-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.parascope.com/index.htm">ParaScope: Something Strange is Happening!</A> ----- The Truth Behind "KGB UFO Files" by Antonio Huneeus FATE Magazine, January 1999 Reprinted by permission Hollywood loves sequels, so it shouldn't be surprising, after the high-ratings hoopla surrounding the Ray Santilli "alien autopsy" footage a couple of years ago, that a new UFOlogical blockbuster was recently unleashed. On September 13, cable network TNT broadcast The Secret KGB UFO Files, a slick and entertaining 90-minute program produced by Associated Television International and hosted by Roger Moore. Several Russian and American experts were interviewed, including this columnist. The show got off to a good start, showing three very interesting gun camera films taken from three different UFO scramble missions involving MIG fighters. These films are titled "Declassified Soviet Government Material," and Moore stated that the Soviet Air Force footage was "obtained by a group of Russian UFOlogists and declassified by the USSR's Ministry of Defense." This UFO footage is very dear: One shows two dark oval objects merging in the air and another depicts a cylindrical object moving at incredible speed. The bulk of the program, however, devoted to a more dubious endeavor: an alleged UFO crash and alien autopsy footage, in all its glory or infamy. The key expert was Verniamin G. Vereschagin, a Russian UFOlogist and author whom literally no one in the international UFO field had ever heard of. Vereschagin had quite a story to tell. According to him, many residents of the Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg) region in central Russia had seen UFOs and later an explosion on November 27,1968. The event was allegedly published in the Soviet-controlled Sverdlovsk newspaper. In the spring of 1969, farmers in the area of Berezovsky found strange debris and contacted the KGB. When a crashed disc was discovered in the forest, Soviet troops were called in. KGB cameramen filmed the site and the troops' activity, and later, the autopsy of an alien occupant. I feel entitled to comment at some length about this affair because of my involvement in the show. The producers used a sound bite of me endorsing the film: "This is the best footage of an alleged crashed UFO or dead alien that I've seen so far." But they conveniently left out my preceding line (which was tacked on later): "If this is real, and I do not have the elements to make that judgment...'" I was interviewed for more than half an hour about the general history of UFOs in Russia, but other than my short comment on the 1986 Dalnegorsk incident and physical evidence, they used only my remarks on the film. When the ATI producers showed George Filer and me the alleged UFO footage, they did not give us any details other than that they had mysteriously acquired it through the Russian black market, and that it was 16mm color film, circa 1968 or 1969. I was impressed by the quality and clarity of the footage. This was no blurred black and white Santilli stuff, nor was it like anything from UFOlogy's long, dubious history of grainy photos of dead aliens. Yet, based on my experience with previous media-driven UFOlogical "breakthrough footage," my conclusion is that the much-touted KGB film is not authentic. There are just too many problems. First, there is Vereschagin, the unknown Russian UFOlogist. Nobody that I know of has been able to even locate a copy of his alleged book, UFOs in the USSR, in which the story of the Berezovsky crash is supposedly told. Like the Santilli footage, there is no independent scientific verification of the film or the purported black market KGB documents pertaining to the so-called top secret "Operation Sverdlovsk Midget." The purchase of these documents is shown in a farcical hidden-camera scene in which an American reporter is portrayed haggling with a Russian mobster over the $10,000 price. One would have to be crazy to use such tactics with the real Russian mafia. Viewers not familiar with the UFO field may have received the impression that the program amassed a huge amount of evidence. The producers managed to obtain two different sets of footage (the crashed disc and the autopsy) and locate an "original" KGB witness and an American "spook" who vouched for the case, not to mention the expert Vereschagin and the Sverdlovsk newspaper article. They illegally purchased the "Sverdlovsk Midget" documents and identified the medical facility where the autopsy was performed, which is now the Moscow Medical Institute. Further, they "discovered" the death certificates of the three male doctors who worked on the autopsy, all of whom supposedly died of cerebral hemorrhages within a week of the operation (nothing is said of the female doctor). A bit of overkill, one might think. Mex Hefman, a Russian businessman living in New York who was initially impressed with the TNT broadcast, jumped to analyze the case. His first independent evaluation of the footage, posted on the Internet, was favorable of its authenticity. Considering the various possibilities, Hefman wrote that a "non-KGB hoax shall be absolutely ruled out." As he dug deeper, he eventually came to the opposite conclusion. His last Internet report referred to the footage and documents as "a very elaborate hoax." "The producers and especially their Russian counterparts must be congratulated for their amazing job!" he wrote. "Everything was staged absolutely perfectly." Hefman's suspicions were aroused when he tried to find the November 29, 1968, edition of the Sverdlovsk newspaper. The script didn't mention the paper's name, but Hefman was able to read "Vecherny" on the TV screen. After much trouble, Heftnan obtained a copy of the November 29, 1968, Vecherny. There was no article about UFOs or an explosion! Hefman contacted the medical institute; the story didn't check out there either. He finally located "one fellow who participated in the production" who confirmed that it was a hoax. I spoke with Hefman a couple of times, but he was reluctant to give details because ATI's lawyers had sent him a letter of warning. (He has since shut down his website, citing threats of litigation for libel and slander.) I surmised that Hefman had found one of the people who staged the production in Russia, as dozens of people would have been involved. Needless to say, there would be no problem buying or renting authentic Soviet-era military uniforms and equipment. The whole thing could have been put together with a very modest budget by Hollywood standards. I learned more damning information from Argentine UFOlogist Alex Chionetti, who has worked in the film and TV distribution business in Los Angeles. Chionetti knows Associated Television CEO David McKenzie and has done business with the company. Chionetti is convinced the footage is a hoax, made in Russia but concocted in Hollywood. He said one of the "former secret agents" was an actor he knew personally and had seen around the production house. Judging from Chionetti's description of a man with a beard, it probably was "H.," described as a "former U.S. DIA agent." "H" was one of the U.S. intelligence sources who "confirmed" the Berezovsky crash. As for the MIG gun-camera footage, I was initially enthusiastic. The script indicated it was duly declassified footage from the Ministry of Defense. But in view of the show's lack of honesty, its authenticity must be questioned. Again, no researchers in Russia or elsewhere ever heard of this footage prior to the TNT broadcast. Declassification procedures in the U.S. and Russia are always accompanied by copious correspondence. It's fairly simple to show official evidence of declassified documents or material. I challenge the producers to put it on their website if they have it. Until they do, the gun-camera footage must also be considered dubious. UFOlogy is sufficiently confusing as it is without this new breed of Hollywood pseudo-documentaries. Not long ago, televised UFO programs were done by network news departments, following standard journalistic procedures. Lately the trend has been to maintain the newsy style, but to warn viewers that it's meant as entertainment, with the disclaimer "What you are about to see may or may not be true." Pseudo-documentaries mix fact and fiction, creating a media-driven UFOlogy that has little to do with science or a search for the truth. Viewer, please beware. J. Antonio Huneeus reports on UFOlogy and Fortean subjectsforpublications and radio and television programs around the world. Readers interested in authentic UFO files declassified by the KGB and the Soviet Ministry of Defense can look for Huneeus's detailed report in The Anomalist No. 7 (Winter 1998-99). Check their website at www.anomalist.com or write P.O. Box 577, Jefferson Valley NY 10535. FATE Magazine is published monthly by Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. Subscriptions are $21.50 a year; call 1-800-728-2730 or write to P.O. Box 1940, 170 Future Way, Marion, Ohio 43305. FATE online can be found at http://www.fatemag.com. 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