I asked about this case on this forum a while ago because it intrigued me. If you aren't familiar with the details, here is a quick description:

Details: US Army Lieutenant Paul Whipkey vanished in 1958, his vehicle found deserted in Death Valley shortly thereafter. The military declared him a deserter, but his family believes this was a cover-up for him to be accepted for a CIA secret project.

What really gets me is the fate of his friend who had also mysteriously disappeared in an airplane 11 days after Paul also vanished. About a year later the friend's "remains" were found over a crashed plane near Death Valley. The serial number on the plane was for some unusual reason different than the one he had taken off in.

In any case, what do you believe occurred regarding Paul Whipkey? I'm guessing he was recruiting into some top secret military project and perhaps later died while on assignment. As for the strange fate of his friend I have no idea.

I just watched this, what an interesting case and unlike Justin Burgwinkel I can believe that he was actually recruited into another organization.

It is sad however that if he did die that the family was not notified. I wonder since it is fifty years later if they could finally state that he did die. With so much time that has passed I wonder what's the harm.

Thanks for posting/bumping. I was contemplating starting a similar thread myself but wanted to review the segment again.

Over the years, UM has brought us numerous cases about soldiers from various branches of the United States military who have ether "committed suicide" or disappeared under unusual circumstances. In many of these stories, the family of the missing or deceased often jump to unprovable and perhaps hasty conclusions that their loved one was involved in some clandestine, top secret, highly classified, black ops type mission that ultimately contributed to the death or disappearance.

Unlike those other stories, I do think Whipkey could have been actually recruited into something clandestine and perished because

a. he was highly qualified and had special training which would make him a good candidate.

b, he was involved in then secret nuclear radiation testing to the point that he suffered some medical side effects.

c. a superior officer observed Whipkey speaking with men on the base on numerous occasions dressed in civilian clothes. On one occasion, when these men were questioned further, they produced military identification.

d. after Whipkey disappeared, the same superior officer who witnessed Whipkey speaking with the men tried to investigate and was told by his superiors to "drop it".

e. In the 80s, Whipkey's status was inexplicably changed from AWOL to "dead". No reason or explanation given.

f. the segment when originally aired was designated as "Wanted" but in subsequent repeats was changed to "Missing Persons".

okay, the last point was sort of a joke. However, it is true and strange they would alter it.

Any thoughts?

It's been a while since I've seen the segment, so I can't recall what special training or qualifications LT Whipkey had. What bothers me is that he was a junior officer, which suggests a very short period of military service, thus limited experience--unless there was something in his civilian education that made him a viable candidate for something advanced.

Unfortunately, the armed forces of the 1940s and '50s had little regard for the safety of its personnel involved in nuclear testing (anyone who's seen Radio Bikini will remember its disturbing ending. It's a wonder that poor man lived as long as he did). The nuke program was in its infancy and highly, highly classified at the time. LT Whipkey had every single one of his teeth extracted. I wonder if he didn't simply die from radiation sickness or a related ailment and the USG simply didn't want a lot of questions asked.

I obviously wasn't in the Army fifty years ago, but I am a military officer (and actually the same rank as Whipkey when he disappeared). Fabricating a weird disappearance in the middle of the desert frankly doesn't sound like something we would do--although the AWOL classification is precisely what would have happened. The U.S. military is extremely bureaucratic, and often administrative channels don't communicate with each other as well as they in theory should, or because some information is classified and the other entity isn't privy to it. What I envision here is that Whipkey died of causes related to his time at weapons testing sites, his body was held--probably for analysis--and his unit never "got the memo" because of the weapons program classification. So his commander lists him as AWOL, as he no idea what's happened to him. And the FOIA circus ensues. Just a possible theory.

As far as the suited men, his buddy, and the car being found in the middle of the desert--I simply have no idea. The men in civilian clothes were probably either investigators or intelligence personnel, which wouldn't be unusual considering the debriefs and the like LT Whipkey would have had to have. Other than that, I can think of no possible explanation.

Meg,

I was hoping that this thread would attract your attention. Your commentary on the military and it's role in case such as this always makes for an insightful and enlightening read.

Your explanation makes much more sense than the UM proposed theory of a secret mission. Something else that occurred to me - if Whipkey was physically ill, how great of a candidate would he really be for much of anything?

