They have no idea, Jake thought. How would they react if they knew?
It was the scientist who broke the silence. “I know this is a lot to take in at once, and there is no reason why you should believe or even trust me. If there was anyone on this plant who would have the highest probability of having the means to trigger a full public disclosure, I’d be putting my money on you.”
“Trust you?” Jake exploded. “You appear out of nowhere holding a document of mine which you, or your so-called agency, somehow intercepted. You know all about me and my family, and you’re telling me things that are so farfetched that they are beyond belief! Why the hell should I trust you?”
Charles’s soft tone never wavered. “Because out of the entire population on this planet, you’re probably the only one who wants to rectify the wrongs done to your family as much as I do about what happened to mine.”
Although seated, Jake felt as if his feet had been swept from under him. He fell silent as he listened.
Charles continued. “You may not understand my reasons for what may seem from the outside as me working against the establishment on the secrets I once helped to keep. But understanding will come with time, depending on the path you choose to follow.”
Jake felt a gentle hand on his shoulder as Dr. Reilly stood. Wincing in pain, the scientist turned toward the younger man. A business card appeared before Jake’s face. “Think about it. And if by chance you do find something that may have been hidden away all these decades, this is how to find me.”
Jake took the card.
Before turning to leave, Dr. Reilly reached inside his jacket to produce a small USB pen drive. He handed it to Jake. “Now, I’m not saying that every documented UFO sighting has been real, because the majority aren’t. There are plenty of film students out there, as well as crazy nut jobs, doing some great work with special effects. So I’m going to leave you with some documents that have been declassified…” His voice trailed off. “Well…mostly. They say that after you’ve read enough military investigations on sightings and spoken to enough credible witnesses, then one of the most profound experiences a human can have is to come to the personal realization that this is REAL. When you’re faced with the reality that there is life out there, that we are not the only ones, and you truly know it for yourself, it’ll change everything you believe in. If you reach that point you might want to use that card.”
Charles paused. “But remember, if you choose to go down that path, it will be a dangerous one. But I’ll be in your corner. Whatever you decide, be careful, they’re already watching you.”
With that, the scientist turned and walked away, not once looking back. Jake looked at the business card; it was plain white with only a single cell number printed in black. No name, no title, no business address.
CHAPTER 24
“This is beyond belief!”
Mark was scrolling through the contents of the small USB drive the scientist had left with Jake. The two curious minds were in Mark’s study pouring over PDF images of once classified documents and reports that were now being flashed up on Mark’s twin desk monitors.
“So, what do you think?”
Mark read aloud the titles of the documents as he shuffled through. “Extraterrestrial Entities and Technology Recovery and Disposal, dated April 1954; Unidentified Aerial Objects Project ‘Sign’, Wright Patterson Air Force Base dated February 1949; United States Air Force projects Grudge and Bluebook Reports 1 to 12, Dated 1968; Analysis of Flying Object Incidents in the U.S, dated 1948.”
Restless, Jake paced back and forth within his friend’s study as he read. Mark looked exasperated. “There are hundreds and hundreds of pages here! How about this one…” Mark strained to read the poor lettering of what look like had been typed by an old-fashioned manual typewriter. “Air Force Regulation number 80-17, Unidentified Flying Objects. This regulation establishes the Air Force program for investigating procedures and release of information. It provides for uniform investigation procedures and release of information. The investigation and analyzes prescribed are related directly to the Air Forces responsibility for the air defense of the United States. The UFO program requires prompt reporting and rapid evaluation of data for successful identification. Strict compliance with this regulation is mandatory.”
Mark whistled to himself as he flashed up the next file. He again strained to read the poorly photocopied Courier font. “How about this memo dated October 1969; The investigation program has two objectives, a) to determine whether UFOs pose a threat to the security of the United States, and b) to determine whether UFOs exhibit any unique scientific information or advanced technology which could contribute to scientific or technological research.”
Excited, he flashed up the next file. “And look at this picture.” Mark cocked his head to the side. “Looks like a crop circle with the picture of an…alien? Really? In the middle of a field in Hampshire in the UK?”
With his thoughts racing, Jake’s focus remained away from the offending screens, as if glancing at them made him physically ill. “You’re right, what would he have to gain from producing hundreds and hundreds of bullshit documents if none of it was real?”
“Hey, there’s an affidavit from some military officer.” Mark’s voice reverberated with excitement. “It’s dated December 2002. It says: My name is Walter Hault… was born on June 2, 1922… Am retired… Received a preliminary briefing… Samples of a wreckage were passed around… It was unlike any material we had ever seen before. Pieces looked like thin metal foil and yet were extremely strong… Some pieces had unusual markings that no one could identify.”
Jake had now stopped pacing and was leaning on the desk, his back to the screens.
He listened as Mark read on. “On Monday, July 7, I was aware that…” Jake recited the remainder of the sentence along with Mark as he read. “Major Jesse A. Marcel, head of intelligence, was sent by the base commander, Colonel William Blanchard, to investigate.”
Mark looked up stunned. Connecting the dots, his face went white. “Shit! That’s your eff’ing grandfather!”
