My Mysterious Moor Part 1. (also my first original thread)

My Mysterious Moor Part 1 (1st Ever Thread).

The Scorriton UFO.

As this is my first thread I wanted it to be a good one and I chose a subject that I am enthusiastically connected too, namely Dartmoor and its mysteries, which are many and manifold. The first that I chose to investigate for this thread is probably the best explored. This very British UFO encounter that has lost almost all of its original gravitas was, at the time, a subject of international attention. It is not easy for us today to fully comprehend the excitement and the fear throughout the UK in the mid-sixties to late seventies. In typical British understatement what was referred to as "The UFO Flap" was a hot topic in corridors of power, in urban coffee bars, and down the local boozer.

These were very different times indeed, the Cold War seemed ready to turn hot, soviet spies were perceived as being everywhere, foreign agents posing as glamorous high end call girls honey trapped ministers and generals in "sex for secrets" scandals. Unfettered paranoia across the whole of British society lead many to believe that the almost daily sightings of UFO's by credible and reliable witnesses were either, yet more tactics employed by the dastardly soviets to further unsettle an already skittish Britain, or the herald of a newer and stranger menace from much further afield.

That is why the subject of this thread garnered so much attention at the time, because contact with occupants from an otherworldly transport was then relatively unknown outside of science fiction. For these visitors to then express an understanding of the human predicament and display a benevolent and almost parental concern about the direction mankind was taking was unheard of. We may be tempted to scoff at the naivety with the perfect vision of hindsight but let us remember that the people of Britain back then considered themselves every bit as reasonable and rational as we consider ourselves to be today. The Scorriton UFO was a big deal during the British UFO Flap and only when we can properly understand the people of the time do we begin to see why that was.

The Scorriton, sometimes wrongly called the Scoriton, UFO is a classic Contactee-style event that is made all the more controversial by the possibility that it may actually have had nothing to do with UFOs, after all. More on this later because to my surprise and delight the investigation into this event has taken me in a totally unexpected direction and brought to my attention a person of considerable interest and character.

I may well attempt more Dartmoor Mystery threads in the future but for now this one case has in my opinion enough meat to warrant a thread of its own. First a synopsis of the original case that was only going to be one element of a larger thread.

Scorriton is a small farming village situated on the lower southern slopes of Dartmoor National Park, surrounded by many tiny hamlets such as Holne, Mitchelcombe and the delightfully quirkily named Higher Lower Combe. The actual event was supposed to have taken place on the Twenty Fourth of April Nineteen Sixty Five and contains many of what are now thought of as the classic UFO encounter elements. It has been suggested that it may well have been a staged event, one in which the witness was led to believe he had had a UFO sighting.

The story revolves around a man named Ernest Arthur Bryant, a resident of Scorriton, who claimed his experience took place on April the Twenty Fourth, Nineteen Sixty Five. Dartmoor in Devon is an ancient and mysterious place, it is frequently referred to as England's last remaining true wilderness and sits in the middle of an historic shire that is rich in beauty folklore and legend. It was made famous as the setting of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, and more recently Ridley Scott's Warhorse.

Mr Bryant a former World Two Army Commando was, according to his family a tough and spirited "salt of the earth" Devonian who was not given to flights of fancy. Mr Bryant claimed to have seen what has since been referred to as a "flying saucer" although there is no evidence the he himself used that term until after it was fed to him by researchers. Mr Bryant stared, shocked and amazed for a few moments, and then made his cautious way to the nearby field, over which the object was hovering. As he did so, and seemingly in response to his actions, the circular-shaped craft gently touched to the ground.

As Mr Bryant arrived, a group of three, human-like beings attired in shiny, silver suits motioned him not to come any closer, which suggests that he was walking toward the object. He described the beings as having overly long foreheads and they appeared to be having problems breathing. As a former commando and countryman of Romany blood, Mr Bryant would have been very familiar with people and animals having difficulty with respiration. He also claimed somewhat surprisingly that the beings appeared to have no obvious thumbs, the opposable thumb being considered essential to the necessary dexterity for technical accomplishments.

One of the beings then moved towards Bryant and spoke to him in English using what would now be called cliched contactee boilerplate. The entity claimed his name was “Yamski” and that he and his comrades hailed from Venus. The alien then made a comment along the lines of, “If only Des were here.” Mr Bryant suggested it may have been “Les,” rather than “Des.” this along with the “Yamski” name is all very interesting, since only one day before the encounter, the world’s most famous Contactee, George Adamski, died. Plus, Adamski’s co-author on his book Flying Saucers Have Landed was Desmond Leslie.

