UPDATE as of August 19,2023: I now have a powerful lawyer who is a well-known litigator. He has reviewed the situation and taken appropriate action. He confirmed that Audible is in breach of contract with me. He explained that there are a three reasons that they might withhold money that they have admitted that they owe me, but also that they have to inform me of this, which has not happened.
One is that I have violated their policies with the contents of my work. I have not published anything that does this. Another is that they have received a copyright infringement claim of some kind, or that a lawsuit has been filed against them citing my work in the complaint. In both of these cases they are obligated to inform me, but they can only withhold payment if it is a copyright complaint. A lawsuit claiming other damages from them related to my work would have to be adjudicated first. I have received no notification of either thing.
I did not discuss this with the litigator, but I did find out from a criminal lawyer that, if I am a person of interest in an FBI investigation of some sort, they would be highly unlikely to inform business associates like Audible of this, but it is not impossible, and it could conceivably frighten them into stopping my royalties. I have not been informed of any such investigation, but I have endured so much of what appears to be officially inspired harassment over the years, I would thing that this is a possibility.
Another possibility is that my account with them has been hacked and the associated bank account changed. If it had been changed, say, by somebody who had my password, I would have been sent an email informing me of the change and suggesting that I take immediate action if I did not make it. I have received no such email, which means that the crime would have been committed from within the Audible ecosystem–in other words, that it was a hack that was accomplished from within their own system. There is no evidence that my email has been changed and my account is still accessible to me.
So that’s where things stand. If the lawyer doesn’t hear from Audible’s legal counsel within the time period he set, I assume that he will file suit.
As to me, I am somewhat calmer. I still need that money and, above all, for my relationship with Audible and Amazon to return to what it has always been, which is a productive and successful one for both parties.
The original post from August 17 continues here:
I am in a desperate situation.
Thanks to the kindness of its new owners, I have just spent an amazing few days at my beloved old cabin. (I detail just what happened in this “Insight” article.)
So what is so desperate?
I am being harassed yet again, and this time it is devastating. I am sitting on a porch at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York trying to figure out why. As you know, this has been an ongoing fact of life for me for many years. I have no doubt that it emanates from the Department of Defense and probably some more obscure sources, but primarily from them.
A couple of years ago, I had to leave the country because my flat was broken into and my website hacked. This was a professional attack that started with the disabling of my router the night before the break in and went on to involve a skillful attempt to destroy this website. I have discussed it elsewhere, in the most detail in “Them.” It disturbed me so much that I couldn’t stay in the US to finish “Them,” and so moved abroad for a couple of months. I was very kindly taken in by friends or I never could have afforded it. I was able to finish the book at their home. I am trying to write another book that explains clearly the differences between the human brain/mind and that of our visitors, but I am not sure that I can manage it. The resistance is simply overwhelming me.
What has happened most recently is that ACX, the back-end website of Audible.com, which provides book management and through which author royalties are paid, has stopped paying me. They sent me my royalty statement for June sales on Tuesday, August 8. There is no question about what I am owed. But the payment never came in to my bank account. I have not changed bank accounts.
I then got in touch with their financial department. I did this on August 11 and again on August 15. I have received neither the money I am owed nor an explanation. I need that money. I cannot live without it. Audible would have no reason to withhold it unless they were either asked to by some government entity or tricked into believing that I had somehow violated their terms of service, which I certainly have not done.
But they will not pay me and they will not tell me why. This comes on the heels of the near-destruction of another close encounter witness-author on Amazon. Steve Aspin, the author of Out of Time, the Intergenerational Abduction Program Explored, had his account cancelled on the charge that he had a “secret account.” He tells me that he has no idea what this may be and has only ever had only one Amazon account. Recently, the book has reappeared on Amazon because it is now coming from a new publisher. Steve’s account remains cancelled and will forever. With Amazon, there is no recourse and no explanation.
I thought at the time that this was probably an intelligence-community generated attack, and I wondered who would be next.
Now it’s clear: if it is indeed such an attack, that would be me. I wonder if Audible/Amazon will now come up with some reason to take my books down, just as they apparently did with Steve Aspin. For the record, I have 2 Amazon accounts, one which I use for the management of my books and the second for personal use. I once had a third account called Bookster Books to manage my fiction like “In Hitler’s House,” but I removed it, and the books, because they didn’t sell and were just causing me accounting headaches.
I am assuming that Audible/Amazon will continue to withhold the money I rely on to live. There will be no recourse except to the law, and even there, my options will be slow, limited and more expensive than I can hope to afford.
Amazon and Audible are both wonderful places for writers to be. They have become major and extremely valuable cultural institutions. I have always been treated well by them. I have enormous respect for their whole approach, which is open-minded, cordial and regulated by good policies. But what they have done to me does not reflect any of that. This is why I suspect that some outside force must be leaning on them, and I cannot imagine any element of society strong enough to do that but the government. If it is something being done internally, perhaps by somebody who doesn’t approve of my work, then it is up to them to correct this, and I trust that they will. They are too valuable a resource to get a reputation for doing things that violate their own contracts.
