Bill Cooper and Behold a Pale Horse
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 9
| Date | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Beings & bodies (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Government programs (topic) |
| People | Bill Cooper, Tim Cooper, John F. Kennedy |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 158 |
| Year | 2004 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2004 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 4 |
Milton William "Bill" Cooper (1943–2001) was an American conspiracy theorist and broadcaster who claimed that, while in U.S. Naval Intelligence, he had seen secret documents about aliens, Majestic 12 and joint human-alien bases. His 1991 book Behold a Pale Horse became one of the most influential conspiracy texts of the 1990s.[1][2]
Military service
Cooper was born on 6 May 1943 in Long Beach, California. He claimed service in the Air Force, the Navy and Naval Intelligence until 1975, including on a briefing team for the commander of the Pacific Fleet; public records confirm only Navy service at petty officer rank, including a tour in Vietnam.[1]
UFO claims
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From 1988 Cooper posted to the ParaNet computer bulletin board, claiming that in 1966, aboard the submarine USS Tiru, he had seen a large metal craft enter and leave the water, and that he had seen documents about alien treaties and underground bases. He worked for a time with John Lear before accusing him of being a CIA plant. Some ufologists said material Cooper presented as naval intelligence documents had been plagiarised from their own research.[1]
*Behold a Pale Horse*
The 1991 book combined UFO claims with theories about a secret world government, the Illuminati, the Kennedy assassination and AIDS, and early printings reproduced the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a chapter later dropped. Scholars describe it as a highly complex "superconspiracy" text. It was popular in UFO and militia circles and remained in print for decades, influencing hip-hop artists, The X-Files and later movements such as QAnon.[1][2]
Later years
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From 1992 Cooper hosted the shortwave radio show The Hour of the Time from his home in Eagar, Arizona. In the late 1990s he turned from UFOs to anti-government themes and later said the alien story was a government invention. Charged with tax evasion in 1998, he evaded arrest and was named a major fugitive in 2000. On 5 November 2001 Apache County deputies tried to arrest him on assault charges; he shot a deputy in the head in an exchange of fire and was killed.[1]
Assessment
Researchers found Cooper's claims contradictory, and some documents he cited could not have existed when he said he saw them.[1][3]
People and topics
- Bill Cooper — Author of Behold a Pale Horse.
- Tim Cooper — California researcher who said he received many MJ-12-style documents from anonymous sources in the 1990s.
- U.S. Navy — The U.S. naval service, whose pilots reported the UAP encounters revealed in 2017.
- MJ-12 — Disputed documents describing a secret committee managing crashed saucers.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- John F. Kennedy — 35th U.S. president, named in disputed MJ-12 memos.
On the Timeline
- Charles Bowsher audit claim (7 August 2004) — A consultant says a former U.S. comptroller general found a 'crashed UFO program' in an audit.
- Ramey memo (2004) — A 1947 photo of Gen. Ramey holding a message is enlarged, and its text is debated.
See every 2004 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Milton William Cooper — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Conspiracy theory book of the month: Behold a Pale Horse", Conspiracy Watch · conspiracywatch.info · archived copy
- Majestic 12 — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- cs.mcgill.ca · cs.mcgill.ca · archived copy
Further reading
- Majestic 12 — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Majestic 12 file — FBI Vault · vault.fbi.gov · archived copy
- Dwight D. Eisenhower — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- John F. Kennedy — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Jimmy Carter UFO incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
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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