- It was the case that had it all: a dead
alien body, crystal-clear photos of both an alien and a small UFO, video
documentation, photographic negatives, a witness. It was missing only one
important element...truth. UFOlogy is yet again plagued with another case
of fraud. In the infamous tradition of Billie Meier, Alien Autopsy, Hale-Fraud,
and EQ Pegasi comes Dr.Jonathan Reed and his bogus story of an encounter
with an alien in the woods of Washington state. I'm sure that most of you
are already familiar with the story, those who are not can view a transcript
of the story at Art Bell's website www.artbell.com For all who have contributed
their time and resources, I thank you it's unfortunate that hoaxers do
not care about wasting the resources or damaging the credibility of the
UFO community, as this shameless scam demonstrates. I have been following
this fabricated tale for the last few weeks. I have already covered some
of the information contained here and I base my conclusion to this case
on the following:
-
- THE ALIEN PHOTOS: After receiving information
from others researching this case, I received a photo from Rita Bensette,
a resident of Canada, who became involved after reading the Sightings Headlines
story about the case. Rita contacted me with an acute observation about
the alien's clothing, under enhancement one can clearly see a straight
pin. You can see this straight pin without enhancing the photo if you look
carefully below the collar line of the full-face photo. Reed and his accomplices
used selective lighting in an attempt to cover up details of the alien
below the neck. Look at the face and you will see a concentration of light
from either a garage lamp or a flashlight on the alien's head, yet no where
near the body.
-
- Rita also pointed out that if you take
a standard straight pin and put it up to the computer monitor for comparison
that it is an exact match, with the exception of the size due to the photo
itself. Now, someone else said that it is part of a scan line, but after
doing the comparison I am very hard pressed to believe that. There is some
pixel distortion visible within that area of the photo, but the pin appears
to be a solid object. It has a needle point on it and a small sphere on
the end...just like a straight pin. This fact would sink any story Reed
could come up with as he claimed after cutting the cloth with an exacto
knife that it liquified and then solidified. There may be other pins in
the garment but they are not as easily made out. You go look at the photo
and decide. I will be happy to send you a copy of Rita's enhancement of
the photo and the original, just e-mail me. There may also be more straight
pins throughout the alien. The clothing also appears to spread out near
the bottom of the photo like a gown, suggesting that straight pins were
utilized to hold the material on the alien. Rita sent this information
to Art Bell, she never received a response. I also contacted Art Bell.
His responded wanting to know what the proof was, I e-mailed my findings
to him a week ago but never received a response back.
-
- The photos are very convenient in hiding
many details only providing head shots of the alien. That's okay, the photos
tell a much larger story. Visible in the forehead region are either sculpting
or casting lines, look at the shadowing around the head. The alien is obviously
a prop as it is very "stiff" and non-organic in appearance and
as Gary Val Tenuta observed (among others), the alien is very similar to
that of the one in the movie "Fire In The Sky." This brings
me to the "wound" on the alien. Reed claimed to have hit the
alien with a tree branch and to having caved in its skull. I have been
employed as a laboratory assistant within the forensic evidence unit of
a police department. I have seen a lot of photos involving assaults and
have viewed the body of a murder victim who died as a result of blunt trauma
to the head. Reed's claim of having assaulted the alien is laughable at
best.
-
- First of all, the appearance of the wound
is not consistent with that of blunt trauma to the head, especially for
only having hit the alien once. The wound is too nice and round in appearance.
Blunt force involving a club, hammer, stick, etc., will constitute medium
velocity. This is important in interpreting the blood evidence involved.
Blood will spatter a certain way under certain conditions. For example,
blood will have a fine misting effect when the trauma involved is high
velocity such as a gunshot wound at point blank range. Crime scenes involving
blood can very accurately be reconstructed based on an interpretation of
blood spatter. One can tell the velocity and point of origin/travel involving
blood droplets as well as the type of force and narrow down the type of
weapon used. In the case of Reed, it is obvious that the blood is not real
for a number of reasons. For a head wound there most certainly is not much
blood on either the thermal blanket or the alien. The pattern of the blood
is telling in that not only was it placed there by artificial means, but
isn't real nor is the alien. There is also blood visible on the right side
of the alien's neck...how did it get there? The blood has soaked into the
alien head prop demonstrating that it is non-organic. Also, there is not
one single blood pattern even closely resembling or indicating blunt trauma
involving medium velocity. The blood is not consistent in that it is not
uniform. Blood will drip or run from a dependent portion of the body. A
good example, if you cut your finger and watch the blood, it will run down
your finger in a very uniform manner...the blood on the alien does nothing
close to that. The alien and its "blood" are not immune to the
law of physics nor forensic science.
-
- The 'stuffing' coming out of the alien
is also ridiculous. It has no similarity to anything organic and looks
like insulation. Rita Bensette makes another excellent observation in
pointing out that there appears to be, under enhancement, an 'x' on the
spot where the wound appears. This would indicate that Reed and his fellow
conspirators marked the spot where the wound was to appear. Another problem
is that if Reed was attempting to establish a physical case based on the
alien and its wounds, why is there no mention or photos of the alien's
wounded arm that Reed's dog was supposed to have attacked? I also question
why there is no debris (i.e.: dirt, leaves, moss, pine needles, et al)
in the wound area. I served as a Forest Protection Officer with the U.S.
Forest Service and can tell you that anyone hiking is going to bring back
some piece of the forest with them, especially if they hit the ground and
their head is bashed in.
-
- THE "OBELISK" PHOTOS
-
- I believe that Lea H. MacDonald has covered
the many inconsistencies with lighting and shadowing in great detail(there
is a link to MacDonald's website at the Sightings homepage). Rita Bensette,
who has an eye for detail, sent me a photo showing that there is a geometric
object in the photo under the "obelisk." It looks as though it
may be a camera or something with a lens. If Reed had both his cameras
with him the whole time, where did this object come from? It is odd because
Reed claims the incident took place in a remote location.
