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Mission
patches are used by military and space organizations to identify, symbolize and
describe a mission’s objectives and its crew. This tradition is also observed
in the shady world of PSYOPS where each secret mission of the Pentagon gets its
patch. These patches offer a rare glimpse into the Pentagon’s secret operations
and the symbolism on them is rather striking: ominous and cryptic phrases, dark
occult symbolism, references to secret societies, and sometimes even a rather
dark sense of humor. Here’s the top 10 most sinister PSYOPS patches. |
| Various NASA mission patches |
Since then,
other organizations involved in space travel and secret operations began using
mission patches, including those that specialize in PSYOPS (psychological
warfare): the CIA, the Department of Defense and the National Reconnaissance
Office (NRO). What does space travel have to do with psychological warfare? Spy
satellites. Since 1960, the NRO (whose existence was only declassified in 1992)
has launched dozens of secret spy satellites into space, collecting an
incredible amount of information on the United States’ friends, enemies and
citizens.
As it is
nearly impossible to obtain information regarding these highly classified
endeavours, mission patches offer a rare glimpse into the world of PSYOPS. Even
if one is not well-versed in symbolism, it is easy to perceive a sinister
“vibe” emanating from the patch designs. Laced with strange symbols, ominous
creatures, obscure Latin phrases and even dark humor, these patches reflect the
mindstate of those wearing the patches.
The
trailblazer in this area of research is Trevor Paglen, who, in 2008, published
the book “I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me:
Emblems from the Pentagon’s Black World”. By the means of hundreds of Freedom
of Information requests, he obtained and analyzed forty mission patches. From
the book reviews:
“The iconography of the United States
military. Not the mainstream military, with its bars and ribbons and medals,
but the secret or ‘black projects’ world, which may or may not involve
contacting aliens, building undetectable spy aircraft, and experimenting with
explosives that could make atomic bombs look like firecrackers. Here,
mysterious characters and cryptic symbols hint at intrigue much deeper than
rank, company, and unit.”
—UTNE Reader
“Of course, issuing patches for a covert
operation sounds like a joke … but truth be told, these days everything is
branded. Military symbols are frequently replete with heraldic imagery—some
rooted in history, others based on contemporary popular arts that feature comic
characters—but these enigmatic dark-op images, in some cases probably designed
by the participants themselves, are more personal, and also more disturbing,
than most.”
—Steven Heller, The New York Times Book
Review
Since the
release of this book, new mission patches have been released that are as
strange and cryptic as their predecessors. If these patches are meant to
symbolize “the values of the crew and the objectives of the mission”, perhaps we should be a little concerned. Here
are the top 10 most sinister mission patches:
#10 – Alien
Face
“The purpose of the AF TENCAP program is to
exploit the current and future potential of existing national, commercial, and
civil space systems and national air-breathing systems, and to provide these
capabilities to the warfighter as rapidly as possible.”
- Source
In PSYOPS,
“Special” almost invariably means “black” or highly classified. Does the
“highly classified part” of the mission have something to do with the fact that
the badge bears the face of an alien? The saying at the bottom does not help:
The phrase “Oderint Dum Metuant” is usually associated with Caligula, the
first-century Roman emperor whose name became synonymous with depravity,
madness, and tyranny. It translates as “Let them hate so long as they fear.”
Right.
#9 All Your
Base Are Belong to Us
 |
| The biggest internet meme of 2002, a badly translated Sega game. |
This
allusion to popular culture is quite funny yet disturbing … I’m pretty sure
they truly believe that all our base are belong to them.
#8 Hymn to
Pan
“A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket
has launched with PAN, a classified satellite which will be operated by the US
Government. The launch was on time, at the start of a two hour, nine minute
launch window which opened at 21:35 GMT (17:35 local time). Unusually for an
American government satellite, the agency responsible for operating the
spacecraft has not been disclosed.”
- Nasa Space Flight
According
to the patch, PAN stands for “Palladium at Night”, Palladium being a
silvery-white metallic element that is probably present in the satellite. The
mission is so secret, however, that it is jokingly said that the name PAN
actually stands for “Pick a Name” (notice the subtle question mark underneath
the rocket on the patch).
