inaccuracies from chris a. rutkowski’s chapter on the ... · as indicated in fact #1 of...

Inaccuracies from Chris A. Rutkowski’s Chapter on the Linda Cortile Case

By

Sean F. Meers

(First Published: April 27, 2014)

(Updated May 18, 2015)

Introduction

Page 1

The book A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski (first published in September 2008) contains a chapter (“The Manhattan Abductions” Page 58 – 62) 1 that briefly discusses elements of the Linda Cortile UFO abduction case. The chapter contains a series of factual inaccuracies in regards to Linda’s case. The inaccuracies are relayed through both statements and imagery. The purpose of this paper is to compare the contents of the chapter in question, to the facts of Linda’s case and document the results.

Error #1

Page 58; line 12 – 13 (not including title lines), A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski

(Dundurn Press, 2008) 6

Fact #1

As indicated in Fact #1 of “Inaccuracies from Jenny Randles’ Statements on the Linda Cortile Case” 2 Linda was already awake, she hadn’t gone to sleep yet. 24, 25, 28

Error #2



Fact #2

The aliens didn’t speak in the strange language, and give Linda what she perceived to be an instruction to be quiet, until she was taken onboard the craft. 29

Error #3

8; line 19 – 20 (not including title lines), A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski


Fact #3

Linda indicated that the UFO opened up like a clam, not that the UFO itself resembled a clam. 29

Error #4

Susan Birdwise’s Illustration of Linda’s November 30, 1989 UFO Abduction From Her Apartment

Page 59, A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski


Fact #4

Susan Birdwise’s illustration attempts to visually depict an element from the beginning of Linda’s November 30, 1989 UFO abduction. Specifically, when Linda and three aliens were sighted by multiple, independent, firsthand eyewitnesses hovering in midair in a bright beam of light [underneath a large UFO]. Birdwise’s illustration of the scene in question is factually inaccurate in at least six different respects (see Fact #4A – Fact #4F).

Fact #4A – The First Inaccuracy

The first inaccuracy with Birdwise’s illustration is the location. She depicts Linda and the three aliens hovering in a beam of light situated very closely to the immediate right of either the Brooklyn Bridge or the Manhattan Bridge. 9 On the sole occasion during Linda’s November 30, 1989 UFO abduction, when Linda was sighted hovering in midair in the company of three aliens underneath a UFO, she was located 12 storeys off the ground, a few feet away from the left side of the south face of the southeast corner of the Knickerbocker Village Apartment Complex (where she lives). 32, 47 The general distance from that point to the Brooklyn Bridge is roughly 1122 feet, and the general distance from that point to the Manhattan Bridge is roughly 1037 feet (see Map #1).

Map #1

URL: https://maps.google.com.au/?hl=en

https://maps.google.com.au/?hl=en

Fact #4B – The Second Inaccuracy

Birdwise depicts the three aliens as having only three fingers on each hand. According to Linda the aliens had four fingers on each hand, not three. 48

Fact #4C – The Third Inaccuracy

Birdwise depicts the three aliens as having only two toes on each foot, arranged like a forked tongue. The three aliens in Linda’s case didn’t have toes. 36

Fact #4D – The Fourth Inaccuracy

Birdwise depicts one of the three aliens being as tall as Linda. All three of the aliens were smaller than Linda. 46, 47

Fact #4E – The Fifth Inaccuracy

Birdwise depicts the three aliens as holding onto and carrying Linda while all four were hovering in midair in the beam of light [underneath the UFO]. 9 There was no physical contact between Linda and the three aliens while they were hovering in midair in the beam of light [underneath the UFO]. Two aliens were below Linda on either side and one was above her. All four were supported and moved by the beam of light, not each other. 32, 46, 47

Fact #4F – The Sixth Inaccuracy

Birdwise depicts that Linda was wearing a short sleeveless slip. Linda was wearing an ankle length gown with sleeves. 26

Error #5

Page 59; line 1 – 3, A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski


Fact #5

The February 1991 letter didn’t come from one person, it came from two. Both Richard and Dan wrote and signed the letter. 27

Error #6



Richard, Dan and the third man’s account of this element of the November 30, 1989 UFO abduction incident

Richard, who was in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, reached into his shirt pocket for a stick of gum. As he unwrapped it he looked at the silver wrapping and noticed a reddish, fire-like glow being reflected on it. He looked through the windshield of the vehicle to try and locate the source of the light. It was then that he saw a bright, reddish orange, oval-shaped object hovering over the top of the south east corner Linda's apartment building. The lights turned from a bright reddish orange to a whitish blue coming out from the bottom of it. It had horizontal, rectangular-shaped windows around the side of the object. It also had green rotating lights on the edge of the protruding saucer ledge of the craft, rotating while the craft stood still hovering. The craft moved out away from the building and lowered itself to an apartment window below. Richard yelled for Dan next to him, which also alerted the third man in the backseat. 32

