Nick Redfern’s provocative and interesting Roswell book “Body Snatchers in the Desert” (2005) starts with a chapter outlining a conversation he had with a lady (born 1922): while working at Oak Ridge in 1947, she claimed to have seen the ‘aliens’ found at Roswell. However, she said, these were not extra-terrestrials, but were instead Chinese … Read More → The post Roswell and Oak Ridge? appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

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Thanks to a response I received from Jason Atkinson at History Hub, I’ve managed to find Project Mogul R&D files at NARA – though these aren’t (yet) online, they do at least exist, which is a good starting point. Oh, and I thought I’d include a quick log here of the other NARA files I’ve … Read More → The post Project Mogul in NARA… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

Trying to work out what happened to Dorothy Jean “Doff” Webb (nee Robertson), I was told a few weeks back that after getting divorced (in absentia) from Carl Webb, Doff’s subsequent partner was Kevin D’Arcy. However, even though I can see that a Kevin Alexander D’Arcy is included in various private family trees online, nobody … Read More → The post Kevin Alexander D’Arcy – Bute or Boort? appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

When in October 1951 Carl Webb’s wife filed a divorce petition (apparently not knowing of his 1948 demise on/near Somerton Beach), it listed Webb’s address as “formerly of Bromby-street, South Yarra, but now of parts unknown”. The 1942 electoral rolls then helped us narrow this to 63 Bromby Street, with small ads in The Argus … Read More → The post Carl Webb – Bromby Street, South Yarra… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

Even though I’ve covered Project Helios’ fall to Earth [sorry!] in previous posts (much supported by David DeVorkin’s detailed account in “Race to the Stratosphere”), because of its close links to Project Mogul there are also external mentions of Helios in (for example) Albert Crary’s journal. Recapping: even though Project Helios’ maiden manned balloon flight … Read More → The post When Project Mogul met Project Helios… appeared first ....

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The story of what happened at Roswell is usually told in terms of two primary sites – the Foster Ranch site near Corona (where Mack Brazel and Dee Proctor found unearthly debris), and a site north of Roswell (where passing field archaeologists found a metallic ‘pod’ with four strange bodies, one still alive). However, geographically … Read More → The post The Roswell Children and the Dee Proctor site… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

Neither Carl Webb’s family nor his wife’s family seems to have much of a clue about him; Trove and the NAA have yielded relatively little; and a (probable) two-year spell at Swinburne Junior Technical College gave us a photo id that remains more than a bit unclear. Barring any sudden new revelations (I’m not holding … Read More → The post This Somerton Man news cycle seems to have peaked… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

When Derek Abbott first named Carl Webb as the Somerton Man, he noted that his brother-in-law was Gerald Thomas Keane, and speculated that the “J/T Kean[e]”-named clothes in the Somerton Man’s suitcase might have belonged to him. I immediately pointed out that Gerald Keane was known as “Gerald Keane” (rather than “Thomas Keane”), and wondered … Read More → The post John Russell Keane (“Jack Keane”)… appeared first on Cipher ....

Cipher Mysteries readers may recall that I recently suggested that, to find out more on the suggested connection between Carl Webb and the “C Webb” at Swinburne Technical College in the early 1920s, it would be good to ask the archivists at Swinburne (now Winburne University). Well, I did: but sadly the only things they … Read More → The post Charles Webb at Swinburne Technical College… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

Ever since a Cipher Mysteries commenter noticed that a C Webb seemed to be linked to Swinburne Technical College, there’s been a lot of active discussion here about whether or not we have a photograph of our man. Though I’ll try to summarise the discussion below, note that I haven’t yet had a reply from … Read More → The post First photo of Carl Webb (the Somerton Man), probably… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

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In some ways, it feels as though we already (nearly) met Carl Webb several times over the last decade – in Melbourne’s Gilded Age of Baccarat schools, in the interstate car black market, in peering into the working class evidential void in Trove. Maybe we can now each spin our own tidy yarn tying together … Read More → The post On Carl Webb, Truth & Beauty… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

Much to my surprise, my online order with the PROV (20 AUS, i.e. £12) for a copy of Carl Webb and Dorothy Jean Robertson’s 1941 marriage certificate pinged into my inbox in less than 15 minutes (and on a Sunday, no less). Luckily they got married more than 60 years ago, so this counts as … Read More → The post Carl Webb & Dorothy Jean Robertson’s Marriage Certificate… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

According to https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-30/somerton-man-researcher-rules-out-link-to-wife/101281666, Carl Webb and Dorothy Jean Robertson were (according to their marriage certificate) married on October 4, 1941 at St Matthews in Prahran, when Carl was 35 and Dorothy was 21: they were living on Domain Rd in South Yarra. (Note: Trove gives you far more hits with “Domain Rd” than with “Domain … Read More → The post Dorothy Jean Robertson / Dorothy Jean Webb…? ....

