Joseph Burkes MD 2015
When I got back home to Los Angeles Yael told me that she had received a strange phone call while I was away in England doing contact work for CSETI. I told him that you were out of the country,” my wife explained. She then imitated his short blunt phrasing that sounded very formal. He had repeatedly addressed her as “Mame.” None of my friends or medical associates spoke like that and I wondered who it could have been. From the way she described the caller, who did not leave a name or contact number or tell her what the call was about, it sounded kind of ominous. And he had promised her that he would call back. I guessed it might be someone from the military. Yael who had briefly served during her youth in the Israeli Defense Force agreed with my assessment.
On a Saturday morning in late August the phone rang. Yael picked up and in her usual sweet voice sang out, “Hellooooo.” A troubled expression appeared on her countenance. “It’s him again,” she said. I went up to the bedroom, closed the door, and then picked up the receiver.
There was no beating around the bush. Without introducing himself the caller asked in the rude tone of an interrogator. “Is this Joseph Burkes? “Significant was the fact that he did not refer to me by the more respectful title,” Doctor.” I made the point by answering, “Yes this is Doctor Burkes speaking.” Nearly cutting me off he quickly stated his business “I am calling about your involvement in CSETI.”
He went on to say in a cold and threatening tone that things would go better for me if I had no further involvement with Project Starlight. He mentioned that I had been in Washington DC the previous April at Dr. Greer’s meetings with members of Congress and their staff. He clearly knew quite a bit about my activities as the meetings were not public and had been titled, “Behind Closed Door Briefings.” The authoritarian manner in which he spoke made me think I was being addressed by an experienced military officer or perhaps a government lawyer. It was perfectly clear from his rude manners that he, and whomever he represented, weren’t members of the CSETI fan club.
When he paused, I asked him who he was. The answer was angry, menacing, “This call is not about me, it’s about you!” Not being accustomed to threatening phone calls, I guess I was kind of stunned. I then attempted to explain why I really should not be a person of interest. I started by acknowledging that yes back in April I had been in Washington as part of the CSETI leadership, but that the area of my involvement was almost exclusively with the CE-5 Initiative, the project attempting to contact the intelligence behind the UFO phenomenon that we assumed was ET in nature.
He abruptly cut me off, “The CE-5 Initiative has been dead in the water for two years.” By using the word “dead” I knew that this call was serious and that there probably wouldn’t be much chance of meaningful dialogue. Nevertheless I gave it a try.
I protested saying that this whole conversation was not “fair”. Here he was calling me at home and apparently knowing much about my extracurricular activities, while I knew nothing about him or whom he represented. I added that as an ER physician I was not accustomed or willing to talk to anyone who refused to identify himself. I was preparing to hang up, I paused and the caller begrudgingly stated, “My name is Robert Modman.“
I couldn’t recall ever meeting someone by that name. I guessed it was probably a pseudonym. I was convinced that this call was supposed to be about intimidation, not open and honest communication. In addition I noted how close his name sounded to words “mad man,” a more appropriate title since he did seem very angry with me.
At that point I remembered that the Peruvian network of contactees called Mission Rahma had told us that if we thought that we were under some kind of parapsychological or mental attack, then rather than being aggressive towards the assaulting force, we should surround ourselves with white light signifying love and protection.
If I correctly recall, Dr Greer had suggested that when under attack it might be helpful to try and be open and kind, instead of becoming angry. I thought that it might be more productive to take a peaceful approach with “Mr. Modman,” or whatever his real name was.
In a gentle voice I truthfully explained that I wanted “to assist him in anyway I could.” I told this rude caller that “Dr. Joe Burkes was an open book.” I had freely shared, at public meetings and on the internet, what I was doing with my contact activities I had no secrets. I considered my participation to perfectly legal and protected by the US Constitution. I then asked him to tell me specifically how I could be of assistance. I suggested that we should meet in person to talk face to face and I would give him any information that he might require.
To my surprise his tone changed completely. He stammered and had trouble finding his words. Rather than using a commanding tone, he spoke respectfully addressing me for the first time as “doctor” His manner of speech was suddenly so different; it was as if he were the relative of a patient that I might be caring for in the ER. He apologized and said that he couldn’t meet with me nor could he even “call me again,” but then added, if someone else called me in the future, would I be willing to speak to that person? I agreed sincerely stating that I would do anything I could to “help them.” He quickly said, “Goodbye.” The telephone receiver went silent.
