As the UFO topic has emerged fully into the public consciousness once again in recent years, so too has come the shadow world of misinformation and disinformation operatives, from the fake hype of grifters and opportunists seeking to become social media influencers, through to purposeful operations by military and intelligence agencies.
So the recent release on YouTube of The Mythologist – a documentary by artist, filmmaker and crop circle maker John Lundberg, first broadcast on BBC FOUR in 2004 – seems timely. In the 26 minute film, Lundberg – who later covered UFO disinformation, and in particular the trickster-like character of AFOSI agent Richard Doty in the documentary Mirage Men – explores the strange story of an intriguing character of many names and unclear origins who was a shadowy fixture of UFO and crop circle research in the UK at the end of the 20th century:
On the surface ‘Armen Victorian’ seems like a regular guy. He lives in Nottingham with his wife and two children and his occupations have been variously listed as insurance salesman, shop assistant and cleaner. But dig a little deeper and Armen’s life starts to resemble that of a latter-day Walter Mitty.
Diplomat, adventurer, UFO investigator, crop circle researcher, intelligence officer – is this the secret life of a Nottingham shop assistant? His world is a shadowy world of counter-espionage, disinformation, subterfuge, spooks, spies, lies and the keeping and revealing of secret knowledge.
The Mythologist explores Armen’s life and his impact on the murky and mythic realms of paranormal research.