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"The Doty Show"

3.6.5

Art Bell : "Got a feeling that what you're about to hear, ABC would dare put on the air ! They wouldn't dare. Or if they did, it would be the 10th show down the line."

And with that, Bell kicked off the most talked about 3 hours in esoteric radio in quite some time. On paper, it appeared to be another shadowy guest to show up on Coast to Coast AM to promote yet another book, albeit this one on a unique subject, the slow demise of the infamous "Ufologist" Paul Bennewitz. Greg Bishop, former admitted "pirate" radio host and author of Project Beta: The Story of Paul Bennewitz, National Security, and the Creation of a Modern UFO Myth, was Art Bell's guest this Sunday night, but it was obvious from the beginning of the show that there was certainly more than meets the ear at work on this episode. From the start of the show, when plugging the Bishop interview later in the evening, Bell teased a "surprise guest", a concept sure to keep the C2C faithful waiting to hear just who it might be.

And a surprise it was, as in the middle of the 1st hour of the interview, notorious government disinformation agent and bit player in some key moments in Ufology, Richard Doty emerged from a decade and a half of obscurity and reclusiveness to spill the beans on a whole host of UFO related topics.

It was originally my intention to produce a piece by piece recap of "The Doty Show", but, unfortunately both time and energy prevent that. We hope to have that sometime in the future, but will press on without it for now. Therefore for those of you who missed it, there is no outright recap of the episode, just a strong suggestion to anyone even peripherally involved in the UFO field and most in esoterica to check out this episode. It is an education for both the expert and the layperson.

Presuming that by now you have heard the infamous "Doty Show" episode of C2C, we commence to discussion of said episode. Within moments of the conclusion of the show, the proverbial wires of the UFO field were a titter with discussion on just what went down. Doty put on a masterful performance of putting a little bit out there and letting everyone else draw their own conclusions. Which, of course, may have been the intent.

In all and in retrospect, Doty revealed precious little information that is not already in the "general knowledge" realm of Ufology, save for the change in the Air Force Base that purportedly hosted an ET / US gov't meeting and the laughable assertion that the captured alien liked strawberry ice cream. Yes, the Roswell incident was real. Yes, we "captured" an ET as a result of it and kept the alien for approx. 4 years. Yes, we have hidden technologies. These assertions we have already discussed ad nauseum in the field. Roswell is beginning to take on the proportions of UFO sightings in general, a beaten horse. What stood out as far as revelatory information was, in retrospect, a trick of light and shadows, allusions to wrong information circulating in the field without outright saying what it is and giving credence to an unnamed Ufologist who Doty said "got it right." There wasn't all that much that allowed for further investigation, just a new debate over whether or not Doty was on the level.

What makes Doty so captivating to many in the field is the perception of him being a "whistle blower". Where this gets complicated is that he has always presented himself as a whistle blower to those in the field, those he is "working". He worked Paul Bennewitz and he tried to work Linda Moulton Howe, and played a small role in working Bill Moore. The temptation of those in the UFO field is to believe they can see through the workers and, in turn, turn out to be bigger "marks" as an end result. By taking up the cause of determining Doty's legitimacy, they take up a cause that yields no promising results, save for learning a lesson of not to trust everyone you run into in the field of Ufology, a lesson that should be known by even the novice in the field, but sadly it is not.

Keeping that in mind, some points need to be made in relation to the episode. Chiefly among them is the enigma that is Greg Bishop and the questions arise regarding his role in this episode. He never adequately explained how me managed to wrangle Doty into working with him on this new book and how he managed to get a man who was in forced seclusion for over a decade to suddenly reverse course and show up on the biggest esoterica radio show in the world. While Art Bell asked this of Doty, his nonchalant answer was textbook, something along the lines of feeling guilty for lying so long or setting the record straight. I've made a point to some in the community to listen to the way Bishop asks questions of Doty throughout the episode. It sounds like a scripted drama and while I know Bishop has a background in radio, this may go beyond that. A book alone may not be just what this is all about.

The story of Paul Bennewitz as suggested by this appearance was a cautionary tale for anyone in the UFO field. Trust no one and don't ask too many questions. One wonders of Bishop's thoughts on Bennewitz when he dubs Bennewitz's interest in UFOs to be his "Achilles heel". And Doty's defense of "I was just following orders" holds no water for those of us who exercise personal responsibility. If the point of this appearance was to serve as a warning for the general public that inquiring about UFOs is a bad idea, then the purpose may have been accomplished in some small degree.

Another "message" one could draw from this episode was a general smear on the field in general, painting it as a science rife with wrong information, an assessment that may or may not be true, depending on one's degree of investigation into the field. To the layperson, that presents a daunting task when one merely wants simple answers. There are no simple answers in Ufology, save for the reply to the question, "Is this a seriously troubled field ?", which is, of course, "Yes".

The greater question of "why does Doty emerge now ?" may not be answered for quite some time. However, I will proffer a theory based upon my own observation of the greater picture. This landmark appearance came on the heels of the widely publicized and hyped to death ABC UFO Special, by within about 3 days. On that ABC UFO special, from right outside of the starting blocks was a solid plug for Coast to Coast AM, describing it as "the place to talk about UFOs". It essentially directed all those dissatisfied Americans who do not know where to go for UFO info to C2C. Enter Doty 3 days later to "reveal" a whole host of stuff to the vast C2C audience, undoubtedly populated by a small portion of people who found the show via the ABC special as well as the usual hardcore listeners who yearned for more information than the disappointing ABC special allowed. Given the favorable appearances of Bell and perennial C2C favorite Michio Kaku on the special, coupled with Bell's favorable reaction to the special, factoring in C2C's affiliated with WABC in New York City, and one can conceivably draw a line to where they worked conjunction on some aspects of the show and, perhaps, through channels higher than the media, Doty was "assigned" an appearance on C2C on this particular day. Just a thought when considering the greater picture of things.

In the event that one wonders where this author stands with regards to how truthful Doty was with what he revealed, one need not wonder. I've pondered it quite a bit and have come to the conclusion that the validity of Doty's comments are of little significance in the grande scheme of things. If Doty were telling the truth, he was telling the truth about things already generally assumed to be correct in the UFO field. He offered scant information to lead to greater "proof", only dubious confirmation of what is rather run-of-the-mill. Doty's words are not the key to this puzzle, it is his actions and his actions from here on out that are to be watched and discussed closely by those with a serious mind in the field.

The mere fact that one is still discussing this episode of C2C belies the fact that it is indeed the strongest of the year so far. It rose above the normal fare of Sylvia Brownes and Philip Plaits. It was eerily reminiscent of the much discussed John Lear episodes of Coast back in 2003 and 2004, "revelations" that set off a chain reaction of point-counterpoint discussions throughout the UFO community. It smashed the fourth wall of both Ufology and C2C, a rarity on the show and worthy of discussion, the veracity of Doty's claims notwithstanding.


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