Item 4.3: Book Review of "Project Beta"
(Originally published (as a shortened version) in -- and copyrighted by -- the April 2005 issue of the monthly newsstand magazine FATE (http://www.fatemag.com ) By Larry W. Bryant == Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth," by Greg Bishop (Paraview Pocket Books (New York); 2005, softcover, 278 pages) == Perhaps I'm the wrong person to write this review; instead of me, maybe
it should be one of the book's key players. William L. Moore, for
example, or Linda Moulton Howe? By scanning this book's index, the seasoned UFOlogist will find, along
with those two luminaries in UFOlogy, at least two dozen other familiar
names. Some of them have passed from the scene, either literally or
figuratively. Others, like Moore and Howe, remain with us in
body/mind/spirit -- like a benign patch of mold, mostly out of sight but
still simmering behind the barber shop's back-room curtain, emitting a
faint odor of its presence. Suddenly, as we wait our hypothetical turn for a haircut, the odor
intensifies, for a previous customer has departed the shop and left his
copy of Bishop's expose lying in a now-vacant chair. Let's continue our
fantasy by picking it up quickly, before its owner returns for it. As UFO-history tomes go, this one's definitely destined for
Collectorsville. One would hope that, en route to there, its author will
embark upon a sequel and thereby achieve an even greater sense of
fulfillment for his unenviable task of piecing together this
puzzle-within-a-puzzle. So, let's also hope that the current edition
will help smoke out even more participants in, and witnesses to, the
Bennewitz Affair. This painstaking chronicle of the events, principals, and aftermath of a
case that sometimes makes a Dean Koontz novel seem almost tame epitomizes
the expression "posing more questions than it answers." Even so, the
journey down this dimly lit tunnel will become a milestone in anyone's
experience with UFO literature. Bishop's insightful, patient prose tries
to light the way as best it can, given the various externally imposed
loose ends of his research. (E.g., he's met with total rejection from
the late Bennewitz's survivors whenever he sought interviews with them.) When you consider all the interactive intrigue, official deception,
private-agenda scenarios, mind-gamesmanship, and sociopolitical paranoia
that generated and fueled the Bennewitz Affair, you cannot but come up
with this evolving case study in how Murphy's Law can dominate the field
of UFO research. What's more, from this study we can extrapolate a
practical, near-invincible model for such activity whenever we encounter
a particular societal crisis. For example, look at how, because of our
secrecy-prone, deception-happy central government, certain areas of the
Internet abound in conspiracy-mongering as to what really caused (or
didn't cause) the explosion at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. In Bishop's hands, the plight of electrical physicist Paul Bennewitz
becomes, in UFOlogy, the ultimate case of "be careful what you wish for,
you just might get it!" In helping deliver "it" to Paul, back in the
eighties, UFO researcher Bill Moore gets "it," too -- by entering into a
Faustian pact with certain counterintelligence officials based at
Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. The pact consists of the USAF Office of Special Investigations' having
Moore befriend (and eventually deceive) Bennewitz's frenzied efforts to
counter what the latter views as invasive activity perpetrated near
Kirtland by space aliens based in nearby cavernous hideaways. How does
Paul reach his conclusion? Simply via his array of home-built/operated
eavesdropping devices focused on mysteriously emitted low-frequency radio
signals near this high-security base housing multiple defense projects of
deep sensitivity. In thus helping OSI-ers divert Bennewitz from getting too close to those
sensitive projects, Moore in return gets the promise of receiving
heretofore unreleased official evidence of UFO reality. Hard to pass up
such an offer -- right, Bill (or: right, a decade later, Linda Howe --
via a similar pact)? And, in the end, it becomes a little difficult to
sort out all the winners and losers in this drama of competing interests. But we do know that the main loser, Bennewitz, becomes both the unsung
hero and the inevitable victim of his own story. Indeed, the author
dedicates the book, "To Paul Bennewitz." The book's appendix --
consisting of Bennewitz's final draft of his "Project Beta" report
(recounting his conclusions and recommendations about the allegedly
growing threat posed by the perceived alien menace) -- provides us all
the evidence we need that the OSI plan to defuse Bennewitz's (unintended)
threat to Kirtland's security surpassed all expectations of success -- at
the expense, naturally, of Bennewitz's winding up in an Albuquerque
mental ward for several months' treatment. In such an anarchic field as UFOlogy, everyone has to make his own
mistakes -- and to try to learn from them promptly. Bishop's narrative
amply shows us how the Bennewitz Affair fits that axiom. His
interweaving of a few key examples of the official disinformationalists'
modus operandi serves as a tutorial that we current and future
researchers ought to cut-and-paste into an e-mail message to ourselves
(subject: "Avoiding the Pitfalls of the USAF Disinfo Wizards"). What's this!? -- here comes back into the barber shop that earlier
customer, making a beeline toward the vacant chair, in search of his
book. He bears a striking resemblance to -- yikes! -- one Special Agent
Richard Doty of USAF-OSI fame/infamy. My greeting: "Care to write a
review of this book for FATE magazine, Rick?"
