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Air Force Pilot/Spy Story

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posted on Oct, 30 2017 @ 05:54 PM
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Hello everyone,

First off I'm not sure if this is the correct forum but it does kind of pertain to secret facilities so if a mod feels this should be moved, please do so.

Also, I have been a long time lurker on ATS and understand that because I only have a few posts, a lot of you may breeze past this post. I am hoping to maybe find some of you crazy researchers who might be able to validate some of this story. My mom, dad and I have always been curious if there was any truth to his stories or if it was just the ramblings of an old man.

So... where to start.

My mother is an in home caregiver. Has been for 31 years since I was born. I admire that she can create a close connection with someone, help them with their pain and suffering, deal with the loss of them at some point and then move on to help the next. It takes a very strong person to do that.

Anyway, onto the story.

Back in the mid 1990's she started taking care of a gentleman in his late 60's. He was a very nice guy. Would always give me coins for my collection and get our entire family xmas and bday presents. Over the few years my mother took care of him, he became like an uncle or cousin to our family.

As he grew closer to passing away, he began to tell my mother (and myself if I was there) about some of the things he had done in his life. Now, he did have children however, he was never very close to them. In all the years my mother took care of him, she never once caught him in any kind of a lie. This is important. From everything I remember (I was only around 10-11) and everything my mom and dad said, he was a man of his word. There was never any sign of him losing his memory or having dementia, alzheimer's.

He stated that he was in the air force for most of his life. Started out in low level positions and worked his way up to earning his wings and becoming a test pilot. He goes on to tell my parents that he was a test/reconnaissance pilot for one of the spy planes. My parents aren't sure if it was the U-2, SR-71 or another entirely however, he says that it was totally top secret, under the radar at the time. The government refused to acknowledge its existence and he was given instructions should he ever get shot down or crash into enemy territory, he was on his own and they would deny any affiliation with him should he be captured (yes, I know, this sounds like every typical holy wood spy movie since WWII). Well he goes on to say that he actually was shot down or crashed. He says he was in hostile territory for a period of time moving mostly at night before he was able to cross the border into an allied country and that upon his return, he was debriefed, told to never mention the crash and was assigned to a new base. He says that his mission, the crash and even the existence of the plane were covered up as at the time, it would have caused embarrassment and escalated tensions in an already heightened time (I'm assuming the start of the cold war era).

I wish I had been a bit older and into that kind of stuff as I would have had a field day sitting and talking to him and getting as much information as I could have. My mother keeps referring to him as a "spy" and that I likely wont be able to find anything about it although I never remember him saying he was a spy. Just that he worked on these top secret flights/plane developments and that he was involved in the crash and cover up.

Here is the small bit of information I do have

His name was Blaine Thomas DeBerry
He was born in Utah on 06/29/1929
Passed away in Nampa/Boise Idaho on 12/21/1997.
He stated he was a test or reconnaissance pilot.
States he was involved in the "spy" plane projects (again, not sure if U-2, SR-71 etc although he would have been 28 when the U-2 came out and 37 when the SR-71 came out)
He stated that at one time, he was at the Groom Lake Facility (Not sure if that is what he called it but my dad said that he was referring to area 51. It may have just been a stop over on a test flight and not actually stationed there as I have no further information about this claim)

Hopefully someone here can throw some ideas out where to start digging on this. Again, I am not sure if any of it is true however, again as stated, he was never one any of us knew to lie or make up stories especially to my mother who spent the last few years of his life at his side.

I attempted to attach a photo of him when he was younger however all I get is an empty box with a green X when I try to attache it. Any suggestions?

edit on 30-10-2017 by infectious208 because: spelling



posted on Oct, 30 2017 @ 06:14 PM
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a reply to: infectious208

I have nothing to offer you in terms of your OP.
However, I have flagged the post because I'm interested as well.
Hopefully one of our members can shed some light or at least point you in the right direction.

