Editing Dulce Base (section)

==History==
Starting in 1979, Bennewitz became convinced he was intercepting electronic communications from alien spacecraft and installations outside of Albuquerque. By the 1980s he believed he had discovered a secret underground base near Dulce populated by [[grey alien]]s and humans.<ref>{{Skeptoid |id=4391 |number=391 |title=8 Secret bases: Real or fictional |date=3 December 2013}} ''see'' "§3. Dulce Base".</ref> By 1983, Bennewitz's claims appeared in the popular press.<ref>{{cite news |title=UFOs: U.S. reports tell of five sightings in 1980 over Kirtland; city man claims alien contact |date=8 April 1983 |newspaper=[[The Albuquerque Tribune]] |place=Albuquerque, NM |page=1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/784735763/ |access-date=2022-06-05 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>  

The story spread rapidly within the UFO community and by 1987, [[Ufology|UFOlogist]] [[John Lear]] claimed he had independent confirmations of the base's existence.<ref name="Gulyas2016">{{cite book |last=Gulyas |first=Aaron John |title=Conspiracy Theories: The roots, themes and propagation of paranoid political and cultural narratives |date=25 January 2016 |publisher=McFarland & Company |place=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-9726-3 |pages=88–89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=afcEDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA88}}</ref> Lear's statement influenced [[Thomas Allen LeVesque]], pen name "Jason Bishop III", who later admitted to fabricating stories about Dulce Base.<ref name="Gulyas1">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=afcEDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|title=Conspiracy Theories: The Roots, Themes and Propagation of Paranoid Political and Cultural Narratives|first=Aaron John|last=Gulyas|date=February 8, 2016|publisher=McFarland|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Gorightly">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uuI9zgEACAAJ|title=Saucers, Spooks and Kooks: UFO Disinformation in the Age of Aquarius|first=Adam|last=Gorightly|date=February 3, 2021|publisher=Daily Grail Publishing|via=Google Books}}</ref>

In 1986, George Clinton Andrews discussed Dulce Base legends in his book ''Extra-Terrestrials Among Us''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Andrews |first=George Clinton |year=1986 |title=Extra-terrestrials Among Us |publisher=Llewellyn Publications |isbn=9780875420103 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bRnpjmamWsYC}}</ref> In 1988, the [[Tabloid journalism|tabloid]] ''[[Weekly World News]]'' published a story entitled "UFO base found in New Mexico" which claimed that "diabolical invaders from another solar system have set up a secret underground base in the rugged mountains of northern New Mexico – so they can [[Shanghaiing|shanghai]] human guinea pigs for bizarre genetic experiments". The ''Weekly World News'' story used supposed quotes from UFOlogist [[Leonard H. Stringfield]] as a source for its claims. Upon learning of the story, Stringfield protested, "I never read such a distortion of facts in my life".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bird |first1=Kay |last2=Terrel |first2=Steve |date=1 September 1988 |title=ETs living in NM? Not likely, investigators say |newspaper=[[The Santa Fe New Mexican]] |volume=139 |issue=255 |pages=A-1, A-2 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21779090/ets_living_in_nm_not_likely/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>