"Dr." Ken Johnston is a very colorful character. He represents himself as a former "civilian astronaut," "astronaut trainer," and "NASA Scientist," although he was none of those things. He tells all kinds of wild tales about 'alien structures on the moon' supposedly found in NASA photos that are airbrushed out of the photos that NASA releases, keeping the aliens hidden from public view (although Ken supposedly has the unretouched photos showing the alien bases).
In fact, Ken now claims, after hypnotic regression, that ETs "trained him" to make disclosures of ET presence not only on the Moon, but also on Mars: "ASTRONAUT WHISTLEBLOWER KEN JOHNSTON REVEALS HOW ETS TRAINED HIM TO DISCLOSE UNTOUCHED NASA PHOTOS OF OPERATING MOONBASES AND ANCIENT RUINS ON MARS LONG BEFORE ARMSTRONG ARRIVED."
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| Ken is photoshopped into astronaut Michael Collins' space suit for a little Cosplay |
"A test astronaut, who is also chief trainer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States of America, Ken Johnston was bowled over by the enthusiasm that hundreds of students showed during a visit to the B.M. Birla Science Centre here on Saturday."Perhaps Ken was thinking that being thousands of miles distant from the U.S. would result in "what happens in India, stays in India." Not a good assumption in this Age of the Internet!
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| At the UFO Congress, 2017 |
As has been my recent custom, I reviewed the talks at the Congress, including his. I also contacted space writer and skeptic James Oberg, who I knew had been tracking and refuting Ken's wild claims. The resulting review was highly damaging to Ken's credibility:
- Ken has a "Doctor of Metaphysics" diploma from a diploma mill, not an actual school. It does not have a campus, or instructors, or offer courses. Just diplomas. He was never an "astronaut trainer," or "scientist," let alone any kind of astronaut.
- Ken claims that he projected for a group of NASA scientists a 16mm film from Apollo 14, showing a pentagonal cluster of alien domes in the crater Tsiolkovsky. The scientists made knowing comments about the bases. Within 24 hours, NASA had altered the film, removing the alien bases.
- Johnston says that "professional debunker" James Oberg was wrong in claiming that Apollo 14 never filmed the Tsiolkovsky crater, and claims to have documents to prove it. Oberg replies that Apollo 14 never filmed Tsiolkovsky with its 16mm movie camera, which is what Johnston claims to have seen, although the Apollo 14 astronauts did photograph Tsiolkovsky late in the mission using a hand-held still camera.
Within a few days of that being published, emails were circulating among some of the more 'serious' UFOlogists associated with the UFO Congress concerning Ken's credentials and background. For some reason, the job of defending Ken's background fell not to Ken himself, but to his colleague Bret Sheppard. (Perhaps it was because Ken was on his way to India.) Sheppard's defense of Ken's bogus "PhD" was so absurd that it made matters worse. I am genuinely impressed that Alejandro Rojas of Open Minds Productions (organizer of the International UFO Congress) and others were concerned with Ken's misrepresentations. If a speaker comes to the UFO Congress and spins absurd tales about government UFO conspiracies, that's basically OK. Everyone expects that. But if a speaker comes and represents himself as something he is not, then this reflects badly on the UFO Congress, and they are right to be concerned.
At the end of Ken's talk at the Congress, he said, "tomorrow I leave for India." However, this time the result of his trip would be very different from the fawning enthusiasm he received the last time.
Ken is Kicked out of India
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| February 7, 2017: On his first trip to India, the pretend astronaut lectures at Hindustan University |
As explained on the Blog The Emoluments of Mars,
It seems that James Oberg was annoyed enough by Ken's imposturing in India that he informed NASA, who in turn informed the State Department that someone was posing as an astronaut and "chief trainer at NASA." Quicker than you can say "Glass domes on the Moon," Ken became persona non grata and was quite firmly asked to go home last Saturday.As reported in The Telegraph of Calcutta, March 7, 2017:
Guwahati/New Delhi, March 6: An Assam government science agency has found itself embroiled in a row kicked up by a former NASA associate who was invited to attend a conference here but was sent back the day he arrived.
Ralph Kennedy Johnston Sr, who says he was formerly associated with the US space agency's Apollo lunar missions, has complained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Assam Science Technology and Environmental Council (Astec) "deported" him without giving him a chance to defend himself.
