Naman Shrestha
When a Long Island-based UFO enthusiast named John Ford suspected that the government might be concealing information regarding a UFO crash landing, he resorted to some extreme lengths to ensure that the alleged truth about the existence of aliens prevailed. The chairman of LIUFON is the focus of the episode titled ‘Lights Over Long Island’ of Hulu’s ‘Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal.’ It also features interviews with his associates, generating several questions regarding his well-being and current whereabouts.
John Ford is Accused of Plotting to Murder Three Government Officials
A big believer in UFOs, John Ford founded the Long Island UFO Network (LIUFON) in order to conduct studies related to the unknown and prove the existence of aliens through research and evidence. He and other members of LIUFON believed that a UFO had crash-landed in South Haven Park near the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the government officials were hiding them in the laboratory. When his research was constantly interrupted by the actions of the government, he reportedly devised a plan to kill three representatives — Anthony Gazzola, a leader of the Conservative Party in Brookhaven; John Powell, the chairman of the Suffolk County Republican Committee; and Fred Towle, a Suffolk legislator.
His plan involved putting radium in each of their car seats and mixing radioactive metal into their toothpaste, leading to them contracting fatal diseases. Not only that, reports suggested that he also had plans to set fire to the Suffolk Republican headquarters and promote Conservative Party politicians. When law enforcement learned about this conspiracy, they arrested John Ford in June 1996 and charged with three counts of second-degree criminal solicitation, three counts of second-degree conspiracy to commit murder, and one count of illegal possession of radioactive materials.
Upon searching his property, they reportedly discovered five lead canisters containing the radioactive element radium, hand grenades, a mine detector, militia literature, ammunition, and around 50 handguns and rifles. Deeming him delusional, and thus, unfit for trial in 1997, John J. Ford was instead sent to the Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center in New Hampton, New York. About three years after his arrest, in 1999, the accused pleaded not responsible by reason of insanity.
John Ford Seemingly Remains Admitted to a Mental Institution
In 2019, the retired court security officer from Bellport, John Ford, won a transfer order that allowed him to be released from a secure psychiatric hospital and admitted to a less restrictive one. Supreme Court Justice Elaine Zaritsky Slobod was of the opinion that John was not a danger to himself or anyone around him despite still being mentally ill. Along with her, his attorneys — Steven Metcalf II and Nanette Ida Metcalf — also spoke for their client, claiming that his mental health might improve if he is allowed to be in a less restrictive environment.
In Nanette’s opinion, the significance of the conspiracy charges against him was the only reason John was kept confined in a mental institution for so many years. However, in 2019, she claimed that the Chairman of the Long Island UFO Network was “very competent, capable, calm.” Around Christmas day in 2022, he was in good health and getting ready to return to court, fighting for his unsupervised privileges within the following few months.
Read More: Tobias Wayland: Where is the Paranormal Investigator Now?