Once I found (from the Victoria electoral rolls) that Carl and Dorothy Jean Webb‘s address in 1942 was 63 Bromby street, the blindingly obvious next step was to look for any small ads at that address. So, in the spirit of keeping up with the Abbotts, here’s what I found (it’s not a massive haul, … Read More → The post Carl Webb’s small ads… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

The big news of the day (which I first saw on CNN) is that Professor Derek Abbott and Colleen Fitzpatrick have used DNA from the hair embedded in the plaster cast of the Somerton Man’s head to identify the Somerton Man. And it’s… Carl Webb, a 43-year-old electrical engineer / instrument maker from Melbourne. Oh, … Read More → The post Somerton Man identified as Carl “Charles” Webb (but mystery still intact)… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

As part of my search for a missing US Navy balloonist, I’ve been working my way though a long list of research leads. One of these was to find out if Thomas Greenhow William (“Tex”) Settle’s papers were left anywhere (the Settle Collection at the Smithsonian was donated by J. Gordon Vaeth in 2006, and … Read More → The post Balloons, telescopes, and Tom Settle (1930-2020)… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

Not much news here, though I have finally managed to make contact with Charles Hansford Kendall’s family, who very kindly answered my questions about him. From what they told me, it now seems highly unlikely to me that Kendall was the Navy balloonist I’ve been seeking, so my search continues. Robert Henry (“Bob”) Howe USNR … Read More → The post Small requests for help from Cipher Mysteries readers… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

I’ve been going through yet more of the (digitised) papers in the Smithsonian’s Captain George Henry Mills Collection, and have more to share about Captain Charles Kendall and NAS Lakehurst history. The CNATE Succession At the start of the period in question (1945-1950), the base commander at NAS Lakehurst was Vice Admiral Charles (‘Rosey’) Rosendahl. … Read More → The post More about Captain Kendall and NAS Lakehurst history 1945-1950… appeared first on ....

A few days ago, I wondered whether I might find any clues to what happened to Captain Charles Hansford Kendall not when Rear Admiral Tex Settle was base commander of NAS Lakehurst (1946 – September 1947), but when Captain George Henry Mills was (October 1947 to June 1949). Helpfully, Captain Mills’ family made a substantial … Read More → The post Captain Charles Kendall at NAS Lakehurst… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

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French artist Guy de Cointet (1934–1983) once made a series of enciphered artworks, one of which found itself uploaded to imgur (by user “drpoopandpee”, *sigh*) in 2020, triggering a brief flurry of interest on Reddit from user Doc_Skeef. Once Klaus Schmeh posted about it, it didn’t take his readers long to realise that it was … Read More → The post Guy de Cointet’s “A Captain From Portugal” (1972) appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

In Part 1 and Part 2, I looked at how early British ‘geophys’ technology and Mauritian treasure hunting dreams converged in the 1920s. But once the Liverpool firm of W. Mansfield & Co had been persuaded by the Klondyke Syndicate to jump into the Bernardin Nageon de l’Estang treasure-hunting fire, I think it’s safe to … Read More → The post Patrick O’Neil, and the interwar hunt for Mauritian treasure (Part 3)… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

In Part 1, we saw the outlines of how technology converged with Mauritian treasure hunting mania in the 1920s. But what was that technology, and how ultimately did it link in with Mauritius? “Listening for Coal” The person behind the sounding technology was a Mr W. Mansfield, and the story behind it appeared (very appropriately, … Read More → The post Patrick O’Neil, and the interwar hunt for Mauritian treasure (Part 2)… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

I’ve had some interesting emails recently from Patrick O’Neil, who I’m very pleased to report has picked up my long-dropped baton on Mauritian treasure hunting in the period between the two world wars. By uncovering a number of sources I was unaware of (and with only minor assists from me), Patrick has started to reconstruct … Read More → The post Patrick O’Neil, and the interwar hunt for Mauritian treasure (Part 1)… appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

I’ve just had some nice emails from Belgian writer Dirk Huylebrouck, whose article on the mysterious cryptograms in Moustier church is (today) appearing in popular Belgian science magazine EOS. Dirk’s article has some great photographs, and even includes some insights from codebreaker Jarl van Eycke (whom readers here may know as jarlve and/or from the … Read More → The post New article on Moustier’s cryptograms in EOS science magazine… appeared first on Cipher ....

Here’s a suggestion for a Voynich Manuscript paper that I think might well be revealing: taking raking IR images of f116v. But why would anyone want to do that? Multispectral imaging Since about 2006, I’ve been encouraging people to take multispectral images of the Voynich Manuscript, i.e. to capture images of the manuscript at a … Read More → The post Voynich Paper Suggestion #5: Raking IR images of f116v appeared first on Cipher Mysteries.

Anyone who spends time looking at Voynichese should quickly see that, rare characters aside, its glyphs fall into several different “families” / patterns: q[o] e/ch/sh aiin/aiir ar/or/al/ol/am/om d/y …and the four “gallows characters” k/t/f/p. The members of these families not only look alike, they often also function alike: it’s very much the case that glyphs … Read More → The post Voynich Paper Suggestion #4: Unpicking the k/t gallows appeared first ....