Johnston, in a letter to the Prime Minister's Office, has said he had attended educational meetings in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore and had been listed as a "distinguished speaker" at a conference in Guwahati on February 28, National Science Day.
But when he reached Guwahati on February 25, Johnston wrote, he was allegedly sent back to New Delhi the same day by Astec organisers. "I was sent to New Delhi without even being given a chance to defend myself. I had to purchase my own ticket back to the US for over $1,200, even though I had been brought to India (Assam) and had been promised airfare home," Johnston alleged.
It looks like the Space Chickens have finally come home to roost.
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| No wonder Ken's hosts in India were upset - they are stuck with this embarrassment. |
Great job, Robert!
ReplyDeleteLance
A wonderful job, it's a pity the people who invited him there didn't do the research before hand. As to the plaque hopefully they'll make up a new one with his name removed.
ReplyDeleteJust another UFOlogical black eye. One wonders why the UFO congress does not vet their speakers before allowing them to appear. Lots of red flags here to justify such an effort. Of course, they do have to fill the list with speakers, no matter how crazy they sound. And they wonder why the media does not take them seriously!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAs someone remarked earlier, perhaps Ken Johnston ought to be reminded that NASA never went to the moon in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt was all a giant con trick. At least that is the view of certain people who claim to have photographic evidence of the fakery.
To be honest, I'm not sure what purpose this bit of debunkery serves, outside a weird little clique of a few old men sitting on opposite sides of a line shouting at each other.
ReplyDeleteThe number of people who can in any meaningful sense claim to be a "NASA astronaut" or anything resembling one is very small, and who they are is a matter of public record. I could tell you that I'd won the Nobel Prize for Physics, the Oscar for Best Actor, and Mister Universe, but you could check in a minute or two whether or not I was telling the truth. If you chose not to, I would have to assume that either you were an idiot, or you preferred not to check my claims for reasons best known to yourself.
As usual, you're asking the wrong questions and claiming a cheap victory. Ken Johnston is a possibly deranged hoaxer who tells absurd, transparent lies about himself. That much is obvious. Any fool can invalidate these claims instantly by pressing a few buttons. You've accomplished nothing by telling some people in India that they've been lied to.
A more pertinent question would be: how official is the "college" that invited such a person to speak and acclaimed him in various ways without checking his credentials at all? India is one of the world's fastest-developing nations, and they're not exactly in the Dark Ages when it comes to space technology. Wouldn't they know the difference between real and pretend astronauts if it really mattered?
And what, in the end, did Ken Johnston actually do? The newspaper story you link seems to say that he pretended to be a bigger part of America's space program than he actually was, and a bunch of Indian students got quite excited about this. So, a number of people in another country were thrilled to be in the same room as an astronaut who subsequently turned out not to be a real one.
And your problem is...? OK, he's lying. He's Walter Mitty. He's a bit sad. But as far as I can tell from the information you've given me, either he made students in a developing country feel more enthusiastic about space exploration, and you've just ruined that for them, or you've researched this story very badly. Show me the part where Ken Johnston tells the entire population of India that space aliens colonized the Moon and everything they know about science is a lie. Or the part where it becomes obvious that the institute that hired him to talk has some bizarre agenda and isn't really about science at all.
Go on. Show me that. Because if you can't, you're a bad skeptic. I don't think you're wrong, I just think you're at at best lazy, and at worst a bully like the evil old man you've worshipped as a figurehead for far too long. Consider that a thrown-down gauntlet, because if you're up to the job, you ought to be doing it properly. Four words: "magical thinking" & "Donald Trump". Or is that five? Whatever. I'm just saying that maybe you should be looking at the bigger picture.
PS - I got into MENSA too. Give me a shout when all those supermen accomplish anything whatsoever; I might even renew my subscription.
What's the bigger picture then? I can't pick one out of all that rambling.
DeleteCOB: You do have somewhat of a point, in that it's totally surprising that nobody at those lectures in .in asked Ken "By the way, what missions did you fly?"
