The Paul Bennewitz affair

Timeline

1. 24 Oct 1980 · Context

   Bennewitz contacts Kirtland AFB about what he says he has recorded and filmed near the base; on 10 November he briefs people there (as summarised from Greg Bishop's Project Beta).

2. 1980-1984 · It worked

   Per Moore and Doty, AFOSI agents at Kirtland, including Doty, pass Bennewitz and other UFO researchers hoaxed documents and stories. Moore says Doty "was the middle-man" and that the aim was to confuse the issue because the activity Bennewitz was picking up was sensitive.

3. Dec 1981 · Context

   Bennewitz writes to Senator Pete Domenici.

4. Aug 1988 · Context

   Bennewitz barricades himself at home and is admitted to a hospital for about a month (as reported at the time and summarised by later authors).

5. 1 Jul 1989 · Exposed

   In a keynote at the MUFON symposium in Las Vegas, William Moore says he supplied information to AFOSI about Bennewitz while Doty fed him disinformation. Moore says the purpose "was strictly to discredit" Bennewitz. The text appeared in the MUFON UFO Journal in November and December 1989.

6. 13 May 2014 · Exposed

   A HuffPost report quotes Doty saying he was "tasked with hoaxing documents and feeding false information to UFO researchers" and told to make Bennewitz believe an alien invasion was coming, under orders. The report also says two New Mexico senators asked Kirtland about Bennewitz and were told there was no investigation; Doty says that was not true. The Air Force declined to comment on whether it knew of or ordered this.

Per Doty and a 2014 HuffPost report, elected officials were told the Air Force was not investigating Bennewitz. Doty and Moore have said that agents were feeding him false material. Doty's account has changed over the years, and the Air Force has not confirmed his orders, so the sources agree that a deception happened but differ on its aim and scale.

“Its purpose was strictly to discredit.”

The playbook

1. 1

   Planted story

   Per Doty and Moore, fabricated documents and alien-threat stories were given to Bennewitz and other researchers.

2. 2

   Hidden messenger

   The material reached Bennewitz as if from inside sources; Moore says he was a go-between and Doty "the middle-man".

3. 3

   Borrowed authority

   The documents carried the look of official papers, and, per Doty and a 2014 HuffPost report, elected officials who asked about Bennewitz were told there was no investigation.

Through the FATE framework

• Focus6/10

  The aim, per Moore and Doty, was to point attention at an alien story and away from activity at Kirtland.

• Authority7/10

  The material came through an Air Force counterintelligence agent.

• Tribe2/10

  Little appeal to group identity, although the stories spread through the UFO community.

• Emotion8/10

  Per Doty, the stories were of an impending alien invasion; the targeted man later showed paranoia.

Propaganda techniques used

• Appeal to Fear/Prejudice
• Obfuscation/Vagueness

Same playbook today