This article written by the author of this site Geoff Richardson 

Conspiracy - Theory or Reality" was published in "Faster than Light "magazine

A phenomenon of modern UFO research and folklore is the concept of a "Conspiracy Theory" involving a Shadow Government or a secret high powered military organization prepared to collaborate with an "alien power" , presumably to further its own ends and ambitions whilst putting aside that which would be described as normal morals or ethics. This idea seems incredulous but has any similar form of organization existed in modern history? Has there been an agency structure that could provide a "blue print" for such an organization? Perhaps the Counter Intelligence Corps. (C.I.C.) a branch of the U.S. Military could be said to comply with the above description in many ways.

On New Years day 1942 the Corps. of Intelligence Police was re-named the Counter Intelligence Corps.. Originally based in Washington D.C. the headquarters of the C.I.C. were relocated to larger premises in Baltimore. The mission of the C.I.C. was to provide effective counter - espionage , counter - sabotage and counter subversive security. Agents could exercise imitative to "the fullest extent" . Agents also " could resort to any means or stratagems necessary" to accomplish the mission assigned. It must be said that the keyword of the C.I.C. at this time was "Loyalty to country " and British Intelligence described them as " the most deadly sabotage team in history".

The C.I.C. was a very private organization. Agents wore plain clothes and when in uniform carried no identification or badge of rank. Reports from other parts of the Military complained that the C.I.C. telephones were not listed and the location of their offices kept secret. The C.I.C. was also an elitist organization, lower ranks often had higher I.Q.s than the average army officer. One team of 20 was found to have 27 university degrees , including  several doctors of philosophy and a private who was a master of arts.

Agents of the C.I.C. enjoyed extraordinary powers , far beyond their rank or status including unlimited powers of arrest. They existed behind a smokescreen of secrecy . This caused alarm amongst the conventional regimented sections of the Military. However, by 1945 the activities of some of the lower ranks of the C.I.C. were causing concern . For example , a C.I.C. staff sergeant was absolute ruler over Bensheim (Germany) . He lived like a lord in a luxurious villa whose German owner he had evicted, driving through the locality in a white 1938 Mercedes Benz with a German girlfriend on his arm. Another former agent remarked - " We lived well amongst ruins and starvation . We wined and dined and enjoyed the most beautiful women.

Agents also employed German personnel to carry out investigations etc. - even former Nazis were writing reports and entire C.I.C. offices controlled by Germans ( having access to Top Secret reports , information etc.). The C.I.C. was also involved in the Korean War but by the 1960s had become more interested in Civil unrest and disapproval of the war in Vietnam. At this time C.I.C. agents were more likely to be found on university campuses - indeed the C.I.C. was apparently disbanded when the full extent of its domestic activities was revealed.

Is there any evidence to suggest that C.I.C. members were later to rise to positions of great power?
Well, the C.I.C. staff sergeant who so enjoyed the good life (see above) was Henry Kissinger , who later became Secretary of State under President Nixon. Without doubt Kissinger graduated from staff sergeant to one of the Worlds most powerful men.
Was there any real evidence that the C.I.C. "made deals with an alien force" ?

- - - it was revealed by College Professor Erard Debringhaus that Klaus Barbie , Nazi war criminal , was a full time , salaried informant of the C.I.C. Is there any suggestion that a C.I.C. agent could be involved with any other covert organization ? J.D. Sallinger was also a member of the C.I.C.( not the O.S.S. as many believe). Who was J.D. Sallinger ? He went on to write the American classic novel "The Catcher in The Rye" . A book that is reputed to have close associations with MKULTRA .

Finally it must be said that  many C.I.C. agents served loyally and with great courage. However, in 1947 two professional writers , Fletcher Pratt and Thomas M. Johnson began writing a full, true history of the C.I.C. . In 1948 , along with a mass of historically priceless documents, they disappeared never to be seen or heard from again. Perhaps The Conspiracy Theory is not a theory after all

Morality is not an issue

At the end of the 2nd World War in 1945 the most valuable treasure "looted" out of Germany was a group of Nazi rocket scientists which was spirited away by  U.S. secret agents in what  came to be known as "Operation Paperclip". The most famous of these rocket scientists was Vernher Von Braun - a Nazi war criminal who traded his scientific knowledge for U.S. citizenship and truly enormous  research and development budgets. Von Braun was quoted as saying The British could not afford us, The Russians terrified us, so we went to the Americans". Von Braun [ left ] joined the Nazi party in 1937 and then the S.S. in 1940 - he definitely was not a "simple scientist with no political beliefs" but was a murderous fascist who was prepared to spill the blood of innocents in order to fulfil his own ambitions.  Werner Von Braun in 1947 - NAZI scientist taken to the U.S. to continue V2 Rocket research.

Initially Nazi rocket research was carried out using "slave labour" at Peenemunde but when Allied bombing raids destroyed this site research facilities were moved to Dora - Mittlebrau , a series of underground , impenetrable caverns. Over 60,000 slaves worked round the clock at gunpoint converting the former calcium sulphate mines, the whole place being a vision of Hell to the unfortunate workers - many of whom came from Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Most feared of the caverns was Gallery 39 - the galvanizing shop - where very few lived longer than two weeks, their lungs disintegrating in the toxic fumes from the metal treatment plant.

The V2 Rocket - the most desirable technology at the end of W.W.2 . There was almost no relationship to the V1, which was a crude pilotless aircraft. The V2, however, weighed nearly 12 tonnes and was powered by a liquid oxygen/alcohol mixture.

Any infringement of the rules resulted in the same penalty - death by hanging - many of the survivors of  Dora - Mittlebrau remember such days as when Von Braun noticed damage to the guidance system of a number of rockets. He immediately ordered  twelve workers to be hanged as a warning to others. In a little more than 18 months Von Braun witnessed over 20,000 men die in the terrible caverns of Dora - Mittlebrau.

Obviously the success of N.A.S.A. and the U.S. space program  is based on the expertise of Von Braun and his Nazi cohorts  - in fact Von Braun was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his services to the Apollo Space Program but ,however, he was also involved in the development of missiles for use in the deployment of nuclear warheads and the U.S. Black Budget Program - mainly taking place at Area 51 in Nevada. The ruthless, self seeking attitude of Von Braun is still evident at Area 51  as was proved in 1987 when civilian worker Robert Frost  came home ,screaming in pain and fear. This man and several other workers had been affected by mysterious chemical fires at Area 51 - two years later he was dead.

The following article was published in “The Daily Telegraph”, 8th June, 2003