Interesting mention of 1980 "October Surprise" in CIA pilot's '04 speech.

[DemoTex]

And now that our beloved 40th president has passed on I can tell you that in fact (with my apologies to Michael Reagan) the October Surprise was true. The October surprise, for those of you that don't remember, happened during October of 1980 when Reagan and Bush were running against Carter and Mondale. George Bush was flown in a BAC-111 one Saturday night to Paris to meet with the Ayatollah Khomeini. Bush offered the Khomeini a deal whereby if he would delay the release of the hostages held in Tehran until Reagan's inauguration, the administration would supply unlimited guns and ammunition to the Iranians.

In order to get Bush back for a Sunday morning brunch, so that nobody would be alerted to his absence, he was flown back in an SR-71 from Rheims field near Paris to McGuire AFB. (My emphasis)

If true .. well, if true. This is from a speech given in Las Vegas by John Lear (son of Learjet founder Bill Lear, and CIA pilot from the Air America days in Laos) on July 9, 2004. It is a long speech, so I posted only the section germane to the Reagan/Bu$h alleged contact with the Iranians prior to the 1980 elections. I received this by email this morning.

If not true, the whole speech/email is a clever hoax. My biggest problem with this scenario is Bu$h-1's access to a Lockheed SR-71. If the scenario is accurate and the SR-71 belonged to the US military, then a bunch of folks are guilty of treason. If the SR-71 was clandestine property of the CIA (stranger things have happened), then a bunch of folks are guilty of treason.

If the October Surprise indeed happened, but by other mechanisms, a bunch of folks are still guilty of treason.

It is possible that John Lear is as credible as the infamous CIA Iraq WMD informant, "Curve-Ball." Lear was fired from so many pilot jobs (he was even fired by his father, Bill Lear) that I suspect he had a problem with substance abuse. But who knows. John Lear also claims to have flown CIA Boeing-707s into Tehran with the arms-for-hostage booty for the Iranians.

[Poll_Blind]

1. The SR-71 does seat two but, damn, that would be AMAZING...

...access, to say the least.

PB

[Jara sang]

8. SR-71A seats two.

[mod mom]

2. Someone needs to check the veracity of this.

[Lerkfish]

3. I believe this happened

I just dont' know whether to believe this source.

[The Deacon]

4. Untrue

I guess the son of beloved corporate jet pioneer Bill Lear couldn't bear to admit it, but a Gulfstream IV had both the range & the speed to accomplish the feat. And Bush the First's campaign appointments diary shows an almost three day gap, plenty of time for the dirty deed to be done. Unfortunately, the Israeli arms dealer (who, by the way, owned one of the first Gulfstream IVs ever produced) who was probably the go-between (at least, he claimed to be when the Iran-Contra Scandal first broke) is no longer with us - died under suspicious circumstances before he could make his claims under oath.

[DemoTex]

6. The Gulfstream G-IV wasn't FAA certified until 4/22/1987.

Only the lesser-ranged Gulfstream G-II and G-III (Rolls-Royce Spey powered) were available in 1980. The proto-type long-range G-IV (Rolls-Royce fan-jet Tay powered) first flew on 9/19/1985. The G-IVSP (longer range yet) replaced the G-IV in September 1992.

Ironically, the G-III and the BAC-111 are both powered by variants of the RR Spey. Either could make the North Atlantic crossing with extra tanks or extra fuel stops (Gander and Shannon).

http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=238

[bananas]

5. Do you have a link to that speech? nt

[DemoTex]

7. It was sent to me as an email .. but check out Reiver's post here:

http://www.raf54th.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=12334&sid=debaf324f4462e9c293933742bbd22c7

[DemoTex]

9. More on John Lear (sounds like a nutcase now)

John Lear speaking on UFOs to Art Bell:

"A slightly more frightening phenomena known as "human mutilations" have occurred on a regular basis and are similar to "cattle mutilations". In that the human or humans are taken from the street, so to speak, and returned to the same area about 45 minutes to an hour later with their rectums cored out, their genitals removed, eyes removed from their sockets, and completely drained of blood. In all cases it appeared that the mutilation procedures occurred while the persons were still alive and conscious. One of our scientists speculates that apparently the human specimens had to be alive for the samples to be worth anything. Abductions occur on a daily basis throughout the United States to at least 10% of the population."

http://www.vinesbranch.com/view/?pageID=165593

Scratch John Lear. He makes "Curve-Ball" look like a Presbyterian elder.

[Lerkfish]

10. yikes! okeydokey then...*sidles away quietly*