Crop Circles and Confiscated Computers

That's the title of a new Mysterious Universe article from me, on a "stranger than fiction" saga that occurred back in 2000.

Surreal barely begins to describe it.

And here's how it starts...

"In the latter part of 2000 a Welshman named Matthew Williams was arrested by the British Police Force for causing criminal damage to a field in Wiltshire, England. He admitted creating – under cover of darkness – a highly elaborate Crop Circle of the type that many researchers of the phenomenon assert cannot be made by human hands. Well, yes, actually, they can. And they are.

"Since then, Matt has been variously described as a Crop Circle hoaxer, an outright liar, a charlatan, and most absurd of all, a 'government agent' dispensing disinformation, specifically to muddy the waters concerning who or what is responsible for the Crop Circle mystery. The real story is far stranger."

Saucers and Special Branch

Certain people in Ufology laughed and were highly skeptical when, in 2006, I wrote a book called On the Trail of the Saucer Spies, in which I mentioned how a retired British police source told me that, back in the 1990s, the British Police Force's Special Branch opened files on two UFO researchers in the UK, namely Matthew Williams and Robin Cole.

Those same certain people should have kept their mouths firmly shut.

The files on Cole and Williams (or, rather, some of the files; others still remain classified to this day) were finally officially released in 2012, showing that Special Branch was indeed watching both men, demonstrating that the data provided to me years ago was accurate. 

When, in 2012, the documents were declassified, the National Archives prepared the following statement concerning their contents:

"File DEFE 24/1984/1 (p294) contains a 1996 Parliamentary Question from Martin Redmond MP asking on how many occasions MI6 and GCHQ have monitored UFO investigations. This was interpreted to mean 'have the agencies been keeping watch on UFOlogists.' A background briefing says 'neither agency in fact undertakes such activity, though GCHQ cannot rule out the possibility' they had monitored 'in other contexts individuals who have made a study of UFOs'. The MP was told the government do not comment on the intelligence and security agencies (p298). File DEFE 24/1987/1 (p262-65) reveals that in 1997 Special Branch took an interest in a UFOlogist who became obsessed with rumours of a secret UFO facility beneath RAF Rudloe Manor in Wiltshire. The base had become known as the British equivalent of the secret US military airbase 'Area 51' among conspiracy theorists. An internal note said 'Special Branch…do not believe he poses a specific threat to security, but they are alert to the risk that others may use him as a conduit for their activities.'"

Well, since the summary failed to note the names of the people in question, I will. They were, of course, Cole and Williams - as I had been told during the course of writing On the Trail of the Saucer Spies.

Back in 1997, Robin Cole, of Cheltenham, England - the home to GCHQ (the Government Communications Headquarters) - wrote a fascinating report on the agency's involvement in the UFO phenomenon. And, for those who may not be aware, GCHQ is the UK equivalent of the US National Security Agency.

After Cole's report was published, he was visited by two representatives of the UK's Special Branch. And since the pair announced their visit in advance (via a phone-call), Robin had the good sense to clandestinely and quickly set up his tape-recorder in his living-room and taped the entire conversation, much of which revolved around Special Branch's interest in a UFO researcher and Crop Circle maker named Matthew Williams - who just happens to be the "UFOlogist who became obsessed" with RAF Rudloe Manor, as referenced by National Archives staff above.

Now we see further evidence of Special Branch involvement in the UFO subject.

Not in terms of what UFOs are (or are not), but in relation to things that, in many ways, are far more interesting, thought-provoking, and alternative.

This was precisely the reason for the Cole/Williams surveillance issue too - namely, Special Branch's concerns that both the UFO controversy and the people that investigate it could be used as tools of manipulation by hostile groups with controversial, political agendas.

UFOs: "They" Are Watching You...

If you are into UFOs and suffer from paranoia, you might not want to read my latest Mysterious Universe post. Then again, you might! Anyway, it starts like this:

"There are a number of intriguing disclosures contained in one of the batches of declassified British Government files on UFOs that surfaced in 2012. Among them are the notable (and lengthy) references to, and papers on, certain people within the UK-based UFO research field who had been secretly watched by officialdom. In some cases, they were watched for a very long time and by more than one agency or arm of the British Government. Interestingly, the 'saucer spying' was undertaken by agencies outside of the Ministry of Defense. Yet, we have, for years, been led to believe that the MoD is the only agency that plays a meaningful role in the UFO issue when it comes to the British Government.

"Governments distorting and hiding the facts? Really? Surely not?! And should we be surprised to learn that other UK departments, beyond the MoD, are also implicated in the UFO puzzle? No, of course we shouldn’t be surprised! In fact, nothing should surprise us when it comes to official secrecy and saucers in the sky."

Want to know how in UK-Ufology was watched and why? Read on!

Crop Circles and Circle Makers

I've got a new post up at Mysterious Universe. The subject: the people who make crop circles.

