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. ********************************************** * THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo * **********************************************