Fact #6

Richard noticed the light reflection, then its UFO source. He noticed these things first, before Dan and the third man did. Upon seeing the UFO Richard alerted Dan to its presence, when Richard did this it also incidentally alerted the third man to the UFO’s presence. 32

Fact #7

When Richard first noticed the reflection (from the light coming from the UFO), and then the UFO itself shortly after, the light that the UFO was emanating was reddish-orange in colour, not bluish. After this the reddish-orange light coming from the UFO turned whitish blue as the bluish white-lights beamed downwards from the underside of the craft. The craft then moved out away from the building

and lowered itself to an apartment window below. After this occurred Richard alerted Dan to the UFO’s presence, which as a result also alerted the third man to it. 22, 32

Fact #8

Richard was able to resolve the UFO to an oval-shaped object when he first noticed it. This occurred before Dan and the third man saw the UFO, before the UFO changed colour (from reddish-orange to whitish blue), and before Linda and the three aliens exited her apartment and entered the bright bluish-white beam of light under the UFO, not after. The UFO, and its oval shape, was resolvable as soon as it initially appeared. 32

Fact #9

The UFO flew into the East River at the end of the November 30, 1989 UFO abduction incident, after Richard, Dan, the third man and Linda had been returned, not at the beginning. 44, 45 Richard, Dan and the third man’s recollections of the sequencing of the November 30, 1989 UFO abduction incident expanded with each new flashback memory that they each received of it over time. In Dan’s September 17, 1991 letter to Budd Hopkins (The Lady of the Sands letter) Richard, Dan and the third man put to paper the new recollections of the incident that had emerged for each of them and how it affected the sequencing of their initial recollections. Richard also added his account of the incident in his later letter to Budd Hopkins dated October 21, 1991. In their account, after they saw the UFO dive into the East River, the third man wanted to swim out to try and find Linda. The next immediate memory that they have is of the Lady of the Sands incident which took place on an unknown beach that night. The next immediate memory they had after that was of being back by their vehicle with the third man on the roof of it. Richard and Dan helped him down and all three of them then walked over to the riverfront and watched it for roughly 45 minutes to see if the UFO they saw go into the water would come back out, it did not. They then returned to their car, started their engine and went on to their original destination. 35, 37, 39, 40 What they ultimately did not realise until later on was that when the UFO dove into the East River it had just dropped them back off after the abduction was over. Richard reported this development in his May 4, 1992 letter to Budd Hopkins (see Fact #5 of “Inaccuracies from Ryan Sprague’s Articles on the Linda Cortile Case).44, 45, 50

Error #7



Fact #10

According to Richard, Dan put in for a leave of absence from work because the experience of meeting the woman [Linda] he had seen floating out of the window so many months before had been emotionally devastating. 31 Dan never took time off his beat, because he never had a beat because wasn’t a police officer or detective. Dan, like Richard, was a Security/Intelligence agent. 42, 43 A few days after the November 30, 1989 UFO abduction incident occurred Richard and Dan investigated to see whether or not Linda had survived. When they did they found out that she was alive and well and going on with her life. They never spent many nights wondering if Linda was alive and well after the incident because they investigated the matter almost immediately and determined her status (see Fact #6 of “Inaccuracies from Jenny Randles’ Statements on the Linda Cortile Case”). 2

Error #8



Fact #11

Richard and Dan had already provided their first names in their February 1991 letter to Budd Hopkins. They didn’t wait until meeting Linda (on February 19, 1991) to do so. 27

Error #9



Fact #12

During Richard and Dan’s visit to Linda at her apartment (on February 19, 1991) it was Dan who kept asking Linda “how she did it”, not Richard. 30

Error #10



Fact #13

As indicated in Fact #2 of “Inaccuracies from Jenny Randles’ Statements on the Linda Cortile Case” Richard and Dan were Security/Intelligence agents who, on November 30, 1989, were temporarily tasked with escorting and guarding a VIP political figure to Governors Island. 2, 33, 34, 42, 43

