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More
than a year after 'Doug & Dave' there were substantial indications
that their appearance in the media was only one part of a larger-scale
operation aiming to discredit the crop circle phenomenon.
All
through the summer of 1992, a small group of dubious individuals tried
to disturb the work of serious crop circle researchers, through hoaxes
and disruptive and sometimes upsetting manipulative activities. Real formations
were 'souped up' artificially, and false pictograms were formed right next
to research stations, where they seriously distracted researchers' attention
from the real circles.
One
of the activists in this plot was Robert Irving, also called 'Spiderman'
in cereological circles. He was a dubious photographer who up to now had
attracted attention by tracking down crop circle researchers during their
nightly watches and taking photos of them. Once, when asked who paid him,
Robert Irving, a nephew of a high-ranking civil servant in the Home Office,
apparently mentioned a 'foundation'. Irving had been a member of the 'Beckhampton
Group' of local crop circle researchers, whose dissolution in August 1992
goes back to a great degree to his negative influences.
Among
Robert Irving's closest friends was Jim Schnabel, a young American who
tried to present the phenomenon in several newspaper articles as a big
illusion, and the circle researchers as credulous dreamers - in the quality
Independent, among other papers. Schnabel originated from a suburb in Washington
DC and studied at Duke University, before he continued his studies - financed
by an American foundation - first at Lincoln College at Oxford and then
at the University of Bath. In July 1992 he won the second prize at a crop
circle hoaxing competition sponsored by the German magazine PM and the
Cereologist. Later he admitted to have faked further formations together
with Robert Irving.
Were
Robert Irving and Jim Schnabel two harmless nutcases - or were their 'actions'
backed by brains and possibly finance behind them, possibly from the secret
services? To find out, the British UFO researcher Armen Victorian had a
lengthy telephone call with Schnabel on 30th August 1992, which he recorded
on tape. Victorian pretended to be an African named 'Mr. Ntumba', and claimed
that Irving had already introduced him to his secret service activities,
and that he was now interested in collaborating with that campaign.
In
the course of the conversation, Schnabel revealed details of an anti-crop
circle plot, which in addition to the British also involved USA, Germany
and the Vatican. The aim of the plot was, according to Schnabel, to discredit
the crop circle phenomenon so much that it would 'disappear' from the media,
and thus public awareness, since it was feared that the circles could bring
about a 'change of world consciousness'.
In
England, the tapes caused a stir, after their publication at the Quest
International UFO Conference at Leeds in mid-September 1992, and soon there
was some talk about a 'Circlegate'. However, Schnabel came to explain that
the whole conversation had been a joke, saying he had recognised Victorian
and had wanted to pull his leg. A nifty excuse.
The
fact is that Schnabel said nothing on the tape which wasn't known to insiders
long before. And his diverse actions - together with Robert Irving - indicate
that he - whether on his own account or on somebody's instructions - quite
obviously had an interest in bringing crop circle euphoria to an end and
in bringing circle researchers into disrepute.
The
complete 'Schnabel Tape' was published in Magazin 2000 in Germany (no 93,
April 1993), and here follow the most interesting passages:
THE
'SCHNABEL TAPE'
AV
= ARMEN VICTORIAN
JS
= JIM SCHNABEL
AV:
You know, there is a story...
JS:
I
don't quite know who you are, so I don't want to talk about it in too much
detail.
AV:
No, but I've been reading some of these magazines they have issued about
groups and these articles about the 7-foot green men... groups put out
that there's intelligence in it, etc, etc, and now Robert Irving says that
to me. You see, I was a bit taken back. Is there any interest from the
intelligence part in it as well?
JS:
Are
you talking about MI5, or are you talking about UFOs? ...Yes, well, I mean...
off the record, I mean I think a number of agencies throughout the world
have taken an interest in this.
AV:
Well, that we've heard, haven't we?
JS:
It
is potentially a very explosive phenomenon.
AV:
I mean, how can they exploit the phenomenon?
JS:
We
believe there is certainly something very sinister about what's going on,
er... I don't know whether you are Christian man or not...?
AV:
Yes, I am a Christian, of course I am.... I'm a Catholic.
JS:
Well,
yes, yes, so am I. Some of us feel concerned that, er...
