Puthoff denies threats (2020)
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Contents 8
Puthoff denies threats (2020)
| Date | 8 February 2020 |
|---|---|
| People | Harold Puthoff, John Petersen |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 195 |
| Year | 2020 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2020 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 3 |
On 8 February 2020, at the end of a question-and-answer session after a lecture in John Petersen's Arlington Institute "Transition Talks" series in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, Hal Puthoff denied telling Steven Greer that he and his family would be murdered if he released information about advanced energy devices. "I didn't say that," Puthoff said. "Never said it. Never even thought it."[1] Michael Shellenberger's 2024 UAP timeline records the denial. It also records an answer from the same session in which Puthoff said that Richard Doty had worked for him "on another program before AATIP".[3]
The question
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- Who asked. In the transcript, Petersen opens the last exchange.[1]
- He says that "the last time I heard your name on the Internet, Steven Greer was pitching his movie that's coming out". He adds that Greer had said Puthoff told him of "some anti-gravity or…" devices.[1]
- The question is then completed, in a line labelled "Q", with "anti-energy devices or something".[1]
- The claim. According to the question, Greer had asked Puthoff why he did not make the devices public. Puthoff had supposedly replied that "they would murder your kids and your wife and probably you".[1]
- The transcript notes that Petersen laughed as Puthoff smiled.[1]
The answer
- The denial. "I didn't say that," Puthoff answered, to audience laughter, repeating it.[1]
- He said such stories "really ruins my appreciation for the media in general, because most times when I find something in there about me, it's not true". He wondered whether "that's the case with everything I'm reading".[1]
- In full. "No, I did not tell Steve Greer that if anything were released, if I were to release anything, I and my family would be murdered. Never said it. Never even thought it."[1]
- Petersen closed: "Thanks for clearing that up."[1]
Other answers in the session
- Free energy. Puthoff said he had spent years on zero-point energy and ran a "maverick inventor program" with a "million dollar calorimeter" to test claimed free-energy devices.[1]
- He called its results "a graveyard of dashed and vintage dreams". He said he had seen no evidence of a workable over-unity device.[1]
- Richard Doty. Asked about Richard Doty, Puthoff confirmed that Doty, "a very controversial figure", had been one of many consultants.[1]
- Some of what Doty told them could be verified and some could not. Puthoff joked that misleading people would have been his job as a counter-intelligence officer.[1]
- In a follow-up he said this "was on another program before AATIP".[1][3] See Doty worked for Puthoff.
- Trans-medium craft. On reports of craft moving between air, water and even solid matter, Puthoff said that "space-time metric engineering" models predict materials "so hardened that they're like made out of diamond or better, and the rest of the world looks like butter".[1]
- He added that there was no good data on craft entering solid matter.[1]
- Blue Book. To a questioner who suggested Project Blue Book had continued, he said: "Project Blue Book, as a named Project Blue Book, didn't continue. It's just that other programs were set up, with different names, all over the place."[1]
- Asked whether Stargate continued, he said: "if it has, you wouldn't hear of it."[1]
- Remote viewing. He recounted his early work with Ingo Swann at the Stanford Research Institute and the CIA's interest in it.[1]
- Other topics. He also discussed:[1]
- TTSA's policy of not saying "we know they're ET spaceships" without hard evidence.
- AATIP's 38 commissioned papers.
- Pentagon public-affairs confusion over Lue Elizondo's role. Puthoff called Elizondo "an absolute hero".
- His lack of evidence for Dan Sherman's "Above Black" claims.
The transcript
- Who made it. The transcript was published by researcher Joe Murgia on his UFO Joe site.[1]
- The heading. The heading describes the talk as "DoD's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Program", at "Berkley Springs, West Virginia" [sic], and labels it an "Alexandria Institute Presentation". That appears to be an error for the Arlington Institute, which the same page credits as host.[1]
Background
- Puthoff. Harold Edward Puthoff, born in Chicago in 1936, earned a PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford in 1967 and co-authored Fundamentals of Quantum Electronics (1969).[2]
- He then directed the SRI program on claimed psychic abilities.[2]
- Since the 1990s he has been involved in ufology.[2] In 2020 he spoke as a member of To The Stars Academy (TTSA).[1]
- Threat claims. Claims that researchers or witnesses have been threatened are common in UFO circles. Puthoff's denial shows that at least this one was attributed to him without his agreement.[1]
People and topics
- Harold Puthoff — Physicist who co-founded the SRI remote-viewing research and later worked on AAWSAP and To The Stars Academy.
- Anti-gravity — The idea of cancelling or controlling gravity for propulsion.
- John Petersen — Futurist who founded the Arlington Institute.
- Arlington Institute — The futurist think tank founded by John Petersen in 1989.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
On the Timeline
- Podkletnov gold-layer claim (2020) (4 February 2020) — Russian engineer Eugene Podkletnov claims an effect resembling gravity modification.
- Doty worked for Puthoff (8 February 2020) — Puthoff says Richard Doty worked for him on a program before AATIP.
See every 2020 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Joe Murgia, "Hal Puthoff lecture (Q&A) transcript", UFO Joe (Feb 2020) · ufojoe.net · archived copy
- Harold E. Puthoff — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Michael Shellenberger, written testimony to the House Oversight Committee (13 November 2024), p. 195 · oversight.house.gov
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia article “Harold E. Puthoff”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Categories: 2020 | Anti-gravity | Arlington institute | Harold puthoff | John petersen | 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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