Over the past ten years, more than 100 000 people in the United States and in Europe have complained about a strange and devastating skin disease known as Morgellons. The medical community is divided between those who dismiss it as a psychological disorder and those who regard Morgellons as an emerg…
Morgellons Victims Across the US and Europe (Part 1), by Hank P. Albarelli Jr., Zoe Martell Voltaire Network عربي čeština Deutsch ελληνικά English Español فارسى suomi français italiano Nederlands norsk polski Português română русский Türkçe 中文 About the Network RSS Voltaire Network Front Page Sections Focus News in Brief Controversies Diplomatic Wire Documentary Watch Dossiers ThemesStatesBiographiesCorporationsNGO Archives National Security Secrecy Morgellons Victims Across the US and Europe (Part 1) by Hank P. Albarelli Jr., Zoe Martell Over the past ten years, more than 100 000 people in the United States and in Europe have complained about a strange and devastating skin disease known as Morgellons. The medical community is divided between those who dismiss it as a psychological disorder and those who regard Morgellons as an emerging disease deserving further study. This issue would normally be confined to scientific medical journals if the Pentagon and federal "law-enforcement" agencies were not so actively engaged in hiding it from the public. In the first part of his investigation, Hank Albarelli reports on a controversy which leads straight to new weapons experiments of the most secret order. Voltaire Network | 12 June 2010 http://www.morgellons-research.org/morgellons/morgellons-sufferer3.htm Three weeks ago, we wrote about a “disease” known as Morgellons that very few people in the world know anything about. We placed the word disease above in quotation marks only because a large number of physicians refuse to recognize Morgellons as a medical affliction, with some even refusing to treat patients who suffer from it. We have listened to a long litany of accounts about doctors who have literally laughed in the faces of Morgellons sufferers, male and female, young and old, with many attempting to make referrals to psychologists. Remarkably, other physicians have mounted web sites mocking and attacking people who report they have Morgellons and those who write about it. Some physicians have dubbed the disease Delusions of Parasitosis, meaning it’s all in the patient’s head. Additionally, there is a website entitled morgellonswatch.com “dedicated to examining the claims made regarding what is termed ‘Morgellons Disease’” and to preventing “sick people into thinking they may have a terrible disease.” Oddly, there are no formal individual or institutional sponsoring names identified on this site. Despite this seemingly general stance from the “medical community” there are clear exceptions. Nearly every state across the US, and country in Europe, has at least several medical professionals who regard Morgellons as “a serious emerging infectious disease deserving study and research.” Dr. Ahmed Kilani, Laboratory Director of Clongen Laboratories, Germantown, Maryland, says, “I have personally listened to detailed descriptions of the symptoms of this disease and something has got to be done.” At present, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia is conducting a study of Morgellons in partnership with Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Division of Research. The study was formally announced and launched in January 2008. The stated objective of the study was “to learn about an unexplained skin condition known as Morgellons.” The study, said a CDC spokesperson, was expected to “Take up to 12 months or longer to complete.” Said the CDC’s Dr. Michele Pearson, the principle investigator on the study, “We earnestly want to learn more about this unexplained illness which impacts the lives of those who suffer from it. Those who suffer have questions, and we want to help them.” Over two years past the CDC’s announcement it appears unknown as to when the study will be completed or be released. About a month ago there were unconfirmed reports that the study had been handed off entirely to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C., an identified partner in the study as explained by the CDC in 2008. Morgellons Symptoms The initial symptoms of Morgellons involve patients experiencing the discomforting sensation of insects crawling on and biting or stinging their skin. This sensation results in skin lesions that can appear much like mild to severe cases of acne. The lesions can appear anywhere on a patient’s body and quite often contain fiber-like strands or fibrous material. The fibers are the most perplexing visible feature of Morgellons. Often when an attempt is made to remove or extract the fibers the material will resist and act to withdraw or move away from whatever instrument is being employed. Skeptics have put forth various explanations for the presence of the fibers that plague sufferers of Morgellons disease. Some have suggested that the fibers are merely clothing