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Richard Charles Doty is a former non-commissioned officer in the US Air Force who has played a critical role in promoting UFO conspiracy theories since the 1980s.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Doty has been described as "one of the most controversial figures in the history of the UFO". [7] In the 2013 documentary film Mirage Men, he admits to misleading UFO believers as part of an Air Force disinformation campaign.[1][8]

Early life

[edit]
Richard C. Doty joined the Air Force in 1968.[9]

In his book, Doty reports he was born to Charles Doty on February 15, 1950,[10] and contemporary reporting confirms a son was born that day to Charles and Thelma Anthony Doty of 705 North Lehigh Ave of Sayre, Pennsylvania.[11][12]

Doty has claimed his father Charles was an Air Force colonel,[13] while the 1950 census lists an occupation of "railroad car inspector" for the 52 year old Charles Doty of 705 North Lehigh Ave, husband of Thelma A. and father of Richard Charles (born the prior February).[14] Doty has variously claimed to be the son or nephew of Edward A. Doty (1920-2010), an Air Force officer involved in Project Bluebook,[13][15] but an obituary published in 1955 indicated that Charles G. Doty of Sayres had only one surviving brother, named Hovey.[16] Pilkington observes: "it would seem that Doty may have extended his disinformation training into his personal life."[12]

Doty grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from Athens High School in June 1968.[9][a] In his book, Doty reports joining the Air Force in 1968, and contemporary reporting, with photograph, confirms that Richard Charles Doty, son of Charles G. Doty, joined the Air Force.[22] [9]

Early military career

[edit]

Doty attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base. [9][23][12] He was sent to Sheppard Air Force Base in Witchia Falls, Texas, where he served as a security policeman.[12] Doty and others report his having been married and fathering a son,[24] confirmed by an August 1969 marriage announcement and a 1983 notice of divorce.[25][26]

Doty was transferred to Phan Rang Air Base in Vietnam.[12] In December 1970, Sgt. Doty was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal.[27] After his tour of duty in Vietnam, Doty served two years at McChord Air Force Base in Washington State.[12] He received a second Commendation medal in June 1971.[28] His time at McChord was followed by three years as a gate guard in Wiesbaden, West Germany.[12] In 1976, he transferred to Ellsworth Air Force Base, in South Dakota.[12] In March 1978, Doty began six weeks of training at the Non Commissioned Officers Academy. [12]

Office of Special Investigations agent

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By May 1979, Doty was serving with Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.[12]

Cattle mutilations

[edit]

In the 1970s and early 1980s, ranchers near Dulce, New Mexico reported cattle being tranquilized, killed, exsanguinated, and biopsied with various organs removed. Witnesses reported seeing stealth helicopters hovering over herds. When helicopters evaded pursuit by local law enforcement, officiers began to suspect their English-lanuaged radio communications were being overheard by the pilots; switching to the Apache language allowed police to successfully close in one such helicopter, forcing it to fly overhead where it sounded "like a lawn mower".

Modern mainstream theories of cattle mutilation speculate they might have been a covert attempt to detect emerging public health threats in the food supply.[29][30][31][32] One potential threat might be 1967's Project Gasbuggy, in which an underground atomic device was detonated just 21 mi (34 km) southwest of Dulce. Others suggest the events might be part of a chemical or biological weapons test, citing the March 1968 case where 6,000 sheep were killed as part of chemical weapons testing; the Army denied responsibility until 1998.[33][34][35]

Over the coming years, Doty befriended cattle mutilation and UFO researchers and supplied them with bogus documents and information claiming that the deaths were caused by malevolent extraterrestrials, rather than the US military.

Relationship with Paul Bennewitz

[edit]

On April 20, 1979, US Attorney R. E. Thompson and US Senator Harrison Schmidt held a public meeting about the ongoing cattle mutilations. The meeting was attended by about 80, including UFO researcher Paul Bennewitz.[2][36][37] Mirage Men suggests government agents likely "first identified" Bennewitz at this meeting and perhaps outright targeted him for his participation.[38]

External documents
document icon "Project Beta" by Paul Bennewitz

On October 26, 1980, Bennewitz began communicating with Doty. On November 10, Doty invited Bennewitz onto the Kirtland base and claimed to corroborate his belief that aliens were responsible for mutilations.[39] Doty continued this relationship with Bennewitz over a number of years, leading Bennewitz to think that he was under alien attack. In 1988, Paul Bennewitz wrote a paper titled "Project Beta" detailing how the base might be successfully attacked.[40] By August 1988, Bennewitz was accusing his wife of being in control of the extraterrestrials. After attempting to barricade himself in his home using sandbags, his family admitted him to the mental health unit of Presbyterian Anna Kaseman Hospital.[41]

