Bill Moore’s Disinfo – A Vehicle for Injected Social Memes

Most anyone who’s researched Ufology history for any length of time knows the story of Bill Moore, Bob Pratt, and Jaime Shandera. The short version is that following the publication of his book The Roswell Incident in the summer of 1980, Moore was contacted by someone claiming to be a Colonel at Offut AFB, as well as from another individual (Doty) from Kirkland AFB. Those contacting Moore convinced him that they were "high level government Intelligence" personnel who were "uncomfortable with the government’s continuing cover-up."

Puzzle Pieces from 1976 through 1985

No one has ever really pieced together, or fully exposed, all of the individuals who were involved in this early scam. Richard Doty is the only person who’s been publicly revealed as a contact. Moore’s announcement at MUFON in 1989 left much to be desired in terms of details and source names.

It took until 2007, at the MUFON International UFO Symposium Proceedings, for a well-written and thoroughly researched background expose to finally go public regarding these background activities surrounding the MJ-12 releases. MUFON researchers did a brilliant job providing the public with a fair and balanced review of some of the activities of these scammers through the 1980s.

It helped that they had access to the "secret tapes," in which MUFON UFO Journal Editor, Robert Pratt, had recorded meetings and phone conversations with Moore. These tapes revealed some fascinating new details about the men behind the scam. (Unfortunately, Bob Pratt passed away in November 2005, the same year and month the hoaxers attempted to start releasing the same stories via Project Serpo.) The general timeline detailed in the MUFON document, covering the years before the MJ-12 stories went "public" is summarized as follows.

-> Since September 5, 1980, Moore communicated with a "mysterious AF Colonel" through "middleman" Richard Doty (much like Doty also served (and still does) as the "middleman" for Bob Collins, author of Exempt from Disclosure , and many of Collins’ own "mysterious" sources.

-> Doty and his "mysterious contacts" recycled information fed to them by Moore and Friedman and recycled that information, in the form of allegedly classified or secret documents and stories, to UFO researchers including Linda Howe, Bruce Maccabee and others.

-> December 29 and 30, 1981 – Doty meets Moore at a restaurant and provided him with three documents, one of which was the "one-page Aquarius Teletype."

-> In 1982, with Doty’s assistance, Moore tried to get Bob Pratt to help him publish a book centered upon the Aquarius/MJ12 documents. The book project fizzled out in 1983. Richard Doty cooperated under the pseudonym "Ronald L. Davis."

-> After Moore told Doty the story of a famous UFO hoax, Doty and his associates used those story details to create the "Aquarius Executive Briefing" document and a few months later attempted to pass it off as an authentic document to Ufologist Linda Howe in April of 1983.

Aquarius/MJ12 Documents Were Created from Data Recycled from Ufologists

The most significant finding of the MUFON report was that the released MJ-12/Aquarius documents recycled information Moore, Shandera and Pratt had previously fed Doty. The Mufon report quotes Friedman in 1996 writing:

"…the simple fact of the matter is the Moore, Shandera, and I had already picked up on all the names of the [MJ-12] list prior to the receipt of the [MJ-12] film…"

From page 107 of the MUFON report we get a glimpse of the people who appear to be helping Doty run the scam.

"Some months later, in early 1983, I became aware that Rick was involved with a team of several others [in AFOSI], including one fellow from Denver that I knew of and at least one who was working out of Washington, D.C., in playing an elaborate disinformation game against a prominent UFO researcher [Linda Howe] who, at the time, had close connections with a major television film company [HBO] interested in doing a UFO documentary…."

The information that Doty was feeding Linda Howe was a story based upon the Aztec information Moore had fed Doty only months earlier.

On page 116, the author of the 2007 MUFON analysis recognizes the clear philosophy that was injected by Doty’s group into the material.

"The Aquarius Document contains “philosophy” as well as technical data. In the section which deals with the philosophy behind the need to maintain a “Top Secret” posture for as long as possible with respect to the Aquarius data, are the following two startling conclusions which have been arrived at by the US government with respect to UFOs:

(A) The events surrounding Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Christian religion were manipulations affected [sic] by beings of an advanced civilization from another world. [snip]

(B) Release of this data to the public would not only severely cripple the ability of the government (indeed any government in the Western world) to effectively govern, but would also severely damage the very fibre [sic] of Western civilization as we know it."

The Philosophy Distributed Within the MJ-12 Documents

In fact, MUFON got it exactly right. The philosophy that the creators of the documents were trying to distribute, by implanting it within stories of crashed aliens and, in 2005, stories about a human-alien exchange program, remains the same.

