The Henry McKay (UFOlogist) 1978 Confession Tape

This tape was brought to my attention via Twitter by the niece of Henry McKay. Henry Mckay was a pioneer in UFOlogy and was the very first Director of MUFON in Canada . In this tape he is heard speaking to a unknown man about his experiences of being watched, stalked and harassed by authorities due to his UFO research involvement.

Here is the complete description of the audio tape as described by his niece:

The Henry McKay Confession Tape is an audio cassette tape from 1978 of pioneer UFOlogist Henry McKay (my great-uncle) talking about his experiences of being watched, stalked and harassed by authorities due to his UFO research involvement. I don't recall if Uncle mentions in this tape that he had to get his local politician involved to finally get his P.O. mailbox back after it "mistakenly" was shut down and taken away from him.

I cranked the volume up as loud as it would go in the video editor, so you might need headphones depending on your speaker system. But most should be able to hear without headphones.

I do not know who Henry (my great-uncle) was talking to in this tape. All I know is that this conversation took place in a car in front of Henry's home in Toronto, Canada in 1978. About half-way through the tape you will hear it raining outside. At around the 22 minute mark the tape goes blank, I have not done anything to it, this is the way it is on the original tape and I have no idea what caused this. Then the audio comes back. Then around the 27 minute mark the tape cuts off as Henry is mid-sentence and then you hear Uncle do a countdown -- no idea what this is all about. Then all of a sudden the tape comes back to the interview in the car. Your guess is as good as mine.

If anybody has any idea as to who Uncle was talking to (the man interviewing Uncle) please leave it in the comments and also include why you think so. Or if anybody has any additional info to anything they have heard in this tape please leave it in the comments. Thank you for your assistance, together we can figure this out!!

In this audio cassette tape Henry talks about his mail being diverted, his telegram being diverted, his telephone being tapped, men watching his house from their car, being chased down the highway by an unknown vehicle, police showing up at his door to harass him from a city over 3 hours away, army showing up at his investigation sites (Henry specialized in landing sites and physical traces), and the monitoring of UFO investigators and researchers. Henry also mentions the Edwin Fuhr case (Regina, Saskatchewan) and that the police told Edwin not to say anything about his UFO sighting. He also mentions the Stephen Michalak case in Falcon Lake, Manitoba. He also talks about Ground Saucer Watch attempting to take the government to court regarding harassment for investigating UFOs. He also talks about his long fight with the government to get the Joe Borda files from the government (over 10 years Henry tried) in Brantford when a UFO landed in a tobacco field.

He mentions "O.P.P" which is the "Ontario Provincial Police". He also mentions RCMP which is the "Royal Canadian Mounted Police".

As you will hear in the tape, Henry called the harassment and monitoring from authorities "the loyal opposition". A very fitting title for them.

This audio is courtesy of the official Henry McKay UFO Archives™ at UFOsUpClose.com

Henry McKay was a pioneer UFOlogist. He was the very first Director of MUFON in Canada. He was also one of the first modern-day UFO investigators to specialize in physical traces associated with UFO landing sites and close-range UFO sightings. His work was mentioned in the book "The Philadelphia Experiment". He was an electrical engineer with the Air Force. He was also on the Board of Directors for the "North American UFO Federation" (headed by Richard Haines), was an associate of CUFOS (Dr. J. Allen Hynek), and also investigated for NICAP (Major Donald Keyhoe of the US Marines). He was good friends with Dr. J. Allen Hynek. He also gave a briefing at a hearing to the "Royal Commission of Electric Power Planning" in regards to UFO related power disturbances. For more info on Henry there is a MUFON webpage dedicated to him

A few years ago, in Québec, Canada, there was a man interviewed because he was coming back to Canada after almost 10 years spent elsewhere.
He was, before leaving the country, the president of a UFO association in Québec.

During his interview, he said he had to leave doing what he was doing because he was told it would be dangerous for him to continue. He was somewhat nervous, and swore he would not touch the subject again.
He never said who told him he should quit, but it was apparently a clear message he had best not ignore...

I didn't know about McKay, but the first lines of the quote you put in your OP made me remember the other story.

So, in Canada it really is dangerous looking for UFOs?... Hmmm...

Thanks for bringing McKay's story to my attention.

originally posted by: NowanKenubi
A few years ago, in Québec, Canada, there was a man interviewed because he was coming back to Canada after almost 10 years spent elsewhere.
He was, before leaving the country, the president of a UFO association in Québec.

