Warbird Information Exchange

Here's a response from the USAF Safety Office to my Wing Safety buddy. Now the status of the Great Lakes Diving Company appears to be a mystery itself:

We have made a few attempts to get in touch with the dive team. The
attached article sheds some light, although it offers no real explanation of
what has happened to the Great Lakes Dive Team.

THE KINROSS CONTROVERSY: HOAX, FRAUD, MEN-IN-BLACK OR GENUINE DISCOVERY

The mystery deepens as summer discoveries fade and questions remain unanswered. Journalists, writers, opportunists and perhaps even men-in-black have contacted or attempted to contact members of The Great Lakes Dive company.

The company has acknowledged the discovery of a 1953 F-89 Scorpion fighter jet and an unknown object, both sitting on the bottom of Lake Superior. Although, new revelations concerning both craft were revealed the dive season ended with the company still waiting Canadian government permission to use remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to gather additional information including video, photos and artifacts.

During August and September things really started to get interesting as new images were released that utilized side scan sonar suggesting a possible collision between the crafts and hinting that the majority of the mystery craft still lies below the lake's sand and silt with only the dome exposed.

In the last week or so the company's website, www.greatlakesdive.com has disappeared completely. A "Whois" search confirms that the domain name is owned by Adam Jimenez the company spokesman. The domain name does not expire until 2007.08.09. Also, he has not been returning email or phone messages for the past week or so.

Many, who have been taking a wait and see attitude toward the reported discoveries, are now madly jumping off the band wagon and screaming fraud and hoax!

What surprises me is why the United States Air Force or American Aviation Historical Societies or clubs weren't tripping over each other for the opportunity of confirming the discovery of the almost pristine condition Scorpion lost in 1953.I would have thought that one of these organizations would want to raise the F-89 for historical preservation. The mystery surrounding the plane itself would guarantee increased revenue for the successful organization as thousands of enthusiasts would travel to witness this piece of history.

Next, why have not the U.S. Air Force not requested the bodies of the crew of the F-89 Scorpion - First Lt. Felix Eugene Moncla (USAF) and Pilot and First Lt. Robert L. Wilson (USAF), Radar Information Officer. With reports that the canopy of the jet fighter was still intact after more than 50 years the possibility exists that the remains of the crewmen are still onboard. Surely, the families would be like the bodies returned and finally interred as per military custom.

The authorities have known for over 50 years where the crash site was located. Why has no one excavated the site or recovered the bodies.

I have had the unique opportunity of corresponding by email and by telephone with Mr. Jimenez during the past few months. From my very first contact with him he stated that the prime goal of his group was the discovery and restoration of Great Lakes shipwrecks. Their members were either engineers or professional divers. They took great pride in their activities and thought of themselves as archaeologists.

I have already told the story about how they were trying to find two French minesweepers when they determined that the dive season would end before they were finished. So they decided to put off this search until the next season and concentrate on locating the lost F-89 Scorpion. They had the general location as provided by the military in 1953 and additional information that had been written by investigators over the years. With modern GPS the general area was easily located and a search pattern drawn up and implemented. Within a relatively short period of time a large metallic signature was discovered and upon further investigation it was concluded that the object was an airplane and was in fact a F-89!

The last thing this group of Michiganders wanted was to get swept up in a 50-year old UFO controversy, but that is exactly what they got.


Strangers started to call offering large amounts of money for partnership and sponsorship opportunities for the recovery and documentation including movie rights on the objects sitting on the lakebed.

I was approached by a group of influential persons, some of which are members of a private UFO and paranormal mailing list. This members of this list are writers, producers, politicians, lecturers and other associated with the field of UFOs and the paranormal. They mentioned claimed that their main objective was to recovery the F-89 and the mystery object. They claimed that they were genuinely concerned with the U.S./Canadian governments or some other agency or entity covertly recovering the objects.

This group sounded credible and after a series of emails and phone calls with various members including the president of the group I passed the email onto Adam Jimenez. I simply forwarded the emails to Jimenez leaving it up to him and his partners to contact the party if interested.

Adam and his partners contacted the group and were, to say the least, unimpressed. Apparently, these influential parties were not prepared to accept "let us think about this for a while" and get back to you. This group attempted to scare and intimidate Adam and his partners and shortly thereafter I received an email containing this section:

I wanted to drop you an email and let you know that we have no interest in working with the group that emailed you about us. Over the past couple of days we have determined that this individual or group have misrepresented who they are and who they are affiliated with. We have received threatening emails and outright lying voice mails from this group or individual. We still value your input and integrity on this project, but please do not forward any contact (email or otherwise) from this group or individual to us.

What's ironic about receiving this email is the fact that I stressed that it was my opinion that any group wanting to work with The Great Lakes Dive company had to be patient and allow them to discover that they needed the group to complete this project and achieve the best results.

So, is the whole thing a hoax, complete with doctored photos and false news reports? Is Adam Jimenez a genius of media exploitation? Was Linda Moulton Howe, Gord Heath and myself fooled into believing that there was a real story here?

Certainly I have doubts. Like you unless I can touch the object or see indisputable video proof of it how can anyone be sure. I honestly don't know the truth, but I do believe in Adam Jimenez. I believe they took their website down for the fall and winter just to give themselves the opportunity to digest what has happened and to create a plan for the future. Hell, they just weren't overwhelmed they were terrified by the attention of the conspiracy whackos and well intentioned investors!

We should all just take one step back and let the story unfold in its own way. The Great Lake Dive company owners are not unsophisticated and they have taken appropriate measures to safeguard and protect their discoveries.

The mystery has remained unsolved for 53 years another few months really shouldn't make any difference.