Bennewitz died in 2003. Ten years later, in 2013, Doty would admit that Bennewitz was the victim of a US Air Force disinformation campaign.[citation needed]

Relationship with Bill Moore

[edit]

To aid him in his disinformation campaign against Bennewitz and others, Doty recruited Bill Moore, co-author of The Philadelphia Experiment (1979) and The Roswell Incident (1980). Moore's role was report on civillian UFO investigations and to feed corrobrating disinformation to Doty's targets.

On September 8, 1980, after doing a radio show in Albuquerque, Moore was contacted by an Doty. [39] As Doty sought to "steer [Bennewitz] deeper into his War of the Worlds fantasy", Moore provided details of ongoing UFO investigations. That information was the used to create "bogus government documentation" to use as disinformation against Bennewitz and the UFO community. [2]

External videos
video icon Bill Moore addresses MUFON, July 1 1989

At a 1989 Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) conference, Bill Moore publicly announced that he had been engaged in "disinformation" activities against Paul Bennewitz on behalf of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Moore claimed that AFOSI had co-opted him by falsely promising he would be given access to genuine government documents about UFOs.[42]

Relationship with Linda Moulton Howe

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Howe in 1981

In 1980, investigative journalist Linda Moulton Howe wrote, produced, and directed A Strange Harvest, a documentary about cattle mutiliations.[43] In 1982, Howe was approached by HBO which was interested in her developing a documentary for their network.

In 1983, Doty contacted her, claiming to be able to supply her Air Force records for her upcoming documentary.[2] Doty invited Howe to Kirtland Air Force Base. On April 9th, 1983, the two met at the base, where he showed her fabricated "presidential brief papers".[2] Howe recalls the paper claimed extra-terrestrials had genetically-engineered humans by manipulating primate DNA.

Doty failed to supply the promised documents and the HBO documentary was never produced. In 1989, Doty was named in Linda Moulton Howe's book An Alien Harvest, making him into a public figure.[44] [45]

Doty initially denied Howe's account,[3] but in the 2013 documentary Mirage Men, Doty admitted his role misleading Howe.[44][46][2]

Role in Cash-Landrum incident

[edit]

On December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie's grandson Colby were driving to their home in Dayton, Texas, when they witnessed an unidentified aircraft escorted by US Air Force helicopters. They reported the unidentified aircraft emitted bursts of flames from its center. They reported their car became hot, with door handles burning their hands and vinyl dashboard becoming soft enough to leave imprints in.

In the aftermath, they reported suffering from nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, generalized weakness, a burning sensation in their eyes, and feeling as though they were suffering from sunburn. Later they reported suffering skin blistering, loss of hair, and weakness. Believing they had been harmed by an experimental US craft, Cash and Landrum contacted their US Senators, Lloyd Bentsen and John Tower and later sued the US federal government for $20 million.

In January 1983, Doty met with plaintiff attorney Peter Gersten. Doty asked to join Gersten's group, "Citizens Against UFO Secrecy"; Gerstein denied admission to Doty.[47]

A US district court judge dismissed Cash and Landrum's lawsuit on August 21, 1986.[48]

Connection to Whitley Strieber

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In 1990, it was reported that Doty had contacted Whitley Strieber, a horror novelist whose own supposed alien abductions were detailed in his 1987 book Communion.[49] In 2006, Strieber and Doty appeared on fringe radioshow Coast to Coast AM to promote theories of "Project Serpo".[50]

UFO Cover Up? Live

[edit]
External videos
video icon UFO Cover Up? Live!

UFO Cover Up? Live was a US television broadcast which aired in syndication on October 14, 1988. The program introduced Americans to the Majestic 12,[51][52] which many skeptics and ufologists alike consider to be a hoax.[53] It featured the first public mention of Nevada's Area 51 as a site associated with aliens.[54] Tthe program interviewed shadow-clad informants "Falcon" (Richard Doty) and Condor (Robert M. Collins).[2] In the program, Doty told a story of three aliens (called "extraterrestrial biological entities" or EBEs) that were "guests" of the United States government, one of which was fond of strawberry ice cream. Doty claimed the aliens came from Zeta Reticuli. Condor and Falcon claimed that the US government and the aliens had entered into an agreement to allow them to operate a base in Area 51.