Also in typical of the time Contactee/Alien Visitor style, Mr Bryant was given a “tour” of the UFO which was, allegedly, split into three sections. This is reportedly when the, until then unheard of, benevolent concern for the human race and the direction it was taking, was supposedly expressed. The aliens then made a cryptic statement suggesting they would contact Bryant again. As Bryant watched from a safe distance, the UFO then rose into the sky and vanished from sight. In some accounts it was reported that Mr Bryant had some metal objects given to him during this encounter. Some of these accounts claim that these objects were later proved to be World War Two aircraft components that Mr Bryant had kept as war time mementos. I can find no evidence to corroborate or dismiss these claims or who, if anyone, originally made them.

It has been suggested that Mr Bryant was determined to keep the incident under wraps. This seems to have been untrue as the local media and UFO researchers were soon on the case. Investigator Norman Oliver looked into the matter deeply and, in 1967, Eileen Buckle penned an entire book on the affair, titled The Scoriton Mystery.

Mr Bryant’s story would, in all likelihood, have remained as just another Contactee case were it not for one, notable and very strange thing. In the late 1970s, UFO researcher Rich Reynolds claimed he was contacted by a man named Bosco Nedelcovic (This is the person of interest who I will explain more about later in the thread) who suggested that Bryant’s encounter had very little to do with aliens, and much more to do with secret experimentation of an earthly nature.

Continues

Nedelcovic it is claimed, worked for the U.S. Department of State’s Agency for International Development, and had ties to the CIA (more on this later) and claimed that Bryant was the victim of a form of sophisticated mind-control, somewhat akin to the kind of work undertaken by the CIA’s MKUltra program.

Nedelcovic told Reynolds of a number of bogus “UFO episodes” in both the US and the UK, in which individuals were led to believe they had had UFO encounters when, in fact, they experienced something very different. Nedelcovic alluded to how these events involved “visual displays, radar displacement, and the dropping of spurious alien artefacts.” Nedelcovic, claimed the Bryant case was one of these manufactured events.

Nedelcovic also revealed how the operation proceeded, and involved “experimental drugs used to induce specific hallucinatory material” as well as “microwave transmissions.” On this latter point, Reynolds claimed he was was told by Nedelcovic that “the injudicious use of microwave technology” led to a disastrous outcome for Bryant as he (Bryant) died in 1967, from the effects of a brain tumour. I have been unable to independently verify this as the date and cause of Mr Bryant's death.

In his 1969 book, UFO: Flying Saucers Over Britain? author Robert Chapman noted: “There remains a possibility” that Bryant “might have had the UFO sighting planted in his mind through hypnotism.” Chapman noted that there was “no evidence” to warrant such a belief, yet it is noteworthy that he suggested hypnotism was used in the case of Mr Bryant as that was very much along the lines of what Nedelcovic was reportedly claiming. The truth in this matter will most likely never come to light now, but it might just be altogether more sinister and unsettling than a visit from benevolent Venusians.

Now we have an outline of the original case we can move onto to what has become to me, a most fascinating offshoot.

Firstly here is an Obituary of the Second of January Two Thousand taken from The Washington Post and as far as I have been able to ascertain this is the same man that appears in the writing above.

Bosco Nedelcovic

Linguist

Bosco Nedelcovic, 66, a linguist with the American Defense College at Fort McNair and a tenacious promoter of building a Utopian society that blended elements of socialism and free market capitalism, died of prostate cancer Dec. 25 at the Northern Virginia Hospice.

Mr. Nedelcovic lived in Herndon, where he was known as a cheerful fellow and friendly neighborhood visionary. He acknowledged that his lifetime dream of a new society stood little chance of ever being realized, but it didn't discourage him from holding forums and writing long, passionate letters about his idea to government leaders, educators and foundation officials.

His proposals took on various names over the years, including Villa Venus and Happy Doomsday Retreat. Most recently, he called his project EMSUS (Experimental Module of a Sustainable Society), which would provide "a cohesive sense of common purpose and belonging now missing among the destitute and hopeless."

The concept of an alternative community for the world's disenfranchised intrigued some but failed to generate substantial financial support. Still, he relished his role as a provocateur.

Born in Belgrade, he and his family immigrated to Paraguay shortly after World War II. He grew up on a farm outside Asuncion and attended high school there.

Largely self-taught, he was fluent in Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English by the time he came to the United States in 1964. He settled in the Washington area that same year and worked as freelance translator.

