Alfred O’Donnell
Alfred O’Donnell, who worked at EG&G (Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier, Inc.), a significant defense contractor that managed Area 51, had a remarkable career marked by substantial contributions and claims.
The evolution of EG&G (Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier, Inc.) reflects a journey of innovation, expansion, and acquisition. It began as a small technical consulting firm in 1931, focusing on high-speed photography, critical to the Manhattan Project’s implosion tests. Post-World War II, EG&G became a major contractor for the Atomic Energy Commission, diversifying into various fields in the 1950s through the 1980s. In 1999, EG&G acquired PerkinElmer’s Analytical Instruments Division, shifting focus towards diverse industries. In 2002, URS Corporation acquired EG&G’s defense-and-services sector. This trajectory continued when AECOM acquired URS in 2014, and in 2020, AECOM sold its Management Services division, including EG&G legacy services, to American Securities and Lindsay Goldberg, forming Amentum.
Interesting name choice as historically, an amentum was a leather strap attached to a javelin in ancient Greek and Roman warfare.
Born on November 8, 1922, in Boston, Massachusetts, O’Donnell received his education at Northeastern University and served in World War II. As a technician at EG&G, he was integral in opening their laboratory in Las Vegas, Nevada, supporting the Nevada Test Site. He was a member of the team responsible for final checks and connections of nuclear and hydrogen bombs in 1968 and participated in the Manhattan Project post-war, wiring atomic bombs for Crossroads tests and others at the Nevada Test Site and Pacific Proving Grounds.
His career was also marked by claims about UFOs and extraterrestrial beings. O’Donnell claimed that a flying saucer had been recovered from New Mexico, along with a “live being” that resembled former Presidential nominee Ross Perot, differing from the typical grey alien appearance. These assertions led to a Congressional inquiry in the early 1990s, overseen by Richard D’Amato, a staffer for Special Access Programs. However, this investigation did not substantiate the claims of crashed saucers.
As a child Ross Perot had blonde hair and blue eyes therefore the extraterrestrial Being was likely to have blonde hair and blue eyes.
Initially, he refused to disclose information to D’Amato during a meeting arranged by journalist George Knapp. He later reportedly made a deathbed confession, but no tape of this confession has surfaced. According to journalist George Knapp, O’Donnell was warned not to speak further about these matters but still agreed to record a tape before he died. This tape, which was to be given to Knapp, purportedly contained O’Donnell’s deathbed confession. The existence of this tape and the confession was also relayed by O’Donnell’s son, Bill O’Donnell, a former Nevada politician.
EG&G’s significant role in the U.S. nuclear weapons program and its management of Area 51 placed it at the center of potential UFO cover-up speculations linked to U.S. nuclear assets. O’Donnell’s life and career spanned significant events in American military and defense history, and his claims about UFOs and extraterrestrial beings have fueled ongoing debates in the field of ufology and beyond.
