Monday, April 18, 2011

Wilbert Smith and Otis Carr

One of the more imaginative and successful con-men in flying saucer history was Otis T. Carr, who managed to dupe more than a few people in the 1950s with his claims of free energy technology, until he was finally convicted in 1961 of "the crime of selling securities without registering the same" in Oklahoma (he eventually served 14 months in prison). Carr passed away in 1982, and although he is largely forgotten today, he still has a few acolytes - while speaking at the 2007 Retro-Con at the Integratron in Landers, California, I shared the bill with Ralph Ring, who once worked with Carr and still professes to believe that Carr was a genius, or something like that.

Wilbert Smith, like many others within the Contactee movement in the 1950s, took Carr seriously, at least for a time. Eventually, however, Smith soured on Carr when he realized that what Carr was selling was nothing but a load of hot air. Here is just a glimpse of the interaction between the two - Carr was clearly interested in using Smith's connections and credibility as a real engineer in order to bolster his own claims, in much the same way as Steven Greer would later appear on the same stage as men like Stan Friedman or John Mack, and look for a similar "rub of authenticity".










The correspondence after the failed Carr test is with contactee David Middleton, with whom Smith maintained a regular correspondence.

Smith was certainly open-minded, but while he was willing to give Carr the benefit of the doubt at first, even he could see through Carr's bogus claims when he had a closer look at them.

None of this stopped him from making his own claims of contact with the "boys topside". So then the question remains - was he just a Canadian version of Otis Carr, was he delusional, or was there possibly something real going on with him?

Paul Kimball

6 comments:

Lance said...

Really enjoying all the recent historical stuff! Especially love the Carr correspondence.

Thanks!

Lance

Paul Kimball said...

Hi Lance,

I was a historian before anything else, and it's still one of my true loves, so happy to oblige. More to come!

Paul

Curtis Cooperman said...

hello Paul

Have any correspondence with those near Otis T, Carr such as...
Margaret Storm
Norman Colton
Arthur H. Matthews

I did 5 podcasts with Ralph Ring then stopped.
Don't believe he ever worked with Otis T. Carr.

Paul Kimball said...

Hi Curtis,

No other correspondence with Carr, I'm afraid. Just the Wilbert Smith stuff, which is minimal.

Best,
Paul

Unknown said...

i dont understand the benefit of trying to discredit someone who cant defend himself. its a matter of your word against his, and as a engineer i find some credability in some of the free energy mock ups, so for the most part that checks out. have you personally debunked any of his claims. or is this a dis-information effort, i'm just asking.

Truth Seeker said...

For what is worth seems to me the internet is the desert and there seems to be a hell of a lot of voices crying in the wilderness, I just dot know who or what to believe I just wish that if a real truth is out there it could come out and prove its self once and for all.
Just saying I'd really like to know.