Nate, this thread is for you, ir you wish to use it to repost any of your earlier research about this topic.
Thanks Rose! I think I remember stumbling on Coppy Laws, and what a character he is. Fascinating that he crossed paths with Idries Shah! Shah's version of Sufism definitely had an impact on 20th century elite culture.
I found the thread, it was indeed on this forum, back in 2008. My memory was confused about the FBI memo: it wasn't Townsend Brown who was named but "Wild Bill" Donovan. So, all this is about Electronatom, the company later associated with promoting the "Ionocraft", an electric flying device pointedly having no association with Thomas Townsend Brown at all.
TLDR, as the kids say: It would appear that the air ionizer company Electronatom was a William Donovan front company in 1952. But I would like to confirm that for sure.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=250&st=0&sk=t&sd=a#p17103
1.
An interesting and potentially relevant conspiracy-related book on oss.net possibly called either 'Gold Warriors' or 'Dear Jane', 2005 by Sterling & Peggy Seagrave, claims:
Remnants of OSS personnel in France worked for Donovan and Britain’s MI-6 under cover of a company called Electronatom Corporation. FBI, bureau memo, 4 March 1954.
Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold definitely seems like an on-topic book to read, but I can't currently confirm a mention of Electronatom by text search.
https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Warriors-Am ... 1844675319
2.
Here's another FBI memo:
http://www.smokershistory.com/Donovan.htm
"On 9/11/52 Bureau Agents interviewed [blacked out] at which time [blacked out] stated [blacked out] was trying to develop an invention which would take smoke out of the air, and in this regard, a corporation had been formed called the Electronatom Corporation with offices at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and laboratory at 7 West 45 Street, NYC. This corporation was being promoted by Gen. William Donovan" (NY Rpt, 9/29/52).
Thanks to Archive.org, here's that link alive:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170307092 ... onovan.htm
The FBI FOIA links don't load anymore, I assume the Donovan file is this one on the 2023 FBI site (
https://vault.fbi.gov/search?Searchable ... +j+donovan ), but I'm not seeing a full text search for it anymore so it will need manual scanning to confirm it's an actual entry.
3.
The CEO of Seversky Electronatom company, at least at some point, is Beebe Bourne of the 'Bourne music publishing family' who at some point is also 'special assistant to the President of the United States'. She died in 2005, age not published but I'm guessing 60s-70s. Most of her awards are for services to music publishing. She had a reputation for being an extremely aggressive enforcer of copyright and was not well liked by her enemies.
A formidable woman, but I'm wondering what credentials Beebe possessed in the 1960s that would qualify her for CEO of an experimental aircraft company based on an entirely untried method of propulsion? And how did she get the ear of a President, and which one?
Possibly she runs Electronatom much later, after they got out of the aircraft business, since sometime between 1946 and 1955 the director is apparently Jack Frye, a much more sensible choice it would seem.
http://www.sedonalegendhelenfrye.com/page24.html
Archive.org brings that page back too:
https://web.archive.org/web/20090902095 ... age24.html
And here's Jack Frye - an excerpt from what's apparently the 1955 "Who's Who in World Aviation". The 1946 date is definitely a red herring (it's the time of a flight speed record for Jack).
Who's Who in World Aviation-1955
Frye, Jack. b. Sweetwater, Okla., Mar. 18, 1904; m. Emily Nevada Smith; children, Lili Nevajac.
Edu.: public schools. Business record: partner, Burdett Flying Sch., Los Angeles, 1923-24; pres., Aero Corp. of Calif., 1926-30; pres., Standard Airlines Div. of Aero., 1927-30; v.p.-ops., Western Air Express; v.p.-ops., dir., Transcontinental & Western Air., TWA, 1934-47; present position since 1947; transport pilot license NO. 933; altitude record, 22,680 ft. in three-engined Fokker, 1929; transcon. speed record, 13 hrs. 2 min. in DC-1, 1934; transcon. speed record, 11 hrs. 30 min., Northrop Gamma, 1934; Burbank-Washington in Constellation, 6 hrs. 57 min., 1944; Los Angeles-New York, Constellation, 7 hrs. 28 min., 1946; dir., General Aniline and Film Corp., Electronatom Corp., Maryland Casualty Co., resigned as pres., General Aniline and Film Corp., April, 1955. Military Record: U.S. Army Engrs., 1921-22; USNR as Lt. 1934; resigned Lt. comdr. 1952. Awards: Fellow, IAS; Medal for Merit; Grand Officer of Crown of Italy. Member: Quiet Birdmen; Conquistadores del Cielo; Wings Club; Army and Navy Club; California Club; Cloud Club; Sleepy Hollow Country Club. Home: Crystal River, Fla.
Oh! Guess what General Aniline and Film Corp was: It was IG Farben.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAF_Materials_Corporation
1928 - The American holdings of the German company IG Farben were organized into American I.G., later renamed General Aniline & Film or GAF for short.
1933 – Interlocking shingles introduced.
1941 - American assets seized as enemy property by the U.S. government.[6]
1965 - The U.S. government sells shares of GAF.[7]
So I'm guess Jack Frye must have been fairly high up the intelligence chain. Anyway, he's running Electronatom and resigning as president of GAF in 1955.
Oh yeah. This is Jack Frye.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Frye
William John "Jack" Frye (March 18, 1904 – February 3, 1959) was an aviation pioneer in the airline industry. Frye founded Standard Air Lines which eventually took him into a merger with Trans World Airlines (TWA) where he became president. Frye is credited for turning TWA into a world-class airline during his tenure as president from 1934 to 1947.
In 1939, desiring greater control of their airline, Frye and Richter approached industrialist and film producer Howard Hughes to buy into the company. (Jack Frye stated in an April 6, 1954 issue of Life magazine that it was Hughes who approached him in regard to investments.) Hughes' interest was airplanes, and his initial involvement was the development and financing of the Lockheed Constellation for TWA
After a dispute with Hughes in 1946, Frye resigned as president of TWA on February 21, 1947.[17] Frye was very well connected in Washington D.C., and soon landed a coveted prize as director of one of the German corporations seized during World War II, in this case the U.S. residual of IG Farben. On April 14, 1947, he was elected Chairman of the Board of General Aniline and Film Corp,[18] and its subsidiaries General Dyestuffs Corporation,[19] and Ansco.[20] Frye remained President of General Aniline until 1955, when the Eisenhower administration unwound these holdings through the Office of Alien Property Custodian.[21]
So that's a guy who ran Electronatom.
Re Beebe Bourne running Electronatom : source is this 2005 Billboard obituary for her.
https://www.billboard.com/music/music-n ... s-1403847/
First Lady Of Music Publishing Dies
Services for Beebe Bourne to be held on Nov. 4.
by Billboard staff
11/2/2005
Beebe Bourne, part of the legendary Bourne music publishing family, died Tuesday (Nov. 1) after a battle with cancer.
Bourne helmed the New York-based Bourne Co., one of the largest privately owned international music publishers with subsidiaries in Canada, France and the United Kingdom. Earlier this year she received the 2005 Abe Olman Publishers Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She was only the second woman to receive the award; the first was her mother, Bonnie Bourne.
Before taking over the reins of the Bourne Co. from her mother in 1991, Bourne had held such diverse positions as president/COO of the THinc Consulting Group, CEO of Seversky Electronatom, and special assistant to the president of the United States.
Regards, Nate