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'''John Olson Lear''' (December 3, 1942 - March 29,2022) was an influential conspiracy theorist, a record-breaking pilot, and a one-time candidate for State Senate. |
'''John Olson Lear''' (December 3, 1942 - March 29,2022) was an influential conspiracy theorist, a record-breaking pilot, and a one-time candidate for State Senate.<ref name="Pioneer"/><ref name="Rider"/> |
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Lear has promoted the "Dark Hypothesis", a story of alien collusion with secret governmental forces.<ref name="Pioneer">{{Cite web|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/150922/pioneer-paranoia|title=A Pioneer of Paranoia|first=Colin|last=Dickey|date=August 28, 2018|via=The New Republic}}</ref> Lear left a lasting influence on the UFO movement; One author observed "in the early years [UFO writers] did not, by and large, embrace strong political positions. [Lear and his partner] were the tip of a spear asserting that the number one thing we had to fear was not little green men, but the government that colluded with them, appropriating their technology against us." <ref name="Pioneer"/> |
Lear has promoted the "Dark Hypothesis", a story of alien collusion with secret governmental forces.<ref name="Pioneer">{{Cite web|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/150922/pioneer-paranoia|title=A Pioneer of Paranoia|first=Colin|last=Dickey|date=August 28, 2018|via=The New Republic}}</ref> Lear left a lasting influence on the UFO movement; One author observed "in the early years [UFO writers] did not, by and large, embrace strong political positions. [Lear and his partner] were the tip of a spear asserting that the number one thing we had to fear was not little green men, but the government that colluded with them, appropriating their technology against us." <ref name="Pioneer"/><ref name="Rider"/> |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Revision as of 02:27, 31 March 2022
John Olson Lear (December 3, 1942 - March 29,2022) was an influential conspiracy theorist, a record-breaking pilot, and a one-time candidate for State Senate.[1][2]
Lear has promoted the "Dark Hypothesis", a story of alien collusion with secret governmental forces.[1] Lear left a lasting influence on the UFO movement; One author observed "in the early years [UFO writers] did not, by and large, embrace strong political positions. [Lear and his partner] were the tip of a spear asserting that the number one thing we had to fear was not little green men, but the government that colluded with them, appropriating their technology against us." [1][2]
Early life
John Olson Lear was born on December 3, 1942 to industrialist and future Learjet founder Bill Lear and his wife Moya Marie Olsen Lear.Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).[3] He was named after his maternal grandfather, famous comedian John Olsen.Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page). His second and third birthday parties were covered in the "Society" page of an Ohio paper.[4][5]
Lear graduated from the Institut Le Rosey boarding school in Switzerland and attended Wichita State University.[6][7] Lear claimed that in 1959 he had become the youngest American to ever climb Switzerland's Matterhorn.[8]
Career
In 1965, Lear was employed by the Paul Kelly Flying Service when its founder was killed while piloting a LearJet. Lear testified at the Civil Aeronautics Board investigation into the crash.[9]
Between May 23 and 26, 1966, Lear and a crewmmate flew a record-breaking flight around the world in a LearJet that covered 22,000 miles in 50 hours and 39 minutes.[10]
In August 1966, Lear was featured in the Wichita Press after he piloted a LearJet carrying the rock band The Byrds and the trip inspired them to write a song about the plane.[11] The track, titled "2-4-2 Foxtrot (The Lear Jet Song)", samples Lear's voice as he speaks over the radio.[11][12]
In 1968, Air Force personnel from Hamilton Air Force Base launched a rescue effort to help Lear land after heavy San Francisco fog interfered with landing. Traffic was cleared from the Golden Gate Bridge in anticipation of a forced landing. After a helicopter pilot established visual contact, Lear was able to successfully land at the base.[13]
Lear claimed to fly "secret missions for the CIA" between 1967 and 1983.[14][better source needed]
UFO claims
In 1989, Lear served as "State Director" for MUFON, hosting the 1989 symposium "The UFO Cover-Up: A Government Conspiracy?"[2] Despite initial objections from MUFON founder Walt Andrus, Lear was able to submit a slate of speakers after he threatened to split the symposium. [2] At that same symposium, Roswell author Bill Moore tearfully confessed to having intentionally spread disinformation to UFO researcher Paul Bennewitz on behalf of purported counter-intelligence agent Richard Doty. [2] Lear's speakers were slated to provide allegedly-independent verification of the Bennewitz claims. [2] One of those speakers, Bill Cooper, would later break with Lear after accusing him of being an intelligence agent.[1]
Lear made multiple appearances on fringe TV shows, including Ancient Aliens and The Unexplained Files. [15]
Personal life and death
In 1970, Lear married Marilee Higginbotham, the owner of a California fashion modelling agency, at a ceremony in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.[6]
Lear died on March 29,2022.[16]
References
- ^ a b c d Dickey, Colin (August 28, 2018). "A Pioneer of Paranoia" – via The New Republic.
- ^ a b c d e f Jacobson, Mark (2018). Pale Horse Rider: William Cooper, the Rise of Conspiracy, and the Fall of Trust in America. Blue Rider Press. ISBN 978-0399169953.
- ^ "9 Dec 1942, 5 - The Dayton Herald at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
- ^ "8 Dec 1944, Page 2 - The Piqua Daily Call at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
- ^ "5 Feb 1943, Page 2 - The Piqua Daily Call at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "14 Sep 1970, 42 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
- ^ "24 Jun 1971, Page 16 - Reno Gazette-Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
- ^ ART BELL INTERVIEW OF JOHN LEAR 11-2/3-03
- ^ "2 Mar 1966, 10 - The Wichita Beacon at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Lear Jet 23". Smithsonian Institution.
- ^ a b "28 Aug 1966, 63 - The Wichita Eagle at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
- ^ "2-4-2 Fox Trot (The Lear Jet Song)" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "23 Oct 1968, Page 24 - News Record at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
- ^ Affadaviit by John Lear
- ^ "John Lear". IMDb.
- ^ Statement from journalist George Knapp