The Philip Corso Enigma

[Gene Steinberg]

Here's something I posted in this week's newsletter that I wanted to open up for discussion here:

I have long been on the fence about the case of the late Philip J. Corso," lead author of the controversial book, "The Day After Roswell." If Corso is to be believed, he was one of the key people responsible for delivering parcels of alien technology to private industry several decades ago. Further, that the technology used in such devices as today's personal computers were, in part, based on techniques reversed engineered from the wreckage of a space ship that purportedly crashed in the New Mexico desert 60 years ago.

Thanks in large part to the efforts of co-author William Birnes, Corso's book is eminently readable and seems quite credible. But some key elements of the UFO community don't take it seriously, saying that there are factual lapses that give one reason to dismiss Corso's claims as fanciful.

I've been reluctant to reach that conclusion, in part because Corso was a highly-decorated military figure who never had a history of writing science fiction or making suspicious claims. Why, towards the end of his days, would he fabricate a tale of this sort, in light of his stellar military record? Just to earn some cash for his family to inherit after his death? That doesn't seem enough cause to lie, particularly when you consider his history and achievements.

Could it be that the faults in Corso's book were more the result of the manuscript having a few too many cooks before William Birnes got involved in the project? I honestly don't know, and I began to wonder even further when I watched James Fox' excellent UFO documentary, "Out of the Blue," recently. Corso appears in just a few short segments, but it's enough to come away with the impression that he was a straight shooter, a totally honest reporter of genuine experiences.

Alas, Corso is not here to explain the disparity, and so I remain on the fence about the whole thing.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

And here's some material I got in response, containing the text of an interview that Corso did a year or so before he died, which is quoted with permission:

Exclusive Interview with Colonel Philip Corso.
Given to Paola Harris and Maurizio Baiata in Rome 1998

Here is an unedited, original interview
Colonel Corso: I‚ve just mentioned crop circles, mutilations of animals and
abductions of humans. When I was Chief of the Foreign Technology Division, I
went to the General one day and it was agreed that we would start no
projects in the Army, in our organization, on those three items: crop
circles, mutilations and abductions, but we would watch them. We would keep
getting the reports and we would watch them because our main objective in
those days was weapons of war. We did it to advance the competitive edge of
the Army. Even with the beings, it did not matter to us if they were real or
not and it didn‚t matter if they came by accident or design. Our motive was:
if they are real, we are going to be ready. We are not going to sit here
like stupid humans and say they are not around. We have to work on the
assumptions that they are there and they might be enemies. So I told the
General, our main thrust must be that, and I hardly had time to do what I‚m
doing but I would read the documents, because I could read documents in a
minute or so. I said: „I'll keep getting these reports and watch this but
we‚ll do nothing about it, only collect information," and for years I
collected documents, at the White House, which talked about mutilations. We
knew about them. We made the decision that crop circles were nothing else
but integrated circuits. When we'd put in an integrated circuit they'd give
us a message. Abductions, we came to the conclusion they're happening but
that we were not going to do anything about it. We were receiving materials
so I did get two of the implants. There are other implants which I‚ve never
talked about, which we knew were real. You could not take them in your hand
because they were microscopic, but they were there.

So the future has to go along those lines. When I was working in this field,
I know they were real. They happened. I don‚t think that any other of those
people can say this. They weren't cleared. They didn‚t get the reports. They
did not have access to them.

They talk to an abductee and what happens? The critic says, 'hallucination,
self hypnotism' and you're finished. How are you going to get past that?
Well, if I tell you that the abductee had two implants, it makes it real.
You can say, "Colonel Corso told me." It was an area that we never did
anything about. We never found out the reason for it because we had our
hands full with what we were doing. That wasn't my job to do that. We spent
money on the night-viewing device; millions of dollars. That was a product
of war. The soldiers of Vietnam could see the enemy at night. Lasers, Fiber
Optics, that was the main thrust of our organization. The extraterrestrial
himself, I would always say, was the greatest gift they gave us and we did
nothing with it. So who was in charge? I was, so that meant I did nothing
with it. So in my old age maybe I feel guilty and I have been writing about
it now. I realized experts have to come into this and look at this entity,
this Being. I know nothing about lungs, the lymphatic system and the body.
This Being is, after all, a biological entity. All these stories of clones,
that it is against religion; that man wants to live forever, that's all
baloney. That clone was made for another purpose: to travel in space. They
want to see what space is like. They came here. Without the relationship of
the clone with the flying saucer, they never would have made it here.

Paola: Will they attack us?

