Richard Doty
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 5
| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Doty |
| On the Timeline | 11 events, 1958–2022 |
Richard C. Doty is a retired U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) agent who, while stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico in the late 1970s and 1980s, fed false information about UFOs and aliens to researchers, most notably physicist Paul Bennewitz. He has acknowledged spreading disinformation, though he has also claimed that some of what he passed on was true. His story is central to the 2010 book and 2013 documentary Mirage Men.[1][2]
The Bennewitz affair
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In 1979–80 Albuquerque physicist Paul Bennewitz reported lights and radio signals near Kirtland Air Force Base and the Manzano nuclear weapons storage area. AFOSI assigned Doty to his case. Rather than simply telling Bennewitz he might be observing classified activities, Doty, with the help of UFO researcher William Moore, cultivated his trust and fed him forged documents and stories about alien bases, abductions and a secret war at Dulce, New Mexico. Bennewitz's mental health deteriorated, and he was eventually hospitalised. Doty later admitted feeding disinformation to Bennewitz and other researchers.[1][3][4]
Other researchers
In 1983 Doty met journalist Linda Moulton Howe at Kirtland, showed her a document describing alien visits and a "Project Aquarius", and offered film for an HBO documentary that never appeared. A forged letter about a Civil Air Patrol member's UFO photographs was delivered to the civilian group APRO in 1980. Doty also told lawyer Peter Gersten about "MJ-12" in early 1983, and he has been linked by researchers to the origins of the Majestic 12 documents and to the later "Project Serpo" story, though these links are disputed.[1][5]
Mirage Men and later claims
In Mark Pilkington's Mirage Men (2010) and the 2013 documentary of the same name, Doty describes his role in deceiving UFO researchers, presenting it as authorised counterintelligence work. He has also said that some of the information he passed on was genuine and that he was acting under instructions from superiors, including a handler he called "Falcon"; there is no independent evidence for these claims. After leaving the Air Force he worked in law enforcement in New Mexico, and he has co-written books with Robert Collins.[1][4][6]
On the UAP Timeline
- Hill AFB landing claim (1958) (1958) — An anonymous military source claims a UAP deliberately landed at Hill AFB.
- Spread of the Bennewitz disinformation (1980s Undefined) — Doty's fake document spreads to the public and into books and media.
- Doty's psychological operations claim (1980s) — Doty says an Air Force unit ran psychological operations on people who saw secret aircraft.
- Weitzel letter (1980) (July 1980) — Air Force counterintelligence officer Richard Doty delivers a forged letter to a civilian UAP group.
- Bennewitz affair (17 November 1980) — Doty gives physicist Paul Bennewitz a forged document to confuse him.
- Vallée on the disinformation campaign (1989) (17 September 1989) — Vallée writes there is a large disinformation campaign around UAP.
- Vallée meets D'Amato on secret programs (1992) (22 May 1992) — Vallée writes he met Senate counsel Dick D'Amato about secret programs.
- Project Serpo (1 November 2005) — A message board host receives an alleged 3,000-page report on a famous case.
- Doty on Serpo believers (2020) (2 February 2020) — Richard Doty allegedly says some DIA members believe parts of the SERPO 'exchange' rumor.
- Doty worked for Puthoff (8 February 2020) — Puthoff says Richard Doty worked for him on a program before AATIP.
- Doty's five Area 51 projects claim (13 June 2022) — Richard Doty claims five UAP-related projects at Area 51.
References
- "Richard Doty, disinformation, Paul Bennewitz and UAP whistleblower fallout", The Debrief · thedebrief.org · archived copy
- Mirage Men — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Paul Bennewitz — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Spying, disinformation accusations follow UFO figure Rick Doty: an exclusive interview", KRQE · digital-release.krqe.com · archived copy
- Majestic 12 — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Mirage Men: A New Chapter in Ufology", Skeptoid blog (2014) · skeptoid.com · 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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