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Subject: THE LAZAR FLAWS - The Academic Background
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              THE LAZAR FLAWS - The Academic Background



In this installment we'll take a look at the educational background Lazar
claims to have, and what, if any, parts of it can be corroborated.

Background:

===========================================================================
On the "Billy Goodman Happening" radio progam, December 20, 1989:

Caller:
Can you list your credentials?

Lazar:
As far as what?

Caller:
Schooling, degrees.

Lazar:
I have two masters degrees; one's in physics; one's in electronics.  I wrote
my thesis on MHD, which is magnetohydrodynamics.

I worked at Los Alamos for a few years as a technician and then as a
physicist in the Polarized Proton Section, dealing with the accelerator there.

I was hired at S-4 as a senior staff physicist to work on gravitational
propulsion systems and whatnot associated with those crafts.

Caller:
What school did you go to?

Lazar:
I'd rather not say, the reason being I am currently working with them under
contract, and I'm having enough trouble with this as it is.


===========================================================================
From "Alien Contact", by Timothy Good, in a March 1990 interview:

"Bob told me that he had attended Pierce Junior College, California,
then the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), and the California
State University at Northridge.  A period of employment by Fairchild was
followed by a return to Cal Tech.  He claims to have obtained master's
degrees in physics (his thesis: Magnetohydrodynamics) from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and in electronics from Cal
Tech.  To date, no evidence for these degrees has been forthcoming.
Although physicist Stanton Friedman has been able to verify that Lazar
did indeed attend both Pierce Junior College and California State University,
he drew a blank at MIT.  'There's no trace of him at MIT and no record of
him having attended any course.  Maybe he took a lot of courses but didn't
get a degree - that's a possibility'".

(Note of correction from TM:  In personal correspondence, Stanton Friedman
informed me that Good's statement about Friedman's verifications was in
error.  The only school Friedman was able to find evidence of Lazar's
attendance at was Pierce College.  Friedman stated to me he drew a blank on
Lazar at Cal State Northridge.)

===========================================================================
From the Pre-Sentence Report, dated 7/27/90, for Lazar's pandering
conviction.  This was as related by Lazar to the Parole/Probation officer
preparing the report:

8-76,  high school graduate, Westbury, New York (verified)

1978,  Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics and Electronic Technology,
       Pacifica University (correspondence university).

1982,  Masters of Science in Physics, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1985,  Masters of Science in Electronic Technology, Cal Tech, California.

===========================================================================
From the "Ultimate UFO Seminar" at Rachel, Nevada, May 1, 1993:

Question:
Bob, could you tell us about your education?  I've heard a lot of
conflicting things; I'd like to hear from you.

Lazar:
That varies widely.  As far as electronic technology, my degree there is
from Caltech and physics is from MIT.

Question:
Did you go to Pierce College?

Lazar:
Yeah, I did.  Where did you hear that?

Question:
A friend that said something, somebody I don't even know.  I just thought,
it's something I want to ask, to clear my mind.

Lazar:
Yeah, I went to Pierce and Northridge and then...I'm terrible at dates.  I
don't know what date I was at Pierce, probably like in seventy-six or
something, I was at Pierce and then seventy-seven or eight I went to
Northridge just for a short time for some classes, then I was at Caltech,
and MIT after that.

Later...

Question:
What was the year of your graduation from MIT, and did you get a Ph.D?

Lazar:
No, it was a Masters Degree.  The year.  What was the year of graduation?
Probably 82.

===========================================================================
On the "Lark and Craig Morning Show" KOMP 92.3 FM, November 1994

Craig:
Well, you're a smart guy.  Where did you go to school?  How many degrees
do you have?

Lazar:
Two degrees.

Craig:
In what?

Lazar:
Physics and Electronic Technology.

Craig:
So what is that?  A PhD?  What is that?

Lazar:
No, they're Masters degrees.

Craig:
Masters degrees.

Lark:
Wow!
==========================================================================

To summarize Lazar's academic claims on the basis of his public statements
he received the following:

A Bachelors Degree in Physics and Electronic Technology from Pacifica
University in 1978.

A Masters Degree in Physics from MIT (Thesis: Magnetohydrodynamics) in 1982.

A Masters Degree in either Electronics or Electronic Technology from
Caltech in 1985.

Note that there is a reasonable amount of consistency to his story over its
various tellings.  However, at Lazar's Rachel talk he said he went to
Caltech, then MIT.


Analysis:

There is a lot of data to cover, so for a first pass through, let us just
look at where Lazar was at various points in time, and consider the
possibilities of his attendance at the various schools he's claimed.

Lazar graduated from high school in August of 1976 on Long Island, New York.
Following that, the Lazar family moved to California, purchasing a home in
the San Fernando Valley in June of 1977.  It's reasonable to assume that
they had rented something in the area prior to purchasing the house, so
that would have put Lazar in the area by late 1976 or early 1977.

Lazar has claimed to have attended Pierce College, a 2 year community
college, in 1976.  His attendance at this college, although not the precise
time period, has been verified by Stanton Friedman.  Lazar's attendance at
Pierce is quite likely given that he would have lived fairly close at that
point in time.

