“What do they want
for Proof? There is no proof. There are no authorities whatsoever. No
president, no academy, court of law, congress, or senate on this Earth has the
knowledge or power to decide what will be the knowledge of tomorrow. There is
no use in trying to prove something that is unknown to someone who is ignorant
of the unknown or fearful of its threatening power. Only the good, old rules of
learning will eventually bring about understanding of what has invaded our
earthly existence.”
– Wilhelm Reich, Contact With Space
Reich moved from New York to an area just outside the town
of Rangeley in rural southern Maine in the early 1950s. Here he built a new
home and laboratory personally designed to integrate home and laboratory into a
single, brilliantly practical building (now the home of the Wilhelm Reich
Museum). Another laboratory was added soon after for students.
This structure was the setting for the so-called Oranur
Experiment — a chilling example of the accumulator’s undeniable ability to
concentrate energy. The experiment called for the placing of a very small
amount of radium in an accumulator, the unexpected result of which was to
toxify a surprisingly large area of southern Maine surrounding his home and
laboratory — one that took several months to dissipate.
And so we come to it. Reich’s interest in UFOs dates from
1953. Why did he become interested in them? And how did he arrive at his
conclusions concerning them? Until 1953, there is no written or anecdotal
indication that he had paid any attention to all the publicity surrounding
«flying saucers» even when in 1952, some visitors to his home and laboratory
reported seeing shining objects in the sky that were decidedly not stars.
In November 1953, though, he read one of the best books
available on the subject at the time — Flying Saucers from Outer Space. The
author — a retired Marine Corps Major named Donald Keyhoe — was a
highly-respected and decorated World War II fighter pilot and pioneered much of
the basis for modern scientific UFO studies.
Reich’s writings indicate he was intrigued by Keyhoe’s
observation that the maneuverability, speed, and silence of the unknowns
repeatedly defied conventional laws of mechanical flight. At the time, Reich
wrote, «I had not studied anything on the subject. I knew practically nothing
about it. But my mind — used to expecting surprises in natural research — was
open to anything that seemed real.»
Keyhoe’s book was followed by E. J. Ruppelt’s Report on
UFOs. Ruppelt was a retired USAF Captain who had headed the Air Force‚s ongoing
UFO record-keeping (and public relations) program ‘Project Blue Book’. And his
book prompted Reich to note, «The Ruppelt Report on UFOs clearly reveals the
helplessness of mechanistic method in coming to grips with the problems posed
by the spacemen.
The cosmic orgone energy which these living beings are using
in their technology is beyond the grasp of mechanistic science since cosmic
laws of functioning are not mechanical but what I term «functional«. The
helplessness of mechanical thinking appears in the tragic shortcoming of our
fastest fighter jets to make and hold contact with UFOs. Being unavoidably
outdistanced is not a flattering situation for military pride. The conclusion
seems correct: Mechanistic methods of locomotion must be counted out in coping
with the spaceship problem.»
One night as he sat on the steps outside his home in Maine,
something flashed by at great speed. Its behavior was not suggestive of a
comet, meteorite, or shooting star. Reich reported the sighting to the Air
Force Base at Presque Island, Maine. It was the first of many sighting reports
that he would forward to the Air Force. Following his report, he was asked to
fill out an official questionnaire. In March, 1954, Reich sent a copy of his
survey on UFOs to the Air Force. The survey was actually a manuscript detailing
his theoretical conclusions of them as spacecraft.
The questionnaire came out of ‘AFR 200-2’ — the Air Force’s
regulations regarding the reporting of UFOs which had gone into effect in
August of that year. Reich had filled out copies of the form following a number
of sightings. His daughter Dr. Eva Reich — now a retired physician living in
Maine — recalled that «the interest of the Air Force in UFOs was being totally
suppressed at that time. When you reported a UFO, they came to you with this
questionnaire and told you it was secret and had you fill it out. Then they
took it away. What happened with it, nobody knows. When Reich published the
questionnaire in Contact With Space, he revealed a big secret.»
