Alternative History Ties In Onassis, Hughes, JFK, RFK

[b]Br1995: Johnny Meyer: Gemstone's Link Between Hughes and Onassis
—by Gerald A. Carroll

Aristotle Onassis carries out a carefully planned event: He has Howard Hughes kidnapped from his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, using Hughes' own men (Chester Davis, born Cesare in Sicily, et al). Hughes' men either quit, get fired or stay on in the new Onassis organization."—Gemstone 1:9

One of the more amazing, and seemingly implausible, aspects of the long-maligned Gemstone thesis is this wild tale about Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis masterminding a kidnapping of billionaire defense-contractor Howard Hughes in 1957. Researchers who have bothered to dig around in the Gemstone legend have often kissed it off as a fabrication because of a lack of "proof" that any of the events described actually took place—the most flagrant falsification being the "kidnapping and switch" of Hughes, by Onassis or anyone else.

But a closer examination of the Gemstone language and some cross-referencing with news accounts of that time paint a dramatically different picture, one of deception of the highest degree.

For example, the Gemstone thesis states that Hughes' men either quit, get fired or stay on in the new Onassis organization—following the alleged kidnapping of Hughes in the Bahamas in the spring-summer of 1957. Indeed, key people did peel off quickly and suddenly in 1957. Noah Dietrich, one of the Hughes Corp.'s mightiest chief executives, was suddenly "fired" by Hughes in 1957. (1)
Long-time aide William "Bill" Gay abruptly resigned, citing "mononucleosis" as the cause (2) under mysterious circumstances. Even publicist Carl Byoir mysteriously died just before that ill-fated trip to Nassau (3).

It was Byoir's public relations firm—which served the Hughes Corp. for years, even after Byoir himself passed away—that provided "doubles" including L. Wayne Rector. These doubles were well-known to Hughes's aides.
Also well-known was a special man named Johnny W. Meyer, who started out with Hughes in the early years as a personal driver and became one of the billionaire's closest confidantes. He set up elaborate Hughes parties, including attractive female escorts, with such high-rollers as Elliott Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's son, and a maverick arms dealer on the side.

Meyer is clearly one of the men who "stay on in the new Onassis organization" after the events of 1957. In fact, it was Meyer who broke the news to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis that her husband, Aristotle, had died of respiratory failure on March 5, 1975. (4) Strangely, Jackie had left her sick husband's bedside and was skiing in New Hampshire when Ari passed on. Meyer, as he had done for Hughes, had to do the dirty work. He notified Jackie of yet another dead husband.

Meyer himself died under even more strange conditions. He allegedly got out of his car one night in Florida in 1983 to relieve himself following his attendance at a party—and the car rolled over him, killing him. (5)

Clearly, it was Meyer who was the common thread between Howard Hughes and Aristotle Onassis. He was a skilled public relations expert, and manipulated the media at every turn for both men over the years. If Onassis ever wanted to conquer Hughes—even kidnap him and replace him with a double—he would need the help of Meyer to cover it up and keep a lid on it for years. The existence of a man of Meyer's abilities is enough to give the Gemstone passages a sense of truthfulness regarding this bizarre kidnap story.

The skills that propelled the rotund Meyer to prominence in the Hughes organization peaked when he covered for the billionaire in embarrassing situations, particularly the so-called Brewster Hearings of 1947, engineered by muckraking Sen. Owen Brewster (R-Maine) when it had become known that Hughes' airplane contracts with the government were questioned.

It was intrepid Hearst Corp. Newsman Bob Considine who blew the lid off this story, exposing Hughes, Elliott Roosevelt and the velvet cover Meyer had placed over the whole sordid mess. Hughes and Elliott loved to party together, and Meyer set up these affairs.

Brewster and others were convinced that Elliott had used his influence as the president's son to seek "the intercession of his father in order to override Army Air Force objections" to aircraft supplied to the U.S. armed forces during World War II. (6)

Hughes was angry that an earlier warplane design of his was rejected by the Army Air Force—a record-breaking design that later became the model for the Japanese Zero, one of the deadliest warplanes of that deadly war. (7)

Meyer got tangled up in the mess when he allegedly "entertained" high government officials lavishly in order to sway their opinions of Hughes' airplane deals. Many of those parties also included Elliot and his new wife, Faye Emerson.

Considine, with some help from The Associated Press, originally broke the story on August 3, 1947, by releasing a lengthy expense-account listing of Meyer's excesses, "duly recorded by Hughes' bookkeepers." (8)

Meyer's P.R. skills were evident when he was accused of ordering Elliott to stay in Europe—and out of the U.S.—until the 1944 elections were over and his dad was safely re-elected.