Doty was identified by Gerstein and Howe.[3]

Alleged disciplinary action

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Doty was transferred to West Germany, where he was reportedly disciplined. In 1991, UFO skeptic Phillip Klass reported: "While Doty was in West Germany, his superiors became suspicious that some of his reports of alleged contacts with Communist secret agents were concocted tales... His last year in the USAF was spent working as a "food services specialist" managing the mess hall." [55]

In 1995, Klass expanded on his claims, writing: "In early 1985, Sgt. Doty was transferred to West Germany and assigned to counterintelligence work where his proclivity for spinning tall tales soon got him into trouble. As a result Doty reportedly was charged with submitting two spurious reports about his contacts and a false claim for funds he allegedly had spent for counterintelligence activities. The USAF decided against a court-martial because it would disclose counterintelligence details. Instead, Doty reportedly was "given Article 15, " his rank was reduced to Technical Sergeant and he was dropped from AFOSI. Doty ended his USAF career in the Services Squadron at Kirtland AFB where his duties included managing the non-commissioned officers' mess hall."[56]

Pilkington likewise claims Doty was "asked to leave AFOSI following an unspecified incident at Wiesbaden AFB, West Germany, in 1986."[citation needed]

Later life and Serpo email hoax

[edit]

After his departure from the Air Force, Doty joined the New Mexico State Police.[4][b]

In November 2005, a series of emails were sent to a UFO discussion group[64] telling of 'Project Serpo', a supposed "exchange program" where humans travelled to an alien homeworld.[65] The story was noted for is similarity to elements of the 1977 Spielberg blockbuster Close Encounter of the Third Kind.[66]

The initial anonymous email, along with supposedly-corroborating emails, were traced back to the same IP address as Doty. Writes Pilkingon: "This fingered Rick, the only member of the group known actually to exist outside of cyberspace, as the probable sender of the original emails".[2] In 2006, Doty was the co-author of a book titled Exempt from Disclosure, which further spread Serpo legends.[67] It has been alleged that the entire series of posts were designed to promote Doty's book.[68]

Admits role in disinformation

[edit]

In 2005, the book Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth by Greg Bishop further publicized the events.[69]

Mark Pilkington's book about the project, Mirage Men, was published in 2010 by Constable & Robinson.[2] The book was adapted into the 2013 documentary Mirage Men, which interviewed Doty for his role in the deception.[8]

Despite his admissions, Doty has continued to promote UFO conspiracy theories, appearing in a variety of UFO documentaries including Unacknowledged (2017) and Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind (2020).[70][71]

Legacy and aftermath

[edit]

Pilkington described Doty as "Mephistophelean character who haunted the underworld of UFO literature", while another source opines: "Doty has probably contributed more to the UFO-government conspiracy rumours than everyone else combined." [72] Greg Valdez warns: "If you research any of the documents created or presented by Richard Doty or Bill Moore, be very careful what you consider truth in those documents, and be very aware that they might make you more confused."[73]

After Doty's departure from the Air Force, similar UFO legends were spread by John Lear, a CIA pilot. Lear, in turn, associated himself with a variety of supposed UFO informants including Bill Cooper, Bob Lazar, and Phil Schneider who each echoed Doty and Lear's claims.[74] Valdez reports that Lear and Doty may have been "at the same location in Laos during the Vietnam war", adding, "There is a very high likelihood Doty and Lear worked together to produce the Dulce Papers".[75][clarification needed]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Contemporary reporting covers Doty's early life.[17][18][19][20][21]
  2. ↑ Richard Doty of the New Mexico State Police is referenced in contemporary reporting.[57][58][59][60][61][62][63]

Further reading

[edit]
  • Peebles, Curtis (1994). Watch the Skies!: A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth. Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 978-1-56098-343-9.
  • Bishop, Greg (2005). Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743470926.
  • Pilkington, Mark (2010). Mirage Men: A Journey into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs. Constable & Robinson. ISBN 9781845298579.
  • Valdez, Greg (2013). Dulce Base: The Truth and Evidence from the Case Files of Gabe Valdez. Levi-Cash Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-0-9891028-0-3.

