Thanks to Luisa Vasconcellos.
A Man Who Went to Mars
by Morgan Kochel
https://www.themarslanding.info/
Based on an interview conducted [with Chad Johnson] over several days in February 2012
I wasn’t looking for an interview to do, let alone one of an astronaut who had been to Mars, yet this is what I stumbled upon.
In February of 2012, I was relaxing at home and perusing people on Twitter, looking for interesting people to follow. Out of the usual batch of UFO researchers, alternative news feeds, and so-called “conspiracy” theorists that I enjoy reading Tweets from on occasion, the bio on one account in particular caught my eye.
“I was part of a team of 3 astronauts that went to Mars on a privately funded secret mission, 2 are now dead, they’re killing us to preserve the secret.”
Needless to say, I was quite intrigued.
What followed was a very interesting conversation between this man, Chad Johnson (not his real name), and me about his amazing experience, and how he has been on the run ever since his daring escape from a remote base in the middle of a desert somewhere near Mongolia once he discovered he was in danger from the very people who employed him. While I can in no way verify his story, I can also offer no evidence that he is lying. More importantly, to myself at least, he has asked for help in making his story known to those who might be interested, and to hopefully get word to his family that he’s alive and well. It is also hoped that by telling his story, he will be able to attract some sort of protection from the right people.
His story isn’t one of aliens, advanced secret technology, or time travel, but of the reality of a secret space program. Many accounts have come out on YouTube and online discussion forums about the possibility of U.S. astronauts going to Mars, but as far as I know, this is the first time that one of the astronauts themselves has come forward to tell the public about just such a secret space trip to the red planet.
The following is our conversation that we had utilizing Twitter’s Direct Messaging (DM) system about said Mars adventure, offered here for any and all to view. (Chad wished to use Twitter due to its current relative security.) If this story is true, it should serve to show us all that much, much more goes on in the various space programs than we are ever told about in the mainstream media.
We are all learning a great deal this year already about things that have been previously hidden to the majority of Earth’s people, thanks mostly to the proliferation of the Internet and the ease with which we can all now find all sorts of information that was previously quite hard to come by for the average person. While utilizing a great deal of discernment and skepticism is always good advice in this new “Age of Revealing,” a balance must be sought between the need to immediately label something as “true” or “untrue” without having access to all the facts. In other words, I think it’s best to keep one’s mind open, take in all the information one is interested in, and then simply see what happens. So many are quick to shout “LIAR!” or “SHILL!” when there is simply no evidence for it one way or the other, only one’s own fear of being duped. Not hastening to judgement is a sign of wisdom, not gullibility. It is in this spirit that I offer the following story, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did hearing about it!
[The interview has been edited only for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Bits of conversation that were not relevant to the story have been removed for ease of reading. Questions regarding this story can be directed to the contacts listed at the end of this document.]
BACKGROUND
Morgan: So, please tell me a little bit about your background.
Chad: I went to Portland State, Oregon, and studied math and after a few jobs wound up in the U.S. Air Force.
M: How long were you in the CIA? Would you be willing/able to talk about what that was like?
C: I was seconded to the CIA for about two years; ironically, part of my brief was to observe some of the foreign scientists at NASA.
My CIA days were mainly whilst training at NASA and were evidence of the paranoia the organization had towards any foreign national working. In a high security government installation, I think a Russian spy was found in deep cover whilst I was away…Chapman? She was the kind of Operative the CIA always knew existed but struggled finding until they changed their recruitment program to seconding people in places such as NASA, etc., and away from recruiting directly from a person’s current position.
I can tell you now that most of the major IT companies in the U.S. have covert operatives observing them, including Google, Facebook, etc. Probably Twitter, as well, although that is small compared to the others. They approach you and offer training and clandestine payment arrangements so you’re not tracked. That way, the IRS isn’t alerted to then monitor your activity. They also task you with certain requirements, such as hacking into e-mail accounts, etc. It’s a lot easier to do it from the inside, and also a lot cheaper. I actually have to travel to Ohio for my training. Not a lot to it.
Being ex-Air Force, they have a complete record on me already, so I just had to do some refresh work on espionage tactics. I couldn’t believe how much goes totally unreported to anyone, though. The CIA is truly a law unto themselves. They control so much, like the flow of communications. Any security issues go through them; the FBI are nothing compared to them, and they know how to create a diversion away from the actual story. It’s frightening and easy to see why so many people are scared of them.
M: Wow, thank you so much for that. Very interesting! How did you become involved in a trip to Mars?
C: As NASA wound up their space program — huge mistake, as they are falling behind — I wound up in Europe and was contacted about a job. Simple as that. It was a privately funded mission to Mars. At first, I thought they were joking, but there was a lot of money offered, so I met their team. It was a Russian/Chinese joint venture that would launch from a remote part of China, and they wanted us to collect samples for testing. I want this story told so that people know what really goes on behind the conspiracy theories.
