Search Results

Several dozen pages of records responsive to bird kills at the Great Salt Lake were obtained in March from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR). A request was submitted under the Government Records Access and Management Act after Expanding Frontiers Research Executive Director Erica Lukes alerted this writer to news reports indicating some 25,000 birds were killed by avian flu within the lake. The DWR response includes diagnostic reports, press releases and inner-agency emails, as well as email exchanges with media outlets and concerned residents seeking to better understand the circumstances. Material distributed by the Utah DWR and included in a March response to an EFR records request The records indicate an estimated 25,000 mostly eared grebes were killed between November and January. Deaths were attributed to avian flu. The severe avian flu season consisted of highly contagious viruses such as H5N1, particularly deadly to chickens and wild birds. Diagnostic reports and emails obtained also indicate botulism Type C accounted for thousands more bird deaths in recent years past. The affected bird populations include a variety of types of waterfowls. Avian botulism is caused by a toxin extremely potent to birds that is produced by a bacterium (Clostridium botulinum). Though not contagious, it can cause sudden die-offs when conditions are favorable for it to thrive. These conditions may include pervasive drought, impacted water levels and the resulting state of wetlands which attract birds. EFR obtained additional records from DWR in September when Erica Lukes became aware of other wildlife death in Utah. Beavers were found dead in multiple locations. The cause of deaths included Tularemia, a fever resulting from a bacterium (Francisella tularensis). Records obtained include test results and locations of the dead animals, among other information.

Author, researcher and retired psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Kaye joined this writer to discuss his research into covert projects conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency. This specifically includes Dr. Kaye's Jan. 17 article, The Unknown Story of CIA's MK-DECOY & "Subproject 61" , which covers groundbreaking aspects of the Agency's mid-20th century efforts to induce concussions in targeted human beings. Also explored is CIA-Connected Hospital Advised Warren Commission , in which, among other items of interest, Dr. Kaye shares documents that reveal how the CIA could refer people for mental health treatment and have them involuntarily committed for hospitalization if they were deemed national security risks. Dr. Jeffrey Kaye While practicing psychology in San Francisco, Dr. Kaye worked professionally with torture victims and asylum seekers. He protested the actions of psychologists working for the CIA and Department of Defense who helped develop interrogation programs widely exposed as including torture and other forms of cruel treatment of prisoners. He subsequently wrote the nonfiction e-book Cover-up at Guantanamo: The NCIS Investigation into the “Suicides” of Mohammed Al Hanashi and Abdul Rahman Al Amri . In the EFR video posted below, Dr. Kaye shares his insights on what he has learned about CIA covert research from MKULTRA to Guantanamo. He and your author discuss what is known to have taken place and why it matters, not just to involuntary research subjects, but society as a whole. Please consider supporting our work at Patreon . Your contributions help make our work possible.

Expanding Frontiers Research is pleased to announce a new video series, Learning How to Learn. It will be a collection of concise interviews with qualified experts discussing such issues as identifying reliable information and the red flags that should arise from dubious online content. This writer will be exploring how to systematically and effectively learn more about your subjects of interest. The series is set to begin Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2pm EST, with the video premiere of Learning How to Learn, Episode 1 , featuring award-winning science journalist and nonfiction author Sarah Scoles. The 22-minute video explores issues ranging from effectively sorting information to challenges the internet poses during the professional research process. Also considered is narrowing our focus to what is most important to us when we are swamped in seemingly endless stories designed to grab our attention. Considered, as well, are inconsistencies in a reporter or outlet's coverage and how the implications should inform our resulting assessments. This and more are discussed in the inaugural series video, so please visit Learning How to Learn, Episode 1: Sarah Scoles , turn on the notification, and subscribe to the EFR YouTube channel. We look forward to providing this series, as well as continuing our regular longform interviews and public service videos covering a wide variety of people and their areas of expertise.

In the second installment of the new EFR video series Learning How to Learn, Colorado journalist and podcaster Heidi Beedle joins this writer to discuss hurdles that often stand between media consumers and the truth. We also talk about dubious ways unfounded conspiracies gain traction, solutions to the challenges, and lots more. Learning How to Learn, Episode 2: Heidi Beedle launches Tuesday, March 4, at 1pm EST. Heidi Beedle Heidi Beedle's coverage revolves around local government and politics, with a strong emphasis on legal policy regulation, as published at the Colorado Times Recorder and Pikes Peak Bulletin . Heidi focuses on such issues as immigration reform, hate crimes reporting, abortion rights legislation, and LGBTQ+ rights. Heidi earned a Bachelor's in English from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and additionally covers nuclear disasters, cattle mutilations and UFO culture, and a wide variety of social movements. Connect with Heidi on BlueSky . Learning How to Learn is a collection of videos consisting of discussions on sorting fact from fiction and effectively obtaining quality information on the issues that matter to us most. Find the growing collection freely available on YouTube and at Patreon .

