“I'm with the government ... You cooperate with us, and I'm going to tell you what the government really knows about UFOs.”

The concept of disinformation regarding UFOs involves deliberate efforts(2) by government agencies to spread false or misleading information to sow confusion, discredit genuine UFO sightings, and conceal classified military projects. The disinformation aspect of the UFO phenomenon, as shown to us in documentaries like The Mirage Men(1) highlights the complex interplay between government secrecy, psychological manipulation, and public perception. By examining specific cases and individuals involved in disseminating disinformation, the documentary sheds light on the hidden agendas and tactics employed by government agencies to control the UFO narrative. 

Mirage Men Movie Poster, 2013 - Source : Mirage Men

The Robertson Panel(5), (which we will get more into during the Eisenhower posts,) said “the government had to exercise great care to DEBUNK the stories, and individual civilians who expressed an interest in flying saucers ought to be carefully watched.” According to The Mirage Men(1), this group was exactly how that was to be done. The film states that up to 80% of the UFO information that we have was created by Richard Doty and his men and spread during this period. This, however, reasons that 20% of what we think we know is factually accurate - but which is which is still unknown. 

Photo of Richard Doty from an interview for the film Doty by Trevor Paglen

Richard Doty was THE professional disinformer, and through this documentary, he says he was “trained to lie… [Back in early 80’s] it was my job to confuse the UFO community…” He would hear of an experiencer, and introduce himself to them in this way - “I'm with the government - you cooperate with us, and I'm going to tell you what the government really knows about UFOs.” He would then lean into whatever that particular experiencer says they saw, and embellish their own stories with the “truths" that they didn’t know - feeding them a plethora of disinformation, and sowing seeds of lies among witnesses.

If these assertions are true, then a series of sophisticated hoaxes were carried out by the people of our government.

Paul Bennewitz in front of a plane - John Lundberg (director) - Original publication: Mirage Men documentary(1)

For instance, multiple sightings of aircraft appeared around the landscape of the home of Paul Bennewitz between August and September of 1979. Living less than a mile from Kirtland Air Force Base gave Bennewitz a front-row seat to the happenings surrounding Manzano Mountain - the location where American nuclear weapons were stored at the time. Bennewitz was the President of Thunder Scientific Corporation, a company that designed instruments for high-profile agencies, such as NASA and the Air Force; so when he continually saw lights in the sky he began to listen in to radio signals from the base to see if he could decode what was happening. After running tests and diagnostics he figured that it had to be technology that was not ours, he decided to contact Kirtland Air Force Base to let them know what he was seeing - they sent Doty and a physicist to speak with Bennewitz. 

Logo of Bennewitz’s company, Thunder Scientific

Now Doty and the team knew that Bennewitz was recording classified projects flying to and from the Air Force base - so they decided it was better(1) to let him believe his own thoughts, that it was UFOs. Allegedly, the NSA got involved and replaced one of his computers with one of their own - feeding him even further misinformation - leaving Bennewitz incredibly paranoid.  He went out to Dulce, New Mexico (where there supposedly is another Secret Alien Base similar to Area 51) to investigate further, and the cycle repeated.

Photo of Paul Bennewitz - Image Source : Real Men In Black: Wikileaks, silent 'copters and lost documentary given to Spielberg - Daily Star 

In the mid-1980s, Bennewitz(6) wrote letters to Congress, Senators, TV Stations, and even the President of the United States, expressing to them that the Air Force was cooperating with him in his investigation regarding these UFOs, but he needed more funds to continue his research - specifically mentioning Doty and Edwards while explaining all that had led to this point. 

He was turned down for funding and basically laughed off by them all. 

“Disinformation is designed to appeal to the person it is operating on - the more dramatic you can be appealing to that prejudice the better you're going to get your hooks into the person you're trying to get…It's generally assumed that the counter-intelligence operation conducted against Paul Bennewitz was designed to throw him off the scent of some kind of classified experimental technology that he was accidentally filming over Kirtland Air Force Base. But when you stop to think about it this doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If the Kirtland Base personnel really wanted him to stop his investigations they could have ordered him to do so, instead they encouraged him to continue his research and indeed facilitated his growing delusions about an extraterrestrial invasion.” (The Mirage Men)(1)

This created a major dissonance(7) between the Air Force’s seeming interest in his research and cooperation in investigating, and how the rest of the government was reacting to him. As Doty and Bennewitz developed a real friendship throughout the years of research, Doty tried to convince Bennewitz to stop, as he was beginning to be worried that the government would take him out for his persistence on the matter.

In 1988 Paul Bennewitz was taken to a mental institution(8) by his family. Eventually, many years later - and after many years of psychiatric treatment - Doty explained the entirety of the truth of his lies, and the full hoax to Bennewitz - but at that point, he had already developed paranoia so severe that he could believe nothing but the "fact" that aliens were coming for him. In 2003 Bennewitz died of unknown causes.

