Ancillary Mercy полностью

As if AFR 200-2 were not stringent enough, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reissued JANAP 146 (Joint-Army-Navy-Air-Publication) in December 1953. This made any public release of a UFO report a crime under the Espionage Act, punishable by a one- to ten-year prison term or a $10,000 fine. It differed from AFR 200-2 primarily in that it applied to anyone who knew of its existence, including all branches of the military, and even commercial airline pilots. According to historian David Jacobs, “this action effectively stopped the flow of information to the public.” Keyhoe, as usual, was on the ball, and learned of JANAP 146 almost immediately. That month, President Eisenhower issued an Executive Order (10501) abolishing the classification of “Restricted.” Keyhoe considered this a “stunning blow” to the silence group, as both JANAP 146 and AFR 200-2 were Restricted defense documents. But UFO secrecy was unaffected, as meaningful sightings were simply classified at higher levels.³³

On December 4, General Burgess chaired a conference with 4602nd officers and stated that the 4602nd was the agency responsible to ATIC for investigating UFOs. Captain Cybulski then left for Wright-Patterson AFB to coordinate activities more closely with ATIC. He reported that the project astronomer (Hynek) was “ready to quit.” The astronomer said:

[P]ut yourself in my position. I am being ridiculed by members of my profession for chasing those imaginary objects.... I have not been able to get support from the air force. It seems they all think this is a hot subject, and they want to drop it.... No one wants to be quoted.

Cybulski himself took a hard line against the extraterrestrial hypothesis and stated that “in all but a few cases a satisfactory solution has been reached and the air force feels that adequate, thorough investigative procedures can solve the small percentage of unsolved sightings. This is where we come into the picture.”³⁴

Blue Book now had scarcely the ability to handle any report it received, since its staff consisted of two people. No wonder Cybulski said that AISS would “exhaust all efforts to identify a sighting before turning it over to ATIC.” As a result, the AISS maintained a complete file on all UFO sightings. Reports would be unclassified, “unless data included necessitates a higher classification,” or if “and this I rather doubt ... it happens to be the real thing.” Despite Cybulski’s skepticism, he stated that reports would include such items as maneuvers and intercept attempts. This begs the obvious question: maneuvers by what, intercept attempts of what?³⁵

LSD, MIND CONTROL, AND THE DEATH OF FRANK OLSEN

By this time, methods of assassination and neutralization had become quite sophisticated among the world’s leading intelligence organizations. It is believed, for example, that the Soviets were delving into the biological effects of microwaves as early as 1953.³⁶ Americans were working hard to develop biological and chemical weapons for use against large populations and individual targets. One specialist and casualty in this quest was Frank Olsen, a leading scientist at the army’s Chemical Corps, Special Operations Division (SOD) at Fort Detrick, Maryland. The CIA had been working with Olsen for some time, as SOD provided the agency with an array of deadly chemicals and microbes that were undetectable upon a detailed autopsy. SOD also made various “operational systems” to infect foes with diseases such as anthrax. Only a very few CIA officials knew that the agency was paying SOD $200,000 per year for these services, a relationship that continued at least until 1969, by which time SOD had stockpiled a veritable mountain of bacteriological agents.

Olsen had been duped into meeting with MK-Ultra director Gottlieb and other CIA officials for a meeting at a secluded cabin on November 19, 1953. That evening, Gottlieb spiked Olsen’s alcoholic drink with LSD. This sort of thing had been going on at the agency all year, but principally among CIA staffers. Usually, the trip would last a little while, the unwitting subject would recover, and notes would be taken on the experience. All good fun. Frank Olsen, however, had a very bad trip. Days later, he still wasn’t right. He was depressed, incoherent, and uncommunicative to friends or family. His CIA handlers took him to a “doctor” in New York City, who prescribed him more alcohol. Olsen then plunged to his death from the tenth floor of the Statler Hotel. According to the CIA man assigned to him, Olsen simply rushed out of his bed and crashed through the window. Of course, there were no other witnesses, and Olsen was a security risk. Twenty years later, Olsen’s family finally learned the truth, such as it was revealed, and received $750,000 from Congress in compensation. Throughout, the CIA’s main concern was to maintain plausible deniability.³⁷