{"id":2194,"date":"2025-03-10T10:00:36","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T10:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/10\/book-review-chase-brandons-kryptos-conundrum\/"},"modified":"2025-03-10T10:00:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T10:00:36","slug":"book-review-chase-brandons-kryptos-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/10\/book-review-chase-brandons-kryptos-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"Book review: Chase Brandon’s Kryptos Conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Book Review: Chase Brandon’s Kryptos Conundrum<\/em><\/h3>\n

I just finished Kryptos Conundrum<\/em>, a thought-provoking novel recommended by Matthew Pines, authored by a former senior CIA outreach executive. It\u2019s positioned as a “faction” book\u2014a blend of fact and fiction. However, its literary style is lacking, reminiscent of a comedic scene from The Naked Gun<\/em>. I see it more as a collection of ambiguous hints about clandestine CIA activities.<\/p>\n

The author has participated in a few interviews on Coast to Coast with George Noory, one of which is available on YouTube. In these discussions, he alludes to enigmatic artifacts that imply advanced technology and shares a compelling claim: he found a box containing Roswell-related evidence that reinforced his belief in extraterrestrial life and “ancient astronauts,” though he doesn’t provide specifics. They also delve into the politics surrounding public disclosure.<\/p>\n

Overview<\/h2>\n

The book chronicles a covert history of the CIA, beginning with its inception and projecting ominous events into the early 2020s, extending all the way to the 2150s and the 40th century. While the narrative is infused with fictional elements, it sporadically references real historical figures and suggests shocking events that have remained under wraps.<\/p>\n

One lingering question is the book’s overall purpose. Despite being published in 2011, it appears to have been written between 2005 and 2007, while the author was still with the CIA, yet it wasn’t released until after his departure. It could be interpreted as an attempt to polish the CIA\u2019s image, but the text contains instances of illegal actions, fabricated cases against the press, and disinformation\u2014undermining its PR potential. This raises speculation about why it didn\u2019t surface during the author\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

Fact vs. Fiction: Where\u2019s the Line?<\/h2>\n

Throughout the book, elements veer into the territory of science fiction and conspiracy theories. Real-life figures are often thinly veiled, sharing similar first names yet altered surnames, with other details aligning closely with their actual counterparts. While some fantastical elements serve clear narrative purposes, the occasional mention of seemingly factual information left hanging suggests these events may have genuine roots. There are even glaring inaccuracies that could easily be identified by a teenager (e.g., Nazis in 1916 or binaural beats in the early 1900s). Given that much of the content seems plausible, it\u2019s hard to tell if these mistakes were deliberate or careless.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, several themes resonate with UFO lore, including materials recently published by Elizondo and Lacatski.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often ambiguous which elements belong to fact or fiction, leaning into what \u201cthey want you to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonathan Chalmers<\/h3>\n

The protagonist, Jonathan Chalmers, is portrayed as a senior OSS and later CIA executive, born in 1890. After witnessing the horrors of WWI, he receives supernatural intelligence and a slowed aging process from godlike extraterrestrial beings, as he undertakes a mission to anticipate future threats. Chalmers orchestrates military decisions\u2014including the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki\u2014and later dives into esoteric explorations, beginning with the Roswell incident. He even employs binaural beats to enter trances for insights, despite this technology not being invented until the 1950s or 1960s.<\/p>\n

Chalmers seems to epitomize the collective mindset of CIA leadership, depicted as infallible and a vehicle for conveying the agency\u2019s worldview.<\/p>\n

However, the portrayal of Chalmers\u2019 character is frustrating. He repeatedly asserts, from the 1960s onward, that the real threat to the U.S. comes not from the USSR but rather from China and Islamic terrorism\u2014hardly prescient after the events that unfolded post-2008. Considering the 2007 economic collapse, one would expect him to address emerging domestic economic adversities.<\/p>\n

Timeline<\/h3>\n

The narrative spans events mainly from the 1940s to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nBook Review: Chase Brandon’s Kryptos Conundrum I just finished Kryptos Conundrum, a thought-provoking novel recommended by Matthew Pines, authored by a former senior CIA outreach executive. It\u2019s positioned as a “faction” book\u2014a blend of fact and fiction. However, its literary style is lacking, reminiscent of a comedic scene from The Naked Gun. I see it…\n<\/div>\n
Continue reading “Book review: Chase Brandon’s Kryptos Conundrum”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ufos","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thataintnoplane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}