miranda-Jaime," sections A to E, https://irp.fas.org/agency/doj/oig/c4rpt/ch07.htm
[^3]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), Marcos Antonio Aguado section of the Southern Front chapter, https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/south.html
[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 25: "Things are moving all around us"

12
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/George Lawrence.md
View file

@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ tags:
summary: "ARPA projects manager who joined Ray Hyman and Robert Van de Castle at SRI's Uri Geller experiments on December 8, 1972, and later monitored the NRC's 1988 performance-techniques study for the Army Research Institute."
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Advanced Research Projects Agency]]"
with: "[[DARPA|Advanced Research Projects Agency]]"
start: 1972
role: "projects manager; arranged the visit to SRI on December 8, 1972 with consultants Hyman and Van de Castle"
fn: 1
@ -42,10 +42,10 @@ relations:
role: "Army Research Institute project monitor"
fn: 4
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-05
updated: 2026-10-08
---
George H. Lawrence was a psychologist and a projects manager at the [[Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (ARPA) of the [[Department of Defense]] in the early 1970s. He visited the [[Stanford Research Institute]] (SRI) on December 8, 1972, with his consultants [[Ray Hyman]] and [[Robert Van de Castle]], to see the work of [[Hal Puthoff]] and [[Russell Targ]] with [[Uri Geller]],[^1] and *[[Time]]* of March 12, 1973 reported that neither he nor Hyman was impressed.[^2] According to a CIA note of February 28, 1973, the magazine's science editor named him as the source of a skeptical article, which Lawrence denied.[^3] By 1984 he was a staff member of the [[U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences]], and from 1985 to 1988 he served as its project monitor for the [[National Research Council]] committee whose report on techniques for enhancing human performance included a chapter on parapsychology.[^4]
George H. Lawrence was a psychologist and a projects manager at the [[DARPA|Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (ARPA) of the [[Department of Defense]] in the early 1970s. He visited the [[Stanford Research Institute]] (SRI) on December 8, 1972, with his consultants [[Ray Hyman]] and [[Robert Van de Castle]], to see the work of [[Hal Puthoff]] and [[Russell Targ]] with [[Uri Geller]],[^1] and *[[Time]]* of March 12, 1973 reported that neither he nor Hyman was impressed.[^2] According to a CIA note of February 28, 1973, the magazine's science editor named him as the source of a skeptical article, which Lawrence denied.[^3] By 1984 he was a staff member of the [[U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences]], and from 1985 to 1988 he served as its project monitor for the [[National Research Council]] committee whose report on techniques for enhancing human performance included a chapter on parapsychology.[^4]
### The visit of December 8, 1972
@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ A note of February 28, 1973, "More Geller Business," records that the science ed
### Later accounts
A staff study prepared for the Army's [[Center Lane]] program in 1983 includes an article by Dr. [[Roger A. Beaumont]], "On the Strategic Potential of ESP," which says that "in 1972, the [[Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]] sent a team to evaluate Stanford Research Institute's claimed results with spoon-bender Geller. The team was headed by Dr. George Lawrence, a psychologist who is open-minded on the subject of parapsychology," and that "the team's report was totally negative."[^11] A [[Defense Intelligence College]] thesis of 1992 by Captain [[Michael Zarbo]], citing [[Ronald McRae]]'s *[[Mind Wars]]* (1984), states that "DARPA's director, Dr. George Lawrence, was ordered by his superiors to find something to satisfy Congressional demands to match purported Soviet efforts in the field."[^11]
A staff study prepared for the Army's [[Center Lane]] program in 1983 includes an article by Dr. [[Roger A. Beaumont]], "On the Strategic Potential of ESP," which says that "in 1972, the [[Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]] sent a team to evaluate Stanford Research Institute's claimed results with spoon-bender Geller. The team was headed by Dr. George Lawrence, a psychologist who is open-minded on the subject of parapsychology," and that "the team's report was totally negative."[^11] A [[Defense Intelligence College]] thesis of 1992 by Captain [[Michael Zarbo]], citing [[Ronald McRae]]'s *[[Mind Wars]]* (1984), states that Lawrence "was ordered by his superiors to find something to satisfy Congressional demands to match purported Soviet efforts in the field."[^11]
### The Army Research Institute
@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ A memorandum of January 31, 1995, ORD-0143-95, from the CIA's Director of Resear
### Footnotes
[^1]: Hyman, Ray. "Psychics and Scientists: 'Mind-Reach' and Remote Viewing." *The Humanist,* May/June 1977, pp. 16-20 and following (visit of December 8, 1972), CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080037-4. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^1]: Hyman, Ray. "Psychics and Scientists: 'Mind-Reach' and Remote Viewing." *The Humanist,* May/June 1977, pp. 16-20 and following (visit of December 8, 1972), CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080037-4. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Jim Schnabel, *Remote Viewers* (Dell, 1997), p. 138, dates the visit of the agency's three-man team to early 1973.
[^2]: "The Magician and the Think Tank," *Time,* March 12, 1973, as held in CIA-RDP96-00787R000400100023-4. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^3]: Note for the record, "More Geller Business," February 28, 1973, CIA-RDP96-00787R000400070022-9. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^4]: Druckman, Daniel, and John A. Swets, eds. *Enhancing Human Performance: Issues, Theories, and Techniques.* Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1988, preface and references (Lawrence, G. H., *Biofeedback and Performance: An Update,* Technical Report 658, U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, Alexandria, Virginia, 1984; Lawrence and Johnson, 1977), read in ERIC document ED296127, archive.org, and in the CIA Reading Room copy CIA-RDP96-00791R000200320001-1.
@ -87,6 +87,6 @@ A memorandum of January 31, 1995, ORD-0143-95, from the CIA's Director of Resear
[^8]: Memorandum for the record, "Paranormal Phenomena: Further Developments / Reflections / Suggestions," February 2, 1973, CIA-RDP96-00787R000400070025-6. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^9]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis.* Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^10]: "Boom Times on the Psychic Frontier," *Time,* cover story, March 4, 1974, as held in CIA-RDP96-00787R000100030002-8. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^11]: Beaumont, Roger A. "On the Strategic Potential of ESP," in the 1983 Center Lane staff study, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700360003-3. Zarbo, Michael E. *Remote Viewing: Parapsychological Potential for Intelligence Collection?,* master's thesis, Defense Intelligence College, November 1992, CIA-RDP96-00789R002600250001-6. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^11]: Beaumont, Roger A. "On the Strategic Potential of ESP," in the 1983 Center Lane staff study, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700360003-3. Zarbo, Michael E. *Remote Viewing: Parapsychological Potential for Intelligence Collection?,* master's thesis, Defense Intelligence College, November 1992, CIA-RDP96-00789R002600250001-6. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. The thesis introduces the sentence as "DARPA's director, Dr. George Lawrence" and cites McRae, *Mind Wars,* p. 107 (thesis note 71); the Institute for Defense Analyses history of the agency (Richard H. Van Atta, Seymour J. Deitchman and Sidney G. Reed, *DARPA Technical Accomplishments,* vol. III, IDA Paper P-2538, 1991, DTIC ADA241680) lists Stephen Lukasik, from 1971, and George Heilmeier as its directors in the period.
[^12]: Memorandum, Director of Research and Development to the Associate Deputy Director for Military Affairs, "Request for Military Liaison Support," ORD-0143-95, January 31, 1995, CIA-RDP96-00791R000100140001-2 and CIA-RDP96-00791R000100140004-9. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^13]: May, Edwin C. "The American Institutes for Research Review of the Department of Defense's STAR GATE Program: A Commentary," *Journal of Parapsychology,* vol. 60, no. 1, 1996, pp. 3-23.

17
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/George Morales.md
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@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
---
title: George Morales
aliases:
- Jorge Morales
- George Morales
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Organized Crime"
tags:
- Person
@ -19,7 +20,9 @@ George Morales was a major Colombian cocaine trafficker who operated during the
### Support to the Contras
In March 1984, three Contra officials with close CIA ties ([[Octaviano Cesar]], ARDE logistics chief [[Adolfo Chamorro|Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro]], and ARDE air force commander [[Marcos Aguado]]) met with Morales at his offices in [[Fort Lauderdale]] and asked him to contribute to Pastora's army. "During our conversation they told me they were CIA agents. Two of them said they were, Octaviano Cesar and Marcos Aguado," Morales testified before Congress in 1986. Cesar assured Morales that if he assisted the Contras, his legal problems from the pending cocaine indictment would disappear: "He told me he had plenty of friends, being him, the CIA, can advise the superiors about my financial support and airplane and training and therefore they will finally, eventually, will take care of my problem, which they did." During the entire time Morales worked with the Contras on drug deals, no action was taken on his pending indictment. When he started talking to U.S. Senate investigators about his Contra dealings two years later, the case moved quickly to trial and conviction.[^1]
In March 1984, three Contra officials with close CIA ties ([[Octaviano Cesar]], ARDE logistics chief [[Adolfo Chamorro|Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro]], and ARDE air force commander [[Marcos Aguado]]) met with Morales at his offices in [[Fort Lauderdale]] and asked him to contribute to Pastora's army. Morales testified before the Senate subcommittee on July 15, 1987 that the Contra leaders "represent themselves as CIA agents," and on April 7, 1988 that "they told me that they were CIA agents. Two of them said they were," naming Cesar and Aguado.[^2][^3] Cesar assured Morales that if he assisted the Contras, his legal problems from the pending cocaine indictment would disappear: "He told me he had plenty of friends, being him, the CIA, can advise the superiors about my financial support and airplane and training and therefore they will finally, eventually, will take care of my problem, which they did." During the entire time Morales worked with the Contras on drug deals, no action was taken on his pending indictment. When he started talking to U.S. Senate investigators about his Contra dealings two years later, the case moved quickly to trial and conviction.[^1]
The subcommittee report instead says that [[Marta Healey]] introduced Morales to Chamorro, Aguado and Cesar at a meeting in [[Miami]], when Morales was under indictment for marijuana smuggling, and that each of the three denied knowing of the indictment when they first met him at Healey's house.[^4] The Justice Department Inspector General records Morales saying that after Healey's May 1984 approach he met Cesar, Chamorro and Aguado in Miami.[^5]
Morales later passed a DEA-administered lie detector test about his drug dealings with the Contras. Two pilots who flew the Contra drug missions for him - [[Fabio Ernesto Carrasco]] and [[Gary Betzner|Gary Wayne Betzner]] - confirmed his story under oath as U.S. government witnesses.[^1]
@ -29,10 +32,18 @@ Morales and his pilots flew planeloads of weapons to a ranch in northern Costa R
### Aircraft Donations
Morales gave the Contras an aged C-47 cargo plane stored in [[Haiti]], plus $10,000 for operating costs. The airplane was officially transferred from Morales to Marcos Aguado for $1 on October 1, 1984. Between October 18, 1984 and February 12, 1986, the C-47 moved 156,000 pounds of material from [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango Air Force Base]] in [[El Salvador]] to airfields in Costa Rica. Investigative reporter Jonathan Kwitny obtained the refueling receipts and confirmed the plane "was repeatedly piloted into and out of Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador by Marcos Aguado." Morales contended the C-47 continued from Ilopango to Colombia, where it was reloaded with drugs before flying back to Florida.[^1]
Morales gave the Contras an aged C-47 cargo plane stored in [[Haiti]], and the Senate subcommittee found that $10,000 was given to Chamorro to cover the cost of flying it to Ilopango.[^4] The airplane was officially transferred from Morales to Marcos Aguado for $1 on October 1, 1984. Between October 18, 1984 and February 12, 1986, the C-47 moved 156,000 pounds of material from [[Ilopango Airbase|Ilopango Air Force Base]] in [[El Salvador]] to airfields in Costa Rica. Investigative reporter Jonathan Kwitny obtained the refueling receipts and confirmed the plane "was repeatedly piloted into and out of Ilopango Air Force Base in El Salvador by Marcos Aguado." Morales contended the C-47 continued from Ilopango to Colombia, where it was reloaded with drugs before flying back to Florida.[^1]
When Aguado quit the war in May 1986, he sold the airplane to [[Norwin Meneses]] for $30,000. In 1997, Aguado said the C-47 was still being used by Meneses in Venezuela.[^1]
### Aguado and the Cocaine Flights
The Justice Department Inspector General's account of the Morales debriefing records that in June 1983 Contra pilots Aguado and [[Gerardo Duran]] flew a group that included members of the [[Medellin Cartel]] into Opa Locka airport, and that John Hull accompanied the group without taking part in the meeting. Morales said that Aguado refused to fly the cocaine shipments because of his "CIA connections."[^5] A Customs Service record given to the subcommittee showed Morales entering the United States from the [[Bahamas]] on October 13, 1984 with Aguado, Cesar and Chamorro, carrying $400,000 in cash and checks, which the three declared and said were returned to Morales after clearing customs.[^4]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 11: "They were looking in the other direction"
[^2]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: Hearings ... May 27, July 15, and October 30, 1987*, Part 1 (1988), testimony of Jorge Morales, July 15, 1987, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0003
[^3]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: The Cartel, Haiti and Central America*, Part 3, hearing of April 7, 1988, testimony of Jorge Morales (pp. 297 to 300) and videotaped depositions of October 31, 1987, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0005. Gary Webb, in Dark Alliance (1998), dates the "CIA agents" statement to 1986 congressional testimony, and his chapter notes give April 7, 1986 and March 27, 1987.
[^4]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy*, S. Prt. 100-165 (December 1988), pp. 37, 50 to 52, https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
[^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter XI, section on the debriefing of George Morales, https://irp.fas.org/agency/doj/oig/c4rpt/ch11p1.htm

24
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Gerard Messadie.md
View file

@ -3,14 +3,32 @@ category: "Authors & Journalists"
tags:
- Person
summary: "Gérald Messadié was the editor of *Science et Vie*, a top French science journal."
born: 1931
died: 2018
aliases:
- Gérald Messadié
- Gerald Messadie
relations:
- type: participant_in
with: "[[The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)]]"
start: 1960
role: "author of the Science et Vie article of February 1960"
fn: 1
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Gérald Messadié was the editor of *Science et Vie*, a top French science journal. In February 1960, his journal published an expanded version of [[Jacques Bergier]]'s story about a secret government [[Extrasensory Perception|ESP]] program, which Martin Ebon, Jim Schnabel and the Parapsychology Foundation title "The Secret of the Nautilus"; the 1972 DIA report and Ostrander and Schroeder cite it as "Du Nautilus," and I. V. Tsykunov as "Une étrange expérience à bord du «Nautilus»," issue no. 509, pages 30 to 35.[^1]
Gérald Messadié was the editor of *Science et Vie*, a top French science journal. In February 1960, his journal published an expanded version of [[Jacques Bergier]]'s story about a secret government [[Extrasensory Perception|ESP]] program, titled "The Secret of the Nautilus"[^1].
[[Martin Ebon]] visited Messadié in his Paris office in the summer of 1980. He wrote that Messadié's view was then that the whole thing was probably a hoax, that he regretted having published it, and that he had assumed his source was beyond question. According to Ebon, Messadié named Jacques Bergier, editorial adviser to the magazine, as that source, and recalled that when Bergier said "in a most affirmative tone that the U.S. Navy had engaged in telepathic research aboard the Nautilus," he and the editor-in-chief of the time, Daniel Vincendon, "did not resist his authority." Messadié is quoted as saying that Bergier "was sometimes prone to elaborations that verged on pranks, not to say hoaxes."[^2] The Parapsychology Foundation reported in 1963 that Science et Vie had received no report of the experiment from its regular New York correspondent or from Science Service and that its editors had not disclosed their source.[^3] [[Jim Schnabel]] wrote that Messadié "would admit that he had probably been fooled."[^4] I. V. Tsykunov gives his years as 1931 to 2018 and writes that he edited the magazine for 25 years.[^5]
Messadié stated in an interview that his information for the article came from Bergier and "other sources," who confirmed the story on condition of anonymity. The article identified [[J. B. Rhine]] of the [[Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory]] as the civilian scientist assigned to the project, reporting a high success rate for telepathic communication[^1].
According to Annie Jacobsen, Messadié stated in an interview that his information for the article came from Bergier and "other sources," who confirmed the story on condition of anonymity. The article identified [[J. B. Rhine]] of the [[Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory]] as the civilian scientist assigned to the project, reporting a high success rate for telepathic communication[^1].
Despite the [[U.S. Navy]]'s denial of the story as a hoax, Messadié's publication contributed to the widespread attention given to the alleged ESP experiments aboard the [[USS Nautilus]]. This, in turn, had significant real-world consequences, as the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] used the news to stimulate their own [[Parapsychology|parapsychology]] research. [[Leonid Vasiliev|Leonid L. Vasilev]], Russia's leading ESP researcher, claimed that Soviet parapsychology research was stimulated by the *Nautilus* reports[^1].
The [[U.S. Navy]] denied the reports. Messadié's publication drew wide attention to the reported ESP experiments aboard the [[The Nautilus|USS Nautilus]], and the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] used the news to stimulate their own [[Parapsychology|parapsychology]] research. [[Leonid Vasiliev|Leonid L. Vasilev]], Russia's leading ESP researcher, claimed that Soviet parapsychology research was stimulated by the *Nautilus* reports[^1].
### Footnotes
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^2]: Ebon, Martin. *Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion?* McGraw-Hill, 1983, chapter 3, pp. 29-31.
[^3]: Newsletter of the Parapsychology Foundation, "Nautilus Hoax Exposed," vol. 10, no. 6, November-December 1963, citing This Week, September 8, 1963. NSA-RDP96X00790R000100040002-2, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/nsa-rdp96x00790r000100040002-2.
[^4]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies*. Dell, 1997, pp. 90-93. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^5]: Tsykunov, I. V. "От фантазии к реальности: как история «Наутилуса» открыла гонку сверхъестественных вооружений между СССР и США" [From fantasy to reality: how the story of the Nautilus opened the race for supernatural weapons between the USSR and the USA]. Aliter, no. 20 (2023), pp. 34-55. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ot-fantazii-k-realnosti-kak-istoriya-nautilusa-otkryla-gonku-sverhestestvennyh-vooruzheniy-mezhdu-sssr-i-ssha. Sole source for the passages so cited.

12
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/John Hull.md
View file

@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ summary: John Hull was a CIA operative whose ranch in northern Costa Rica served
---
John Hull was an American [[Central Intelligence Agency]] operative who lived on a ranch in northern [[Costa Rica]] during the [[Contras|Contra]] war, posing as a midwestern farmer managing plantations for wealthy investors. In reality, Hull's ranch served as a training area and hiding place for Contra soldiers; it was where the [[Legion of September 15]] gathered before its bungled raid on the Argentine radio station in 1980.[^1]
Hull was the CIA's unofficial liaison to the Contras in northern Costa Rica and a close associate of [[Marcos Aguado]], a CIA-trained pilot and business associate of [[Norwin Meneses]]. Colombian trafficker [[George Morales]] and his pilots flew planeloads of weapons to Hull's ranch, where after dropping off arms, large green duffel bags full of cocaine belonging to the Contras were loaded aboard for return flights to the United States, usually to [[Opa Locka]], Florida.[^1]
Hull was the CIA's unofficial liaison to the Contras in northern Costa Rica and according to Gary Webb a close associate of [[Marcos Aguado]], whom Webb calls a CIA-trained pilot and business associate of [[Norwin Meneses]].[^2] Colombian trafficker [[George Morales]] and his pilots flew planeloads of weapons to Hull's ranch, where after dropping off arms, large green duffel bags full of cocaine belonging to the Contras were loaded aboard for return flights to the United States, usually to [[Opa Locka]], Florida.[^1]
### Drug Flight Evidence
@ -19,13 +19,17 @@ Former CIA official [[Alan Fiers|Alan Fiers Jr.]], who oversaw the Contra progra
Pilot [[Fabio Ernesto Carrasco|"Tito" Carrasco]], who flew drug missions for Morales in and out of Hull's ranch, testified that one of [[Eden Pastora|Pastora's]] commanders assured him the CIA was protecting the flights from Costa Rica all the way into Florida.[^1]
On July 31, 1987, Fiers briefed the [[Senate Select Committee on Intelligence]] on Hull's alleged relationship with Morales. According to the committee transcript as quoted by the CIA Inspector General, Fiers said that Morales "saw John Hull in his, Morales' office, with [Marcos] Aguado in 1983. However, Morales didn't meet him. He didn't want to." The Inspector General also reports that on March 7, 1989 a Costa Rican judge charged Hull with "hostile acts" and "drug trafficking," and that Costa Rican court documents claimed Hull and Contra pilot [[Gerardo Duran]] had met Morales in Miami to discuss the sale of drugs and weapons, and that planes piloted by Duran and Aguado had landed at Hull's airstrips carrying military supplies and, with Hull's knowledge, left loaded with drugs. The Inspector General quotes Hull's reply to the allegations of [[Gary Betzner|Gary Wayne Betzner]]: "not true, not true! He made it up. He was coached."[^3]
### The Kelso Visit
In August 1986, [[Joseph Kelso]], a CIA and [[U.S. Customs]] informant fleeing [[DEA]] agents in Costa Rica, arrived at Hull's ranch seeking refuge. Kelso told Hull and [[Robert Owen|Rob Owen]] that DEA agents had maps of cocaine lab locations but were protecting them, including "one large lab located in southern Nicoya. And another in Talamanca region." Hull wrote a detailed report and gave it to Owen to deliver to [[Oliver North]], noting: "If the DEA people are in the drug business it should be stopped." Hull eventually concluded Kelso was telling the truth: "He was giving me locations of cocaine labs in Costa Rica and who they belonged to and then a week later one of them was busted and it was right where he said it was."[^2]
In August 1986, [[Joseph Kelso]], a CIA and [[U.S. Customs]] informant fleeing [[DEA]] agents in Costa Rica, arrived at Hull's ranch seeking refuge. Kelso told Hull and [[Robert Owen|Rob Owen]] that DEA agents had maps of cocaine lab locations but were protecting them, including "one large lab located in southern Nicoya. And another in Talamanca region." Hull wrote a detailed report and gave it to Owen to deliver to [[Oliver North]], noting: "If the DEA people are in the drug business it should be stopped." Hull eventually concluded Kelso was telling the truth: "He was giving me locations of cocaine labs in Costa Rica and who they belonged to and then a week later one of them was busted and it was right where he said it was."[^4]
The next morning, Costa Rican Rural Guards awakened Kelso with automatic rifle fire and beat him with rifle butts. A colonel told Hull the embassy said Kelso "should be shot if he resisted arrest." Hull's Contras surrounded the guards with 12-gauge riot guns. Hull broke up the standoff but permitted the guards to take Kelso away.[^2]
The next morning, Costa Rican Rural Guards awakened Kelso with automatic rifle fire and beat him with rifle butts. A colonel told Hull the embassy said Kelso "should be shot if he resisted arrest." Hull's Contras surrounded the guards with 12-gauge riot guns. Hull broke up the standoff but permitted the guards to take Kelso away.[^4]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 11: "They were looking in the other direction"
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 17: "We're going to blow your fucking head off"
[^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion* (Seven Stories Press, 1998), Chapter 13, "The wrong kind of friends," and Cast of Characters. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^3]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), chapter on other individuals (John Hull; March 7, 1989 reporting; July 31, 1987 SSCI briefing transcript), https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/other.html
[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 17: "We're going to blow your fucking head off"

3
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Kenneth A. Kress.md
View file

@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ tags:
- CIA
- SRI
summary: "Kress was the lead analyst assigned to the operation involving Pat Price's Remote Viewing of URDF-3, a highly classified Soviet research and development facility in Kazakhstan."
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Kenneth A. Kress was a physicist, engineer, and analyst with the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]. He is considered by some to be the "father of America's remote-viewing program" as he was responsible for giving [[Stanford Research Institute|SRI]] its first [[Psi]] research contract in 1972[^1]. Kress, then a young, dark-haired engineer, was instrumental in bringing [[Hal Puthoff]] and [[Ingo Swann]] into the Central Intelligence Agency's orbit for psychic research[^1].
@ -39,6 +40,8 @@ The office had spent 874 dollars on a few days' work in August 1972 and 2,500 mo
His review, "Parapsychology in Intelligence: A Personal Review and Conclusions," appeared in the classified *Studies in Intelligence* in the winter of 1977 and was declassified in 1996. It recorded the briefing of Director [[George H.W. Bush|George Bush]] in 1976, [[Stansfield Turner]]'s public acknowledgment of 1977, and the state of interest at DIA, DARPA, the Navy, and the Air Force, and ended: "This is not to say that parapsychology is a proven intelligence tool; it is to say that the evaluation is not yet complete and more research is needed." In a postscript of January 1999 for its reprinting he mentioned a later "secure line call from a person who identified himself as an FBI agent" and wrote: "Me, I remain a skeptical agnostic." Representative [[Charles Rose]] was briefed at OTS by its chief, [[David Brandwein]], on February 9, 1978.[^2][^3]
In the review Kress wrote that the [[DARPA|Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]] "reported that they had not only a showing of interest but a hostile response as well," and that "The SRI contractors and I went to a briefing where we had a several-hour confrontation with an assemblage of hostile DARPA people who had been convened especially to debunk our results." He wrote that after "a long, inconclusive, emotional discussion" they left and that "Contacts with DARPA stopped for several years." He wrote that the Navy reviewed part of the work, that minor funding was provided to SRI by the Navy to replicate one of SRI's earlier experiments under more controlled conditions, and that the Navy then became very concerned about the research being "mind warfare"-related and stopped funding.[^2]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.