On that note, have you ever seen a segment that convinced you that the missing/deceased was actually involved in something clandestine, like a secret mission? What would the earmarks of such an "arranged" disappearance be? Out of all the usual suspects, Burgwinkel, Langford, Borton, Dennis, et al none strike me as being involved in anything off the radar, despite the family's beliefs otherwise.

On the other hand, there was a story about a genealogist who was searching for her father - who had some involvement with the CIA - whom she believed left on a secret assignment. Unfortunately, my recollection of the story is extremely vague. I can't remember her rationale for those beliefs.

I often wonder how common it is for those in the military to "talk up" their accomplishments when speaking to friends or family? I believe Whipkey even alluded to someone that he was getting involved in "something big" in the near future.

Meg,

I was hoping that this thread would attract your attention. Your commentary on the military and it's role in case such as this always makes for an insightful and enlightening read.

Your explanation makes much more sense than the UM proposed theory of a secret mission. Something else that occurred to me - if Whipkey was physically ill, how great of a candidate would he really be for much of anything?

On that note, have you ever seen a segment that convinced you that the missing/deceased was actually involved in something clandestine, like a secret mission? What would the earmarks of such an "arranged" disappearance be? Out of all the usual suspects, Burgwinkel, Langford, Borton, Dennis, et al none strike me as being involved in anything off the radar, despite the family's beliefs otherwise.

I've seen none personally. None of those segments to me suggest anything clandestine--especially Burgwinkel and Langford. I do believe there was a coverup surrounding the deaths of Hargrove and Carmichael, but I don't think it was an Army- or military-wide conspiracy, despite what the families purported. What really bothers me about the latter story is one of the soldier's (I can't remember offhand if it was Carmichael or Hargrove) forging of an officer's signature on that award he was told multiple times his unit was not eligible for (the specific award was never mentioned, but I'm pretty sure it was a Kuwait Liberation medal. Plenty of units deployed in support of Desert Storm/Desert Shield and spent all of a week or less in theater before receiving orders to return to the U.S. after the actual combat operations terminated, thus making them ineligible under the deployment length requirements). It is a serious crime under UCMJ, and he should have received at the very least a field grade Article 15. Of course I don't blame the soldier for his fate at all, but it certainly calls his character into question. It makes me wonder if there was a history of poor judgement and/or misconduct there.

On the other hand, there was a story about a genealogist who was searching for her father - who had some involvement with the CIA - whom she believed left on a secret assignment. Unfortunately, my recollection of the story is extremely vague. I can't remember her rationale for those beliefs.

That story I'm not at all familiar with, but it sounds intriguing. One story I've never been able to make sense of is Ralph Sigler's. That's been about the only "military" segment I might be willing to accept UM's implications about.

I often wonder how common it is for those in the military to "talk up" their accomplishments when speaking to friends or family? I believe Whipkey even alluded to someone that he was getting involved in "something big" in the near future.

VERY. It is extremely common, trust me. "War stories" are much like fishing tales--the rule of thumb I've developed over the years is you show due respect and take them with a grain of salt. If it sounds like bull****, it almost always is. I definitely think Burgwinkel's story falls into that category. Whipkey I'm not so sure about. "Something big" is ambiguous; it could have just as easily meant taking a good company command in the conventional forces. I suppose we'll never know, unfortunately.

BUMP

Just watched this one.

Really confused as to why Whipkey was declared to have died in the line of duty one day after his disappearance nearly 30 years later. Meg's theory of him dying from an illness related to exposure seems the most likely to me. But that still doesn't explain the ditching of the car, the cigarette butts found outside of the car, and the fact that Whipkey checked into a motel a day after his disappearance. While viewing the segment, I honestly thought the theory of him simply wandering out into the desert and dying seemed plausible, due to his recent personality changes and the physical ailments that began to plague him due to the exposure to radiation.

I just can't see any real reason as to why the military would have declared him AWOL, and then a deserter, had they had any knowledge that he was already dead. I wonder if UM left out some pertinent information in the segment (likely) that makes this case seem more mysterious than it is. If Whipkey did in fact wander out into the desert and die (due to the complications from the radiation poisoning), and his body was never found, that would fit into the military changing his status from deserter to died in the line of duty. Because if their testing was a direct result of his death, I could see them wanting to cover it up at the time, but then when the UM segment was filmed, finally admitting what had caused him to wander away.

