SUBJECT: ENGLISH/MOORE LETTER, RE: 89 MUFON SYMPOSIUM FILE: UFO1433
31 AUG. '89
Bill English
UFINET
POBX 0123
Alamogordo, Nm 88311
Dear Bill:
Thank you for sending me a copy of "Pegasus", Aside from the
material about me on page one, I was most interested in the
pledges you make in your "policy Statement" which appears on page
three--especially those you make about using "factual
information" and "not allow(ing) character assassination."
I do not know why you seem to harbor so many negative feelings
about me, or what I may have done to offend you. Whatever it is,
you certainly seem to be very hot under the collar about it.
However, I did note in listening to a tape of your Las Vegas
speech that you made a distinct call for unity and an end to the
in-fighting in the UFO field. You will recall that I made a
similar statement in my presentation. On the strength of that,
added to the fact (as least as I recall it) we once got along
quite well, I would like once again to propose that we put aside
past differences and try to work together, I hope you will give
this your serious consideration.
Now with respect to the piece on page one of your newsletter, I
cannot imagine who the (anonymous and obviously second-hand)
source of you information might be, but I can tell you first hand
that it is completely erroneous. My interaction with Mr.
Bennewitz was as stated in my Las Vegas presentation. In
addition, on a number of different occasions I was accompanied on
my visits to him by other individuals who, I am sure, would be
more than happy to verify that fact if necessary. One particular
occasion, which you can easily check if you wish, occurred in
1984 when I and one other person were visiting with Paul in his
office. I had been there about twenty minutes when Tracy Torme,
Tom Adams and one other individual whose name I do not recall
walked in. They were quite surprised to seemed; I was quite
surprised to see them; and Paul seemed quite amused by it all.
Ask Tracy or Tom about it. I am certain they will recall the
incident. You might also talk to Gabe Valdez, who knew as early
as `81 or `82 that Paul and I were acquainted.
Furthermore you seem to have misinterpreted what I said at Vegas
about the role I was playing in the Bennewitz affair. Therefore,
I wish to offer the following three corrections to the material
printed in your newsletter:
(1) You state that I "met and knew Paul Bennewitz in the latter
part of 1979." This is incorrect. Please refer to page 5,
paragraph 2, and page 6, paragraph 2 of the text of my paper (as
printed in FOCUS, Vol.IV #4-5-6: 30 JUN. `89) for clarification.
Page 6, para 2 clearly states. "I first met Paul in early
1981..." (If you haven't got a copy of the text, let me know and
I'll be happy to send you one.
(2) You state that I was instrumental in feeding Bennewitz mis-
information (sic.)." Not true. Once again, refer to page 6,
paragraph 2 of my text, which states. "My role in the affair was
largely that of a freelancer providing information on Paul's
current thinking and activities. I had nothing whatsoever to do
with the counterintelligence and the dis-information...."
(3) You state that I was partly the reason for Paul's
involuntary committal to the New Mexico State Mental Hospital."
This is both untrue and erroneous on its face. First of all, if
Paul was ever involuntarily committed to a state mental hospital
I am completely unaware of it. My statement (page 8, para. 1,
bottom) was "Not long afterward I heard that he had been
hospitalized and was under psychiatric care." The hospital as I
understood it, was a local facility, not a mental hospital or
institution, and Paul had not been "committed". He was simply
under the care of a psychiatrist. Secondly, you will note in the
same paragraph cited above, I clearly state that I tried to
counsel Paul to drop his UFO activities before they completely
destroyed his health. Indeed, I genuinely liked Paul, resented
what "they" were doing to him, and did everything I could (short
of blowing my own cover) to get him to realize that he was the
object of an extensive counterintelligence game. The fact is,
Paul already knew that. Somehow I think much of his problem came
from his unflagging belief that if he stayed with it long enough,
truth as he saw it would somehow triumph over deception.
As far as my motivations in making the statement I did in Las
Vegas, I think the time has come to blow the whistle on
government disinformation about UFOs and provide some much needed
counterpoint to the Lear-Cooper material. One of the key points
in that mess, at least to me, was that I was able to establish a
direct connection between one of Lear's "confidential" sources
and the very same office in Washington that was responsible for
directing much of the effort against Bennewitz. That, coupled
with the fact that much of Lear's material was an embellished
regurgitation of the same fluff they fed Paul, told me what I
needed to know about Lear. As for Cooper-- he's highly a
intelligent individual who is very good at taking in material
from a variety of sources and embellishing it to suit his
purposes. In my opinion, he's either a clever opportunist who's
taking advantage of the Lear situation and the general paranoia
of the UFO community to try and make himself look more important
than he really is, or he's a C/I man whose specialty is
deception. My present thinking is that the former is more likely
the case simply because his methodology doesn't fit the latter
type at all. Also, if you take the trouble to compare his
earlier pronouncements with those he is making currently, you
will discover a host of inconsistencies; which, at the very
least, calls his ultimate credibility into serious question.
Government disinformation about UFOs has been going on for a long
time. My goal is to try to stop it by exposing it to the public,
and at the same time, uncover what is behind it. What I did in
Las Vegas began the first part of this process. There will be
more to come. The next issue of FOCUS (circulation now about 500
and growing fast) will carry more.
In any case, congratulations and best wishes on "Pegasus" and
your UFINET project. I hope you will print this letter in an
upcoming issue in order to correct the mistakes cited above. I
also sincerely hope you will take another look at the animosity
you seem to harbor against me, and see if there isn't some way we
can cooperate. After all, we both do have a common purpose,
please let me hear from you in the near future.
cordially.
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