In 2016, multiple media outlets reported researchers at Dugway Proving Ground accidentally shipped live anthrax bacteria to 194 labs, including facilities in all 50 U.S. states and nine countries. Among those labs was BioFire Diagnostics, a medical company with a location in Research Park at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. A FOIA request submitted by Expanding Frontiers Research to the FBI on BioFire resulted in obtaining a 2015 three-page memo , indicating inactivated biological material was supposed to have been shipped but was revealed after testing to be virulent Bacillus anthracis, or deadly anthrax. The FBI memo further confirmed an investigation was opened on possible violations of prohibitions on biological weapons. Pages one and two of the memo: Established in 1942, the storied Dugway Proving Ground is a premier science and test facility of the U.S. Army. Situated on nearly 800,000 acres in Northwestern Utah, the facility consistently attracts the attention of peace activists, protesters of weapons research and development, conspiracy theorists, and even UFO buffs. Considered one of the state's most mysterious places , the Dugway paper trail consists of implications of borderline research ethics and questionable weapons projects. Researchers are at times split over the severity of the Dugway threat to public safety but there is universal agreement classified and controversial activities are ongoing. This has included radiation experiments and the hazard to "Downwinders" in addition to chemical, drug and other types of weapons research. Steve Erickson, a longtime activist recently interviewed by EFR's Erica Lukes , successfully lobbied to prevent construction of a biological aerosol testing facility at Dugway intended to experiment with some of the world's most dangerous pathogens for potential germ warfare use. The massive Dugway Proving Ground in the Utah desert After obtaining the above 2015 FBI memo, EFR submitted a follow-up FOIA request to the FBI on its investigation of the Dugway anthrax samples shipped throughout the world and nation. FBI responded in April 2024, advising it identified 359 potentially responsive pages with a projected processing time of 41 months. EFR subsequently reduced the scope of the request to up to no more than the first 50 pages in order to place the compacted request in the most advantageous and simple track. FBI responded in November 2024 that 49 pages were reviewed and 11 were being released. The 11 pages obtained by EFR consist of 2015 FBI memos (View the master folder on Dugway and BioFire). As the fully withheld 38 of 49 pages might be interpreted to suggest, the 11 pages are heavily redacted. It is clear enough, however, the FBI documented that a Pentagon multi-agency delegation was tasked with assessing the situation. That seemed to include identifying the then-whereabouts of at least some of the anthrax cast to the four winds: In its November 2024 FOIA response, FBI stated other material was responsive and involved Other Government Agencies, or what they refer to as OGAs, and that FBI was corresponding with OGAs about its potential release. EFR submitted an appeal, still open as of this writing, in which the records involving OGAs were sought immediately. The appeal also sought the release of the 38 withheld pages and the further release of the 11 heavily redacted pages. EFR challenged the applicability of the FOIA Exemptions cited and argued the public right to know outweighs the spirit of the exemptions even if partially applicable in select instances. That would be because the circumstances involve publicly funded agencies and their activities, EFR contended, potentially reflecting questionable judgment and lack of adherence to applicable laws and safety protocols.

The Central Intelligence Agency provided a list of recipients of its Career Intelligence Medal from 2005-2010 in response to a FOIA request but redacted the name of every individual granted the award. Exemption b3 was cited for the withheld information. The recently received FOIA response may be accessed at Google Drive . One of several similar pages contained in the recent CIA response: James Semivan The request, submitted in 2022, was the result of this writer's interactions with James Semivan. He is reportedly a former CIA officer, spanning from 1982-2007 and culminating in receiving a Career Intelligence Medal, according to Semivan and such sources as To The Stars , where he is also a board member. James Semivan gained popularity in the UFO subculture while using platforms like Coast to Coast AM to promote To The Stars and discuss what he described as his and his wife's encounter with a mysterious entity in their bedroom. It was Semivan's vague descriptions of subsequent interactions with clandestine medical groups seemingly concerned about the incident, however, that attracted this writer's attention and resulted in email exchanges eventually described in the 2022 blogpost, The UFO Injury Study That Wasn't . Semivan claimed knowledge of a secret-ish project in which medical testing was done on self-described UFO experiencers and alien abductees. The testing reportedly included him. Your author had a lot of questions about all that. Suffice it to say the evidence, ethics and methodologies were found to be lacking, but along the way, Semivan pointed in the direction of another reported former CIA officer, this one with professed knowledge of extraterrestrials and hybrid beings, John Ramirez. Mr. Ramirez made the UFO World rounds asserting he was taken and implanted by aliens at an early age, among other instances of showing little to no concern about making extraordinary proclamations lacking conclusive evidence. He also asserts he was awarded a Career Intelligence Medal in 2009, as explored at Mick West's Metabunk forum . A FOIA request was therefore submitted to the CIA for a list of unclassified or declassified recipients of the Career Intelligence Medal with a date range of 2005-2010. The goal was to either substantiate or refute Mr. Semivan and/or Mr. Ramirez's CIA employment. Unfortunately, the CIA response does neither. The Agency supplied a declassified list, it just withheld the names that would populate it. Offered an opportunity to comment on the latest development, James Semivan reiterated in a March 27 email that he knows where he and John Ramirez worked, as do most of his good friends and colleagues. "I could care less if Mick West and others don't believe it," Semivan added. To offer some objectivity about CIA policies and what might seem like smothering bureaucracy, it may often be difficult to verify CIA employment. In addition to the obvious reasons, that's because CIA has a policy of neither confirming nor denying the existence of responsive records unless the subject was previously publicly acknowledged by the Agency. It doesn't matter how much a former officer might talk about something, or if the New York Times reported it, or if it's in a book written by a respected academic. The only circumstance in which the CIA provides responsive records is if an official CIA statement was previously published that established, for examples, the existence of a relationship with an individual, the existence of a specific project or, in other words, the responsive material. Courts are often lenient of CIA security methods in FOIA lawsuits, given the secretive nature of intelligence agencies and national security. It might be a bit more difficult to understand, however, how former CIA personnel bring their stories to a genre - the UFO community - with a documented history of hoaxers and manipulation yet come in with guns blazing while completely unprepared to substantiate key aspects of their remarkable claims. Many might consider it questionable for former intelligence personnel to seemingly not respect the value of verifying a claim as compared to simply accepting statements as necessarily true. Arguably, the primary issue here - and the reason for this blogpost - is verification matters. It is a research best practice to seek to either verify or refute. While preparing to write this post and conducting some internet searches, a video arose that even incorrectly referred to James Semivan as a former CIA director. We either get our facts straight or we don't. It can be tiresome and time consuming, but it's essential, or at least that's the case if we actually value facts. It might reasonably be considered perplexing when educated, intelligent individuals purport to fail to understand that position.

