He puts the rumors to rest with this personal letter.

Comments may be stuck in moderation until I hit the hotel tonight.

73 de Jeff

Sifting through them this morning one headline caught my attention:

UFO Traffic and Australia’s Bermuda Triangle

Now come on, don’t tell me you would pass up on the chance to learn more about amateur radio’s connection to UFO traffic — and heck, who among us even knew that Australia had a Bermuda Triangle?

I had to wade most of the way through the article before seeing what the Google search bot had picked up with regards to my query:

“Richard Hoagland, ex-NASA employee and space archaeologist media personality, released some spectacular NASA video footage that was shot from an American space shuttle mission in September 1991and accidently picked up by a ham radio operator. Subsequent to this intercept and its public distribution by the radio ham, NASA initially encrypted and then totally ceased further shuttle video transmissions. The video shows a bright UFO travelling near earth’s atmosphere and then two energy beams shooting from earth towards the craft making it turn 180 degrees and travel away from earth at incredible speed, one beam has been confirmed to have come from Exmouth.”

I have absolutely no idea if there is even one ounce of truth in this statement, or the entire article for that matter, but the inclusion of the reference to a radio ham picking up what was probably meant to be a private signal is interesting to note. It’s a further sign that John Q. Public really has very little idea what radio hams are doing in our garages, attics and basements. It’s obviously something “technical” and for all anyone really knows, we could be building a time machine or a death ray gun.

As I have written many times before, radio amateurs have some gravitas in the community and our inclusion in any news report adds validity — even in an absurdly concocted story. You’ll notice that the article doesn’t identify the radio amateur who supposedly intercepted these NASA videos. The article simply states the video feed from the space shuttle was “picked up” by some unknown ham radio operator.

My noting this shouldn’t be taken as some deep social commentary, heck, I enjoy a good conspiracy theory as much as anyone else. Dinner conversation about who really killed President Kennedy is much more interesting when it revolves around a “conspiracy” as opposed to admitting that the deed was done by a singular lunatic who was able to easily bypass presidential security — which is sure to kill the conversation as effectively as the assassin.

I simply find it interesting that facts can be so easily obscured and bolstered at the same time by including “ham radio” in any conspiracy theory.

And this is nothing new — in the exact same manner as this UFO article, news reports for a century have included similar unsubstantiated references.

News stories abounded after the sinking of the Titanic about messages received by “radio hams” that included all manner of curious details. And there were numerous reports of radio hams picking up messages from Ameila Earhart following her loss at sea; I’ve also read news clips claiming that radio hams intercepted Japanese radio messages prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, messages that could have averted the disaster.

History is replete with such accounts — some may be true, or contain at least an element of truth, but most are pure fabrication.

Want to spice up your next dinner party?

Tell your guests that a friend of yours, a radio ham, was tuning the bands one day when he intercepted recent radio traffic from Jimmy Hoffa who was being kept in a secret government facility but had managed to piece together a transmitter — that ought to keep things lively at your party.

The secret of a good conspiracy theory is that you don’t get enough specific data to refute the claim — the facts must remain nebulous and unchallengeable. So be sure to include the part about the radio ham, but for goodness sakes, don’t give them a call sign with which they could follow it up!

“A 93-year-old man was found dead Thursday morning after an apparent home invasion.”

But reading past the headline of this sad crime, your imagination should begin to paint a picture of a man who lived a long, wonderful and full life. His was the kind of life that should inspire us all and serve as the example we should want to follow.

How can I say such a thing having never even met the man?

Sheriff Grady Judd said all that I need to know:

“This was a good solid man in the community. Even though he was 93 he was still active in the Kathleen Historical Society," Judd said. "He was a ham radio operator, he knew Morse code and he was one the community could always depend on to help out in any event.”

If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution to add to your list, try living the kind of life that would cause someone to say something as simply eloquent about you as was said about Walter Farley, K4QE.