John Lear

John Olsen Lear (December 3, 1942 – March 29, 2022), son of Learjet magnate Bill Lear, was an aviator who set multiple records, later flying cargo planes for the CIA during the Vietnam era.[1]

John Olsen Lear
Lear (right) photographed with Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy in 1986
BornDecember 3, 1942 (1942-12-03)
DiedMarch 29, 2022 (2022-03-30) (aged 79)
NationalityAmerican
Occupationpilot

In the 1980s, Lear began speaking of alien collusion with secret governmental forces.[2] In the second half of the 1980s, Lear was "probably the most influential source" of UFO conspiracy theories.[3]

Early life

John Olsen Lear was born on December 3, 1942, to industrialist and future Learjet founder Bill Lear and his wife Moya Marie Olsen Lear.[4][5] He was named after his maternal grandfather, famous comedian John Olsen.[4] His second and third birthday parties were covered in the "Society" page of an Ohio paper.[6][7]

Lear graduated from the Institut Le Rosey boarding school in Switzerland and attended Wichita State University.[8][9]

Aviator career

In 1956, Lear flew his first flight at age 14.[10] His first solo flight was at 16, and in 1960, Lear was hired as a pilot and public relationship representative by his father's company. In 1962, Lear crashed a biplane during stunt flying at his boarding school; He underwent an emergency tracheotomy, a five hour surgery, and a long convalescence. [11]

That year, Lear agreed to attend a Pasadena, California Art College, but lost the $5,000 he had been given for tuition in the stock market. Lear and his father remain estranged -- when his father died in 1979, John Lear was excluded from the will, which was generous to John's children.[12]

In 1965, Lear was employed by the Paul Kelly Flying Service when its founder was killed while piloting a LearJet. Lear testified at the Civil Aeronautics Board investigation into the crash.[13]

Between May 23 and 26, 1966, Lear and a crewmate flew a record-breaking flight around the world in a LearJet that covered 22,000 miles in 50 hours and 39 minutes.[14] In August 1966, Lear was featured in the Wichita Press after he piloted a LearJet carrying the rock band The Byrds and the trip inspired them to write a song about the plane.[15] The track, titled "2-4-2 Foxtrot (The Lear Jet Song)", samples Lear's voice as he speaks over the radio.[15]

In 1968, Air Force personnel from Hamilton Air Force Base launched a rescue effort to help Lear land after heavy San Francisco fog interfered with landing. Traffic was cleared from the Golden Gate Bridge in anticipation of a forced landing. After a helicopter pilot established visual contact, Lear was able to successfully land at the base.[16]

Lear flew planes for the CIA between 1967 and 1983.[17][18][19]

In 1980, Lear was covered in local press when he lost a billing dispute with his natural gas provider.[20] That November, Lear ran for Nevada State Senate, earning the endorsement of a "Coalition for Affordable Energy".[21]

Influence on UFO conspiracy theories

Lear has been described as "a divisive figure whose claims often crumbled under scrutiny."[22]

UFO conspiracy theories before Lear

Since the 1947 flying disc craze, Americans had reported seeing unidentified objects in the skies, and by 1955, UFO researchers were accusing the US Government of a cover-up.[23] In the 1950s and 60s, many UFO and contactee groups professed belief in Space Brothers, benevolent aliens eager to improve life on Earth. During a 1964 hypnotic regression, Barney Hill became the first person to report recollections of Gray Aliens and Alien Abductions. By 1973, UFO mythology told of a UFO landing at Holloman Air Force Base;[24] By 1978, UFO mythology included a crashed flying saucer near Roswell. In 1980, cattle mutilations near Dulce, New Mexico were linked to UFOs in popular media.

MJ-12

In 1984, Bill Moore's partner Jaime Shandera received an envelope containing film which, when developed, showed images of eight pages of documents that appeared to be briefing papers describing "Operation Majestic 12", a top-level UFO group with the US Government.[25]

Statement by John Lear
External media
video icon George Knapp interview of John Lear, KLAS TV 1987
document icon Statement by John Lear (rev. August 25, 1988) hosted by the Internet Sacred Text Archive

On December 29, 1987, Lear posted a Statement to ParaNet, an early bulletin board system dedicated to the paranormal, claiming that the US government has close contacts with extraterrestrials and were secretly "promoting" films like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind to influence the public to see extraterrestrials as "space brothers".[26] The document was revised on January 14, again in March, with a final revision dated August 25, 1988. The document describing a secret government committee, Majestic 12, making a treaty with Gray aliens, only to later realize they've been deceived by the aliens.[27][28]

The Statement claims a UFO coverup has been underway for 40 years. Lear argues that "Germany may have recovered a flying saucer in 1939" and discusses the 1946 American military investigation into the Ghost rockets reported over Sweden. The Statement argues that many in the "original group" of insiders committed suicide, most notably James Forrestal. According to the narrative, Truman formed a group of twelve insiders, known as Majestic 12, to investigate the matter. The Statement lists three saucer crashes: one near Roswell. another near Aztec, New Mexico and a third near Laredo, Texas. According to the Statement, the US government covered a "total, thorough and sweeping cover-up to include the use of 'deadly force'."