Vanessa Walilko Vanessa Walilko is the guest for the third episode of Learning How to Learn , an Expanding Frontiers Research collection of videos that explores identifying accurate information to help you learn more about topics that matter to you most. Learning How to Learn, Episode 3: Vanessa Walilko launches Tuesday, May 11, and you may view a preview clip below. Vanessa earned a Bachelor's Degree in Science in Sociology from DePaul University while contributing to an assessment of the Cook County (Chicago) Domestic Violence Program. Her thesis, “Beyond 'Feminisms': Refocusing the Women's Movement Through the Lens of Liberation,” was published by Emerald Group Publishing. Vanessa's areas of expertise include public relations and implementing ethics policies and procedures. She has previously been interviewed by EFR's Erica Lukes and this writer about domestic violence, online misinformation, and predatorial behavior in research and civic communities, among other topics. Learning How to Learn is a collection of concise interviews with qualified experts on identifying accurate information. An objective is to assist people in effectively weeding out unreliable sources and the material they produce from assessments of topics of interest. A preview of Learning How to Learn, Episode 3: Vanessa Walilko: Expanding Frontiers Research is a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit organization, tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Support our work with a one-time contribution through the secure "donation" button located on our homepage or through monthly support on the EFR Patreon page . Thank you for your consideration and support.

John Bernard Kihm III entered the Naval Submarine service in 1954. He was later transferred to Naval Intelligence where he worked with the Central Intelligence Agency, according to a 2021 obituary . As part of his cover, he started the Prudential Mortgage Company and became a real estate broker in 1958. Kihm was discharged from the Navy in 1962, the obituary continues, and signed a 75-year non-disclosure statement, “agreeing to take what he did for the government to his grave and he has done that.” In his later years, Mr. Kihm was a professional actor. He appeared in a variety of productions under the name Jack Seal . FBI records responsive to John Bernard Kihm III  (1936-2021) were recently obtained by Expanding Frontiers Research. The Bureau stated in a Feb. 13 interim response 76 pages were reviewed and 51 pages were being released. Other Government Agencies, or OGAs, were being consulted about responsive documents, FBI explained, adding that some records may have been destroyed. FBI records from the 1970s reflect Bureau concerns Kihm may have obtained sensitive documents or information as the result of an alleged impersonation. Mr. Kihm is documented as using multiple aliases, including the names Kihn and Kine, reasons for which are not overtly stated in the material released. The suspected impersonations seem to have been at least somewhat related to business ventures launched by Kihm, particularly including the questionably titled “National Security Agency,” later referred to as the National Security and Investigation Agency. The FBI discovered through investigation conducted in 1977 that the California Department of Justice was “very familiar” with Mr. Kihm. The Bureau was further advised the Los Angeles Police Department, Criminal Conspiracy Section, was conducting an investigation into Kihm's possession of “numerous weapons and possibly explosives.” No circumstances were identified at that point of Kihm obtaining anything of value as a result of alleged impersonation: The Bureau learned Kihm had an extensive history of intoxication and violence. Charges included drunk driving, trespassing, burglary, and assault with intent to commit murder, among several more, but, for whatever reasons, offenses were often dropped. The files contain several references to questionable circumstances surrounding weapons and Kihm's seemingly inflated sense of self-importance. A 1977 FBI memo documented Kihm had been described as a “gun nut” and “mentally unbalanced.” The memo clarified he should be considered armed and dangerous when approached: It seems noteworthy the records obtained did not include background checks from the 1950s or 1960s, circumstances we might expect to find in FBI files of a former Cold War intelligence asset. It should be equally considered, however, that Bureau investigation for security clearance might be among the records withheld or destroyed. That is not a typical practice in this writer's experience with such FBI documents, but we simply do not know the entirety of the circumstances and exactly what we are looking at here. FOIA Exemptions cited for the withholding of records, which includes redactions on pages partially released as well as justification for the 25 pages withheld in full, were b3, b6, b7C, b7D, and b7E. An overview of the exemptions ( as provided by the FBI ) shows how those cited are related to privacy issues, including circumstances surrounding confidential sources, law enforcement investigations, and similar matters. EFR promptly appealed the redactions and withholding of records other than direct references to personal identifiable information or, in other words, EFR argued everything should be released except names that are properly exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Bell Mortgage Company Interestingly, in 1975 the CIA was sued by Miami mortgage broker Andres Castro. The lawsuit sought $10 million in damages. Named with the CIA in the suit were Guillermo Iglesias and Antonio Yglesias, described by the San Francisco Examiner as Cuban exiles who participated in the 1961 Bay of Pigs failed invasion and, in the case of Yglesias, trained commandos for the CIA. The two were also reported to have set up offices for a year-and-a-half at Castro's Bell Mortgage Company, though their whereabouts were unknown at the time the 1975 article was published. Andres Castro (no relation to Fidel Castro) claimed he participated in a scam selling counterfeit mortgages with the men because they approached him to do so in 1973 on behalf of the CIA. The alleged purpose was to raise needed funds. Castro claimed his business was ruined while some $3 million was funneled to the CIA. From The (Wilmington, DE) Morning News, Dec. 7, 1975 Knowledge of the scam was denied by the CIA and the case was eventually dismissed. However, and fascinatingly, the Agency reportedly acknowledged Iglesias and Yglesias were indeed assets, it just denied they were acting on its behalf during their interactions with Castro and Bell Mortgage. Andres Castro would later be indicted along with a business partner for his role in the scam, while the two CIA operatives were not named in the proceedings, though they were reported to have been sought - apparently unsuccessfully - in the U.S. and abroad.

