by caryn » Fri Jan 26, 2007 3:36 am
Just so George isn’t accused of conspiring with the dreaded RU team – let me have the honour of posting:
Thu, 25 Jan 2007 12:20:26 -0800 "George Knapp" <gknapp@klastv.com> Wrote:
To anyone who has an interest in the Duncan O'Finioan "Ultimate Warrior" case:
A few months ago, I received a series of emails from Jack Sarfatti and others on this email list regarding Duncan O'Finioan, who has been interviewed by Project Camelot regarding his claims of being recruited at a young age into an ultra-secret cadre of government assassins. Many on the email list expressed their doubts about the veracity of Duncan 's tale, primarily because there was very little in the way of supporting material. It seemed to me that it was a healthy and necessary give-and-take. Bill Ryan of Project Camelot responded to some of these criticisms. Although I have no stake in the debate, one way or another, I suggested some simple steps that might be taken to verify crucial elements of Duncan 's story. In particular, it was suggested that an X-ray exam or other type of medical imaging test cold be used to find out if Duncan 's arm is actually "hard-wired" as he claimed to Bill Ryan on camera. Bill was gracious enough to put me in contact with Duncan to see if he might be willing to participate in such an exam. Kit Green offered to provide some much needed medical advice.
Several days ago, I sent out an update after being informed by Duncan 's new producer-agent-publicist that no such testing would be allowed. The producer, Judy Bell, quickly responded to the email I sent to all of you.
At her request, I am forwarding the note she sent to me, along with my response to her remarks. I apologize in advance for my verbosity. Again, if this is not a matter that interests you, please pardon me for cluttering up your email and feel free to delete this right now..
GK
From: Judy Bell [bellestarr@earthlink.net] Sent: Fri 1/12/2007 8:06 PM
To: George Knapp
Cc:
Subject: Duncan O'Finioan
Attachments:
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Mr Knapp,
It is amusing to read the indignant postings on sites such as Reality Uncovered and others. And you didn't waste a moment posting my email from this morning although I fail to see what is newsworthy about it. I had never heard of you prior to your contacting Duncan and I don't care what you think or don't believe or anything else. Perhaps you are on "their" side, a goon paid to keep anger and doubt stirred up to discredit others like Duncan from speaking out? We think you are one of "them" but we won't play into your game.
Anyone with a brain knows that when making a film of a life story, the story rights are purchased and owned by the producers. Therefore, we will continue to protect our investment and none of this is any of your business. If you don't believe him....well, okay....who are you anyway? What you think does not matter to me. Duncan did not ask to be interviewed by Project Camelot and the stress of confronting the memories takes a heavy toll on him. You and some of the others who seem to think you are entitled to have these demands answered need to get a life. I'm stunned at the time and energy put into the rantings and ravings I read in these forums. There are many more productive ways to spend ones time.
And, this time you have my permission to post my email online....or don't you have the guts? I'm done.
-----------------
Dear. Ms. Bell,
Whew. You sure told me. I am thoroughly chastised, not to mention humbled and embarrassed. Yikes, what an ass-whippin'. Thanks for giving me permission to post your email on line. Otherwise, I would never have managed to scrape up enough entrails and other pieces-parts to follow through with this. (Lordy, just thinking about it makes my knees tremble.) I'm including your note in its entirety because I think it says a great deal about you and your project, and because I am confident that the people who read it will be able to form judgments of their own, even without any comment from me.
Oh, but I do have a few comments nonetheless. Hope you don't mind.
1) You say you are "amused" by indignant postings on Reality Uncovered and elsewhere. Good for you. We all need to find amusement as we go through life. Helps the digestion and blood flow. For my part, I do not believe I have ever posted anything on Reality Uncovered. I am familiar with that website and think they do a good job in their examination of many controversial topics. If they have posted material about Duncan , particularly anything that I may have written to someone else, it is news to me, but I'm now going to take a look to find out. Have I ever written something that could be perceived as indignant? Yeah, maybe, but not more than once or twice a day for the past 25 years of my professional life.
2) You say I did not waste any time posting the email you sent to me and that you don't see anything newsworthy in what you wrote.
