Gulf Breeze UFO Flap (Part I): Ed Walters, Photos of Unusual Clarity and Hoaxes..,or not...?

This was very interesting...I hadn't heared about this one before. Thank you for the well researched post.

While I certainly respect Jeff Ritzman, I've also come to have suspicions about Maccabbee. He's not only on the fringe of many cases where intelligence/psyops/ufos converge, but seems to have some other things to explain as well:

…One leading and influential advocate of the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis and the Contact Scenario was Dr. Bruce Maccabee, a former US Navy physicist.

Maccabee became prominent in the UFO field in the mid 1970s, and was a founding member of the Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR), whose primary purpose was to give grants to UFO researchers to further “the cause”: the study and disclosure of “the truth” about UFOs – and their “obvious” alien, extra-terrestrial nature...


…But while supporting many of the more sensational UFO cases, Maccabee has also used his influence to down-play evidence that supports a more conventional explanation of the UFO phenomenon. For example, when the declassified CIA documents relating to the use of UFOs as a cover for spy plane sightings were released in 1997, he argued vociferously – and successfully – that these were of no significance.


Most importantly, Maccabee worked closely with William Moore, for example on investigating an alleged UFO landing near Kirtland AFB in 1980 – using information supplied by Sergeant Richard Doty – the government’s UFO disinformation agent par excellence. Moore later admitted he had spread disinformation on behalf of the government, promoting the UFO myth.
The alien overlords

Btw, Jeff, I really enjoyed your discussion in Jack Brewers article at The Ufo Trail:

…For one thing, I particularly appreciated Ritzmann's willingness to address at length the complexities of UFOs as they relate to spy games, deception operations and disinformation.

…As Ritzmann explained, there are actually many reasons the intelligence community might take an interest in manipulating circumstances and reports surrounding public perception of UFOs. Those reasons include but are by no means limited to:

- Leading global adversaries to fear extraordinary "UFOs" are actually advanced exotic US aircraft and weapons of which they are defenseless.

- Leading adversaries to fear UFOs may actually be alien spacecraft, of which any number of concerns should arise, including US officials have reverse engineered aspects of the craft and/or collaborated with the occupants to receive access to advanced technology.

- Leading adversaries to frustratingly conclude they have become confused about UFOs to the point of accepting they have virtually no idea what is flying around, who flies it or what its capabilities may be (not entirely unlike many members of the UFO community).

- Meme creation and tracking, which have been repeatedly demonstrated by agencies such as the USAF and DARPA to be prioritized and valued for psychological warfare reasons ranging from spreading dissent to manipulating superstitions.

- The use of public perception of the UFO phenomenon as cover for classified operations that have nothing to do with unexplained aerial phenomena, extraterrestrial life or anything of the kind. 

Many more reasons could be listed with citations of confirmed examples. It's not just hypothetical by any means, but documented Cold War history.

Exploring the UFO Cover Up

a reply to: cuckooold

The model looks very crude on comparison to the photos. As for the rash of ufo sightings associated with Ed Walters - the whole purpose of ufo sightings is to get people's attention, to create 'ufo consciousness' so, given this it is not surprising the ufonauts would make follow up sightings. This is also why there is often a flap of sightings. They are making themselves known.

originally posted by: The GUT
Btw, Jeff, I really enjoyed your discussion in Jack Brewers article at The Ufo Trail

Thanks.

And I don't think your concerns about Bruce are completely unfounded. But, I also think a lot of your questions will be answered in the book he has forthcoming.

In short I don't think Bruce did anything overtly dishonest - if anything he's made some errors, and who hasn't. I don't think his professional work affiliations have helped foster trust with many people, but it was his job and for all those who put him and his analysis down (not you, but I've seen some skeptic types and jealousy ridden UFOlogists), I highly doubt they could do better, or even come close. None I've seen talk smack have his career path, nor his educational background and vast experience.

JR

originally posted by: jritzmann
...And I don't think your concerns about Bruce are completely unfounded. But, I also think a lot of your questions will be answered in the book he has forthcoming.

In short I don't think Bruce did anything overtly dishonest - if anything he's made some errors, and who hasn't...

I definitely look forward to Dr. Maccabbee's book and I'll take your advice and be open to hearing his side. Should be a very welcome addition to the field.

I can imagine his Intelligence & UFO credentials, along with his patriotism, might have put him in a tough spot or two along the way, though.

...Dr. MacCabee retired from government service in 2008. He has worked on optical data processing, generation of underwater sound with lasers and various aspects of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) using high power lasers.

en.wikipedia.org...

A career man with an interesting resume. Can you tell us anything about the scope of the book and expected publishing date? And, yes, Bruce has been kicking UFO butt for a long time.

Btw: You were mentioned and quoted in Part II of this thread. Jack Brewer has been graciously participating some--how cool is that? Maybe, you'll stop in? It would really be cool to have your take and participation there:

The Gulf Breeze Saga (Part II) : UFOs, the Gulf Breeze 6, and the End of the World

Did anybody in this thread mention the thread about the "found drawings" that were incredibly detailed schematics/diagrams of some kind of carnival machine that seemed to be inspired by the story in the bible book about angels with 4 faces and wheels whithin wheels? I seem to remember there was a connection to the "gulf breeze ufo flap".

a reply to: Tardacus

I was thinking the same thing about the stereo camera.
If those images are available on the net I can run them through my photogrammetry software and create a 3d model of the object.
I have an extensive amount of experience in this.
As I type this, on the monitor beside me, im processing stereo imageryof a mine site tailings dam.
I could have a 3D model of the object put together in less than 20 minutes.

Another curious thing I find about the whole matter is what I find in most UFO flaps. After a while, it just stops happening. Stuff happens for a while, it stirs people up, and then it just peters out to nothing, with no more new information being found or released. No more new photos of the Gulf Breeze UFOs, just like there are no new photos of the Billy Meier ships.

It's something that happens so frequently that it doesn't even seem odd. But I always wonder, "Why'd they go away? Why'd they stop?" There's no logical reason the number and frequency of the sightings won't just continue to build until there's a UFO hovering over everybody's house in the state.

What it suggests to me is that there is a huge social component to these things, and like all the other "hot" news of the day, people eventually just get tired of it. It suggests a hoax that might also include an increase in public awareness of odd stuff flying around in the sky and results in people other than the hoaxer actually coming up with "real" UFO evidence.

As for the Ed Walter's photos, I always felt that a lot of them, particularly the night photos, were reflections on glass.

The Gulf Breeze book was one of first UFO books I had read, I found it interesting. I found that Ed passed two polygraph tests and a psych eval interesting, and that he took pictures with a wax-sealed camera. On the minus side, I thought it was odd only he had amazing sightings. Others had some sightings, but nothing like his ridiculously high # of sightings.

The model I think was created and planted after the fact, so someone was trying to discredit him.. I wonder who. : )

files.abovetopsecret.com...

OK, this is an old post. I do not know or think Ed Walters claimed to have taken the photo, shown as first photo, in original post. Did he? When and where was this photo taken? And by whom? What is the story behind it?

When googling it, it appears to be from some anonymous source. (there is a "signature" in lower right corner, but I do not think he is the one that took the photo)

Great post! I always felt that the paper model was a bit too convenient a find.