Dr. Jeb Card Anthropologist at Miami University, Dr. Jeb Card, returns to Expanding Frontiers to discuss his course, "Investigating the Paranormal," as recently covered at The Conversation . Dr. Card's areas of research, scholarship, and professional activities include the role of antiquity in modern esoteric, paranormal, and conspiracy belief communities. His course reflects his longtime interest in paranormal subject matter and his studies of the UFO community conducted for his doctoral research in cultural anthropology. Dr. Card will be joining Erica Lukes for this Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6pm EST episode of Expanding Frontiers. This writer will also have the opportunity to participate in the discussion. Dr. Card is the author of Spooky Archaeology: Myth and the Science of the Past and additional works. Tune in for what is sure to be an interesting and entertaining discussion. ------------------------------------------------------ While you're here, scroll down the page and subscribe for email updates if you haven't done so already. That way, you'll be notified right in your inbox of every EFR blogpost which alerts you to upcoming videos and more!

FBI records responsive to a former head of the Harvard Observatory, Dr. Harlow Shapley (1885-1972), were obtained from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The December release was part of an ongoing negotiation of a Freedom of Information Act request originally submitted to the FBI in 2022. Access a master folder containing all records obtained to date. Dr. Harlow Shapley The Bureau initially replied to the request with responsive records while also advising Expanding Frontiers Research of the existence of eight additional files in the custody of NARA. The additional records were subsequently requested and EFR learned through emails with NARA that Shapley was not the subject of any of the files, but cross-referenced in the records during the course of other Cold War era investigations. Shapley's recurring reference in numerous FBI reports indicates the extent the astronomer was involved in social circles of concern to the Bureau. In the more recently obtained material, for instance, Dr. Shapley was noted to have been a speaker at a 1956 event attended by the subject of the file, Helen Neuenschwander, and sponsored by the Oregon Federation of Social Activists. The file on Neuenschwander was compiled during a Domestic Security Investigation. The section, or serial as NARA calls it, obtained by EFR details FBI documentation of the subject's activities with members of the Communist Party and other groups identified as aligned with its objectives. The Oregon Federation of Social Activists was one such group. It was therefore noted that Neuenschwander was in attendance when the Federation hosted Shapley as a guest speaker. Records also reflect that previous FBI investigations led to suspicions Shapley may have allowed himself to be used for Communist Party purposes. Suffice it to say the Bureau was well acquainted with the man who ran the Harvard Observatory from 1921-1952. Why Examine These Records? Reviewing these files serves multiple purposes. For one, examining FBI records on individuals such as Harlow Shapley provides context of Ivy League involvement in politics, social activism, and the intelligence community – and doing so gives us insights into current events. For example, if we make ourselves aware of the FBI and CIA histories with Harlow Shapley and Donald Menzel , then the reasons may seem much clearer why the FBI has a file on current Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb's reported search for ET technological footprints . Another reason to review such records is it brings into sharper focus how special interest groups and their members, most certainly including UFO enthusiasts, are often so very uninterested in the activities of those willing to champion their beliefs, just as long as those figureheads tell them what they want to hear. This should cast reasonable doubt on the work and analysis they produce, particularly when based primarily in conjecture. The fact UFO investigators spend decades poring over virtually every minute yet often unverifiable detail of sensational narratives, all while neglecting to obtain and publish investigative records on the central figures that are available for the asking, is relevant and telling. It might seem if you'd been talking about a UFO case for years, then you'd ask the FBI for its files on the people that helped promote it and the surrounding beliefs in the first place. Harlow Shapley was quoted as a UFO advocate by Maj. Donald Keyhoe, front man of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. Keyhoe and NICAP widely distributed the statements of Shapley and other scientists and intelligence officers when deemed advantageous to do so, as shown below in NICAP literature (NICAP_Keyhoe_1957_1958.pdf, pp34-35 ). NICAP public relations substantially contributed to the evolution of popular belief that Earth is regularly visited by interplanetary spacecraft. FBI Dir. J. Edgar Hoover expressed the view that Keyhoe's tactics were an open attempt to capitalize upon the names and titles of former United States military officers (FBI Records: The Vault - National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), Part 2 , p12 ). FBI and CIA records serve as documentation of the activities of Gen. Albert Wedemeyer , Nicholas de Rochefort , Col. Joseph Bryan III , Maj. Donald Keyhoe (pictured right) and many others who were directly involved in both NICAP and the manipulation of public opinion about supposed extraterrestrial visitors. Omitting activities of key figures (as reflected in documents released by intelligence agencies) from either pro-UFO or skeptical assessments forms an incomplete picture, lacks significant context, and is a disservice to the public. Yet another and important reason to review these FBI records is they stand to inform our positions on social dynamics we are experiencing today. “Un-American activities” may often be in the eye of the beholder, and the same actions denounced as sacrilege at one end of the political spectrum may actually be celebrated at the other. The FBI material at hand serves as documentation of investigations of activists who supported civil rights movements, protested deportation of immigrants, and opposed a Cold War in favor of good will. Those are not exactly actions of people who should be criminalized, yet these were, in fact, activities identified as red flags by the mid-20th century FBI. It is equally noteworthy the Bureau is now known to have overreached its authority and infiltrated the ranks of otherwise lawful activists and protesters for reasons that included sowing dissent and ineffectiveness: COINTELPRO. Therefore, when viewing FBI criticism of one's patriotism and moral standing, it is reasonable to say we might at times be wise to consider the source. It is much more complicated, however, than simply labeling either the FBI or the subjects of its investigations as virtuous, choosing to frame one or the other as right or wrong, lawful or criminal, democratic or fascist. While the FBI should be accountable for criticism it is due - and we might indeed competently argue there continues today to be a right-wing extremism problem within the law enforcement and intelligence communities - the fact remains global adversaries manipulated certain protest movements with the intent to undermine the United States. The FBI was not entirely wrong in investigating those who opposed state policies, expressed antiwar sentiments, brought attention to social injustice and distributed related literature. Simultaneously, people were certainly not wrong for exercising their civil rights and supporting such causes, but it was indeed the job of the FBI to identify the people using the topics with the intent to manipulate activists for covert and nefarious reasons. It is such circumstances that require us to exercise caution and recognize nuance when exploring these complicated scenarios. Moreover, this same dynamic as the FBI documented among other political and social movements was at play among UFO advocates: they showed a willingness to turn a blind eye to potentially dishonest and treasonous activity as long as they felt it beneficial to their special interest. That is the very reason FBI agents found individuals of the era particularly dubious who migrated from one lobbying group to another, all while distributing newsletters and flyers advocating criticism of the federal government. We would be wise to take such history into account. A significant social problem is bound to arise when people are willing to ignore such precedence and the accompanying implications, also a form of motivated reasoning, when deeply held beliefs and cherished values become the vehicles of exploitation. These are reasons we should examine and discuss Cold War FBI records. The circumstances are at no less issue today than they were 70 years ago as described in records responsive to Harlow Shapley. NARA Shapley Files After EFR was alerted to their existence by the FBI, a total of eight Bureau files responsive to Harlow Shapley were requested from NARA in 2022. NARA responded in 2024 with descriptions of each file (The turnaround time for correspondence from NARA was better prior to 2020-2022 and has improved since). EFR requested the five files listed below, keeping the total number of pages under 50, as larger requests go into a different track and take substantially more time to process. The remaining three files, totaling an estimated 46 pages, were recently requested after the first five were received. Case file 100-HQ-334986 serial 19 with a subject of Helen Neuenschwander was compiled as part of a Domestic Security Investigation, created on November 19, 1956, and consisting of an estimated 21 pages. Case file 140-HQ-20283 serial 1 with a subject of Harold Lindes and Ludwig Domherr was compiled as part of a Security of Government Employees Investigation created on October 1, 1959, and consisting of 10 pages. Case file 100-HQ-435676 serial 1 with a subject of the American Astronomical Society and International Astronomical Union was compiled as part of a Domestic Security Investigation, created on July 24, 1961, and consisting of 4 pages. Case file 100-HQ-433419 serial 32 with a subject of the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights was compiled as part of a Domestic Security Investigation, created on March 19, 1962, and consisting of 2 pages. Case file 65-HQ-62562 serial 142 with a subject of Sylvia Press was compiled as part of an Espionage Investigation, created on September 4, 1955, and consisting of an estimated 12 pages. The final of the five, a serial from a file on Sylvia Press, was withheld in full. We will revisit it further below. The others are each linked to the corresponding pdf on Google Drive and explored in the following section. Helen Neuenschwander Helen Neuenschwander and the Oregon Federation of Social Activists (OFSA) were identified by the FBI as aligned with the Communist Party (CP). The FBI was therefore conducting an investigation of Ms. Neuenschwander that eventually determined she declined to provide financial support to the CP. Deeper understanding of the situation and the reasons for the Bureau's investigation would require obtaining more of the file but, in addition to the reference to Shapley as described above, the serial obtained describes conflict and splintering within the group. The FBI relied partially on confidential informants while documenting her