Basic to this scientist’s understanding of the Universe was
the pervasive presence of energy (which he termed “orgone energy”), implying
the possibility of life in space. At this time, his questioning encompassed the
galactic currents, the formation and destruction of star systems, and the
origin of the Universe itself. Along with his deepening involvement in
cloudbusting, he now began a careful examination of the stars and set about
proving that some “stars” did not behave like others.
The method he used was nocturnal, time-lapse photography. In
this investigatory technique, the camera is carefully set to face the night sky
with the shutter open. The experiment proceeded with unexpected results. Some
of the stars did not produce the white lines caused by the Earth’s rotation.
These stars simply vanished indicating that they were something else. He now
began to wonder in earnest what they might be and specifically what they were
doing in the skies over Maine.
Reich saw the Oranur Experiment — with its massive pollution
of the Maine area — as the cause of their immediate interest in the region.
Considering his own observations, those of a number of co-workers, and
independent reports of UFO activity over Maine, it was hardly egoistic that he
should assume that his activities might be the subject of their special
attention. If these craft had harnessed the sea of energy pervading the
Universe, what might be the effect of training a cloudbuster on one? The
results of this action were both profound and disturbing. He writes in Contact
With Space:
“I hesitated for weeks to turn my cloudbuster pipes toward a
«star» as if I had known that some of the blinking lights hanging in the sky
were no planets or stars but space machines. With the fading out of the 2
«stars», the cloudbuster had suddenly changed into a spacegun. When I saw the
«star» to the west fade out 4 times in succession, what had been left of the
old world of human knowledge after the discovery of orgone energy, tumbled
beyond retrieve. From now on, everything – anything — was possible. Nothing
could any longer be considered ‘impossible’.
“I had directed the draw-pipes connected with the deep well
towards and ordinary star and the star had faded out 4 times. There was no
mistake about it. 3 more people had seen it. There was only one conclusion: The
thing we had drawn from was not a star. It was something else — a UFO! The
shock of this experience was great enough not to repeat such an action until
October 10, 1954.»
Preceding this on October 5 and 6, 3 large, yellow UFOs hung
low over the southern horizon with another over the observatory on Reich‚s
property. On October 10, a large reddish UFO hovered just to the south of the
property. At this point, the cloudbuster was trained on it and it moved. The
unknown became less red as the device kept its aim, then moved higher, and
later sank down below the horizon.
Shortly thereafter, a second light (yellow) appeared in the
west. After 2 minutes of direct drawing, it faded, came back, flashed,
pulsated, and wobbled while moving irregularly from south-to-north. There was
for Reich the distinct, subjective impression of a struggle. “It came back
again shortly after, and again became fainter and smaller after drawing on it.
The remaining 4 unknowns (to the north, south and west) then removed
themselves, disappearing from sight.»
On October 10 for a second time, Reich dimmed «stars» and
induced them to move «as if in flight in different directions.» He again
concluded they were machines and not ones of terrestrial origin. While it might
seem naive to some, Reich choose to direct his written concerns regarding this likelihood
directly to President Eisenhower.
The White House response asked him to send such
communications to the Air Force and to the CIA. As a result, a letter
articulating his observations of and concerns about UFOs was sent to the
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency — a career Naval Intelligence
officer named Roscoe H. Hillenkotter. Reich would have had no way of knowing,
but in more rarefied circles the Director was sometimes referred to by another
title – ‘MJ-12’.
Not only had Reich inadvertently made contact with a member
of the President’s ultra-secret UFO working group [Majestic-12], he had reached
out to its top man. Was the information Reich supplied a contributing factor in
Hillenkoetter’s becoming such a vocal opponent of UFO secrecy following his
stepping down as Director?
Or was this simply part of a plan to allow an extremely
highly-placed operative to insinuate himself smack in the center of civilian
UFO counterculture? I cannot say, but I am convinced that if the members of
MJ-12 were not aware of Reich’s UFO-related activities prior to October 1954.
They were from that time on and would have identified him as a man whose
actions bore monitoring. And possibly worse.
