Badges of Secrecy

Trevor Paglen goes through some of the top secret mission patches that have little or no explanation.

Some of the Pentagons most top-secret missions has now been revealed via a series of cryptic badges that depict aliens, spy satellites, cyberattacks, and covert renditions to allude to the "black world" that inspired them.

www.newsweek.com...



[edit on 7-3-2008 by porschedrifter]

When I met fellow researcher Jim Hickman www.thehickmanreport.com... for the first time last year, one of the things we discussed was the 509th. Jim provided me with a copy of a uniform insignia patch (left) he had recently located for the 509th. My immediate reaction when seeing it was, “here is the proof we’ve been looking for pertaining to the 509th involvement with the Roswell Incident.” It appeared pretty obvious that the 509th was identified on the insignia with the numbers 509; the B-2 Stealth Bomber was shown; and to my surprise an alien head and hands were depicted. This was it! All I had to do was contact the Air Force and verify what was on the insignia. Much to my disappointment after five months of corresponding with the Air Force, I discovered I did not have the proof I had hoped for.

www.jerrypippin.com...

Below are the questions I asked about the insignia patch in my FOIA request and the responses I received from the Historian at Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center.

Q. Because the B-2 bomber and the numbers 509 are shown on the patch, I assume this is an official insignia patch used by the 509th at some point during the testing of the aircraft?



A. This is not an official patch. The official emblem used by the 509th Bomb Wing was approved in 1952, and is very different from the example given. No official emblem would display a unit number without also indicating its function---bombing, reconnaissance, fighter, etc.


Q. Wording “Classified Flight Test” is at the top of the insignia. During what time period would the flight tests have been done and at what location?



A. No Air Force unit would ever designate “Classified Flight Test” on its emblem. Flight tests, classified or unclassified, are conducted by the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, and no AFFTC patch ever carried such a legend.


Q. Latin words “Gustatus Similis Pullus” are shown at the bottom of the insignia. Please translate to English?



A. Guststus Similis Pullus is dog Latin for “Tastes Like Chicken.” This is supported by the alien figure, which apparently is eating the B-2.


(Ed. Note) You have to appreciate that answer coming from the United States Air Force

Q. What do the nine horizontal lines in the background represent?


A.Unknown.


Q. What is the interpretation of the symbols shown on the right and left? (One on the left appears to be a fork)




A. The symbol on the left is indeed a three-pronged fork. This would support the eating motif. The symbol on the right is unclear.

(Ed. Note) It appears to be another eating utensil, known to me as a knife.


Q. What does the upside down “Q” represent within the diagram of the B-2 bomber?



A. The “Upside down q” is a symbol used in aeronautical engineering to represent pressure ratio. Such a ratio is dimensionless.


Q. An alien face with two-three fingered hands is obviously holding the bomber on the insignia. What significance would an alien have with the B-2 bomber and/or the 509th?



A. The alien’s three-fingered hands are holding the B-2 in order to facilitate the eating activity.


Q. Who designed the insignia patch and when?

A. It is unknown who designed the patch, or when. It would be a privately-made emblem. To be used informally as a souvenir, a joke, or possibly a party favor of some kind. Such a patch would never actually be officially worn on a flight suit or uniform.


Dennis G. Balthaser
Web site: www.truthseekeratroswell.com

Source and more infos:
www.jerrypippin.com...

reply to post by porschedrifter

Thank you for bringing this up! I find this to be very interesting and some of the patches are pretty intriguing.

Although I already knew some of them, this is a subject I always enjoying reading/learning more about.

By the way, there's additional info (and patches) on the author's website.



reply to post by internos

I had also stumbled across that site a while ago and found that official response and 'explanation' to follow the same type and quality of response we are used of getting from Military/Government agencies: unsatisfactory.

It's interesting to note that the person(s) responsible for the response weren't the ones the FOIA was directed at.

I contacted the 509th at Whiteman AFB in Missouri to submit a (FOIA) Freedom of Information Act Request on Sept. 5, 2003. I received permission to submit the FOIA from the FOIA/Base Records Manager a few days later and I immediately did so with several questions pertaining to the insignia. The next correspondence I received was not from Whiteman AFB however, because my FOIA request had been transferred to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California.

The 'answers' are also misleading, but to be totally fair, the questions weren't that great either.

A. This is not an official patch.[...] No official emblem would display a unit number without also indicating its function---bombing, reconnaissance, fighter, etc.