19
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Lyndon B. Johnson.md
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@ -20,13 +20,26 @@ Johnson's ties to [[Israel]] were strong, influenced by his close advisers like
Johnson's strong emotional ties to Israel and his belief that Soviet arms were altering the balance of power in the [[Middle East]] drove him to become the first American President to supply Israel with offensive weapons and the first publicly to commit America to its defense. In the early years of his presidency, he echoed Kennedy's policy by urging Israel to submit [[Dimona]] to [[International Atomic Energy Agency|IAEA]] inspection, motivated by his belief that a nuclear Israel could lead to a nuclear [[Egypt]], increased Soviet involvement, and potentially war.[^1]
### Intelligence during the June 1967 crisis and war
On the morning of May 23, 1967, Johnson summoned [[Richard Helms]] from a congressional briefing and asked for an assessment of the Middle East situation. [[David S. Robarge]], the CIA's chief historian, writes that Johnson declined to airlift special military supplies to Israel or to support it publicly, and quotes Johnson's later recollection of telling the Israeli foreign minister [[Abba Eban]] on May 26: "All of our intelligence people are unanimous that if the UAR attacks, you will whip hell out of them."[^2] On May 25 [[Walt Rostow]] sent Johnson an Israeli intelligence estimate with a CIA appraisal attached that, in Rostow's words, "throws a great deal of cold water on the Israeli estimate"; a handwritten "L" on the memorandum indicates that the President saw it.[^3]
On June 5, 1967, Johnson told congressional leaders that he had been expecting Israel's move, which Robarge attributes to CIA analyses and a tip from Helms. Helms recalled that "in the midst of one meeting" during the war Johnson asked how accurate his intelligence was on the progress of the war, and that he answered it was accurate "just as long as the Israelis are winning."[^2]
Notes of the [[National Security Council]] Special Committee meeting of June 9 record [[Clark Clifford]] saying that the attack on the [[USS Liberty Incident|USS Liberty]] should be handled "as if Arabs or USSR had done it" and calling it "Inconceivable that it was accident"; the note-taker's marginal notation next to the remarks reads: "President subscribed 100%."[^4] On June 12 Johnson requested a special study on the strafing and torpedoing of the ship, covering pilot conversations and "everything we can get" from the [[NSA|National Security Agency]]; Rostow sent a preliminary CIA report on June 13 as the "CIA's first cut at the problem," noting "They do not find evidence of U.S. identification before the attack."[^5] On June 26 Rostow sent Johnson the proposed public release of the Navy Court of Inquiry summary, noting that the Israelis had asked for 24 hours of lead time and that Deputy Secretary of Defense [[Cyrus Vance]] was inclined to give 12; the 12-hour option is the one checked.[^6]
### Bobby Baker
Lyndon B. Johnson served as the 36th President of the United States. His rise to power emanated directly from his friends in Texas oil, including the [[Clint Murchison, Sr.|Murchison family]].[^2]
Lyndon B. Johnson served as the 36th President of the United States. His rise to power emanated directly from his friends in Texas oil, including the [[Clint Murchison, Sr.|Murchison family]].[^7]
As Senate Majority Leader, Johnson made [[Bobby Baker]] his secretary of the Senate Democrats in 1955, referring to Baker as "my strong right arm, the last man I see at night, the first I see in the morning." A major scandal brewed around Baker in the autumn of 1963, involving numerous questionable deals that were tightly interwoven with the Murchison family and organized crime figures.[^2]
As Senate Majority Leader, Johnson made [[Bobby Baker]] his secretary of the Senate Democrats in 1955, referring to Baker as "my strong right arm, the last man I see at night, the first I see in the morning." A major scandal brewed around Baker in the autumn of 1963, involving numerous questionable deals that were tightly interwoven with the Murchison family and organized crime figures.[^7]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 9.
[^2]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
[^2]: Robarge, David S. "Getting it Right: CIA Analysis of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War." *Studies in Intelligence* 49, no. 1 (March 2005). https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/CIA-Analysis-1967-War.pdf Robarge quotes Helms's memoir and Johnson's The Vantage Point.
[^3]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 61, Memorandum from Rostow to President Johnson, May 25, 1967, with attached CIA appraisal. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d61
[^4]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 236, Notes of a Meeting of the Special Committee of the National Security Council, June 9, 1967 (Saunders's handwritten notes). https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d236
[^5]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 284, Intelligence Memorandum, "The Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty," June 13, 1967, with source note on Helms's notes of the June 12 meeting and Rostow's covering memorandum of June 13. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d284
[^6]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 324, Memorandum from Rostow to President Johnson, June 26, 1967. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d324
[^7]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.

28
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Norwin Meneses.md
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@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ aliases:
- El Perico
- El Maestro
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-05
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Organized Crime"
tags:
- Person
@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ relations:
role: "San Francisco historical conspiracy case and 1989 fugitive file"
fn: 19
---
Norwin Meneses Cantarero, born June 21, 1943, and known in Nicaragua as "El Rey de la Droga" and "El Perico," was a [[Nicaragua|Nicaraguan]] cocaine trafficker who moved between [[Managua]], the [[San Francisco]] Bay Area and [[Costa Rica]].[^1] From 1980 the [[DEA]] and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] opened a series of cases on his family's organization, in which his nephews and associates were convicted and he was not; from July 1986 the DEA's Costa Rica office used him as a source and then as an informant while the FBI in San Francisco was assembling a case against him; a sealed federal indictment followed in 1989; and Nicaraguan police arrested him on November 3, 1991 with 764 kilograms of cocaine.[^1][^2] [[Gary Webb]] wrote that he was the [[Cali Drug Cartel|Cali cartel's]] representative in Nicaragua and a recruiter, arms supplier and benefactor of the [[Contras]]; the Justice Department's Inspector General found he gave the Contras little, dealt with all sides, and had no CIA connection.[^3][^1]
Norwin Meneses Cantarero, born June 21, 1943, and known in Nicaragua as "El Rey de la Droga" and "El Perico," was a [[Nicaragua|Nicaraguan]] cocaine trafficker who moved between [[Managua]], the [[San Francisco]] Bay Area and [[Costa Rica]].[^1] From 1980 the [[DEA]] and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] opened a series of cases on his family's organization, in which his nephews and associates were convicted and he was not; from July 1986 the DEA's Costa Rica office used him as a source and then as an informant while the FBI in San Francisco was assembling a case against him; a sealed federal indictment followed in 1989; and Nicaraguan police arrested him on November 3, 1991 with 764 kilograms of cocaine.[^1][^2] [[Gary Webb]] wrote that he was the [[Cali Drug Cartel|Cali cartel's]] representative in Nicaragua and a recruiter, arms supplier and benefactor of the [[Contras]]; the Justice Department's Inspector General found he gave the Contras little, dealt with all sides, and had no CIA connection.[^1][^3]
### Family and early record
@ -89,9 +89,9 @@ Jairo Meneses's lawyer told the DEA's Office of Professional Responsibility in J
### The Contras
The records agree that Meneses attended Contra meetings in San Francisco and gave some money; they disagree on how much and why. Meneses told the CIA's Inspector General that between 1983 and 1984 his main role was recruiting Nicaraguans for the [[FDN]] at the request of [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]], that he sat on a fundraising committee without leading it, that he gave at most about $3,000 between 1982 and 1984, and that Bermúdez "was very strict and did not want anyone involved in drugs." He told the Justice Department he gave about $3,000 between 1982 and 1985 and denied that he or anyone sold drugs for the Contras.[^8][^5] Webb quoted Meneses as saying he became Bermúdez's "intelligence and security adviser in California," that Bermúdez was a friend since he was a lieutenant, that Edmundo had known Bermúdez since childhood, and that "nobody would join the Contra forces down there without my knowledge and approval." Webb cited [[Dennis Ainsworth]], a San Francisco Contra supporter, telling the FBI in 1987 that Meneses and Bermúdez dealt arms and drugs, and later telling Webb that Meneses "was national. And he was totally protected."[^4]
The records agree that Meneses attended Contra meetings in San Francisco and gave some money; they disagree on how much and why. Meneses told the CIA's Inspector General that between 1983 and 1984 his main role was recruiting Nicaraguans for the [[FDN]] at the request of [[Enrique Bermudez|Enrique Bermúdez]], that he sat on a fundraising committee without leading it, that he gave at most about $3,000 between 1982 and 1984, and that Bermúdez "was very strict and did not want anyone involved in drugs." He told the Justice Department he gave about $3,000 between 1982 and 1985 and denied that he or anyone sold drugs for the Contras.[^5][^8] Webb quoted Meneses as saying he became Bermúdez's "intelligence and security adviser in California," that Bermúdez was a friend since he was a lieutenant, that Edmundo had known Bermúdez since childhood, and that "nobody would join the Contra forces down there without my knowledge and approval." Webb cited [[Dennis Ainsworth]], a San Francisco Contra supporter, telling the FBI in 1987 that Meneses and Bermúdez dealt arms and drugs, and later telling Webb that Meneses "was national. And he was totally protected."[^4]
[[Adolfo Calero]] told the Inspector General he met Meneses at Contra social events in San Francisco, that Meneses never held an FDN position, that Bermúdez told him Meneses had visited the Contras' first Honduran camp and given the troops a crossbow, and that he would have remembered receiving $500. The Examiner reported on June 23, 1986 that Calero said he had met Meneses as many as four times.[^5] [[Edgar Chamorro]] told the Examiner that he and [[Frank Arana]] flew to San Francisco in October 1982 to name local FDN leaders, that Meneses stood in the back of the meeting, helped arrange a Los Angeles meeting the next day, and was "one of the main contacts in L.A."; Renato Pena, the self-styled FDN representative in northern California from late 1982 to mid-1984, told federal investigators in 1997 that he heard Meneses telephone Bermúdez in Honduras and relay requests for silencers, crossbows and military equipment.[^9][^5] The FDN representative who replaced Pena, Tony Navarro, said Meneses came to a couple of meetings, was never a member and, as far as he knew, gave nothing; the Contra supporter Carlos Rocha put Meneses's gifts at perhaps $5,000; "David Morrison" recalled hearing of a $40,000 donation in 1981 and that Meneses traded weapons for cocaine paste with the Sandinistas.[^5][^6] The Inspector General found Navarro, Rocha and LA CI-1 substantially credible and found no concrete evidence, "such as bank records or drug ledgers," that money from Blandón or Meneses reached the Contras; it concluded that Meneses's reputation preceded him in the exile community, so that people dealing with him "knew or should have known" his money was probably illicit.[^5] The Inspector General also reported that several people familiar with him said he "lacked any political allegiance and would deal with anyone who would provide cocaine at the lowest price," and that Jairo Meneses told prosecutors in 1986 he dealt with leaders of both the Contras and the Sandinistas, getting cocaine from Sandinista officials through Margarita Castana, a niece of the Sandinista commander Bayardo Arce.[^1][^5]
[[Adolfo Calero]] told the Inspector General he met Meneses at Contra social events in San Francisco, that Meneses never held an FDN position, that Bermúdez told him Meneses had visited the Contras' first Honduran camp and given the troops a crossbow, and that he would have remembered receiving $500. The Examiner reported on June 23, 1986 that Calero said he had met Meneses as many as four times.[^5] [[Edgar Chamorro]] told the Examiner that he and [[Frank Arana]] flew to San Francisco in October 1982 to name local FDN leaders, that Meneses stood in the back of the meeting, helped arrange a Los Angeles meeting the next day, and was "one of the main contacts in L.A."; Renato Pena, the self-styled FDN representative in northern California from late 1982 to mid-1984, told federal investigators in 1997 that he heard Meneses telephone Bermúdez in Honduras and relay requests for silencers, crossbows and military equipment.[^5][^9] The FDN representative who replaced Pena, Tony Navarro, said Meneses came to a couple of meetings, was never a member and, as far as he knew, gave nothing; the Contra supporter Carlos Rocha put Meneses's gifts at perhaps $5,000; "David Morrison" recalled hearing of a $40,000 donation in 1981 and that Meneses traded weapons for cocaine paste with the Sandinistas.[^5][^6] The Inspector General found Navarro, Rocha and LA CI-1 substantially credible and found no concrete evidence, "such as bank records or drug ledgers," that money from Blandón or Meneses reached the Contras; it concluded that Meneses's reputation preceded him in the exile community, so that people dealing with him "knew or should have known" his money was probably illicit.[^5] The Inspector General also reported that several people familiar with him said he "lacked any political allegiance and would deal with anyone who would provide cocaine at the lowest price," and that Jairo Meneses told prosecutors in 1986 he dealt with leaders of both the Contras and the Sandinistas, getting cocaine from Sandinista officials through Margarita Castana, a niece of the Sandinista commander Bayardo Arce.[^1][^5]
In April 1986 a DEA analyst interviewed an informant the Inspector General calls SR3, who had worked on the Meneses investigation for three years and was considered extremely reliable; SR3 said Meneses was trafficking both for himself and to raise money for the Contras, that some proceeds bought weapons in Colombia, and that Meneses boasted that "United States agents would assist him." SR3 had no first-hand knowledge beyond what Meneses told him.[^5] Pena told the DEA in the early 1980s that the CIA allowed the Contras to fly drugs into the United States; the Inspector General records he did not repeat it, and told the inspectors he made six to eight trips carrying $600,000 to nearly $1 million from San Francisco to a Colombian called "Carlos" in Los Angeles and returned with six to eight kilograms of cocaine each time, and that "Carlos" said "we are helping your cause with this drug thing."[^5] A CIA domestic station cable of October 22, 1982, relaying an INS informant, reported links between a religious organization and two Nicaraguan counter-revolutionary groups involving "an exchange in the US of narcotics for arms" and a planned meeting in Costa Rica; the November 3 follow-up named Pena as one of four FDN representatives; headquarters instructed the station on November 13 not to pursue it because of the involvement of United States persons and said on November 17 that the informant had probably been misinformed.[^5][^8]
@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ Webb described Meneses's FDN role as public, with Contra functions at his homes,
### The Frogman network
Webb wrote that Meneses's Costa Rican pipeline ran through [[Horacio Pereira]] and [[Troilo Sanchez|Troilo Sánchez]], who supplied Peruvian cocaine hidden in woven baskets to Julio Zavala and Carlos Cabezas in San Francisco, with profits carried back to Costa Rica and Honduras.[^7] Cabezas told the Inspector General in 1997 that Meneses had no connection to the Zavala organization and was not affiliated with any Contra group; Troilo Sánchez said Pereira and Meneses had trafficked together since before Somoza fell; the FBI's November 8, 1982 teletype named Pereira "the major source of cocaine smuggling from Costa Rica to the United States."[^11][^12] The Senate's Kerry subcommittee reported that Pereira was convicted in Costa Rica in 1985 and sentenced to 12 years; the Justice Department's inspectors were told he was dead.[^13][^12]
Webb wrote that Meneses's Costa Rican pipeline ran through [[Horacio Pereira]] and [[Troilo Sanchez|Troilo Sánchez]], who supplied Peruvian cocaine hidden in woven baskets to Julio Zavala and Carlos Cabezas in San Francisco, with profits carried back to Costa Rica and Honduras.[^7] Cabezas told the Inspector General in 1997 that Meneses had no connection to the Zavala organization and was not affiliated with any Contra group; Troilo Sánchez said Pereira and Meneses had trafficked together since before Somoza fell; the FBI's November 8, 1982 teletype named Pereira "the major source of cocaine smuggling from Costa Rica to the United States."[^11][^12] The Senate's Kerry subcommittee reported that Pereira was convicted in Costa Rica in 1985 and sentenced to 12 years; the Justice Department's inspectors were told he was dead.[^12][^13]
### Costa Rica
@ -111,21 +111,23 @@ In July 1986 Meneses went to the DEA's Costa Rica office and told agent [[Sandal
On October 9, 1986 Gonzalez opened a DEA case on Blandón on Meneses's information. On December 21, 1986 Meneses and DEA CI-1, an experienced informant who claimed to have worked for the CIA years before in Europe and the Soviet Union, left Costa Rica for Los Angeles in a plan Gonzalez filed as "Operation Perico." They met Blandón and [[Ivan Torres]] on January 7 and 15, 1987, and DEA CI-1 recorded that the traffickers called Meneses "El Maestro" and treated him as retired from the business two or three years before. The Los Angeles DEA had agreed to the plan on December 23, after the departure; the DEA offices in Riverside and San Francisco and the FBI were not coordinated, and Aukland did not learn of it until January. Gonzalez's later reports quoted Torres on CIA tolerance of Contra trafficking and recorded that Pastora wished to enter cocaine trafficking to funnel money to the Contras and had asked Meneses to find a buyer for a DC-3 at Ilopango.[^17] Webb wrote that the informant was a CIA operative known as "Roberto," that the FBI in San Francisco issued warrants for both men and they fled, and that Meneses then said he would never return or testify; the Inspector General records DEA CI-1's claim of a warning from DEA agent Eddie Hill, which Hill denied, and found no FBI warrant in January 1987. The Mexican "Roberto" whom Troilo Sánchez said Meneses introduced to him in 1987 did not resemble the CIA contractor who used the alias Ivan Gómez.[^16][^17][^18]
On January 29, 1987 the DEA's San Francisco office cabled that the FBI had "an indictable case against the CI" and asked whether an indictment "will result in national security problems with other agencies"; the Inspector General noted that the San Francisco FBI had source information that Meneses might have worked for the CIA and that the Iran-Contra independent counsel's inquiry was just beginning. On February 27, 1987 the San Francisco U.S. Attorney's Office wrote that, on assurances from Assistant U.S. Attorney Crossan Andersen in Los Angeles, it would defer prosecution because Meneses would "be required to plead guilty to a cocaine-related charge as part of his cooperation agreement"; no written agreement was found and Andersen and Swenson did not recall one, and the FBI placed its case in inactive status.[^17] Webb wrote that recently released Justice Department records show no such cooperation agreement existed.[^16] Meneses's conditions for returning, in June 1987, were anonymity, no testimony, contact only with named DEA personnel and restoration of resident status; headquarters refused on June 26 to guarantee that his identity would never come out in court, the Los Angeles case was declined on July 17, and Gonzalez nevertheless registered him as an informant on July 24, 1987, with a form that listed "no pending charges known at this time."[^17][^6]
On January 29, 1987 the DEA's San Francisco office cabled that the FBI had "an indictable case against the CI" and asked whether an indictment "will result in national security problems with other agencies"; the Inspector General noted that the San Francisco FBI had source information that Meneses might have worked for the CIA and that the Iran-Contra independent counsel's inquiry was just beginning. On February 27, 1987 the San Francisco U.S. Attorney's Office wrote that, on assurances from Assistant U.S. Attorney Crossan Andersen in Los Angeles, it would defer prosecution because Meneses would "be required to plead guilty to a cocaine-related charge as part of his cooperation agreement"; no written agreement was found and Andersen and Swenson did not recall one, and the FBI placed its case in inactive status.[^17] Webb wrote that recently released Justice Department records show no such cooperation agreement existed.[^16] Meneses's conditions for returning, in June 1987, were anonymity, no testimony, contact only with named DEA personnel and restoration of resident status; headquarters refused on June 26 to guarantee that his identity would never come out in court, the Los Angeles case was declined on July 17, and Gonzalez nevertheless registered him as an informant on July 24, 1987, with a form that listed "no pending charges known at this time."[^6][^17]
In September 1987, on a visa waiver the DEA requested over State Department and CIA information that he was a narcotics kingpin, Meneses went with DEA CI-1 to Miami, where he met Blandón, and to San Francisco, where an FBI informant said he was telling associates he worked for the CIA; they returned in November and December 1987, producing a case against Aparicio Moreno. An INS stop in Miami in September 1988, when the DEA said it had not expected him, ended with his agreeing to leave. Gonzalez moved to Mexico City in January 1988 and agent James Rivera took over, working cases on cocaine from Panama through Costa Rica. Meneses traveled for the DEA to Miami, Los Angeles and Colombia in 1989, and the DEA deactivated him on December 23, 1989 because none of his cases "appears to have any chance of fruition." He was reactivated on May 10, 1990 after reporting that Blandón wanted help moving cocaine from Central America to Florida, paid $500, and closed on August 16, 1990. The DEA's payments totaled $7,377.50 in thirteen payments.[^6][^19][^2]
In September 1987, on a visa waiver the DEA requested over State Department and CIA information that he was a narcotics kingpin, Meneses went with DEA CI-1 to Miami, where he met Blandón, and to San Francisco, where an FBI informant said he was telling associates he worked for the CIA; they returned in November and December 1987, producing a case against Aparicio Moreno. An INS stop in Miami in September 1988, when the DEA said it had not expected him, ended with his agreeing to leave. Gonzalez moved to Mexico City in January 1988 and agent James Rivera took over, working cases on cocaine from Panama through Costa Rica. Meneses traveled for the DEA to Miami, Los Angeles and Colombia in 1989, and the DEA deactivated him on December 23, 1989 because none of his cases "appears to have any chance of fruition." He was reactivated on May 10, 1990 after reporting that Blandón wanted help moving cocaine from Central America to Florida, paid $500, and closed on August 16, 1990. The DEA's payments totaled $7,377.50 in thirteen payments.[^2][^6][^19]
Meanwhile the San Francisco FBI's Donald Hale wrote to headquarters in January 1988 that "it became apparent to the FBI that Norwin Meneses was, and may still be, an informant of DEA" and "an informant for the Central Intelligence Agency," on the word of a source who said Meneses was bragging that this was why he was not prosecuted. On April 15, 1988 headquarters relayed the CIA general counsel's reply, dated March 31, 1988, that a search found no information that Meneses was ever employed by or an informant for the CIA and that the CIA had no objection to prosecution.[^19][^8] A grand jury in San Francisco indicted Meneses on February 8, 1989 on two counts, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, from a 1984 sale to an undercover agent in which he was the source, and possession with intent to distribute, from a 1985 informant's report; the indictment was sealed and a no-bail warrant issued. Swenson wrote that the reason was "upcoming Statute of Limitations problems," and told Agent Stephen Tse in 1991 that the case was "old and very weak." The warrant was entered in the FBI's NCIC database on April 12, 1989; the indictment was unsealed on August 4, 1997.[^19][^2] Rivera said he did not know of the warrant when he requested a visa for Meneses that year. On January 22, 1990 the DEA's country attaché Ron Lard told an FBI legal attaché that Meneses was "a very valuable and current active DEA source," though he had been deactivated the previous month; the San Francisco FBI replied on February 12 that it would not have sought the indictment had it known. No extradition request was ever made, and a treaty with Costa Rica did not cover drug offenses.[^19]
Meanwhile the San Francisco FBI's Donald Hale wrote to headquarters in January 1988 that "it became apparent to the FBI that Norwin Meneses was, and may still be, an informant of DEA" and "an informant for the Central Intelligence Agency," on the word of a source who said Meneses was bragging that this was why he was not prosecuted. On April 15, 1988 headquarters relayed the CIA general counsel's reply, dated March 31, 1988, that a search found no information that Meneses was ever employed by or an informant for the CIA and that the CIA had no objection to prosecution.[^8][^19] A grand jury in San Francisco indicted Meneses on February 8, 1989 on two counts, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, from a 1984 sale to an undercover agent in which he was the source, and possession with intent to distribute, from a 1985 informant's report; the indictment was sealed and a no-bail warrant issued. Swenson wrote that the reason was "upcoming Statute of Limitations problems," and told Agent Stephen Tse in 1991 that the case was "old and very weak." The warrant was entered in the FBI's NCIC database on April 12, 1989; the indictment was unsealed on August 4, 1997.[^2][^19] Rivera said he did not know of the warrant when he requested a visa for Meneses that year. On January 22, 1990 the DEA's country attaché Ron Lard told an FBI legal attaché that Meneses was "a very valuable and current active DEA source," though he had been deactivated the previous month; the San Francisco FBI replied on February 12 that it would not have sought the indictment had it known. No extradition request was ever made, and a treaty with Costa Rica did not cover drug offenses.[^19]
### Nicaragua, 1990 to 1997
After the Sandinistas lost the 1990 election Meneses returned to Nicaragua, where, Webb wrote, he sought $12 million in confiscated holdings and recruited the former Sandinista intelligence officer [[Enrique Miranda]] to reopen his routes through concealed airstrips, including one near Rosita.[^20] In September 1991 a DEA informant told the Guatemala office he was driving a car loaded with cocaine from Managua to Houston for Meneses and Miranda, and DEA cases opened in Guatemala, Houston and Los Angeles; on September 23 Lard told the FBI that Meneses had contacted the DEA again, and agent Federico Villarreal met him two or three times in Managua, without a record of reactivation or payment.[^19] On November 3, 1991 the Nicaraguan National Police arrested Meneses, his half-brother Luis Enrique Meneses, Miranda, an engineer who concealed the cocaine, Carmelo Lacayo Briceño, and Carlos Francisco Merlo Bermúdez, seizing about 764 kilograms of cocaine and a kilogram of heroin being loaded into vehicles for the United States; a CIA station reported the arrest on November 4 and a DO update called him "the top Cali Cartel trafficker in Nicaragua."[^2][^8] Webb wrote that police chief Rene Vivas said Meneses told him "he had the backing of a higher power, a superpower" and was working for the United States to get Sandinista officials on drug charges, that Roger Mayorga complained that Villarreal had been meeting him secretly, and that the State Department pressed the Chamorro government to dismiss Vivas.[^20] Webb gave the seizure as 725 kilograms; the Inspector General and the CIA give 764. Villarreal told the Inspector General he did not send Meneses against the Sandinistas and that Meneses may have wanted to be able to say he was still working for the DEA.[^2]
Meneses was convicted on August 16, 1992 and sentenced to 300 months; Miranda received 168 months. The term was later reduced to twelve and a half years, and the U.S. Embassy reported his release on November 14, 1997.[^2] Webb and the journalist [[Georg Hodel]] interviewed him at Tipitapa prison in January 1996, where Webb wrote the guards murmured "Señor"; Meneses told the Justice Department's inspectors in April 1997 that he had never dealt drugs, that the Sandinistas set him up and that he never cooperated with any United States agency, and told the CIA's inspectors he never dealt with the CIA.[^21][^1][^8]
Meneses was convicted on August 16, 1992 and sentenced to 300 months; Miranda received 168 months. The term was later reduced to twelve and a half years, and the U.S. Embassy reported his release on November 14, 1997.[^2] Webb and the journalist [[Georg Hodel]] interviewed him at Tipitapa prison in January 1996, where Webb wrote the guards murmured "Señor"; Meneses told the Justice Department's inspectors in April 1997 that he had never dealt drugs, that the Sandinistas set him up and that he never cooperated with any United States agency, and told the CIA's inspectors he never dealt with the CIA.[^1][^8][^21]
### Miranda and Ilopango
Miranda testified at the 1991 trial that Meneses financed the Contras with cocaine and that the Salvadoran Air Force landed his shipments at a Texas base. Webb relayed more: that cocaine from Colombia reached Costa Rican strips including the farm of the CIA-linked [[John Hull]], that [[Marcos Aguado]] and Meneses supervised loading at [[Ilopango Airbase]] onto aircraft of the Salvadoran Air Force and of [[Southern Air Transport]], and that guns went south and drugs north.[^22] Miranda told the Inspector General that his knowledge was all from Meneses and Aguado; that he said he had witnessed a shipment in Texas and, pressed, said he had not; that he had been paid about $3,500 a month by the CIA for eight months in 1985 and was accused of being a double agent; and that he had never raised Contra trafficking when the DEA debriefed him in 1996. The Inspector General concluded his allegations "lack substantial force"; the CIA's inspectors said he could provide nothing to corroborate them. Miranda also said the Sandinistas asked him in 1981 to recruit Meneses for their drug operation and that Meneses declined, telling him he was already selling for the Contras with CIA support and that he stopped in September 1985.[^23][^8]
Miranda testified at the 1991 trial that Meneses financed the Contras with cocaine and that the Salvadoran Air Force landed his shipments at a Texas base. Webb relayed more: that cocaine from Colombia reached Costa Rican strips including the farm of the CIA-linked [[John Hull]], that [[Marcos Aguado]] and Meneses supervised loading at [[Ilopango Airbase]] onto aircraft of the Salvadoran Air Force and of [[Southern Air Transport]], and that guns went south and drugs north.[^22] Miranda told the Inspector General that his knowledge was all from Meneses and Aguado; that he said he had witnessed a shipment in Texas and, pressed, said he had not; that he had been paid about $3,500 a month by the CIA for eight months in 1985 and was accused of being a double agent; and that he had never raised Contra trafficking when the DEA debriefed him in 1996. The Inspector General concluded his allegations "lack substantial force"; the CIA's inspectors said he could provide nothing to corroborate them. Miranda also said the Sandinistas asked him in 1981 to recruit Meneses for their drug operation and that Meneses declined, telling him he was already selling for the Contras with CIA support and that he stopped in September 1985.[^8][^23]
The San Jose Mercury News reported on August 18, 1996 that at his 1991 trial Meneses testified that Aguado had sold him an auto transport trailer, which Meneses's men were stuffing with cocaine when Nicaraguan police arrived; Aguado was not charged, and the newspaper could not reach him. The newspaper also reported Meneses describing Aguado as one of his oldest friends, a Nicaraguan who worked for the Salvadoran air force high command.[^24] Webb put the trailer's price at $125,000 and wrote that Aguado, interviewed, denied knowing how Meneses would use it.[^25]
### CIA records and the arrangement of the claims
@ -135,7 +137,7 @@ The San Francisco DEA agent accused in 1985 told the Inspector General that Mene
### Family
Webb listed the nephews Guillermo, Jaime and Jairo Meneses as Bay Area traffickers, Jairo as the son of Edmundo and Blandón's partner in Nicaraguan hotels and casinos; the Justice Department's inspectors could not locate Jairo and received an unconfirmed report that he was killed in Nicaragua in 1991 or 1992.[^15][^5] Webb described Rafael Cornejo as a Bay Area distributor for Meneses since the mid-1970s, convicted of tax evasion in 1985 and indicted for cocaine trafficking in 1992, against whom Blandón later cooperated.[^3][^24] Webb listed [[Marcos Aguado]] as a CIA-trained pilot and business associate; the CIA's Inspector General recorded that Miranda's allegations about Aguado could not be supported.[^15][^14]
Webb listed the nephews Guillermo, Jaime and Jairo Meneses as Bay Area traffickers, Jairo as the son of Edmundo and Blandón's partner in Nicaraguan hotels and casinos; the Justice Department's inspectors could not locate Jairo and received an unconfirmed report that he was killed in Nicaragua in 1991 or 1992.[^5][^15] Webb described Rafael Cornejo as a Bay Area distributor for Meneses since the mid-1970s, convicted of tax evasion in 1985 and indicted for cocaine trafficking in 1992, against whom Blandón later cooperated.[^3][^26] Webb listed Marcos Aguado as a CIA-trained pilot and business associate; the CIA's Inspector General recorded that Miranda's allegations about Aguado could not be supported.[^14][^15]
### Footnotes
@ -162,4 +164,6 @@ Webb listed the nephews Guillermo, Jaime and Jairo Meneses as Bay Area trafficke
[^21]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Prologue: "It was like they didn't want to know." Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^22]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 13: "The wrong kind of friends." Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^23]: U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter VII (Enrique Miranda-Jaime), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch07.htm
[^24]: U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter II, section K (the 1992 San Diego prosecution of Blandon), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch02p6.htm
[^24]: San Jose Mercury News, August 18, 1996 (Gary Webb, "Testimony Links U.S. to Drugs-Guns Trade Dealers Got Their 'Own Little Arsenal,'" Dark Alliance series), https://people.duke.edu/~ldbaker/clippings/da1.html
[^25]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion* (Seven Stories Press, 1998), Chapter 13, "The wrong kind of friends," and Cast of Characters. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^26]: U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter II, section K (the 1992 San Diego prosecution of Blandon), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch02p6.htm