Some specific excerpts from those documents, released in the 1980’s, that portray how specific and how much focus was placed on this ideology is shown below. The common theme is always the same – (1) Aliens “planting” Christ, (2) Hints of Genetic Manipulation throughout our evolution (notice the focus on evolution). (3) Alien technology far exceeds our own but we have the potential to reverse-engineer it. From the MJ-12 documents:

This first section injects the concept of Christ as a "planted" human.

“(TS/ORCON) Most governmental documents pertaining to UFO sightings, incidents and governmental policies, including Project Blue Book, have been released to the public under FOIA or under various other release programs. [snip…] There was other information obtained from EBE that was deemed sensitive and not releasable to the public. Notably, Project Aquarius Volume IX, which pertains to tracing the Aliens’ first visitation of earth back some 5,000 years. EBE reported that 2,000 years ago his ancestors planted a human creature on earth to assist the inhabitants of earth in developing a civilization. This information was only vague and the exact identity or background information on this homo-sapien was not obtained. Undoubtfully [sic], if this information was released to the public, it would cause a worldwide religious panic. MJ3 has developed a plan that will allow release of Project Aquarius, Volumes I thru III.”

This next section injects the meme suggesting that humans have alien technology in our possession, and may be able to "reverse engineer" it with appropriate [fringe] scientific funding and advancement.

“(TS/ORCON) In the 1976 MJ3 report (Atch 6), it was estimated the Aliens’ technology was many thousands of years ahead of United States technology. Our scientists speculate that until our technology develops to a level equal to the Aliens’ , we cannot understand the large volume of scientific information the United States has already gained from the Aliens. This advancement of United States Technology may take many hundreds of years.”

In fact, countless believers have latched on to this meme through the years, and an entire fringe scientific cottage industry is now based on alien "propulsion" and reverse engineered UFO craft.


Today you can find "researchers" (Gordon N anyone?) who are attempting to "reverse engineer" UFO propulsion technology, clean energy technology, and other technologies that the "aliens" are supposedly offering humanity. Millionaires actually invest money into these sort of projects.

The next injected meme focuses on genetics.

“1. (TS/ORCON) PROJECT BANDO: (PROWORD: RISK) Originally established in 1949. Its mission was to collect and evaluate medical information from the surviving Aliens [sic] creature and the recovered Alien bodies. This Project medically examined EBE and provided United States medical researchers with certain answers to the evolution theory . (OPR: CIA) (Terminated in 1974).”

Who Exactly Is Gordon Novel and What is RAM?

gnovelOver the past few years, the topic of Gordon Novel has come up surrounding the question of alleged government involvement in the field of Ufology. The question of government involvement usually focuses on the two issues of sociological study and/or the monitoring of advanced technological advancements. For anyone who has had any insight into the real man named Gordon Novel – neither subjects immediately come to mind. As of a few years ago, his name was never associated with Ufology either. The JFK assassination? Yes. UFOs? No. So why now? First, a little history.

The JFK Madness and Gordon’s Part

Instead of detailing the sordid past – there’s more than enough material on the web covering this aspect of Gordon’s activities – I’m going to quote from one of the best sources for learning about Gordon’s JFK association. That is an article titled, “Gordon Novel: CIA Agent or Con Artist?” by Dave Reitzes. If you’re curious about the accuracy of what Dave has written – just review the first part of that page where Gordon Novel has repeatedly threatened Dave to take down the page. Obviously there’s something there Gordon doesn’t want people to know.

Here’s a repost of some assorted notes on Novel, beginning with the subject that brought Novel his original notoriety — his claim that a munitions burglary he participated in had actually been a CIA operation.


This is, in fact, what lies at the heart of Gordon’s alleged JFK investigation involvement.

Contrary to later claims by participant Gordon Novel (a self-proclaimed electronics expert who was working with Garrison until Garrison decided that Novel’s associations were suspicious and subpoenaed him as a witness, whereupon Novel left the state), the heist appears to have been, in fact, a simple burglary, not the CIA “weapons transfer” alleged in many conspiracy books (cf. New Orleans States-Item, May 25, 1967; Grand Jury transcript of Rancier Blaise Ehlinger, March 30, 1967). Nevertheless, even Gus Russo reports the incident as a CIA weapons transfer (Russo, Live by the Sword [Baltimore: Bancroft, 1998], pp. 150-53).


This is only partially true – a few years ago I spoke with Gus on the phone when he was working on an article covering alleged CIA Ufology involvement for Dan Smith. During that phone conversation, he mentioned his past investigation and work on the JFK assassination, so I asked him for his opinion about Gordon Novel, because for a few years RU investigations have seen him poking his head around the fringes of the Ufology crowd. Russo’s opinion of him was swift and clear, he essentially reported that Gordon was pretty much just a phony.