it should be one of the book's key players. William L. Moore, for
example, or Linda Moulton Howe? By scanning this book's index, the seasoned UFOlogist will find, along
with those two luminaries in UFOlogy, at least two dozen other familiar
names. Some of them have passed from the scene, either literally or
figuratively. Others, like Moore and Howe, remain with us in
body/mind/spirit -- like a benign patch of mold, mostly out of sight but
still simmering behind the barber shop's back-room curtain, emitting a
faint odor of its presence. Suddenly, as we wait our hypothetical turn for a haircut, the odor
intensifies, for a previous customer has departed the shop and left his
copy of Bishop's expose lying in a now-vacant chair. Let's continue our
fantasy by picking it up quickly, before its owner returns for it. As UFO-history tomes go, this one's definitely destined for
Collectorsville. One would hope that, en route to there, its author will
embark upon a sequel and thereby achieve an even greater sense of
fulfillment for his unenviable task of piecing together this
puzzle-within-a-puzzle. So, let's also hope that the current edition
will help smoke out even more participants in, and witnesses to, the
Bennewitz Affair. This painstaking chronicle of the events, principals, and aftermath of a
case that sometimes makes a Dean Koontz novel seem almost tame epitomizes
the expression "posing more questions than it answers." Even so, the
journey down this dimly lit tunnel will become a milestone in anyone's
experience with UFO literature. Bishop's insightful, patient prose tries
to light the way as best it can, given the various externally imposed
loose ends of his research. (E.g., he's met with total rejection from
the late Bennewitz's survivors whenever he sought interviews with them.) When you consider all the interactive intrigue, official deception,
private-agenda scenarios, mind-gamesmanship, and sociopolitical paranoia
that generated and fueled the Bennewitz Affair, you cannot but come up
with this evolving case study in how Murphy's Law can dominate the field
of UFO research. What's more, from this study we can extrapolate a
practical, near-invincible model for such activity whenever we encounter
a particular societal crisis. For example, look at how, because of our
secrecy-prone, deception-happy central government, certain areas of the
Internet abound in conspiracy-mongering as to what really caused (or
didn't cause) the explosion at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. In Bishop's hands, the plight of electrical physicist Paul Bennewitz
becomes, in UFOlogy, the ultimate case of "be careful what you wish for,
you just might get it!" In helping deliver "it" to Paul, back in the
eighties, UFO researcher Bill Moore gets "it," too -- by entering into a
Faustian pact with certain counterintelligence officials based at
Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. The pact consists of the USAF Office of Special Investigations' having
Moore befriend (and eventually deceive) Bennewitz's frenzied efforts to
counter what the latter views as invasive activity perpetrated near
Kirtland by space aliens based in nearby cavernous hideaways. How does
Paul reach his conclusion? Simply via his array of home-built/operated
eavesdropping devices focused on mysteriously emitted low-frequency radio
signals near this high-security base housing multiple defense projects of
deep sensitivity. In thus helping OSI-ers divert Bennewitz from getting too close to those
sensitive projects, Moore in return gets the promise of receiving
heretofore unreleased official evidence of UFO reality. Hard to pass up
such an offer -- right, Bill (or: right, a decade later, Linda Howe --
via a similar pact)? And, in the end, it becomes a little difficult to
sort out all the winners and losers in this drama of competing interests. But we do know that the main loser, Bennewitz, becomes both the unsung
hero and the inevitable victim of his own story. Indeed, the author
dedicates the book, "To Paul Bennewitz." The book's appendix --
consisting of Bennewitz's final draft of his "Project Beta" report
(recounting his conclusions and recommendations about the allegedly
growing threat posed by the perceived alien menace) -- provides us all
the evidence we need that the OSI plan to defuse Bennewitz's (unintended)
threat to Kirtland's security surpassed all expectations of success -- at
the expense, naturally, of Bennewitz's winding up in an Albuquerque
mental ward for several months' treatment. In such an anarchic field as UFOlogy, everyone has to make his own
mistakes -- and to try to learn from them promptly. Bishop's narrative
amply shows us how the Bennewitz Affair fits that axiom. His
interweaving of a few key examples of the official disinformationalists'
modus operandi serves as a tutorial that we current and future
researchers ought to cut-and-paste into an e-mail message to ourselves
(subject: "Avoiding the Pitfalls of the USAF Disinfo Wizards"). What's this!? -- here comes back into the barber shop that earlier
customer, making a beeline toward the vacant chair, in search of his
book. He bears a striking resemblance to -- yikes! -- one Special Agent
Richard Doty of USAF-OSI fame/infamy. My greeting: "Care to write a
review of this book for FATE magazine, Rick?"