I think 95% of our members are sick and tired of the political bs being posted here non stop.
So I'm sure you'll get a pass on the account of your lack of posts to established threads.

Edit: I seen Zaphod - our aviation expert, posting in another thread. Hopefully he pops in hear.
If anyone could assist it will be him.
edit on 30-10-2017 by Macenroe82 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 30 2017 @ 06:25 PM
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Thank you very much for sharing. Like stated above I wish I could add more or help with your OP. But with that I would like to add that we have the best investigators around on this site, especially when it comes to aircraft and their pilots. Be patient and I’m sure someone will be along that can help.

Once agian thank you for sharing, that is a truly a great story and a great man that you met, people like that had balls of steel and helped define our country. I flagged your thread so it will get more attention. Good luck
edit on 10/30/2017 by 772STi because: (no reason given)

edit on 10/30/2017 by 772STi because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 30 2017 @ 06:26 PM
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There are some records in Ancestry.com.

Following those, you may be able to connect with the family ... and they may have a collection of photographs.

That is one avenue to follow.

P



posted on Oct, 30 2017 @ 06:29 PM
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a reply to: pheonix358

That's a pretty good idea. I never even thought about suggesting ancestry.com

OP you have all the relevant information to do a quick search on there.
Use that as a starting place and post your findings.
I'll check it out now also

Edit add: OP I think I found your man!
Even has pictures of him.

DeBerry, 06,29
edit on 30-10-2017 by Macenroe82 because: (no reason given)

edit on 30-10-2017 by Macenroe82 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 30 2017 @ 07:25 PM
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I checked the pilot registers for the U2 and the SR71, he is not listed for either.

Could it have been a different bird ... or ... do we have a conspiracy


P



posted on Oct, 30 2017 @ 07:40 PM
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a reply to: pheonix358

I'm smelling conspiracy in the air...or is that just me?!
Nope...only 40% me. The remaining 60% wreaks of conspiracy!

First telltale sign of a class A, balls to the wall, conspiracy:

The OP suddenly disappears after creating the thread.



posted on Oct, 30 2017 @ 08:27 PM
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originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: pheonix358

I'm smelling conspiracy in the air...or is that just me?!
Nope...only 40% me. The remaining 60% wreaks of conspiracy!

First telltale sign of a class A, balls to the wall, conspiracy:

The OP suddenly disappears after creating the thread.




Easy there turbo. I didn't go anywhere. I have a life outside of ats. Lol. Posted that from work before I left and just got home.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I did look at ancestry. That's where I got his bday and state. The pic of him alone is the one I was trying to post.

Like I said, it could all be a bunch of BS but I'm hoping it's not. It's a crazy story to say the least but I'm not as experienced as most of you on my research skills so I figured this would be a good place to maybe bring the knowledgeable ones and see what may come up after kicking over a few rocks.
edit on 30-10-2017 by infectious208 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 30 2017 @ 08:45 PM
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Can you look for answers in now declassified documents easily attained?



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 01:12 AM
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Contact the NPRC. You have enough information to find his service records.

Also, there were several RC-135 and RB-47 losses. It doesn't have to be something exotic.



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 08:51 AM
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a reply to: RadioRobert

Thanks for the info. I just pulled up the NPRC and I dont think I will be able to gain anything from it.

Firstly, I am not next of kin or have authorization from him to gain access to his records. This means I can only receive limited information from his OMPF.

Second, they require the following information :Certain basic information needed to locate military service records, includes: the veteran's complete name as used in service; service number; Social Security Number (if applicable); branch of service; dates of service; date and place of birth.

At this time, I do not have all of the required information.

I am going to do some more research and ask my parents if they can remember anything else and see about possibly contacting any of his relatives.

