TIGHAR Legal Defense Fund

[Chuck Lynch]

You all have been a lot nicer to this "gentleman" than I would have been.

[Ric Gillespie]

Fred Noonan worked for Pan Am... Tim owns Pan Am... there may even be some lineage to an old airline Earhart had been associated with - maybe they are Tim's 'kids' in a corporate sort of way.

If anything, Tim is their corporate "kid", having bought the name - but, as far as I know, that's his only connection to those airlines.

[Dave Potratz]

I always wanted to be Batman myself.  8) :D

Dang Jeff, I knew we had something like that in common!  He's the best!

Can't help but think we could use The Dark Night on our side right now . . . maybe The Green Hornet?

LTM, who's son is no super hero . . . but wanted to play one on TV . . .

[Monty Fowler]

And on a totally related note, I have just discovered that a brain-eating parasite shares my last name - Naegleria fowleri. There has to be a larger message in there ... somewhere.

LTM, who marvels at being almost famous,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 CER

[Dan Swift]

Ric is right, we may all be "crazy", but it is to rush of the quest and the eternal hope of solving this mystery.  Why was it so important that Ballard find the Titanic?  That, and so many subsequent discoveries and investigations have come closer to solving the mystery of "why".  It's all about the "why".  And until you discover the "where", it's tough to get to the "why".  I guess I am "crazy" too.  Guilty as charged.  And loving it! 

[John Balderston]

Why was it so important that Ballard find the Titanic?

I'm pretty sure we all know Dr. Ballard's Titanic search was a cover for something else, right?  There is a pretty decent Nat Geo program covering this if anyone is interested. . .

[Dave McDaniel]

Why was it so important that Ballard find the Titanic?

I'm pretty sure we all know Dr. Ballard's Titanic search was a cover for something else, right?  There is a pretty decent Nat Geo program covering this if anyone is interested. . .

Yes, That research was paramount to the search for Titanic and part of a deal with DoD and the Navy. They gave him his day for his subject knowledge and the importance of visiting these sites to do a forensic analysis of the hulls. In speaking with (nuke) submariners that were around at the time, that it wasn't sunk by the Soviets or any reactor/structural  problems. The consensus was a "hot running torpedo". In otherwords a torpedo that is still on board that thinks it has been fired. Doesn't have to be in a firing position (torpedo tube) to arm itself. This was fairly easy to discover if the "fish"was in the racks and not in the tube due to the fact that props on the torpedo would spin up and make enough noise to draw someones attention, hopefully. IIRC after the Scorpion accident they posted guards in the torpedo rooms for this  reason specifically. If the fish went hot in the tube the only way to know would be to hear it. It would take a trained ear. These torpedoes had a built in safety device. It is a mechanism that prevents the torpedo from exploding in close enough proximity of the sub as to cause the obvious. The only course of action is for the crew once they have discovered the problem is to try and "out run" the torpedo by adjusting the speed of the ship to be as fast or faster than the speed that the torpedo thinks it's going until the torpedo either runs out of power or can be disabled. It's a little more complicated than that but that in essence is what happens. It is thought that the crew of the Scorpion had this situation, was aware of it and were performing this maneuver and ran out of time and the torpedo exploded on board before it could be disarmed. Speculation also has it that they may have hit a seamount while maneuvering. That was what Dr. Ballard's mission was to help determine. Among others. 

[Tim Mellon]

Ric, now that Heath has provided you the evidence you sought relative to the AEForum thread designed to smoke out a mole, I invite you, respectfully, to take down the inflamatory rehtotic on your Forum homepage that suggest I had other motives. Not to do so leaves you open to additoinal charges of libel.

[Ric Gillespie]

Heath Smith did not provide the full documentation we sought and, in my opinion, your motives remain open to interpretation.  Nothing libelous has been posted on this forum.

[Dan Swift]

You are right Ric. Anyone can, and many do, express opinions and concerns.  But I haven't observed anyone stating an opinion as fact in this 'case'...big difference. Opinions are like, well rear ends (cleaned that up), everybody has one.  And a right to express such, especially on a limited forum like this one.  But it is nothing more than that.  Well, that's my 'opinion' anyway.