In Wilhelm Reich and the Cold War, Jim Martin identifies one
other plausible link between Reich and MJ-12. His name was Lewis W. Douglas.
Reich refers to him briefly in Contact With Space as the “Director Savings and
Loan” and as a close associate of President Eisenhower. He was also Director of
Research for the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Tucson and a man very
interested in weather control. Their first contact dates from 1954 when Reich
had his assistant — William Moise — attempt to contact Douglas and arrange a
meeting with him.
It had not been Reich who suggested to Moise that he get in
touch with Douglas. It had been Charles Gardner, Jr., Executive Secretary of
the Advisory Committee on Weather Control for the Government. He was also the
National Weather Bureau’s liaison with the Institute of Atmospheric Physics.
Gardner had actually written to Moise on March 21, 1955 saying «we appreciate
being informed of your activities.»
Douglas’s secretary wrote up Moise’s calls in the form of
memos. The first one read in part: «He {Moise} had just come from Washington
and had spoken to people in the Dept. of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, and in
Mr. Gardner’s office about weather control. They suggested that Mr. D {Douglas}
might be interested in information he had.» But no answer was forthcoming until
July 27 when Douglas cabled Moise, and Reich and Douglas began to correspond.
They likely would have met in Tucson later that year, but Douglas had to be
hospitalized for major surgery during the time Reich visited Arizona.
My colleagues Jim Martin and Kenn Thomas (archivist, author,
and conspiracy-related publisher) have engaged in some educated speculation on
the possibility of a link between Lew Douglas and MJ-12 and it is worth
relating here. I draw directly from Martin’s published comments in doing so.
Douglas was known to be very close to Eisenhower and had a
well-known interest in weather control. The Douglas-Moise Memo is dated July
14, 1954, only 10 days prior to the seminal National Archives‚ MJ-12 document,
the Cutler-Twining Memo. Thomas reminds us that Robert Cutler had been with the
CIA as a psyops (psychological operations) expert and instrumental in bringing
Eisenhower’s «Atoms for Peace» to completion.
In his memo, Cutler informs USAF General Nathan Twining
(‘MJ-4’) that a scheduled meeting is being changed and that the «Special
Studies Project» would now meet «during the already scheduled White House
meeting of July 16, rather than following it as previously intended.» What the
actual reason for this change, it insured that President Eisenhower would be in
attendance. Quoting Martin:
“Thomas suggests that the timing of this sequence of events
might indicate that Douglas — as a member of Eisenhower’s ‘kitchen cabinet —
may have been privy to or associated with the MJ-12 group. I agree that Douglas
— one of the most powerful men in American politics at the time — would have
known about MJ-12 if it existed.
Thomas argues that Douglas — having been briefed about the
meeting of MJ-12 members on July 16 at the White House — developed a more
serious interest in Reich’s planned operations in Tucson on the basis of
Reich‚s observations of UFOs. This would have explained the sudden change in
attitude on July 27, 1955 when Douglas sent a telegram to Moise inviting
further correspondence. After all, Douglas had hired a ‘UFO nut’ — James E.
McDonald — to head the IAP in 1954.»
Freewheeling conspiratorial musings or grounded, informed
speculation? Personally, I subscribe to the latter. For the record, Martin
establishes that Reich drove through Roswell on his way to Tucson. There is
some intriguing anecdotal evidence that he returned there, but it is not
inconclusive.
Reich’s point-of-view on UFOs shifted between 1953 and 1957.
At first, he theorized they were benign observers. But then he gradually became
convinced that either by intention or accident, they were contributing to the
pollution accumulating in the atmosphere. Contact With Space — privately
published after his 1957 death — documents early weather modification — or CORE
(Cosmic ORgone Engineering) operations — and the 1954-55 cloudbusting
expedition to Arizona.
The book — published in an edition of only 500 — details a
great deal more information than this paper is designed to cover. And it is not
my intention here to synopsize this sweeping text. Only that Reich’s scientific
observations of, interactions with, and findings on UFOs chronicled in Contact
With Space made it indispensable in the preparation of this article.