In the late 1960s he became a linguist, interpreter and translator with the American Defense Board, which runs the American Defense College. He retired from the college in 1990 but continued to work there as a consultant.

Survivors include his wife of 43 years, Maria Zelmira Nedelcovic of Herndon; two children, Maria Ines Nedelcovic of Manhattan and Ivan Rafael Nedelcovic of Johnson City, Tenn.; and two grandchildren.

As you can see the person above worked for the American Defence College at Fort McNair. Fort J Lesley McNair is one of the oldest US Army establishments and is currently among other things; The headquarters of the Military District of Washington, Home of the National Defence University, and the residence of the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff. In its long history it has been a place of execution of traitors and other criminals. It sits on the peninsula at the confluence of the Washington and Potomac rivers.

Born in Belgrade with a name that suggests Yugoslavian nativity his family moved to Paraguay shortly after the war. It is worth highlighting the conspiratorial possibility that many escaping Nazis changed their names and escaped to countries such as Paraguay. This, if true might explain that guilt over Nazi atrocities was the catalyst that inspired Mr Nedelcovic's utopian ideals. This of course is pure conjecture.

He seems to have had a distinguished career and was clearly a very accomplished linguist. So if this is our man were the claims of government skulduggery really his, and is there any truth to them. It is conceivable that honourable and idealistic man already driven by guilt over past nefarious actions of his birth nation, on witnessing state sponsored evil in his adopted home, may have been driven to try and draw attention to these acts, but is their any evidence for this to be the case?

www.cia.gov...
If the letter linked above is genuine it suggests that this Bosco Nedelcovic was of sufficient status to serve as an interpreter for the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, one Lt General Vernon A Walters, an august and accomplished career soldier diplomat and author en.m.wikipedia.org... , and correspond with him directly. General Walters was himself a master of languages among other things. Interestingly for a high ranking officer with an Intelligence background, and diplomat who served under Regan and Bush Snr, that was educated by Jesuits in England, there does not seem to be any internet sites that link him to any conspiracy or underhand dealings. Make of that what you will.

www.grazian-archive.com...
This letter is supposedly a response from Alfred De Grazia. A pioneer in Computer Social Networks who actively served in the US Military in World War Two and whose specialisations were, you guessed it, Intelligence and Psychological Warfare.en.m.wikipedia.org...

If you are wondering were all this could possibly be leading then allow me to reassure you that at this point in the research for this thread, so was I, but I kept going.

Nedelcovic appears in connection with other famous UFO incidents notably the famous alien abduction of Brazilian Farmer Antonio Villas Boas in which it is claimed that Nedocovic was on board the specially jazzed up CIA helicopter that was used in this and other fake abduction incidents.
Continues

My research had shown that the only Bosco Nedcovic that fit the profile of the man Investigator Rich Reynolds claimed had contacted him was an intelligent and thoughtful man www.nytimes.com... who had been a highly respected and well connected linguist. A man that despite a difficult childhood ended up working at the Defence University of the worlds most powerful Military. But nowhere could I find anything to even begin to prove that Bosco Nedcovic was involved in Intelligence Agency faked UFO incidents. So I went back to the man who had first introduced him into our story.

Rich Reynolds like most researchers has fans and detractors but all I can find on his connection to this story is webb echoes of the original paragraph in an article marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Scorriton UFO. It could be that Rich Reynolds did contact the author of the anniversary article with the information that Bosco Nedocovic had supplied to him but as we have seen there is no evidence that Mr Nedocovic ever claimed to be involved, or have any knowledge of any such goings on. It could be that the author of the anniversary article invented the whole story of Mr Nedcovic contacting Reynolds, which I personally am inclined to believe. It could also be that the whole Scorriton UFO was made up for purely commercial reasons. and over the years a series of embellishments have been added to an original report of an incident that never took place.

If Rich Reynolds or someone who truly represents him can come forward and confirm that this Bosco Nedcovic or a credible namesake did in fact make the claims, then well and good. Or perhaps one or more of the many fine researchers of ATS may be able to unearth the credible evidence in this case that I have been unable to find.

From an account told by a country man in a quiet village on a lonely moor, we have gone from the Second World War, through the beginnings of computer social networks, on to a linguist in America's Defence University, to an Intelligence Service General who served Presidents as a diplomat, in our search for the answer to one of Dartmoor's many mysteries. I hope you enjoyed reading about this as much as I enjoyed putting it all together. It turns out, in this case, the old adage is true; Its surprising what joins up if you use a thick enough pen.

I am going to return to my mysterious moor and I hope the next mystery leads me on a journey as informative and interesting as this one did. I'm betting it will.