Also in this general period, Lazar claimed to have attended Cal State
Northridge "...just for a short time for some classes..".  This is possible
and wouldn't conflict with his general whereabouts.

The next time we can pin down Lazar's whereabouts was on July 27, 1980
when he married his first wife Carol.  According to the marriage certificate
he was living in Canoga Park and he listed his occupation as "Electronics
Engineer".  Curiously, he also listed his highest grade of schooling
completed as 12.  His location is consistent with statements he has made
about working for Fairchild Industries, which was located in the San
Fernando Valley.

Moving into the future, Lazar again surfaces 2 years later in the famous
"Los Alamos Monitor" Jet Car story on June 27, 1982.  The paper said the
Lazars had moved to Los Alamos "...about a month ago from California."
From other statements in the article, it's apparent the Lazars had
been in California for some time and that he had just started work at LANL.

Yet this is the year Lazar claimed, on at least two occasions, to have
received a Masters degree from MIT.  However there is no evidence whatsoever
that Lazar was anywhere other than California or Los Alamos during this time.
Indeed, there is no evidence in ANY of the numerous public records
concerning Lazar that he had ever been in or around Cambridge Massachusetts.

When Lazar filed for bankruptcy in July of 1986, the information he was
required to provide gives a snapshot of his whereabouts and activities in
the years immediately prior to his filing.  Is there anything in this mass
of data that could even remotely allow for Lazar to spend a year at Caltech,
obtaining his Masters degree, as he has claimed, in 1985?

Well, in it he states that the only places he's lived in the previous 6
years were 2 addresses in Los Alamos (Note that this is already incorrect
since he didn't arrive in Los Alamos until mid-1982).  He also states that
his occupation for the previous 6 years was as a photo processor at his
residence.  Oddly, Los Alamos employment was not mentioned.

It also shows that he was very active in the Los Alamos area in 1985,
borrowing heavily, apparently in part to support his photo processing
business.  For example, the records show that in March, 1985 he borrowed
$12,000 to upgrade his business's film printers.  Other purchases in 1985
included a Corvette for $19,000, a number of personal loans, and finally a
house in Las Vegas in June of 1985.

If we are to believe "Omni" magazine (and I'll leave that to the reader's
discretion), in 1985 Lazar was on vacation in Nevada and bought into a
legal brothel near Reno.

Again, the records clearly show that in 1985, and the few prior years,
Lazar was either at Los Alamos or occasionally Las Vegas.  There is not
the slightest hint that he may have been working away at a Masters degree
in Pasadena at Caltech.


Now that we have an idea of where and when Lazar was, let's take a more
detailed look at what information is available for each school.

W. TRESPER CLARKE HIGH SCHOOL, WESTBURY, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK.
There doesn't seem to be any debate that Lazar did indeed attend and
graduate from this school.  In correspondence with Stanton Friedman, he
stated to me, "Re the High School.  Bob was graduated in August, not June,
1976, strongly suggesting that he had to take a summer course to get enough
credits.  He ranked 261 out of 369 (bottom third).  He did take Chemistry.
I obtained this information myself first hand from the school.  They will
undoubtedly deny giving the class rank to me since that is privacy act
protected...it is a long story."

PACIFICA UNIVERSITY
The statement in his Presentencing Report that he received a Bachelors
degree from Pacifica, and labeled it a "correspondence university" is rather
unique.  I have seen a lot of statements made by Lazar concerning his
education, but in none of them does he say where he received his
undergraduate degree.  It's a subject he seldom mentions.

Unfortunately, Pacifica University has proven difficult to locate.  A number
of national college directories were consulted, including those listing
vocational and correspondence schools.  A few of the guides were "The
College Blue Book", "American Universities and Colleges" and "The McMillan
Guide to Correspondence Study".  Nowhere was there a Pacifica University
listed.

The State of California Department of Education's Council for Private,
Post-Secondary and Vocational Education was contacted.  They regulate all
vocational and correspondence schools within the state.  They informed me
that they had no listing for a Pacifica University within California, either
now or in the past.

A search of statewide phone records, at least in California, did turn up a
Pacifica Liquor Store, but as tempting an explanation as that might be, it
probably has no relevancy.  Assuming Lazar was enrolled in a correspondence
school by the name of Pacifica University in the late 1970s, it would now
appear to be out of business.  Unless Lazar himself is forthcoming as to
just where this establishment was, additional verification efforts are
likely useless.


PIERCE COLLEGE
Lazar's attendance at this institution has been corroborated, although the
extent of his attendance is not known.  This was done some time ago by
Stanton Friedman.

It was also done a second time by Friedman after Lazar spoke at Rachel,
Nevada in May of 1993.  When asked to name some of his professors at MIT
and Caltech, Lazar responded with the name "Dr. Duxler" at Caltech.
According to Glenn Campbell, the only Duxler listed in the 1993 "National
Faculty Directory" was a William Duxler, Director of Computing for Pierce
College.