AV:
Some arms of the government are doing something, psychological warfare
or psychotronic weaponry, you know.
JS:
We
think that sometimes a little bit of intrigue... sometimes is necessary
in cases as serious as this, um, and sometimes measures have to be taken.
But I think, I mean, overall, I think that the phenomenon is something
which we think will disappear very shortly.
AV:
How? I mean, I'm sorry, I'm just curious. It's mind-boggling, what you
are saying! But how do you know that will happen?
JS:
Well,
we think that people will no longer take notice of it, I mean, it may continue,
but, er, it...
AV:
But why do you say 'phenomena'? You proved that this is man-made... how
could it be a phenomena? Or am I in the dark, or I've missed something
somewhere?
JS:
Well,
I think some of them are definitely man-made; I mean definitely.
AV:
But so, we are suggesting that there's also a part of it that is genuine?
JS:
I
think there is a part which is entirely sinister and I'm not sure how genuine
it is or whether it's made by people, but it's something very sinister...
AV:
Are we talking about magic, dark powers?
JS:
Possibly,
yes, and I think that it...
AV:
Now hang on, I'm getting a bit... it's intriguing when we say dark powers...
are we talking about... sort of... Satan and that sort of thing...?
JS:
Absolutely!
AV:
I see, so there isn't any sort of military implication or the test of weaponry,
or anything of that sort which is sinister?
JS:
Oh,
I wouldn't say that.... I think it's a very complex issue though...
AV:
Are we talking about the part of the military wing who's under the brainwashing,
or whatever, of the sinister forces who are doing this - you know, making
it a bit more complex?
JS:
Well
it's very difficult to explain to you - to explain the structure of some
of these organisations, but... I can't go into detail, but, er, basically
it is something which is concerning people worldwide and various organisations
have pooled their resources, worldwide, and are involved...
AV:
How about the British government? Are they also...
JS:
Well,
yes. The German government, the American government, the Vatican has some
involvement as well.
AV:
But how about Robert Irving? Does Robert have anything with any of this
to help them along with it, to determine what is going on?
JS:
I
wouldn't want to comment on the record or anything like that.
AV:
Of course not. What you're saying makes me worried. He is definitely on
the good side...
JS:
He
is... he is one of our best people, yes.
AV:
And he is helping the governments to determine which faction is doing this...
JS:
Yes,
it's very... extremely sensitive, sensitive work as you can probably imagine...
AV:
It is, er, now, let's see, are we talking about military, or are we talking
about intelligence, are we talking about the negative side, you see what
I'm trying to say?
JS:
It
is not quite a military thing, but there are elements of military intelligence
which have loaned resources.
AV:
Ah! We are talking about people who have had a career, they've left their
career, they have corporations etc. They are developing some kind of weaponry,
and these are the testing ground.
JS:
No,
no, no. I wouldn't, I wouldn't go into that, it's much more of a spiritual
warfare type of angle, I think...
AV:
And are they trying to exploit the populace, I mean, what are they trying
to achieve? That's what I'm trying to determine.
JS:
I
think they are trying to bring about changes in world consciousness and
... for evil, you know, not for good, and, eh, there are some of us who
are concerned about this and would like to see this new trend stopped.
AV:
Is there any positive element in the government who are supporting people
like yourself or Robert or anybody else for that matter?
JS:
We
have support, yes, we have support at the highest levels.
AV:
That's marvelous. Is it the British government or a....
JS:
It
involves several countries and as I say...
AV:
Are we talking NATO allies or are we talking about...?
JS:
NATO?
... It is not at NATO level, but it's Germany involved, and this country
(Britain) and the United States... the Vatican as well.
AV:
I see... are we talking about….
JS:
It's
actually, it involves a supernational organisation which I will not name.
AV:
Supranational?
JS:
Supernational
organisation.
AV:
Oh, good God! ... This is above my head.
JS:
Which
has ties to these countries and organisations.
AV:
Are we talking, for example Trilateral, that sort of thing?
JS:
I
wouldn't want to get into any specifics. (...)
AV:
And the information that you gather is passed on to the higher-ups in order
to be filtered out and deductions have to be taken, obviously; that should
be the case?
JS:
Yes,
yes...
we
are not only just feeding information, we are taking active measures. |