Then, astonishingly, at the height of the Brewster Hearings and the public outcry they were precipitating, Johnny Meyer disappeared. With the key witness gone, the hearings collapsed, on August 12, 1947. (9)

An international manhunt was launched to find the portly Meyer. The next day, Hughes triumphantly left Washington for California to the cheers of a supportive public (10).
Meyer resurfaced in Hollywood on Aug. 17, 1947, but by that time, the hysteria over the Brewster Hearings had subsided, and his client, Howard Hughes, was temporarily off the hook.
Three years later, Meyer dabbled in oil-rig investments in Wyoming, a deal that would inevitably lead him to Onassis, who at that time in 1950 had tried to monopolize the oil-shipping routes from Saudi Arabia.(11)

Fast-forward to 1957, and it was duly noted that Meyer received a $104,666 "loan" from Equitable Plan Company that he was under no obligation to repay (12). The timing, September 1957, is absolutely vital, for that was just after the kidnap and switch of Howard Hughes was rendered complete, in August, according to the Gemstone thesis, and Hughes' personal aide Donald Neuhaus (13). Was that "loan" part of a payoff to Meyer for his cooperation?
And that was not the end of the story. Another disclosure of an additional $125,000 "loan" to Meyer from Equitable was made on September 6, 1957.

Congressional investigators, weary of Hughes-related probes, gathered sketchy, hurried testimony from Meyer and others, and ended up clearing Meyer of any wrongdoing. The coincidences, however, are disconcerting and lend more credence to the Gemstone account (14).

Another damning piece of information that links Meyer to any kidnap plot is the fact that along with Bill Gay, he accompanied Hughes on that ill-fated trip to Nassau by way of Montreal—from Hughes' headquarters in Beverly Hills (15). Meyer stayed with the Hughes party the entire time the billionaire stayed in Nassau.

Later, when he openly switched to Onassis, Meyer's chief job was to keep a full-time watch on Jackie (16). As always, Johnny Meyer did his boss right.

****

3. A Link Between Bruce Roberts, His "Gemstone" Rubies,
the Hughes Corporation, and the Development of Lasers

(Gemstone 2:7) Roberts brings his synthetic rubies—the original "Gemstones"—to Hughes Aircraft in Los Angeles. They steal his rubies, the basis for laser-beam research, laser bombs, etc., because of the optical quality of the rubies. One of eleven possible sources for one of the ingredients involved in the Gemstone experiment was the Golden Triangle area. Rob¬erts was married to the daughter of the former French consul in Indochina. In that region, Onassis' involvement in the Golden Triangle dope trade was no secret. Roberts' investigation re¬vealed the Onassis-Hughes connection, kidnap and switch.

(2:8) "Gemstones"—synthetic rubies and sapphires with accompanying "histories." otherwise known as Gemstone pa¬pers—were sold or given away to foreign consular officials in return for information. A worldwide information network has gradually developed--a trade of the intelligence activities of many countries. This intelligence network is the source for much of the information in the Gemstone files.

The above reference is potentially revealing. First, it refers to a marriage between Roberts and a foreign national whose father had connections with Indochina and the drug trade which has long infested that part of the world. The second major component, finally, is the mentioning of Roberts' making of rubies, some of sufficient quality to be used in laser research—the root inspiration behind the "Gemstone" nomenclature used in the Key and the original Gemstone writings. It is no surprise it was cautiously left out of the Hustler version.

Third, in Gemstone 2:8, the nature of Roberts' source devel¬opment is revealed. Without this passage, most of the Key makes little sense. Without reference to sources, it is easy to discredit research efforts of any journalist. Again, it was left out of the Hustler version—sufficiently puzzling readers and leaving the remaining statements to stand with little support.

But did Roberts actually make rubies? Did he submit them to Hughes Corp., and were they used in laser-beam research? Why not ask the inventor of the laser himself, Dr. Theodore H. Maiman?

We did. In a rare interview by telephone on Feb. 2, 1990, Dr. Maiman revealed the following astonishing revelations:

• Howard Hughes and the Hughes Corp. in general did not support the laser research program, and Maiman was forced to pursuing the research on his own. Maiman remains embittered that Hughes would still take credit for the revolutionary invention.

• Maiman invented the laser during a nine-month break between government contracts. Funding came directly from the Hughes Corp.'s general research funds, an ex¬penditure frowned upon by Hughes executives.

• Maiman bought all rubies for his experiments on his own, from independent sources. Primary source for rubies had always been reported as the Lindy Division of Union Carbide. Maiman says that although he used Lindy rubies, he also used some from other sources. Although vague on the exact source for the rubies that eventually worked, Maiman thought it was Griener, a small-scale company, but he is not sure. Right about that time, and all through the 1950s, a man named Bruce Roberts was making synthetic jewels for movie stars—jewels so real-looking and of such high quality, including rubies, that his talents were highly sought after all around Hollywood. Maiman implied that Roberts could well have been one of the independent contractors supplying rubies for the laser experiments.
Maiman outlines the laser scenario in his own words:

"...The (ruby-making) process is tricky. You have to heat the material to 2,300 degrees Centigrade, roughly 4,000 de¬grees... It's tricky to grow the crystals just right.

