Richard Thomas: First things first. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions. I really appreciate it and I'm sure the BoA readers will too.
Your very first book, co-written with Lou Zinsstag, was George Adamski The Untold Story. What most impressed you about Adamski and have your thoughts on him changed much since writing the book?
Timothy Good: Adamski's photographs (and films) impressed me a great deal. Also, his initial encounter near Desert Center, California, in November 1952, was witnessed by six people who signed affidavits testifying to the fact. I knew two of those people, and they weren't lying. His famous photos, taken with a plate camera attached to a telescope, have been authenticated by a number of qualified people. As for his films, the last and best one - showing a craft similar to the one he photographed in 1952 - was taken at Silver Spring, Maryland, in February 1965, witnessed by my friend Madeleine Rodeffer and three US government employees. The 8mm colour film was authenticated by Bill Sherwood, an optical physicist and a senior project development engineer for the Eastman-Kodak company in Rochester, NY. In May 1998 I was invited to the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office in the Pentagon, which at that time handled the unmanned spy planes programme. The director, Major Kenneth Israel, implied to me that the film was genuine. Unfortunately, copies of the film (sometimes shown in documentaries) are unconvincing, being darker and more contrasty than the original film. Individual frames light-enhanced by Sherwood show much more detail.
As for Adamski's claim that the aliens he met were from all the planets in the solar system - Venus and Mars in particular - this has understandably given rise to much ridicule. Most likely, this was a smoke screen to protect their actual origin. However, I don't discount the possibility that alien bases exist on the other planets in our system. Indeed, I think it quite likely that Venus and Mars, and several moons of Saturn and Jupiter, for example, qualify in this respect. Any adverse temperatures and pressures can be dealt with by means of advanced technology. And they most definitely have had bases on Earth for a very long time.
I’ve always been intrigued by the fact that Adamski held a US Government Ordnance Department card, which gave him access to US military bases and other restricted areas. He liaised with many high-ranking military personnel, including Lord Mountbatten and Lord Dowding on one occasion, and even - in 1963 - with President Kennedy.
Richard Thomas: I understand that you may have had what might be called a "contactee experience" yourself, what do you think happened?
Timothy Good: Yes, in fact I've had several encounters with beings I believe were from elsewhere. The first occurred at a diner near the Arizona/California border in November 1963 while I was on tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It would take me too long to go into all the details, but it involved an unusual young woman who - in the presence of three of my colleagues - responded very positively, but non-verbally, to my telepathic question as to whether she was from elsewhere. Just after we left the diner in our convoy of three coaches, I was astonished to see a road sign for Desert Center - I'd no idea we were anywhere near there. Quite a coincidence!
The second encounter took place in the lobby of a hotel in the middle of New York in February 1967, between a rehearsal and concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. About half an hour after I'd transmitted a telepathic request for definitive proof that some aliens were living among us, an immaculately suited man walked into the lobby then sat beside me. Following my telepathic request to indicate by means of a certain sign if he was the person I was looking for, he did so immediately. Neither of us spoke. It was a cathartic experience for me.
Richard Thomas: One of your books is called Alien Base. What do you think of the possibility that Earth could have already been covertly colonised by extraterrestrials or, alternatively, that another intelligent species could have evolved here long before mankind?
Timothy Good: I'm convinced that Earth was colonized by ETs millennia ago, and that we humans are a hybridized species. Apparently, hybridization started at the time of Homo erectus. There are many different species of extraterrestrials. The abductions in more recent times seem to involve the use of humans for hybridization purposes. But for whose benefit? In the 1990's I spent a lot of time investigating cases in Puerto Rico and it's clear to me that the animal mutilations and abductions are related to the abduction phenomenon. For example, I interviewed a family who encountered bug-eyed creatures that had developed some human characteristics - specifically wispy traces of hair on their heads. Are they trying to adapt to our planet, and if so, why?