fibers, and other common everyday material, that become attached to scabbed lesions accidentally; the sufferers, skeptics claim, are falsely convinced that the fibers are being produced by their bodies. Other explanations are less kind; many ascribe to the idea that the lesions themselves are a product of “neurotic excoriation,” a psychological condition wherein the patient scratches the skin compulsively to the point of creating wounds, or even that they are created deliberately by the sufferer in an effort to convince others that he is suffering from a disease. The fibers, these skeptics explain, are then collected by the sufferer from non-bodily sources, as a means of providing “evidence” that the disease condition exists. The psychiatric community has long associated the collection of body specimens with delusional parasitosis and other psychiatric or fictitious conditions. In fact, the act of collecting these specimens is, itself, considered a psychiatric symptom, referred to as “the matchbox sign.” The name is a reference to the fact that fibers and other material are often presented in small containers such as matchboxes. As a result, the collected specimens are often disregarded completely by healthcare providers, and a psychiatric cause is assumed rather than a physical condition considered. These arguments fall apart quickly, however, when the fibers — and the patients — are actually examined. Morgellons fibers, when examined closely, consistently appear as autoflourescent, meaning that they exhibit a glow under ultraviolet light. Certain marine organisms, such as particular types of jellyfish, also have autofluorescent properties. One fluorescent protein, known as “green flourescent protein,” has been studied extensively in recent years as a marker in the study of gene expression; it has been successfully introduced into many bacteria and fungi, as well as into fish, plant, insect, and even human cells. Fluorescent markers, in the form of genetic modifications or dyes, are also often used to track the presence of microbes in the environment. Oil consuming microbes, for example, are often marked with the use of a fluorescent stain for monitoring purposes. A privately funded study conducted by Dr. Hildegarde Staninger, Industrial Toxicologist & Doctor of Integrative Medicine, revealed that the fibers are able to withstand temperatures of up to 1700 degrees Fahrenheit [= 927º C] before burning, and that they do not melt. Her results indicated that the fiber’s outer casing appears to consist of high-density polyethylene fiber, an industrial material commonly used in the production of fiber optic cables. Interestingly, this material is also used in the emerging field of bionanotechnology as a compound to encapsulate a viral protein envelope. Furthermore, Staninger reported finding blue fibers that exhibited a golden tip; she believes these to be a form of nano-machinery, able to be programmed to perform specific functions. Susan Lindquist If this sounds farfetched, consider the following information from a 2004 article in the U.S. News and World Report: Susan Lindquist, director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, has managed to do just this using a type of protein called a prion. “She triggered a chain reaction in which the yeast prions spin themselves into long, durable fibers,” the article reports. “Lindquist then genetically engineered these fibrous prions so they could bind to gold and silver nanoparticles. As she reported last spring, the result was prion fibers clad in precious metal—ultrafine conductive wires that could someday shuttle electrons around nano-size circuits.” Consider this information, as well, from the same article: “Last August [2003], the U.S. Army announced a $50 million Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, bringing together biotech and engineering skills from leading universities and companies. And early last month, President Bush signed the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, which authorizes $3.7 billion over five years — a hefty chunk of which will go to bionanotechnology.” Fort Detrick & Morgellons Without doubt, the number of people suffering from Morgellons disease is increasing worldwide. Some estimates range as high as 100,000 people. At the same time that reported cases are rising, reports connecting the disease to various military research institutions and installations are also increasing, as are reported instances of strange developments with the disease. What is really going on with Morgellons across the world? For the past several years there have been consistent and credible reports that the US Army’s biological warfare research facility at Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland, has experimented with a lab-created disease very similar to Morgellons. Said one former Detrick microbiologist, who refused to allow his name to be printed: “That I remember research on something similar — I don’t recall what it was specifically called — began not long after the Defense