ReplyDeleteBut it wasn't Robert Shaeffer or even James Oberg who "ruined it for" those Indian students. It was NASA. NASA's view is that you just can't have shipping clerks with fake doctorates going around saying they were astronauts, most particularly _Apollo_ astronauts. I must say I agree with them.
This will help "Confirm" his story. He's being "Silenced" by the government. Anyone who believes this stuff, will now believe it more
ReplyDeleteEverything confirms his story to the pathological believers out there. Remember, any photograph clear enough to show there's no alien mini-malls on the Moon are 'doctored' according to these guys.
DeleteKen's discovery that ETs trained him to make disclosures is one more reason why hypnotic regression should not be used as a basis for factual statements. Kathleen Marden and other presenters at the IUFOC should make a note of that.
ReplyDeletenice post
ReplyDeleteYeesh, pretending to be an astronaut is about as low as you can get. Paging Buzz Aldrin's fist!
ReplyDeleteWhere's Buzz Aldrin's fists when you need 'em?
ReplyDeleteLOL, James Oberg!!?? ..He is a paid government shill!! How do I know this you may ask. Well, I have been researching these moon photos for years, and not only are there intelligently made anomalies on the Moon, but James Oberg has done everything he could to tell me that I was wrong and that these anomalies didn't exist. After showing him one of Ken's photos,James would come back with a NASA photo (same photo ID's) that was clearly manipulated and obfuscated! Ken's Moon photos are FAR less manipulated and have much greater detail. I have been round and round with James and I can tell you that he totally choked when I asked him why are there discrepancies between Ken's Moon photos (much greater details) and NASA's Moon photos that were completely washed out. After beating around the bush countless times, he just stop responding to me! Even if Ken was a total fraud, and for the record, I believe he is telling the truth, pictures say a thousand words. NASA, as well as other space agencies around the world, are NOT telling the public the truth. Period! I wouldn't believe anything that James Oberg has to say. He is doing everything to attack Ken's character, but as I said earlier, photos say a thousand words and James cannot disprove what's in these Moon photos. So who is James working for? James feels that if he can make Ken look bad, nobody will believe a thing he says nor the photos he shows and that's just the way NASA wants it... Notice in the article is says: " It seems that James Oberg was annoyed enough by Ken's imposturing in India that he informed NASA," .....Hmmm, kind of strange that NASA would act on Jame's word to shut Ken down? Hmm, doesn't that sound a little strange? Yeah, as I said James is a NASA paid shill!
ReplyDeleteLOL, James Oberg!!?? ..He is a paid government shill!! How do I know this you may ask. Well, I have been researching these moon photos for years, and not only are there intelligently made anomalies on the Moon, but they are being covered up by NASA! James Oberg has done everything he could to tell me that I was wrong and that these anomalies didn't exist. After showing him one of Ken's photos,James would come back with a NASA photo (same photo ID's) that was clearly manipulated and obfuscated! Ken's Moon photos are FAR less manipulated and have much greater detail. I have been round and round with James and I can tell you that he totally choked when I asked him why are there discrepancies between Ken's Moon photos(much greater details) and NASA's Moon photos that were completely washed out. After beating around the bush countless times, he just stop responding to me! Even if Ken was a total fraud, and for the record, I believe he is telling the truth, pictures say a thousand words. NASA, as well as other space agencies around the world, are NOT telling the public the truth. Period! I wouldn't believe anything that James Oberg had to say. He is doing everything to attack Ken's character, but
ReplyDeleteas I said earlier, photos say a thousand words and James cannot disprove what's in these Moon photos. So who is James working for? James feels that if he can make Ken look bad, nobody will believe a thing he says nor the photos he shows and that's just the way NASA wants it... Notice in the article is says: " It seems that James Oberg was annoyed enough by Ken's imposturing in India that he informed NASA," .....Hmmm, kind of strange that NASA would act on Jame's word to shut Ken down? Hmm, doesn't that sound a little strange? Yeah, as I said, James is a NASA paid shill!
"I have been researching these moon photos for years, and not only are there intelligently made anomalies on the Moon, but they are being covered up by NASA!"