The Statement references the 1952 Washington, D.C., UFO incident and a 1964 meeting with aliens at Holloman Air Force Base. Lear's Statement includes government-sanctioned alien abductions, alien implants, and Alien-Human hybrids. The Statement asserts that "some of the nations missing children had been used for secretions and other parts required by the aliens". Lear described UFOs in connect with cattle mutilations and even claims that human mutilations have occurred. Lear talks about Dulce Base and an altercation between aliens and the US military that led to 66 human casualties.

Mirage Men author Mark Pilkington later described Lear's Statement as "a perfect synthesis of the Aquarius and MJ-12 disinformation and the chthonic [subterranean], paranoiac horrors of Paul Bennewitz."[29] On January 28, 1988, Lear was interviewed by TV journalist George Knapp.[30]

Relationship with Bill Cooper
External documents
document icon Bill Cooper's first post to the ParaNet Bulletin Board System discussing USS Tiru incident
document icon Cooper's "Petition to Indict" written with Lear's help

Lear had been posting "wild conspiracies about secret government relations with aliens" to Paranet. The New Republic argues Lear's theories were "the kind of thing no one took very seriously". That changed in the Summer of 1988, when UFO witness Bill Cooper made his first public comments on the ParaNet Bulletin Board System. According to Cooper's first post, in 1966 he was serving aboard the USS Tiru when he and fellow Navy personnel witnessed a metal craft "larger than a football field" repeatedly enter and exit the water.[31] Cooper claimed he was instructed by superiors to never speak about the incident.[31]

Biographer Mark Jacobson argues "the Tiru incident itself would not have done much to make Cooper’s name in ufology. That opportunity came only a few days later" when he was contacted by fellow ParaNet poster John Olsen Lear.[31] The two began a collaboration.

In 1989, the pair issued an "indictment" demanding that the US "cease aiding and abetting and concealing this Alien Nation which exists in our borders."[32]

Introduction of Bob Lazar and Area 51

In March 1989, Lear journeyed to the outskirts of "Area 51".[33] Lear introduced journalist George Knapp to UFO whistle-blower Bob Lazar and his tales of Area 51.[17][34] On May 15, 1989, KLAS-TV broadcast a live interview between George Knapp and a man clad in shadow and using the pseudonym "Dennis". The following November, Lazar again appeared, this time unmasked and under his own name.[35]

Lazar's claims were widely discredited.[lower-alpha 1] His supposed employment at a Nellis Air Force Base subsidiary has also been discredited by skeptics, as well as by the United States Air Force.[37][38]

Role in 1989 symposium
External video
video icon Bill Moore addresses MUFON, July 1 1989

In 1989, Lear served as State Director for The Mutual UFO Network, hosting their 1989 annual convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 1, 1989. The symposium was titled: "The UFO Cover-Up: A Government Conspiracy?"[31] Despite initial objections from MUFON founder Walt Andrus, Lear was able to submit a slate of speakers after he threatened to split the symposium.[31] Lear's speakers were slated to provide allegedly-independent verification of the Bennewitz claims.[31] One of those speakers, Bill Cooper, would later break with Lear after accusing him of being an intelligence agent.[2]

The Ufologist Bill Moore was scheduled as the main speaker, and he refused to submit his paper for review prior to the convention, and also announced that he would not answer any follow-up questions as was common practice. Unlike most of the convention's attendees, Moore did not stay at the same hotel that was hosting the convention.

When he spoke, Moore said that he and others had been part of an elaborate, long-term disinformation campaign begun primarily to discredit Paul Bennewitz: "My role in the affair ... was primarily that of a freelancer providing information on Paul's (Bennewitz) current thinking and activities".[39] Air Force Sergeant Richard C. Doty was also involved, said Moore, though Moore thought Doty was "simply a pawn in a much larger game, as was I."[39] One of their goals, Moore said, was to disseminate information and watch as it was passed from person to person in order to study information channels.

Moore said that he "was in a rather unique position" in the disinformation campaign: "judging by the positions of the people I knew to be directly involved in it, [the disinformation] definitely had something to do with national security. There was no way I was going to allow the opportunity to pass me by ... I would play the disinformation game, get my hands dirty just often enough to lead those directing the process into believing I was doing what they wanted me to do, and all the while continuing to burrow my way into the matrix so as to learn as much as possible about who was directing it and why."[40] Once he finished the speech, Moore immediately left the hotel and Las Vegas that same night.

Moore's claims sent shock waves through the small, tight-knit UFO community, which remains divided as to the reliability of his assertions.