I thought about this bizarre call. It dawned on me that he probably didn’t know very much about our contact network and that his sole purpose was to scare me. Yes, it really did seem to me that his individual was an intelligence officer, or perhaps a former military attorney. I suspected that he was a private contract agent and had been issued a script for him to follow while talking to me. I wondered if the sudden change in his tone and apparent confusion was the result of my “going off script.” Instead of matching his anger with mine, I took a peaceful approach that was not anticipated by “his “talking points.” When I didn’t express fear or anger and actually volunteered to help him, he simply didn’t know what to say.
I reflected on his supposed name, “Modman” and pondered whether it was a “nom de guerre” chosen to sound like the more threatening word “madman.” I had told him that I would be willing to talk to someone else in the future about my work with CSETI, not surprisingly no one else called. The incident did however accomplish its purpose. I was truly disturbed that some shadowy group, powerful enough to hire a contract agent, wanted me to drop out of CSETI.
Several months later for a number of personal and political reasons I did exactly that and called Dr Greer to resign. It was a very sad decision for me and I was not proud of abandoning what I had imagined was a great cause.
In the summer of 1997 Dr. Greer had malignant melanoma that he told us was metastatic and Shari Adamiak, his loyal assistant, had breast cancer. Both conditions were reportedly advanced. Shari died several months later. The CSETI Director on more than one occasion told his closest supporters that their cancers had possibly been induced by surreptitious exposure to radiation. I recalled that the whistleblower atomic worker Karen Silkwood had been contaminated with what would have been a lethal amount of plutonium if she hadn’t died in a suspicious car accident. Many of her supporters were convinced that she had been killed in a successful attempt to silence her forever.
I didn’t like the talk about Shari and Steven Greer getting cancer as a possible “hit.” Doctor Greer was of Northern European ancestry and had reddish blond hair and blue eyes. This predisposed him to getting sunburned. He frequently spoke of his biking and hiking in nature and he clearly had much heavy sun exposure. Frequent sunburns during youth is a known risk factor for malignant melanoma. In addition Shari was about 50 years old and never had a child. These were risk factors for breast cancer.
It was my opinion that spreading such rumors would have a deleterious effect on our contact network. They were nearly impossible to prove unless one carried out an extensive radiation search of Dr Greer and Shari’s personal environments. Specialists in nuclear safety might be required to direct the investigation and that it would be very expensive. Was the CSETI leadership prepared to engage in such an effort? I never heard Dr. Greer mention such a course of action when he brought up the idea that their illnesses were the result of poisoning.
It should be stated that if radioactive material were say implanted in say the steering wheel of Shari’s car, exposing her chest to radiation as some rumors suggested, then the perpetrators might easily remove the poison after she became ill. The same might be said of Dr Greer’s situation. Thus an expensive and emotionally disturbing investigation for contamination might come up with nothing.
After I received the threatening phone call, I reflected on an unpleasant conversation that I had with Dr. Greer. It took place while I was assisting him during a training workshop in Southern England. It was just a few weeks before I spoke to the man who called himself “Modman.” Our CSETI training group was having dinner in an English pub. Dr. Greer informed me that it was his opinion that both Shari’s and his potentially fatal conditions were not a coincidence nor were they of natural causes. I will never forget how my then friend and colleague put it. He said in a gruff voice “They got Shari. They got me, and as my mouthpiece you’re next!”
It was painful for me to hear this dire pronouncement from a man that I held in such high esteem. I was surprised to be called a “mouthpiece.” It was a term that mobsters used to describe their legal representatives. Perhaps the CSETI director had watched too many reruns of the TV series from the 1960s called the “Untouchables.” I suspected that the stress of what he was going through caused him to express himself in such an unkind manner.