According to presonal correspondence, Friedman then contacted Duxler at
Pierce, who was found to teach physics and math at Pierce.  Duxler stated he
never taught at Caltech.  Further, Duxler checked his old records and told
Friedman that Lazar took at least one of his classes in the late 1970s.


CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY AT NORTHRIDGE
Some people looking into Lazar's schooling at Cal State Northridge may
have picked up a false positive due to an interesting coincidence.  There
WAS a Robert Lazar who attended Cal State Northridge and graduated with a
Bachelor of Science degree in Business in 1978.  However a review of the
photo in the 1978 CSUN yearbook, the "Sunburst", clearly shows this is
not our beloved Lazar, but rather someone else.

As previously mentioned, Stanton Friedman stated that he checked with CSUN
and found no evidence that Lazar had attended there.  Timothy Good has
apparently misstated that fact in his book "Alien Contact".


MASSUCHUSSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Standard inquiries have been made by George Knapp and Stanton Friedman and
turned up nothing.  Friedman informed me that he took the additonal step of
checking with the alumni office and at least the 1982 commencement list.

Glenn Campbell visited MIT in 1993 and searched through a number of the
printed student records there.  The idea behind this particular effort was
that while elimination of computer records could be within the realm of
possibility, it is essentially inconceivable that some agency would have
the capability to change printed records that had widespread distribution.

Lazar, or any obvious misspellings of his name, was not listed in any MIT
student directory between 1978 and 1990.  Other publications checked included
the MIT faculty/staff telephone directories from 1978-1990, the MIT "Degree
List" from 1979-1990, and the 1989 "MIT Alumni/ae Register".

This exhaustive searching, coupled with the June 1982 Los Alamos "Monitor"
story that puts Lazar in Los Alamos newly arrived from California, leads
to the inevitable conclusion that Lazar did not attend MIT as he claims.


CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Lazar has claimed, on different occasions, a Masters degree from Caltech
in either electronics or electronic technology.  Standard inquiries by
Friedman and Knapp found no evidence of his attendance.

A recent visit with Natalie Gilmore of the Caltech Graduate Studies
Department provided some important information.  Caltech does not currently
have, nor has it ever had any sort of graduate degree in "electronics" or
"electronic technology", or anything near those names. Caltech does offer
a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Now if you have a friend or relative with with an EE degree, you might,
in conversation, refer to them as having a degree in "Electronics", not
realizing the distinction.  However, if it is YOUR degree, it is highly
unlikely after all the effort it required you would misstate what it was.
People with advanced degrees, particularly in the science and engineering
fields, are usually quite precise in the "pronounciation" of their degrees.

Assuming Lazar had a bachelors degree from an unaccredited school (The
two year schooling period and correspondence status infer this), I asked
Ms. Gilmore what the possibilities were for admittance into a Masters
program at Caltech.  She said it was possible, although extremely slim, due
to the intense competition for admittance to Caltech.  She also added that
the  Masters programs there are one year and require full time attendance.

However, Ms. Gilmore provided some additional data that actually support
Lazar's case, and in fairness should be mentioned.  It seems that for most
Masters programs at Caltech (including EE), a thesis is not required.  Lazar
has only claimed one thesis, in MHD, at MIT.

Furthermore, I had previously made a fairly exhaustive search through many
years worth of the Caltech yearbook, "The Big T", and was unable to turn
up any trace of Lazar.  However, Ms. Gilmore informed me that graduate
students are usually not included in the publication.  So it would seem
that my efforts in this area, as reported in the timeline, are inconclusive.

However, the lack of on-campus evidence, coupled with his physical
whereabouts still force the conclusion that Lazar never attended Caltech.
His statement to the probation officer of a 1985 degree is particularly
absurd in view of the activities he himself listed for 1985 in his
bankruptcy papers.


After plowing through all this data, it is enough to satisfy me, personally,
that Lazar never attended either Caltech or MIT.  Of this I am certain of
beyond a reasonable doubt.

How then do I explain the mystery of why Lazar clings so tenaciously to his
claims of degrees from these institutions?  I can't really.  To me it is one
of the great mysteries of his story.  I find it hard to swallow he would
maintain such a story in light of all the means of verification.  Of course
there are other alternative explanations, but their probability is very
small.

Only Lazar has the answer of why.


Possible Explanations:

1.  Lazar has lied, and continues to do so, about his educational background.

2.  In addition to all his other activities, Lazar was able to find time
    to persue higher education and actually may possess a degree or degrees,
    but for unknown reasons wants to keep it secret and uses the Caltech
    and MIT degrees as a cover, taking the resultant abuse.

3.  The boys at S-4, as part of their efforts to discredit Lazar, in some
    way implanted the absolute conviction in Lazar's mind that he possesses
    the degrees, making him appear a fraud to anyone checking his past.



A note to the readers:

This pretty much concludes the series, although I have 2 more installments
planned.  One is a list of little nagging questions, while not full fledged
flaws, are still uncomfortable loose ends to the story that perhaps Gene
can explain.  Then finally a wrap up where I'll look at a number of various
theories from the wild to the sublime.