Person
Richard Doty
Also known as Rick Doty, Richard C. Doty, Doty
- Former special agent, Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), Kirtland AFB; self-described participant in UFO disinformation operations
Richard "Rick" Doty is a former special agent of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), who says he served from 1978 to 1988, mainly at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. He is the best-known figure in the history of government UFO disinformation. By his own account, he helped feed false UFO stories to the Albuquerque businessman and researcher Paul Bennewitz to keep him from exposing classified work at Kirtland, watched UFO conferences on collection assignments, handled the researcher Bill Moore as a source, and was ordered to show the journalist Linda Moulton Howe a document mixing truth and deception. His name is attached to several of the most influential forged or doubtful UFO documents, including the MJ-12 papers, which AFOSI itself called "completely bogus".
He is filed as disputed: his AFOSI service is real, but by his own description his job included deceiving UFO researchers, so his statements cannot be taken at face value in either direction. He says he acted on orders, that the program existed to protect secret aircraft such as the F-117 and SR-71, and that the FBI cleared him over MJ-12. He also maintains that a genuine phenomenon exists, that the MJ-12 papers were "based on actual documents", and that some of what Bennewitz recorded was extraterrestrial. Each claim on this page is attributed and sourced so that it can be weighed against the official records.
Sources: George Knapp's interview for Mystery Wire (recorded 2019, published 2020) · Showtime, UFO, episode 3 (2021) · Rebelliously Curious with Chrissy Newton (The Debrief, 2025) · FBI file on Majestic 12 · Jesse Michels, Ellsworth episode (2026)
Facts and claims
- claimed Doty says that in the Paul Bennewitz case he acted on orders: “I didn't lie to Paul Benowitz. I had a job to do. I wasn't a maverick.” His supervisors did not want Bennewitz to go public saying he had tapped into a secret laser at Kirtland Air Force Base, “so all I had to do was say, well, you know what, Paul? Maybe what you did see was UFOs.” — Richard Doty Source: UFO (Showtime, 2021), episode 3 clip “Mislead the Public”: Doty on Paul Bennewitz at 0:06
- claimed In a 2025 interview he described the method: flying Bennewitz over the area and pointing out sites, “not everything that we were telling him was factual … we wanted him to continue thinking that … these things that he was seeing, were in fact UFOs. But in reality, we knew what they were … what was being flown around Kirtland was highly classified.” — Richard Doty Source: Richard Doty on disinformation, Paul Bennewitz and Linda Moulton Howe (Rebelliously Curious with Chrissy Newton, The Debrief, February 2025) at 13:23
- claimed He says he served as an AFOSI counterintelligence officer from 1978 to 1988, that the Bennewitz case was code-named Project Seven Lambs with reporting going to the DIA and parts to the CIA, NSA and NRO, and that “you won't ever find the word disinformation in our manuals. It's deception operations, it's called.” — Richard Doty Source: Richard Doty on disinformation, Paul Bennewitz and Linda Moulton Howe (Rebelliously Curious with Chrissy Newton, The Debrief, February 2025) at 20:47
- claimed He says headquarters had him show the journalist Linda Moulton Howe a document sent by armed forces courier, with no indication of which parts were true, and that such material was “probably 60% truth and 40% non-truth”, prepared by what he calls the DIA's “Special Means Committee”. — Richard Doty Source: Richard Doty on disinformation, Paul Bennewitz and Linda Moulton Howe (Rebelliously Curious with Chrissy Newton, The Debrief, February 2025) at 1:25:56
- claimed He says that because secret aircraft such as the F-117, the F-22 and the SR-71 have to fly and will be seen, “there's a program that may be discredit or disinformed people that, Hey, what you're seeing is UFOs. It's not … U S craft.” — Richard Doty Source: Rick Doty with George Knapp, part 2: MJ-12, the FBI and UFO cover stories for secret aircraft (Mystery Wire, 2019 interview) at 3:57
- claimed He says that in 1983 or 1984 he and three other agents attended a UFO conference on a collection assignment, taking photographs and making contacts, and that researcher Bill Moore was an AFOSI source who reported back to them. — Richard Doty Source: Rick Doty with George Knapp, part 1: AFOSI watched UFO researchers (Mystery Wire, 2019 interview) at 0:48