attendance at OFSA meetings as well as the agendas and activities of the meetings. OFSA leadership overlapped heavily with CP members, including two, Donald Wollam and John MacKenzie, who were convicted of Contempt of Congress for their refusal to answer questions for the House Un-American Activities Committee. The stated resolutions of the Oregon Federation of Social Activists, documented by the FBI to have been read by Neuenschwander during a 1956 meeting, at which she was re-elected to another term as secretary: Arguments and heated differences in opinion within the OFSA included Neuenschwander's concern for the plight of civil rights movements, specifically, activists in Alabama who were protesting “busses enforcing segregation regulations.” She expressed concern the OFSA was more interested in gaining publicity by contributing funds to the work of those in Alabama than actually helping the cause. Alerting the press to their financial support, she notably argued, would potentially bring problems to the Southern civil rights activists, in that the OFSA was aligned with the Communist Party and this association would, in turn, be used to criticize the Alabama activists. Neuenschwander proposed that discrete dispersion of funds would be more effective if the objective was, in fact, to advocate for civil rights. The FBI further noted that in 1956 a Paul M. Sweezy was a guest of OFSA and attended its events. Sweezy was described as a former economics instructor at Harvard, co-editor of “the 'Monthly Review,' an independent socialist magazine,” and, quite interestingly, former employee of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Informants advised the Bureau that Sweezy's selected topics for discussion included capitalism, comparisons between the USSR and United States, and casting Russia in a positive light, which included asserting it was providing economic support to Asian countries with no accompanying obligations. Believed to be, from left to right, Paul Sweezy and 'Monthly Review' co-founder Leo Huberman, Fidel Castro, and Paul Baran Other special interests and groups platformed by OFSA and supported by its members included the Methodist Federation for Social Action, quoted by the FBI to be described by the California Committee on Un-American Activities as “among the more conspicuous fronts for Communist activity in the field of relief, assistance, and welfare work and dealing with the problems of the unemployed and underprivileged.” Another group of concern to the Bureau was the Committee for the Protection of Oregon's Foreign Born, “dominated during its entire existence” by past and present Communist Party members. This all wound around to the National Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case, or the NCSJRC. See how this progresses here? One might have strong values about aiding immigrants working towards the American Dream, support their plight, and soon find them self being urged to advocate for, essentially, espionage against the United States. This is also the type of guilt-by-association the Alabama civil rights activists would have been well served to avoid, as argued by Helen Neuenschwander. The NCSJRC was a New York-based outfit focused on protesting the 1951 espionage convictions and subsequent 1953 executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. It also advocated the retrial of their imprisoned accomplice, Morton Sorbell. Now is as good a time as any to direct the reader's attention to the fact previously mentioned NICAP consultants Albert Wedemeyer and Nicholas de Rochefort were not only experts in psychological warfare, but had expertise in the Far East and, specifically, opposing Red China. Moreover, longtime NICAP staple Joseph Bryan III operated a psychological warfare team for the Office of Policy Coordination, a covert and powerful arm of the CIA and State Department. The team included a CIA man, Lewis “Pinky” Thompson. As reported in Wayward Sons: NICAP and the IC , the minutes of a 1953 CIA meeting documented Allen Dulles presenting a memo for group consideration obtained from Mr. Thompson and concerning the Rosenbergs: This is pointed out to emphasize the many chefs and their diverse range of recipes that made up the Cold War kitchen. To arrive at conclusions while failing to factor all of these complexities is extremely ill advised. The Remaining NARA Records Ludwig Domherr, according to 1959 FBI records, was the Russian editor of America magazine. It was published monthly by the United States Information Agency (USIA) and distributed in Russia. Intended to be a propaganda tool for U.S. interests, a confidential informant from the USIA advised the FBI that articles selected for publishing were not consistently framing the U.S. in a positive manner. The informant suggested the magazine was being either carelessly or deliberately subverted, and that Domherr was directly responsible. An article cited by the informant and brought to the attention of the FBI was authored by Dr. Harlow Shapley. Here, it gets even more complicated than a propaganda magazine potentially hijacked by rival propagandists. The FBI documented the informant pointing out that Shapley's article cast doubt on miracle births and supernatural phenomena. A passage of Shapley's apparently loosely translated, “But the many researches conducted in the field of micro molecules during the later years have made all hypothesis regarding the conception of life with the aid of miracles or the supernatural phenomenon superfluous.” We might reasonably suspect Shapley was framing immaculate conception as unlikely, or circumstances to that affect. The problem with this, the informant argued, was that it promoted an atheistic, Communist worldview, while a majority of Americans believed differently. Therefore, this was further evidence Russians and foreigners employed at the United States Information Agency, publishing America magazine, were actually distributing Communist propaganda rather than American. The Special Agents who interviewed the informant presented their reports for information purposes but, and arguably of significance, it was indeed noted that Shapley was considered a known Communist apologist