Despite already having previously read the document, Jake’s stomach still did a backflip. “So it would seem.”
Mark’s expression was the impossible combination of horror and excitement. “Jake, if this is real, then…”
Jake cut him off, his voice a fearful whisper. “I know.”
At that instant Jake’s wall of doubt seemed to crack.
The friends’ eyes met for a long moment. Each knew the other was contemplating the possibilities. If the documents they were looking at were in fact authentic, then the US government had successfully hidden the biggest event in human history; contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. It was both exciting and shocking at the same time. Either way, the prospect was no longer science fiction, it could be very real.
Mark finally regained function of his vocal chords. “You need to talk to your father.”
CHAPTER 25
Seated at the rear of a quaint modern European cafe on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Dr. Steven Greer fidgeted with his place-setting as he anticipated the arrival of his guest. As per the strict instructions he was given, he had arranged a private table away from the front window facing the street.
Dr. Greer shot to his feet. “Dr. Reilly, I… I didn’t see you come in.”
The scientist remained silent, returning a narrow smile.
People rarely do, Charles thought.
Greer swept an open palm toward the vacant place-setting opposite his, inviting his guest to join him. His voice crackled with nervous excitement. “Please, won’t you…”
Reilly interrupted, stopping Greer mid-sentence. “I have been following the Disclosure Project since its inception. But despite your tireless work, you may be stepping into territory which you are not prepared for.”
Greer was not expecting this sudden onslaught. He flashed a broad smile. “Why don’t we get right into it then?”
; Greer politely waited for Dr. Reilly to slowly take his seat. He then sat before continuing, attempting not to appear nervous. “We have been seeking to arrange a briefing with you for years; imagine our excitement when we finally received your acceptance. I nearly fell off my chair. You men in black never want to talk to us.”
Charles looked down at his sports coat then shot Greer an incredulous look – he was not wearing black.
Why don’t you say it louder, the waitress didn’t hear you! Charles thought.
Smiling, Greer politely removed his foot from his mouth before starting over. “Thank you for agreeing to meeting with me; it’s a rare privilege to speak with one who has been a contractor to the CIA, NSA and NSC.”
Reilly offered a vague nod. He remained silent, giving his nervous companion an expectant look. Greer read the scientist’s expression as, ‘Why are we here?’
The air grew heavy as Dr. Reilly waited.
“Okay.” Greer finally found his feet. “We have assembled a considerable number of military intelligence and corporate witnesses’ transcripts, with top secret clearances, from very sensitive positions from three branches of the US military: Air Force, Navy and Army.”
Dr. Reilly was unimpressed. “I am fully aware that your Disclosure Project has been circulating volumes of documentation and affidavits to members of Congress, scientists, and even to the head of NASA.”
Formerly the chairman of the Department of Emergency at Caldwell Memorial Hospital located in North Carolina, Dr. Steven Greer was a medical doctor by profession who worked as a hospital staff physician in Asheville, North Carolina. But it was not his day job that had led him to pursue a meeting with the scientist.
In the mid-nineties Dr. Greer founded an organization known as the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI), which gave rise to coordination of a disclosure event involving witness testimonies from former military leaders and intelligence operatives the magnitude of which had never before been conceived. It was called the Disclosure Project.
Greer gave an edited outline of his organization’s work: “It’s not only about circulating information; these witnesses are ready and willing to testify in Congress that we have not needed, nor has it been necessary, to pump oil out of the ground and burn it for energy from before I was born. We know there have been classified projects that have procured advanced propulsion systems from downed spacecraft that were not manufactured on earth, and that you guys figured out how they worked! We have documented evidence to demonstrate that by the 1950s more money had been spent on antigravity and electrogravitic technologies than the total sum spent on the Manhattan Project. And the reason for hiding these technologies is to keep the world operating on a fossil fuel-based economy.”
Although surprised at how successful Greer had been in convincing his witnesses to come forward, Charles could not fault the accuracy of Greer’s information.
The first crashed extraterrestrial vessel retrieval was in 1941 by the US Navy out of the Pacific Ocean. In the late 1940s, when the army retrieved more downed ET craft that crashed inland, the upper echelons of the US military were baffled by its exotic avionics and advanced power plant. It wasn’t until the 1960s when human advances in electronics, electromagnetics and quantum theory allowed top secret government scientists, who were Dr. Reilly’s predecessors, to reverse-engineer the off-world technology and gain an understanding of how it worked.
Greer went on. “We can even subpoena a witness who was a subcontractor for Lockheed Martin, or ‘Skunkworks’ as you guys call it, who was at a secret facility along with the former Secretary of Defense, Frank Carlucci, at Norton Air Force Base in 1988. There he saw a demonstration of alien reproduction vehicles manufactured with earth materials. There were three of them: one about 25 feet in diameter, one about 60 and one about 120 feet in diameter. He witnessed them all hover via the use of advanced electronics without any visible power source or external thrust.”
