Investigation of The Great Lakes Dive CompanyPart II

By James C. Carrion
International Director
The Mutual UFO Network, Inc.
November 1, 2006

Note—In the aftermath of the portentous claims of the so-called “Great Lakes Dive Company” as well as their mysterious disappearance, a few of us (myself included) have been actively involved in the investigation of these declarations as well as “authenticity of the company”; understandably MUFON took an interest in the claims of GLDC and it’s alleged mouthpiece, an individual calling himself “Adam Jimenez”; much of their (MUFON) investigative path paralleled my own; consequently we came up with the same results.

To that end I endorse the following report and applaud the efforts of MUFON, specifically Dave Watson & James Carrion; furthermore, I would like to extend my gratitude to both of them for their hard work, in-depth report and permission to publish it.

Finally, although the investigation is ongoing, based on my own research I can say with confidence that the GLDC and it’s claims can be considered as the “Great UFO Hoax of 2006!”-FW

See Part I

- Part II -

     In July-August, 2006 issue of the Journal of UFO History, editor Dick Hall writes, “In answer to questions from the editor, Adam Jimenez of the Great Lakes Dive Company said that they had not yet found any positive identification such as a serial number (on the F-89).” However, in a September 11, 2006 e-mail to me, Mr. Jimenez contradicted the statement made to Dick Hall saying, “The ROV confirmed that the canopy is intact, but we were unable to see inside due to silt and the translucent nature of the canopy. One would assume that the crew is still inside. Yes the aircraft’s tail number is visible on the F-89c. This is how we were able to confirm we found the F-89, and not some other aircraft.”

Although stating the GLDC could not get permission to use their ROV in 2006 without unacceptable restrictions, Mr. Jimenez said they did use it in 2005, apparently without the permission he claimed was necessary.

“We did lower the ROV on the initial discovery (because we knew the risk existed that we may not be able to return to the site). We haven’t been able to use the ROV on the site since (or return to the site at all for that matter) this season; we had hoped to further explore the site in 2006. Weather issues in 2005 prevented us from thoroughly exploring the wreck-site. The confusion is that the accounts are talking about two different dive seasons.”

Elaborating on the supposed discovery, Jimenez said the GLDC wanted to check for radiation at the wreck-site because something was effecting their equipment (referring to the “mystery object”):

“We used a DX-1 hand held Geiger counter that was placed in a sealed chamber within the ROV and the speaker output was patched into the audio input of the digital camera of the ROV. We had to get the ROV close to the object to make sure the reading was accurate; however, the efficiency rating of the DX-1 is not 100%, but we were satisfied that it not radiation causing our electronic problems. We made the metallic determination based on the visual evidence from the ROV” (again referring to the “mystery object”). Jimenez’s statement alludes to GLDC illegally operating their ROV in Canadian waters without a properly issued license, and contradicts his previous assertion that, “we needed to stay on the good side of the Canadians due to our Gunilda project.” It is not clear how the Geiger counter was “patched” into the audio input of the ROV’s camera, as the DX-1 Geiger counters do not have an audio-out jack, but only an internal speaker.

MUFON then investigated how and when GLDC’s claims were first made public. The earliest known account MUFON could find was an August 22, 2006 posting to the UFO Updates mailing list where a certain “Preston Miller” forwarded what was labeled a Port Huron, MI, Associated Press (AP) news article on GLDC’s claims to Francis Ridge. Francis told MUFON that he doesn’t know who Preston Miller is. Checking with the Port Huron Times Herald, an authorized AP news source in Port Huron, managing editor Judith McCLean told MUFON that her newspaper did not originate the article. MUFON also contacted the Associated Press Michigan Bureau in Detroit and spoke with Joe Altman. Mr. Altman looked at the UFO Updates article on line and said that it was not written in the characteristic style of an AP press report, as it lacked any date references. Mr. Altman also searched all AP news feeds and could find no information that would indicate AP was the source of the article.

On Sept. 26, 2006, GLDC’s website content at www.greatlakesdive.com was removed and is no longer available. A week later, the GLDC message board, which had been hosted by excoboard.com, was also unavailable. Performing an Internet Whois.net query of the greatlakes.com Internet domain name revealed that the domain registrar is Melbourne IT Ltd, a company based in Australia. Thinking that GLDC’s claims may be related to the recent Australian UFO wave videos that were revealed to be a hoax, MUFON contacted the UFO wave perpetrator, Chris Kentworthy, who denied any involvement or knowledge of the Great Lakes Dive Company. Searching the Internet revealed various security bulletins warning that some fraudulent websites use this Melbourne IT, Ltd registrar and the related myprivateregistration.com service (which allows persons to register a web-site without revealing who they actually are). Jimenez is not currently responding to e-mails or phone calls.

In summary, MUFON, after many hours of investigation by a number of our dedicated field investigators, has not been able to substantiate any of GLDC’s claims. Until GLDC personnel resurface with more information, and definitive proof of the F-89 discovery, their claims will continue to remain doubtful. MUFON will continue it’s investigation and update our members and the UFO community as further developments unfold.

See Part I

MUFON

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