I recall trying to give a different perspective on the situation. I told Dr Greer that CSETI ‘s greatest threat to the control group’s power was project Starlight, (later called the Disclosure Project). I reasoned that since I was almost exclusively involved in the CE-5 Initiative and not in Starlight reasonably speaking I should not be targeted for harsh measures. Ironically what I was trying to tell Dr Greer was similar to the lame argument I offered “Modman” just a few weeks later. My plea translated sort of as “hey I’m just a simple field investigator. I don’t have much to do with Starlight so please just leave me alone.”
Of course I wasn’t just an ordinary rank and file contact worker. I had been with Dr Greer from the early days. I had won his confidence as a trainer of CE-5 teams and had been allowed to address the media for our organization. On one occasion in 1995 when things were going very badly for CSETI and Dr Greer and Shari had been under repeated psychotronic attacks, he actually proposed the notion that I might want to become CSETI’s “National” Director, while he would carry on as “International” Director.
Of course I couldn’t take such a suggestion seriously. Such a great responsibility would mean I would have to give up the practice of medicine, something Dr Greer eventually was compelled to do. I had a family to support and frankly knew that I was in no way prepared for such a challenge. I told him there is only one CSETI director and his name was Steven Greer.
Dr Greer’s blunt remark about me being “next “was understandably very disturbing, especially after I got the threatening phone call from “Modman.” I was beginning to think that maybe Steven’s prediction was about to come true. My father had died a long painful death from a rare form of lymphoma that attacked the skin. It covered his entire body with ugly weeping sores. Hearing that I might be poisoned in a way that would cause cancer, no matter how outlandish my rational mind told me this was, did not prevent me from having a major cancer-phobia attack.
Thus began a several month-long deliberation that was emotionally painful. I had to decide whether I should stay in CSETI despite the Dr Greer’s pronouncement and the threatening phone call. Project, Starlight, thanks to Dr Greer’s determination and connections with US intelligence agencies, was advancing steadily. Witnesses were being assembled; videotapes of their testimony were going to be recorded. In a bold move the CSETI Director proposed that amnesty in exchange for Congressional testimony, should be granted in to any and all members of the control group, (popularly known as MJ 12.) It was Dr Greer’s assessment that this clandestine organization was not only a massive rogue operation to maintain UFO secrecy, but also had committed crimes during its forty plus year operational history.
With Starlight, Dr. Greer was building a campaign that I could really sink my teeth into. It reminded me of the physician’s peace movement that I been active in during the 1980s. There would be opportunities for me to organize meetings, collect information for public dissemination. In short it would be a great opportunity for personal growth while I helped expand the contact network. My participation would allow me to continue to work for what I firmly believed was a just cause that was going to help mankind.
But my life was further complicated by another major problem. I had to contend with. My medical career was heading for a crisis. Our partnership had brought in a number young doctor to the ER. I was one of the team of six older internal medicine physicians who had run the ambulance area for a decade. Now it looked almost certain that we were orienting to Kaiser our replacements. It was the logical business decision. These younger doctors were just out of ER residency. They were smart, vigorous, better trained in modern ER medicine than the older crew. All of them were fully certified as ER physicians. My specialty was internal medicine and this was no longer considered adequate for ER work in Southern California. Besides as new physician hires, their salaries were considerably lower than mine because I had nearly 20 years seniority in our med group.
It was very stressful because the prospects of going back to an office-based practice after being away for over a decade was not particularly appealing. On the other hand, I was pushing 50 and the stress of the emergency room, including over-nights, was a challenge that I had increasing difficulty with. I was burning out at work and too fearful to work effectively for CSETI.
The contact movement was truly so exciting. My work with Dr Greer had me allowed to have experiences that I had never dreamed were possible. In the high deserts of the US Southwest, in the volcanic zone in Mexico, in the crop circle region of England, I had participated in human initiated close encounters with the intelligence associated with the UFO phenomenon. Strong friendships with fellow contact workers, hiking in nature and a sense of inner peace from a regular meditation practice were all part of my CSETI experience.
I debated the issue for months and of course spoke on the phone to friends about my dilemma. I felt ashamed of being so fearful of the possibility of being targeted. But in the end, I called Dr. Greer in May of 1998 and resigned from his organization. It was not a pleasant conversation for both of us. I had been a proud member of CSETI family for nearly 6 years. I knew an important part of my life was sadly ending.
Contact Underground 