Appropriations for 1970… it began around then…there were all kinds of things under study then. It was hard to keep track of it all.” This remark about the 1970 Defense Appropriations is significant in light that at about this same time the US Defense Department made a startling budget request to the US Congress. On July 1, 1969, a high-ranking Pentagon biological warfare official, Dr. Donald MacArthur, appeared before the Defense Department Appropriations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Dr. MacArthur told the assembled elected officials that “dramatic progress being made in the field of molecular biology [by Army researchers at Fort Detrick and elsewhere] led [the Army] to investigate the relevance of this field of science to biological warfare.” Said MacArthur, “A small group of experts considered this matter and provided the following observations: (1) All biological agents up to the present time are representative of naturally occurring disease, and thus known by scientists throughout the world. They are easily available to qualified scientists for research, either for offensive or defensive purposes; (2) within the next 5 to 10 years; it would probably be possible to make a new infective microorganism, which could differ, in certain important aspects from any known disease-causing organisms. Most important of these is that it might be refractory to the immunological and therapeutic processes upon when we depend to maintain our relative freedom from infectious disease.” Dr. MacArthur’s testimony went on, and he informed the subcommittee that a research program to explore the feasibility of developing such a disease, “a synthetic biological agent, an agent that does not naturally exist and for which no natural immunity could be acquired,” would take only about 5 years to complete, and would cost $10 million. Quite understandably, since MacArthur made his memorable remarks, speculation has been rampant about just exactly what disease he was talking about. Some declassified Army reports from this same time are quite interesting in that many documents make it readily apparent that some of the Army’s most secret experiments with laboratory manipulated diseases were conducted in those same states where Morgellons is reported to be most prevalent: Texas, Florida, and California. Dr. MacArthur informed Congress: “[Establishing new biological weapons] is a highly controversial issue, and there are many who believe such research should not be undertaken lest it lead to yet another method of massive killing of large populations. On the other hand, without sure scientific knowledge that such a weapon is possible, and an understanding of the ways it could be done, there is little that can be done to devise defensive measures. Should an enemy develop it there is little doubt that this is an important area of potential military technological inferiority in which there is no adequate research program.” Patients Warned Not to Talk Since our last article was published here, a very disturbing number of verified incidents involving Morgellons victims have been reported. Many of these accounts concern infected people receiving warnings “not to speak” with the media or to “keep your mouth shut about this disease.” These warnings have come from people claiming to represent or to work for “intelligence” or “law enforcement” agencies. Several of the warned individuals had earlier reported seeing odd “fabric-like” and “web-like” materials falling from the sky prior to their coming down with the disease. Caroline Carter, 50 years old, an alternative health therapist practicing in Cyprus, Greece, contracted Morgellons disease in August 2007, after discovering her garden in England “covered in a very strange web-like substance.” Looking further, she found the same substance covering other nearby gardens and hedgerows. Within about a day all of the foliage touched by the substance began wilting and dying. Carter began collecting some of the web-like substance and felt a bit on her left upper arm. She recalled, “It was a sharp nip but there was not any visible mark.” Yet by the end of the day her arm was “really aggravating me as no matter what I did I could not stop a persistent itch that had begun shortly after the bite.” From that day forward the itch never left Carter. In 2008, Caroline Carter moved to Cyprus. About a year later, she was diagnosed as having intestinal fungal overgrowth and a B12 deficiency. Carter’s rash also had worsened, despite concentrated efforts at treatment. The rash produced severe burning and itching, and continued to spread over her entire body. At the time, Carter did “not consider that Morgellons was the cause of my pain as many lesions appearing over my body were scabbing over.” While she knew about the disease everything she had seen informed her that Morgellons lesions “do not scab over or heal.” After placing a piece of her skin under a microscope, however, Carter knew the problem was Morgellons. “I felt sick to my stomach…sure enough entangled through my skin sample