- claimed He says the FBI investigated him in 1987 and again in 1989 over claims that he created or leaked the MJ-12 documents, and cleared him after a polygraph. He says the released documents were not genuine but were “created based on actual documents”, and that he is “90 percent sure” they contain legitimate information. AFOSI itself told the FBI the MJ-12 briefing document was fabricated and “completely bogus”. — Richard Doty Source: Rick Doty with George Knapp, part 2: MJ-12, the FBI and UFO cover stories for secret aircraft (Mystery Wire, 2019 interview) at 0:08
- claimed He rejects the claim that he drove Bennewitz to a breakdown (“none of it's true”), while maintaining that some of the signals Bennewitz recorded “had to come from an ET source”. — Richard Doty Source: Rick Doty with George Knapp, part 4: the Bennewitz case and Area 51 (Mystery Wire, 2019 interview) at 0:12
- claimed He says he served twice at Area 51 as an Air Force counterintelligence officer, and that alongside the disinformation there is a genuine phenomenon that threatens national security. — Richard Doty Source: Rick Doty with George Knapp, part 4: the Bennewitz case and Area 51 (Mystery Wire, 2019 interview) at 1:32
- unverified A 2026 episode on the Ellsworth AFB case argues that the “L9 incident” document, claiming aliens fired a beam at security police in November 1977, was a fabrication tied to Doty and meant to discredit the real case. Source: Air Force veterans abducted by aliens reunite 50 years later: Woods & Johnson (American Alchemy, 2026) at 1:51:39
- unverified Paul Hellyer repeated the “Project Serpo” alien-exchange story, which is widely traced to Doty. Source: en.wikipedia.org (archived)
Connected files
Books
Claims
- Recovered alien craft were studied at Area 51, at a site called S-4 near Groom Lake in Nevada (comments on claim)
- The U.S. government has deliberately spread false or misleading information about UFOs (asserts)
Concepts
- Government UFO disinformation (example of) — Former AFOSI agent who says he fed false UFO stories to researchers on orders
Organizations
- National Reconnaissance Office (statement about)
People
- Linda Moulton Howe (disinformed) — Doty says he was ordered to show her a document that mixed truth with deception
- George Knapp (interviewed by) — George Knapp interviewed Doty for Mystery Wire (recorded 2019, published 2020)
- Paul Hellyer (story repeated by) — Hellyer repeated the “Project Serpo” alien-exchange story, widely traced to Doty
Places
- Area 51 (served at) — He says he served twice at Area 51 as a counterintelligence officer
Documents
- FBI file: Majestic 12 (named in) — AFOSI called the MJ-12 papers “completely bogus”; Doty says the FBI cleared him and that they were “based on actual documents”
Incidents
- Ellsworth AFB N-5 silo incident (alleged forgery on) — A 2026 episode argues the “L9 incident” document was a fabrication tied to Doty, meant to discredit the case
Videos
- UFO Cover-Up?: Live! (1988 television special) (appears in) — The anonymous informant “Falcon”, shown in shadow, is generally identified as Richard Doty
- Rick Doty with George Knapp, part 1: AFOSI watched UFO researchers (Mystery Wire, 2019 interview) (appears in)
- Rick Doty with George Knapp, part 2: MJ-12, the FBI and UFO cover stories for secret aircraft (Mystery Wire, 2019 interview) (appears in)
- Rick Doty with George Knapp, part 3: a real phenomenon and a family of agents (Mystery Wire, 2019 interview) (appears in)
- Rick Doty with George Knapp, part 4: the Bennewitz case and Area 51 (Mystery Wire, 2019 interview) (appears in)
- UFO (Showtime, 2021), episode 3 clip “Mislead the Public”: Doty on Paul Bennewitz (appears in)
- Richard Doty on disinformation, Paul Bennewitz and Linda Moulton Howe (Rebelliously Curious with Chrissy Newton, The Debrief, February 2025) (appears in)
Mentioned in videos
- Richard Doty on disinformation, Paul Bennewitz and Linda Moulton Howe (Rebelliously Curious with Chrissy Newton, The Debrief, February 2025)
- Rep. Eric Burlison on UAP disclosure, government secrecy and David Grusch (Rebelliously Curious, October 2026)
- Air Force veterans abducted by aliens reunite 50 years later: Woods & Johnson (American Alchemy, 2026)
- Nuclear guard speaks out about UFO abduction: Mario Woods (American Alchemy, 2025)
Mentioned in documents and records
- An Alien Harvest: Further Evidence Linking Animal Mutilations and Human Abductions to Alien Life Forms
- Holloman AFB landing film (claimed)