And you are right RadioRobert, it may not have been one of the "well known" spy planes. Those are obviously just the first ones that come to mind when you hear spy plane.
edit on 31-10-2017 by infectious208 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 10:57 AM
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a reply to: infectious208

You can still find that information. All you really need is his service number. Contact NARA, AFHRA, et all by phone. Just tell them he was an extremely close friend of the family, give them all the identifying information you do have. You can still get general records, they just won't be as complete as if you were next of kin. The fact he's been deceased for 20 yrs will be helpful for you, as is the age of the records. You need to use your best manners to get someone at one of those agencies to use their time for you, but they will frequently do it.
Once you receive the records (assigned to a SAC unit, for example), you can work backwards with a historian to get unit information, including individual mission reports from that unit which will inevitably involve Mr. DeBerry and won't appear in his individual OMPF anyway. That sort of information can help you verify whether the stories he told are plausible or not regardless of whether certain things he did are still classified (and yes, there are lots of things from the 50's and 60's that are still classified, including ferret flights).

You'll need them to work with you (really for you) to get you the information you need for a formal request for records (mostly his service number). That means being persistent, but also polite. This is not something you can do with a single phone call. You might spend hours on the phone or on hold or being transferred or playing phone tag just to get someone to commit to working with you as a pet project. This is going to be an investment of serious time for you, but it can be done.

One thing you can do first or concurrently is actually find and contact his next of kin. Don't go into the details of classified stories because that will actually hinder your purpose. Just tell them he was a close friend, explain your family's relationship to him. Say your family was talking about him recently and were thinking of doing a scrapbook of his military service for your family. Ask them to make a records request or to endorse yours. That will get you more information from your form request. Offer to make them copies or ask for copies of theirs. Make sure you actually make some sort of scrapbook and/or provide copies to them.



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 11:01 AM
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Doing some reading through FOIA documents and came across this. Likely not related but who knows.

Alleged U-2 crash in South America



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 11:05 AM
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This has been debunked, but ty



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 11:16 AM
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Thanks for the information RadioRobert. I will start into some of that when I have some free time. I can browse the web and read online documents while at work but since I am on phone calls most of the day, sitting on personal calls isn't really an option. Ill have to figure out how to be able to take some time to get some calls in.

Thanks for the head up truthguru on the story. Like I said, my research skills are likely nowhere near as honed as a lot of people on here so I may end up posting things I find that seem plausible that have already been proved incorrect.



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 11:33 AM
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Hopefully you guys dont get tired of me posting things like this but here is another story that could possibly be connected. If nothing else, it gives me a place to keep everything together while I am researching this.

The first paragraph of the 3rd section states that in 1962 Communist China reports they shot down an American Made U-2

www.cia.gov...
edit on 31-10-2017 by infectious208 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 12:50 PM
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Here is an article talking about another plane that was shot down or lost in the late 50's and early 60's before the Powers Crash. It says that there was attempts to state it was the known crash in 1958 but there were many inconsistencies that could not be resolved.

www.cia.gov...
edit on 31-10-2017 by infectious208 because: (no reason given)



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 01:58 PM
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This wasn't incredibly uncommon actually. There were many ferret and recce missions intercepted. Most of them are documented. Most of them were "boring" aircraft, not U-2's or SR-71's. Taking the story at face value, something like a RB-47 or EB-66 would be my guess based on the time period and the fact it was allegedly classified.

www.americancoldwarvets.org...

This doesn't include technically illegal operations during Korean and Vietnam campaigns which would also have left them up a creek and where operational losses would have been common and easily hidden in the mix (overflights of Laos for ELINT or countermeasure purposes, for example, supporting the Vietnam campaign-- flights originating out of Takhli, Thailand overflying Laos with the EB-66 supporting Linebacker would fit that bill).

Not much to go on without more information.



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 02:07 PM
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a reply to: infectious208

Several U-2s flown by Taiwanese pilots were shot down during the program to have them fly them over China.

Taiwanese losses.



posted on Oct, 31 2017 @ 02:08 PM
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a reply to: infectious208

FWIW I can't find his name in legacy.com.




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