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 Rose, Steve (14 August 2014). "The real Men in Black, Hollywood and the great UFO cover-up". The Guardian.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pilkington, Mark (2010). Mirage Men. Constable & Robinson. p. 320. ISBN 9781845298579. Archived from the original on 29 September 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Peebles, Curtis (1994). "William Moore, Richard Doty, and the Birth of MJ-12". Watch the Skies!: A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth. Washington, DC: The Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 978-1-56098-343-9.
  4. 1 2 Huyghe, Patrick (2001-06-01). Swamp Gas Times: My Two Decades on the UFO Beat. Cosimo, Inc. ISBN 978-1-931044-27-1. Retrieved 2026-11-07.
  5. ↑ Patton, Phil (1998). Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51. Villard. ISBN 978-0-679-45651-3. Retrieved 2026-11-06.
  6. ↑ The Skeptical Inquirer. Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. 2001.
  7. ↑ "Spying, disinformation accusations follow UFO figure Rick Doty — an exclusive interview". KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. 20 February 2020.
  8. 1 2 "The Great UFO Cover-up". The Guardian. 15 August 2014. pp. E12.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Richard Doty Joins Air Force". The Evening Times. 21 September 1968. p. 3.
  10. ↑ Exempt from Disclosure, ch. 4
  11. ↑ "Births". The Evening Times. 17 February 1950. p. 3.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Mirage Men, ch. 9
  13. 1 2 Exempt from Disclosure, ch. 5. Klass-Doty interview of January 8, 1988"
  14. ↑ 1950 US Census, Pennsylvania, Bradford Enumeration District 8-40, Sheet 9
  15. ↑ "Edward Doty Obituary (2010) - Portland, OR - the Oregonian".
  16. ↑ "Obituary for Clarence Doty". The Evening Times. 11 June 1955. p. 5.
  17. ↑ "Ceremonies Held at Pack Meeting". The Evening Times. 27 November 1959. p. 12.
  18. ↑ "Cub Scouts Go on Bakery Tour". The Evening Times. 13 October 1959. p. 3.
  19. ↑ "Five Area Persons Treated at Packer". The Evening Times. 8 February 1964. p. 5.
  20. ↑ "Cars Collide at Intersection". The Evening Times. 25 March 1967. p. 3.
  21. ↑ "Athens High School Honor Roll Listed". The Evening Times. 20 February 1967. p. 3.
  22. ↑ Exempt from Disclosure, ch. 4
  23. ↑ "Two Valley Youths Complete Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base". The Evening Times. 18 November 1968. p. 3.
  24. ↑ Telephone interview with Klass January 8, 1988, Doty letter of March 3, 1989, An Alien Harvest p. 148
  25. ↑ "Marriage Licenses". Wichita Falls Times. 4 August 1969. p. 4.
  26. ↑ "Divorces Granted". Newspapers.com. 1983-04-28. Retrieved 2026-11-11.
  27. ↑ "Notes on Military Personnel Serving from Twin Tiers". Star-Gazette. 20 December 1970. p. 25.
  28. ↑ "Military Notes: Richard C. Doty". Star-Gazette. 6 June 1971. p. 23.
  29. ↑ Oliphant III, Charles Ted (1997), Dead Cows I've Known.
  30. ↑ "Cattle mutilation mystery returns to Sask". Star-Phoenix. 14 May 2008. p. 5.
  31. ↑ Valdez, Greg (5 July 2013). Dulce Base: The Truth and Evidence from the Case Files of Gabe Valdez. Levi-Cash Publishing, LLC. ISBN 9780989102803.
  32. ↑ "Jan. 2, 2014 cattle mutilations, Book sheds light on cattle mutilations, Dulce Base files, Other". The Taos News. 2 January 2014. p. B012.
  33. ↑ Boissoneault, Lorraine. "How the Death of 6,000 Sheep Spurred the American Debate on Chemical Weapons". Smithsonian Magazine.
  34. ↑ "The 1970s Cow Mutilation Mystery". 17 March 2023.
  35. ↑ Monroe, Rachel (8 May 2023). "The Enduring Panic About Cow Mutilations". The New Yorker.
  36. ↑ "UFOs? Coyotes? Or what?". The Albuquerque Tribune. 20 April 1979. p. 1.
  37. ↑ Mirage Men ch. 11 p. 74
  38. ↑ Greenwood, Barry and Brad Sparks, 'The Secret Pratt Tapes and the Origins of MJ-12', MUFON Symposium Proceedings 2007, as quoted in Mirage Men Ch. 11 p.88
  39. 1 2 Jerome Clark (1990). "UFOs in the 1980s".