were bright red, blue and black fibers.” Continued Carter, “I took another skin sample and found the very same fibers, this time I placed the skin sample in a solution of H202 [hydrogen peroxide]. I left the sample to soak for 12 hours before placing it back under the scope. The fibers had not lost their color.” http://www.morgellons-research.org/morgellons/morgellons-sufferer3.htm Over the next few weeks, Carter’s rash intensified and she was in extreme pain. “My skin would form blisters that would burst then reform,” she said, “it felt like broken glass and lit cigarettes were attacking my skin from the inside.” The ensuing weeks were sheer agony for Carter. She recounts, “The only medication that helped was opiates, both oral and intravenous.” Eventually, Carter says, “I decided to try frequency healing [alternative healing based on electromagnetic waves] and I really improved.” She says, “The change was immediate. On a Saturday I visited a therapist who discovered that my left and right brain hemisphere had switched, everything that should test positive ran negative and vice versa. I was also emitting radiation from my thymus area for approximately two meters. My thymus had felt permanently on fire and I could feel small metal particles under the skin.” Not long after Carter was able to resume her normal work routine she assembled a thick packet of information on Morgellons disease, including a CD containing photos and videos of fibers, some in the process of actually moving about, that she passed on to a local elected official, who she thought might help her in her now intensive investigation of the disease. Since resuming her practice she had been alarmed to find that some of her clients, including children, were also experiencing health problems that appeared to be the results of Morgellons disease. About a week later, a man who said he was from the Cyprus Intelligence Services contacted her. Carter says, “He told me that I should stay away from politicians as they would not do anything with my information, he said that there was something going on in Cyprus and that they were aware of it. He wanted my help. He told me a scientist has broken ranks and given information about a strange substance picked up in the EU air filter checking system.” The man asked Carter “to stay quiet about my findings for now as it could cause problems.” Before he departed, the man told Carter that her telephone and e-mail was being closely monitored. Carter explains, “I think the problem is due to my having found out just how many people have this problem as well as having grown one of these fibers. It has to be ‘artificial life’ from the way it grew. I say grew and not cultured because that is what it did. I placed a piece of my skin, which I had kept since my breakout on a slide with a small drop of H202 slightly diluted. Within 9 minutes a bacteria type of incubator sprouted long fibers. It was like watching something out of the film ‘Alien.’” Caroline Carter’s story is not unique. Since our first article on Morgellons appeared, we have been contacted by nearly a dozen people, all Morgellons patients, who, over the past seven years, have received warnings from people who have identified themselves as either “federal agents”, state law enforcement, or “Army intelligence officers.” One woman in the mid-west says she was told, “If you know what’s good for you and your family you wouldn’t talk to anyone about this.” All the warned patients who contacted us are women who are fearful for their well-being and that of their loved ones. Most of these women are too frightened to want their names being used in this article. Barb Metcalf, a Morgellons sufferer in Connecticut, who lives only 30 miles from the US Army’s top secret Plum Island research facility, felt differently. Metcalf’s story is incredible, and is presented here in her own words. Recounts Metcalf: “It was December 8, 1998 a beautiful 72F winter day in Manchester, Connecticut. The weather was most unusual, we had had snow and several hard frosts, but this day was like a Spring day. I was outdoors at a party, standing under a large oak tree. I felt something inside my shirt; I never considered it to be a bug because nothing should have survived the winter weather. When I removed my shirt that night, it was very clear that I had been bitten at least 8 times on my back. There was a leg left behind in the struggle, so I placed it in a bag for identification. The next day, I had a major allergic attack with signs of oncoming breathing difficulties. I went to the doctor who did nothing more than a Lyme disease test, although there were no obvious signs that it was a tick. “I took the leg to an entomologist at University of Connecticut who identified it as coming from an arthropod. By leg size, mouth size, he determined that it was not a tick, but could not otherwise determine the exact type of bug. Living in here is always reason enough to be checked for insect bites, living so close and in the migratory bird… truncated (15,287 more characters in archive)