Colonel Corso: There's no way in the world that I can tell you that they
won't attack us but, from a soldier's point of view, I've got to be ready
for any attack that might come. If I'm not, I'm negligent and I shouldn't be
dressed in a military uniform. You have got to be ready for any eventuality
or you'll be destroyed and your country will go with it. If they fight a war
we need to realize that their super-intellect is on a different level and I
don't think they would fight on our level, with bombs and cannons. Why
should they? They could not carry enough bombs and cannons on their space
ships to fight us. They might fight us with our bodies, with something that
uses no weight, like a type of biological weapon. I think that the
super-intellect will fight us on that level. Using bombs and guns is like
fighting barbarians. The problem is, those people that think that the
scenario is like this are thinking like human beings and not like the
aliens. One example is a mistake I made: I had a pen-like artifact I
received from the Roswell Crash and it would not go on and I thought the
battery was dead so I put it away. See how stupid that was? As if a "Super
Race‰ would use a battery that would wear out in two months! That is
ridiculous thinking and yet it happened to me. I am telling you what the
British taught me in Intelligence, years ago. Yes, you look for targets and
things like that but the main things you look for are „intentions.‰ They
were right. You defeat the enemy by knowing his intentions, not by one bomb.
It took me guess work to build up the mosaic because I have to think in my
own brain, 'What is his intention?' Naturally I'm going to make mistakes
because I don't know too much about him, but at least I can try. Whereas
this new science could fill in and correct the mistakes I made because of
lack of knowledge. And this is what I think it has to come to. I've really
never talked like this to anybody, well, maybe with a couple of scientist
friends, but usually I don't. My scientists friends are calling me and you
know why they are calling me? Because in the book I stated that this
extraterrestrial is part of the flying saucer. It is all one. So these are
another intelligence. They are ahead of us. They have proven it. One simple
reason: they can fly in space and we can't. In the end, the greatest gift
was the extraterrestrial, not the hardware.

Colonel Philip Corso, on Videotape, 1997 in Rome, Italy

I've asked Paola if there's anything that might be added as to what Corso said when the tape wasn't running.

 

[drbirnes]

Essentially what Corso said in this interview is what he said in Day After Roswell, was translated into Italian in 1998. This interview has to looked at in context, though. By late summer, 1997, Corso, because of a dispute with the motion picture company that had acquired his life story rights over a clause in the life story rights agreement that on the surface seemed ambiguous, was in a lawsuit. He had gone to Rome to visit Paola, whom I had introduced him to at the Roswell 50th Anniversary, and to meet with Baiata. Corso died a year later, and thus was not alive when his lawsuit was finally settled. Thus, whatever came out of that Italian connection, came at a time when Corso himself was at war and was seeking allies in his fight against the motion picture company from whom he was trying to wrest his life story rights. This is the context.

As to the content of what Corso said, again, this is all covered in the book and represented what he explained to me was a soldier's way of looking at anything invasive. The first question in Corso's mind was always the sentry's "Friend or Foe?" If whatever it was could not be identified as a friend, then it was a foe. Hence, Corso's attitude about our military's need to defend the planet against EBEs.

As to the almost biological relationship between the ship and the EBE clone, this is a technology which, in the decades after Corso's reporting on this to Gen. Arthur Trudeau, the military did pursue. The relationship between pilot and craft today -- be it a jet or a helicopter -- is far more direct. Now, I am told, pilot will have the ability to direct the flight controls of their aircraft by eye and head movements, something Phil said the EBEs were able to do.

There is much, much more to the Corso story that ties in with his place and time in American history. And I will be happy to answer any questions about him.

Bill Birnes
UFO® Magazine
www.ufomag.com

 

[David Biedny]

Bill, I'd love to welcome you to The Paracast forums. I'm sure you'll find that we have some truly interactive members, and like the hosts of this show, they're not bashful and tend to express themselves without hesitation. It's nice to see you here! And I think you'll find the James Fox interview tonight quite fascinating, you should consider interviewing him for the magazine.

 

[Lone Gunman]

Great thread. I just finished the book and really enjoyed it. What struck me was the outright paranoia arms-race vs. the aliens feel of it all. Every step forward in military tech seemed to be geared toward the EBE threat, which took me aback.

I remember avoiding the book for years like the plague because I thought the whole thing was a planted fraud. I finally dropped my wall of suspicion after hearing Bill Birnes and Corso do some interviews over the years. I'm glad I did. Are there other books written by the two, or just the Day After? I know there were originally plans for multiple books.

As far as belieivng everything, make room on the fence Gene. I think I may have to join you.

 

[Noanswers]

Gunman,
I've gone through the same thing, my copy is sitting on a bookshelf unread for reason you cite. Your post has made me think I need to take it down and read it.
Thanks for giving me something do this weekend. . .too hot outside anyway.

 

[pixelsmith]

welcome Bill,
i notice a ® next to UFO... seems strange... is UFO trademarked or is UFO Magazine trademarked? ie: UFO®Magazine or UFO Magazine®

 

[ondafritz]

Phil Corso would have been a hoot to drink with. Don't you think?

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Phil Corso would have been a hoot to drink with. Don't you think?

Maybe a little too inhibited for that sort of thing, though. At least that's the impression I had of him when I saw the brief interviews in "Out of the Blue."

But you never know.

 

[CapnG]

I posted this in another thread but since this one's Corso specific I'll repost it here:

Speaking of Corso, I was reminded of one thing he mentioned in just about every interview I've ever seen of (or written about) the guy and that's this business with irradiated steak. Apparently he ate irradiated food ONCE and it did him no harm, therefore he concluded it's a good idea? What? That's a tremendous leap in logic don't you think? It's like saying "I smoked a cigarette once and I never got lung cancer!" Makes me call into question the possibility of other things he's said. Not to say that I think he's lying but anyone who's willing to take things at face value like that... I just find it incredible.