Legacy

Lear remained a prominent voice in the UFO conspiracy theory community until his death. Lear made multiple appearances on TV shows, including Ancient Aliens, America's Book of Secrets, Brad Meltzer's Decoded, and The Unexplained Files. From 2003 to 2015, Lear was a regular guest on Coast to Coast AM.[41]

Lear's claims left a lasting influence on the UFO movement—one author observed "in the early years [UFO writers] did not, by and large, embrace strong political positions. Cooper and Lear were the tip of a spear asserting that the number one thing we had to fear was not little green men, but the government that colluded with them, appropriating their technology against us."[2][31][42]

Personal life and death

In 1970, Lear married Marilee Higginbotham, owner of a California fashion modelling agency, at a ceremony in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.[8]

Lear died on March 29, 2022.[17]

References
  1. "UFO activist, Nevada aviator John Lear dies at 79". 31 March 2022.
  2. Dickey, Colin (August 28, 2018). "A Pioneer of Paranoia". The New Republic. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  3. Pilkington, Mark (July 29, 2010). Mirage Men: A Journey into Disinformation, Paranoia and UFOs. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 9781849012409. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022 – via Google Books.
  4. "5 May 1943, Page 10 - Arizona Republic at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  5. "9 Dec 1942, 5 - The Dayton Herald at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  6. "8 Dec 1944, Page 2 - The Piqua Daily Call at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  7. "5 Feb 1943, Page 2 - The Piqua Daily Call at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  8. "14 Sep 1970, 42 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  9. "24 Jun 1971, Page 16 - Reno Gazette-Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  10. Patton, Phil (31 October 2012). Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51. ISBN 9780307828606.
  11. Patton, Phil (31 October 2012). Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51. ISBN 9780307828606.
  12. Patton, Phil (31 October 2012). Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51. ISBN 9780307828606.
  13. "2 Mar 1966, 10 - The Wichita Beacon at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  14. "Lear Jet 23". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  15. "28 Aug 1966, 63 - The Wichita Eagle at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  16. "23 Oct 1968, Page 24 - News Record at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  17. "UFO activist, Nevada aviator John Lear dies at 79". 31 March 2022. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  18. Affadaviit Archived 2022-03-31 at the Wayback Machine by John Lear
  19. Mirage Men
  20. "Reno Gazette-Journal 05 Feb 1980, page Page 18".
  21. "Reno Gazette-Journal 03 Nov 1980, page Page 44".
  22. Gulyas, Aaron (11 June 2015). The Paranormal and the Paranoid: Conspiratorial Science Fiction Television. p. 9. ISBN 9781442251144.
  23. Donald Keyhoe (1955) The Flying Saucer Conspiracy
  24. UFOs: Past, Present, and Future
  25. Robert Alan Goldberg (2008), Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America, Yale University Press, pp. 195–, ISBN 978-0300132946
  26. Barkun, Michael (March 31, 2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University of California Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780520248120. Archived from the original on November 16, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2022 – via Google Books.
  27. Bishop, Greg (8 February 2005). Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth. ISBN 9780743470926. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  28. Watch the skies! : A chronicle of the flying saucer myth. 1994. ISBN 9781560983439.
  29. Mirage Men
  30. "UFO researcher John Lear goes 'On the Record' on aliens — Part 1". 7 November 2019. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  31. Jacobson, Mark (2018). Pale Horse Rider: William Cooper, the Rise of Conspiracy, and the Fall of Trust in America. Blue Rider Press. ISBN 978-0399169953.
  32. Dickey, Colin (28 August 2018). "A Pioneer of Paranoia". The New Republic.
  33. "Famed aviator John Lear, 79, departs on 'his next adventure'". YouTube.
  34. Patton, Phil (31 October 2012). Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51. ISBN 9780307828606.
  35. George Knapp (November 1, 2014). "Out there". KNPR.
  36. Knapp, George (2019-11-08). Lazar describes alien technology housed at secret S-4 base in Nevada -- Part 5. KLAS-TV/8 News NOW Las Vegas. Section 4:38 - 7:25. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  37. Donald R. Prothero; Timothy D. Callahan (August 2, 2017). UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says. Indiana University Press. pp. 57–58, 166–169. ISBN 978-0-253-03338-3.
  38. Radford, Benjamin (September 27, 2012). "Area 51: Secrets, Yes; Aliens, No". Live Science. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  39. Clark The UFO Book, p. 163
  40. Clark The UFO Book, p. 164
  41. "John Lear". Coast to Coast AM. Archived from the original on 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  42. 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. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022 – via Google Books.

Notes
  1. According to spotlight by KLAS-TV:
    • The schools in which Lazar claims to have studied "say they've never heard of him" (6:05)
    • Lazar alleges he worked at Los Alamos, "where he experimented with the world's largest particle beam accelerators" (6:13)
      • George Knapp: Los Alamos officials say they had no records of him ever working there (6:25)
      • George Knapp: "they were either mistaken or were lying: a 1982 phonebook from the lab lists Lazar right there among the other scientists and technicians" (news section shows the cover of a Los Alamos national laboratory phone directory, and then a list of names which includes "Lazar Robert") (6:30)
      • George Knapp: "we called Los Alamos again. An exasperated official told us he still had no records on Lazar. EG&G, which is where Lazar says he was interviewed for the job at S4, also has no records." (6:48)
    • The news section cuts to Lazar who claims he called the schools he attended, the hospital he was born in, and his past job to get records, but to no avail. (7:00)
    • Lazar alleges his employer at S4 was the US Navy. (7:21)[36]
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