Richard Thomas: Over 20 years ago now, in Above Top Secret, you were the first researcher to make public the controversial MJ-12 documents. What are your current thoughts on the documents and MJ-12?
Timothy Good: As I have stated repeatedly in my books subsequent to Above Top Secret, the MJ-12 papers are forgeries. The purpose, in my view, was to smoke out some of the real MJ-12 members or those who were knowledgeable about the organization. The ruse worked. Several former military and intelligence personnel - e.g. Dr Eric Walker, a British-born scientist - have confirmed that MJ-12 existed (see Need to Know).
Richard Thomas: It is commonly believed in Ufology that the UFO cover-up began in early July 1947 after the famous Roswell Incident. So, when I read your latest book, Need to Know: UFOs, the Military and Intelligence, I was intrigued to learn of a possible 1933 UFO crash recovery in Milan, Italy. The possible existence of a top-secret group - Gabinetto RS/33 - allegedly set up after the supposed 1933 crash, to deal with "unknown aircraft" was also very interesting. How likely do you think it is that a UFO did crash and that an Italian MJ-12 like group was set up in 1933?
Timothy Good: The UFO cover-up seems to have begun in 1933 with the top-secret RS/33 group. Other governments – that of Sweden in particular – also became concerned about intrusions of strange flying machines that year. Unfortunately we don't have an actual description of the type of unknown aircraft which came down in Italy. I think it possible that a UFO did crash, but I have no definitive information on that particular case. However, the RS/33 documents – which include descriptions of unexplained craft seen by pilots in 1936 - are evidently genuine.
Richard Thomas: What do you think of a possible link between Gabinetto RS/33 and flying saucers allegedly built by the Nazis during WWII? Perhaps you might have some thoughts on the Nazi "Bell" device discussed in Nick Cook's The Hunt for Zero Point.
Timothy Good: Roberto Pinotti, who co-authored a book with Alfredo Lissoni on the case, believes that the alleged retrieval led to some German "reverse engineering". I don't know if that’s true. And as I said, we don't have (or at least, I don’t have) an actual description of the craft involved. As for the "Nazi hypothesis", one of the world's leading aviation historians, Bill Gunston, who wrote the foreword to Need to Know, believes there is no serious evidence that the Germans actually produced any highly advanced flying discs, though he concedes that they were beginning to work on a conventionally propelled craft with circular aerofoils. Re "the Bell", it definitely existed and a great deal of information can be found in both Nick Cook's book and Igor Witkowski's superb Truth About the Wunderwaffe , but there seems no evidence that its use was related to flying machines of any sort. As Witkowski concludes on the final page: "There is no evidence that the Germans mastered the production of 'flying saucers' with a revolutionary propulsion. One may on the other hand prove that they were attempting to use analogous bell-shaped objects as a weapon."
Richard Thomas: One of my favourite cases is the Berwyn Mountain Incident or "Welsh Roswell." What do you think may have happened in the Berwyn Mountains in 1974? And what do you think of the possibility of an MJ-UK group?
Timothy Good: I never investigated this case personally, so I keep an open mind. As to the possibility of a "MJ-UK", probably an equivalent team was set up, but I have no specifics. The top-secret "Flying Saucer Working Party" (1950-51) would qualify in many respects. Whatever the case, the UK is subservient to the US regarding these matters.
Richard Thomas: What are your thoughts on the recent UFO activity in the UK, particularly the police helicopter sighting near RAF St Athan, a military base outside Cardiff? Interestingly, when I asked Nick Pope about the sightings he said: "Some sightings have clearly been caused by Chinese lanterns, but the MoD appear to be using this as an excuse not to investigate."
Timothy Good: I've yet to see a detailed official report, so I can't comment. Chinese lanterns (or "UFO balloons") have been responsible for nearly all the UFO sightings reported this year - and to a lesser extent, last year. They are a damned nuisance - particularly for us researchers.