21
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Richard Helms.md
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
---
created: 2026-05-15
updated: 2026-09-21
updated: 2026-10-08
title: Richard Helms
aliases:
- Richard McGarrah Helms
@ -63,11 +63,21 @@ The CIA subsequently funded opposition media, political parties, and military fa
In February 1973, when Helms testified before the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] regarding CIA activities in Chile, he stated under oath that the CIA had not "tried to overthrow the government of Chile" and had not "passed money to the opponents of Allende." Both statements were false. The 1974 Pinochet coup and subsequent Church Committee investigation produced documentary evidence of both activities. In 1977, Helms was charged with two misdemeanor counts of making false and misleading statements to Congress. He pleaded no contest (nolo contendere) and was fined $2,000 with a two-year suspended sentence - the minimum possible consequence for what amounted to perjury before Congress. CIA veterans gave him a standing ovation in the courthouse corridor after sentencing.[^1]
### The Israeli estimate and the June 1967 warning
On May 25, 1967, Helms had the [[Office of National Estimates]] appraise an Israeli intelligence estimate within five hours. The appraisal stated: "We do not believe that the Israeli appreciation . . . was a serious estimate of the sort they would submit to their own high officials. We think it is probably a gambit intended to influence the US to do one or more of the following: (a) provide military supplies, (b) make more public commitments to Israel, (c) approve Israeli military initiatives, and (d) put more pressure on Nasser." [[David S. Robarge]], the CIA's chief historian, describes the Israeli paper as a [[Mossad]] estimate and writes that the Israelis may have been exploiting their special relationship with James Jesus Angleton.[^4][^5]
On June 1, 1967, Helms's deputy, Vice Admiral [[Rufus Taylor]], wrote the memorandum of the conversation between Major General [[Meir Amit]] and Secretary of Defense [[Robert S. McNamara]], captioned "Personal and Eyes Only for the Secretary of Defense and the Director of Central Intelligence."[^6] Robarge writes that Helms met a senior Israeli official on June 1 who hinted that Israel could no longer avoid a decision, that the official left the United States on June 2, and that that morning Helms wrote an "Eyes Only" letter to President Johnson forewarning that Israel probably would start a war within a few days.[^7] Helms was awakened at 3:00 a.m. on June 5 by a call from the CIA Operations Center. He recalled that "in the midst of one meeting" during the war Johnson asked how accurate his intelligence on the progress of the war was, and that he answered: "It's accurate just as long as the Israelis are winning."[^5]
### NUMEC letter, April 1968
On April 2, 1968, Helms wrote to Attorney General [[Ramsey Clark]] asking that the FBI "initiate a discreet intelligence investigation of an all source nature of Dr. Shapiro in order to establish the nature and extent of his relationship with the Government of Israel," and asked that the letter be returned to him once the Attorney General had acted, because the subject matter was "so sensitive for obvious reasons." A twelve-line passage before the request remains redacted.[^8] The subject was [[Zalman Mordecai Shapiro]] of the [[Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation]].
### Israel: The "Open Pipeline" Assessment
Helms developed a personal conviction, disclosed to his deputies, that Israel was providing American satellite intelligence to the [[Soviet Union]] as part of an undisclosed intelligence exchange - characterizing Israel as "an open pipeline for pumping intelligence to Moscow." He never officially reported this assessment or commissioned a formal investigation, and he took no documented action on it. His reluctance reflected both the sensitivity of accusing an ally and the particular weight of any assessment that ran against the interests managed by Angleton's [[KK MOUNTAIN]] Israeli liaison program.
When President Johnson sought an intelligence assessment of whether Israel had manufactured nuclear weapons, Helms provided the estimate (four warheads) and then obeyed Johnson's instruction that the finding be buried rather than formally reported. Johnson did not want intelligence conclusions that would require him to act on them politically. Helms's willingness to suppress an accurate intelligence product at presidential direction exemplified the institutional failure the Church Committee later documented.[^4]
When President Johnson sought an intelligence assessment of whether Israel had manufactured nuclear weapons, Helms provided the estimate (four warheads) and then obeyed Johnson's instruction that the finding be buried rather than formally reported. Johnson did not want intelligence conclusions that would require him to act on them politically. Helms's willingness to suppress an accurate intelligence product at presidential direction exemplified the institutional failure the Church Committee later documented.[^9]
### Iran, Retirement, and Memoirs
@ -80,4 +90,9 @@ He published his memoirs, *A Look Over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intell
[^1]: Powers, Thomas. *The Man Who Kept the Secrets: Richard Helms and the CIA.* Knopf, 1979 (the essential biography, based on extensive interviews). Church Committee (Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities). Final Report, S. Rept. 94-755, April 26, 1976.
[^2]: Church Committee. "Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders." Senate Report No. 94-465, 1975 (documents ZR/RIFLE and the failure to disclose to Warren Commission). Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis.* Little, Brown, 2017.
[^3]: John D. Marks, *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*. Times Books, 1979, Chapters 1, 4, 12.
[^4]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy.* Random House, 1991. Chapters 11, 14, 16.
[^4]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 61, Memorandum from Rostow to President Johnson, May 25, 1967, with attached CIA appraisal. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d61
[^5]: Robarge, David S. "Getting it Right: CIA Analysis of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War." *Studies in Intelligence* 49, no. 1 (March 2005). https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/CIA-Analysis-1967-War.pdf
[^6]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 124, Memorandum for the Record by Vice Admiral Rufus Taylor, June 1, 1967 (prepared June 2). https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d124
[^7]: Robarge, David S. "Getting it Right: CIA Analysis of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War." *Studies in Intelligence* 49, no. 1 (March 2005). https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/CIA-Analysis-1967-War.pdf For the June 1 to 2 meeting Robarge relies on published accounts, among them Michael B. Oren's, which rest on Amit's interviews and writings.
[^8]: National Security Archive, "The NUMEC Affair: Did Highly Enriched Uranium from the U.S. Aid Israel's Nuclear Weapons Program?" (November 2, 2016), Document 8, Letter from Richard Helms to Ramsey Clark, April 2, 1968 (ISCAP Appeal No. 2013-062). https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2016-11-02/numec-affair-did-highly-enriched-uranium-us-aid-israels-nuclear-weapons-program
[^9]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy.* Random House, 1991. Chapters 11, 14, 16.

12
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Richard Kahn.md
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@ -46,9 +46,9 @@ relations:
with: "[[Gordon Rhea]]"
reverse: true
role: "counsel in the territory's estate litigation"
fn: 14
fn: 16
created: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Richard D. Kahn is an accountant who was [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s longtime in-house accountant, treasurer and director of [[Southern Trust Company]] and of the Virgin Islands corporations that held Epstein's real estate, and, with the lawyer [[Darren Indyke]], co-executor of Epstein's estate and co-trustee of the 1953 Trust. The trust names Kahn to receive 25 million dollars, third in order of payment. The [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] government sued him personally in 2020, victims sued him and Indyke in a class action the estate agreed in February 2026 to settle for up to 35 million dollars, and in September 2026 federal prosecutors in Manhattan were reported to be investigating both men. Kahn and Indyke deny knowing of Epstein's sex trafficking or knowingly helping him.[^1][^2][^3][^4]
@ -77,11 +77,13 @@ In March 2019 Kahn took part in the exercise of warrants in the Israeli company
*[[The Daily Beast]]* reported in August 2020 that on the day after Epstein's death Kahn was photographed leaving the Manhattan townhouse with a bag that, according to a source close to him, contained Epstein's funeral clothes.[^13]
On May 16, 2014, Kahn wrote to [[Larry Visoski]]: "Can you poke around tonight about Black Diamond Trading as Danny says they are trying to buy Jet Center." He added, "They appear to be an nyc hedge fund with an office in stt as an EDC company as well," and asked, "who are principals? type of plane? tail? anything else relevant.."[^14] Kahn then forwarded the exchange to Epstein, writing that "these are the black diamond guys trying to buy aircraft," linking two pages of the website of [[Black Diamond Capital Management]], the firm of [[Stephen Deckoff]], and saying that "larry has obtained some good info on them." A reply from the account "jeffrey E." reads "yes why not?"[^15]
### Co-Executor
Kahn and Indyke filed Epstein's will for probate on August 15, 2019, valuing his Virgin Islands property at 577,672,654 dollars, and filed a Certificate of Trust for the 1953 Trust on August 26, 2019. Testifying to the [[House Oversight Committee]] on March 11, 2026, Kahn said: "I believe that Epstein envisioned me taking this role as co-executor and co-agent trustee ... would be many, many years of working. So if I was not in Epstein's Trust and I was a corporate trustee, I probably would have received an executor fee of $12 million for serving as co-executor and serving as co-trustee. So that could be the only reason why he left me such a large bequest." He testified that the estate spends 10 to 15 million dollars a year on legal and other fees and pays the co-executors' legal bills. The estate's assets fell from 655.1 million dollars at the end of 2019 to 107.6 million dollars by September 2026.[^1][^2]
The territory's action against the estate, Kahn, Indyke and the Epstein companies settled on December 1, 2022 for more than 105 million dollars in cash, half the proceeds of the sale of [[Little St. James]] and the return of more than 80 million dollars in tax benefits.[^5] In 2024 Governor Bryan appointed as attorney general [[Gordon Rhea]], who had represented Kahn in that litigation; Rhea said he would recuse himself from Epstein matters.[^14]
The territory's action against the estate, Kahn, Indyke and the Epstein companies settled on December 1, 2022 for more than 105 million dollars in cash, half the proceeds of the sale of [[Little St. James]] and the return of more than 80 million dollars in tax benefits.[^5] In 2024 Governor Bryan appointed as attorney general [[Gordon Rhea]], who had represented Kahn in that litigation; Rhea said he would recuse himself from Epstein matters.[^16]
### Victim Suits and Federal Investigation
@ -104,4 +106,6 @@ On September 23, 2026 the [[Washington Examiner]], citing a source familiar with
[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02634615, DataSet 11, email chain "Carbyne warrants" among Tomer Toor, NJF Capital, Darren Indyke and Jeffrey Epstein, February 28 to March 14, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02634615.pdf
[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01035810, DataSet 9, email from Richard Kahn to Jeffrey Epstein, "Fwd: Carbyne," March 15, 2019; EFTA02636176, DataSet 11, email from Jeffrey Epstein to Richard Kahn, "Re: CARBYNE," March 27, 2019. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01035810.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02636176.pdf
[^13]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA00163119, DataSet 9, press printout: Kate Briquelet and William Bredderman, "Jeffrey Epstein's Right-Hand Mystery Men: The Lawyer and the Accountant," *The Daily Beast,* August 30, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00163119.pdf
[^14]: Suzanne Carlson, "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender," *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026, https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html ; Suzanne Carlson, "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing," *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html
[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02383246, DataSet 11, email chain headed "Jeffrey Epstein," May 16, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02383246.pdf
[^15]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02583238, DataSet 11, email chain headed "Re: Barn," May 16, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02583238.pdf
[^16]: Suzanne Carlson, "Docs confirm Bryan pressed for special treatment of sex offender," *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 2, 2026, https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/docs-confirm-bryan-pressed-for-special-treatment-of-sex-offender/article_5e9483c9-38d2-406c-8bb0-e5757ce287f2.html ; Suzanne Carlson, "Bryan unapologetic for texts with Epstein, doubles down on denial of wrongdoing," *Virgin Islands Daily News,* March 3, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/bryan-unapologetic-for-texts-with-epstein-doubles-down-on-denial-of-wrongdoing/article_8bab46a1-6075-4c7c-abec-6efb19622e62.html

6
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Ronald Moultrie.md
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@ -9,7 +9,11 @@ summary: "In his testimony, Moultrie acknowledged the reality of UAP and the pot
### Congressional Testimony on UAP
In his testimony, Moultrie acknowledged the reality of UAP and the potential threat they pose to national security. However, he also stated that the [[Pentagon]] was unaware of UAP incursions near sensitive nuclear facilities, a statement that was contradicted by historical records. He also claimed that, other than the [[Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program]] (AATIP) and [[Project Blue Book]], there had been no other government programs to investigate UAP, a statement that has been challenged by whistleblowers who allege the existence of a long-standing "Legacy Program."[^1]
In his testimony, Moultrie acknowledged the reality of UAP and the potential threat they pose to national security. Asked about a reported incident at [[Malmstrom Air Force Base]], Moultrie passed the question to [[Scott Bray]], Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, who said: "That data is not within the holdings of the UAP Task Force." Bray said: "I have heard stories. I have not seen the official data on that," and "We have not looked at that incident."[^2] Asked about any initiatives between [[Project Blue Book]] and the [[Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program]] (AATIP), Moultrie said: "Not aware of anything that is official that was done in between those two," and "I haven't seen other documented studies that have been done by DOD in that regard." He said he was "not aware of any contractual programs that are focused on" UAP apart from "what we are doing in the Navy task force."[^2] Whistleblowers have alleged the existence of a long-standing "Legacy Program."[^1]
On the new office, Moultrie said: "The NDAA for fiscal year 2022 has helped us to establish a dedicated office to oversee processes and procedures for the timely collection, processing, analysis, and reporting of UAP-related data." He added that "we have, as of this week, picked the Director for that effort," and said the office's name "will likely change."[^2]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
[^2]: House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation, hearing "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," May 17, 2022, statements of Ronald S. Moultrie and Scott W. Bray, and question period. https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/114761/documents/HHRG-117-IG05-Transcript-20220517.pdf

2
10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Samuel Koslov.md
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@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ summary: "Samuel Koslov was a top scientist for the U.S."
Samuel Koslov was a top scientist for the [[U.S. Navy]] and the scientific assistant to the Secretary of the Navy. He became a central figure in the debate surrounding the [[Moscow Signal]] and its potential health effects, often publicly downplaying its dangers despite his involvement in classified research related to it[^1].
Koslov led the charge of those who insisted that the Moscow Signal was harmless, arguing that any reported issues were psychological trauma rather than physical effects. He stated, "The actual physical results were nonexistent, but the real psychological trauma (in this case in a group of well-educated and dedicated people) was sad and startling"[^1]. This view was in direct opposition to [[Richard S. Cesaro]] of [[Advanced Research Projects Agency|ARPA]], who believed the beams were harmful and could penetrate the human nervous system[^1].
Koslov led the charge of those who insisted that the Moscow Signal was harmless, arguing that any reported issues were psychological trauma rather than physical effects. He stated, "The actual physical results were nonexistent, but the real psychological trauma (in this case in a group of well-educated and dedicated people) was sad and startling"[^1]. This view was in direct opposition to [[Richard S. Cesaro]] of [[DARPA|ARPA]], who believed the beams were harmful and could penetrate the human nervous system[^1].
As a lead scientist on [[Project Pandora]], a classified, multiservice effort to duplicate the electromagnetic weapon of the Moscow Signal, Koslov was deeply engaged in research involving microwave beams. This project involved exposing primates and later unwitting sailors to microwave radiation[^1].

