Carl Sagan, Prophecies and the FBI
Reading Greg’s articles on Carl Sagan and prophecies reminded me - somewhat synchronistically - of something that I was actually going to discuss later this week. But, since Greg has set the ball-rolling, I might as well go ahead and highlight it now - namely, the FBI’s file on Sagan that centers upon…groundless prophecies. See what I mean about synchronicities?
Sagan, whose 1970s television series, Cosmos, made him a household, celebrity name around the world, was perhaps the one man more than any other who successfully fused mainstream science, sci-fi, and entertainment for the viewing masses. Indeed, this was borne out most graphically in 1998 when his novel, Contact, was made into a blockbuster Hollywood movie of the same name starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey.
Born on November 9, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York, Sagan received a Bachelor’s degree in 1955 and a Master’s degree in 1956, both in Physics, and a Doctorate in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 1960, all from the University of Chicago. He played a major role in NASA’s Mariner, Viking, Voyager, and Galileo expeditions and received NASA Medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and for Distinguished Public Service, and the NASA Apollo Achievement Award. He was the Chairman of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, President of the Planetology Section of the American Geophysical Union, and Chairman of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
And, in the early 1980s, Sagan became the subject of a secret, thirty-three-page official file after becoming involved in a very strange affair that was quickly brought to the FBI’s attention. On November 16, 1983, the FBI’s Special-Agent-in-Charge at Cleveland, Ohio contacted the Washington, D.C. offices to report a strange development in the life of Carl Sagan. The Cleveland Office recorded the following:
“On November 15, 1983, Dr. Carl Sagan, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York received a handwritten envelope postmarked Cleveland, Ohio, Nov 10 1983, containing a two page typewritten letter. Letter comprised of cover page dated November 9, 1983 stating it was an open letter directed to various news publishers and identifying Sagan as an influential person to convince others veracity [sic] of message. Both message and cover letter bear typed name of author as M. Springfield.”
The letter to Sagan was, without doubt, a very unusual one. It read:
“The message is so important that I want you to witness that you have received it before November 22 1983. You have been chosen because of your standing in the community. I believe you are a person of integrity with the ability to convince others that this message is true.
An Open Letter to All. Warning! Armageddon is Coming!
On Nov 22, 1983, there will be a terrorist bomb attack on a market or warehouse that is distributing free food to a crowd in San Salvadore [sic]. This will be a diversion for an attack on a fuel storage facility in the vicinity.
If [the space shuttle] COLUMBIA goes as scheduled there will be an explosion in the rocket due to a fuel leak. On May 7, 1985 a middle-east war will begin with Israel triumphant in the same year.
The American presidency will be Reagan-Bush – Bush and a democrat in 96 whose birthday is the same year as our first president. He will be our last. In 1990 Poland will be free.
On April 15, 1997 the earthquake of Revelation will strike America. New York is the image of Babylon that will sink into the sea. San Francisco shares the same fate.
In 1998 there will be a Third World War. An earthquake weakened America will be invaded.
In May 2000 there will be an atomic escalation which Scripture calls ARMAGEDDON. It will poison the earths [sic] atmosphere for 5 years. No life will survive that is not in the proper mode to survive. The full text of this work explains how these events are portended by the signs that Heaven has given us will be published soon. M. Springfield.”
On receipt of the letter, Sagan immediately contacted the FBI, which duly swung into action, as a formerly Secret FBI document of November 18, 1983, noted: “A search of indices, State Law Enforcement Computer, and local directories, failed to locate a person identifiable with the author of captioned letter, described as ‘M. Springfield.’ Cleveland telephone directory shows a listing for an ‘M. Springfield’ which address is a large apartment complex. A suitable pretext telephone call to that address revealed that ‘M. Springfield’ at that address died in 1972 and widow now resides there. She had no knowledge of a letter sent to a Dr. Sagan.”
Additional FBI documentation demonstrates that the Bureau went to great lengths to try and identify the source of the letter: the original of the letter and envelope were sent to an FBI forensics laboratory for analysis; and in a report titled Bomb Threat it was revealed that unfortunately “no latent prints of value†could be found on the letter or the envelope, and that the scientific investigation was brought to a frustrating close without effecting an identification.