Unfortunately, the armed forces of the 1940s and '50s had little regard for the safety of its personnel involved in nuclear testing (anyone who's seen Radio Bikini will remember its disturbing ending. It's a wonder that poor man lived as long as he did). The nuke program was in its infancy and highly, highly classified at the time. LT Whipkey had every single one of his teeth extracted. I wonder if he didn't simply die from radiation sickness or a related ailment and the USG simply didn't want a lot of questions asked.

I really feel it was more a matter of organizational ignorance more than disregard.

I personally only remember the tail end of the Cold War, when public fallout shelters were a disregarded waste of time due to the increased power of nuclear weapons. So I can't rightly put myself into the mindset of a political or military commander of the 50's who might have felt forced to disregard the safety of some to gain vital knowledge to protect the many.

But there are many facts that have pushed me to this point of view. There are several examples of atomic tests where the yield was significantly greater than expected, exposing civilian test personnel and military members. The series of tests conducted under the Plowshare program also stands out to me. They legitimately thought they could excavate a drinking water reservoir or mine for natural gas in formidable geologic formations using atomic weapons converted for civilian use. There is also record of the Soviet Union doing the same types of tests.

BUMP
I just can't see any real reason as to why the military would have declared him AWOL, and then a deserter, had they had any knowledge that he was already dead.

I think it is as simple is the Military HAD to do something, classify him somehow, and AWOL was the best choice they had. One nuance that non-military people might not pick up on is that AWOL or UA statuses are not necessarily indicative that the service member has deliberately deserted their post, more that they are descriptive. (i.e. we cannot account for this person right now) Just like a UFO does not mean it's an alien spacecraft, it simply means the object was unidentified.

If Lt. Whipkey was killed in a clandestine activity that the Army either A. did not have complete knowledge of (meaning he'd joined the CIA or other organization) or B. could not admit to publicly (due to classification level) then they would be forced to list him AWOL when he did not report for his next time & place of duty.

The fact that they Army changed his classification from AWOL to a deserter is also not surprising to me. Once they started down the procedural path of AWOL, deserter status is almost inevitable.

Now, I am not familiar with the procedures of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records, but it seems like their changing his status from deserter to Killed in the Line of Duty was based, not on fact, but rather the absence of any facts showing he deserted. In fact, I don't think there is a single person that would support the deserter theory. However, it seems to me that it was a symbolic gesture to ease the pain felt by his family, rather than an admission of anything by the US Military or Government.

I really feel it was more a matter of organizational ignorance more than disregard.

I personally only remember the tail end of the Cold War, when public fallout shelters were a disregarded waste of time due to the increased power of nuclear weapons. So I can't rightly put myself into the mindset of a political or military commander of the 50's who might have felt forced to disregard the safety of some to gain vital knowledge to protect the many.

But there are many facts that have pushed me to this point of view. There are several examples of atomic tests where the yield was significantly greater than expected, exposing civilian test personnel and military members. The series of tests conducted under the Plowshare program also stands out to me. They legitimately thought they could excavate a drinking water reservoir or mine for natural gas in formidable geologic formations using atomic weapons converted for civilian use. There is also record of the Soviet Union doing the same types of tests.

These are all really fair points.


I think it is as simple is the Military HAD to do something, classify him somehow, and AWOL was the best choice they had. One nuance that non-military people might not pick up on is that AWOL or UA statuses are not necessarily indicative that the service member has deliberately deserted their post, more that they are descriptive. (i.e. we cannot account for this person right now) Just like a UFO does not mean it's an alien spacecraft, it simply means the object was unidentified.

True.


The fact that they Army changed his classification from AWOL to a deserter is also not surprising to me. Once they started down the procedural path of AWOL, deserter status is almost inevitable.

Now, I am not familiar with the procedures of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records, but it seems like their changing his status from deserter to Killed in the Line of Duty was based, not on fact, but rather the absence of any facts showing he deserted. In fact, I don't think there is a single person that would support the deserter theory. However, it seems to me that it was a symbolic gesture to ease the pain felt by his family, rather than an admission of anything by the US Military or Government.

