Paranormal State Illustrated


 

Taking a close look at what you see and hear on a “Real Life. Drama.” TV series.

 

Gilliland said he’s had “triple-PhD Boeing engineers, skunk works people” there. That’s odd- Boeing’s program is called Phantom Works. It’s Lockheed Martin’s program that’s called Skunk Works®.

FIRST CONTACT: SKUNK WORKS? NOT SO FAST.

Shortly after the Paranormal Research Society (PRS) members arrive at James Gilliland’s “ranch,” called the Self Mastery Earth Institute, Gilliland tells Ryan he’s had “triple-PhD Boeing engineers, skunk works people” at his ranch. If he’s calling Boeing’s lab, “Skunk Works,” as a proper noun, with the “S” and “W” capitalized, this would not be correct. Boeing’s program is called Phantom Works. It’s Lockheed Martin’s program that’s called Skunk Works®.

First published: 03 August 2009
Updated: 25 January 2012

Written by: Ernie Marsh

Years ago, as an aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, McDonnell Douglas had a program called Phantom Works. Boeing and McDonnell Douglas merged on 01 July 1997, which was approved by the Federal Trade Commission. The merged-company name is called, Boeing.

In a phone call to a mobile operator at a Seal Beach, California, listing for “Boeing Phantom Works,” I was told that Phantom Works is a subsidiary of Boeing.

According to Lockheed Martin’s Web site and other sources, Skunk Works® is a registered trade name for Lockheed Martin. Read Lockheed Martin’s on-line article called, “How the Skunk Works® Got It’s Name.”

If the term “skunk works” is used as a general concept, and if it is spelled with all lower-case letters, then according to Apple’s dictionary, skunk works means “an experimental laboratory or department of a company or institution, typically smaller than and independent of it’s main research division.” If this is how Gilliland intended his use of “skunk works,” then that would be correct.

However, since Gilliland used Boeing’s name and immediately followed it by saying “skunk works people” in the same sentence, I feel what he says is false and misleading.

Immediately after James Gilliland mentioned “skunk works people,” we hear:


James Gilliland talking with Ryan about his “ranch.”
Screenshot from Paranormal State “First Contact”
Appears at approximately 3 minutes 33 seconds.

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Lockheed Martin. “How the Skunk Works® Got Its Name.” LockheedMartin.com, accessed 25 January 2012.

Federal Trade Commission. “FTC ALLOWS MERGER OF THE BOEING COMPANY AND MCDONNELL DOUGLAS CORPORATION.” 01 July 1997.

It could be ambiguous as to whether James Gilliland meant “skunk works” to be an independent research group which could be at any company, or, if he meant “Skunk Works®” as the place where Lockheed Martin engineers worked. But remember, he used the term “skunk works” in the same sentence, and immediately following when he said “Boeing engineers.” Boeing’s “skunk works” program is called Phantom Works. It is Lockheed Martin’s “skunk works” program which is called Skunk Works®.

If James Gilliland meant “Skunk Works®,” he wrongly attributed the group to Boeing, because Skunk Works® is the registered trademark of Lockheed Martin.

James: We’ve had Air Force base commanders come here. We had triple-PhD Boeing engineers, skunk works people.



Here is what James Gillialand said while talking to Ryan. It isn’t clear if “Skunk Works®” or “skunk works” was intended, because the closed captions for the show use all capital letters. I used lower-case letters for the quote shown below.

Ryan: Really?

James: They came on record and said, “Look, we saw the ships. They’re here, and they’re not ours.” You know. They said, “We don’t know whose they are, but they’re not ours.”



It is important to clarify what “on record” really means. Keep in mind the following points:

We don’t know who “came on record”
     • No first and last names were given.
     • Their job titles are not given.
     • Their employer wasn’t given.

So, how can we verify and validate who said what, and the context of what was said? Gilliland did not provide any official, United States court documentation which was produced through legally-binding, sworn testimony.

The definition for what James Gilliland refers to as “the ships,” isn’t given
     • Are “ships” satellites, unmanned vehicles, or manned vehicles?
     • Are “ships” space debris, meteors, or meteorites?
     • Is a “ship” supposed to mean an extraterrestrial UFO?

The implied definition in “First Contact” for “ships” seems to be that they are extraterrestrial, unidentified flying objects. I say this because here’s what Gilliland was shown saying before the two quotes listed above:

James: This is like the field of dreams, we call it, because it’s like paranormal central. The ships are engaging us here. They know we’re here. So when they come in, they power up, and they let us see them. They make their presence known. You’ll see on your cameras a lot of paranormal activity in this field. A lot of things happen here.


SUMMARY
ANALYSIS
CONCLUSION
SOURCES