"...Hughes did not support the program. In fact, Hughes was upset that I was working on it. (emphasis ours). Myself and my masters' candidate assistant, Irenee D'Haenens. Just us, no one else, from Hughes or anywhere else. Yet, they (Hughes) take credit for it.

"...You see, Hughes' interests were directed toward defense—military electronics, missile electronics... The idea of mak¬ing a laser had never been done before, and it was a long-shot project. Plus, what would you do with it?

"...About funding, almost all work that was done by Hughes was from government contracts. I happened to be between government contracts at the time. I had just gotten off a project for the U.S. Signal Corps and other things... At that time, I had 9-12 months to work on this (laser). I was not on contract.

"...Budget for the laser came from Hughes' general re¬search funds. They were very touchy about that because it was their own money, not the government's. See, they like to use government money, not their own... It was unfortunate that I was working on a project they didn't care about.

"...The laser project was actually bootlegged (emphasis ours).

"...By the way, we also worked with one other outfit for rubies, to get back to your question about the source for our rubies. The name was Griener.. .yes, I think that's it. If there ever was a person named Roberts, he would have worked for either Griener or Lindy... But they did supply some synthetic crystals, not just rubies, but others as well. I think they made them for actresses... (emphasis ours)

"Hughes didn't even file for a patent. That's the whole other story. The cost was ridiculously low for Hughes. Counting my salary, my assistant's, materials, everything, it came to $50,000. And it led to a huge discovery. They didn't file for a patent because they thought it wasn't any big deal."1

The presence of Roberts in Southern California during the 1950s is confirmed by a mysterious photograph that appeared in the newspaper supplement American Weekly on Oct. 12, 1952. A man named Bruce Roberts is shown adorning the neck of actress Carmen Miranda with synthetic jewels. It is a photo feature, with the following headline and copy block:

BUT...WOULD YOU WEAR THEM?

A designer creates some costume jewelry
that might pass for jeweled costumes

"Bruce Roberts, former actor turned jewelry designer, can be thankful that Carmen Miranda got tired of her famous basket-of-fruit hat and sought something new. Her quest resulted in a new Miranda 'look' and a market for Roberts in costume jewelry that is more costume than jewelry.

"When Carmen approached Roberts and outlined her di¬lemma, he realized one thing: Any accoutrements would have to withstand her lively antics. So he strung his semi-precious stones—synthetic pearls, rubies (emphasis ours), sapphires, topazes on nylon parachute thread guaranteed to hold up under 360 pounds of weight."2

No further details were available in this account, but it was enough to conclude that this could well have been the same Bruce Roberts talked about in Gemstone 2:7-8. Not only do the occupation and name fit the circumstances—and the location, Southern California — but so does the age:

Roberts was born on Oct. 27, 1919, and he would have been 33 years old in 1952. The photo, included in this book, looks like a man in his early to mid-30s.

If indeed this was the Bruce Roberts referred to in Gemstone 2:7-8, it would be quite easy to see how he would know so much about the inner workings of the Hughes Corp., and how he might have known about the disappearance of Howard Hughes in 1957. It would go far in explaining how he would know about the entire Hughes laser situation; in fact, the Carl Byoir public relations firm wrote the promotional book on the laser—the same group that allegedly provided L. Wayne Rector, the Hughes double referred to in Gemstone 1:9. Carl Byoir himself died mysteriously in 1957, during the period in which Hughes him¬self was allegedly kidnapped and switched."

Notes:

1. Telephone interview with Dr. Theodore H. Maiman, 1990, Gerald A. Carroll.
Notes:
1. Carroll, Gerald A., Project Seek: Kennedy and the Gemstone Thesis (1994, Bridger House), p. 78.
2. Carroll, p. 334.
3. San Francisco Examiner, Feb. 4, 1951.
4. Heyman, C. David, Cosmopolitan 1989, p. 164, "Jackie: The Onassis Years."
5. Davis, L. J., Onassis: Aristotle and Christina, 1986, St. Martin's Press, p. 273.
6. Considine, Bob, San Francisco Examiner (International News Service), Aug. 5, 1947.
7. Considine, Examiner (INS), Aug. 10, 1947.
8. Associated Press, Examiner, Aug, 3, 1947.
9. Considine, Examiner (INS), Aug. 12, 1947.
10. Examiner, INS, Aug. 13, 1947.
11. Lloyd, Ed C., Examiner, "Reports from the Oil Fields," July 15, 1950.
12. Examiner (INS), "$104,666 Loan Sans Obligation Told at Hearing," Sept. 4, 1957.
13. Carroll, p. 89.
14. Examiner (INS), "Johnny Meyer's Co. Loans Revealed," Sept. 6, 1957.
15. Serling, Robert, Howard Hughes' Airline, an Informal History of TWA, 1983, St. Martin's Press, p. 121.
16. Caruana, Stephanie and Brussell, Mae. Playgirl, November 1974, "Is Howard Hughes Dead and Buried off a Greek Island?"