and previously suspected to have allowed himself to be used for Communist Party purposes. A 1961 memo composed as part of a Domestic Security Investigation into the American Astronomical Society and International Astronomical Union begins with significant redaction. One can surmise from the released text, however, that concerns arose over a potential negative assessment that might be issued from three individuals about then-President Kennedy's space program. Shapley is mentioned as a member of the International Astronomical Union and that his loyalties might be in question. Consideration is suggested as to whether Shapley and his peers might be sincere if they criticize the space program or if they are more likely to be politically motivated. The fourth file recently received contains a 1962 FBI memo pertaining to the Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights, composed as part of a Domestic Security Investigation. The memo addresses petitions for clemency on behalf of Carl Braden and Frank Wilkinson. Braden was a civil rights activist, while Wilkinson was an advocate for public housing. Both were imprisoned for charges stemming from their refusal to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee. The 1962 FBI memo contains documentation that petitions contained some 3,000 signatures, and that the names would be entered into a national index for future reference. It is not overtly clear why the memo is responsive to Harlow Shapley. Reasonable speculation might include a relationship between Shapley and organizers or that the astronomer simply signed the petition. Frank Wilkinson would go on to receive awards for his activism from the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers' Guild, among others. He campaigned to abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee and led the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation until his death in 2006. Last but not least, FBI case file 65-HQ-62562, serial 142, with a subject of Sylvia Press and compiled as part of an Espionage Investigation, was withheld in full. Further research revealed Sylvia Press was the female author of a 1958 “nightmare novel,” The Care of Devils , about CIA abuse of a woman. Hailed as a terrifying and shocking view into the world of espionage, the author was apparently a former intelligence officer. The book was removed from distribution until some eight years after its release when Esquire magazine proposed the possibility the CIA may have been behind its removal from newsstands. A search of the CIA online reading room revealed a single page document archived of a 1966 Sylvia Press interview with WTOP Radio of Washington, D.C. Ms. Press apparently told listeners, according to the document, “I'm not anti-CIA per se. I think the concept is a necessary one. As long as we live in a world where we have the kind of threat hanging over all of us that we do, we want to know what everyone's doing and thinking, even if we don't have to act on it. But I don't think that you can operate, if you go blasting it all over the place, and getting personal publicity while you're doing the job. I think it has to be done discretely. I don't think it should be done barbarously.” NARA cited FOIA Exemption (b)(1) for the withholding of the document in full. The exemption allows information to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy. It is not currently known why the records are responsive to Harlow Shapley. Expanding Frontiers Research appealed the withholding, and a ruling remains pending as of this writing. The final three FBI files responsive to Harlow Shapley, as described in an email from NARA: Case file 100-HQ-353404 serial 286 with a subject of Linus Carl Pauling was compiled as part of a Domestic Security Investigation created on January 29, 1962, and consists of an estimated 25 pages. Case file 140-HQ-20283 serial 29 with a subject of Harald Lindes and Ludwig Domherr was compiled as part of a Security of Government Employees Investigation created on October 1, 1959 and consists of 1 page. Case file 100-HQ-352498 serial 37 with a subject of Armenian Youth of America, was compiled as part of a Domestic Security Investigation created on July 22, 1954 and consists of an estimated 20 pages. EFR requested the above records. There are many lessons to be learned from intelligence community activity during the Cold War. Among them is the moral of the story involving the valid reasons the FBI had for investigating architects of political dissent but, in doing so, increasingly took on the characteristics of the very monster it purported to fight. While looking for bad actors infiltrating protest movements with the intent of sowing unrest, it infiltrated protest movements with the intent of sowing unrest. It was an authoritarian agency with the implied and often stated purpose of preserving democracy and protecting the United States from authoritarianism. The lines of reasoning become complex and sometimes irrational, yet their consideration is necessary in order to better understand the people, threats, and culture of the era. In doing so, we better understand the present and future.

Longtime Salt Lake City activist Steve Erickson joined Erica Lukes for an in-studio interview. Mr. Erickson organized successful resistance to weapons research and development at Dugway Proving Ground, protested biological and nuclear weapons, conducted advocacy for "Downwinders," and much more. Steve Erickson His activities include founding the Citizens Education Project, leading to the successful prevention of the U.S. Army from building a facility to test biological weapon aerosols and experimenting with deadly pathogens for potential germ warfare use. He has acted as a watchdog for Utah nuclear weapons project proposals, including missile and electronic warfare testing. Mr. Erickson took a leading role in lobbying for affordable housing plans at regional and state levels. He is extensively experienced in advocating for the under-served. Expanding Frontiers Research appreciates Mr. Erickson's activism and the time he took to speak about it for a recorded interview. Be sure to catch this episode of Expanding Frontiers.