Hang on, though, before you get your blood-pressure all out of shape. We're not talking about hoaxers. Rather, we're talking about makers. And makers who experience paranormal phenomena in those formations of their own design.

The article starts as follows:

"As some people may already be aware, many of my views on crop circles are hardly what might be termed conventional. But, as crop circles are themselves in no way conventional, for me, at least, my approach to the subject is a highly appropriate one. Here’s the deal: for numerous people crop circles are the work of aliens, ET, little grey men with large, wrap-around black eyes, and over-sized heads. You get the picture, right? Of course you do! For the true-believers who pray daily at the altar of our hallowed lord and master, Kenneth Arnold, it has to be ET; it just has to be. Actually, when it comes to crop circles, no, it doesn’t have to be. At all."

And here's the complete piece...

It's an article that covers a famous circle maker, a castle, a peacock, missing time, and much, much more...

Crop Circles: The Human Angle

In a new post at Mysterious Universe, I discuss the human element of Crop Circle making. But, no, we are not talking about what are simply - and quite incorrectly - referred to as hoaxers.

If that confuses you, well take a look at the complete article, which begins as follows:

EXTRACT:

Matthew Williams – a former special-investigator with the British Government’s Customs & Excise agency – holds the distinction of being one of the very few people in the world arrested, charged and convicted for making a Crop Circle – although the actual crime was of causing damage to the field in which the formation was made.

I will be the first to admit that Matthew is a good friend of mine, and a great deal has been written about his reasons for making crop-formations that is either misleading or downright untrue. And, more importantly, the notion that people such as Matthew can be dismissed as mere hoaxers is an utter failure to understand and appreciate the philosophy and experiences of the human circle-makers.

In an extensive interview I conducted with Matthew, he began:

“In 1992, when I got involved in Crop Circle research, there were a lot of people who believed that Crop Circles could only be made by otherworldly forces. Admittedly, I didn’t know very much about Crop Circles back then; and hearing some of the arguments of ‘bent nodes’ and ‘blown expulsion cavities’ coupled with UFO sightings, made the whole subject seem extraordinary. Without researching the subject for myself, I was inclined to believe the so-called experts and their seemingly plausible theories about aliens making Crop Circles.”

On The Trail Of The Saucer Spies

One of the most intriguing disclosures contained in the newly-surfaced Ministry of Defense files on UFOs is the reference to people in the UK-based UFO research field who had been secretly watched by officialdom.

The National Archive summarizes this information as follows:

"File DEFE 24/1984/1 (p294) contains a 1996 Parliamentary Question from Martin Redmond MP asking on how many occasions MI6 and GCHQ have monitored UFO investigations. This was interpreted to mean 'have the agencies been keeping watch on UFOlogists.' A background briefing says 'neither agency in fact undertakes such activity, though GCHQ cannot rule out the possibility' they had monitored 'in other contexts individuals who have made a study of UFOs'. The MP was told the government do not comment on the intelligence and security agencies (p298). File DEFE 24/1987/1 (p262-65) reveals that in 1997 Special Branch took an interest in a UFOlogist who became obsessed with rumours of a secret UFO facility beneath RAF Rudloe Manor in Wiltshire. The base had become known as the British equivalent of the secret US military airbase 'Area 51' among conspiracy theorists. An internal note said 'Special Branch…do not believe he poses a specific threat to security, but they are alert to the risk that others may use him as a conduit for their activities.'"

Well, since the summary fails to note the names of the people in question, I will.

Back in 1997, Robin Cole, of Cheltenham, England - the home to GCHQ (the Government Communications Headquarters) - wrote a fascinating report on the agency's involvement in the UFO phenomenon. And, for those who may not be aware, GCHQ is the UK equivalent of the US National Security Agency.

After Cole's report was published, he was visited by two representatives of the UK's Special Branch. And since the pair announced their visit in advance (via a phone-call), Robin had the sense to clandestinely set up his tape-recorder in his living-room and taped the entire conversation, much of which revolved around Special Branch's interest in a UFO researcher and Crop Circle maker named Matthew Williams - who just happens to be the "UFOlogist who became obsessed" with RAF Rudloe Manor, as referenced by National Archives staff above. And that's Matt below, photographed by me in Vegas four or five years ago:

I wrote extensively about the very (and I do mean VERY) weird affair of Cole and Williams in my 2006 book, On the Trail of the Saucer Spies, including the Special Branch saga as it related to both Matt and Robin.

It's an extremely strange story filled with phone and house surveillance, possibly illegal entry into someone's home, the Royal Air Force's Provost and Security Services, and much, much more.

At the time the book was published, certain people in Ufology said it was laughable to think that Special Branch and GCHQ might be involved in watching UFO researchers (even tangentially), but I'm very pleased to see that six years after On the Trail of the Saucer Spies was written, the files finally demonstrate the story was correct.

And Matt and Robin were far from alone in being watched - and that goes for UFO researchers on both sides of the Atlantic...