13
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Dean Rusk.md
View file

@ -9,12 +9,12 @@ tags:
- ColdWar
- Brazil
- Vietnam
summary: "Rockefeller Foundation president from 1952 to 1960 who became Secretary of State under Kennedy and Johnson, sealing the Foundation's pipeline into the State Department and overseeing the diplomatic side of the 1964 Brazil coup and the 1967 Bolivia operation against Che Guevara."
summary: "Rockefeller Foundation president from 1952 to 1960 and Secretary of State under Kennedy and Johnson, in office during the 1964 Brazil coup, the 1967 Bolivia operation and the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war."
born: 1909-02-09
died: 1994-12-20
location: Cherokee County, Georgia
created: 2026-06-12
updated: 2026-06-12
updated: 2026-10-08
---
David Dean Rusk (1909-1994) was [[Secretary of State]] under Presidents [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] from 1961 to 1969, and before that the president of the [[Rockefeller Foundation]] for most of the 1950s. His career embodied the revolving door between the Foundation's board and the upper reaches of US foreign policy, and as Secretary of State he handled the diplomacy of the Cold War interventions that run through the Rockefeller network's history in [[Latin America]], including the 1964 overthrow of Brazil's [[Joao Goulart]] and the 1967 hunt for [[Che Guevara]] in Bolivia.[^1]
@ -33,6 +33,12 @@ During the April 1961 [[Bay of Pigs invasion]], Rusk counseled caution. After th
In April 1967 Rusk convened a secret strategy session at the Pentagon on Bolivia with [[Walt Rostow]], William Bowdler, CIA Director [[Richard Helms]], and Southern Command chief General Robert Porter; that September, at the Punta del Este conference, he denounced Guevara's presence in Bolivia as a foreign invasion. A veteran of the [[Rockefeller Brothers Fund]]'s Special Studies Project, Rusk was a consistent advocate of counterinsurgency and of escalation in the [[Vietnam War]], a stance that drew him into a televised 1966 confrontation with Senator [[William Fulbright]] at the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]].[^5]
### The June 1967 crisis
In an appraisal of May 25, 1967, the CIA's [[Office of National Estimates]] stated: "We believe the Soviet aim is still to avoid military involvement and to give the US a black eye among the Arabs by identifying it with Israel." [[David S. Robarge]], the CIA's chief historian, writes that this judgment, which ran contrary to Tel Aviv's suspicions, caused Rusk to remark to Helms, "if this is a mistake, it's a beaut."[^6][^7]
Notes of the [[National Security Council]] Special Committee meeting of June 9, 1967, which list Rusk first among those present, record on the attack on the [[USS Liberty Incident|USS Liberty]], under the initials "DR": "Do what is normal. 1) Reparation. 2) Punish. 3) No repetition." The entry follows remarks by [[Clark Clifford]] that the attack should be handled "as if Arabs or USSR had done it," next to which the note-taker wrote: "President subscribed 100%."[^8]
### Footnotes
[^1]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, "David Dean Rusk (1909-1994)," Biographies of the Secretaries of State. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/rusk-david-dean
@ -40,3 +46,6 @@ In April 1967 Rusk convened a secret strategy session at the Pentagon on Bolivia
[^3]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 23; Ch. 24.
[^4]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 24; Ch. 29.
[^5]: Colby and Dennett, Ch. 33.
[^6]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 61, Memorandum from Rostow to President Johnson, May 25, 1967, with attached CIA appraisal, paragraph 8. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d61
[^7]: Robarge, David S. "Getting it Right: CIA Analysis of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War." *Studies in Intelligence* 49, no. 1 (March 2005). https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/CIA-Analysis-1967-War.pdf
[^8]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, vol. XIX, Document 236, Notes of a Meeting of the Special Committee of the National Security Council, June 9, 1967 (Saunders's handwritten notes). https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v19/d236

33
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Eden Pastora.md
View file

@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ aliases:
- Comandante Cero
- Commander Zero
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-05
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Military"
tags:
- Person
@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ relations:
start: 1983
end: 1987
role: "rent-free house in Costa Rica, two pickup trucks, cash"
fn: 7
fn: 10
- type: funded
with: "[[George Morales]]"
reverse: true
@ -64,19 +64,21 @@ Pastora joined the [[Sandinistas]] in the early 1970s and became famous when he
Pastora formed the Sandino Revolutionary Front (FRS) in early 1982 and allied it with other groups to form ARDE in September 1982; [[Fernando Chamorro|Fernando "El Negro" Chamorro]]'s [[UDN-FARN]] left the [[FDN]] to join him, Webb wrote, and Pastora publicly called the FDN "criminal mummies and gorillas."[^1][^5] [[Gary Webb]] wrote that the CIA officer [[Dewey Clarridge]] recruited him in 1981 to command the Southern Front.[^6] The CIA's Inspector General recorded that from early 1982 to mid-1984 Pastora was the main recipient of the funds the CIA channeled to Southern Front forces, that the appropriation ran out in August 1984, and that it replaced him as ARDE's military leader in July 1984; ARDE's spokesman attributed that to injuries from the May 1984 bomb attack and the CIA said his refusal to join forces with the Northern Front also undermined him. The Senate's Kerry subcommittee wrote that on May 30, 1984 he was wounded by a bomb at La Penca, Nicaragua, that according to ARDE officer Karol Prado aid from the United States was cut off that day, and that the CIA regarded him as "disruptive and unpredictable"; the bomb killed seven people, three of them journalists.[^1][^2][^4] The Inspector General listed the CIA's other reasons for ending the relationship: the poor performance of his fighters, counterintelligence concerns about his contacts with the Sandinistas in Managua, and the congressional restrictions that took effect in October 1984.[^1]
By September 1984 the CIA recorded [[Marcos Aguado]] as Chief of Air Operations for the FRS and ARDE and as Pastora's personal pilot. A December 1984 cable reported that Pastora had designated Aguado "one of his 18 commandantes, to be in charge of air operations and logistics at Ilopango," and said that Aguado "may very well be actively participating in alleged narcotics activities . . . or at least aware of such activities." In July 1987 Aguado asked, through [[Octaviano Cesar]], to give the CIA information tying Pastora to "past drug trafficking"; the station declined to meet him on counterintelligence grounds and passed the matter to the local DEA office.[^7] The Senate subcommittee called Aguado "Eden Pastora's air force chief." In an October 31, 1987 deposition in San José, Aguado said that traffickers "took advantage of the anti-Communist sentiment which existed in Central America" and "undoubtedly used it for drug trafficking."[^8][^9]
### Morales
In October 1984 the CIA began receiving reports that Pastora's associates had agreed to help the Miami-based trafficker Jorge Morales bring drugs into the United States in return for material and financial help. The State Department's July 1986 report to Congress said a senior member of the FRS agreed late in 1984 that FRS pilots would fly narcotics from South America to sites in Costa Rica and Nicaragua; Morales gave the FRS a C-47 and two crated helicopters and about $100,000.[^2] A November 1984 cable reported that Pastora, Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro and Roberto Chamorro were traveling to Miami to meet Morales, that Morales had transferred about $30,000 to an ARDE account, and that two ARDE pilots, including Gerardo Duran, were there for a flight for Morales. A December 1984 cable said Pastora met Morales and did not like his "pressuring him to immediately meet [Pastora's] end of their arrangement, which is providing pilots and operational facilities in Costa Rica for Morales' drug operations." The CIA disseminated this to thirteen senior government officials in a December 1984 sensitive memorandum and briefed the DEA and the U.S. Attorney's office in Miami on December 6; its representatives told the House intelligence committee in January 1985 that members of Pastora's organization had agreed, "either with Pastora's direct knowledge or tacit approval," to supply pilots and landing strips to a Miami-based Colombian drug dealer.[^1] Pastora told the Inspector General that he did not know Morales was a trafficker until October 1984, ended the arrangement in January 1985 when he realized the political cost, and returned the planes; Popo Chamorro said Pastora learned of it only after the October meetings and his own December meeting with Morales; Pastora said Morales also gave him about $40,000, and he listed about $20,000 from a Cuban, about $40,000 and two helicopters from Leo Fernandez, and about $25,000 from [[Manuel Noriega]].[^1][^7] Morales testified to the Kerry subcommittee that he hoped helping the Contras would get his indictment dropped because of their CIA contacts.[^2]
In October 1984 the CIA began receiving reports that Pastora's associates had agreed to help the Miami-based trafficker Jorge Morales bring drugs into the United States in return for material and financial help. The State Department's July 1986 report to Congress said a senior member of the FRS agreed late in 1984 that FRS pilots would fly narcotics from South America to sites in Costa Rica and Nicaragua; Morales gave the FRS a C-47 and two crated helicopters and about $100,000.[^2] A November 1984 cable reported that Pastora, Adolfo "Popo" Chamorro and Roberto Chamorro were traveling to Miami to meet Morales, that Morales had transferred about $30,000 to an ARDE account, and that two ARDE pilots, including Gerardo Duran, were there for a flight for Morales. A December 1984 cable said Pastora met Morales and did not like his "pressuring him to immediately meet [Pastora's] end of their arrangement, which is providing pilots and operational facilities in Costa Rica for Morales' drug operations." The CIA disseminated this to thirteen senior government officials in a December 1984 sensitive memorandum and briefed the DEA and the U.S. Attorney's office in Miami on December 6; its representatives told the House intelligence committee in January 1985 that members of Pastora's organization had agreed, "either with Pastora's direct knowledge or tacit approval," to supply pilots and landing strips to a Miami-based Colombian drug dealer.[^1] Pastora told the Inspector General that he did not know Morales was a trafficker until October 1984, ended the arrangement in January 1985 when he realized the political cost, and returned the planes; Popo Chamorro said Pastora learned of it only after the October meetings and his own December meeting with Morales; Pastora said Morales also gave him about $40,000, and he listed about $20,000 from a Cuban, about $40,000 and two helicopters from Leo Fernandez, and about $25,000 from [[Manuel Noriega]].[^1][^10] Morales testified to the Kerry subcommittee that he hoped helping the Contras would get his indictment dropped because of their CIA contacts.[^2]
Further reports followed. A Sandinista radio broadcast in February 1985 said Pastora's associates were building landing strips in Guanacaste for drug flights; an April 1985 cable named Duran and David Mayorga as owners of an air company said to hide cocaine in yucca shipments, with a plane belonging to Pastora and ARDE; a December 1985 cable said a Panamanian with business ties to Noriega, Cesar Rodriguez, was gathering money for Pastora, and in June 1986 the CIA was told Pastora accepted $10,000 from Rodriguez during a trip to Panama; and a January 1986 cable reported that a Costa Rican associate had 200 kilograms of cocaine he wished to use to help finance Pastora's activities. A February 1986 cable asked for an interagency review of the evidence on David Mayorga, one of Pastora's closest advisers, and noted that it "needs to be made available to those still bent on seeing that [Pastora] is given . . . funding"; the Inspector General found no record that the review took place. In March 1986 a CIA station chief wrote that the Southern Front structure was "too badly penetrated by Sandinistas and too many of the players have been associated with narcotics smuggling."[^1] [[Marcos Aguado]], Pastora's pilot and, in Pastora's words, his son-in-law, was among those named by [[Robert Owen]] as involved in trafficking, and Prado told the Kerry subcommittee that the allegations against Pastora's group were a CIA effort to discredit him; the subcommittee could not validate Owen's claims.[^2][^1]
Further reports followed. A Sandinista radio broadcast in February 1985 said Pastora's associates were building landing strips in Guanacaste for drug flights; an April 1985 cable named Duran and David Mayorga as owners of an air company said to hide cocaine in yucca shipments, with a plane belonging to Pastora and ARDE; a December 1985 cable said a Panamanian with business ties to Noriega, Cesar Rodriguez, was gathering money for Pastora, and in June 1986 the CIA was told Pastora accepted $10,000 from Rodriguez during a trip to Panama; and a January 1986 cable reported that a Costa Rican associate had 200 kilograms of cocaine he wished to use to help finance Pastora's activities. A February 1986 cable asked for an interagency review of the evidence on David Mayorga, one of Pastora's closest advisers, and noted that it "needs to be made available to those still bent on seeing that [Pastora] is given . . . funding"; the Inspector General found no record that the review took place. In March 1986 a CIA station chief wrote that the Southern Front structure was "too badly penetrated by Sandinistas and too many of the players have been associated with narcotics smuggling."[^1] Marcos Aguado, Pastora's pilot and, in Pastora's words, his son-in-law, was among those named by [[Robert Owen]] as involved in trafficking, and Prado told the Kerry subcommittee that the allegations against Pastora's group were a CIA effort to discredit him; the subcommittee could not validate Owen's claims.[^1][^2]
The CIA's Central American Task Force chief, [[Alan Fiers]], testified to the Iran-Contra committees on August 5, 1987 that "we knew that everybody around Pastora was involved in cocaine. His staff and friends . . . they were drug smugglers or involved in drug smuggling." He told the Senate intelligence committee on July 31, 1987 that the CIA had no knowledge that Pastora was directly involved in the Morales deal but had "a significant body of evidence" that Pastora's people were directly involved in cocaine trafficking to the United States, and said on October 14, 1987, as Pastora planned to return to Nicaragua, "This guy is a cocaine runner. Period. He ran cocaine." In January 1988 he told Senator Bill Bradley that "Pastora had been involved with a Colombian trafficker, but the FDN was clean."[^8][^1] Webb wrote that the CIA station chief [[Joseph Fernandez]] disputed Pastora's claim of a CIA plot, that CIA files showed the agency passed the drug reporting about Pastora to a wide range of officials in contrast to its silence about the FDN and UDN-FARN, and that after an Associated Press story in late 1985 Pastora quit within months.[^3] The CIA's Inspector General recorded that he left ARDE in 1986 and withdrew from the war; the Associated Press reported that he then ran a fishing cooperative in Costa Rica.[^1][^4]
The CIA's Central American Task Force chief, [[Alan Fiers]], testified to the Iran-Contra committees on August 5, 1987 that "we knew that everybody around Pastora was involved in cocaine. His staff and friends . . . they were drug smugglers or involved in drug smuggling." He told the Senate intelligence committee on July 31, 1987 that the CIA had no knowledge that Pastora was directly involved in the Morales deal but had "a significant body of evidence" that Pastora's people were directly involved in cocaine trafficking to the United States, and said on October 14, 1987, as Pastora planned to return to Nicaragua, "This guy is a cocaine runner. Period. He ran cocaine." In January 1988 he told Senator Bill Bradley that "Pastora had been involved with a Colombian trafficker, but the FDN was clean."[^1][^11] Webb wrote that the CIA station chief [[Joseph Fernandez]] disputed Pastora's claim of a CIA plot, that CIA files showed the agency passed the drug reporting about Pastora to a wide range of officials in contrast to its silence about the FDN and UDN-FARN, and that after an Associated Press story in late 1985 Pastora quit within months.[^3] The CIA's Inspector General recorded that he left ARDE in 1986 and withdrew from the war; the Associated Press reported that he then ran a fishing cooperative in Costa Rica.[^1][^4]
### Blandon, Meneses and the California circle
The Justice Department and CIA inspectors recorded the money [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] gave him and disagree about its source and meaning. Blandón said he let Pastora live rent-free in a house he owned in Costa Rica from about 1983 or 1984 to 1987, gave him about $9,000 in 1985 or 1986 "for personal use," from his legitimate businesses, and gave him two cars; he told the Justice Department's inspectors that Pastora "didn't want to know" about the source and that he never told him he dealt drugs. Pastora told the Senate intelligence committee on November 26, 1996 that Blandón gave him $3,000 twice between 1985 and 1987 and two pickup trucks, that he met Blandón three or four times, and that he knew nothing of the trafficking until Blandón's 1992 arrest; he told the CIA's inspectors Blandón gave about $6,000 and the housing and that the trucks were worth about $1,500 each. Blandón estimated the total at about $30,000, including the housing. The DEA informant DEA CI-1 told the Inspectors General that Pastora and Adolfo Calero "lied" in congressional hearings in denying they knew Meneses, Blandón and Torres; Pastora testified that he met [[Norwin Meneses]] in 1979 and by chance in Costa Rica around 1988.[^9][^7] An informant told the FBI that Pastora met Blandón in Miami in January 1985 seeking cocaine funds for Contra operations; LA CI-1 told the Inspector General he meant the funds were cocaine money, not that Pastora knew it, and that Blandón, drunk at a Miami party, produced no money. The Rolodex from Blandón's car lot listed a number for Pastora in Costa Rica.[^10][^11][^9] In the January 1987 Operation Perico reports, DEA CI-1 recorded that Blandón's organization had given Pastora weapons until two years earlier, that Pastora lived in a Blandón house, and, separately, that Pastora lived in Meneses's house in Costa Rica and told Meneses he wanted to enter cocaine trafficking to funnel money to the Contras and asked Meneses to find a buyer for a DC-3 at Ilopango, with Aguado as his representative in El Salvador.[^12] Webb wrote that Pastora got money and trucks from Blandón and that the physician Felix Saborio, a Blandón friend, became his Cuban-community liaison in Miami and an ARDE fundraiser; Pastora said of both, "Blandón and Saborio . . . both vanished from my ranks when it became clear that I was not willing to march to the tune of the CIA."[^3]
The Justice Department and CIA inspectors recorded the money [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]] gave him and disagree about its source and meaning. Blandón said he let Pastora live rent-free in a house he owned in Costa Rica from about 1983 or 1984 to 1987, gave him about $9,000 in 1985 or 1986 "for personal use," from his legitimate businesses, and gave him two cars; he told the Justice Department's inspectors that Pastora "didn't want to know" about the source and that he never told him he dealt drugs. Pastora told the Senate intelligence committee on November 26, 1996 that Blandón gave him $3,000 twice between 1985 and 1987 and two pickup trucks, that he met Blandón three or four times, and that he knew nothing of the trafficking until Blandón's 1992 arrest; he told the CIA's inspectors Blandón gave about $6,000 and the housing and that the trucks were worth about $1,500 each. Blandón estimated the total at about $30,000, including the housing. The DEA informant DEA CI-1 told the Inspectors General that Pastora and Adolfo Calero "lied" in congressional hearings in denying they knew Meneses, Blandón and Torres; Pastora testified that he met [[Norwin Meneses]] in 1979 and by chance in Costa Rica around 1988.[^10][^12] An informant told the FBI that Pastora met Blandón in Miami in January 1985 seeking cocaine funds for Contra operations; LA CI-1 told the Inspector General he meant the funds were cocaine money, not that Pastora knew it, and that Blandón, drunk at a Miami party, produced no money. The Rolodex from Blandón's car lot listed a number for Pastora in Costa Rica.[^12][^13][^14] In the January 1987 Operation Perico reports, DEA CI-1 recorded that Blandón's organization had given Pastora weapons until two years earlier, that Pastora lived in a Blandón house, and, separately, that Pastora lived in Meneses's house in Costa Rica and told Meneses he wanted to enter cocaine trafficking to funnel money to the Contras and asked Meneses to find a buyer for a DC-3 at Ilopango, with Aguado as his representative in El Salvador.[^15] Webb wrote that Pastora got money and trucks from Blandón and that the physician Felix Saborio, a Blandón friend, became his Cuban-community liaison in Miami and an ARDE fundraiser; Pastora said of both, "Blandón and Saborio . . . both vanished from my ranks when it became clear that I was not willing to march to the tune of the CIA."[^3]
Webb also relayed that Pastora visited Blandón's silk-screen shop in Los Angeles in 1982, where T-shirts with his likeness were printed, and a *San Francisco Chronicle* report in 1994 that he attended a weapons demonstration at a firing range near the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]] in 1981, a claim Webb wrote Pastora both confirmed and denied.[^13] Blandón said he arranged a presentation by [[Ronald Lister]] of weapons for Contra leaders including Pastora and Adolfo Chamorro, who showed no interest; a handwritten note seized from Lister's home in 1986 listed the names of several CIA officers working with Pastora's ARDE, Webb wrote.[^7][^3]
Webb also relayed that Pastora visited Blandón's silk-screen shop in Los Angeles in 1982, where T-shirts with his likeness were printed, and a *San Francisco Chronicle* report in 1994 that he attended a weapons demonstration at a firing range near the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]] in 1981, a claim Webb wrote Pastora both confirmed and denied.[^16] Blandón said he arranged a presentation by [[Ronald Lister]] of weapons for Contra leaders including Pastora and Adolfo Chamorro, who showed no interest; a handwritten note seized from Lister's home in 1986 listed the names of several CIA officers working with Pastora's ARDE, Webb wrote.[^3][^10]
### Later years
@ -90,10 +92,13 @@ Webb wrote that Pastora said the CIA had targeted him after he refused to merge
[^4]: Associated Press, "Eden Pastora, Nicaraguan revolutionary, dead at 83," June 16, 2020, https://www.news4jax.com/news/2020/06/16/eden-pastora-nicarguan-revolutionary-dead-at-83/
[^5]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 5: "God, Fatherland and Freedom." Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^6]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Cast of Characters. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^7]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Inspector General, *Report of Investigation: Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States (96-0143-IG)*, Volume I: The California Story, January 29, 1998, Findings (Ross, Blandon, Meneses), https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine/findings1.html
[^8]: U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy* (the Kerry report), December 1988, p. 38, quoting the August 5, 1987 testimony of the CIA Central American Task Force chief before the Iran-Contra Committees, https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter IV, section B (OIG investigation regarding support of the Contras by Blandon and Meneses), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch04p2.htm
[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: A Review of the Justice Department's Investigations and Prosecutions* (December 1997, released July 1998), Chapter II (Oscar Danilo Blandon), sections A-D, https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch02p1.htm
[^11]: U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter IV, section A (sources of the allegations), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch04p1.htm
[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter II, section G (the 1987 Los Angeles OCDETF investigation), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch02p4.htm
[^13]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty." Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^7]: CIA Inspector General, *Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States*, Volume II (October 8, 1998), Marcos Antonio Aguado section of the Southern Front chapter, https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine2/south.html
[^8]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy*, S. Prt. 100-165 (December 1988), pp. 37, 50 to 52, https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
[^9]: U.S. Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy: The Cartel, Haiti and Central America*, Part 3, hearing of April 7, 1988, testimony of Jorge Morales (pp. 297 to 300) and videotaped depositions of October 31, 1987, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152832_0005. Gary Webb, in Dark Alliance (1998), dates the "CIA agents" statement to 1986 congressional testimony, and his chapter notes give April 7, 1986 and March 27, 1987.
[^10]: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Inspector General, *Report of Investigation: Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States (96-0143-IG)*, Volume I: The California Story, January 29, 1998, Findings (Ross, Blandon, Meneses), https://irp.fas.org/cia/product/cocaine/findings1.html
[^11]: U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, *Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy* (the Kerry report), December 1988, p. 38, quoting the August 5, 1987 testimony of the CIA Central American Task Force chief before the Iran-Contra Committees, https://archive.org/details/Kerry-Report-Drugs-Contras
[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter IV, section B (OIG investigation regarding support of the Contras by Blandon and Meneses), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch04p2.htm
[^13]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: A Review of the Justice Department's Investigations and Prosecutions* (December 1997, released July 1998), Chapter II (Oscar Danilo Blandon), sections A-D, https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch02p1.htm
[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter IV, section A (sources of the allegations), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch04p1.htm
[^15]: U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, *The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy* (December 1997), Chapter II, section G (the 1987 Los Angeles OCDETF investigation), https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/archive/special/9712/ch02p4.htm
[^16]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty." Sole source for the passages so cited.

10
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Garry Reid.md
View file

@ -13,9 +13,17 @@ According to Elizondo, Garry Reid was part of a hostile leadership environment w
Following Elizondo's public disclosure of AATIP, Elizondo wrote that Reid launched a "scorched-earth" campaign against him. This included seizing his computers and files, questioning his former employees, and launching a criminal inquiry with the Air Force [[Office of Special Investigations]] (AFOSI) into the release of the three UAP videos. This investigation ultimately found no wrongdoing on Elizondo's part. Reid was also allegedly responsible for the Pentagon's public statements that falsely denied Elizondo's involvement with AATIP.[^1]
### Information memoranda on Elizondo and AATIP
An information memorandum headed "FROM: Garry Reid, Director for Defense Intelligence, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence" answers six questions from the Secretary of Defense about Luis Elizondo and the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). It states that Elizondo "has provided three different explanations for his sudden resignation," and: "To the best of my knowledge, he had no job responsibilities related to the AATIP. The AATIP was terminated in 2012."[^2]
The memorandum gives Elizondo's assignment to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence as September 28, 2008 to October 4, 2017, and records that he submitted a resignation letter on October 3, 2017 requesting immediate termination of his employment. It states that the Office of Special Investigations was conducting an inquiry to determine whether Elizondo mishandled classified information, and that its informal assessment "did not find any wrongdoing by Mr. Elizondo."[^2] A second memorandum, "Update on Media Reporting Related to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program," refers to events of December 2017 and states that Elizondo "affirms his alleged role in leading the AATIP program" in a television interview.[^2]
### Inspector General Investigation
Garry Reid was the subject of a [[Department of Defense]] Inspector General (IG) investigation into numerous allegations, including maintaining an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, sexual harassment, and fostering a hostile work environment. The IG eventually concluded that Reid had violated Joint Ethics Regulations. He was later reassigned from the OUSD(I) to the DIA as a "special advisor."[^1]
Garry Reid was the subject of a Department of Defense Inspector General (IG) investigation into numerous allegations, including maintaining an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, sexual harassment, and fostering a hostile work environment. The IG eventually concluded that Reid had violated Joint Ethics Regulations. He was later reassigned from the OUSD(I) to the DIA as a "special advisor."[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
[^2]: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, information memoranda, "Response to Your Questions on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) and Actions of Former DoD Employee Luis Elizondo," from Garry Reid, Director for Defense Intelligence, and "Update on Media Reporting Related to the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program," both undated, with Elizondo's resignation letter of October 3, 2017 at Tab B. https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/FOID/Reading%20Room/UFOsandUAPs/18-F-0324_Docs.pdf

