Book Review: The Day After Roswell By Colonel Philip Corso
By Nick Blake
In ancient times, Trojan priestess Cassandra was cursed by the god Apollo to utter true prophecies but to never be believed. That same curse looms over the field of UFOlogy. The truth is seldom believed.
Col. Philip Corso’s seminal work, The Day After Roswell, was published in the last years of his life as his way of sharing his life story before he passed on. He believed people deserve to know the truth.
The premise of the book, as suggested by the title, involves the famous Roswell crash(es) in 1947. The event resulted in the US Army getting their hands on a flying saucer (or saucers), the formation of an extra-governmental group called Majestic 12, the appearance of components and science papers about the recovered craft in a file cabinet that showed up at Corso's desk at Foreign Technologies at the Pentagon in the 1950s/1960s, and finally the dissemination of these components to specific industries within the USA already working on these areas to accelerate research & development.
Similar to Major Keyhoe’s books from the 1950s, Corso’s book revisits specific behind-the-scenes conversations and experiences within military and intelligence circles, so it has a spy thriller-quality to it. Unlike Keyhoe’s books, Corso isn’t knocking on doors to get information in hopes of working out a puzzle. Instead, his Corso is disclosing information. He’s been in-the-know for decades and is finally coming out with the truth-as-he-knows-it.
One of the most interesting parts of this book wasn't the UFO- and alien-related stuff. It was the deep political context and how Corso and his superior navigated the minefield of Washington DC to secretly accelerate American technology development.
Specifically, it was very interesting to hear his opinion that the CIA was totally compromised by the KGB by the early 1960s. The reverse is true, in Corso's opinion.
The opposing organizations had so thoroughly compromised each other that anything happening in Moscow or Washington DC was immediately known to both sides, and the spy-on-spy networks were so deeply invested in each other that they largely drove the Cold War as a means to maintain and strengthen their own grip on power.
Equally interesting, it appears that as far back as the 1960s the generals from both the USA and Russia decided that their intelligence agencies were corrupt and not working in the best interest of their people, so direct relationships began between the armed forces from each side.
Furthering this, development of space tech and global satellite mapping/spy systems by the USA as far back as the 1950s had the dual aim of (a) keeping track of army and other movements around the world and (b) monitoring UFO/alien landings/presences. This info was extremely helpful to the Russians and helped their generals keep their own intelligence services in check.
This was also why Corso moved so quietly, seeding technology into our existing R&D programs, so that none of the intelligence services could get wind of what was happening and steal all the info.
His descriptions of alien bodies and technologies he witnessed are, of course, very intriguing.
He was a big fan of Ronald Reagan and the Star Wars / space laser program.
In Corso's worldview (reflecting the post-WW2 view of the military establishment), aliens have been interfering with our civilization for thousands of years and their ships carry powerful lasers and other weaponry, so the MJ12 folks immediately viewed everything through the lens of defense and weaponry, a trend which continues to this day.
Published in the late 1990s, Corso was part of the wave of military disclosure following the release of Timothy Good’s book Above Top Secret. It spent several weeks on the NY Times’ bestseller list. The mixed reviews in the press are about what you would expect. Disbelief, skeptical criticisms and desperation to disprove it. The Guardian, for example, put it on their list of “Top 10 Literary Hoaxes”.
The question you need to ask yourself is this: why would a decorated military veteran go through all the trouble and effort to publish a hoax at the end of his life that could compromise the reputation he built in his career?
Come on, Guardian. Get your head out of the sand and do your research.
Will we ever break the curse of Cassandra? Or do the gods perhaps not want us to believe?
ABOUT NICK BLAKE:
A Founding Member of The Hollywood Disclosure Alliance, Nick Blake is also a writer, musician, and producer whose first indie video game, Dragon Battle, continues to sell and attract new audiences, years after its release. Additionally, Nick’s research project into the Bigfoot phenomenon has resulted in a 400-page manuscript with a 20+ page bibliography that includes chapters on high strangeness phenomenon and possible extraterrestrial connections.
CONTACT:
Nick Blake