I was under the impression that AWOL status automatically rolls into desertion after 30 days (I've only led team-sized elements and I've never had a Soldier go unaccounted for, fortunately, so I'm not particularly familiar with the nuances), so perhaps, as you've mentioned, this was an instance of a rather routine administrative classification being perceived as something insidious.

Good points all around.

For people with more knowledge on the military aspect of this case, is it possible that after more investigating and digging years later the military realized that due to the repeated radiation exposures, they realized that Whipkey may not have been in the right state of mind, and because of that their theory of him wandering out into the desert and dying, changed his status to died in the line of duty? Because I could definitely believe that theory.

Who knew I'd end up in a conversation with a bunch of '86ers! :-)


I was under the impression that AWOL status automatically rolls into desertion after 30 days (I've only led team-sized elements and I've never had a Soldier go unaccounted for, fortunately, so I'm not particularly familiar with the nuances), so perhaps, as you've mentioned, this was an instance of a rather routine administrative classification being perceived as something insidious.


I didn't work in the Admin field, but the automatic after 30 days policy was what I had in my mind too when I was typing my thoughts yesterday.


For people with more knowledge on the military aspect of this case, is it possible that after more investigating and digging years later the military realized that due to the repeated radiation exposures, they realized that Whipkey may not have been in the right state of mind, and because of that their theory of him wandering out into the desert and dying, changed his status to died in the line of duty? Because I could definitely believe that theory.


Again I'm resorting to logical and procedural thinking here, because I'm not familiar with the specific policies of that board.

That being said, again I think "Died In the Line of Duty" was the only conclusion that procedure would allow.

Once the board determined that they had no cause to support the original classification as AWOL and later a deserter, his status would have had to be Died in the Line of Duty because the other options, Killed In Action or Missing In Action would not apply because he was not in a designated combat zone.

I do believe "Died In the Line of Duty" is used for any death of a service member unrelated to combat, but still under honorable circumstances, like training accidents or even traffic accidents.

Who knew I'd end up in a conversation with a bunch of '86ers! :-)

:wave:

Again I'm resorting to logical and procedural thinking here, because I'm not familiar with the specific policies of that board.

That being said, again I think "Died In the Line of Duty" was the only conclusion that procedure would allow.

Once the board determined that they had no cause to support the original classification as AWOL and later a deserter, his status would have had to be Died in the Line of Duty because the other options, Killed In Action or Missing In Action would not apply because he was not in a designated combat zone.

I do believe "Died In the Line of Duty" is used for any death of a service member unrelated to combat, but still under honorable circumstances, like training accidents or even traffic accidents.

Thank you.

This makes a lot more sense to me now.

I've been watching Unsolved Mysteries on a binge, totaling over 100 hours worth of content.

I just watched this case and even remember watching this back in the 90s but as a rebroadcast. I personally think Whipkey was indeed on a secret assignment as all the evidence points towards that direction. But what I can't understand is the nature of his disappearance!

If he just left, he probably left the country and lives or lived in seclusion as he was induced to radiation poisoning. My other theory is the Military probably guessed he wouldn't live that long and told him to go live his life but not to have contact with his family.

Another guess is that he was put out of his misery and probably killed on a base and was covered up by the military and the US government.

He'd be around 87 today but I don't think he lived long, if he did I don't think he saw his 30th birthday.

I def need to rewatch this segment. It does seem rather interesting. I agree with Meg's comments on the possible theories as to what happened. I read up on the UM wiki site and it seems like there are a lot of theories thrown around. Kind of scattered chaos reading it...I would def need to watch again. One thing bothered me a little with whipkey bragging to a friend that he was going to make a name for himself. Either this would fit into the category of bull.... Story telling like aforementioned or if indeed he was doing something big he had loose lips which could have been a problem for him. But in hindsight was he just a proud go getter bragging to a friend and the comment looks worse than it was?

In some line of duty accidents or incidents The military only gives what info that it wants to give to the public until they end their investigation or are pressured by the public and only then do they sometimes get exposed or forced to give some type of answer. And in this case it's quite possible that even the army doesn't know what really happened. so who knows what really happened.

I'm confused lol.