33
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Harold Okimoto.md
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@ -1,16 +1,37 @@
---
aliases:
- Harold Tadao Okimoto
category: "Organized Crime"
tags:
- Person
- OrganizedCrime
summary: "Okimoto's company, Island Tobacco, was said to sell cigarettes at the Casino du Liban, which was controlled by the Syrian mob and used as a front by narcotics people.[1]"
- Yakuza
- Hawaii
- TheOctopus
summary: "Honolulu businessman whom Robert Booth Nichols listed as a former employer, whose address an FBI wiretap affidavit tied to Nichols in 1987, and whom Spy's sources called a high-ranking Yakuza figure."
relations:
- type: director_of
with: "[[Meridian International Logistics]]"
role: "director of the subsidiary Meridian Arms, per Seymour 1992 (sole source)"
fn: 5
updated: 2026-10-08
---
[[Harold Okimoto]] is a figure linked to [[Robert Booth Nichols]] and alleged organized crime activities, particularly the [[Yakuza]]. He is described as a 67-year-old car dealer in Hawaii and believed by some sources to be a top Japanese organized crime figure based in Hawaii, acting as a top agent in the [[Yakuza]] overseas.[1]
Harold Okimoto is a figure linked to [[Robert Booth Nichols]] and alleged organized crime activities, particularly the [[Yakuza]]. He is described as a 67-year-old car dealer in Hawaii and believed by some sources to be a top Japanese organized crime figure based in Hawaii, acting as a top agent in the Yakuza overseas.[^1]
[[Michael Riconosciuto]] claimed that [[Robert Booth Nichols]] was under Okimoto's influence and referred to Nichols as Okimoto's "god-son." Okimoto was also represented as an intelligence person who had worked under [[Frank Carlucci]] for years, and reportedly performed services for the [[United States|U.S. government]] during [[World War II]], for which he was rewarded.[1]
[[Michael Riconosciuto]] claimed that Nichols was under Okimoto's influence and referred to Nichols as Okimoto's "god-son." Okimoto was also represented as an intelligence person who had worked under [[Frank Carlucci]] for years, and reportedly performed services for the [[United States|U.S. government]] during [[World War II]], for which he was rewarded.[^1]
The writer Cheri Seymour wrote that Okimoto's company, [[Island Tobacco]], sold cigarettes at the Casino du Liban, which was controlled by the [[Syria|Syrian]] mob and used as a front by narcotics people.[1]
The writer Cheri Seymour wrote that Okimoto's company, [[Island Tobacco]], sold cigarettes at the Casino du Liban, which was controlled by the [[Syria|Syrian]] mob and used as a front by narcotics people.[^1]
### FBI Affidavit and Hawaii Registrations
The 1987 continuation wiretap affidavit of the FBI agent [[Thomas Gates]] states that a Hawaii-plated car seen after [[Eugene Giaquinto]]'s July 15, 1987 meeting was registered to [[Wells Fargo]] at a Honolulu residential address where a Harold Tadao Okimoto lived, which was also the address Nichols gave at his 1985 arrest; that Honolulu police records showed Okimoto arrested for gambling in 1977; and that Hawaii motor-vehicle records showed more than fifty vehicles registered to Wells Fargo Bank at different residences, while the bank had no auto-leasing business or banking facilities in Hawaii under that name. Gates wrote that the registration method led him to believe "some type of covert activity may be involved."[^2] On July 27, 1987 Nichols gave Giaquinto the same Hawaii telephone number he had given at his 1985 arrest, saying "Harold (possibly Okimoto)" would have a tape put on the answering machine.[^2]
[[Peter Zokosky]] told Seymour and [[Kelly O'Meara]] in 2001 that Nichols had once been caught stealing from Okimoto in Hawaii, after which Okimoto brought him into his business. Seymour summarized a December 2, 1982 FBI Los Angeles report as stating that Okimoto took Nichols "under his wing" in Honolulu and had reportedly been involved in racketeering since 1962.[^3] John Connolly reported in [[Spy (magazine)|Spy]] in January 1993 that Nichols listed Okimoto as a former employer on a weapons-permit application and that intelligence sources believed Okimoto a high-ranking member of the Yakuza.[^4] Seymour's 1992 VORTEX account lists Okimoto among the directors of Meridian Arms, the subsidiary of [[Meridian International Logistics]].[^5]
---
### Footnotes
[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.
[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^2]: 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." https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (file Gates.pdf), paragraphs 46 and 84.
[^3]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010, chapter 22. Sole source.
[^4]: Connolly, John. "The Story That Killed Danny Casolaro." *Spy,* January 1993. https://archive.org/details/SpyMagazine
[^5]: Seymour, Cheri. "VORTEX," diary dated February 24, 1992, p. 11. https://archive.org/details/VORTEXDocument

2
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Igor Smirnov.md
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@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ Weinberger reported in 2007 that the movement of Smirnov's technology toward the
### March 1993: Virginia and Waco
*Defense Electronics* reported in July 1993 that "in a series of closed meetings beginning March 17 in suburban Northern Virginia with Dr. Igor Smirnov of the Moscow Medical Academy, FBI officials were briefed" on his decade of research, "a few weeks before" the April 19 fire at Waco. An unnamed participant said "it was suggested to us [by other federal officials] that they bring in the FBI, which was looking for a viable option to deal with Koresh." The account, which the article said was confirmed by an executive summary memorandum of [[Psychotechnologies Corp.]], a Richmond, Virginia firm owning the American rights to the technology, described the siege as "an ongoing domestic hostage situation." After several meetings the FBI officials, who "repeatedly expressed fears" that [[David Koresh]] and his followers were suicidal, asked for a proposal describing requirements and procedures for use at Waco. "They wanted the Russians to promise zero risk," the participant said, "but the Russians wouldn't do that"; and Smirnov had brought only "entry-level equipment," with more sophisticated hardware to be "rushed over from Russia." Officials of the CIA, the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] and the [[Advanced Research Projects Agency]] were also present, according to the source; spokesmen for those agencies did not return calls.[^2]
*Defense Electronics* reported in July 1993 that "in a series of closed meetings beginning March 17 in suburban Northern Virginia with Dr. Igor Smirnov of the Moscow Medical Academy, FBI officials were briefed" on his decade of research, "a few weeks before" the April 19 fire at Waco. An unnamed participant said "it was suggested to us [by other federal officials] that they bring in the FBI, which was looking for a viable option to deal with Koresh." The account, which the article said was confirmed by an executive summary memorandum of [[Psychotechnologies Corp.]], a Richmond, Virginia firm owning the American rights to the technology, described the siege as "an ongoing domestic hostage situation." After several meetings the FBI officials, who "repeatedly expressed fears" that [[David Koresh]] and his followers were suicidal, asked for a proposal describing requirements and procedures for use at Waco. "They wanted the Russians to promise zero risk," the participant said, "but the Russians wouldn't do that"; and Smirnov had brought only "entry-level equipment," with more sophisticated hardware to be "rushed over from Russia." Officials of the CIA, the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] and the [[DARPA|Advanced Research Projects Agency]] were also present, according to the source; spokesmen for those agencies did not return calls.[^2]
Non-military attendees at the Virginia meetings and at a series of later briefings by "the two Russians" at the [[University of Kansas Medical Center]] in [[Topeka]] included [[Richard Nakamura]] of the [[National Institute of Mental Health]] and "Dr. Christopher Green, director of General Motors Corp. (GM) biomedical research department in [[Detroit]]." A GM spokesman said Green attended in his capacity as a member of a National Academy of Sciences panel on 21st-century Army technologies and that "this has no connection to anything being done by GM." Dr. [[Fowler Jones]] of the University of Kansas Medical Center's psychology division said the session was "really more of a presentation than an actual demonstration because, unfortunately, a lot of the software we couldn't get going," and that he and colleagues were seeking funding to test the technology in the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions.[^2] The Green named in the article is identified in the page for [[Kit Green]].

47
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Jay Stratton.md
View file

@ -8,24 +8,24 @@ relations:
with: "[[Defense Intelligence Agency]]"
start: 2009
role: "AAWSAP and AATIP investigator and recruiter of Elizondo; in Elizondo's account helped create AAWSAP, wrote the report on the 2004 Nimitz encounter and the OPLAN Interloper proposal"
fn: 2
fn: 5
- type: director_of
with: "[[UAP Task Force]]"
role: "first director, per Elizondo, after the Secretary of Defense announced the task force"
fn: 5
fn: 8
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Radiance Technologies]]"
start: 2022-05-12
role: "subject matter expert for intelligence strategy, member of the chief executive's strategy team, per the company release of May 12, 2022"
fn: 6
updated: 2026-10-03
fn: 9
updated: 2026-10-08
summary: "In early 2009, Jay Stratton, along with a colleague, approached Luis Elizondo to recruit him for a highly classified program at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)."
---
[[Jay Stratton]] is a former US Navy intelligence officer who played a crucial role in the [[Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program]] (AATIP) and later became the first director of the [[UAP Task Force]]. He was instrumental in recruiting [[Luis Elizondo]] into the UAP investigation effort and was a key investigator and strategist throughout the process.[^1]
### Recruitment of Luis Elizondo
In early 2009, Jay Stratton, along with a colleague, approached [[Luis Elizondo]] to recruit him for a highly classified program at the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] (DIA). Stratton, who Elizondo pegged as a fellow special operator, explained that the program, initially known as [[AAWSAP]], was focused on "unconventional technologies" and required a senior intelligence officer to handle counterintelligence and security.[^1]
In early 2009, Jay Stratton, along with a colleague, approached Luis Elizondo to recruit him for a highly classified program at the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] (DIA). Stratton, who Elizondo pegged as a fellow special operator, explained that the program, initially known as [[AAWSAP]], was focused on "unconventional technologies" and required a senior intelligence officer to handle counterintelligence and security.[^1]
### Role in AATIP
@ -35,26 +35,39 @@ When AATIP faced internal opposition and lost its funding, Stratton worked with
### UAP Task Force
After Elizondo's resignation from the Pentagon, Stratton remained in the government and was tasked by Navy intelligence leadership to build a whole-of-government interagency task force to continue the UAP investigation. This effort, which he built from the ground up, became the Pentagon's [[UAP Task Force]], and Stratton was named its first director. In this role, he continued to push the UAP issue forward within the government, briefing members of Congress and the [[White House]] [[National Security Council]], and laying the groundwork for future legislative action.[^1]
After Elizondo's resignation from the Pentagon, Stratton remained in the government and was tasked by Navy intelligence leadership to build a whole-of-government interagency task force to continue the UAP investigation. This effort, which he built from the ground up, became the Pentagon's UAP Task Force, and Stratton was named its first director. In this role, he continued to push the UAP issue forward within the government, briefing members of Congress and the [[White House]] [[National Security Council]], and laying the groundwork for future legislative action.[^1]
### Charter and the 2021 briefing title
The charter of the task force, dated September 1, 2020 and issued by the [[Naval Intelligence Activity]], states that "Leadership of the Task Force will be designated by the Director of the Naval Intelligence Activity."[^2] The title slide of a briefing for the [[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]] dated May 17, 2021 carries the title Director, UAP Task Force, Naval Intelligence Activity, without printing a name.[^3]
### The triangular photograph
In December 2020 [[The Debrief]] reported a photograph of a triangular object rising from the ocean, attributed to an F/A-18 pilot. Emails of December 3 and 4, 2020, released under FOIA case 21-F-0299, include a message from the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations office to [[Susan Gough]] that reads "Jay [Stratton] tells me the photo is part of the active investigation, so it would probably be withheld from release for that reason."[^4]
In a statement to [[The Black Vault]], Stratton said: "At the time of this email exchange, the story in The Debrief, and the claim that an F/A-18 pilot had provided a photograph of a triangle emerging from the ocean, I was handling multiple cases." He added: "We had photographs from F/A-18 pilots, instances of UAP that appeared triangular/pyramidal, and other unrelated cases." The Black Vault reported that no such photograph "was ever received by the UAPTF." Asked why he did not correct the record, Stratton said: "Keep in mind that's an email on an unclassified system. I don't recall if I corrected it on a separate system at the time, but generally, there was no formal process for publicly addressing inaccuracies related to potentially classified reporting."[^4]
### Stratton in Elizondo's account
Elizondo described Stratton in early 2009 as "a serious male in his midthirties," who "helped create something called the AAWSAP," and who with a colleague he calls "[[Rosemary Caine]]" arrived at his Arlington office wearing blue credentials identifying them as government intelligence officials.[^2] He wrote that Stratton "investigated the incident before I joined the team" and "had written a detailed AAWSAP/AATIP report" on the Nimitz encounter of November 2004, and that pilots later told Stratton they had been debriefed by intelligence officers and saw no follow-up.[^3] He wrote that Stratton drafted the operation plan "Interloper," "a classic 'honey pot,'" with dates, call signs, ship names and radar data, which the Joint Staff declined to give a compartment designation in late 2016, and that Stratton proposed the term unidentified aerial phenomena in place of UFO.[^4] After the resignation, Elizondo wrote, Stratton fielded briefing requests from members of Congress, Navy intelligence leadership tasked him with building a whole-of-government task force with members from the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], the [[National Reconnaissance Office]], [[NASA]] and the Federal Aviation Administration, the Secretary of Defense announced the UAP Task Force "after a couple of years" and named Stratton its first director, and the [[Legacy Program]] then "started quietly pushing back on Jay."[^5]
Elizondo described Stratton in early 2009 as "a serious male in his midthirties," who "helped create something called the AAWSAP," and who with a colleague he calls "[[Rosemary Caine]]" arrived at his Arlington office wearing blue credentials identifying them as government intelligence officials.[^5] He wrote that Stratton "investigated the incident before I joined the team" and "had written a detailed AAWSAP/AATIP report" on the Nimitz encounter of November 2004, and that pilots later told Stratton they had been debriefed by intelligence officers and saw no follow-up.[^6] He wrote that Stratton drafted the operation plan "Interloper," "a classic 'honey pot,'" with dates, call signs, ship names and radar data, which the Joint Staff declined to give a compartment designation in late 2016, and that Stratton proposed the term unidentified aerial phenomena in place of UFO.[^7] After the resignation, Elizondo wrote, Stratton fielded briefing requests from members of Congress, Navy intelligence leadership tasked him with building a whole-of-government task force with members from the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], the [[National Reconnaissance Office]], [[NASA]] and the Federal Aviation Administration, the Secretary of Defense announced the UAP Task Force "after a couple of years" and named Stratton its first director, and the [[Legacy Program]] then "started quietly pushing back on Jay."[^8]
### Radiance Technologies
[[Radiance Technologies]] announced on May 12, 2022 the hiring of Stratton, as "John F. Stratton Jr.," for the position of subject matter expert for intelligence strategy. The release states that he was "recently retired" from his role as Defense Intelligence Senior Executive with the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]], with more than 32 years in the national intelligence community, that as a member of the chief executive's strategy team he would lead and develop efforts in scientific and technical intelligence, and that "Most recently, he was the first Director of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force (UAPTF)." It quotes Radiance president [[Tim Tinsley]] and quotes Stratton: "I am very excited to join Radiance Technologies."[^6]
[[Radiance Technologies]] announced on May 12, 2022 the hiring of Stratton, as "John F. Stratton Jr.," for the position of subject matter expert for intelligence strategy. The release states that he was "recently retired" from his role as Defense Intelligence Senior Executive with the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]], with more than 32 years in the national intelligence community, that as a member of the chief executive's strategy team he would lead and develop efforts in scientific and technical intelligence, and that "Most recently, he was the first Director of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force (UAPTF)." It quotes Radiance president [[Tim Tinsley]] and quotes Stratton: "I am very excited to join Radiance Technologies."[^9]
[[George Knapp]] of [[KLAS-TV]] reported on May 24, 2022 that "In January 2021 ... Stratton was surprisingly transferred out of the job" at the Task Force, and that Stratton "has never spoken publicly about his work and is not commenting now."[^7] In a report posted October 13, 2022, Knapp wrote that Stratton urged Radiance to hire [[Travis Taylor]], and quoted Taylor: "Jay and I are working on growing the capabilities, doing reverse engineering of foreign materials."[^8] [[Liberation Times]] reported on December 3, 2023, in an article in which the attorney [[Daniel Sheehan]] alleged that the CIA supplies Radiance with non-human materials, that "multiple sources" had told it the allegation was untrue and that Stratton and Taylor "are long-time advocates for more transparency on this topic and are in no way involved in any coverup." Details are on [[Radiance Technologies]].[^9]
[[George Knapp]] of [[KLAS-TV]] reported on May 24, 2022 that "In January 2021 ... Stratton was surprisingly transferred out of the job" at the Task Force, and that Stratton "has never spoken publicly about his work and is not commenting now."[^10] In a report posted October 13, 2022, Knapp wrote that Stratton urged Radiance to hire [[Travis Taylor]], and quoted Taylor: "Jay and I are working on growing the capabilities, doing reverse engineering of foreign materials."[^11] [[Liberation Times]] reported on December 3, 2023, in an article in which the attorney [[Daniel Sheehan]] alleged that the CIA supplies Radiance with non-human materials, that "multiple sources" had told it the allegation was untrue and that Stratton and Taylor "are long-time advocates for more transparency on this topic and are in no way involved in any coverup." Details are on Radiance Technologies.[^12]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
[^2]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 5 to 14.
[^3]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 71 to 73.
[^4]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 143, 147 and 186 (Interloper at pp. 143 and 186; the term UAP at p. 186).
[^5]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 211 and 223 (task force and first director at p. 223).
[^6]: "John F. Stratton Jr. Joins Radiance Technologies as SME for Intel Strategy," Radiance Technologies, PR Newswire, May 12, 2022, read in the Internet Archive capture of the same date. https://web.archive.org/web/20220512145721/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/john-f-stratton-jr-joins-radiance-technologies-as-sme-for-intel-strategy-301546258.html
[^7]: George Knapp, "More UFO hearings? Congress might consider hearing from these 2 men," 8 News Now (KLAS), May 24, 2022. https://digital-release.8newsnow.com/?p=1136519
[^8]: George Knapp, "Is this company working with alien technology in Nevada?" KLAS 8 News Now, posted October 13, 2022 (Pacific time). https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/is-this-company-working-with-alien-technology-in-nevada/
[^9]: Christopher Sharp, "Daniel Sheehan Exposes Five Powerful Republicans Blocking UFO Disclosure Act, As The Clock Ticks Down," Liberation Times, December 3, 2023. Sole source for the Sheehan allegation and the denial so cited. https://www.liberationtimes.com/home/daniel-sheehan-exposes-five-powerful-republicans-blocking-ufo-disclosure-act-as-the-clock-ticks-down
[^2]: Naval Intelligence Activity, "Charter for Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force," Ser NW20S0068, September 1, 2020, in the Department of the Navy final response in FOIA case DON-2021-003140, April 22, 2025. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/navy/DON-2021-003140.pdf
[^3]: Naval Intelligence Activity, "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" briefing for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, May 17, 2021, title slide. https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/ufos/UAPTFHPSCIBriefRedacted.pdf
[^4]: The Black Vault, "FOIA-Released Emails Mention Alleged Triangular UAP Photo; Former UAP Task Force Director Speaks Out," FOIA case 21-F-0299. https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/foia-released-emails-mention-alleged-triangular-uap-photo-former-uap-task-force-director-speaks-out/
[^5]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 5 to 14.
[^6]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 71 to 73.
[^7]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 143, 147 and 186 (Interloper at pp. 143 and 186; the term UAP at p. 186).
[^8]: Luis Elizondo, *Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs* (New York: William Morrow, 2024), pp. 211 and 223 (task force and first director at p. 223).
[^9]: "John F. Stratton Jr. Joins Radiance Technologies as SME for Intel Strategy," Radiance Technologies, PR Newswire, May 12, 2022, read in the Internet Archive capture of the same date. https://web.archive.org/web/20220512145721/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/john-f-stratton-jr-joins-radiance-technologies-as-sme-for-intel-strategy-301546258.html
[^10]: George Knapp, "More UFO hearings? Congress might consider hearing from these 2 men," 8 News Now (KLAS), May 24, 2022. https://digital-release.8newsnow.com/?p=1136519
[^11]: George Knapp, "Is this company working with alien technology in Nevada?" KLAS 8 News Now, posted October 13, 2022 (Pacific time). https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/is-this-company-working-with-alien-technology-in-nevada/
[^12]: Christopher Sharp, "Daniel Sheehan Exposes Five Powerful Republicans Blocking UFO Disclosure Act, As The Clock Ticks Down," Liberation Times, December 3, 2023. Sole source for the Sheehan allegation and the denial so cited. https://www.liberationtimes.com/home/daniel-sheehan-exposes-five-powerful-republicans-blocking-ufo-disclosure-act-as-the-clock-ticks-down

19
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/John Poindexter.md
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
---
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-10-08
title: John Poindexter
aliases:
- John Poindexter
@ -16,9 +16,16 @@ tags:
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
summary: "Vice Admiral John Poindexter served as Reagan's National Security Adviser from December 1985 to November 1986, authorized the Iran-Contra diversion without informing the president, was convicted on five counts before reversal on immunized-testimony grounds, and later directed DARPA's Total Information Awareness program until Congress terminated it in 2003."
summary: "Vice Admiral John Poindexter was Reagan's National Security Adviser in 1985 and 1986, authorized the Iran-Contra diversion, had his convictions reversed, and directed DARPA's Information Awareness Office from 2002 to 2003."
born: 1936-08-12
location: "Washington, D.C."
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[DARPA]]"
start: 2002-01
end: 2003-08-29
role: "director, Information Awareness Office"
fn: 3
---
John Marlan Poindexter was born August 12, 1936. He graduated first in his class from the [[U.S. Naval Academy]] in 1958 and earned a PhD in nuclear physics from the [[California Institute of Technology]] in 1964. He pursued a naval career that included service in the Pentagon's [[National Security Council]] staff, rising to military assistant to President Reagan's National Security Advisers before assuming the position himself.[^1]
@ -39,11 +46,15 @@ The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Poindexter's conviction in November 1
### Total Information Awareness
In 2002, the [[George W. Bush|Bush]] administration appointed Poindexter to direct the Information Awareness Office at [[DARPA]], a research program focused on mining large-scale databases for intelligence indicators. The office developed the Total Information Awareness (TIA) system, which proposed aggregating commercial, government, and intelligence databases to identify patterns predictive of terrorist activity.
[[DARPA]] created the [[Information Awareness Office]] in mid-January 2002, under the [[George W. Bush|Bush]] administration, and Poindexter directed it.[^3] The office, a research program focused on mining large-scale databases for intelligence indicators, developed the Total Information Awareness (TIA) system, which proposed aggregating commercial, government, and intelligence databases to identify patterns predictive of terrorist activity.
When TIA became publicly known in late 2002, it generated intense opposition from civil liberties organizations and members of Congress, who argued that the system constituted a mass domestic surveillance infrastructure. Poindexter's own Iran-Contra history - including his conviction and its reversal - was cited repeatedly in the congressional debate over TIA. Poindexter resigned from DARPA in August 2003, and Congress terminated TIA funding.[^1]
When TIA became publicly known in late 2002, it generated intense opposition from civil liberties organizations and members of Congress, who argued that the system constituted a mass domestic surveillance infrastructure. Poindexter's own Iran-Contra history (including his conviction and its reversal) was cited repeatedly in the congressional debate over TIA. On August 12, 2003 Poindexter submitted a five-page letter of resignation to DARPA director [[Anthony Tether]], effective August 29.[^3] The conference report on the fiscal 2004 defense appropriations act provided in Section 8131 that none of the funds may be obligated "for the Terrorism Information Awareness Program," excepting processing, analysis and collaboration tools for counterterrorism foreign intelligence funded in the National Foreign Intelligence Program, and its joint explanatory statement states that the conferees "direct that the Office be terminated immediately."[^4]
The joint explanatory statement lists four projects previously under the office that may continue under DARPA: Bio-Event Advanced Leading Indicator Recognition Technology, Rapid Analytic Wargaming, Wargaming the Asymmetric Environment, and Automated Speech and Text Exploitation in Multiple Languages, including Babylon and Symphony.[^4]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Tower Commission Report (President's Special Review Board). *The Tower Commission Report*. Bantam Books/Times Books, 1987. U.S. Congress, Joint Committees on Iran-Contra. *Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair*. 100th Congress, 1st Session, 1987.
[^2]: Walsh, Lawrence E. *Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up*. W.W. Norton, 1997. Walsh, Lawrence E. *Iran-Contra: The Final Report*. Random House, 1994.
[^3]: Dan Caterinicchia, "Poindexter leaving DARPA," *Nextgov/FCW*, August 13, 2003. https://www.nextgov.com/people/2003/08/poindexter-leaving-darpa/201670/
[^4]: Congressional Record, House, September 24, 2003, Conference Report on H.R. 2658, Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2004 (House Report 108-283), Sec. 8131 and Joint Explanatory Statement. https://sgp.fas.org/congress/2003/tia.html

8
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Lynn Schroeder.md
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@ -5,11 +5,15 @@ tags:
- Stargate
- Soviet
summary: "Schroeder and Ostrander's work, which included accounts from figures like Eduard Naumov, contributed to the growing awareness and concern within the U.S."
updated: 2026-10-08
---
[[Lynn Schroeder]] is an American author who, along with [[Sheila Ostrander]], co-authored the 1970 book *Psychic Discoveries Behind the [[Iron Curtain]]*. This book played a significant role in popularizing Soviet and Eastern European [[Parapsychology|psi]] research in the West. The book portrayed a "veritable frenzy of psychic research" going on in the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], with investigators uncovering powerful natural clairvoyants, psychokinetic prodigies, and dowsers whose talents could potentially be employed against the West.[^1]
The book's account of the [[The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)|Nautilus]] reports, on pages 6 to 8, quotes [[Leonid Vasiliev]]'s April 1960 statement that "Today the American Navy is testing telepathy on their atomic submarines," and records that the Navy "denied the Nautilus story in tones of demi-horror."[^2]
Schroeder and Ostrander's work, which included accounts from figures like [[Eduard Naumov]], contributed to the growing awareness and concern within the U.S. intelligence community about a potential "psi gap" with the Soviet Union, ultimately influencing the decision to fund and initiate programs like the [[Stargate Project|Stargate Project]].[^1]
---
### Footnotes
[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^2]: Ostrander, Sheila, and Lynn Schroeder. *Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain*. Prentice-Hall, 1970, pp. 6-7. Sole source for the passages so cited.