M: Who would you like this story to reach?
C: It would be good to show my family through this that I’m still alive. But if you’re expecting time travel, aliens, and teleportation, you will be disappointed. Sorry, but none of that happened to us.
M: Nope, I have no expectations. I was intrigued by your bio, and if you have a concerned family, I have even more interest in helping you. If you’re okay with this, I’ll be transcribing our conversation for easier reading and posting online at some point.
So, once you started this program, what happened? What kind of travel was used? How long did it take?
C: Good about no expectations as there are no green men ‹ H.G. Wells was wrong. I may also be sporadic, as I am on the move a lot. Training lasted twelve months, very intense, including psychiatric tests. It took us about 230 days to get there, and slightly less back. We used rocket technology regularly available now. Just bigger tanks and more thrust. Nothing unusual in equipment to get there, but better radiation protection, as you can imagine, due to journey time: high risk = high pay.
This [map, above] was roughly the location of our base in the China desert near the Mongolian border [source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gobi_desert_map.png], pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It was also a temp base and well hidden.
That last Russian mission (2011) was probably sabotaged. It was state-backed, and they won’t declare the fault, which probably means foul play. I reckon the mission planned this year will also mysteriously fail, as well. Mars is a mining company’s dream, and they’ll want to keep it secret. As long as people speculate about failed missions and little green men, their eyes are taken off the real reason for failed missions.
M: Yes, I know those little “men” aren’t green. 😉 Interesting – I suspected sabotage, too. What kinds of minerals are up there? Also, where on Mars did you land, and why do you suppose rockets [as opposed to, say, the newer plasma rockets] were used?
C: We landed near Ares Vallis. Our employers got some data about the Sojourner landing, and this was the place they wanted to explore. We took the same type of collecting devices used by geologists, which is why this had to be a manned mission, as no robot could do this. There were plenty of minerals that we analyzed on the way home: metals, particularly gold(?), and some other substance that was a form of composite like carbon fiber, but already in a usable form.
The list of items gathered was long, all of it valuable, some were totally unique, others were more mundane. I think part of our mission was to evaluate the commercial viability of future mining missions, and also to ascertain potential value related to the density of minerals per square meter of Martian surface. Then they could work out tech requirements to create some kind of mining mission. Also, [they were interested in] the potential to use some indigenous fuel substance on Mars, which would dramatically reduce the fuel requirements and, therefore, the weight of the outbound journey.
This amazing panorama of the Ares Vallis flood plain made the front pages of newspapers around the world in July 1997. It was taken by the Mars Pathfinder lander and features the tiny, 23-pound Sojourner rover nuzzling a rock. The lander and the rover recorded weather patterns, atmospheric data and the composition of many Martian rocks, which apparently had washed down the channel eons ago. The rover, capable of changing course when it met obstacles, captured the imagination of the thousands who followed the mission on the Internet.
NASA Jet Propulsion Labratory
The rockets we used were an advanced version of the area rocket, nothing else was available. Like I said, no time travel, plasma rockets, etc. Still, it was reliable enough to be considered in the real world. Sabotage of the Russian mission was to prevent immediate follow-up to our findings.
M: That was quite interesting. Thank you for that. Now, you said earlier that you “escaped.” Why might these people be attempting to potentially cause you harm, or worse?
C: The only reason they would have wanted us dead was to preserve the secret from others so they could get a head start. Nothing about conspiracies, just greed. Moon missions probably stopped as there’s nothing of any value there.
M: What did you eat on the trip?
C: We had a strict protein and carb diet for example, increased sleeping patterns to preserve food, etc. All this took about a year to train for, but it’s very boring and not what people want to hear.
M: Not boring at all! You went to Mars! It’s still very interesting and quite important. People will want to know this, so I must ask: Did you see any UFOs or other unusual objects in space?
C: We did record some interesting sights on the cameras, but nothing conclusive. Also, it was immediately sent back and deleted from our computers, so we couldn’t review them. I’ll bet the shuttle got some interesting footage, through! Plenty of rumors when I was there, but no one on those missions spoke to us.
M: How does Mars look compared to the pictures that the public has been shown? Take a look at this video showing alleged photos of Mars.
C: Mars is exactly like on those photos.
M: When was the last time you saw your family?
C: I had no contact with my family for over two years now, and it was limited before the mission.
M: Is there an atmosphere on Mars?
C: The atmospherics are not suitable for sustaining life as we know it – too gaseous and thin. The rock formations are fascinating, though. They allude to a previous time where there may have been life or something more sustainable. I just wished we had more time on the surface. That region was perfect since hardly anyone had been there, so nobody bothered to question us.
(Continued tomorrow)
(If you wish to view the rest of the story now, go to: https://goldenageofgaia.com/2012/06/morgan-kochel-a-man-who-went-to-mars-part-22/