The following day — October 11 — Reich authorized his
friend, research associate, and son-in-law (who was a trained cloudbuster
operator) to call the Air Technical Intelligence Command (ATIC) in Dayton, Ohio
and make an appointment to discuss the disabling of the UFOs the previous day.
Moise was in Ohio on his way to Arizona at the time. A meeting with a General
Watson was agreed upon on for October 14. Over the phone, Watson asked Moise —
if necessary — could their conference be continued into the evening? And how
did Reich know that the UFOs had been disabled?
Moise arrived at the facility early on the 14th where he was
met by a Dr. Byers, a physicist employed by the command. Byers escorted Moise
to the conference, also attended by a USAF Captain Hill and a civilian named
Harry Haberer [6:8]. Asking where General Watson was, Moise was told that he
was unable to attend. Angered, Moise left and returned to his Dayton motel.
The next day, Moise received a phone call from Captain Hill
conveying Watson’s apologies and was asked if the report could be made to ATIC
Deputy Commander Colonel Wertenbaker. Moise agreed and they met later that day.
Present were Captain Hill, Dr. Byers, Haberer and the Colonel. Moise gave an
oral presentation and all took notes except the Colonel. Feeling that this had
been a significant meeting — that at least some breakthrough had been made in
interesting a branch of the Government in Reich’s observations of the
involvement with UFOs — Moise wrote that:
“The contact with Col. Wertenbaker was excellent throughout
the conference. He was serious, intent and looked at me while I talked. He was
the only one who did. His excitement increased as the report progressed.”
Several days later, the Colonel wrote to the Director of
Intelligence for the Air Force (somehow this note ended up in the Food and Drug
Administration’s case file on Reich). It read in part:
“General Watson did not talk personally to Mr. Moise, I am
happy to say. But I interviewed this person … The information given us by Moise
defies description and I’ll not attempt to give you the details … The Air Force
will do well to avoid entanglements but what is absolutely necessary from the
standpoint of good public relations.”
Dr. Byers, the physicist, told Moise that he was familiar
with Reich’s work. Harry Haberer — the civilian in attendance — was described
as working on the history of UFOs with the Air Force. Leaving Ohio, Moise
continued on to Arizona. Meanwhile Reich, his son Peter, and several others
were driving west as well.
Each vehicle carried an appropriate assortment of laboratory
equipment and had a cloudbuster in tow. They arrived at the leased property 10
miles outside of Tucson on October 19, 1954. Once settled in, they commenced
drawing operations, regularly observing the atmosphere with their
meteorological instruments. Records were kept in accordance with strict
scientific method. Individual journals were also kept.
Robert McCulloch — another trained cloudbuster operator —
assisted Reich and Moise in the operation. Drawing began at the end of October.
Many UFOs were observed during the nights of October 31 and November 1 over the
area. By November 7, moisture in the atmosphere had risen from the usual 15% to
65% — an unheard of relative humidity for Tucson. Drawing continued, mostly
from the southwest direction. On November 7, the first clouds were forming
thickly and soon covered the sky, indicating rain.
Then without apparent explanation, the clouds began to
decompose. That evening, a large, bright UFO was seen coming up from the north.
It moved slowly southwest until it stopped and hovered for several hours
10-to-15 degrees above the southern horizon. A connection between the
dissipation of clouds and the presence of UFOs in the skies seemed unavoidable
after this sequence of events continued to repeat itself.
Weather modification was a subject of genuine interest to a
number of military and civilian offices within the Eisenhower Administration.
The Tucson-based Institute of Atmospheric Physics was founded in 1953 as a
direct result of the President’s 1953 Advisory Committee on Weather Control. An
atmospheric physicist with a background in Naval intelligence was appointed to
the committee as Associate Director and at some point during that November or
December may have met Reich.
His name was Dr. James E. McDonald. We know him to be
another scientist of great courage and passion. One who like Reich, had the
temerity to work toward bringing the subject of serious UFO studies to the
American public, much to the detriment of both their careers. Eva Reich
recalled that McDonald had visited the cloudbusting site when a TV crew came to
film their operations. And that both he and Reich had been interviewed for the
report. But the footage was never aired.