PAN is also
the name of an ancient horned god important in occultism and that has a strange
link with the history of rocket science in the United States.
 | ||
| The ancient god Pan, a nature deity with phallic attributes. Is it me or is the PAN mission patch also rather phallic? |
Jack Parsons, a pioneer in American space propulsion who is often credited for having “propelled” the United States into the space age (a crater of the moon is named in his honor), was also a notorious occultist. He was a prominent member of the Ordo Templi Orienti (the O.T.O.), an occult secret society popularized by Aleister Crowley. Seeing no separation between his professional and his occult work, Parsons was known to chant Crowley’s poem entitled Hymn to Pan before each test rocket launch.
“Parsons would dance and chant poetry—most
notably Crowley’s “Hymn to Pan”—before rocket tests.”
- Goeffrey Landis, The Three Rocketeers
Is Pan
still invoked during rocket launches?
#7 Supra
Summus
“LMA” at
the bottom right most likely refers to Lockheed Martin Aerospace, which is the
ultimate Big Brother mega-company working with the CIA, NRO, NSA and IRS.
Above the
All-Seeing Eye is written “Supra Summus”, which can be translated to “Most
Superior and Highest”, which, if nothing else, indicates a healthy level of
self-esteem.
Other NRO
spy-satellite launches have also used similar designs.
 |
| NROL-32 Patch. |
#6 Two
Faced Shadow Guy
The saying
“Semper Vigilans” means “Always Vigilant”. At least I can relate to that. But
in the context of this patch, it is definitely creepy.
#5 The Grid
Defenders
of the Domain is a subgroup of the NSA Information Assurance group and is
comprised of individuals “who are on the front lines in developing the
strategy, the concepts, the planning and the technical implementation in the
Information Assurance domain. They are the true leaders in the world of
Cybersecurity.” In other words, they monitor the cyberspace using the latest
technologies.
The man
with the sword is in the distinct dress of a Knight Templar, this ancient group
of Crusaders that became an occult secret society. The Knight represents the
descendants of the Templars, the modern Illuminatus.
#4 NRO Snakes
happen again? We may never know.
#3 I Could
Tell You…
Furthermore,
there is a twist on the phrase. According to Paglen, the Latin phrase is worded
in a peculiar way in order to refer to Greek and Roman texts.
“The Latin phrase Si Ego Certiorem Faciam …
Mihi Tu Delendus Eris roughly translates into a cliché commonly heard in the
vicinity of “black” programs: “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill
you.”
But the phrasing here is unusual because it
is written in the passive voice: a more accurate translation of the Latin would
be “I could tell you, but then you would have to be destroyed by me.” By
employing the passive voice, the patch’s designer makes two references that
would not exist in other phrasings. The first reference is to the Greek god of
Chaos, Eris, about whom Homer wrote in Book Four of the Iliad: “[Eris] whose
wrath is relentless … is the sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is
only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the
earth with her head striking heaven. She then hurled down bitterness equally
between both sides as she walked through the onslaught making men’s pain
heavier.”
The passive phrasing of the Latin also
echoes the words of the second-century BCE Roman senator Cato the Elder, who
roamed the Senate repeating the words Carthago delenda est—”Carthage must be
destroyed.” In 149 BCE, Cato got his way and Rome attacked the North African
city, located near present-day Tunis. Three years after beginning their
assault, the Roman army overran Carthage, tore down its walls, and sold its
inhabitants into slavery. After the Roman Senate declared that no one would
ever again live where the city had stood, legend holds that Rome salted the earth
around the city in order to ensure that Carthage would remain a wasteland.”
- Source
So the
badge does not contain a simple death threat: it also alludes to a “wrath from
above” of mythological proportions, turning your city into a wasteland for
generations to come. Now that’s a threat.
#2 Get Your
Kicks on 66
 |
| Molech |
In this
patch for NROL-66, the red Minotaur (as if hailing directly from hell) is
holding a street sign of the mythical route 66. It is rather difficult not to
see an allusion to the devil (who is often portrayed in red) and the number
666.
Furthermore,
according to some occult researchers, route 66 was originally laid out to
become a sort of “occult pilgrimage”.
“The famous old American highway “Route 66″ was
laid out by Freemasons with the apparent intention of sending masses of
automobile riders into a self-processing occult “trip.”
Route 66 began at the Buckingham Fountain
in Chicago, near the site of the University of Chicago’s collection of Aztec
ritual incunabula. It ended in Barstow, California in the Mohave desert, which
is for the Freemasons, the cosmic graveyard of the West, the final destiny of
Anubis, the celestial jackal, otherwise known as Sirius (see Giorgio de
Santillana andHertha Von Dechend, Hamlet’s Mill: An Essay on Myth and th Frame
of Time, p. 358).