Yes, I did forward your note to an email group that has been discussing Duncan 's case for the past few months. I believe I explained this in my initial response to you. The ongoing discussion within this group is the reason I attempted to contact Duncan in the first place. (More on that in a moment.) I did not know that you might consider our exchange to be private or confidential, especially since I believe I identified myself as a journalist. Confidentiality is something I take very seriously. If you expected our communication to be strictly confidential, I wish you had stated as much because I would have honored your request.
As for whether your remarks were newsworthy, that's a tougher call. One thing I've learned as a career journalist is that the public often has its own idea about what is and is not newsworthy. Pres. Bush doesn't think the public needs to know about widespread surreptitious eavesdropping programs or the ongoing torture of terror suspects by surrogate entities. The pesky public has a different view.
Your announcement that Duncan would not be available for any interviews and would not submit to any independent testing IS newsworthy, at least within the group I mentioned. This group, which includes many world-class scientists and free thinkers, has been discussing Duncan 's case for awhile now. Some of them have been openly critical, but most have adopted a healthy wait-and-see stance. Although it is a high-brow group including several persons with extensive backgrounds in government intelligence programs, the general attitude is open-mindedness, even about controversial topics like UFOs and black projects. You seem to be something of a newcomer to this field. Here's a tip. Open mindedness, tempered by healthy skepticism, is a rare thing, especially among persons of their caliber and scientific pedigree. They will ask tough questions, naturally, but if Duncan could provide proof of his claims, they are people who would stand behind him without fear of what might happen to their professional reputations. You can believe that or not. It just happens to be true, and, as mentioned, extremely rare. I believe it is a mistake for you to give them all the brush-off because you are angry with me, but hey, you're the movie producer. The rest of us are just unpaid extras.
3) You say you have never heard of me and don't care what I might think or believe.
Never heard of me? Ouch. That hurts. I'll try to get over it.
It doesn't matter whether you've ever heard of me. What seems clear from your remarks is that you have little if any familiarity with the larger arena of UFO/Government Conspiracy/Black Projects stuff. That's too bad. These are treacherous waters. The learning curve is steep. If you are going to competently represent your new client, you'd better start hitting the books.
By the way, I've never heard of you either. I mean no offense by that and am sure you are a major player in the film industry. Just for curiosity, I did some checking. One item on your resume is a credit for "casting" one or more episodes of the TV blockbuster "Eight is Enough". Awesome. I never actually watched the show but remember seeing the title in TV Guide. Was that the program starring Marcia Brady? Back when I was a teenager, she was pretty hot.
4) You think I am on "their side" and might be a goon who wants to intimidate witnesses like Duncan from coming forward. You (or "we") think I'm 'one of them'.
I've been called a goof and a goober but never a goon. This is a first.
Intimidate witnesses? I wish. My cats boss me around. Pigeons kick sand in my face. Little kids steal my lunch money. I'm going to intimidate an ultimate warrior? Maybe in a movie script, but not in real life.
Am I one of them? If by "them" you mean people who ask simple, basic questions whenever a fantastic story like Duncan 's emerges, then I am guilty as charged.
5) It's the job of producers to purchase story rights and protect their investment and you don't care what anyone else believes, especially me, and it's none of my business, and who am I anyway?
Once again, ouch.
Yes, producers purchase story rights. Yes, they protect their investments. Obviously, I am not a big-time Hollywood producer like yourself and I have never worked with Dick Van Patten, but I would think it would be in your interest--and Duncan 's--to be able to market this blockbuster as a true story. Now, maybe a person with your extensive Hollywood resume can get this story made into a movie without having any verifiable proof that it ever happened, and maybe you and Spielberg are having brunch tomorrow to talk about whether Tom Cruise or Val Kilmer will play Duncan in the film, but just in case you do not yet have Martin Scorcese attached as the director, you might consider another approach.
It might sound crazy, but what if you could demonstrate that Duncan 's story is true? What if that information was widely circulated prior to the big opening night gala at Graumann's Chinese? Wouldn't all of that be a good thing? Wouldn't it sell a few books during those long months of haggling over the script and merchandising rights with your colleagues Sherry Lansing and Francis Coppola? It's just a thought.
6) You say Duncan did not ask to be interviewed by Project Camelot, that it is very stressful for him to recall the events in his life, that people like me think we are entitled to answers, and that we all need to get a life.