8
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Marco Rubio.md
View file

@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ tags:
- Person
- UFO
- Politician
summary: "Senator Rubio was the chief sponsor of the bill that mandated the Director of National Intelligence to produce an unclassified report on UAP, which led to the landmark June 2021 'Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.' He has been a vocal advocate for taking the UAP issue seriously,"
summary: "Florida senator who submitted the Senate Intelligence Committee report of June 2020 that directed the 2021 ODNI assessment of unidentified aerial phenomena, and an advocate of UAP transparency legislation."
born: 1971-05-28
location: "Miami, Florida"
---
@ -12,9 +12,13 @@ location: "Miami, Florida"
### Support for UAP Legislation
Senator Rubio was the chief sponsor of the bill that mandated the [[Director of National Intelligence]] to produce an unclassified report on UAP, which led to the landmark June 2021 "Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena." He has been a vocal advocate for taking the UAP issue seriously, stating that "There is a lot we still don’t know about these UAP and that is a big problem. We’ve taken some important steps over the last few years to increase transparency and reduce stigmas, but more needs to be done."[^1]
On June 17, 2020 Rubio submitted, from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the committee's report accompanying S. 3905, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. The report directs the [[Director of National Intelligence]], in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to submit within 180 days a report on unidentified aerial phenomena, which the [[Office of the Director of National Intelligence]] issued on June 25, 2021 as its "Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."[^2][^3] On December 21, 2020 Rubio had the joint explanatory statement for the act printed in the Congressional Record; the statement provides that it "incorporates by reference, and the Executive Branch shall comply with, all direction contained in" S. Rept. 116-233.[^4] Luis Elizondo described Rubio as the chief sponsor of the bill.[^1] He has been a vocal advocate for taking the UAP issue seriously, stating that "There is a lot we still don’t know about these UAP and that is a big problem. We’ve taken some important steps over the last few years to increase transparency and reduce stigmas, but more needs to be done."[^1]
He has worked closely with a bipartisan group of senators, including [[Kirsten Gillibrand]] and [[Chuck Schumer]], as well as with [[Christopher Mellon]] and [[Luis Elizondo]], to draft and pass legislation that has established a permanent UAP office ([[All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office|AARO]]) and created a secure process for whistleblowers to report UAP-related information to Congress. His leadership on this issue has been a critical factor in the recent progress of the UAP disclosure movement.[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Elizondo, Luis. *Imminent*. William Morrow, 2024.
[^2]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee on Intelligence, "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021," S. Rept. 116-233, June 17, 2020, cover and pp. 11 to 12. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-116srpt233/pdf/CRPT-116srpt233.pdf
[^3]: Office of the Director of National Intelligence, "Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," June 25, 2021, p. 2. https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf
[^4]: Congressional Record, vol. 166, no. 218, December 21, 2020, pp. S7932 to S7934, joint explanatory statement for the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. https://irp.fas.org/congress/2020_cr/fy2021-exp.html

7
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Pavel Naumov.md
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@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ relations:
role: "named in the Army-prepared study DST-1810S-387-75 as the conductor of a submarine and rabbit experiment around 1956"
fn: 1
created: 2025-08-05
updated: 2026-10-05
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Pavel Naumov was a [[Moscow]] psychologist, described by the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] in 1975 as bearing "no relation to the now imprisoned Edward Naumov" ([[Eduard Naumov]]).[^1] [[Sheila Ostrander]] and [[Lynn Schroeder]] wrote that he conducted studies in the noisy atmosphere of a Moscow gynecological clinic, where mothers were housed in a section distant from their babies and "cannot possibly hear them." A mother, he said, showed nervousness when her baby cried, and anxiety when an infant was in pain as a doctor took a blood specimen; "we found communication in 65 percent of our cases," he concluded in a paper at the Congress on Scientific Problems of Telepathy at the [[Popov Society|A. S. Popov Radio-Technology Institute]] in Moscow on February 22, 1968, titled "Methods of Training Telepathic Abilities." He also reported that girls dating boys with telepathic aptitudes correctly received up to 40 percent of the images the boys sent. Ostrander and Schroeder list a second paper, "On the Question of Wordless Transmission of Information," among his publications.[^2]
@ -37,8 +37,13 @@ The DIA's 1975 study, prepared by the [[U.S. Army Medical Intelligence and Infor
In Ostrander and Schroeder's book the rabbit experiment appears in a chapter that also quotes Pavel Naumov on mothers and infants, but the authors introduce it with "The first day we met Naumov he brought up an extremely interesting 'telepathy' test," in a conversation about the American Nautilus reports, and the Naumov they met on arrival in Moscow was Edward. In that account he put the test "about three years previously," that is, about 1965 rather than 1956, and said the reports "are, I'm sorry to say, not public."[^2] [[Igor Tsykunov]]'s 2023 article records that the submarine-and-rabbit method was repeated in the foreword to [[Lyall Watson]]'s *Supernature* (London, 1976), and that a department under [[Vitaly Perov]] at the [[Institute of Automation and Electrometry]] in [[Novosibirsk]]'s [[Akademgorodok]] sponsored by naval officers ran rabbit telepathy experiments from October 5 to November 16, 1967, after more than two years of preliminary work.[^4] The 1975 DIA study's personnel appendix lists "Naumov, P." among Soviet researchers whose affiliation is unknown.[^1]
When the British delegate [[John Cutten]] asked whether the work implied close cooperation with the government and the military, Naumov answered that Cutten's remark "speaks for itself."[^5] [[Jim Schnabel]] attributes the announcement at the 1968 Moscow conference that the Red Navy had replicated the entire Nautilus experiment to Eduard Naumov.[^6]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Defense Intelligence Agency, "Soviet and Czechoslovakian Parapsychology Research (U)," DST-1810S-387-75, September 1975, prepared by U.S. Army Medical Intelligence and Information Agency, Part I Section II and appendix, CIA-RDP96-00787R000500420001-2. https://archive.org/details/cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp96-00787r000500420001-2
[^2]: Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder, *Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain* (Prentice-Hall, 1970), chapters 1 and 3 ("Mind-Link, Body-Link") and Partial Bibliography, read in the archive.org copy of the 1984 printing. https://archive.org/details/shelia-ostrander-psychic-discoveries-behind-the-iron-curtain-1984
[^3]: Annie Jacobsen, *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis* (Little, Brown and Company, 2017).
[^4]: I. V. Tsykunov, "Ot fantazii k realnosti: kak istoriya Nautilusa otkryla gonku sverkhestestvennykh vooruzheniy mezhdu SSSR i SShA," *Aliter* (2023). https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ot-fantazii-k-realnosti-kak-istoriya-nautilusa-otkryla-gonku-sverhestestvennyh-vooruzheniy-mezhdu-sssr-i-ssha
[^5]: Ostrander, Sheila, and Lynn Schroeder. *Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain*. Prentice-Hall, 1970, pp. 32-33. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^6]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies*. Dell, 1997, pp. 90-93. Sole source for the passages so cited.

39
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Robert Booth Nichols.md
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@ -30,47 +30,56 @@ relations:
with: "[[Samuel Israel III]]"
start: 2004-07-11
role: "Financial and Security Consultancy Agreement; ten-million-dollar fee"
fn: 5
fn: 1
- type: spouse_of
with: "[[Ellen M. Nichols]]"
fn: 5
fn: 1
- type: director_of
with: "[[First Intercontinental Development Corporation]]"
role: "director, senior vice president, chairman of the investment committee (sole source: Seymour)"
fn: 1
fn: 4
created: 2024-04-25
updated: 2026-09-22
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Robert Booth Nichols was born in the [[United States]] on March 3, 1943.[^5] He was a principal source for the journalist [[Danny Casolaro]] in the investigation Casolaro called [[The Octopus]], and the subject of a [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] organized-crime investigation from 1987.[^2][^3]
Robert Booth Nichols was born in the [[United States]] on March 3, 1943.[^1] He was a principal source for the journalist [[Danny Casolaro]] in the investigation Casolaro called [[The Octopus]], and the subject of a [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] organized-crime investigation from 1987.[^2][^3]
### Meridian and the FBI
In September 1987 the FBI's [[Los Angeles]] division opened an investigation of Nichols, who, "acting through Meridian, was suspected of being involved in organized crime"; it was led by Special Agent [[Thomas Gates]], who learned that Nichols "had potential illegal contacts with individuals in both Japan and Australia" and pursued them through the FBI's legal attachés there. On June 16, 1989, Nichols's company, [[Meridian International Logistics]], sued Gates in California state court for eleven million dollars for libel, slander and interference with contracts, alleging that he had told the Australian Federal Police and others that Meridian was involved in organized crime and fraud; the former FBI agent [[Ted Gunderson]] filed a declaration that such foreign contacts "would never, under FBI policies, be initiated by an agent assigned to the Los Angeles field office." The government substituted itself for Gates, and on July 19, 1991, the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of the suit.[^2]
According to [[Cheri Seymour]], the FBI investigated Meridian as "a source of funding for the purchasing of narcotics/controlled substances"; [[Eugene Giaquinto]], president of the home entertainment division of [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]], sat on its board, and FBI wiretaps on MCA recorded his calls with Nichols.[^1] Gates swore in a 72-page affidavit to a federal court on an FBI wiretap of figures in the entertainment industry suspected of organized-crime ties; the [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]], which heard from Gates that the threads of Casolaro's inquiry led to "a single individual, Robert Booth Nichols," took "no position on any of Gates' assertions or suppositions vis-a-vis Nichols, except to note again that they were duly sworn statements."[^3]
According to [[Cheri Seymour]], [[Eugene Giaquinto]], president of the home entertainment division of [[Music Corporation of America|MCA]], sat on Meridian's board.[^4] Gates's 1987 continuation wiretap affidavit named Nichols, with Giaquinto, [[Joseph Garofalo]] and [[Martin Bacow]], under its stock-fraud offenses, and placed "The source of funding for the purchasing of narcotics/controlled substances" among the matters the intercepts of Giaquinto and Garofalo were to establish under its controlled-substance offenses.[^5] Gates swore in a 72-page affidavit to a federal court on an FBI wiretap of figures in the entertainment industry suspected of organized-crime ties; the [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]], which heard from Gates that the threads of Casolaro's inquiry led to "a single individual, Robert Booth Nichols," took "no position on any of Gates' assertions or suppositions vis-a-vis Nichols, except to note again that they were duly sworn statements."[^3]
Gates's sworn affidavits to Judge J. Spencer Letts of the Central District of California (March 27, May 20, June 25, July 15 and August 3, 1987, and a continuation affidavit) listed Nichols among the persons whose calls were to be intercepted. The continuation affidavit gives his employment as Meridian International Logistics, states that California Department of Justice records showed several permits to possess and sell firearms, including machine guns, and states that FBI files showed that in 1978 he "was allegedly an international money launderer for money generated through narcotics trafficking and organized crime (LCN) activities" and "may have been associated with the Gambino LCN family in New York City." It records his 1985 Honolulu arrest for driving under the influence, and FBI surveillance on July 15, 1987 at Le Dome restaurant in which a man Gates compared with Nichols's booking photograph took a box from Giaquinto's trunk.[^5] On July 23, 1987 Gates recorded Giaquinto asking Nichols what to do if Nichols's name came up in connection with [[ZZZZ Best]], and Nichols answering to tell the truth, that he had written a treatment and was looking for a production company; on July 27 Nichols told Giaquinto he was leaving the country and gave a Hawaii number where "Harold (possibly Okimoto)" would have a tape put on the answering machine.[^5]
### Allegations
Seymour's book, largely on the word of [[Michael Riconosciuto]], describes Nichols as a director, senior vice president and chairman of the investment committee of the [[First Intercontinental Development Corporation]], a company alleged to have served the [[National Security Council]] in Lebanon; as chief executive of R.B.N. Companies, International; as a contract operative for the NSC; as the man who helped [[Ignacio Paz]] of the Philippine government move money through Swiss accounts; and as a participant in a heroin operation run through Euramae Trading in Nicosia, [[Cyprus]]. In the same account he laundered money and gold for [[Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela|Gilberto Rodríguez]] and [[Jose Santacruz Londono|José Santacruz Londoño]] of the [[Cali Drug Cartel]], was linked to the [[Gambino Crime Family]], the [[Bufalino Crime Family]] and the [[Yakuza]], was called the "godson" of [[Harold Okimoto]] of Hawaii, and was the subject of investigations that the [[Department of Justice]] shut down.[^1] Neither the House report nor the special counsel [[Nicholas J. Bua]] mentions the First Intercontinental Development Corporation.[^3][^4]
Seymour's book, largely on the word of [[Michael Riconosciuto]], describes Nichols as a director, senior vice president and chairman of the investment committee of the [[First Intercontinental Development Corporation]], a company alleged to have served the [[National Security Council]] in Lebanon; as chief executive of R.B.N. Companies, International; as a contract operative for the NSC; as the man who helped [[Ignacio Paz]] of the Philippine government move money through Swiss accounts; and as a participant in a heroin operation run through Euramae Trading in Nicosia, [[Cyprus]]. In the same account he laundered money and gold for [[Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela|Gilberto Rodríguez]] and [[Jose Santacruz Londono|José Santacruz Londoño]] of the [[Cali Drug Cartel]], was linked to the [[Gambino Crime Family]], the [[Bufalino Crime Family]] and the [[Yakuza]], was called the "godson" of [[Harold Okimoto]] of Hawaii, and was the subject of investigations that the [[Department of Justice]] shut down.[^4] Nevada charter C417-1961, amended under the name First Intercontinental Development Corporation on August 7, 1984, is recorded under the name Meridian International Logistics, Inc.[^6] The employment address the 1987 affidavit gives for Nichols, 834 Rose Blossom Drive in Cupertino, is the registered address of Meridian Arms Corporation.[^5][^7]
Riconosciuto swore to the House committee that [[Earl Brian]] and [[Peter Videnieks]] had delivered [[PROMIS]] to the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]] for "refitting," and Seymour describes Nichols's company Meridian Arms as a partner of Riconosciuto in the proposed weapons work of the [[Wackenhut Corporation]] joint venture there. The committee called the material linking Nichols, Meridian Arms and Riconosciuto to the Cabazon-Wackenhut venture "speculative reports and fragmentary records," and the "continuing intersection" of those names "certainly intriguing and curious associations but without the requisite degree of causation and factual convergence necessary to draw conclusions."[^1][^3] Bua found Riconosciuto "totally unreliable."[^4]
Riconosciuto swore to the House committee that [[Earl Brian]] and [[Peter Videnieks]] had delivered [[PROMIS]] to the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]] for "refitting," and Seymour describes Nichols's company Meridian Arms as a partner of Riconosciuto in the proposed weapons work of the [[Wackenhut Corporation]] joint venture there. The committee called the material linking Nichols, Meridian Arms and Riconosciuto to the Cabazon-Wackenhut venture "speculative reports and fragmentary records," and the "continuing intersection" of those names "certainly intriguing and curious associations but without the requisite degree of causation and factual convergence necessary to draw conclusions."[^3][^4] The special counsel [[Nicholas J. Bua]] found Riconosciuto "totally unreliable."[^8]
Nichols testified in 1993, in his suit against the Los Angeles Police Department, that he had been a member of the American intelligence community for many years. The Justice Department's review of 1994 reported that "No evidence supports that claim. In fact, the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] informed us that it does not have, nor has it ever had, any employment relationship, contractual relationship or any other association with Mr. Booth Nichols," and that documents showed Howard Hughes's Summa Corporation had rejected the bid for its assets that Nichols testified he had been "instructed" to make in the late 1970s.[^4]
Nichols testified in 1993, in his suit against the Los Angeles Police Department, that he had been a member of the American intelligence community for many years. Bua's report of March 1993 stated: "No evidence supports that claim. In fact, the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] informed us that it does not have, nor has it ever had, any employment relationship, contractual relationship or any other association with Mr. Booth Nichols," and that documents showed Howard Hughes's Summa Corporation had rejected the bid for its assets that Nichols testified he had been "instructed" to make in the late 1970s.[^8]
[[Peter Zokosky]] told Seymour and [[Kelly O'Meara]] on February 14, 2001 that it was his understanding that Nichols worked for the NSC ("everything revolves around the NSC"), doing contract work for the NSA and NSC and occasionally other agencies, and showed them a three-page FBI Los Angeles report dated December 2, 1982 that, in Seymour's summary, recorded a confidential source's March 16, 1978 allegation that Nichols was "an international money launderer," a reference to a G-77 submachine-gun permit, and the conclusion that he "should be considered armed and dangerous."[^9] John Connolly reported in [[Spy (magazine)|Spy]] in January 1993 that Nichols obtained his California machine-gun permits with a recommendation from a CIA official named Larry Curran and listed Okimoto as a former employer on his concealed-weapon application; [[Jack Valenti]] told Spy, of a proposal by Giaquinto that the [[Motion Picture Association of America]] hire Nichols for Asian anti-piracy work, "I didn't feel comfortable with Nichols."[^10]
### Casolaro
Telephone records show that Casolaro and Nichols "spoke regularly and at length" in the last months of Casolaro's life, and the two had dinner at a restaurant in Virginia in the early summer of 1991. Nichols told committee investigators he had been "a sounding board" for Casolaro and would not give a sworn statement.[^3] On September 30, 1991, he told Detective Sergeant Swartwood of the Martinsburg police that he thought Casolaro had been murdered and that Riconosciuto "was probably involved in some way." The review noted a January 1993 *[[Spy (magazine)|Spy]]* article suggesting that Nichols had Casolaro killed for fear of being exposed as a would-be FBI informant against the Mafia, and found "no evidence that he had anything to do with Mr. Casolaro's death. Furthermore, he was in London on the day that Mr. Casolaro died."[^4] According to Seymour, Nichols had warned Casolaro to drop the investigation and went to Martinsburg to press him in person, Casolaro had confronted him shortly before his death about [[Michael Abbell]] and the Cali cartel, and Nichols later wrote a manuscript, "Danny Casolaro's Octopus."[^1]
Telephone records show that Casolaro and Nichols "spoke regularly and at length" in the last months of Casolaro's life, and the two had dinner at a restaurant in Virginia in the early summer of 1991. Nichols told committee investigators he had been "a sounding board" for Casolaro and would not give a sworn statement.[^3] On September 30, 1991, he told Detective Sergeant Swartwood of the Martinsburg police that he thought Casolaro had been murdered and that Riconosciuto "was probably involved in some way." Bua's report noted a January 1993 *Spy* article suggesting that Nichols had Casolaro killed for fear of being exposed as a would-be FBI informant against the Mafia, and found "no evidence that he had anything to do with Mr. Casolaro's death. Furthermore, he was in London on the day that Mr. Casolaro died."[^8] According to Seymour, Nichols had warned Casolaro to drop the investigation and went to Martinsburg to press him in person, Casolaro had confronted him shortly before his death about [[Michael Abbell]] and the Cali cartel, and Nichols later wrote a manuscript, "Danny Casolaro's Octopus."[^4]
### The Bayou Fee
In the spring of 2004 Nichols offered [[Samuel Israel III]], manager of the Bayou hedge funds, access to what British investigators later described as programs with "all of the hallmarks of fraudulent prime bank note programs." After more than 150 million dollars of Bayou money passed through a London account of the "Humanitarian Coalition Aid Foundation" and back in April 2004, Nichols and Israel signed a "Financial and Security Consultancy Agreement" on July 11, 2004, and on July 19 Israel wired ten million dollars to accounts in Germany, Liechtenstein, Singapore and the [[United Kingdom]] in the name of or controlled by Nichols, about eight million of which ended in a London account in the names of Nichols and his wife, Ellen. The Bayou funds' liquidating entity sued the couple in 2008 to recover the fee as a fraudulent transfer; they answered that he had received it "for value, in good faith and without knowledge of the alleged voidability of the transfer." Nichols was deposed on video at the [[U.S. Attorney's office]] in Manhattan on December 16, 2008, and the case was closed on April 28, 2010.[^5][^6] At the time his address was in Honolulu.[^5]
In the spring of 2004 Nichols offered [[Samuel Israel III]], manager of the Bayou hedge funds, access to what British investigators later described as programs with "all of the hallmarks of fraudulent prime bank note programs." After more than 150 million dollars of Bayou money passed through a London account of the "Humanitarian Coalition Aid Foundation" and back in April 2004, Nichols and Israel signed a "Financial and Security Consultancy Agreement" on July 11, 2004, and on July 19 Israel wired ten million dollars to accounts in Germany, Liechtenstein, Singapore and the [[United Kingdom]] in the name of or controlled by Nichols, about eight million of which ended in a London account in the names of Nichols and his wife, Ellen. The Bayou funds' liquidating entity sued the couple in 2008 to recover the fee as a fraudulent transfer; they answered that he had received it "for value, in good faith and without knowledge of the alleged voidability of the transfer." Nichols was deposed on video at the [[U.S. Attorney's office]] in Manhattan on December 16, 2008, and the case was closed on April 28, 2010.[^1][^11] At the time his address was in Honolulu.[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. Sole source for the claims so attributed, many of them from Michael Riconosciuto.
[^1]: Annis, Stephen Robert, Assets Recovery Agency. Witness statement in support of an application for a restraint order, *In the Matter of Robert Booth Nichols,* Crown Court at Blackfriars, PCA 2007/0003; Financial and Security Consultancy Agreement, July 11, 2004; Answer of Robert B. Nichols and Ellen M. Nichols, June 12, 2008; all filed in *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols,* No. 08-cv-06036 (S.D.N.Y.). https://archive.org/details/SamIsraelIII-BayouManagement-RobertBoothNicholsCourtFilings
[^2]: *Meridian International Logistics, Inc. v. United States,* 939 F.2d 740 (9th Cir. 1991). https://openjurist.org/939/f2d/740
[^3]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary. *The INSLAW Affair,* H. Rept. 102-857, September 10, 1992, section on Earl Brian, Michael Riconosciuto, Robert Booth Nichols and the Cabazon Indian Reservation, and memorandum of interview with Nichols, January 21, 1992. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
[^4]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua,* March 1993 (Riconosciuto's credibility), and *Report on the Review of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua's Report,* September 27, 1994, section on the death of Danny Casolaro, citing *Booth Nichols v. City of Los Angeles,* No. NCC 31322B, trial transcript, March 11, 1993. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
[^5]: Annis, Stephen Robert, Assets Recovery Agency. Witness statement in support of an application for a restraint order, *In the Matter of Robert Booth Nichols,* Crown Court at Blackfriars, PCA 2007/0003; Financial and Security Consultancy Agreement, July 11, 2004; Answer of Robert B. Nichols and Ellen M. Nichols, June 12, 2008; all filed in *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols,* No. 08-cv-06036 (S.D.N.Y.). https://archive.org/details/SamIsraelIII-BayouManagement-RobertBoothNicholsCourtFilings
[^6]: Nichols, Robert Booth. Videotaped deposition, December 16, 2008, *United States v. Samuel Israel III,* 05 Cr. 1039 (S.D.N.Y.), and *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols.* https://archive.org/details/robert-booth-nichols ; docket, *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols,* 1:08-cv-06036 (S.D.N.Y.), filed July 2, 2008, terminated April 28, 2010, CourtListener.
[^4]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. Sole source for the claims so attributed, many of them from Michael Riconosciuto.
[^5]: 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." https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks (file Gates.pdf), paragraphs 3, 5, 9-13, 46, 79 and 84. Seymour, *The Last Circle,* p. 356, paraphrases the narcotics-funding wording as describing Meridian International Logistics; the affidavit places it under the controlled-substance offenses of Giaquinto and Garofalo.
[^6]: OpenCorporates, record and filing list for Meridian International Logistics, Inc., Nevada company C417-1961 (retrieved October 8, 2026). https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_nv/C417-1961/filings
[^7]: OpenCorporates, record for Meridian Arms Corporation, California company 0853005 (retrieved October 8, 2026). https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/0853005
[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua,* March 1993 (Riconosciuto's credibility), and section "Involvement of Robert Booth Nichols," pp. 157-159 and note 58 (p. 159), citing *Booth Nichols v. City of Los Angeles,* No. NCC 31322B, trial transcript, March 11, 1993. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
[^9]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010, chapter 22. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^10]: Connolly, John. "The Story That Killed Danny Casolaro." *Spy,* January 1993. https://archive.org/details/SpyMagazine
[^11]: Nichols, Robert Booth. Videotaped deposition, December 16, 2008, *United States v. Samuel Israel III,* 05 Cr. 1039 (S.D.N.Y.), and *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols.* https://archive.org/details/robert-booth-nichols ; docket, *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols,* 1:08-cv-06036 (S.D.N.Y.), filed July 2, 2008, terminated April 28, 2010, CourtListener.