One final note: I live not far from Scorriton and I learned some years ago while working in the village that the subject of the local UFO incident, was back then, not a very comfortable one for many of the villagers. For some it was the object of some embarrassment and shame, from others I got the distinct impression that it was a subject that was not for discussion with nosy outsiders. So if you do ever visit the village be warned! and just enjoy the beautiful scenery and the tranquil atmosphere.

Awesome!

Now you have a flag and some stars.

Nice to have a well written thread for a change and lots of work went into it. Well done!



P

Thank you my friend. It is very pleasing to know you enjoyed it.a reply to: pheonix358

Very, very good post! This makes one think that other close encounters could have been fabricated by intelligence agencies like Gulf Breeze (which was an ONI laser/holography experiment) to the Phoenix lights. Humans are subject to so many ways of incapacitation to allow hypnosis. If you see something that is very unusual, get a witness if possible and ask that witness to describe what they are seeing in detail for comparison.

S&F.

Alot of meat to digest. Still reading. Definitely interesting!

Thank you for the break in politics.

Im glad you found it interesting.
a reply to: NightFlight

originally posted by: PlasticWizard
S&F.

Alot of meat to digest. Still reading. Definitely interesting!

Thank you for the break in politics.

Your welcome. A break from politics was one of the reasons I decided to start my first thread at this time.

Bosco Nedelcovic came to my mind as I was reading and was glad you went that direction. However, I was of the belief that Bosco has been referenced in relation to the Antonio Villas Boas case? Interesting if Scorriton has the same connection. I'll brush up again.

Doctoring Villas Boas and aliens on ice by the late Phillip Coppens.

Execellent post - a fla and a star.

We've came a long ways in these last few decades. I remember this incident as it made the news even in the US.

We need to re-examine these older reports in the light of todays knowledge. We can look at those involved in a way not possible then. We can find links that were not available then. We can evaluate, in hindsight, things that were not evident then.

A very worthy endeavor.



VF

Igaveyou your 30th flag! Great post, very informative. Don't wait so long next time!

I've got more still under construction. I cannot let myself post a thread that I am not completely happy with, it's my nature.
a reply to: WUNK22

a reply to: CulturalResilience

Hey, it's a great thread, looking forward to more!

a reply to: The GUT

Thank you for the encouragement. One or two more are not far from being ready and as soon as my schedule allows the time I will finish and post some more.

I too found this very interesting! Well done on your first thread!! I would love to hear more.

a reply to: CulturalResilience

Great. Interesting. I am on the other side of the moor at Brentor. Our lovely wilderness has many secrets yet to be uncovered out over those hills. I was with the rescue team, out in all weathers and at night reveals all sorts of curios. Legendary Dartmoor site is a wealth of data if you haven't found it yet....But I bet you have.

Yay!! A fellow Devonian on ATS
Good Story. I wasnt aware for the Scoriton UFO flap.
I shall have to ask some of my older friends in Buckfast about this.

Dartmoor is full of old and new mysteries. I have experienced a few myself camping up there over the years

Dartmoor Mysteries

Hello fellow Moorland dweller.

Firstly my respect and admiration for your efforts to keep people on the moor safe and well. I have been fascinated and enchanted by Dartmoor for as long as I can remember. I grew up with a view of it from the coast where I was born and coming to live hear finally after all those years of visiting was the realisation of a long held dream.

Brentor and the surrounding area is a very beautiful and interesting part of the moor and I have plans for it to feature significantly in my upcoming threads. Perhaps our paths might cross someday soon but not, I hope, in your capacity as a Rescue Team member, as I am an experienced Moorland traveller with respect for the terrain and the potential climatic risks.

Glad you enjoyed the thread, and pleased to know another Dartmoor lover.
a reply to: ThePassenger

Hello there Janner.

Yes my friend I am a proud Devonian Good and True. There is seawater in my veins, my are bones carved from granite and limestone, and ruby red soil makes my muscle and skin. As a boy and young man I wore God's own cap badge, and the spirit of the Explorer, the Warrior and the Yeoman beats in my heart. I forgive you for the times that Argyle beat United and, congratulate you on your victories over the Grecians. Go the Chiefs, long live Seth Lakemen, and praise God for Cider, Pasties, Cream Teas, and Devon Blue Cheese.
If you do ask your friends in Buckfast I would be very interested as to what they know about the Scorriton UFO and, if they have ever discussed it with any more senior local people, what they recalled, and their reaction to being asked about it.

reply to: Ashishin_no1