Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth

Crashed spaceships. Alien abductions. Cattle mutilations. Bases that don't officially exist like Dulce Base in New Mexico. Thanks to countless movies and TV shows, these conspiracy theories regarding government cover-ups regarding the UFO phenomenon are known to millions around the world. The origins of such ideas are far more humble, troubling, and far closer to home as Greg Bishop reveals in his 2005 book Project Beta.Project Beta traces the incredible but true story of electronics engineer and businessman Paul Bennewitz who lived near New Mexico's Kirtland Air Force Base. When in 1979 he noticed strange phenomenon at and near the base that he captured on tape and film, he brought it to the attention of the government and military. In time, he would believe that reports of abductions and cattle mutilations were harbingers of a malevolent extraterrestrial invasion.Which, as time would reveal, is precisely what those very people wanted him to believe.Bishop explores how a disinformation campaign was launched, nominally by the US Air Force's Office Of Special Investigations (AFSOI), against not just Bennewitz but the world of Ufology at large. It's a story with a cast of characters including AFSOI agent Richard Doty whose job it was to pass information onto Bennewitz and others including Bill Moore who would make a Faustian bargain in the hope of discovering what the government actually knew only to pay a heavy price. Also drawn into this web are New Mexico State Police officer Gabe Valdez and filmmaker Linda Molten Howe whose investigations into facets of the enigma leave them entangled as well.And what a web did Doty, the AFSOI, the NSA, and other agencies weave. They created a many-headed Hydra that would drive Bennewitz not only to write a lengthy report sent to countless people in government that lends the book its title (reprinted in full here for the first time) but into a severe mental state. They also created a schism still evident in the world of Ufology decades later with no one quite sure of what to believe. In doing so, they birthed a mythology which has blossomed into something with a terrible beauty all its own.The question readers might be left asking is simple: Why? What did Bennewitz stumble across and why did those he told in government and military do so much discord? Was it to protect any number of things from the early development of stealth technology in the 1980s to drones in more recent times? Is it to cover up what the US government actually knows about UFOs? Or is the truth somewhere in the middle perhaps, having been irrevocably distorted by the ongoing need for “national security”?At the end of the day, neither Bishop nor his book claims to have all the answers. What they have is a fascinating tale that takes the reader on a journey into the birth of modern UFO lore and how it would eventually seep into popular culture. It's also a modern Faust tale of deals made with the devil that backfired spectacularly.Only this one is all too true.

I read M. Pilkington’s “Mirage Men” and watched the eponymous documentary shortly before perusing this book. Pilkington’s focuses more on the fascinating character of Richard Doty, USAF Intelligence operative, and, as a result, “Mirage Men” remains a more captivating read. But G. Bishop’s book provides more facts and insights into the chronology of the Bennewitz affair and related US Government disinformation activities during the 1970s and 1980s.Pilkington leaves the reader with greater opportunity to question the true success of USG disinformation campaigns, and the still credible possible of true and continuous extraterrestrial exploration of Earth. Bishop, however, seems less interested in dissecting the impact and ramifications for the future of UFO research. He is laser focused on trying to explain the 5 Ws surrounding Project Beta, Paul Bennewitz, and covert military activity in New Mexico over the past 50 years.I recommend watching the documentary and then following up with these two books for detailed background.Overall, I came away from the three stories profoundly convinced that Black Ops and Secret Military projects lie behind most of the Post Roswell Alien lore. And, for me, the question of alien visitation is now nearly moot. It seems incontrovertible that the American civilian volunteer UFO research community has been routinely infiltrated and exploited by Soviet agents and US intel agencies since the 1950s.Thus, the much desired “Disclosure” will likely come in the form of slow, sporadic admissions by our government that we have used UFO cover stories, to build up a fictional UFO lore to help hide stealth, SDI, space plane, nuclear powered space craft and anti-satellite tech, for 70 years.To paraphrase Ray Bradbury in the Martian Chronicles: “There we are now. WE are the Martians.”

Greg Bishop’s ‘Project Beta’ should be required reading for anyone who aspires to investigate The Phenomenon as such.Greg writes beautifully, he’s poetic and scientific. The rare bird. I’ve great respect for Greg. He knows his stuff.Project Beta gives you an inside look on the official misdirection and obfuscation that takes place when your government wishes to write the narrative on UFOs.An amazing book, you need to read this.Earl Grey Anderson,MUFON So CA Chief Investigator/Assistant State Director/STAR Team/Experiencer Research Team.

When I first read this book about 3 years ago, I was fascinated to find a story that I, a regular imbiber of all things UFO, had never heard of. Oh sure I had heard all of the things that came from the case such as evil aliens living under the mountains of New Mexico and how we secretly have worked with the aliens up to a point that they have helped us build simulators of UFOs, but I had never heard of the Paul Bennewitz case until after I saw Mirage Men and read this book. What a great job Bishop does in separating his opinions with the facts, and his opinions are based on the facts and not some wild conjecture. Look, I'm as big a fan as any of the ETH, but I agree with Greg here, the most interesting part of the Dulce or Bennewitz story has nothing to do with aliens or UFOs.

This an update for those who question the Dulce underground base story. All the information regardingaliens using human parts and pieces, and different underground levels at Dulce was all a secret service hoax to contradict PaulBennewitz scientific proof of his pictures.I am still a firm beleiver in the Dulce Base, we haven't heard the rest of it, I am sure more to come with time!

This book was recommended in another I was reading.I then purchased it.Wish I didn't waste the money!Save yours, lot better books on this subject available.If your not looking for a droll boring read,Caveat Emptor,

Quite a thorough account of an over exposed subject.