  40. ↑ Michael Barkun (May 4, 2006). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University of California Press. pp. 111–. ISBN 978-0-520-24812-0. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  41. ↑ Rose, Steve (August 14, 2014). "The real Men in Black, Hollywood and the great UFO cover-up". The Guardian. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  42. ↑ Barna William Donovan (2011), Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious, McFarland, pp. 104–, ISBN 978-0786486151
  43. ↑ Hepp, Jeff (November 19, 1980). "Howe discusses various mutilation theories". The Mirror. University of Northern Colorado: 7. Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  44. 1 2 "Linda Moulton Howe". Omaha World-Herald. 3 September 1989. p. 170.
  45. ↑ John Lundberg (director) (2013). Mirage Men. Doty: she publicised the fact that she was deceived by a government agency, namely OSI and although there were many other people involved with that operation she named my name and so I became a public figure. We actually played a trick on Linda that, er, kind of paid her back so to speak. Not anything that harmed her in any way or anything like that. We kind of planted something that she ran with which wasn't factual and I think she realised that maybe she should keep her mouth shut after that.
    Pilkington: The forged documents shown to Linda Moulton Howe by Richard Doty would form the basis of the Majestic 12 papers.
  46. ↑ "Mirage Men | Cast and Crew | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.
  47. ↑ Mirage Men ch 15, footnote 5
  48. ↑ Schuessler (1998), pp. 197, 222, 300, 302. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023.
  49. ↑ "This Man Believes in Aliens". The Age. 22 April 1990. p. 27.
  50. ↑ "Project Serpo".. Coast-to-Coast AM - December 6, 2005
  51. ↑ Gulyas, Aaron (June 11, 2015). "The Paranormal and the Paranoid: Conspiratorial Science Fiction Television". Rowman & Littlefield. p. 20 – via Google Books.
  52. ↑ Peebles, Curtis (December 12, 1995). "Watch the Skies!: A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth". Berkley Books – via Google Books.
  53. ↑ Donovan, Barna William (20 July 2011). Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious. McFarland. pp. 107–. ISBN 9780786486151.
  54. ↑ Clary, David A. (January 22, 2001). "Before and After Roswell: The Flying Saucer in America, 1947-1999" – via Google Books.
  55. ↑ Philip J. Klass,[https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/docs/SUN/SUN07.pdf Skeptic's UFO Newsletter January 1991
  56. ↑ Philip J. Klass, Skeptic's UFO Newsletter July 1995
  57. ↑ "Toxic Leak Halts I-40 Traffic". Albuquerque Journal. 16 January 1996. p. 19.
  58. ↑ "Fake bomb packages investigated". Carlsbad Current-Argus. 12 August 1997. p. 3.
  59. ↑ "Peace, but Not Much Quiet". Albuquerque Journal. 6 March 2005. p. 32.
  60. ↑ "Alaska journalism student's body found in New Mexico". Las Cruces Sun-News. 18 May 1998. p. 5.
  61. ↑ "Police identify pilot in fatal N.M. Plane crash". The Albuquerque Tribune. 13 October 2000. p. 3.
  62. ↑ "Shots hit Grants school bus and break windows". Alamogordo Daily News. 27 January 2002. p. 5.
  63. ↑ "Dynamite discovered in truck". Albuquerque Journal. 13 March 2003. p. 71.
  64. ↑ run by Victor Martine
  65. ↑ Project Serpo: Fact or Fiction?, Mysteries Magazine, Issue #15, Tim Swartz, November 2006, Archived at Wayback Machine
  66. ↑ "Why Close Encounters was just as mysterious off screen". 4 September 2017.
  67. ↑ Exempt from Disclosure: UFOs, Aliens, Rick Doty, Mj12, Area 51/S4, LANL Reverse Engineering in the Z-Division, Crystal Rectangle. Robert Collins. May 2006. ISBN 978-0-9766426-0-2.
  68. ↑ "serpo". reality uncovered. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  69. ↑ Bishop, Greg (February 8, 2005). Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743470926.
  70. ↑ "The Orchard Nabs UFO Doc 'Unacknowledged'". The Hollywood Reporter. September 2016.
  71. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (2020-04-08). "'Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind': Film Review". Variety. Retrieved 2026-11-08.
  72. ↑ Dan T. Smith interview in Paranoia Magazine #25 (Winter 2001) p.30, quoted in Huyghe p.102
  73. ↑ Valdez, Dulce Base, p.137
  74. ↑ Valdez p.77
  75. ↑ Valdez p.183
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