[Monty Fowler]

... Not to do so leaves you open to additoinal charges of libel.

Good grief ... that statement is beyond dismaying to me, Mr Mellon. Where are you going to stop?

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 CER

[Stacy Galloway]

Not to do so leaves you open to additoinal charges of libel.

More threats? How sad...

[Scott Doudrick]

I'd like to try a different tack.

Mr. Mellon, please drop the lawsuit.

[Ted G Campbell]

All,

I hope TIGHAR's attorneys are looking at this whole matter as it verges on the boundary of a "grand conspiracy" on behalf of Tim Mellon et al.

The reason I suggest this is:  If you look at the correspondence that "Heath" has provided (ref. Ric's post of Aug 13, 2013 @ 09:16) it appears that this entire "lawsuit" matter has been in the works for a long period of time.  My guess would be it started shortly after returning from the 2012 expedition.

My assumptions:  Tim Mellon, after making his major contribution, completing the expedition and returning "empty handed" is really pi--ed.  Tim Mellon goes to his "secret" web site and vents his spleen and is encouraged by "someone" to file suit against TIGHAR on the basis of what we now see in the filed complaint.

The "someone" convinces Tim Mellon that based upon the 2010 expedition videos there is ample evidence to suggest that the A.E. aircraft has been found and his contribution is a result of a major ruse.

Tim Mellon believes in the sympathy offered in his plight and buys into the suggestion and begins legal proceedings.

What assumptions and logic do I suggest the above?

•   The time in finding an attorney to take on this case, the time the attorney needs to research the allegations made in the suit and the effort to put arguments into a petition to the court takes a great deal of time and effort i.e. the assumption this whole affair goes back to the time shortly after returning from the 2012 expedition.

•   Tim Mellon finally confides in "someone" that he has indeed started the litigation process:  This communication to "someone" goes out over the "secret" forum and in return is leaked/discussed within that forum.

•   This leak/discussion gives Tim Mellon great concern because the suit is not quite ready to be filed and Tim Mellon wants to know who spilled the beans.

•   Hence the hunt (vis a vis Heath's correspondence suggesting this was to smoke out the leaker)
             "Someone" – "I would suspect a spy",
             Mellon – "how can we solve that?"
             "Someone" – plant bogus info",
             Mellon – "how do we do that in a private forum?"

•   Tim Mellon then comes up with the spoof of  "if and when TIGHAR goes bankrupt etc.,etc., "     
             "Someone" says he wants "me" to save the email as proof of a spoof.

Bottom line I would suggest:

•   Tim Mellon felt defeated and sorry for himself after the 2012 expedition

•   Another "secret forum" member sympathizes with Tim Mellon and suggest legal action

•   Tim Mellon agrees and proceeds to hire the attorney(ies) to proceed.

•   The legal proceedings are leaked shortly before the suit is ready to be filed.

•   Finally, Tim Mellon goes into defense mode to find out who is leaking the suit info.

In summary:
   
   I would suggest that if we would go back into the A.E. forum just after the 2010 video was released to all, we could determine the "someone" by name.

This "someone" convinced poor ole Tim Mellon to spend more money to get his just reward in order to sooth his (Tim Mellon's) bruised ego and hence the lawsuit to be addressed in a few days.

Sad situation!


[Modified to include link to Ric's post; each Forumite's own time zone is used to affix time stamps, making it problematic to refer to previous posts by the posting time that's displayed. Creating such links is covered by Marty's tutorial in the FAQs.]

[Jeff Lange]

And of course we can't forget the rolls of toilet paper, the musical instruments and cases, and lord knows what else Tim has "seen" in the  video footage. Interesting that none of those items were ever listed in the Luke Field inventory, and why would you leave parachutes behind, yet take along a banjo???

Oh- of course, that was to entertain the Japanese soldiers while trading military secrets with them in the Marshall Islands! How could I forget.

Hopefully, the murkiness of this whole matter will be somewhat cleared up in a few weeks!