I don't think anyone disputes that it's not an official patch. However, it could have very well been a classified/black op mission's patch - which obviously Edwards AFB or any agency would ever admit to, but that's the whole point this patch is brought up in Paglen's research and book.


Not to mention that I have many doubts about the 'authority' of this 'official' response:

The FOIA Custodian at Edwards AFB would make a determination whether any records could be released or withheld from disclosure under the FOIA. A few days later I received a letter from a USAF Colonel at Edwards AFB, with the title of Staff Judge Advocate, indicating, "A search of all relevant agencies has found no records responsive to your request."

Again a few days later I was surprised when I received a large envelope from a PhD Historian at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB containing not only answers to my questions about the insignia, but a copy of the United States Air Force "History of the 509th Bomb Wing" Fact Sheet, and an Air Force Reference Series, "Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977" pertaining to the 509th. As one who is interested in the 509th, I considered that information a bonus.

This 'official' response and 'explanation' obviously explains nothing, and I'm sure (or hope) that unlike the author of the FOIA, you take it with a grain of salt.

Maybe a new FOIA request is in order? This time perhaps if we could get an answer from the people who might have actually worn the thing: the 509th/Whiteman AFB.

Not that I'd think they would give us the answers we're looking for, but it's always funny to imagine the look on their faces when they receive these "nagging FOIA requests" and read their (hilarious) responses and denials.


ed: fixed link

[edit on 7-3-2008 by danx]

reply to post by danx


Thank you for you excellent contrubute to this thread.
Well, i have to point out that in cases like this one, i don't like to "suggest" what could be the "truth"
In one hand, i have found a possible explanation but in the other one, i did hope that that explanation would have become a subject to be discussed:
i have to say that i agree with your construction, and yes, i take with a grain of salt the explanation as i take with a grain of salt the whole story of these patches.
The full article is too long to be included entirely in external source quote, but you did a good work in extracting another important part and adding some good constructions.
Well done!


[edit on 7/3/2008 by internos]

Originally posted by internos
i have to say that i agree with your construction, and yes, i take with a grain of salt the explanation as i take with a grain of salt the whole story of these patches.

Thank you my friend I was pretty sure that you were since I know you to be a very intelligent and rational person.

I'm contacting Trevor Paglen to see what's his take on this and the so called official response, but most likely he has covered it on his book - which I've ordered from amazon now - but still, it would be interesting to see if he could disclose some information regarding this (and the others) patch and possibly discuss his book/research.. who knows...

Anyways, to anyone interested I'll post Trevor's response when and if he answers me, unless of course if Trevor decides to answer for himself which would be even better

Wow, there are a lot of threads on this very topic. LOL


Those are not real badges. They are jokes They are made up for fun and passed around like trading cards. Seriously.

Ongoing thread here: www.abovetopsecret.com...'


[edit on 7-3-2008 by greeneyedleo]

Badges Badges we don't need no stinking Badges

This a very interesting thread. The Newsweek presentation is very informative.

I wonder if anyone in the military or ex military here at ATS has ever seen one of these for real or just jokes?

Originally posted by Bigwhammy
Badges Badges we don't need no stinking Badges

This a very interesting thread. The Newsweek presentation is very informative.

I wonder if anyone in the military or ex military here at ATS has ever seen one of these for real or just jokes?

Yes, everyone in the military has seen them. I have seen tons of them.

They are jokes, some are inside jokes. Some are a memory to, for example, serving somewhere. Some are VERY funny and quite creative.

Nobody should take them seriously. LOL However, there are real badges but they usually are more patriotic and involve squadron (air force) info, etc.

I will see if I can find some and take pictures. I know we have some packed up somewhere

[edit on 7-3-2008 by greeneyedleo]

Maybe they are jokes to the people that have no idea what they are, or who weren't a part of those special missions

I'm just saying, jokes as well as lies... there's always a spot of truth in them.

I've started a thread a while back bout the same thing, check it out for more bades

Patches

If you get stationed in South Korea, you can get a patch made of any design you want. In the shops around Osan AB, there are literally thousands of "gag" or "personalized" patches available. Aliens have been seen there (on the patches, of course ).

See if you can figure out the significance of a frog with a "prohibited" sign (Red circle with diagonal slash). It is humorous, except to those involved...

I just stop by to see if alien life had been de-humanified yet. Now you have that same anti-alien picture holding a new technology of humans as if the alien is the source. I can see we have nothing to do with alien life and they are more and more, by the day, certain to want to have nothing to do with humans.