First of all, thanks for your concern about me getting a life. Between us, I've really put some effort into that of late. I've been going to garage sales. I put an ad in the classifieds. Haven't found a life yet, but hope springs eternal.
Your assertion about how Duncan did not request the interview by Project Camelot is vaguely disingenuous. That's pretty clever on your part. (If they ever make the Eight is Enough Reunion movie, maybe you could write the screenplay.) That said, this point gets to the heart of our disagreement.
I don't know exactly how the interview with the Camelot folks came about, but I can guess about parts of it.
First, I think we can all agree that Duncan was not forced to do the interview. No one strapped him into a chair, held a gun to his head, and forced him to spill the beans in front of a camera. After all, he has superhuman powers. He can beat up entire basketball teams in the blink of an eye. He's the ultimate warrior, if I am not mistaken. He's got a hard-wired arm and can whip out a can of whoop-ass in a heartbeat when he gets ticked off. That's what I've heard anyway. Somewhere along the way, he consented to the interview, willingly and of his own accord. (I have no doubt that you would have prevented this from happening had you been his producer-agent-publicist-defender at the time. But, of course, you were not. You came into this at a later stage.)
Second, Duncan is the person who came forward with this incredible story. No one came to Pahrump and ordered him to talk about it. He wrote it down. Those were his fingers pounding the keyboard. He's the one who wanted to tell it, according to the promo material I've seen, no matter what the consequences might be. Right?
He also took an active role in trying to promote the story. As I mentioned to you in my first communication, I received an unsolicited email from Duncan in late 2005, asking me if I might be interested in interviewing him for television. I didn't call him up and hound him for his story---he reached out to me. In my line of work, I get dozens of solicitations every single day from people who want to tell me their stories. I now regret my decision to pass on Duncan 's request to be interviewed because I would have been able to ask him the questions that must now be routed through you. My guess is that it will be a long time before he submits to any unencumbered or unscripted interviews, let alone any medical exams to verify his unique physical characteristics. So be it.
Contrary to your shrill missive, I do not believe that I am "entitled" to any answers about Duncan . My guess is that everyone else on the referenced email list feels the same way. Entitled? No. Hopeful? Yes. Duncan is the person who is telling this story. Duncan is the one who told his interviewers that he had proof. My personal opinion is that those producers allowed him to tell the story without demanding much verification. Without doubt, it's an interesting yarn, so maybe they didn't push it as hard as they could have. Then again, they are not 60 Minutes, nor are they trying to be. They wanted to market an interesting video.
However, Bill Ryan, a name that even a latecomer like yourself must know, is a participant in the email list I mentioned. Somewhere along the line, he became engaged in a spirited discussion with some of the other folks about the veracity of Duncan 's story. For the most part, the exchanges were pointed but civilized. A few of the online chats were heated. I read them but did not jump in until late in the debate. I wrote to Bill and expressed my opinion. (Yes, I know that my opinion does not count in your estimation. You probably laughed about it with David Mamet when he popped over to your place for a late-night glass of Chablis.)
My point to Bill Ryan was straightforward. If Duncan is telling the truth, there is an easy way to find out. Put his "hard wired arm" under an x-ray machine or CAT scan or other sort of medical imaging equipment. If there is something in his arm, it should be visible. A prominent medical professional on the email list agreed to act as a consultant. Other participants expressed their interest in whatever the results might show.
I told Bill Ryan that I am skeptical about Duncan 's story, but skeptical in the classic sense of the word. If the proof is there, I'd be happy to defend his story, or at least part of it. I am not hostile to this possibility and do not find it hard to believe that some government entities might pull something like he describes. Many other folks on the email list feel the same way, but there should be some sort of minimal effort to verify the most easily verifiable part of Duncan 's story. Bill Ryan and I exchanged messages. The exchanges were cordial. He took no offense at being asked such basic questions. He offered to put me in touch with Duncan and gave me the impression that Duncan was anxious to prove to the world that he is telling the truth.
I wrote to Duncan . He did not respond to my email. I wrote again. He sent me a note but acted as if he hadn't read anything I sent him. I wrote a third time and told him I would not bother him again if he did not want to be contacted. That's when YOU entered the picture and informed me that Duncan will not be talking to anyone, will not cooperate with any inquiry, that people like me should get a life.