Richard Thomas: Given that your latest book is called Need To Know, how much do you think US Presidents and British Prime Ministers are allowed to know about UFOs? Also how much do you think big corporations might know?
Timothy Good: A number of US presidents have been briefed on aspects of the alien problem. They were told as much as they needed to know. However, Eisenhower and Kennedy, for example (and perhaps a few others) also had direct contact with extraterrestrials. The most knowledgeable president, in my opinion, is George H. Walker Bush. As for the present incumbent of the White House, a friend of mine asked him what he knew about the UFO situation. “Ask Cheney,” came the terse reply. I doubt that many British prime ministers have been told much. I think that Margaret Thatcher, thanks to her rapport with Reagan, learned a few things. As far as big corporations are concerned, I’m told that there is indeed a degree of corporate involvement.
Richard Thomas: In Alien Contact you interviewed Bob Lazar about his alleged experiences at S-4, a supposed ultra-top-secret facility near Area-51/Groom Lake where, according to Lazar, alien technology is being studied and reverse-engineered. How much of Lazar's story do you think might be true? And do you still think reverse engineering could be going on at Area 51?
Timothy Good: Lazar claimed to be a nuclear physicist. He isn't. However, he is a talented engineer and launches his own rockets and drives and maintains a jet-powered car (or used to). Definitely something odd seems to have happened to him, but I remain dubious about some of his claims. Perhaps he was exposed to S-4 (which does, or did, exist) in case he came up with some original ideas. Or it could have been an experiment to test public reaction, knowing that he would tell the media. I just don't know. It's important to bear in mind that Lazar was drugged on several occasions by the security personnel at S-4. I have no idea what’s going on there now.
Richard Thomas: Ben Rich, the second director of the famous Lockheed's Skunk Works and sometimes called the "father of stealth," once made the incredible comment that: "We now have the technology to take ET home." In light of this, how successful do you think any reverse engineering efforts may have been? And what are your thoughts on the idea of a secret space program?
Timothy Good: In addition to having reverse-engineered some recovered alien vehicles, I believe that we’ve been given highly advanced technology – including spacecraft - by certain allied extraterrestrials. As Ben Rich stated at the University of California School of Engineering in 1993: “We already have the means to travel among the stars, but these technologies are locked up in black projects . . . and it would take an Act of God to ever get them out to benefit humanity.”
Richard Thomas: One of the most interesting chapters in Alien Contact is called "Cosmic Journey." What was Cosmic Journey and what do you think about it now?
Timothy Good: The 1989 Cosmic Journey Project, supported by the US government, NASA and Rockwell International, was a proposal for an international touring presentation of space-related materials, such as a mock-up of the space shuttle, and even 6,000 square feet of UFO-related material. I was invited to become the official consultant on UFO research. The main portion of the show, I learned, would be the future of space and the technical advances predicted over the next 100 years. To my everlasting regret, I was unable to make the private meeting with the organizers in Florida, and recommended former NASA engineer Bob Oechsler to fill the position. The rest is history (see Alien Liaison/Alien Contact). Suffice it to say that Bob learned a great deal and claimed to have had some extraordinary experiences while working on the project – which eventually was cancelled.
Richard Thomas: What are your plans for the future? Are you working on anything or have any new cases grabbed your attention recently?
Timothy Good: I’m always working on new cases. I have no plans for a new book, however - I’ve yet to sort all my files relating to the last one, which took several years of intensive work. There’s also the question of money. Unearthly Disclosure (2000), for example, cost me around £35,000 – flights, local transport (including hired planes), hotels, researchers, translators, on-site interpreters, a forensic specialist, and so on. As for (relatively) recent cases that have grabbed my attention, the mile-wide craft of unknown origin seen by multiple witnesses in January this year over Stephenville, Texas, impressed me, as did the radar-confirmed sighting by two airline pilots and passengers of two apparently mile-wide craft over the Channel Islands in April last year.
Richard Thomas: Thanks again, I look forward to your future books, interviews and lectures.