The latest FBI records obtained on Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer were compiled during a 1970 special inquiry conducted for then-President Richard Nixon. View the FBI records received in December and the master folder of all material obtained to date on Gen. Wedemeyer. The Bureau was composing reports to be submitted to Gertrude Brown Fry, White House Staff Assistant for Security, appointed to supervise the collection and storage of records in a Special Files unit . We now know the FBI inquiry was done to clear Wedemeyer for appointment to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, a group on which he would be joining Gordon Gray, who served on the board from 1961-1977 . EFR previously explored fascinating aspects of Gordon Gray and his far-reaching network . Gen. Wedemeyer, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 The FBI records obtained in December on Wedemeyer further establish his role as Army Director of Plans and Operations from 1947-48, extensive service during World War II, and expertise in the Eastern war theater. The latest records also establish Wedemeyer as a longtime associate and friend of President Nixon. The late general was a career intelligence officer at the highest levels of U.S. operations, including serving on the War Planning Board, which is credited with designing D-Day. He was also characterized by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena during the 1950s as evaluating UFO reports for the organization. The group would later report the relationship was discontinued for reasons it described as releasing Wedemeyer's name by mistake. “Gen. Wedemeyer said he had never intended for the former management to make his name public,” NICAP reported in a 1957 publication : It could be considered intriguing that while the FBI documented virtually every aspect of the professional and social life of men like Albert Wedemeyer, it opted not to advise the president of his association with NICAP, at least not in material currently declassified and/or yet obtained. This might be because the general's involvement in the UFO fray was part of his professional responsibilities, not to be filed with such activities as serving as a trustee of a little league baseball foundation, which was indeed listed and included an interview conducted by the Bureau with the group's secretary. Moreover, the FBI compiled information for the FBI New Orleans Field Office in 1961 after a clerk inquired whether there would be any objection to becoming active in NICAP. The resulting memo from Dir. Hoover expressed disagreement with NICAP activities, specifically, its attack on the Air Force. It also criticized the writing of Maj. Donald Keyhoe, the face of the organization. “[Keyhoe] has been a freelance writer for national magazines," Hoover wrote, "and a flamboyant style has characterized his articles. In the past, when he has written concerning topics of direct interest to the Bureau, we have found much of his material to be irresponsible. “A number of former United States military officers have been affiliated with the NICAP and Keyhoe has openly attempted to capitalize upon their names and military titles. The Bureau has been most cautious in handling correspondence from the NICAP to avoid any inference that we hold views, either favorable or unfavorable, to this organization. “As the above information regarding Donald Keyhoe and the NICAP reflects, the NICAP is not the type of organization with which the Bureau's name should become connected – either through membership of FBI employees in the NICAP or by any other means.” (FBI Records: The Vault - National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), Part 2 , pp12-13 ) FBI Dir. Hoover clearly viewed association with NICAP as inadvisable. More directly stated, he did not allow it. Yet, reports and records obtained to date on intelligence officers who were NICAP personnel not only fail to reflect this Bureau policy, but often include positive assessments leading to the officers being granted continuing clearance to work in sensitive positions. The UFO subculture largely prefers to remain oblivious to these circumstances and implications. It's as if it would have us believe men involved in the most classified aspects of national security and personal associates of presidents would simply moonlight as UFO investigators out of recreational interest, and as if it would be overlooked and omitted from future mention. In the batch of records received in December, we see a number of circumstances we have come to identify as typical in the records obtained on Cold War era assets such as Gordon Gray. Wedemeyer was active in leadership capacities with financial funds and foundations, for instance, including a group in New York that sponsored academic work. That was also the case with Gray. In Gray's circumstance, he was associated with the Committee for Economic Development at 444 Madison Ave, NY, NY. Wedemeyer was with the American Economic Foundation at 51 East 42nd St. He was also involved with the Townsend Fund out of New York as well as serving as a director of the Financial Industrial Fund of Denver. The American Economic Foundation was started by Fred Clark in 1940. He widely promoted conservative politics and later moved the foundation from its Cleveland beginnings to New York. Other notable associates of Wedemeyer, as documented by the FBI, include Dr. Alton Ochsner Sr. and Dr. George S. Johnson. Ochsner was a surgeon at Tulane University who went on to open a network of clinics credited with first establishing the link between cigarettes and cancer. He is tragically known for injecting his grandchildren with an improperly manufactured and tainted batch of polio vaccine, which killed his grandson and infected his granddaughter with polio. Johnson was a retired psychiatrist in San Francisco. He and Wedemeyer spent time together at Bohemian Grove, described in the Bureau communication as “an exclusive San Francisco men's club.” The Wedemeyer records contain a number of opportunities for continuing research. This includes reference on page 24 to files of the Naval Investigative Service and USAF Office of Special Investigations, as shown below (For those interested, the term “BUDED” means Bureau deadline, and “BUTEL” is a Bureau teletype, or message): EFR submitted FOIA requests to Naval Investigative Service and OSI for the referenced files. The effort to obtain records on Gen. Wedemeyer began with a 2021 request submitted to the FBI. The Bureau subsequently provided records and advised of several file numbers potentially responsive to the request and in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration. A series of requests and negotiations ensued with NARA in which files were systematically obtained or, in some instances, identified as lost or destroyed. Requests were strategically submitted on specific file numbers and/or parts of those files to best minimize wait time and expense. The records obtained in December represent the first 48 pages of FBI file 161-HQ-7440, subject Albert Coady Wedemeyer, created between 1970 and 1979 as a special inquiry for the White House and consisting of an estimated 250 pages. It was the final file not yet obtained. Given the material discovered to be in the file and as described above, EFR requested the remainder of the material.