DeleteI would ask what credentials CM has to support his making such wild pronouncements, but it’s most probable that he has none. He looks at lunar images and sees "anomalies" that planetary scientists do not (“anomaly” is woo-speak) and then claims there’s a worldwide conspiracy to keep his imaginary “anomalies” from the public. That is such a horribly dated, hackneyed, laughable and completely worthless modus operandi that I’m amused that anyone would still be using it. And if one stopped trying to reason with you on this subject it was probably because they concluded further communication was a waste of their time.
CM, We’ve all heard about curious patterns of light and dark in lunar and Martian images, “dancing dots” in Shuttle videos, domes, tubes, monoliths, pyramids and faces for decades. There’s nothing, not one thing, truly anomalous in any of it—only ignorance and human foolishness, to which you are completely welcomed. It has been nearly twenty years since the “face” on Mars fiasco, which put a definitive end to all the “Planetary SETI” nonsense. Did you miss that?
After all these decades, NASA continues to deliver the goods in thousands of fantastic images and discoveries. Do you really think that a handful of self-styled pseudoscientific new-agers, wishful science-fictioneers, frauds, charlatans, and antiscience contrarians are relevant in the least to real space exploration?
They’re Not!
Excellent point. Where is the physical evidence?
DeleteChris M.
ReplyDeleteCan you provide any actual evidence that James Oberg is a paid government 'shill' or is this just your imagination working overtime?
I've watched quite a few Moon and Mars videos from SecureTeam 10, but I have yet to see a smoking gun: an actual non-US artificial structure on the Moon or Mars. On the other hand, there have been a few highly trained remote viewers, who have worked for the military for 20 years, who claim that there are indeed some non-US artificial structures on the Moon and Mars. These should be treated as hypotheses and tested by direct observation of the Moon and Mars; they should not be disregarded just because the remote views purport to be non-physical. I remain an open-minded skeptic.
ReplyDeleteAnother testable statement is that "aliens come from the binary star system Zeta Reticuli (made by Lazar and various UFOlogists and alleged abductees)--but (so far) astronomers have not found any planets around either of the two stars!
DeleteThere were 'artificial' structures seen on the moon long before Man set foot there. One was the (in)famous bridge seen in 1953 (I think) by two astronomers, one American, one British. But doubts soon arose, and it died a quick death.
ReplyDeleteBut long before this there were the Martian 'canals'. Percival Lowell theorised that they were artificial. They too died a death (a bit slower). In 1976 there were the Cydonia 'face' and other structures on Mars, plus other more recent finds.
Such discoveries will go on for as long Man continues exploring space. I like to think that one day, one of them will turn out to be real, and not made by us humans on earth.
If there are substantial differences between versions of a Lunar photo with one claimed to show artificial structures and the NASA photo not showing them I would bet on the NASA image being real. I have seen blatant fakery and ignorance of common photo defects used to try to make the case for giant alien structures.
ReplyDeleteWhat I notice in discussions like this is a tendency to at best disregard contrary evidence and at worse to claim all contrary evidence has been faked as part of a huge conspiracy of deception. People who have good input regarding the facts are often called 'shills' etc. Some seem to make up their minds based on the appeal of the idea and not evidence.
As for Lunar photography, we have maps of the Moon, including detailed height data, that put to rest the doggerel circulated since the 90s using cruddy multiple generation Lunar Orbiter and Apollo photos to try to make absurd points. Going to the source material and comparing results even among Lunar Orbiter photos can disprove some of the silly claims. And of course there are the comparable data sets gathered by the Japanese, Chinese and Indians. If there is some place on the Moon you want a close look at there has never been a better time to learn about what is there.
The Moon is a worthy world to explore, with plenty of its own natural appeal for geologists etc. People curious about the Moon (and Mars) should check out the photo streams current and archived from related space missions.
Y'all r funny n that's my dad lmao
ReplyDeleteFor the sake of argument, let’s say we go to the moon and find these dimes, structures and other anomaly’s, what then? Stay vigilant and keep an open mind, there’s more going on then meets the eye...
ReplyDeleteHow much cash exchanged hands between you and the Government to put this bullshit misinformation out there? This only strengthens Johnston's story. His story has been amazingly consistent over the years. Greed is the obvious answer for your ''debunking'' efforts.
ReplyDeleteTotal bullshit.
DeleteWho are you, "jumpstartinvestigations"? No web presence. Are you Ken Johnston?