Episode 01: Genesis

In Wolf's Clothing

Keeping this stuff straight hasn't gotten any easier. I thought that after two solid weeks of organizing and cataloging audio tapes, notebooks, and files, I'd at least have made a dent...I've been sadly mistaken.

This marks the first official episode of In Wolf's Clothing - well, version 2017 anyway...I realized I was getting a bit too ahead of myself. As I mentioned last week, taking any of this out of context is dangerous ground. It was only by accident that the first tape I listened to was Uncle Mike's last recording/broadcast. Since then, I've been lucky enough to find what I believe to be the very first mention of strange readings and his first run-in with the Air Force. After which Uncle Mike disappeared for two whole weeks. Mom has been less than pleased that I've been digging through this stuff, but I managed to talk her into telling me about that missing two weeks in August of '75.

Here's that transcript of our conversation:

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Mom: Nate, I appreciate that you want to “set the record straight”...I just don’t know if this is the best way to go about…

Nate: Mom. It’s not that big a deal. I just want to piece this together from Uncle Mike’s perspective.

Mom: I’m just saying, honey...I don’t need you falling down the same rabbit hole as your uncle.

Nate: I’m not, mom...now, I've already got this thing recording so...if you don’t mind, what do you remember about the two weeks in question?

Mom: Well, your uncle and I talked every Thursday night. It was our little standing ritual. I’d call him after I got out of class around 6ish and we’d chat about random stuff for a couple of hours. He’d ask how my week had been, and I’d ask about whatever it was he was working on...of course, it’d go right over my head, but it was always nice hearing how excited he got. The Thursday before he went missing stands out in my mind. He was very distant...clearly distracted. We ended up only talking for about 10 minutes - which was mostly just me prompting him and getting short single word responses.

Nate: So you could tell something was wrong then?

Mom: No...not then. I was worried for him, but not in any real serious way. I knew he had been frustrated with a project he was working on at the time and he said it was all kinda coming to a head. I didn’t think anything of it until that next Thursday. I called and he didn’t pick-up. Again, I wasn’t super worried...I simply left a message and went about my business. I tried back over the weekend a few times, but only got the machine. By Monday I was a little concerned. If he was busy, or was traveling, he’d have at least let me know - In the very least, I would have gotten a response...if nothing else to apologize for having missed our call and a rain-check for when he knew he’d be free. I tried not to worry too much, but by that next Thursday, after a full week of no contact, I decided to drive out and check on him. I was going to school in Los Angeles at the time, so I made the 5 hour trek to Riviera that Friday morning.

Nate: And when you got to his house?

Mom: It was like he was there...but wasn’t.

Nate: What do you mean by that?

Mom: Nothing was missing. His truck was in the driveway, the house was locked up tight, his lucky travel bag was still by the door. Everything was in place...except for Mike. He was just gone. At this point, I was really starting to freak out. His answering machine was full (all of which were mine), and not a single one had been listened to. It wasn’t until I went into his study that I found anything to go on.

Nate: Oh?! You never mentioned that...what did you find?

Mom: It was a letter. It wasn’t postmarked, which means it was hand-delivered. It had an official US Military seal on it. The...AFI.

Nate: The what?

Mom: Air Force Intelligence...it was official looking and scary.

Nate: Scary how?

Mom: It was a C&D order. It said that if Mike continued to conduct his research around the military base that he would be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It was, of course, flowery and sickly sweet in its wording, but the subtext was loud and clear.

Nate: Damn…

Mom: I then called the base from Mike’s house. I thought that - maybe they’d already arrested him...that he was being held and questioned somewhere...your uncle was stubborn (a trait you share, by the way) and I was afraid that maybe he called their bluff and continued doing the exact thing they’d just ordered him not to...the base gave me the run around on the phone, though. First they claimed they didn’t know anything about Mike...until I mention the letter. After a few hours of being on hold, and slowly bounced around from operator, to under secretary, to officer...I finally pieced together that they had picked Mike up, but that he wasn’t being held or charged with any crime. No sooner had I hung up the phone, Mike walked through the door as if nothing had happened...like two weeks hadn’t gone by.

Nate: Did he tell you why they’d taken him? Or...what became of that data he’d stumbled on?

Mom: No. He brushed off most of my questions. The only thing I was able to get out of him that weekend was that he’d been given the C&D order (he claimed it was nothing serious and that they were just following the correct protocol) and that they then asked him to consult on a few things that were time sensitive. He was being withholding, but he eventually talked me down.

Nate: So you didn’t find that weird at all?

Mom: No...not really. This was before his first break, we didn’t know any of the warning signs then..besides, he’d worked on secret projects for the military before, so by nature, he had to be a little squirrely when talking about it. I was pretty used to it and learned early on not to push too far. Since I was there, we hung out for the remainder of the weekend and I went back to LA that Sunday night. Our calls picked back up and everything went back to normal.

Nate: Did Uncle Mike ever tell you why he got that C&D order?

Mom: Yes...I did push enough to get that out of him. He said that he’d picked up unknown readings from the base. He feared it was Soviet espionage, but after going to the base with his findings learned that he was actually recording some top-secret R&D project the Air Force was working on - which is why they formally asked him to stop.

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As for this Officer Kelly, I'm trying to dig up more info on him. Later this week I'll post up the letter that was in the envelope with the audio cassette featuring Kelly's conversation with Uncle Mike. I'm also trying to piece together one of Uncle Mike's notebooks...there's a handful of pages torn out that'd have corresponded with Uncle Mike's missing two weeks...I'm not sure, but I think someone has gone through these boxes before I found them...taken something possibly incriminating?

Anyway. Until next time,

~Nate