Error #11



Fact #14

This is a reiteration of an unsubstantiated claim that originated with George Hansen who stated: “At the [July 1992] MUFON symposium [in Albuquerque, New Mexico], Linda was asked if she had reported the [April 29, 1991] kidnapping [by Richard and Dan] to the police. She said that she had not and went on to say that the kidnapping was legal because it had to do with national security.” 23 Hansen made this claim in his alleged “critique” of Linda’s case and referenced a tape recording of July 1992 MUFON UFO symposium as his source. When I contacted Hansen through email and asked him whether any of his, or his investigative team’s (Stefula and Butler) meetings with Linda were tape recorded he stated: "Linda also appeared on stage, and spoke, with Hopkins at the 1992 MUFON symposium. I think that some tape recordings were probably made of that." Hansen’s statement begged the question of how a person could quote a statement they retrieved from a tape recording in their paper and then later go on to state their uncertainty as to whether that tape recording they quoted from existed or not? (see Fact #57 of “Critique Rejected”). 3 Hansen’s statement regarding what Linda stated at the July 1992 MUFON UFO symposium is not supported and remains unsubstantiated (see Miscellaneous Evidence Item #3 at the Miscellaneous Evidence webpage at this website). It is unknown what Linda definitively stated at the July 1992 MUFON UFO symposium without a recording of it to refer to. Without a recording to refer to and prove what Linda stated, all that is left is allegations from the individuals present at the symposium about what Linda stated, and that is hearsay at best. George Hansen was not the only attendee at the symposium who claimed that Linda indicated that her April 29, 1991 kidnapping by Richard and Dan was performed as a matter of national security. Jon Roland wrote an article for “Continuum” magazine where he stated that “[Richard and Dan] excused their own abduction of Linda as a matter of “national security”.” 21 Unfortunately his statement about Linda’s statement is still hearsay without a recording to prove what she said.

Curious to learn more about the matter I spoke with Linda and obtained her firsthand testimony about the issue. Linda indicated that she was told by Richard and Dan [during their April 29, 1991 kidnapping of her] that because the November 30, 1989 UFO abduction incident affects national security they were in their rights to pull her in for questioning. 49 Whether that was actually the case, and whether Richard and Dan were actually within their legal rights to pluck Linda off the street for questioning at any time, is ultimately unknown. Linda only had their word to go on in regards to this and she only reported what they had told her.

Error #12

Page 61; line 34 – 35, Page 62; line 1, A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski


Fact #14

Dan took Linda to Long Beach, not Long Island. It was initially believed that Dan took her to Long Island but subsequent investigation determined it was an ocean front property on Long beach. 4

Error #13



Fact #15

During Linda’s October 15, 1991 kidnapping by Dan, Dan repeatedly forced Linda’s head underwater to wash the damp sand off of her face. 38

Error #14



Fact #16

While Richard’s eventual appearance [during Linda’s October 15, 1991 kidnapping by Dan] was sudden and while he did reportedly protect Linda from further danger, he did not arrive in the nick of time. Richard arrived in a brief moment of lull after Linda had been physically attacked by Dan. 38

Error #15

Page 62, Paragraph 3, A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski


Fact #17

The letter from the third man did not advise that aliens were directly involved in Earth’s political process and that they were striving to achieve world peace in co-operation with terrestrial agents. Nor did it advise that any attempt to contact [the third man] would seriously threaten the proceedings. These claims are reiterations of publicly conveyed falsities that originated with George Hansen in his alleged “critique” of the Cortile case (see Fact #26 of “The Facts Regarding the Alleged Sixteen Similarities Between the Linda Cortile Case and the Science-Fiction Novel Nighteyes”). 5, 41

Conclusions

Page 22

On the whole Rutkowski’s written account of various elements from the Linda Cortile case is highly factually inaccurate. That being said his account is respectful and dispassionate in its delivery. He does not employ any ridicule or character assassination in his treatment of the subject. Nor does he grind any pseudoskeptical axes under a false thin veil of legitimate skepticism.

Quotes, References and Appendices

Page 23

1) “The Manhattan Abductions”

Page 58 – 62, A World of UFOs

by Chris A. Rutkowski (Dundurn Press, 2008)

2)

“Inaccuracies from Jenny Randles’ Statements on the Linda Cortile Case” by Sean F. Meers

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/inaccuracies-from-jenny-randles-statements-on-the-linda-

cortile-case.html

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/ifjrslcc.pdf

3) “Critique Rejected”

by Sean F. Meers

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/critique-rejected.html

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/critique_rejected.pdf

4) “Linda’s October 15, 1991 Kidnapping by Dan”

by Sean F. Meers

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/lindas-october-15-1991-kidnapping-by-dan.html

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/lo15kd.pdf

5) “The Facts Regarding the Alleged Sixteen Similarities Between the Linda Cortile Case and the

Science-Fiction Novel Nighteyes” by

Sean F. Meers

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/the-facts-regarding-the-alleged-sixteen-similarities-between-the-linda-cortile-case-and-the-science-fiction-novel-nighteyes.html

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/tfrssnlc.pdf

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/inaccuracies-from-jenny-randles-statements-on-the-linda-cortile-case.html