-
- Upon converting the obelisk image from
a positive to a negative, you can see what appear to be holes. Also upon
closer observation, it appears the object is transparent as you can see
the outline of the background through the object. This would suggest that
it is a digital product and not a three dimensional object. There also
appears to be three stems with leaves in a photo that are either paste
ups or digital touch ups. The exposure time Reed said he used is also inconsistent
as a 1/2 second exposure time would not be enough to regulate the needed
amount of light for a photograph in overcast weather. I have taken several
pictures out in the woods with my camera, and have had to use an auto exposure
in overcast weather. The other problem with the photos is that Reed never
mentions having a tripod for his camera, yet his "obelisk" photos
are perfectly still, well lit, and centered. Another problem with the aforementioned
is that the video taken by Reed is described as being shaky, poorly lit,
and not well centered...why is there a difference between the video and
the photos?
-
- MISCELLANEOUS
-
- Aside from the above, there are many
other problems with this story:
-
- * Reed and Raith have a "business
manager", Ms.Chris Fine. Fine has stated that in addition to a book
and video, there are negotiations for a movie deal based on the claims
of Reed. I dropped the name of a movie producer I know in Los Angeles to
Fine during a conversation we had. I said he may be interested in making
the movie. Fine immediately asked for me to give him her phone number.
The point is this: If Fine is already negotiating a deal for a movie, then
why seek out someone else? This tells me that they are wanting to get a
deal made as fast as they can. This all indicates that this is a fraud
being perpetrated for the motive of financial gain. This is a criminal
act in many states as it constitutes fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud,
both of which are felonies. If a computer was used in the perpetration
of fraud, then it too is a felony crime.
-
- * Fine says that they (herself, Reed,
and Raith) are not interested in proving anything to anyone, this statement
says it all. They have refused to release copies of photos and the video
for anyone to view or analyze. Additionally, Reed claims to have photographic
negatives, but again refuses to have them evaluated by an independent laboratory.
Fine says they're not releasing any of the evidence for safety reasons.
-
- Fine claims that a female associated
was attacked while delivering a copy of the video (to Art Bell), the alleged
assailant taking only the package and leaving the woman with injuries requiring
medical attention. None of this was mentioned on the Art Bell show and
is probably poorly timed theatrics. With all of the exposure Reed has received,
there is no reason for them to hold back on releasing anything or for him
to hide. Of course holding off until the deals are made and the money is
in the bank would be the smart thing to do, being exposed as a fraud early
on would most definitely hurt any chance of financial gain.
-
- * Reed states that he had his video
tape and video camera analyzed by an "expert' who concluded that the
video was authentic and that the camera was in working condition. This
so-called "expert" has yet to be named and the alleged test results
released. An interesting comment made by Reed regarding an analysis was
this, "I have been through this process before and I will provide
the evidence under the right circumstances."
-
- Those circumstances probably involve
a six or seven figure sum of money and royalties. Those involved with this
scheme probably saw Fox Television's Alien Autopsy and thought that if
Ray Santilli could pull it off, so could they. At least Santilli came off
as genuine and didn't use 'B' rated theatrics and props. And if Reed was
wanting to present physical evidence to support his tale, what happened
to the watch that supposedly stopped during the encounter, the shirt that
was torn by the obelisk but later was found to be not torn, and the ashes
of his dead dog? None of the parties involved in this tale are willing
to give out much in terms of details. Fine declined to tell me exactly
where the encounter took place (specifically a trailhead name), saying
that it was unimportant.
-
- * Reed says his friend "Gary"
(who conveniently has vanished) contacted Peter Davenport of the National
UFO Reporting Center. Mr.Davenport does not recall ever having a conversation
with anyone about a dead alien body. Mr.Davenport is a well-educated, intelligent
man dedicated to serious UFOlogy, had there ever been such a conversation
I am quite sure he would have remembered it...anonymous caller or not.
-
- * Fine says she previously knew Robert
Raith as the two were neighbors in Seattle for about 3 years. Strange that
this incident took place in Washington as well. This would strongly suggest
that Reed, Raith, and Fine all know each other and have planned this scam
for some time now. Fine said she introduced Reed to Raith, how did Fine
and Reed meet?
-
- * Why is it that Robert Raith appeared
on Coast To Coast AM before Reed? My guess, to lay out the story and script
it for the rest of his accomplices. Why did Reed take so long to come out
with his story? One would argue that he was in hiding, evading government
agents and fearing for his life. I think the safe bet here is that he and
his accomplices needed time to get their stories straight and fabricate
their evidence. * Reed's claim of being followed the whole time he had
the alien at his house is ridiculous as are his claims that unknown persons
had gone through his home previous to the alien and his evidence being
stolen. Why would a group interested in the alien wait so long to take
it? Also, if this was some covert government group attempting to cover
up the incident, Reed's house would have been burned to the ground and,
along with himself, anyone associated with the incident at all would be
a corpse.
-
- There are too many questions, too many
inconsistencies, and far too many conveniences associated with this story.
The bottom line here is that this fraud and those involved in its perpetration
are doing damage to serious UFOlogy. If Reed was at all sincere about any
of his claims, then he would have no problem in submitting his evidence
for analysis. I challenge Reed and his associates to prove me wrong about
this case. Do the responsible thing Reed, submit what you have and let
the evidence speak. The evidence never lies, those with something to hide
do.
-
- --Royce J. Myers III
- evidence@hotmail.com
-
- 1430 Willamette, No.344
- Eugene, Oregon 97401
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