From what we know of Dr. McDonald, there is every likelihood
he would have had cause for serious interest in at least 2 areas of Reich’s
work. Still, we do not know conclusively whether the two actually met and
possibly talked that day. Or whether their paths had merely crossed on the edge
of that desert. But there is the additional factor to consider as well — that
at the time McDonald was working closely with and for the previously-discussed
Lew Douglas.
By November 13, the relative humidity had risen to 67% and
rain seemed imminent in a location which had seen none in 5 years. But by that
evening, the humidity had dropped 20 points to 47%.
The next day, 2 bright, pulsating, flashing UFOs were seen
low in the eastern sky. Upon direct draw, the first dimmed after an initial
stronger blinking … then remained dim. The second wobbled. Then it too, dimmed
markedly. Suddenly, a third came up in the east as if from nowhere. Early on
the morning of the 18th, a UFO was seen on the horizon and within 2 hours, an
Air Force aircraft was seen circling the area. More UFOs continued to be
observed in direct relationship with the destruction of the relative humidity.
On the morning of November 29, Reich — looking at the
eastern sky through a 3½-inch refracting telescope — observed a fully
articulated cigar-shaped craft. In his notes, he writes that he first refused
to accept the notions. But windows were clearly observed on the object and
recorded in his drawings. The ship was observed — as cloud cover would allow —
off and on between December 1 and December 17. Charts of its movements were
kept.
By December 14, the atmosphere in the area of the base camp
— and indeed in Tucson itself — was oppressive and deadening. Just prior to
this, Reich’s associate Dr. Silvert had transported a small amount of
radioactive material that had been exposed in an accumulator from Maine to the
Tucson site. The material had to be towed on a cable 100 feet behind a hired
plane as its lead shielding was unable to contain its altered reaction.
At about 4:30 PM, a huge black cloud formed over the Tucson
area, gradually turning deep purple with a somewhat reddish glow. The
background radiation count in the area jumped to an alarming 100,000
counts-per-minute. The usual background count had been holding at 600-800
counts-per-minute. 12 Air Force planes over flew the base camp and their
contrails (made of water vapor) quickly dissolved. 20 minutes after both
cloudbusters began drawing, the skies cleared.
At 5:30 PM, 4 B-56 bombers flew in low over the area. Reich
felt that this «cloud» masked the presence of other UFOs. If so, this incident
was indeed properly categorized as a battle. Interest in the newly arrived and
highly aggravated radioactive material was a suspected cause of their
appearance.
As these historic events were transpiring, the University of
Arizona‚s weather modification study was ongoing and in process. Part of the
study involved the time-lapse photography of jet planes contrails. As recorded,
Reich had observed and reported their presence during various cloudbusting
operations and had observed the disintegration of their contrails during
operations in Arizona.
He even wondered «Whether the Air Force had actually such
problems in mind, I cannot tell.» Investigative author Jim Martin was able to
locate color film from the 1950s in the University of Arizona’s Physics and
atmospheric Science Building showing Air Force jets being used in weather
modification experiments as Reich himself had wondered about.
These and other such findings led me to believe that our
Government had a very real interest in Dr. Reich’s UFO observations and
findings, as well as in his weather modification work from the President on
down. By way of one last example (or coincidence, we should take note that on
November 22, 1955, President Eisenhower’s proposal for the peaceful use of
atomic energy was accepted by the United Nations. It was called «Atoms for
Peace». Some months prior, Reich had sent Eisenhower a copy of his paper
documenting the Oranur Experiment, and the operations and experiments that had
sprung from it. That paper was entitled «Atoms for Peace”.
The literature generated about Reich’s contempt trial is
considerable. And any treatment here must oversimplify its many complexities.
While interested readers should try and locate a copy of Jerome Greenfield’s
book Wilhelm Reich versus the USA among other works on the subject, the basics
are as follows.