During his interview, he said he had to leave doing what he was doing because he was told it would be dangerous for him to continue. He was somewhat nervous, and swore he would not touch the subject again.
He never said who told him he should quit, but it was apparently a clear message he had best not ignore...

I didn't know about McKay, but the first lines of the quote you put in your OP made me remember the other story.

So, in Canada it really is dangerous looking for UFOs?... Hmmm...

Thanks for bringing McKay's story to my attention.

Do you remember the name of that guy from Quebec? I live there and never heard this before.

a reply to: MrMaybeNot

Unfortunately, no... He was interviewed by Denis Lévesque on LCN, that's the most I remember. I was doing something else at the time, but was surprised upon hearing what he was saying. I didn't know him prior to that moment.

a reply to: NowanKenubi

First I had heard of McKay as well. I'm not familiar with any other Canadian UFOlogist really. Paul Hellyer is the only Canadian I've followed. Hellyer kind of blew me away with the things he's said in the past 7 or 8 years.

a reply to: FearYourMind

S&F! Men in black stuff, I love this.
Great find! I'll listen to it rigth away.

Thanks OP.

a reply to: payta

It's a really strange conversation. Michelle McKay, his great niece, was hoping to find out more information about who her great uncle was talking to as well, but that may be a long shot.

This guy he is talking to sounds like an investigator of some type. Private? Who knows, but having a background in law enforcement and intelligence, the guy keeps particular details to times, vehicle descriptions, numbers of occupants, etc. which sounds like McKay was having someone check out his suspicions of interference officially or privately. It is possible that this investigator was the one who warned him later that it would be dangerous to continue. He talks about policy of RCMP, recordings, etc. also.

a reply to: FearYourMind

The voice sounds like Bob Gribble. He used to run NUFORC and recorded 100s of reports via telephone during the 70s and 80s. He was also well-known in ufology and had connections to many of the big names.

There's at least one case from 75 where they could have made each other's acquaintance.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Hi Kandinsky do you remember anyone from Canada that went by the name Mr X ? I remember Stanton Friedman and Phil Klass mentioning a Mr X years ago, not sure if Mr X was ever revealed.

a reply to: uforn

Hiya Uforn, Mr X is one of those names that appear in the obscure outer edges of ufology. Probably mischief at work although we'll never know the facts. Klass apparently encountered him in his dealings with Travis Walton.

We've had Doctor X, Mr X and Colonel X and just one of them has any suggestion of being a real person.

I've only heard the first part of the interview and will listen to the rest later.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Just a question here. Any reason this has 20 flags, but it doesn't appear on the main page or in the "Top" forums? I'm not all that familiar with how the system works.

a reply to: Kandinsky

I ask because I think this is a relevant and historical find regarding the UFO field.

UPDATE:

McKay's niece, Michelle McKay writes:

This just in, new information: In Henry McKay's appointment book for 1978, on January 18 he wrote "Commission of Inquiry brief by Mr X. RCMP activities"... So there is a good chance that the unknown male asking Henry the questions was Mr X. For those who don't know, Mr X was a famous UFO researcher and Fortean researcher from Kingston, Ontario. He was written about in many newspapers in Canada. At one point the unknown male says in the tape that he is only interested in RCMP activities, and Henry's journal entry states "RCMP"... There are several different Mr X's if you google it, the one in question was not in the USA he was from Kingston, Ontario. Eventually he went public with his name but I cannot recall his real name at this time, will post it when I come across it again. So, this might be our guy...Thank you ..

a reply to: FearYourMind

Hi I had Michelle Mckay scan and upload the entry from her uncles diary where he has an appointment logged with a Mr X, here are the images from the diary.

Fascinating interview and thanks for posting it.

Apparently reearcher Ivan T Sanderson also experienced 'harassment' and John Keel makes some interesting points here about the government intimidation and mysterious black Cadillacs.

• Also sounds to me like the interviewer is Bob Gribble (link).

Looking for something else and came across this one

Odd goings on involving McKay during a radio show reporting the 1973 Jackson's Point UFO Incident :

originally posted by: karl 12
Odd goings on involving McKay during a radio show reporting the 1973 Jackson's Point UFO Incident

Jackson's Point...Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto. Know it well.
Three are also stories out there about UFO activity around the Pickering nuclear plant.

a reply to: JohnnyCanuck


Lots of bizarre UFO/Entity cases from the area at this link Johnny - including 1973 Jackson's Point.

psican.org...

You're not wrong about Lake Since either, had a quick look and there's quite a number of very strange UFO reports.