The scientist appeared to consider it then shrugged. “There are top secret projects, there are ‘black projects,’ and then there are the ‘ultra-black projects.’ Your witness is talking about what is termed an Unacknowledged Special Access Project of the ‘ultra-black’ variety. Even if you were to persuade someone senior in the chain of command to make an inquiry about it, they will be told that the project simply doesn’t exist. This is up to, and including, the White House and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
Greer sat back in excitement. “So are you confirming that such man-made replicas of ET craft have been in production? Letting the cat out of the bag so to speak?”
“Oh, from where I’m sitting it would appear that the cat has already wandered out a few times. I’m just giving the cat a name.” Reilly’s tone was as controlled as it was calculated.
Steven leaned forward; his tone intensified. “You know I spent nearly three hours briefing a CIA director about all this because he didn’t even have access to anything on the subject.”
The scientist’s eyes narrowed. “You really don’t need to be talking to the CIA director; he won’t know anything about off-world tech and he’s not going to know anything about it. If I were you, I’d be talking to people like me, people who are involved in doing a lot of high-tech work, covertly, as contractors to the US Government.”
Greer’s tone sharpened. “The point I am making is that this is exactly what Eisenhower warned us about. ‘Beware the military-industrial complex,’ he said, because of the likelihood of it escaping the checks and balances required by our system of government, by our law. I’d say it has already come to pass. We can prove it with the testimony not only of these witnesses but from the unaccounted billions that disappear from the national budget annually.”
Dr. Reilly understood well and truly where Greer was headed. The next line of questioning inevitably becomes: ‘Who is managing all this, and how is it being governed?’ These types of questions had the potential to cause the most adverse reactions from the general public if they were to learn that there exists what has been termed by some as a breakaway organization, a government within a government, with significant representation within the military and intelligence community that is not subject to the normal checks and balances necessary to run a democracy.
Ironically, the threat to national security exists not with the extraterrestrial presence but the current covert management of its secret. The covert management of the ET cover-up operates outside of the constitutional chain of command. It was this breakaway group that Charles once worked for which controlled these operations and were actively involved in the reconnaissance and reverse-engineering of ET technology.
Greer was still talking. “A case once reported in the media was published in the New York Times and the Washington Post. The Senate Intelligence Committee confronted the National Reconnaissance Office with the fact that they built a $300 million office building, what we now know to be an unacknowledged control facility, which had never been authorized by Congress or the White House, along with an accompanying 1.7 billion dollar funding allowance that had not been authorized.”
The medical doctor looked away a moment, his expression as determined as it was pained. “When we were setting up the Disclosure Project, and before Neil Armstrong passed away, I asked one of his friends if Armstrong would come to Washington to brief members of Congress. I was told very bluntly that Armstrong wished he could, but that if he spoke about what really happened during the moon landing, Neil, his wife and children would all be threatened. At the time I thought it was unbelievable, unthinkable even.”
Dr. Reilly’s tone had an eerie edge. “Hence my warning to you at the beginning of our conversation.”
Charles moved to skip past this contemptible reality, trying not to show how he detested the extreme measures taken by the NSA’s breakaway governing group to protect their trillion dollar secrets.
Greer appeared to not have heard the warning. “In the early 1990s we tried to get President Clinton to spearhead
an effort to disclose what the government knew about the ET presence. The CIA Director at the time, Jim Woolsey, was very much in agreement, but told us that he and the President did not have access to these ‘ultra-black’ projects; that they were kept out of the loop and essentially being lied to. Lawrence Rockefeller then asked us to provide him with some briefing documents so that when he met with Hillary and President Clinton they could review them. But Bill Clinton felt that if he were to bring on the disclosure about the ET question, he may end up like Jack Kennedy. That’s when I realized how serious the dysfunction in our government was – that there was a secret government within the government that was really in control.”
You have no idea how right you are, Charles thought. The screenwriters of the X-Files couldn’t come up with that plot twist!
Dr. Reilly knew Greer was right. The President had decided not to act, even though he was told not only the fact that we were not alone in the universe but that for 70 years the scientist’s former employers had successfully suppressed revolutionary new energy and propulsion systems that could have avoided the Middle East conflict over oil reserves, eliminated the need for fossil fuels, avoided damage to the biosphere from pollution, reversed global warming, and reduced poverty and starvation in the world due to the shortage of cheaply available energy sources. These technologies back-engineered from ET tech, which had been the object of covert research and development for seven decades, would one day be of great benefit to humanity. But there would be one inescapable catch.
The scientist’s eyes grew heavy. “Did you ever stop to consider that we weren’t ready? That some secrets needed to be kept?”
Drawing in a deep breath, Reilly paused as he calculated how much he should, and shouldn’t say. “During World War II Churchill was shown a photo of what they termed a ‘foo-fighter’ that had trailed a British reconnaissance plane. The photo was so detailed, so clear, that Churchill ordered the photo to be quarantined for 50 years. As it turns out, the quarantine is still in place. The reason was that there was something in that photo that convinced Churchill that, without a shadow of a doubt, whatever was photographed was not of this earth. He was convinced that all religions would implode if people knew there were other beings visiting us from other worlds.”
Disclosing the Secret Page 10