The Federal Drug Administration had begun accumulating information
toward building a case against the scientist shortly after Mildred Brady’s
article appeared in 1947. But it had been slow going. None of Reich’s past or
current patients or any of those with the physicians that he’d trained in
medical orgone therapy had registered a complaint with the FDA or any other
authority for that matter.
Reich and his associates had broken no laws. But given that
the FDA” knew” he was a quack and orgonomy a fraud, it stood to reason there
was no need to put any of his alleged experiments to the test. Their
responsibility was to bring this sex-obsessed medical menace to justice. And
they remained undeterred in their efforts.
And so the FDA went to the federal court and brought a
complaint against the interstate shipment of accumulators or any components
thereof. Their break came in 1955 when one of Reich’s physicians — Dr. Michael
Silvert — did just that. And Reich — then involved in the Tucson cloudbusting
operation — took legal responsibility for the injunction’s violation. Silbert
felt that allowing the matter to go to court would be the equivalent of
admitting they were in the wrong. After due consideration, Reich agreed and
wrote to the judge explaining his decision noting that his argument might be
rejected. They did, and the complaint became an injunction.
FDA agents began showing up on Reich’s property. But he
refused to allow them access to any of his apparati or written materials and
continued with his experiments. This resulted in a contempt-of-court citation.
And while their original legal parry had been civil, it had now graduated to a
criminal and a court date was set.
Given the betrayal of his lawyers, he decided to represent
himself and — against the advice of some of those closest to him — chose to
make the trial a forum for the validity of his research and findings. Eloquent
though he was, the judge would have none of it. He was convicted and sentenced
to 2 years in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He was
59 years old.
Once in prison, Reich underwent psychiatric evaluation.
Staff psychiatrists noted that he «gave no concrete evidence of being mentally
incompetent» but diagnosed him as being a paranoid schizophrenia, this while
admitting their finding was «not based on physical evaluation». Early release
was denied and the Supreme Court chose not to comment on his final writ. He was
found dead in his cell on November 3, 1957 — just 7 days before his scheduled
release date.
Since his death, most accounts of Dr. Wilhelm Reich’s life and
work — be they supportive or otherwise — follow a similar logic: that the level
of importance which he ascribed to his UFO observations (and his allegations
that the Communists were out to get him) were, in themselves, a means of
«proving» — or at least suggesting — that he had gone quite mad during his last
years.
Such material is often presented in a manner suggesting that
a good deal of «fairness», objectivity, and patience were spent in sorting all
this out for the reader. Some writers don’t even bother. With no real interest
in fair scientific inquiry or method — and no serious grounding in UFO studies,
orgonomy, or the documented specifics of the conspiracy to destroy his
reputation and discredit his work — Reich’s detractors accuse and rant, exposing
the madness they perceive. Often written in angry displays of public-spirited
concern, they warn the good reader away like police at the scene of an
accident. Other accounts are simply inaccurate.
In Contact With Space, Dr. Wilhelm Reich’s reflections on
the possible implications of an extraterrestrial reality are often moving,
profound, and disturbing. He dares, as a scientist, to exercise a most precious
right: the right to challenge an established and accepted belief — the right to
think a thought, no matter how others might perceive it, recording that thought
for publication and standing by it in the face of almost universal criticism.
Read out of context — that is, without benefit of any
serious study of his previous writings, methodology or discoveries — even the
most intelligent and perceptive reader may find it preferable to dismiss his
observations and conclusions as bearing witness to a great mind finally
derailed, rather than even considering them seriously.
The very act of claiming to have observed UFOs and, over
time, their behavior; interacting with them via the cloudbuster; ascribing to
them intelligence and intention; keeping the Air Force, the Central
Intelligence Agency, the National Bureau, and the office of the President
appraised of his activities; and finally the posthumous publishing of Contact
With Space proved intolerable to all by a few.
Even A. S. Neill — the distinguished British educator who
was Reich’s loyal friend and colleague of many years — seemed convinced these
findings would only prove to be an embarrassment to orgonomy. But not at first.
In March of 1955, Neill wrote to Reich:
“Thanks for the saucer book which came a few days ago. It
sure made me sit up. So much Air Force testimony can’t be ignored. Inclined to
accept your opinion that they are benign {an opinion which changed markedly}.
