Herald Tribune Reporter, Billy Cox Queries CIA On Chase Brandon's Roswell UFO Claims

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Herald Tribune Reporter, Billy Cox Queries CIA On Chase Brandon's Roswell UFO Claims

CIA smacks down former employee

By Billy Cox
De Void
7-10-12

Whether or not Chase Brandon’s Roswell UFO story has legs obviously depends on the MSM’s inclination to run with the ball. They’ve been warming up to it since June 23, when the retired CIA operative told Coast-To-Coast AM that the Agency had UFO material from the 1947 mystery stashed in its Historical Intelligence Collection files. But if the trend holds, they’ll lose all followup ardor soon enough and it’ll be a dead duck, as usual.

And that’s too bad, because someone here is clearly lying. Last week, De Void asked the CIA if a) its HIC was in possession of Roswell data, and b) would Brandon have had access to that material?Agency PIO Jennifer Youngblood responded Tuesday afternoon: “Our historians have found nothing in the Agency’s holdings to corroborate Mr. Brandon’s specific claims. The CIA has fielded numerous inquiries related to UFOs over the years, and the definitive account of the Agency’s role in UFO studies was published in 1997 and can be found — without redaction — on our website.

“The document can be found here and stands on its own: CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90

That’s a link to National Reconnaissance Organization historian Gerald Haines’ dubious 1997 assertion that most Cold War UFO sightings can be attributed to U.S. spyplane activity. It has no bearing on the Roswell controversy. And that’s pretty much all the CIA has to offer on Brandon’s claims which, if true, are pure dynamite.

Reached at home, HIC curator Hayden Peake declined to provide additional information. “My comments are all in that statement released today,” he said.

Although Brandon claimed last month he had no first-hand knowledge of the event, he told national audiences he took a peek inside a boxed file labeled “Roswell” during the mid-1990s. As a result: “I absolutely know … that there was a craft from beyond this world that crashed at Roswell, that the military picked up remains of not just the wreckage but cadavers and all of that was made public for a short while … One hundred percent guarantee, in my heart and soul I say — Roswell happened.”

Brandon added his security oath prevented him from sharing more details. But what makes him worth listening to are his credentials. A 35-year CIA veteran, he was on the media radar screen — from Popular Mechanics to Mother Jones — for his foreign intrigues long before his decision to go Roswell. At about the same time Brandon claims to have seen the Roswell material, he became the CIA’s first-ever technical consultant to Hollywood, where he reviewed scripts for image and credibility issues before lending the Agency’s imprimatur to productions.

Several things are immediately suspicious about Brandon’s revelations. Foremost is the timing, which coincides with the release of his new novel, The Cryptos Conundrum, billed as a sci-fi conspiracy thriller. Then there’s the fact that nothing he discussed about Roswell goes above and beyond anything long since in the public domain.

“Chase’s claim that he saw a box of files marked ‘Roswell’ is ridiculous,” states Sarasota researcher Tony Bragalia, who has spent years investigating Roswell. “No doubt they use identifying code and project numbers [at the Archives] — not boxes marked ‘Roswell,’ ‘JFK,’ ‘Bigfoot,’ etc. And he’s got the perfect fallback because he says he can’t offer any other details due to national security. I don’t think it’s official disinformation. I think he’s kind of setting himself up for the book. And it’s too bad because there’s so much stuff about this case that’s real and interesting.”

Brandon has not responded to De Void’s query for comment.

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