The oddest part of the Dave Reitzes piece is that Gordon wrote to Dave denying his CIA claims, even though they are well documented in Dave’s article, throughout the Internet as well as throughout the many mailing lists that Gordon currently uses to distribute his “RAM” promotional diatribes. With that said – there are a number of scientists that do support and promote Gordon – we’ll get to them in future posts.

According to one account by Gordon Novel, “It was one of the most patriotic burglaries ever committed . . . the CIA virtually gave us the key to the bunker . . . my fellow burglar, Arcacha Smith, and I are still employed by the CIA” (A. J. Weberman Web site, Nodule 21).


RU investigators have been privy to Gordon’s claims in our own investigation of the “RAM Project,” an odd assortment of fringe scientists who have been collaborating with Gordon for years in attempting to extract risk capital investments from wealthy investors. What’s the project? It’s a reverse-engineering effort to, put simply, reverse-engineer a UFO “craft” using the most “advanced” propulsion technology available to mankind.

The fact that the alleged propulsion technology proposed by these scientists currently can’t even lift a balloon into the sky, let alone a heavy craft, completely flies over the head of many investors. They have more money than they know what to do with (they really don’t care if they lose it – that’s the nature of risk capital), and not enough brains to differentiate between fact and fiction. As long as there’s a possibility that such technology could exist at some point makes some of them open up their pocketbooks to the snake oil salesmen.

We’ve also seen the claims Gordon has made in emails to potential investors – claims related to his alleged connection with CIA as late as July 2009. These claims stem from his contacts with the elusive and mysterious “RP.”

When potential investors confront “RP” directly about such claims, he will often write an obscure diatribe that hints at a deeper meaning – a metaphorical collection of words and potential clues. “Believer” investors think he’s hinting at authentic CIA involvement. RP bcc’s these emails to friends that he considers as “sane” as though it’s a joke. I asked him once how he can find a $200 million scam funny. His response was, “Because I know the $200 million scam will only turn into a $200 fraud.” The man has a strange, sick sense of humor. Is it possible it’s because he was slapped on the wrist and placed in the “back room” (weird-desk) after his episode in the Hughes/China fiasco in the late 1990s and he needed something to occupy his active mind and his private time? Maybe. One thing we do know is that he uses Gordon in the same way he uses Dan Smith.

Gordon Novel’s CIA Involvement

Imagine it’s 1998, and word gets back to the CIA that someone out there is claiming to be a CIA operative as part of the JFK assassination conspiracy madness.

The CIA Office of Security conducts a brief investigation, and as a result we have this declassified documentation – an internal memo/documentation contained in CIA security file record number: 104-10305-10000. Page four of the file states:

“Sergeant Haas was advised that a Gordon Novel, believed to be identical to the Gordon Novel of interest to Fort Lauderdale’s Organized Crime Division, is not now nor has he ever been an employee or employed in any capacity with the CIA. The undersigned added that since the late 60’s, Gordon Novel has periodically claimed employment with the CIA.”

Why was Gordon claiming CIA connections? The page 5 incident report lays it out nicely:

He is claiming to be affiliated with the Agency and under this guise has approached several companies specializing in electronic surveillance. It is for this reason that caller wishes to verify SUBJECT’s employment.


Another clue, from page 7:

Subject advised that he had an economic formula which would solve the world dollar dumping crisis – IR – 9 February 1973


Another clue, from page 10, dated 1980:

…and in the ensuing conversation Novel indicated that he was involved in a “commercial venture” and felt that the results might be of interest to “ONI”. He indicated, in essence, that his project involved outfitting a “fast patrol craft” with various means of testing defense systems (NFI).


In the conversation above, Gordon claimed, once again, an affiliation with the CIA. Page 16 reads:

Mr. Jameson also requested traces on two individuals who are alleged to have been involved in this matter — Larry Blanscett and Bridget Pfiffer. He was advised that the Office of Security had no record of either of these individuals.


Now – while it’s clear that this particular individual has a long history of attempting to “sell” his commercial ventures, what’s a little bit strange is the question of whether he works alone. The introduction of the two individuals above suggests one of two things. It may be possible that Gordon Novel was working alone and invented those identities of his own accord. However, it might also be possible that there are others, either faking Intel involvement, or misrepresenting their actual Intel status and position, in order to manipulate and use this figure from the organized crime community. While the knee-jerk reaction is to suggest that this is an official, covert action of a U.S. Intelligence agency – a more likely possibility is that it is part of an organized, private effort that actively exploits such “believers” for their own financial purposes.