Paul F. Bennewitz obituary - Newspapers.com(4)

Another important argument of the film is that pertaining to Linda Moulton Howe(9). After a string of cattle mutilations in Dolce, New Mexico, Howe became interested in the topic - and as an investigative journalist, she was determined to get to the bottom of this story. She sold the idea of creating a documentary about this strange phenomenon to HBO, and while in the process of making it, she learned that Doty had a list of names of people who were UFO experiencers and contactees. Howe wanted that list to help in her research of this high strangeness. Doty and the American Government, on the other hand - wanted to know what Howe knew, and how much she planned to reveal in the film she was creating. So when they came into contact, they agreed to meet face-to-face at Kirtland Air Force Base.

Linda Moulton Howe speaking at AlienCon LA, Day 2, LA Convention Center, Los Angeles, USA - 22 Jun 2019 - Image Source : Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock

Doty took her to what he called “the Commander's room,” but as he stated in The Mirage Men(1) documentary, “that was not necessarily true.” Instead of receiving the names and phone numbers of witnesses she anticipated, she was handed a manilla envelope that she was to read and not take notes - but she could ask questions. The top of the document said “Briefing paper for the President of the United States of America on Unidentified Aerial Vehicles.” It included a list of places - like Roswell - where the government had recovered disks, but there were so many locations that it was baffling to Howe. One of the paragraphs on the last page has stuck with her through all this time. It read, “These extraterrestrials manipulated DNA in already evolving primates to create homosapiens.” Howe says(1), “And I remember reading that sentence over several times trying to absorb the implication of its meaning because if homosapiens is a genetically constructed species by extraterrestrials, we are then by definition a planet of six and a half billion androids. If we are androids, what purpose are we serving?”

Howe also tells us that the very last page of these documents reads “PROJECT GARNET - All questions and mysteries about the evolution of homosapiens on this planet have been answered, and this project is closed.” Doty says that the entirety of this document was from a special office in Washington DC, along with an operational plan of what he was supposed to do in this conversation. According to the film, these documents shown to Howe were the basis for the Majestic 12 pages. Doty says he had “nothing to do with that” - but the almost obvious forgery points nearly directly at him and his team

“It became seen as necessary to create an active disinformation program in the late 1970s and early 1980s and the reason for this is two-fold. One was the American Freedom of Information Act. Thousands of pages of documents were released from places like the CIA, the FBI, and all the military agencies. Documents proving the lie that agencies across the board were interested and tracking UFO phenomenon…” (The Mirage Men)(1)

We know that the so-called information that Doty was spreading was a combination of both dis’ and intentional mis’ information as he has admitted to this in not just this documentary, but also a plethora of other interviews on the matter… what we don’t know is why. Is there something even bigger than we are imagining that they are trying to hide? If none of this is true - and it is all just a hoax ... then why would the government spend billions(3) of black budget dollars for this program, as well as all of the others? 

THE DARK SECRET OF THE BLACK BUDGET - BY MAKING $35 BILLION IN DEFENSE PROGRAMS INVISIBLE, THE PENTAGON IS HURTING NATIONAL SECURITY(3)

Today doty says that he is on the side of UFO research and true investigation, and that he has left his years of misinformation and deceit behind. But how do we trust a man whose career was to lie and misinform? How do we believe him now? Is this documentary even worth the analysis? Or is the film - as well as the rest that he does today - all just further cover-up?

Come back next week where we will wrap up all we have learned from the Roswell Incident, and the Truman Administration - and really dive into the why of the conspiracy that still constantly surrounds these events. 

Until then, keep your eyes to the skies guys. 👽

All information for this post can be found at the following links : 

(7) Bishop, Greg. Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth. Simon and Schuster, 2005.

(8) “DEEP DIVE / UNREDACTED: How Paul Bennewitz and Ed Ruppelt Saved the World From Aliens and the CIA.” Audioboom, audioboom.com/posts/8427898-deep-dive-unredacted-how-paul-bennewitz-and-ed-ruppelt-saved-the-world-from-aliens-and-the-cia.

Dolan, Richard. UFOs and the National Security State: Chronology of a Cover-up, 1941–1973. Hampton Roads Publishing, 2002.

(9) IMDb. “Linda Moulton Howe.” IMDb, www.imdb.com/name/nm3311216.

(2) “Misinformation and Disinformation.” https://www.apa.org, 29 Nov. 2023, www.apa.org/topics/journalism-facts/misinformation-disinformation.

(5) Office of Special Investigations. “Meeting of OSI Advisory Group on UFO.” CIA Reading Room, Jan. 1953, cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000015352.pdf. Accessed 24 Feb. 2024.

(4) “Paul F. Bennewitz Obituary.” Newspapers.com, 29 June 2003, www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal-paul-f-bennewitz-ob/116778334.

(1) Perception Management Productions. (2013). Mirage Men. Retrieved 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srtrRbt77AE. 

(3) Weiner, Tim. “The Dark Secret of the Black Budget.” CIA Reading Room, edited by Washington Monthly, May 1987, www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00965R000707040013-3.pdf. Accessed 24 Feb. 2024.

(6) “William Robert Bennewitz Collection.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.58633.