The only problem I can imagine would be their arrival here to stop the
inevitable atomic destruction of all life.
Mutual fear won’t stop war. Almost looks as if Freud was
right in saying there is a death instinct when one sees the whole mass of
people thinking of football and radio etc. at a time when the sinking of a U.S.
aircraft carrier off Formosa or the enthusiasm of a U.S. pilot might set the light
to the gunpowder barrel. Hence I say let the spacemen come. They might save us
and if they came as destroyers they could not be more dangerous than man
himself.”
I should stress here that Reich had few friendships or
professional relationships of such duration and depth. And it is not my
intention to put a particular cast on Neill here. It is just that he
articulated the prevailing attitude so well. In December 1957, a month after
Reich’s death, he wrote this to Ilse Ollendorff, Reich’s former wife and
co-worker:
“The difficulty will not be to separate what’s valuable from
what isn’t. The idea that the trial was orchestrated from Moscow is just
bunkum, and we have no proof of flying saucers anyway. Why should Reich’s great
work be mixed up with either factor? That Reich later had some illusions I
think right. But they don’t so anything to lessen his work.
We all have illusions and maybe the greater we are, the
greater the illusions. But that Eva {Reich’s daughter} and Moise {his
son-in-law} and Steig {cartoonist and illustrator of Reich’s book Listen Little
Man} and a financial backer of the Arizona expedition} should go on having
illusions is bad, bad for the future of Reich’s acceptance as a scientist.
And there’s the rub: «bad for the future of Reich’s
acceptance as a scientist» — a consideration not taken lightly by Neill and
others deeply concerned about the future of orgonomy. I can only wonder how
Neill would have reacted had he been in the room when students and faculty
members at his beloved Summerhill school described the UFO sightings they had
had from the Summerhill property in Leiston, Suffolk on the occasions I was a
spea
speaker. Author David Boadella sums the conundrum up:
“Why did the orthodox scientists and psychologists condemn
Reich? Why did they dismiss him as a paranoiac while Raknes (a Norwegian
colleague) and Dr. Hoppe of Israel and lots of the sane American surgeons and
physicians and I thought him to be the most important thinker of our time? … I
must face the question that was so often raised by his enemies — his sanity…
Apparently he believed that flying saucers were from other worlds without due
proof. Yet when the judge ordered him to be examined by a board of
psychiatrists, they pronounced him sane.”
They were not alone. The great Reich scholar Professor Paul
Matthews of New York University observed in his 1973 review of Boadella’s book
Wilhelm Reich: The Evolution of His Work:
“Reich’s scientific integrity, creativity, and genius — even
to the end of his life — need no defense or confirmation from me. Nor does his
sanity need defense in the opinion of those who were closest to him and in a
position to gauge his mental status, character structure, and work capacity at
that time.”
But does all this really come down to a question of Wilhelm
Reich’s sanity? Medical researcher Ludwik Flek notes in his 1979 book The
Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact:
“What we are faced with here is not so much a simple
passivity or mistrust of new ideas as an active approach which can be divided
into several stages.
“A contradiction to the system appears unthinkable
“What does not fit into the system remains unseen
“Alternatively if it is noticed, either it is kept secret or
discredited
“Laborious efforts are made to explain an exception in terms
that do not contradict the system”
Despite the legitimate claims of contradictory views, one
tends to see, describe, or even illustrate those circumstances which
corroborate current views and thereby give them substance.
Thus the unacceptable or unacceptable theory is excluded.
The individual who persists in putting forth such a theory may ultimately be
excluded and — in a number of historic incidences — declared to be out-of-touch
with «reality» or insane. You may have the knowledge of a master scientist and
still not be able to analyze or even see beyond the accepted theories of your
own era. Reich’s work demands that we do just this.
Do Dr. Reich’s observations, deductions, and conclusions concerning
UFOs all conform to the best contemporary knowledge on the subject? Many of
them do and are virtually identical to those of countless other individuals.