8
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Sheila Ostrander.md
View file

@ -5,11 +5,15 @@ tags:
- Stargate
- Soviet
summary: "Ostrander and Schroeder's work, which included accounts from figures like Eduard Naumov, contributed to the growing awareness and concern within the U.S."
updated: 2026-10-08
---
[[Sheila Ostrander]] is an American author who, along with [[Lynn Schroeder]], co-authored the 1970 book *Psychic Discoveries Behind the [[Iron Curtain]]*. This book played a significant role in popularizing Soviet and Eastern European [[Parapsychology|psi]] research in the West. The book portrayed a "veritable frenzy of psychic research" going on in the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], with investigators uncovering powerful natural clairvoyants, psychokinetic prodigies, and dowsers whose talents could potentially be employed against the West.[^1]
The book's account of the [[The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)|Nautilus]] reports appears in its first chapter, pages 6 to 8, and a Russian's account of a submarine test with rabbits on pages 32 and 33. Of the first the authors write: "Whether the American Nautilus tests happened or not, the reports of them were enough to set the Soviets going on some ESP tests with their own submarines."[^2]
Ostrander and Schroeder's work, which included accounts from figures like [[Eduard Naumov]], contributed to the growing awareness and concern within the U.S. intelligence community about a potential "psi gap" with the Soviet Union, ultimately influencing the decision to fund and initiate programs like the [[Stargate Project|Stargate Project]].[^1]
---
### Footnotes
[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^2]: Ostrander, Sheila, and Lynn Schroeder. *Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain*. Prentice-Hall, 1970, pp. 6-8 and 32-33. Sole source for the passages so cited.

21
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Zalman Mordecai Shapiro.md
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@ -9,16 +9,25 @@ born: 1920-05-12
died: 2016-07-16
location: "Canton, Ohio"
---
Zalman Mordecai Shapiro was an American Jew and owner of the [[Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation]] (NUMEC), a privately owned nuclear enriching plant in [[Apollo]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He was suspected by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and others of having smuggled more than two hundred pounds of weapons-grade uranium to [[Israel]], enough for four bombs. This alleged diversion was a major factor in [[Carl E. Duckett]]'s [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] estimates of [[Israel]]'s nuclear arsenal.[^1]
Zalman Mordecai Shapiro was an American Jew and owner of the [[Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation]] (NUMEC), a privately owned nuclear enriching plant in [[Apollo]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He was suspected by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and others of having smuggled more than two hundred pounds of weapons-grade uranium to [[Israel]], enough for four bombs. This alleged diversion was a major factor in [[Carl E. Duckett]]'s CIA estimates of Israel's nuclear arsenal.[^1]
Shapiro was hounded by these suspicions for twenty-five years, despite no significant evidence proving the diversion was ever found. The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and [[Atomic Energy Commission|AEC]] never learned that Shapiro did have a secret life, meeting and befriending many of [[Israel]]'s senior nuclear scientists, including [[Ernst David Bergmann]], and conducting sensitive, legitimate missions for [[Israel]]. He was asked by [[Israel]] to devise a rapid and accurate method of determining whether water had been contaminated with toxic materials, and also advised on how to prevent water loss in the National Water Carrier.[^1]
Hersh writes that Shapiro was hounded by these suspicions for twenty-five years, that no significant evidence of a diversion was found, and that the CIA and [[Atomic Energy Commission|AEC]] never learned that Shapiro had a secret life, meeting and befriending many of Israel's senior nuclear scientists, including [[Ernst David Bergmann]], and conducting sensitive, legitimate missions for Israel. He was asked by Israel to devise a rapid and accurate method of determining whether water had been contaminated with toxic materials, and also advised on how to prevent water loss in the National Water Carrier.[^1]
Shapiro's business involved the chemical isolation and recovery of enriched uranium from dirt and scrap, a process that inherently generated some loss, known as MUF (material unaccounted for). The AEC eventually determined that over two hundred pounds of enriched uranium could not be accounted for from NUMEC, leading to suspicions of diversion. Despite intensive FBI surveillance and investigations, no significant evidence proving that Shapiro had diverted any uranium was ever found. Instead, the missing uranium was found to have ended up in the air and water of [[Apollo]], as well as in the plant's ducts, tubes, and floors.[^1]
Shapiro's business involved the chemical isolation and recovery of enriched uranium from dirt and scrap, a process that inherently generated some loss, known as MUF (material unaccounted for). The AEC eventually determined that over two hundred pounds of enriched uranium could not be accounted for from NUMEC, leading to suspicions of diversion. Hersh concludes that intensive FBI surveillance and investigation found no significant evidence that Shapiro diverted uranium, and that the missing uranium ended up in the air and water of Apollo and in the plant's ducts, tubes and floors.[^1]
In 1967, Shapiro and his partners were forced to merge their interest in NUMEC into the [[Atlantic Richfield Company]] (ARCO) due to the continuing controversy. Shapiro continued to run the plant. He convened meetings of American and Israeli scientists to discuss protecting [[Israel]]'s National Water Carrier from terrorists, and his company provided specialized small power sources for the security of waterways, all approved for export by the Commerce Department.[^1]
In 1967, Shapiro and his partners were forced to merge their interest in NUMEC into the [[Atlantic Richfield Company]] (ARCO) due to the continuing controversy. Shapiro continued to run the plant. He convened meetings of American and Israeli scientists to discuss protecting Israel's National Water Carrier from terrorists, and his company provided specialized small power sources for the security of waterways, all approved for export by the Commerce Department.[^1]
In 1977, [[Jody Powell]], President [[Jimmy Carter]]'s press secretary, publicly announced that investigations had "failed to reveal" a diversion of uranium to [[Israel]]. However, [[Carl E. Duckett]] and [[John L. Hadden]] continued to push their suspicions, leading to further investigations. By the early 1990s, Duckett essentially recanted many of his previous assertions, stating he knew of nothing to indicate Shapiro was guilty. Despite this, many journalists continued to believe Shapiro diverted uranium for the Israeli bomb.[^1]
### Records of 1965 to 1968
An August 10, 1965 meeting of Atomic Energy Commission commissioners with Shapiro and others from NUMEC concerned inventory differences in highly enriched uranium detected earlier that year by the AEC's Oak Ridge office; Shapiro "admitted that some waste was generated by work on Navy fuels" and noted that in earlier years NUMEC had paid the AEC up to $1 million for material losses. A letter of February 14, 1966 from the AEC General Manager, R. L. Hollingsworth, to the [[Joint Committee on Atomic Energy]] stated that an audit of November 1965 found 178 kilograms of U-235 unaccounted for since the start of operations at Apollo, of which 93.8 kilograms could not be ascribed to any known loss mechanism. Minutes of an AEC briefing of the same date record the staff view that "if collusion between a shipper and a foreign government were assumed it would be theoretically possible to ship material abroad in excess of the amounts indicated in the company's records," and that the Commission could not say unequivocally that the material had not been diverted.[^2]
An FBI report of June 21, 1966 summarized an interview of Shapiro by the Pittsburgh office on June 15, 1966, made at the AEC's request, on whether he should have registered as an agent of a foreign government; Shapiro described the formation of ISORAD, a joint venture of NUMEC and the [[Israel Atomic Energy Commission|Israeli Atomic Energy Commission]], and meetings with the American ambassador to Israel and with Joseph Eyal, science attache of the Israeli embassy. A General Accounting Office report to the Joint Committee of June 20, 1967 stated that cumulative losses of U-235 through December 31, 1966 totaled about 260 kilograms, or about 1.2 percent of receipts.[^2]
On April 2, 1968, [[Richard Helms]] wrote to Attorney General [[Ramsey Clark]] asking for a "discreet intelligence investigation of an all source nature of Dr. Shapiro in order to establish the nature and extent of his relationship with the Government of Israel." An FBI memorandum of May 6, 1968 from [[Cartha DeLoach]] to [[Clyde Tolson]] expressed misgivings, and [[J. Edgar Hoover]] wrote on it: "OK, but I doubt advisability of getting into this."[^2] On September 6, 1968 the AEC's New York security office reported that NUMEC had asked for a visit by four Israelis to Apollo on September 10: Avraham Hermoni, scientific counselor at the Israeli embassy in Washington; Ephraim Biegun and Abraham Bendor of the Israeli Department of Electronics; and [[Rafael Eitan|Raphael Eitan]] of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The National Security Archive identifies Hermoni as the [[LAKAM]] station chief in Washington, Biegun and Bendor as Shin Bet officers, and Eitan as deputy chief of operations of the [[Mossad]], who organized the 1968 Plumbat operation that diverted natural uranium oxide from Europe to Israel.[^2]
In 1977, [[Jody Powell]], President [[Jimmy Carter]]'s press secretary, publicly announced that investigations had "failed to reveal" a diversion of uranium to Israel. However, Carl E. Duckett and [[John L. Hadden]] continued to push their suspicions, leading to further investigations. By the early 1990s, Duckett essentially recanted many of his previous assertions, stating he knew of nothing to indicate Shapiro was guilty. Despite this, many journalists continued to believe Shapiro diverted uranium for the Israeli bomb.[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 14, 18.
[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 14, 18.
[^2]: National Security Archive, "The NUMEC Affair: Did Highly Enriched Uranium from the U.S. Aid Israel's Nuclear Weapons Program?" (November 2, 2016), Documents 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, drawing on U.S. Department of Energy archives (AEC Secretariat Collection), FBI FOIA file 117-2564, the Comptroller General's report in the Morris Udall Papers (University of Arizona) and ISCAP Appeal No. 2013-062. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2016-11-02/numec-affair-did-highly-enriched-uranium-us-aid-israels-nuclear-weapons-program The identifications of the four Israelis and of Eitan's role in Plumbat are the posting's commentary.

5
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Jack Vorona.md
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@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ tags:
- Military
- DIA
summary: "Jack Vorona was the Assistant Director for Scientific and Technical Intelligence at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and served as the overall manager of the Grill Flame program."
updated: 2026-09-22
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Jack Vorona was the Assistant Director for Scientific and Technical Intelligence at the [[Defense Intelligence Agency]] (DIA) and served as the overall manager of the [[Stargate Project|Grill Flame]] program. He played a crucial role in the continuation and restructuring of the U.S. government's psychic research programs after the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] scaled back its involvement[^1][^2].
@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ A "Project Contacts" list of August 1, 1995, in the CIA's files, its author reda
On August 27, 1981, he met Brigadier General [[Garrison Rapmund]] of the Army Medical Research and Development Command, who "stated that as long as the Perry letter... remained as DoD policy, R&D funds could not be spent in the field of parapsychology," and "solicited BG Rapmund's assistance in getting the Perry letter rescinded." Visiting the Center Lane office on August 31, 1984, he "said that he would like to see psychoenergetics turn into a major discipline. He envisions expanding the current program in a manner similar to that of the disciplines of ELINT, SIGINT, COMINT, etc.," "would like to expand the current program to include PK and medical/psychological assessment," and reported that he and Rapmund "has signed an MOU" under which Rapmund "will provide one million dollars during FY85, two million during FY86, and four million during FY87," besides "TIARA funds and another $600K of P6 funds"; "he will be the central manager of the program under DIA and we will work for him." On March 11, 1985, four days after the DIA memorandum of agreement, "Dr. Vorona granted approval to continue with the training," an approval that fell to him "because of the human use implications" once the project was DIA's. The Sun Streak Oversight Panel met first in January 1986 with "Mr. D. Latham (Asst SecDef, C3I)" as chairman, "Lt Gen L. Perroots" of DIA as member, and "Dr. J. Vorona (DIA/DT), advisory member"; the unit's training reports and annual reports of 1985 to 1988 are addressed "TO: DT (Dr. Vorona)."[^7]
A DIA project report of October 19, 1983 totals the three-year Grill Flame project at $1,475.5K for fiscal years 1981 to 1983, of which $962K was DIA money, $313.5K Army INSCOM money and $200K money from [[DARPA]].[^8]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
@ -54,3 +56,4 @@ On August 27, 1981, he met Brigadier General [[Garrison Rapmund]] of the Army Me
[^5]: *Report by the Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee,* December 1979, Manfred Gale, chairman, CIA-RDP96-00788R001300120001-5. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Defense Intelligence Agency, "Minutes of the DoD Grill Flame Committee Meeting, 27 November 1979," S-1168/DT-1, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000130015-1, and "Minutes of the DoD Grill Flame Committee Meeting, 10 January 1980," S-1008/DT-1, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000100009-1, both signed Jack Vorona, chairman. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Stoner, William L., Major, GS, "Memorandum of Conversation, Subject: Gale Briefing to ZA, Science Evaluation Group Final Report on GRILL FLAME, 14 Jan 80," CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230017-7. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^6]: Defense Intelligence Agency, "Minutes of the Meeting of the DoD Committee on Remote Viewing Activities," August 24, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000140009-7; Vorona to the Army assistant chief of staff for intelligence, S-1862/DT-1, September 6, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200410015-9; Commander, Naval Intelligence Command, to DIA, September 14, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200410025-8; DIA to the 902d Military Intelligence Group, September 22, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R002000140015-0; James L. Brown, Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, USAF, to Vorona, September 29, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200410026-7; Army ACSI (DAMI-ISH) to Vorona, October 4, 1978, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200410024-9. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^7]: "Project Contacts," August 1, 1995, CIA-RDP96-00791R000200190048-5; "Key Players," CIA-RDP96-00788R001200270002-9; "Scientific Oversight Committee," CIA-RDP96-00789R003200130001-2; bibliography citing Vorona's testimony to the House Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee of April 12, 1983, in "RV Reliability Enhancement and Evaluation," 1984, CIA-RDP96-00788R001800150001-7; "OACSI Meeting About Grill Flame," April 13, 1982, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200060003-1; "Recent Actions Concerning Project Grill Flame," February 21, 1983, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100350001-2; "Center Lane Briefing 3-7 October 1983," CIA-RDP96-00788R001700270013-2; "Discussion with Dr. Jack Vorona," August 31, 1984, CIA-RDP96-00788R001500090055-8; "Meeting With Dr. Vorona, 11 March 1985," CIA-RDP96-00788R001700290007-7; "Sun Streak Oversight Panel, Minutes of First Meeting," January 1986, CIA-RDP96-00789R002100200001-6; "Special Intelligence Support Relating to the Kidnapping of BG Dozier," December 22, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00789R002600180016-8; "Grill Flame Briefing for Director, NSA," June and July 1982, CIA-RDP96-00788R001700230004-6; May, Edwin C., memorandum "Contacts," February 23, 1995, CIA-RDP96-00791R000200190073-7; Jachim, R. J., "Meeting Between BG Rapmund and Dr. Jack Vorona," September 1, 1981, CIA-RDP96-00788R001100440071-5. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^8]: Defense Intelligence Agency, Directorate for Scientific and Technical Intelligence, "GRILL FLAME Project Report," October 19, 1983, Appendix III, CIA-RDP96-00788R001000410001-6. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001000410001-6.pdf

2
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/John L. Wilhelm.md
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@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ A memorandum for the record dated April 16, 1974, in the [[Central Intelligence
### The Search for Superman, 1976
Wilhelm's book *The Search for Superman: An Extraordinary Journey of Psychic Exploration* was published by Pocket Books in 1976.[^4] An outline of it kept in the CIA collection among SRI miscellaneous papers lists as its characters [[Uri Geller]], [[Andrija Puharich]], [[Hannah Shtrang]] and [[Shipi Shtrang]], [[Ingo Swann]], [[Pat Price]], [[J. B. Rhine]], [[Edgar Mitchell]] and Adrienne Puthoff (the "ring incident"), gives the purpose of the book as presenting "the facts as best they can be determined in the controversial psychic experiments carried out over the past several years by SRI," and notes that "assistance by SRI was given grudgingly, if at all" and that Wilhelm was "not allowed to witness any of their psychic tests." The same outline names [[George Lawrence]] of the [[Advanced Research Projects Agency]] and [[Robert Van de Castle]] on the "loose" Geller experiments.[^5]
Wilhelm's book *The Search for Superman: An Extraordinary Journey of Psychic Exploration* was published by Pocket Books in 1976.[^4] An outline of it kept in the CIA collection among SRI miscellaneous papers lists as its characters [[Uri Geller]], [[Andrija Puharich]], [[Hannah Shtrang]] and [[Shipi Shtrang]], [[Ingo Swann]], [[Pat Price]], [[J. B. Rhine]], [[Edgar Mitchell]] and Adrienne Puthoff (the "ring incident"), gives the purpose of the book as presenting "the facts as best they can be determined in the controversial psychic experiments carried out over the past several years by SRI," and notes that "assistance by SRI was given grudgingly, if at all" and that Wilhelm was "not allowed to witness any of their psychic tests." The same outline names [[George Lawrence]] of the [[DARPA|Advanced Research Projects Agency]] and [[Robert Van de Castle]] on the "loose" Geller experiments.[^5]
The British weekly *[[New Scientist]]* reviewed the book's treatment of the 1974 *Nature* paper by Targ and Puthoff. [[Joseph Hanlon]] wrote that "in his book, Wilhelm comes close to accusing Targ and Puthoff of dishonesty": Wilhelm alleged that in three of the thirteen picture-drawing trials Geller passed but a drawing was nonetheless included, that in one of these, a horse drawn against a camel target, "apparently Targ and Puthoff themselves may have helped select one of Uri's many drawings that best fit the target," that Puthoff told Geller whether a target was a geometric picture or an object, and that Shipi Shtrang and Jean Mayo were present at sessions, so that Geller's "SRI experiments tended to be more like full-blown stage performances than private experiments."[^6]

21
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Larry Visoski.md
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@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ relations:
end: 2021-11-30
fn: 2
created: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-09-25
updated: 2026-10-08
---
Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr., known as Larry Visoski, is an American pilot who flew [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s aircraft from 1991 to 2019, including the Boeing 727 known as the [[Lolita Express]]. Federal Aviation Administration files and a [[Government of the United States Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]] complaint list him as manager or member of several of the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] companies that held Epstein's jets and helicopters. He was the government's first witness at the 2021 trial of [[Ghislaine Maxwell]] in the [[U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]], where he testified that Epstein had paid for his two daughters' education and had given him land at [[Zorro Ranch]] in [[New Mexico]]. Bank records released by the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] in 2026 show checks from Epstein's [[JPMorgan Chase]] account totaling 106,654 dollars to [[Syracuse University]] for one of the daughters between 2009 and 2012.[^1][^2][^3]
@ -64,7 +64,11 @@ A [[Deutsche Bank]] know-your-customer page headed "The 2013 Butterfly Trust," p
On May 16, 2014, Epstein's accountant [[Richard Kahn]] asked Visoski to "poke around tonight about Black Diamond Trading," a company he had heard was trying to buy the St. Thomas Jet Center. Visoski replied, "Here you go Rich ask and ye shall receive," supplied the tail number of the Black Diamond Learjet, and asked, "can you ask if you want me to introduce myself?" Kahn forwarded the information to Epstein, noting that "Larry has obtained some good info on them." Black Diamond Capital Management's founder, [[Stephen Deckoff]], bought Little St. James and [[Great St. James]] from Epstein's estate in May 2023 through his firm SD Investments.[^7]
On September 9, 2014, a charter booker emailed Kahn and Visoski that a JEGE LLC charter flight carrying the New Mexico attorney general and gubernatorial candidate [[Gary King]] and his running mate, [[Deb Haaland]], from Santa Fe was "on the ground at IAD."[^8] On July 25, 2016 the head of security at [[Bard College]] wrote that a helicopter landing for Epstein's visit to the campus would be coordinated with "Epstein's pilot, Larry Visoski, and the local fire company"; the college's president, [[Leon Botstein]], replied "Excellent."[^9]
At 5:40 PM that day Visoski sent Kahn a message listing "LearJet 60," "N114BD," and "Is Blackdiamond."[^8] At 6:08 PM, under the subject line "Barn," he wrote, "Here you go Rich ask and ye shall receive," and "They arrived this evening at 7 PM in the Learjet, can you ask if you want me to introduce myself?" Kahn forwarded the exchange to Epstein, asking, "should larry meet the aircraft and poke around with them tonight at 7:30pm?" A reply from the account "jeffrey E." reads "yes why not?"[^9] Data Set 9 of the Justice Department's release contains an undated photograph of Stephen Deckoff's Black Diamond business card (EFTA01204007) and, numbered immediately before it, a screenshot of an aviation application with a 5:40 PM AST radar timestamp and the route "TIST KEWR," St. Thomas to Newark (EFTA01204006).[^10]
The FAA's releasable aircraft database lists N114BD in 2026 as a 2009 Dassault Falcon 7X registered to Black Diamond Aviation Group LLC of Greenwich, Connecticut, and its deregistered-aircraft file lists a 1999 Learjet 60 (serial number 166) under the mark N112BD, cancelled on July 1, 2025.[^11] A listing of FAA registry records for Greenwich shows N114BD on that Learjet 60, serial number 166, with a certificate issued December 9, 2004 to Black Diamond Aviation Group LLC.[^12]
On September 9, 2014, a charter booker emailed Kahn and Visoski that a JEGE LLC charter flight carrying the New Mexico attorney general and gubernatorial candidate [[Gary King]] and his running mate, [[Deb Haaland]], from Santa Fe was "on the ground at IAD."[^13] On July 25, 2016 the head of security at [[Bard College]] wrote that a helicopter landing for Epstein's visit to the campus would be coordinated with "Epstein's pilot, Larry Visoski, and the local fire company"; the college's president, [[Leon Botstein]], replied "Excellent."[^14]
### Tuition and Favors
@ -76,7 +80,7 @@ On April 7, 2011, after his elder daughter was denied an interview for an [[NBC]
Visoski testified on November 29 and 30, 2021. He named passengers he had flown with Epstein, including [[Donald Trump]] ("There was more than once, I believe"), [[Bill Clinton]], [[Prince Andrew]], Senators [[John Glenn]] and [[George Mitchell]], the actors [[Kevin Spacey]] and [[Chris Tucker]], and the violinist [[Itzhak Perlman]]. He testified that he flew Epstein to [[Columbus, Ohio]] to see [[Leslie Wexner]], whom Epstein called his client, and that "Ms. Maxwell had nothing to do with the passenger manifests." Under cross-examination he said he "never saw any sexual activity" on the aircraft, and of the accuser known at trial as "Jane," "I didn't know her age. She didn't look young." He testified that Epstein kept the cockpit door closed during flights, and confirmed that Epstein had paid for both of his daughters' college education and given him acreage at Zorro Ranch.[^1][^2][^3]
Judge [[Alison Nathan]] relied at sentencing in part on the testimony of two of Epstein's pilots that [[Sarah Kellen]] had been Maxwell's assistant, one element of the four-level leadership enhancement that the [[Second Circuit]] upheld in September 2024.[^10]
Judge [[Alison Nathan]] relied at sentencing in part on the testimony of two of Epstein's pilots that [[Sarah Kellen]] had been Maxwell's assistant, one element of the four-level leadership enhancement that the [[Second Circuit]] upheld in September 2024.[^15]
### Footnotes
@ -87,6 +91,11 @@ Judge [[Alison Nathan]] relied at sentencing in part on the testimony of two of
[^5]: Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein, No. ST-20-CV-14 (V.I. Super. Ct.), Second Amended Complaint, paragraphs 33 to 36, 137 to 139, filed as Exhibit 1 to Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 1:22-cv-10904-JSR (S.D.N.Y.), ECF No. 1-1 (December 27, 2022). https://web.archive.org/web/20260117011558/https://www.justice.gov/multimedia/Court%20Records/Government%20of%20the%20United%20States%20Virgin%20Islands%20v.%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20Bank,%20N.A.,%20No.%20122-cv-10904%20(S.D.N.Y.%202022)/001-01.pdf
[^6]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01364303, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank know-your-customer page "The 2013 Butterfly Trust" (DB-SDNY-0054829); EFTA01372887, DataSet 10, Deutsche Bank "KYC Print," July 15, 2019 (DB-SDNY-0066790). https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01364303.pdf ; https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01372887.pdf
[^7]: Carlson, Suzanne. "Still no resort plans for Epstein's islands purchased by Deckoff." *Virgin Islands Daily News,* February 6, 2026. https://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/still-no-resort-plans-for-epsteins-islands-purchased-by-deckoff/article_84d776de-8427-4080-a1b5-6cf81418e23d.html
[^8]: Paras, Julian, and Pat Davis. "Records show Gary King, Deb Haaland used Epstein-linked jet during 2014 campaign." *New Mexico Political Report,* February 17, 2026. https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2026/02/17/records-show-gary-king-deb-haaland-used-epstein-linked-jet-during-2014-campaign/
[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02047292, DataSet 10, email chain "Re: Jeffrey Epstein visit to Bard," July 25, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02047292.pdf
[^10]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 22-1426-cr (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2024) (Cabranes, Wesley, Lohier, JJ.), reported at 118 F.4th 256. https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2024/09/17/united_states_v._maxwell.pdf
[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02383246, DataSet 11, email chain headed "Jeffrey Epstein," May 16, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02383246.pdf
[^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02583238, DataSet 11, email chain headed "Re: Barn," May 16, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02583238.pdf
[^10]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA01204007 (photograph of a business card) and EFTA01204006 (screenshot of an aviation application), DataSet 9, undated. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01204007.pdf and https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA01204006.pdf
[^11]: Federal Aviation Administration, Aircraft Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database, MASTER.txt entry for N114BD and DEREG.txt entry for N112BD (serial 166), downloaded October 8, 2026. https://registry.faa.gov/database/ReleasableAircraft.zip
[^12]: City-Data.com, "FAA Registered Aircraft, Dealers and Manufacturers in Greenwich, Connecticut" (listing derived from FAA registry data, retrieved October 8, 2026). https://www.city-data.com/aircraft/air-Greenwich-Connecticut.html
[^13]: Paras, Julian, and Pat Davis. "Records show Gary King, Deb Haaland used Epstein-linked jet during 2014 campaign." *New Mexico Political Report,* February 17, 2026. https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2026/02/17/records-show-gary-king-deb-haaland-used-epstein-linked-jet-during-2014-campaign/
[^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Epstein Library, EFTA02047292, DataSet 10, email chain "Re: Jeffrey Epstein visit to Bard," July 25, 2016. https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA02047292.pdf
[^15]: United States v. Maxwell, No. 22-1426-cr (2d Cir. Sept. 17, 2024) (Cabranes, Wesley, Lohier, JJ.), reported at 118 F.4th 256. https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2024/09/17/united_states_v._maxwell.pdf

