Do you remember the movie Conspiracy Theory staring Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts?
In one of the chase scenes, the government bad guys are flying in a noisy helicopter. That is until one of them announce that they are going silent. He flips a few switches. After a few seconds, the helicopter is quiet as it flies through the air.
Black helicopters have been a favorite of conspiracy theorists for years. Stealthy air machines able to traverse and hover in the sky, which are virtually undetectable.
What is the truth behind the myth?
During the Vietnam War, the Aircraft Division of Hughes Tool Company developed a limited-edition helicopter model for the CIA.
It was called the Quiet One—also known as the Hughes 500P, the "P" standing for Penetrator.
The Hughes 500 helicopter was known to aviators as the OH-6A "Loach." It was so named because it was a LOH - light observation helicopter.
The new version started with a small research-and-development contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency (later called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA) in 1968. The idea behind it was that the CIA would quietly drop off and pick up agents in enemy territory.
So what did the CIA do with them?
They handed them over to what seemed to be a civilian company called Air America.
Wasn't Air America the name of a Mel Gibson movie as well?
Wasn't Air America involved in the Iran-Contra Affair?
Air America's Slogan: Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, Professionally
Technically,...
Although not specifically named, it was implicated in the operation.
Unravelling the story of Air America is a complex endeavour because of the sparse amount of publicly available information. The history of the organization is murky. It operated in a darkly shaded grey area of international law and morality. The full extent of the CIA’s complicity in trafficking narcotics is still a subject of intense debate. There are serious issues of accountability for those who tolerated, even sanctioned, the CIA’s activities in the narcotics trade while prosecuting a ‘War on Drugs’ back home.
Grey Dynamics: Air America: The History of the CIA’s Covert Airline
Without air transport for their opium, the Meo faced economic ruin. There was simply no form of air transport available in northern Laos except the CIA's charter airline, Air America And according to several sources, Air America began flying opium from mountain villages north and east of the Plain of Jars to Gen. Vang Pao's headquarters at Long Tieng.
Internet Archive: Drug Text: The Golden Triangle: Heroin Is Our Most Important Product
Didn't the conspiracy theorists claim that these Black Helicopters were part of surveillance and wire taps? Did that ever actually happen?
Well, what was the Quiet Ones originally made for?
Under President Nixon, then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger needed insider intelligence on the Northern Vietnamese. So a complicated plan was devised to insert wire taps and solar-powered relay station deep into the territory. And development and production of the Quite Ones were put in place.
Needless to say, the plan was not without its complications. This includes a botched late night landing during a training exercise that demolished one of the only two Quiet Ones in existence. Most of these complications were due to technical difficulties of equipment, such as issues with an infrared camera which forced the cancellation of one attempt.
So, were they ever successful in wiretapping the Northern Vietnamese forces?
At least one tap, placed on the night of March 12-13, 1973, was successful.
In case you were wondering, this became known as the Vinh Wiretap.
The Vinh wiretap was an American espionage operation of the Vietnam War. From 7 December 1972 through early May 1973, CIA telephone intercepts of North Vietnamese military communications were supplied to American diplomat Henry Kissinger. As border phone lines were well watched, the decision was made to tap a military multiplex line in the Vietnamese heartland near Vinh. The CIA used a black helicopter to set a clandestine wiretap to eavesdrop on Paris Peace Talks discussions and other intelligence.
What happened to the Quiet Ones?
The one flyable Quiet One was relocated to California. Air America pilots Allen Cates and Robert Mehaffey trained on it at Edwards Air Force Base, achieving proficiency in early 1973. Then, before any special-mission training began, and with no explanation, Cates and Mehaffey were sent back to their old piloting jobs at Air America. Mechanics pulled most of the special features out of the Quiet One, and its trail of insurance and registration papers ends in 1973, after it was transferred to Pacific Corporation of Washington, D.C., a holding company used as a screen for CIA-backed companies and assets.
"The agency got rid of it because they thought they had no more use for it," says Glerum. At least one of the ex-Quiet Ones surfaced years later at the Army's Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The Quiet Ones did have a legacy that it left behind though. The helicopter still holds the title that Hughes gave it in April 1971. It is still known as "the world's quietest helicopter."
What happened to Air America?
Air America was dissolved on June 30, 1976. Air Asia, the company that held all of the Air America assets, was later purchased by Evergreen International Airlines.
Evergreen International Airlines, which was another CIA owned corporation, declared bankruptcy on November 30, 2013. It flew its last flight a few days later on December 2, 2013. Liquidation of all assets followed shortly after.
However, it did leave behind a legacy.
In 1990, Die Hard 2 featured a Boeing 747 airplane registered as N473EV. This Boeing was one of Evergreen's airplanes. Now why did a CIA front company allow one of its planes to become the star in a movie?
CIA Front Evergreen Coincidence?
McMinnville-based Evergreen International Airlines took a large step toward dissolving itself Tuesday by filing a Chapter 7 petition in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. The filing followed by about two weeks an involuntary petition by a group of creditors.
The filing estimated the total assets of the Evergreen companies at up to $100 million and total debts up to $500 million. Evergreen said it has up to 5,000 creditors. The filing includes a 108-page list of creditors. Among them are founder Delford Smith and the non-profit Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.
The bankruptcy filing lists seven entities as submitting the Chapter 7 petition: Evergreen Aviation Ground Logistics Enterprise; Evergreen Defense and Security Services; Evergreen International Airlines; Evergreen International Aviation; Evergreen Systems Logistics; Evergreen Trade; and Supertanker Services.
The state Department of Justice has been investigating whether Evergreen's for-profit operations improperly commingled funds with the non-profits.
Oregonian: Evergreen International Airlines files voluntary Chapter 7 petition on New Year's Eve
Now the Oregon Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the relationships among Evergreen's for-profit and nonprofit activities, asking whether the entities improperly transferred money from one side of the house to the other.
I am sure this is just a coincidence.
The Ever Given, one of the world's largest container ships, resumed its journey and left the Suez Canal on Wednesday, 106 days after becoming wedged across a southern section of the waterway for nearly a week and disrupting global trade.
Reuters: Ever Given container ship leaves Suez Canal 106 days after getting stuck
After a month stuck in Chesapeake Bay, the container ship Ever Forward is back on the move, the US Coast Guard announced in a news release.
With the removal of hundreds of containers, the Ever Forward was freed on Sunday around 7 a.m. ET by two pulling barges and six tugboats. The team dredged 43 feet deep, amounting to 206,280 cubic yards of material, which was removed to Poplar Island “to offset erosion at the Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration project,” the release noted.
CNN: Evergreen container ship freed after a month aground in Chesapeake Bay
Sources and Further Reading
Grey Dynamics: Air America: The History of the CIA’s Covert Airline
Smithsonian Magazine: Air America’s Black Helicopter
Internet Archive: Drug Text: The Golden Triangle: Heroin Is Our Most Important Product
Wikipedia: Civil Air Transport
So....in addition to the Vatican, et. al., the CIA was also instrumental in child trafficking in addition to all the drugs? Excellent research!! God bless you.🙏
Thank you