As Jed Clampett might say, wheeee dawgies.
Even though I do not have a Duncanesque super-secret chip in my cranium, I can muster enough clogged brain cells to understand that this line of inquiry is a dead end. I'm guessing that few of my fellow losers in the vast and colorful Get-A-Life community are going to be too surprised by this turn of events. In general---and this is just my quaint, provincial, outside-the-90210-zip-code, can't get-a-table-at-Spago opinion--- but in my limited experience, people who are telling the truth about traumatic and important events WANT to be believed. They go out of their way to let the world know that they aren't lying or crazy or both. They do their utmost to prove their claims. This is particularly true for whistleblowers---those who come forward because they want to expose crimes, wrongdoing, and coverups. If they can prove their claims, they do it. From what we all heard about Duncan , he is--or was --this kind of guy.
There is a less pleasant scenario that pops up in this field from time to time. Someone comes forward with a fantastic story. They allege all sorts of things about the government. They talk about dark plots and secret cabals. They say just want to tell the truth, even at the risk of their own life. Along the way, they write books, generate internet chatter, sign movie deals, hire publicists, but they always---always---avoid interviews by anyone outside their control, always fail to provide verifiable proof of their central claims, and always blame their woes on unseen sinister forces. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in general, people who make grandiose claims and then resist efforts to verify those claims are liars. If Duncan was put through all of the stuff he says he experienced, if our government is murdering people and violating all manner of international law, and if he truly wants to expose it all---as he has stated many times---it does not ring true that he would subjugate all of that emotion and sense of outrage and desire for justice because his new agent, the one-time casting agent for Eight is Enough, wants to wait for a movie deal. If it IS true, and he is willing to wait to prove it until such time as his marketing advisors allow him to speak, then he isn't the guy we thought he was.
7) You are not a fan or rantings and ravings and believe there are far more productive ways to spend one's life.
Can I get an Amen?
Here's the bottom line. I asked one simple and obvious question regarding Duncan 's case. Is he willing to prove his claims? I was led to believe that he was willing, even anxious, to do so. That clearly is not an option at this point.
People will continue to discuss his case online, whether you like it or not, although I don't think the story has much of a shelf life under the circumstances. I have no trouble believing that Duncan may have been involved in a secretive program and has experienced troubling things in his life. I would not be shocked to learn that the U.S. government has trained and employed professional killers. But if someone claims to have mechanical or bionic implants in their body and then avoids any discussion about simple, basic, reasonable means to verify such claims, you can hardly be surprised if some people express skepticism. It's not hostility. It's not a rant or a rave. It's what "anyone with a brain" should consider.
One other point. As a reporter, I get to decide what is or isn't my business. I don't need your permission or prior approval. Duncan lives here in Southern Nevada , in the television market served by my station. If his story is true, it is big news, even worldwide news. As I expressed to him in the emails he never answered, if he has this stuff in his arm and his head, and can prove it, it would be a huge story. If it isn't the case, it is still news. Las Vegas , after all, is the scam artist capital of the world. (Okay, maybe we are number two on the list... after Hollywood .) Since Duncan is now known all over the world because of his book, his video, and all of the internet chatter, I'd say he is newsworthy, whether his claims are true or not. If someone is going to try and market a movie based on his story, it is inevitable that questions will be asked. Take a moment, run over to the villa next door, and ask Oliver Stone what he thinks. I'll bet he will have the same reaction.
Duncan is the person who came forward with the story. Duncan is the person who said he could prove it. Now, anyone who asks the obvious is a goon or a ranter or a raver.
Here's a possible scenario for your ending---free of charge. A secret team of Delta Force Ninjas parachutes into Pahrump, overwhelms Duncan , and performs radical, non-scarring surgery to remove the hard wires from his arm, thus eliminating all physical evidence of his claims. Fade to black. Start work on the sequel. Might something like this happen in real life? I’m not going to be too surprised if we all hear down the road that Duncan can no longer prove his claims because the secret government erased the evidence.
In light of the above, I would have to say, at this point, the story you are peddling is crap. Your haughty reaction to some simple questions is crapola with a cherry on top. If I'm wrong, prove it. At the count of three, we will all be holding our breath.
Good luck at the Oscars. Say hi to Brad Pitt.
GK