Can we say with certainty that his death was the result of a conspiracy or fowl
play tracing back to MJ-12, the FDA, the Communist Party, the «Hoodlums In
Government» («HIGS,» as Reich termed them) employed by the FDA, or to that
powerful segment of society who tend to mystify biology, then mechanically
attempt to impose their own sex-negative morality on the rest of us?
No. The fact is that at the time of his death, Dr. Reich had
high blood pressure, was overweight, and a chronic smoker. But based on what he
represented to such diverse and powerful groups, would any (or all) of the
aforementioned have desired his death and had the will and means to implement
it?
Oh, yes! Without a doubt. And with the official cause of
death listed as a heart attack, the question of murder is likely to remain an
open one.
Irregardless of whether he was murdered or died of natural
causes, humanity lost a brilliant and courageous thinker in November 1957 and
one whose UFO-related work remains an extremely significant area of study for
any student of ufology. I hope this paper will encourage readers to seek out
the truth of this matter for themselves through reading and practical
application. While the most recent of the events described here linger in the
mists of history nearly 50 years past, they continue to remain as shattering
and relevant as if they had occurred last week.
Knowledge is often its own reward and anyone who takes the
time to Reich’s understand work will only benefit from it. To ignore the
profound truths it embodies affirms the actions of those who array themselves
against all that is life affirmative, and again sets the stage for the worst
aspects of history to repeat themselves. Remember — «Love, work, and knowledge
are the wellsprings of our Life. They should also govern it.»
References
Scharaf, M.: Fury On Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich. New
York, St. Martin’s Press/Marek, 1983
Reich, W, and edited by Boyd Higgins, M., and Raphael, C.:
Passion of Youth: An Autobiography. New York, Farrar Straus Giroux, 1998
Reich, W, and edited by Boyd Higgins, M.: American Odyssey:
Letters and Journals, 1940-1947, New York, Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999
Martin, J.: Wilhelm Reich and the Cold War. Ft. Bragg,
California, Fort Bragg Books, 2000 (Note: Like Reich’s Contact With Space,
Wilhelm Reich and the Cold War was published in an edition of 500 copies with
all copies of Martin’s book going to subscribers who underwrote the cost of his
research. I am hopeful that we will see another edition of this important book
in the not too distant future.)
Robbins, P.: Wilhelm Reich and UFOs. The Journal of
Orgonomy, Volume 24, Number 2, New York, Orgonomic Publications, Inc, 1990
Robbins, P.: Wilhelm Reich and UFOs, Part II: Examining
Evidence and Allegations. The Journal of Orgonomy, Volume 25, Number 1, New
York, Orgonomic Publications, Inc, 1991
Reich, W.: Wilhelm Reich Biographical Material: History of
the Discovery of the Life Energy (American Period, 1939-1952) Documentary
Volume A – XI – E, The Einstein Affair. Rangeley, Maine: Orgone Institute
Press, 1953.
Reich, W.: Contact With Space. Rangeley, Maine: Orgone
Institute Press, 1957
Eden, J.: Planet in Trouble: The UFO Assault on Earth, New
York, The Exposition Press, 1973
Greenfield, J.: Wilhelm Reich VS. The U.S.A., New York, W.W.
Norton & Company, Inc., 1974
Westrum, R.: «The Blind Eye of Science,» The Whole Earth
Review, No. 52, Fall, 1986
Boadella, D.: Wilhelm Reich: The Evolution of His Work.
London: Vision Press, 1973.
Croall, J. (ed.): Record of a Friendship: The Correspondence
Between Wilhelm Reich and A.S. Neill. New York: Farrar &Giroux, 1981
Croall, J. (ed.): All the Best, Neill. London, Watts, 1984
Matthews, P.: «Book Review,» Journal of Orgonomy, 7(2),
November, 1973
And conversations with Dr. Elsworth F. Baker, Dr Reich’s
former first assistant; Reich biographer Dr. Myron Sharaf; author and scientist
Dr. Jim DeMeo; and investigative writer and author Jim Martin.
by Peter Robbins Author and UFO Investigator
