Just Cause - 1988 06 - No 16 - New Series

Magazine Overview

Title: JUST CAUSE
Issue: 16
Volume: NEW SERIES
Date: June 1988
Publisher: CAUS
Country: USA
Price: $10 for 4 issues ($15 foreign)

This issue of JUST CAUSE is a special edition, combining the CAUS Bulletin with Just Cause to reproduce important documentation related to the MJ-12 controversy. The editorial notes that reactions to recent issues have been boisterous, prompting the decision to scale down discussion but instead present primary source material.

Featured Documents and Articles

1. Richard Doty's Letter (Pages 2-4)

This section features a letter from Richard Doty, an Air Force OSI agent previously mentioned as a suspect in circulating MJ-12 information. In this letter, dated March 3, 1988, Doty responds to a letter from Linda Howe published in the September 1987 issue of Just Cause. He denies relating sensitive information on UFOs.

Doty recounts his interactions with Linda Howe in early 1983, including a meeting at the AFOSI office at Kirtland AFB, NM. He states he identified himself as a special agent and answered her questions about UFOs and related subjects like Project Sign, Grudge, Gleem, Pounce, and Blue Book. He explicitly denies providing any information concerning a secret government program about UFOs and states he could not answer most of her questions due to a lack of historical knowledge.

Regarding Howe's claim that he showed her a "Briefing Paper for the President of the United States" about unidentified flying vehicles, Doty unequivocally denies this. He states he was not in a position to obtain such documents and would not allow someone without clearance to see them. He also mentions that Howe brought up a "so-called" Project Aquarius briefing paper, not him.

Doty states he had several other contacts with Howe over 18 months but does not recall mentioning any government plans to release documents or film for her documentary. He reiterates that his only official meeting with Howe was in April 1983 and that he had no further contact with her after August 1984. He also mentions a meeting with Peter Gersten, William Moore, and a TV station representative in Albuquerque in January 1983, where UFO issues were discussed. Doty claims he examined a document Gersten showed him, alleged to be a message from Kirtland AFB regarding Paul Bennewitz, and determined it was a fake. He also stated Bennewitz was not under Air Force investigation to his knowledge.

Doty concludes by stating that information regarding the 1980 Kirtland AFB incident was documented in FOIA releases and that press coverage was largely fabrication. He suggests that the aircraft sighted over Coyote Canyon was a UH-1N helicopter. Doty emphasizes that his nine years with AFOSI involved criminal, fraud, counterintelligence, and counterespionage investigations, not UFOs, and he has never heard of MJ-12 or any secret government agency investigating UFOs, though he is aware of Project Blue Book. He is no longer employed by AFOSI and wishes to have his privacy respected.

2. Linda Howe's Notarized Declaration (Page 5)

This document is a notarized declaration by Linda Moulton Howe, an independent film producer-writer-director-editor. Dated April 26, 1988, it affirms that her letter of October 17, 1987, to JUST CAUSE Editor Barry J. Greenwood and Publisher Larry Fawcett truthfully and accurately described her meeting with AFOSI Special Agent Richard C. Doty at Kirtland Air Force Base on April 9, 1983. She also declares that Special Agent Doty showed her several pages entitled "Briefing Paper for the President of the United States of America" on the subject of unidentified flying vehicles.

3. Linda Howe's Letter to Richard Doty (Page 6)

This letter from Linda Moulton Howe to Mr. Doty, dated May 14, 1983, expresses thanks for his communication regarding her May 10 letter to government officials. She notes a delay in the meeting proposal but is gratified to hear she will be contacted soon to meet with "Tom" and see materials. Howe is scheduled to meet with the Director of Documentary Programming for Home Box Office (HBO) on May 18, 1983, and requests an official letter affirming the government's intention to release film and materials for her documentary on the UFO phenomenon. She hopes to be in production by June or July 1983 and needs guidance. She provides an address for HBO in New York City.

Additionally, Howe requests special permission to film with a "Colonel" that month, working with a government official and a trusted crew of two, to record his perspective before he dies. She offers to sign secrecy oaths and turn over all audio tapes and film to the government official for safekeeping. The letter lists her crew members: Susan Markovitz (Production Assistant) and Mark O'Kane (Photographer).

4. Notes on Peter Gersten's Meeting with SA Richard Doty (Page 7)

These notes, taken by Barry Greenwood during a phone conversation with Peter Gersten in January 1983 after Gersten's trip to New Mexico, detail two meetings with Special Agent Richard Doty. In the first meeting, with Lakis, Moore, and Gersten, Doty reportedly would not discuss classified information but stated he had been assigned to investigate UFOs for 5-6 years, was briefed on UFOs with papers similar to those used for presidents, and underwent lie detector tests and hypnosis for security reasons.

Doty mentioned the Ellsworth case as a major investigation involving OSI, FBI, and nuclear weapons. He claimed OSI did not know about a security police report on Ellsworth and that AF debriefed involved parties. Doty gave the impression that the AF knows why UFOs were seen in certain places but wouldn't disclose reasons, stating "beyond a shadow of a doubt they're extraterrestrial" and benevolent. He also mentioned cattle mutilations and classified information related to aliens.

Doty discussed a document on Project Aquarius and MJ-12, advising Moore not to mention Project Aquarius as he received the information in confidence. Moore reportedly wants to work with Gersten now. Doty also mentioned the Cash/Landrum object as government-made and suggested that the government feeds misinformation through UFO groups. He claimed aliens were from 50 light years away and that some documents disintegrate upon exposure to air.

In a second meeting with Gersten alone, Gersten showed Doty an alleged U.S. Air Force document about Paul Bennewitz, which Doty determined was a fake. Doty also reiterated that Bennewitz was not under Air Force investigation to his knowledge.

5. World War II Foo-Fighters Articles (Page 8)

This section includes two articles about "Foo-fighters," World War II aerial phenomena. The first article, from Time magazine (January 15, 1945), describes Allied pilots encountering mysterious "balls of fire" following their planes over Germany. These were nicknamed "foo-fighters" and varied in description, appearing as red balls or groups of spheres. Scientists were baffled, considering possibilities like illusions or psychological weapons. Some theories suggested they were radio-controlled, attracted by magnetism, or even St. Elmo's Fire.

The second article, from Newsweek (December 25, 1944), discusses "silver spheres" resembling Christmas-tree ornaments encountered by American pilots over Germany. These spheres, sometimes translucent and floating singly or in clusters, were speculated by Hanson Baldwin of The New York Times to be a new German weapon designed to interfere with radar, potentially making blind bombing impossible or inaccurate.

Another Newsweek article (January 15, 1945) details Lt. Donald Meiers' encounter with two red balls of fire cruising alongside his wingtips over Germany. It describes different types of foo-fighters, including groups of three balls flying in front of planes or groups of fifteen appearing at a distance and flickering. The article notes that these phenomena baffle intelligence officers and speculates they might be a new anti-radar device or the exhaust trails of a smaller radio-controlled flying wing.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue are the MJ-12 controversy, government secrecy surrounding UFO information, and historical accounts of unexplained aerial phenomena. The editorial stance is to present documentation and allow readers to draw their own conclusions, while acknowledging the significant public interest and debate generated by previous issues. The inclusion of historical "foo-fighter" articles suggests an interest in the long history of UFO-related events and their potential connection to government knowledge or cover-ups.