"e. In the 80s, Whipkey's status was inexplicably changed from AWOL to "dead". No reason or explanation given."

not just dead but killed in the line of duty, if I recall.

Agree with everything you all are saying about him going into another organization....this is about the only case featured on UM where I believe that to be true.

Read more: Your thoughts on what happened to Paul Whipkey. - Sitcoms Online Message Boards - Forums http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=277529#ixzz4bXi0zCjM

Thanks for posting/bumping. I was contemplating starting a similar thread myself but wanted to review the segment again.

Over the years, UM has brought us numerous cases about soldiers from various branches of the United States military who have ether "committed suicide" or disappeared under unusual circumstances. In many of these stories, the family of the missing or deceased often jump to unprovable and perhaps hasty conclusions that their loved one was involved in some clandestine, top secret, highly classified, black ops type mission that ultimately contributed to the death or disappearance.

Unlike those other stories, I do think Whipkey could have been actually recruited into something clandestine and perished because

a. he was highly qualified and had special training which would make him a good candidate.

b, he was involved in then secret nuclear radiation testing to the point that he suffered some medical side effects.

c. a superior officer observed Whipkey speaking with men on the base on numerous occasions dressed in civilian clothes. On one occasion, when these men were questioned further, they produced military identification.

d. after Whipkey disappeared, the same superior officer who witnessed Whipkey speaking with the men tried to investigate and was told by his superiors to "drop it".

e. In the 80s, Whipkey's status was inexplicably changed from AWOL to "dead". No reason or explanation given.

f. the segment when originally aired was designated as "Wanted" but in subsequent repeats was changed to "Missing Persons".

okay, the last point was sort of a joke. However, it is true and strange they would alter it.

Any thoughts?

That being his fate is about the only other thing that makes sense to me....besides the entering another organization.

For people with more knowledge on the military aspect of this case, is it possible that after more investigating and digging years later the military realized that due to the repeated radiation exposures, they realized that Whipkey may not have been in the right state of mind, and because of that their theory of him wandering out into the desert and dying, changed his status to died in the line of duty? Because I could definitely believe that theory.

I would guess that Lt Whipkey was taken in by the CIA to be a pilot in their clandestine operations side. It is anyones guess what could have happened to him from there. Remember the time period he went missing. It was 1958 and Ike was still president. Ike did not want anything to do with Vietnam and he warned Kennedy to stay away from there. Ike did like using the CIA in central and South America, however. I wont be holding my breath for the CIA or Army to ever release any information related to Lt Whipkey. I feel for his family.

If Lt. Whipkey was involved with the CIA, it is feasible that the explanation for the visit to Mojave is because the Desert Training Center near Pomona, and that in order to avoid suspicion the drop off and meet point was in Mojave. It would possibly explain why he signed the guest log for Whites Motel. But the part I've not been able to explain is why his car ended up in Death Valley, several miles to the east and a short distance south of Fort Ord.

If Lt. Whipkey was involved with the CIA, it is feasible that the explanation for the visit to Mojave is because the Desert Training Center near Pomona, and that in order to avoid suspicion the drop off and meet point was in Mojave. It would possibly explain why he signed the guest log for Whites Motel. But the part I've not been able to explain is why his car ended up in Death Valley, several miles to the east and a short distance south of Fort Ord.

The Desert Training Center was closed before the end of WWII, about fourteen years before Whipkey disappeared.

With all due respect, FBI AND CIA have used "closed" former military facilities for clandestine Ops before. So you can't say for sure their mission didn't do the same here.

I was watching this old Nova episode about nuclear strategy during the Cold War and it was describing the period immediately following WWII, in which the U.S. and USSR were racing to develop better nuclear weapons technologies than the other. What comes on the screen but some old footage of a sign with a 6th Army patch painted on it. It was Camp Desert Rock.

So the narrator went on to describe battlefield training with nuclear weapons, and the film showed several soldiers out on some training lane dipping into reinforced foxholes. Somebody in a tower issued a countdown, and a weapon detonated forward of the foxholes. The soldiers wore absolutely no protective gear other than their steel pots.

I have doubts as to whether the weapon was dirty, but I couldn't help but wonder in light of Paul Whipkey--a person who actually was allegedly exposed to radiologic weapons during training exercises.