The Starman: or the strange case of Steve Fossett Part II

Day 12

Several interesting quotes have stuck with me since I began my investigation of the "disappearance" of aviator/adventurer Steve Fossett. The first is related to Barron Hilton's Flying "M" Ranch in Minden, Nevada from a New York Times article from September 7th.

"Past guests include aviation heroes like Buzz Aldrin and Chuck Yeager, and actors like Morgan Freeman and Cliff Robertson, whose poem posted on a wall in the main dining room calls the ranch “a place of magic.”"


"Magick" man Sir Richard Branson shows his skills to a seemingly unimpressed Al Gore

The New York Times article holds special interest and will likely be referenced again as it connects the Flying "M" Ranch to singer John Denver (who died flying an experimental aircraft). Not to mention a quote which calls it "Disneyland" and futher that there is "no place like it on earth". Playground for the social elite or is there more going on at The Flying "M" Ranch than anyone associated with it would like to be known? Curiouser, and curiouser...

In a widely publicized comment from benefactor and friend Sir Richard Branson back in February of 2006, after flying further than any person ever, Branson was quoted as saying of Fossett:

"He's only half human, that's all I can say!"

In part one I introduced several key players in this story, however, another name albeit less glamorous than Hilton and Branson should be included, that of Burt Rutan. Mr. Rutan was the winner of the 2004 Ansari X Prize. The 10 million dollar prize was awarded to Rutan's privately (and co-funded by Microsoft) built SpaceShipOne. Richard Branson quickly seized upon Mr. Rutan and developed a partnership with him that has lead to the creation of SpacePort America (see Part I).



The original release date for the design plans of SpacePort America was scheduled for July 27th, 2007 but one day before an explosion at Rutan's "top-secret" test site in the Mojave Desert in which three engineers were killed set the project back several months. It would seem tragedy surrounds this commercial space venture or sacrifices are required in order to move it forward.

In 2006, Paris Hilton (granddaughter of Barron) booked her own spaceflight ticket with Virgin Galactic...

Hilton in Space

Writer David Southwell immediately contacted me with an odd twist to this already odd story. Fans of Dr. Who will surely resonate with the name Rutan...or perhaps your memory needs a little refresher. The "Rutans" (or Rutan Host) are an alien race in the "Who" universe. Here is a brief description from the hive mind wikipedia:

http://peeringthrough.blogspot.com/2007/08/its-in-water.html
Jellyfish/Cthulhu anyone?

In their natural forms, Rutans resemble large green jellyfish, glowing blobs of biomatter with long ropy tentacles. They are amphibious and can cling to sheer vertical surfaces, with considerable mobility out of the water despite their shape. Rutans can also generate lethal biolelectrical shocks, and seem to be able to absorb electrical energy directly for sustenance. They reproduce by a process similar to binary fission, with each daughter Rutan carrying the memories of the parent. Rutans can speak, although the exact mechanism by which this works is unknown as they seem to lack mouths. The Rutan observed in Horror of Fang Rock spoke with a harsh, tinny male voice.

The title "Rutan Host" implies a gestalt or group intelligence of some kind, and indeed Rutans never refer to themselves as individuals, preferring the first person plurals "we", "us" and "our(s)". Rutans are able to operate independently (and like the Sontarans, often dispatch scout units consisting of a single soldier), but they do not see individuals as important and all individual desires are subsumed by the general desire to win the war with the Sontaran Empire.

Rutans have also developed advanced shape-shifting technology, allowing them to appear in any form they wish. They often use this technology to adapt to alien environments and infiltrate alien cultures; Rutans are consummate spies. A Rutan usually kills specific individuals and then impersonates them, though it is unclear whether this tactic is merely to prevent discovery or because they need to make a detailed examination of the body before adopting its shape.

Within hours of the news of Fossett's disapperance, Sir Richard contacted Google who in turn launced it's own search party by recruiting "average Joe's" into the quest for finding Fossett, asking computer users of Google Earth to scour satellite images for possible signs of his believed downed plane. Within days, on September 13th, Google then announced that they would be sponsoring the newest X Prize, entitled Moon 2.0...only three years after Rutan took home the award, and started the race (envisioned by Hilton, Arthur C. Clarke, and Sir Richard Branson) for the commercialization of space. A move that many have already speculated will serve as proof that we even went to the moon in the first place, as one of the tasks included in the 30 million dollar prize is broadcast video or photographs of the lunar surface.

A mere 70 miles away from The Flying "M" Ranch, The Nevada Air Races are being held this week in Reno... as of yesterday (Friday the 14th) three fatal crashes had taken place. One included the death of five-time defending champion Gary Hubler.

It is important to note that in my last post, I suggested that the Flying "M" Ranch is an approximate distance from Area 51 in Nevada which could be seen as relative to the distance from SpacePort Amercia to Roswell in New Mexico...keeping in mind that most information in 2007 suggests that operations at Area 51 have either been scaled back or terminated completely. (see the comments section for Part I).

Again, WHERE IS STEVE FOSSETT?

This investigation is ongoing, runs VERY deep (in my mind), and is developing quickly. I will do my best to update as time permits me to. Please be patient with me, and as always, your comments, suggestions and insights are crucial!