Riconosciuto backdoor claim (1992)
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Contents 7
Riconosciuto backdoor claim (1992)
| Date | 13 May 1992 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Beings & bodies (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic) |
| People | Michael Riconosciuto |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 114 |
| Year | 1992 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1992 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 7 |
Michael Riconosciuto, an electronics and computer expert, became a key witness in the Inslaw affair. He claimed he had reprogrammed the PROMIS case-management software with a secret "back door" allowing clandestine tracking of individuals.[1] Michael Shellenberger's 2024 UAP timeline lists the claim under 13 May 1992. It links Riconosciuto to UFO lore through claims, reported in a 1991 magazine article, about weapons technology "developed from exploring Thomas Townsend Brown's suppressed work". It also cites an alleged "war" in the intelligence community between groups called "Aquarius" (around MJ-12) and "COM-12".[7][2]
The Inslaw affair
- The dispute. Inslaw, Inc. developed PROMIS ("Prosecutor's Management Information System") as a case-management tool for the Justice Department. It accused the department of pirating the software and driving the company into bankruptcy.[1][2]
- The affidavit. In early 1991 Riconosciuto filed an affidavit before a House Judiciary Committee investigation of the case.[1]
- He said he had modified PROMIS under the direction of Earl Brian, then a controlling shareholder and director of Hadron, Inc.[1]
- He claimed Brian, an associate of Ronald Reagan, had been part of a secret deal with Iran to delay the release of the American hostages until after the 1980 election, and that PROMIS was stolen to pay Brian.[1]
- He also said he had been threatened by a Justice Department official.[1]
- The arrest. Within eight days of the declaration, Riconosciuto was arrested on ten counts related to methamphetamine and methadone.[1]
- He said the charges were a frame-up, and that the chemical laboratory on his property was used to extract precious metals such as platinum.[1]
- No drug-lab contamination was found at the site, and a Department of Energy hazardous-spill specialist said the high barium levels there were unlikely to come from his work.[1]
- He was tried in 1992.[1]
- Background. Born in 1947 or 1948 and raised in Tacoma, Washington, Riconosciuto was called a "modern Da Vinci" by a local paper at the age of twelve. As a teenager he built a working argon laser.[1]
- Correction note: the earlier version of this article said "federal prison records show he was released in 2017", and that he was "convicted of methamphetamine offences". The sources read here describe his arrest and 1992 trial, but not the verdict or his release.[1]
The 1991 magazine article
- The source. The fuller claims come from an article in the November–December 1991 issue of TC Technical Consultant, reprinted with commentary by the pseudonymous writer "Branton" and posted to an e-mail list in 1999.[2][5]
- Casolaro. The article linked the jailing of Riconosciuto, "an alleged CIA computer consultant in Washington State", to the death of the journalist Danny Casolaro.[2]
- The back door. According to the article, in an interview conducted from jail, Riconosciuto said PROMIS was modified "to install a backdoor access for use by American intelligence services".[2]
- He said it was "then sold to 88 different countries as a sort of 'trojan horse' package", including Iraq and Libya.[2]
- Cabazon. Riconosciuto described projects on the Cabazon Indian reservation near Palm Springs, run by tribal manager John P. Nichols. These included joint projects with Wackenhut.[2]
- He said "enhanced fuel-air explosive weapons" were "created and tested in league with Meridian Arms at the NEVADA TESTING RANGE". He claimed they matched the power of nuclear devices.[2]
- These weapons, he said, "gained their power from polarizing the molecules in the gas cloud by modification of the electric field, a technology developed from exploring Thomas Townsend Brown's suppressed work". He said he gained that knowledge working at Lear in Reno, Nevada.[2] See Thomas Townsend Brown.
- He also said he worked on such weapons with Gerald Bull of Space Research Corporation.[2]
- Gunderson. The former FBI agent Ted Gunderson vouched for Riconosciuto. He said the supposed drug operation was "an electrohydrodynamic mining operation… using Townsend Brown technology".[2]
- Aquarius and COM-12. The article quoted "unsubstantiated information from an intelligence source" about a "war currently going on in the intelligence community". It described a group in the CIA called "AQUARIUS (around a powerful center known as MJ-12)" and a group called "COM-12" centred on Naval Intelligence, which was supposedly leaking damaging information.[2][7]
- Dulce. The timeline adds an allegation that the Jicarilla Indian Reservation was being used for testing around an underground facility at Dulce, New Mexico.[7]
- The article's caveats. The article itself noted that Riconosciuto had not produced photographs of himself with Brian or a passport showing his alleged trip to Iran. When asked, he could not describe the Justice Department official to CNN's Moneyline.[2]
- Correction note: the earlier version of this article said the article "did not attribute explicit UFO claims to Riconosciuto". The Brown, Aquarius/MJ-12 and COM-12 material is attributed to the article and its "intelligence source" rather than to Riconosciuto himself, apart from his Brown-technology claim.[2]
Assessment
- The Bua inquiry. Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua, investigating the Inslaw allegations, found that Riconosciuto had given inconsistent accounts in his statements to Inslaw's owners, in his affidavit and at his 1992 trial.[1]
- Bua compared his PROMIS story to "a historical novel; a tale of total fiction woven against the background of accurate historical facts".[1]
- Later interest. His archives later featured in the documentary series American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders. Documents from them have drawn interest in reopened cold-case investigations.[1]
- No support for UFO claims. No source read here supports the UFO-related claims attached to him.[1][2]
- Unread sources. A Justice Department statement and an Internet Archive collection on Casolaro listed earlier returned no readable text.[4][6]
People and topics
- Michael Riconosciuto — Witness in the Inslaw affair who made claims about secret technology.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Disinformation — False information spread deliberately to mislead.
On the Timeline
- Greer meets Albert Stubblebine (1992) (9 March 1992) — Steven Greer says he met Gen. Stubblebine and people tied to covert programs at a 1992 conference.
- Vallée meets D'Amato on secret programs (1992) (22 May 1992) — Vallée writes he met Senate counsel Dick D'Amato about secret programs.
See every 1992 event on the UAP Timeline →
Further reading
- Majestic 12 — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Majestic 12 file — FBI Vault · vault.fbi.gov · archived copy
- Dulce Base — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- UFO documents — CIA Reading Room · cia.gov · archived copy
- Thomas Townsend Brown — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
References
- Michael Riconosciuto — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Reptilian Conspiracies 4/4" (reprint of TC Technical Consultant, Nov–Dec 1991), CTRL list (1999) · mail-archive.com · archived copy
- Danny Casolaro — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Justice Department statement on the Inslaw investigation (1994) · justice.gov · archived copy
- mail-archive.com · mail-archive.com · archived copy
- archive.org · archive.org · archived copy
- Michael Shellenberger, written testimony to the House Oversight Committee (13 November 2024), p. 114 · oversight.house.gov
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia articles “Michael Riconosciuto”, “Danny Casolaro”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Categories: 1992 | Beings bodies | Disinformation | Government programs | Michael riconosciuto | Secrecy cover-up | Timeline event | Unidentified flying object
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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