29
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Leonid Vasiliev.md
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@ -12,19 +12,38 @@ summary: "Leningrad physiologist who led the Soviet Union's telepathy research f
born: 1891-04-12
died: 1966-02-08
location: "Leningrad, Soviet Union"
updated: 2026-09-22
updated: 2026-10-08
relations:
- type: participant_in
with: "[[The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)]]"
start: 1960
role: "cited the accounts in a 1960 lecture and, per I. V. Tsykunov, in a March 1960 report to the Soviet defense minister"
fn: 5
---
Leonid Vasiliev was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] parapsychologist and chairman of the physiology department at the University of Leningrad, a past winner of the Lenin Prize and a key figure in the resurgence of Soviet [[Parapsychology|psi]] research following the publication of [[The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)|"The Secret of the Nautilus"]] article in 1960. He argued that "the discovery of the energy underlying ESP will be equivalent to the discovery of atomic energy."[^1]
Leonid Vasiliev was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] parapsychologist and chairman of the physiology department at the University of Leningrad, a past winner of the Lenin Prize (as Ostrander and Schroeder and Schnabel give it; the 1975 DIA study gives the Order of Lenin) and a key figure in the resurgence of Soviet [[Parapsychology|psi]] research following the publication of [[The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)|"The Secret of the Nautilus"]] article in 1960. He argued that "the discovery of the energy underlying ESP will be equivalent to the discovery of atomic energy."[^1]
He stated in April 1960 that Soviet scientists had conducted extensive, unreported investigations into telepathy under the Stalin regime, predating American efforts, and that they had successfully performed telepathy tests over a quarter-century before the alleged U.S. Nautilus tests. He held that the publication of articles like [[Jacques Bergier]]'s "Thought Transfer, Weapon of War" and "The Secret of the Nautilus" in French journals stimulated Soviet research, and used them to advocate for increased Soviet investment in the field: "Today the American Navy is testing telepathy on their atomic submarines. Soviet scientists conducted a great many successful telepathy tests over a quarter of a century ago. It's urgent that we throw off our prejudices. We must plunge into the exploration of this vital field."[^1][^2]
By the early 1960s Vasiliev was heading a well-funded parapsychology laboratory, and his work soon concentrated on "remote-influencing" experiments, such as attempting to telepathically induce sleep in a distant receiver. In a 1963 Kremlin edict, the Soviet minister of defense, R. J. Malinosky, declared [[Telepathy]] to be science- and technology-based, leading to the creation of the Special Laboratory for Biocommunications Phenomena at the University of Leningrad, with Vasiliev in charge; its goals included establishing "scientific proof of telepathic communications" and identifying the nature of the brain energy that produces it. His efforts, along with those of other Soviet researchers like [[I. M. Kogan]], contributed to the establishment of numerous other psi research centers in the Soviet Union, and to the Soviet nomenclature around ESP being rewritten to sound technical, severing ties with its occult past: mental telepathy became "long-distance biological signal transmission," and [[Psychokinesis|psychokinesis]] "non-ionizing, in particular electromagnetic, emissions from humans."[^1][^2]
Ostrander and Schroeder date that address to April 1960, at a gathering to commemorate the discovery of radio; [[I. V. Tsykunov]] suggests May, when Soviet Radio Day fell, and the translated Znanie-Sila report of [[Gleb Anfilov]] places a Vasiliev lecture at the Leningrad Scientists Club on June 15, 1960 in which he mentioned the American attempts at telepathic communication with the Nautilus.[^3][^4][^5]
A [[Defense Intelligence Agency|DIA]] briefing on "Soviet Activities in Psychoenergetics," given to the Air Force in July 1987, opened its timeline with [[Vladimir Bekhterev|V. M. Bekhterev]] and "L. L. Vasil'yev (1919-)," under the headings "hypnosis," "automatic responses" and "long distance (1700 km)," and dated his "open publications" and "new lab, Leningrad Univ." to 1959-1965, with [[Genady Sergeyev|G. A. Sergeyev]] working in "Vasil'yev's lab" from 1965 to 1970.[^3]
Tsykunov reports a seven-page memorandum of March 21, 1960 drawn up by Vasiliev, [[P. I. Gulyaev]] and [[Igor Poletaev|I. A. Poletaev]], attached to a report that Poletaev sent to Defense Minister Malinovsky on March 26, 1960. As Tsykunov quotes it, the report says Vasiliev had told Poletaev in March 1960 that the American armed forces had adopted telepathy for communication with submarines, that two French magazines had published brief reports, and that a test with the Nautilus submerged under polar ice about 2,000 kilometers from its base had produced 70 percent correct symbols; it says that without discussing the reliability of the reports the danger of a new psychological weapon was too great to leave them without attention, and it proposes that Vasiliev and Gulyaev continue telepathy research.[^4]
Raphael L. Khérumian of the Institut Métapsychique International sent Vasiliev clippings of the Science et Vie and Constellation articles in late 1959 and early 1960. In his 1962 book Vasiliev acknowledged receiving them and, in a footnote, said such reports must be treated with caution, having been denied in Washington and by other American sources; [[Martin Ebon]] quotes the book as calling the experiment a "totally unexpected foreign confirmation" of tests Vasiliev had conducted twenty-five years earlier.[^6][^7]
By the early 1960s Vasiliev was heading a well-funded parapsychology laboratory, and his work soon concentrated on "remote-influencing" experiments, such as attempting to telepathically induce sleep in a distant receiver. In a 1963 Kremlin edict, the Soviet minister of defense, [[Rodion Malinovsky]], declared [[Telepathy]] to be science- and technology-based, leading to the creation of the Special Laboratory for Biocommunications Phenomena at the University of Leningrad, with Vasiliev in charge; its goals included establishing "scientific proof of telepathic communications" and identifying the nature of the brain energy that produces it. His efforts, along with those of other Soviet researchers like [[I. M. Kogan]], contributed to the establishment of numerous other psi research centers in the Soviet Union, and to the Soviet nomenclature around ESP being rewritten to sound technical, severing ties with its occult past: mental telepathy became "long-distance biological signal transmission," and [[Psychokinesis|psychokinesis]] "non-ionizing, in particular electromagnetic, emissions from humans."[^1][^2]
Tsykunov writes that the laboratory was created at the physiology institute of Leningrad University in 1960 and that a "biotelecommunication" group in Vasiliev's laboratory of electromagnetic fields and aeroions included P. I. Gulyaev, V. K. Pavlenko, A. I. Pudovkin, V. P. Leutin, V. A. Doroshenko and A. S. Efremov.[^4]
A [[Defense Intelligence Agency|DIA]] briefing on "Soviet Activities in Psychoenergetics," given to the Air Force in July 1987, opened its timeline with [[Vladimir Bekhterev|V. M. Bekhterev]] and "L. L. Vasil'yev (1919-)," under the headings "hypnosis," "automatic responses" and "long distance (1700 km)," and dated his "open publications" and "new lab, Leningrad Univ." to 1959-1965, with [[Genady Sergeyev|G. A. Sergeyev]] working in "Vasil'yev's lab" from 1965 to 1970.[^8]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^2]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
[^3]: Henry E. Shinol, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, Studies and Analyses, Headquarters USAF, to the Defense Intelligence Agency, "Soviet Parapsychology Research Briefing," June 12, 1987, and cover note of July 14, 1987, with paper briefing slides "Soviet Activities in Psychoenergetics," CIA-RDP96-00789R002600320001-8 to -004-5. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^3]: Ostrander, Sheila, and Lynn Schroeder. *Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain*. Prentice-Hall, 1970, pp. 6-7.
[^4]: Tsykunov, I. V. "От фантазии к реальности: как история «Наутилуса» открыла гонку сверхъестественных вооружений между СССР и США" [From fantasy to reality: how the story of the Nautilus opened the race for supernatural weapons between the USSR and the USA]. Aliter, no. 20 (2023), pp. 34-55. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ot-fantazii-k-realnosti-kak-istoriya-nautilusa-otkryla-gonku-sverhestestvennyh-vooruzheniy-mezhdu-sssr-i-ssha. Sole source for the passages so cited. Quoting Vinokurov and Gurtovoy, Психотронная война, pp. 147-149.
[^5]: Anfilov, Gleb. "Is Telepathy Possible?" *The Soviet Review*, vol. 2, no. 6 (June 1961), pp. 3-7, translated from Znanie-Sila, 1960, no. 12. https://archive.org/details/sim_russian-social-science-review_1961-06_2_6
[^6]: Newsletter of the Parapsychology Foundation, "Nautilus Hoax Exposed," vol. 10, no. 6, November-December 1963, citing This Week, September 8, 1963. NSA-RDP96X00790R000100040002-2, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/nsa-rdp96x00790r000100040002-2.
[^7]: Ebon, Martin. *Psychic Warfare: Threat or Illusion?* McGraw-Hill, 1983, chapter 3, pp. 26-27.
[^8]: Henry E. Shinol, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, Studies and Analyses, Headquarters USAF, to the Defense Intelligence Agency, "Soviet Parapsychology Research Briefing," June 12, 1987, and cover note of July 14, 1987, with paper briefing slides "Soviet Activities in Psychoenergetics," CIA-RDP96-00789R002600320001-8 to -004-5. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.

18
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Peter Zokosky.md
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@ -5,13 +5,18 @@ tags:
- PROMIS
- CIA
summary: "Former president of Armtec Defense Products, the Army's sole combustible cartridge casing supplier, who advised the Cabazon-Wackenhut joint venture and was a witness in the Justice Department's INSLAW inquiry."
updated: 2026-09-22
relations:
- type: director_of
with: "[[Meridian International Logistics]]"
role: "board member; asked later to be taken off the board (Zokosky to Seymour, 2001)"
fn: 1
updated: 2026-10-08
---
[[Peter Zokosky]] was an arms manufacturer and a key figure in various covert operations and business ventures, often associated with [[Robert Booth Nichols]] and [[Michael Riconosciuto]]. He was a former president of [[Armtec]], a company that produced combustible cartridge cases for the Army, and was under a non-compete agreement with them until August 1981. Zokosky also served as a consultant to the [[Great Britain|British Government]] on shell casings.[^1]
### The Justice Department Inquiry
Zokosky told the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s special counsel, [[Nicholas Bua]], that he was the former president of Armtec Defense Products of Coachella, California, which in the early 1980s was the single-source supplier of combustible cartridge casings to the Army. He took people from the Cabazon-[[Wackenhut Corporation|Wackenhut]] joint venture to [[Picatinny Arsenal]] in Dover, [[New Jersey]], to meet [[Dr. Harry Fair]] and the Army project officer R. Scott Westley, whom he knew from Armtec, about establishing a second-source casing plant on the reservation. [[Robert Frye]] recalled first meeting Michael Riconosciuto on a trip to the arsenal in May 1981; Zokosky agreed there was a May trip but said Riconosciuto was not on it and that Frye met him on a second trip in October 1981.[^2]
Zokosky told the [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s special counsel, [[Nicholas J. Bua]], that he was the former president of Armtec Defense Products of Coachella, California, which in the early 1980s was the single-source supplier of combustible cartridge casings to the Army. He took people from the Cabazon-[[Wackenhut Corporation|Wackenhut]] joint venture to [[Picatinny Arsenal]] in Dover, [[New Jersey]], to meet [[Dr. Harry Fair]] and the Army project officer R. Scott Westley, whom he knew from Armtec, about establishing a second-source casing plant on the reservation. [[Robert Frye]] recalled first meeting Michael Riconosciuto on a trip to the arsenal in May 1981; Zokosky agreed there was a May trip but said Riconosciuto was not on it and that Frye met him on a second trip in October 1981.[^2]
Bua examined the "Special Operations Report" titled "Nicaraguans and Earl Brian at Lake Cahuilla, 9/10/81," which placed [[Earl Brian]] at the joint venture's weapons demonstration of September 10, 1981. He found it had been typed on October 10, 1991, by Gene Gilbert, an investigator for the Riverside County District Attorney, after a jailhouse interview with Riconosciuto, and that all its information except license plate numbers came from Riconosciuto; the former Indio officer Dave Baird, who had memorized the plates at the demonstration, did not identify Brian as Gilbert's later report said. Gilbert told Bua that had he known the stir it would cause he "would have left Earl Brian's name out."[^2]
@ -21,13 +26,13 @@ The writer Cheri Seymour wrote that Zokosky was a key participant in the [[Cabaz
### Biological Warfare Technology
Seymour wrote that Zokosky took part in the proposed development of biological warfare "viruses" at [[Stormont Laboratories]], grown in cow uteri, and with Robert Booth Nichols presented a proposal for biological warfare technology and anti-toxin kits to the Army (Dr. Harry Fair at Picatinny Arsenal) and to [[FMC Corporation]]; she described the technology as capable of selectively wiping out segments of humanity with the appropriate genetic material. Zokosky spoke of incubating viruses in fish tanks at [[Hercules Research]], where, Seymour wrote, Michael Riconosciuto worked on the same technology.[^1]
Seymour wrote that Zokosky took part in the proposed development of biological warfare "viruses" at [[Stormont Laboratories]], grown in cow uteri, and with Robert Booth Nichols presented a proposal for biological warfare technology and anti-toxin kits to the Army (Dr. Harry Fair at Picatinny Arsenal) and to [[FMC Corporation]]; she described the technology as capable of selectively wiping out segments of humanity with the appropriate genetic material. Zokosky spoke of incubating viruses in fish tanks at [[Hercules Research]], where, Seymour wrote, Michael Riconosciuto worked on the same technology.[^1] Seymour's 1992 VORTEX account separately says Zokosky had been involved in a proposal to sell biological warfare viruses to a Dr. Harry Fair in Arlington, Virginia.[^3]
### Connections to Robert Booth Nichols and Meridian International Logistics
Zokosky was a board member of [[Meridian International Logistics|MIL]], a holding company headed by Robert Booth Nichols. He stated that MIL was a "front company" used to funnel money to its board of directors, with funds, he said, coming from the [[NSA|NSA]], partly from drug profits. He believed that Robert Booth Nichols worked for the [[National Security Council|NSC]] and NSA, doing "contract work" for various government agencies, and that Nichols handled "corporate and government" transactions related to narcotics at a higher level.[^1]
Zokosky was a board member of [[Meridian International Logistics|MIL]], a holding company headed by Robert Booth Nichols. He stated that MIL was a "front company" used to funnel money to its board of directors, with funds, he said, coming from the [[NSA|NSA]], partly from drug profits. He said Robert Booth Nichols worked "for the NSC" ([[National Security Council]]) and did "contract work for the NSA/NSC," and that Nichols handled "corporate and government" transactions related to narcotics at a higher level.[^1]
Zokosky and Nichols were involved in a proposed joint venture with FMC Corporation, where Michael Riconosciuto was Vice President of [[Meridian Arms]]. Zokosky also discussed Robert Booth Nichols and Michael Riconosciuto conducting business in [[Australia]], which he thought had something to do with the [[Nugan Hand Bank]].[^1]
Seymour wrote in her 1992 VORTEX account that Michael Riconosciuto had once been vice president of Meridian Arms, the subsidiary of MIL.[^3] Zokosky also discussed Robert Booth Nichols and Michael Riconosciuto conducting business in [[Australia]], which he thought had something to do with the [[Nugan Hand Bank]].[^1]
### Role in "The Octopus" Investigation
@ -47,4 +52,5 @@ He was an investor in the Cabazon Indian Reservation and a skeet range, though h
### Footnotes
[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010. The special counsel's report records the Picatinny meeting date as disputed and found no support for the presence of Contra leaders or Earl Brian at Lake Cahuilla. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.,* March 1993, pp. 56-64.
[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc.,* March 1993, pp. 56-64.
[^3]: Seymour, Cheri. "VORTEX," diary dated February 24, 1992, p. 11. https://archive.org/details/VORTEXDocument

15
10 - PEOPLE/(T-Z)/Russell Targ.md
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
---
created: 2026-05-17
updated: 2026-09-22
updated: 2026-10-08
title: Russell Targ
aliases:
- Russell Targ
@ -36,9 +36,15 @@ The Army's [[Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee]], which met Targ, Puth
The Snyders' evaluation of 1979 wrote of one SRI target that "Targ, who selected the coordinates, had also worked for Sylvania," that "Targ was an accomplished amateur magician," quoting his pages in Mind-Reach on "sleights" and "illusions," and of an airport drawing, "Was it drawn by Russell Targ?"; David Marks found in the fourth Price transcript Targ's remark to the subject, "Nothing like having three successes behind you," on a page missing from the copy SRI gave John Wilhelm.[^4]
### The DARPA network experiments, 1976 to 1977
A 1977 SRI final report by Hal Puthoff, Targ and [[Edwin May]], "Advanced Threat Technique Assessment," lists in its section on long-distance remote-viewing experiments the "Use of the [[DARPA]] teleconferencing computer network to provide date and time records of experiments in progress," with experiments from New York to California, New York to Dayton, and New Orleans to California.[^5] Papers of the 1977 International Conference on Cybernetics and Society describe the conversational TALK mode of the DARPA net being used for post-experiment feedback between a subject in California and an experimenter in New York.[^6]
[[Michael Zarbo]], writing in 1992, describes a 1976 test, reported in The New York Times, in which Targ acted as a conduit in New York City while a viewer at SRI in California typed his impressions on a terminal linked to DARPA's computer network. He writes that the target, chosen only minutes before the test, was the central water fountain in Washington Square Park.[^7]
### The 1996 Memoir
Targ requested his CIA files in May 1994, "moved from number 540 in line to number 474" in a year, and with "two Washington lawyers, two congressmen, and a senator" obtained them on August 11, 1995. His memoir of 1996 recounts Price telephoning Puthoff in June 1973 to say he had been "doing that kind of psychic thing for years, catching crooks when he was the police commissioner in Burbank"; the protocol of sixty target cards and a calculator with a random-number key, run by the laboratory director Bonnar Cox, with Targ and the viewer in a Faraday cage on the second floor of the Radio Physics building; Price's drawing of the Rinconada Park pools, "about a hundred feet in diameter (it was actually hundred and ten feet)," with water tanks that the city's centennial report showed had stood there in 1913; and the session of July 10, 1974, in which Price, given coordinates by "a physicist from the CIA," said: "I am lying on my back on the roof of a two or three story brick building. It's a sunny day. The sun feels good. There's the most amazing thing. There's a giant gantry crane moving back and forth over my head. As I drift up in the air and look down, it seems to be riding on a track with one rail on each side of the building." Targ added that Price described "a giant, 'sixty-foot diameter metal sphere'" being assembled from "thick metal gores" with welding difficulties, and that *Aviation Week* of May 2, 1977, reported satellite photographs of Soviet technicians manufacturing "huge extremely thick steel gores" for "a large sphere estimated to be about 18 meters (57.8 feet) in diameter." He quoted the *Chicago Tribune* of August 13, 1977, on Director [[Stansfield Turner]]'s disclosure that the agency "had found a man who could 'see' what was going on anywhere in the world through his psychic powers," dropped in 1975: "'He died,' Turner said, 'and we haven't heard from him since.'" Of the agency's position in 1995 he wrote: "It is as though the CIA discovered that there were indeed little men on Mars, but concluded that since they were pretty small and didn't have weapons, they weren't worth investigating any further."[^5]
Targ requested his CIA files in May 1994, "moved from number 540 in line to number 474" in a year, and with "two Washington lawyers, two congressmen, and a senator" obtained them on August 11, 1995. His memoir of 1996 recounts Price telephoning Puthoff in June 1973 to say he had been "doing that kind of psychic thing for years, catching crooks when he was the police commissioner in Burbank"; the protocol of sixty target cards and a calculator with a random-number key, run by the laboratory director Bonnar Cox, with Targ and the viewer in a Faraday cage on the second floor of the Radio Physics building; Price's drawing of the Rinconada Park pools, "about a hundred feet in diameter (it was actually hundred and ten feet)," with water tanks that the city's centennial report showed had stood there in 1913; and the session of July 10, 1974, in which Price, given coordinates by "a physicist from the CIA," said: "I am lying on my back on the roof of a two or three story brick building. It's a sunny day. The sun feels good. There's the most amazing thing. There's a giant gantry crane moving back and forth over my head. As I drift up in the air and look down, it seems to be riding on a track with one rail on each side of the building." Targ added that Price described "a giant, 'sixty-foot diameter metal sphere'" being assembled from "thick metal gores" with welding difficulties, and that *Aviation Week* of May 2, 1977, reported satellite photographs of Soviet technicians manufacturing "huge extremely thick steel gores" for "a large sphere estimated to be about 18 meters (57.8 feet) in diameter." He quoted the *Chicago Tribune* of August 13, 1977, on Director [[Stansfield Turner]]'s disclosure that the agency "had found a man who could 'see' what was going on anywhere in the world through his psychic powers," dropped in 1975: "'He died,' Turner said, 'and we haven't heard from him since.'" Of the agency's position in 1995 he wrote: "It is as though the CIA discovered that there were indeed little men on Mars, but concluded that since they were pretty small and didn't have weapons, they weren't worth investigating any further."[^8]
### Footnotes
@ -46,4 +52,7 @@ Targ requested his CIA files in May 1994, "moved from number 540 in line to numb
[^2]: Targ, Russell, and Harold Puthoff. "Information Transmission under Conditions of Sensory Shielding," *Nature,* vol. 251, October 18, 1974, pp. 602-607, read in the CIA Reading Room copy CIA-RDP96-00787R000100220001-8 on archive.org. Marks, David, and Richard Kammann. "Information Transmission in Remote Viewing Experiments," *Nature,* vol. 274, 1978, pp. 680-681; quoted from Puthoff, Targ, and Tart, "Information Transmission in Remote Viewing Experiments: II," with Tart, "Reanalysis of SRI Remote Viewing Experiments," submitted to *Nature,* January 1979, CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090017-5, archive.org mirror.
[^3]: *Report by the Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee,* December 1979, Manfred Gale, chairman, CIA-RDP96-00788R001300120001-5. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.
[^4]: Snyder, Harry L., and Arlene G. Snyder. *Summary and Critical Evaluation of Research in Remote Viewing,* Report RV-79-1, final technical report, contract 77F104420, Systemetrics, Inc., Blacksburg, Virginia, June 1, 1979, parts 1 and 2, CIA-RDP96-00791R000100440001-9 and CIA-RDP96-00787R000100260003-2. The sponsor of the contract is not named in the report. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Marks, David F. "Remote Viewing Revisited." *Skeptical Inquirer,* vol. 6, no. 4, Summer 1982, pp. 18-29. https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/1982/07/22165420/p20.pdf
[^5]: Targ, Russell. "Remote Viewing at Stanford Research Institute in the 1970s: A Memoir," *Journal of Scientific Exploration,* vol. 10, no. 1, 1996, pp. 77-88, reprinted from Targ and Katra, *Mind-to-Mind* (1996); read in a Wayback Machine copy of the journal's PDF.
[^5]: Harold E. Puthoff, Russell Targ and Edwin C. May, "Advanced Threat Technique Assessment," Stanford Research Institute, 1977, CIA-RDP96-00791R000200270001-7. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00791R000200270001-7.pdf
[^6]: Proceedings, International Conference on Cybernetics and Society, IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society, Washington, D.C., September 19 to 21, 1977, CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080055-4. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00787R000200080055-4.pdf
[^7]: Michael E. Zarbo, "Remote Viewing: Parapsychological Potential for Intelligence Collection?" master's thesis, Defense Intelligence College, November 1992, CIA-RDP96-00789R002600250001-6, citing William J. Broad, "Pentagon is said to Focus on ESP for Wartime Use," *The New York Times,* January 10, 1984, section C. Sole source for the account of the 1976 test as carried here. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00789R002600250001-6.pdf
[^8]: Targ, Russell. "Remote Viewing at Stanford Research Institute in the 1970s: A Memoir," *Journal of Scientific Exploration,* vol. 10, no. 1, 1996, pp. 77-88, reprinted from Targ and Katra, *Mind-to-Mind* (1996); read in a Wayback Machine copy of the journal's PDF.