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/inaccuracies-from-jenny-randles-statements-on-the-linda-cortile-case.html

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/ifjrslcc.pdf

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/critique-rejected.html

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/critique_rejected.pdf

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/lindas-october-15-1991-kidnapping-by-dan.html

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/lo15kd.pdf

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/the-facts-regarding-the-alleged-sixteen-similarities-between-the-linda-cortile-case-and-the-science-fiction-novel-nighteyes.html

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/the-facts-regarding-the-alleged-sixteen-similarities-between-the-linda-cortile-case-and-the-science-fiction-novel-nighteyes.html

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/tfrssnlc.pdf

6)


(Dundurn Press, 2008)

7)



8)



9)

Page 59, A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski


10)



11)



12)



13)



14)



15)



16)



17)

Page 61; line 34 – 35, Page 62; line 1, A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski


18)



19)



20)

Page 62, Paragraph 3, A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski


21)

Page 14, Right Column, Paragraph 5, “A Witnessed Abduction: Linda” by Jon Roland,

Continuum – Volume 3, Number 1, First Quarter, 1993

22)

Page 21, Bottom Left Column; line 7 – 14, “House of Cards: The Butler/Hansen/Stefula Critique of the Cortile Case”

by Budd Hopkins, International UFO Reporter,

March/April 1993, Vol. 18, No. 2 23)

Page 5; line 34 – 37 (including fourth paragraph title line), “A Critique of Budd Hopkins’ Case of the UFO Abduction of Linda [Cortile]”

by Joseph J. Stefula, Richard D. Butler, and George P. Hansen

24)

Page 12, Left Column; line 16 – 37 (not including bold text lines), “The Linda Cortile Abduction Case” by Budd Hopkins, September 1992, Number 293, MUFON UFO Journal

25)

Page 13, Left Column; line 29 – 56, Right Column; line 1 – 10 (not including three bold lines),

“A Light at the End of the Tunnel” by Linda Cortile,

June 1993, Number 302, MUFON UFO Journal

26)

The gown that Linda was wearing when she was abducted into a

UFO on November 30, 1989

27)

Page 5; line 8 – 16, Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions

by Budd Hopkins (Paperback, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1997)

28)



29)

Page 14; line 22 – 33, Page 15; line 1 – 14, Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions


30)



31)

Page 30, Paragraph 1, Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions


32)



33)

Page 47; line 40 – 41, Page 48; line 1 – 4, Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions


34)



35)



36)

Page 96, Paragraph 3, Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions


37)



38)

Page 128; line 3 – 42 Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions




39)



40)



41)



Page 167, Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions


42)



43)



44)



45)



46)



46)

One of Richard’s drawings of Linda and the three aliens, Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions


47)

One of Janet Kimball’s drawings of Linda and the three aliens as seen from her position on the Brooklyn Bridge,

Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions by Budd Hopkins

(Paperback, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1997)

48)

Excerpt from Linda Cortile’s email to Sean F. Meers dated Tuesday, April 15, 2014 3:55 PM

49)

Excerpt from Linda Cortile’s email to Sean F. Meers date Tuesday, April 22, 2014 6:31 AM

50) “Inaccuracies from Ryan Sprague’s Articles on the Linda Cortile Case”

by Sean F. Meers

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/inaccuracies-from-ryan-spragues-articles-on-the-linda-cortile-

case.html

URL: http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/ifrsomalcc.pdf

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/inaccuracies-from-ryan-spragues-articles-on-the-linda-cortile-case.html

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/inaccuracies-from-ryan-spragues-articles-on-the-linda-cortile-case.html

http://www.lindacortilecase.com/uploads/3/4/2/0/34208873/ifrsomalcc.pdf

Fair Use

The quotes from Chris A. Rutkowski’s Chapter “The Manhattan Abductions” (Page 58 – 62, A World of UFOs by Chris A. Rutkowski) have been used here in accordance with the Fair Use doctrine contained within the United States copyright law. They are presented here to factually demonstrate their inaccuracy. The purpose and character of this use is non-profit education intended to increase public awareness about the validity of the Linda Cortile UFO abduction case and the invalidity of some of the public accounts given of it. They have also been used here as a means of providing a free and accurate public information source about the case to aid those interested in learning more about it. The rest of the quotes have been presented here as factual references to prove the statements that I’ve made within this paper.

URL: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/usc_sec_17_00000107----000-.html

TITLE 17 > CHAPTER 1 > § 107 § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

Copyright

Sean F. Meers claims copyright ownership of all information stored in this document, unless expressly stated otherwise. No information stored in this document may be used for commercial or other purposes (except as legally allowed for personal and educational use) unless Sean F. Meers gives his prior written consent to the intended use.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/usc_sec_17_00000107----000-.html

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