Needless to say, there was no terrorist attack, the space shuttle Columbia was not destroyed, there was no Third World War, the United States was not invaded, and New York did not “sink into the sea.†The prophecies, like most prophecies, were not true. The real identity of “M. Springfield†remains as mysterious today as it was in 1983.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007 at 8:27 am and is filed under Breaking News, Hoaxes, The Redfern Files. You can follow responses via RSS 2.0 feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.
del.icio.us Digg Reddit BlinkList Google Ma.gnolia StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Help
- Related News Stories:
- Carl Sagan Was A Pothead »
- UFOs & Water »
- Dave Clarke on UFOs »
- Yet More Prophecies »
- The Mothman’s Photographer »
|
Jan 02 2007 
January 2nd, 2007 at 10:25 am
“Unusual”!? I get letters like this every day. Surely Sagan got many more than me.
I have always been quite skeptical of Carl Sagan. Like that other Parade Magazine intellectual, Marilyn Vos Savant, I even wonder if “Sagan” is his real name. The savoir faire of Vos Savant; Sagan the great sage. Just seems like a media-made image, and a smug one at that.
In the Steamshovel anthology Popular Alienation, I reprinted the report in Star and Stripes from November 26, 1962 that included Carl Sagan’s surmise that alien civilizations maintain an observation base on the back side of the moon.
January 2nd, 2007 at 11:23 am
Yeah it is kind of odd that this was - apparently - the only time that Sagan felt motivated to get the FBI involved. It does make it sound like he rarely got such letters. But you’re right: someone of his profile would surely be deluged with mail.
January 3rd, 2007 at 12:08 am
Kenn, you get letters like that every day because I WRITE you letters like that every day! How come you never respond? Just because the US hasn’t won the World Cup yet doesn’t mean the victory is imminent. Keep those letters. They’ll make you rich one day!
Nick, can you post a link or give directions to that FBI report you cited, please? I’d be interested in taking a look at whatever is available.
A week or two ago I asked you for your impressions on the whole SERPO story at which time you indicated you leaned heavily in favor of it being a disinformation ploy. One of the things the SERPO source(s) allege is that Sagan signed off on the alleged astronauts US astronauts’ final report. In particular, that struck me as odd because there is so much quasi-religious material contained in their reports about the…Serponians? They indicated having absolute knowledge in a divine creator as I recall.
On the other hand, some time back I read an account given by Sagan’s wife describing her last hours with him before he died. I wish I could recall the site I read it on. In any case, she said that there was no “death bed” conversion to the possibility of an after life, and that as they looked into each others’ eyes it was clear (at least to her) that he was utterly convinced it would be for the last time; that when he was gone he really would cease to exist in any form but memories of those still living.
I do agree with Kenn that he had a somewhat smug attitude about him, but if anyone has ever been to Cornell they would find that attitude to be the rule rather than the exception. In the eyes of many, perhaps most of the Cornell elite, God does not make a move in the universe without first running it by the Cornell Board of Directors for approval. Which is odd. I was always under the impression God got authorization from BYU. Guess things have changed since my college days!
I don’t know how it is in the UK, but over here it is often difficult to make direct contact by mail, phone or even e-mail with public figures. The best that could be hoped for without hiring professional help to obtain a viable address would be to send correspondence to him through the university or his publishers, and the vast majority of that would get screened out before reaching Sagan. Perhaps the letter you cited somehow got through the various layers of insulation and into his hands. All on its own that would probably be enough to send the man into paranoid shock.
January 3rd, 2007 at 6:05 am
Raven:
Re the FBI file link on Sagan: if you go back to the original post, and on the 5th line down are the words “FBI’s file”. This is a direct link to the page of the FBI’s official website where you can find the file. As you’ll see on that page, there is a link after the description of the file. Click on the link and it will open the FBI file in PDF format.
There are a lot of interesting files on the FBI’s website in PDF format now - including their files on ESP, Spontaneous combustion, cattle mutes, Silas Newton (of Aztec UFO crash infamy), UFOs, Wilhelm Reich, Nicola Tesla, MJ12, and much more.
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:19 am
Muchos gracias. I was reading into the wee hours of the morning and missed the link.
By the way, I’m reading your Body Snatchers book now. Most interesting stuff!
January 3rd, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Raven and Nick,
I believe that SERPO was a disinfo ploy. How convenient that they used a dead man (Sagan) as one of the players. Some of the counterintel people in the Bennewitz saga came back to the table to have another go-’round. For what purpose I do not know, but I have a suspicion it had to do with intercepted messages, all having to do with some sort of defense technology. When I get more info, I’ll post it here.