If this version of Route 66 smacks of some
medieval pilgrimage made more appropriately on a camel than by car, it is for
good reason. Most of Route 66 was based on a road forged in 1857 by Lt. Edward
Beale and his caravan of the U.S. Camel Corps.”
- Michael A. Hoffman II, Secret Societies
and Psychological Warfare
So who is
really getting their kicks on Route 66?
#1 The
Devil You Know
This patch for NROL-49 depicts a phoenix rising from the flames with the flag of the United States in the background. The Latin words “Melior Diabolus Quem Scies” roughly translates to mean “The Devil You Know,” as in the phrase “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know”. Cryptic. According to NASA, this saying refers to the return of the use of an old system after attempting to use a new one, which had resulted in failure.
“The mission patch for NRO L-49 shows a phoenix
rising out of a fire, with the words “melior diabolus quem scies”, which
translate into English as “better the devil you know”, indicating the return to
the older system following the failure of the attempt to replace it.”
- Source
It is a rather
odd choice of words for a governmental agency, but definitely on-par with this
whole sinister, hellish theme going on with PSYOPS patches.
 |
| NROL-49 before its launch featuring its mission patch at the top. |
Another
patch related to NRO-49 depicts the satellite as a winged fiery being (referred
to by NASA as a devil named Betty) who is holding a trident and a wrench.
“An image of a devil features on the launch
patch. The old tradition of giving rockets personal names also appears to have
been revived; Delta 352 seems to have been named “Betty”, and the Atlas V that
launched from Vandenberg last year was named ‘Gladys’.”
- Ibid.
The patch
shows the moon (or a comet?) partially covering the earth. If you look closely,
there are letters in the detail of the grey astral body. What do they refer to?
At the bottom of the patch, the Latin phrase is also enigmatic: “Primoris
Gravis Ex Occasus”. Primoris means
“First”, Gravis stands for “important, heavy or serious” and Occasus means
“setting of the sun, the West, or fall”. In other words, I don’t know what it
means. “First heavy setting of the sun”? “The most important thing after the
sunset”? “First serious fall”? Regardless of the exact meaning, there seems to
be an emphasis on the concept of darkness. Betty is pure darkness wrapped in
flames and is partially covering the sun. There is a grey celestial body moving
towards the earth … and we’re still talking about a spy-satellite. Okay.
Honorable Mentions
There are
many other patches giving a glimpse in the somehow twisted world of PSYOPS:
 |
| Wizards controlling the earth through magic is a recurring theme in PSYOPS patches. Is magick still a part of rocket launching like in the times of Jack Parsons and the O.T.O.? |
 | |
| What do the letters at the bottom mean? None of your f***ing business. No, I’m not being rude…that’s what the letters stand for. |
 |
| Another NRO patch, one that pretty much sums up the meaning of all of the above. The spy-satellite is symbolized by an angry dragon clutching the entire planet with its four claws holding a diamond in its tail. It does not seem to preoccupied with our privacy and other petty things like that. |
In
Conclusion
Although it
isn’t possible to know exact meaning of the symbols found in these mission
patches, they still provide a rare insider’s look at the philosophy, the mind
state and the background of the organizations creating them. Sorcerers
controlling the earth, vipers surrounding the earth, angry dragons clutching
the earth … this is how they perceive themselves and their work. My question
is: Should we maybe be a little concerned? One could argue that these patches
are meant to be menacing to America’s enemies. This could be true, but most
satellites launched by the NRO are meant to spy on North America, hence the
emphasis on the continent in many of these patches.
One thing
is certain, mission patches are the most honest descriptions we have of these
secret missions. Since most of the patches were not intended for mass exposure,
they are devoid of public relations sugar-coating. The patches do not talk
about “bringing democracy and the light of freedom to the world”… they show the
world in chains and in flames, controlled by dragons and sorcerers, and their
words threaten death and destruction.
The occult
symbolism illustrated in these patches is also reminder that these
organizations have relations to secret societies and are “in the know”. And
those who are not in the know, the uninitiated masses, the profane, are not
welcome.
 |
| “Procul Este Profani”: “Keep your distance, you who are uninitiated.” |
(The Vigilant citizen)
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