I have to admit that I am weary. Just so very weary of all this stupidity. But it doesn’t end there. I am on my way to give a talk about my beloved Anne at the Lily Dale Assembly of the Spiritualist Church of America on Friday and—hopefully—spend a nice weekend there. (It’s nearby). I will meet the Rev. Gregory Kehn and also talk about an astonishing psychic reading he gave me in 1995, and play some excerpts from it. (Soon, the whole thing will be posted on Unknowncountry. It was pretty amazing at the time, but after 30 years, the predictions in it are clearly miraculous.)
After my apartment was entered, I made it my business to learn about things like being followed and surveillance and so forth. Jim Semivan, who, as a retired CIA officer, knows a few things about this, was kind enough to give me advice. This started me on a trek to really learn things about “tradecraft,” which I have done.
As I left the Buffalo airport on my way to Chautauqua, I noticed that I was not alone. I drove for long enough, making various subtle maneuvers on the highway that I have been taught (not by Jim) are helpful in identifying tails, to confirm that I was indeed being followed. I identified two vehicles that were involved. I then carried out another of the procedures I have learned, the result of which was that I ended up on a lonely side road with one of the tails right behind me. I shook him–and realized as I did so that it was all too easy. I think that he probably intended that I notice him.
They weren’t there to find out where I was going. They could easily have determined that. They were there to frighten me. But why? The DoD couldn’t possibly have an interest in my talk about Anne.
When I opened the “Daily Chautauquan” this morning, I discovered their likely reason: Senator Kristin Gillibrand is speaking here today, and the last thing DoD would want would be for me to connect with their arch-enemy, who, I believe, as yet knows little about abductions. As they are actually the primary reason for all the secrecy, of course DoD wants to keep it that way.
They probably imagined that I was coming here for that purpose. But it was just chance. Who would think that I would try to connect with a senator I don’t know at a speaking engagement? Of course not. No point in even bothering. (Ironically, as I was writing this, Senator Gillibrand walked right past me. There would have been no point in trying to buttonhole her in order to bring her up to date in a useful way on the immensely complex subject of close encounters. Anyway, my books are out there. If elected officials want to read them, they’re easy to find.)
I sent “Them” to the entire Senate Intelligence Committee a few weeks back. So far, only one form letter in response. I’d be absolutely amazed if any of them even saw it. But DoD knows how much of a threat to it I am. I know many things they don’t want elected officials to know, and can prove them. Also, DoD has it’s own “safe” abductee, who is going to be trotted out to represent us all when and if necessary. They certainly don’t want a loose cannon like me in the mix—that is to say, the one thing they most fear, which is a truth-teller.
So, here I am, my money apparently being stolen from me by a huge corporation, being hassled by a gigantic government institution that has a distorted idea of its own importance and mission, and of me as a threat, sitting on a porch in this quiet and beautiful place where Anne and I spent so many happy summers, on my way to Lily Dale, beloved in memory, to meet a man whose psychic powers I revere, and, above all to tell the beautiful story of a sacred and very powerful teacher who works from the other side with many people, this old husband included. (Speaking of how she works and what she does, read the”Insight” post abut the marvelous teaching she did at the cabin over the last few days.)
I do hope the DoD people don’t follow me to Lily Dale. It would make me feel soiled, frankly.
The constant threats and harassment have just about exhausted me. I have been enduring this for so long, ever since 1998 when the USAF apparently was responsible for a fake story run about me in the then huge Sunday supplement, Parade Magazine, saying that I had discovered that I had temporal lobe epilepsy and made a contribution to the Epilepsy Foundation. This lie was told despite the fact that I detailed the results of my test for this disease in Transformation. I was tested and found to have an exceptionally stable brain.
I had Parade run a retraction, but the story hurt me, causing the sales of the book I had just published, “Confirmation,” to be very sluggish. There has followed what has become a lifetime of endless harassment, the most recent chapter of which could leave me literally starving on the street. I am an old man, nearly eighty, and, nobody can stand up to this constant level of attack. I spent another sleepless night last night worrying about Audible. Far from the supportive partner of the author they claim to be, in my case they have left me with a heart literally thumping with anxiety. I am not far from a heart attack or stroke because of them.
What is most infuriating is that they don’t know what they are doing, and neither does the Defense Department. They are trying to destroy one of the few people who could help repair our relationship with our visitors in a productive and useful way. Instead, as our planet collapses around us, they fight off one of the few things that might be able to offer us some real help. DoD will not stop, not until–and if–they are stopped by the legislative branch, and I really very much doubt that this is possible. It’s hardly a “Defense Department” at all anymore. More a “Department of Species Suicide.”
I fear that I will never see another penny for my books from Amazon or Audible. I’ll have to sue, but I can’t afford that. I cannot imagine why they would do this unless motivated by some outside agency–I would suppose the Defense Department. Who else could it be, as there is certainly no internal reason for it.
I’m going to have a heart attack or stroke from the sheer terror of being deprived of my income, or, quite frankly, I’m going to just pack it in. I am so very weary. I cannot win a fight with a big corporation, let alone with the monster in Washington. (Added note: by “pack it in,” I did NOT mean commit suicide. I meant leave the life I am living now and retire into some obscure corner of the world.)
As I write this, Senator Gillibrand gives her talk. I can hear the rounds of applause. (It’s not about her UFO concerns, but other issues of importance to her.) What a vast distance there is between the two of us. She will probably never know that I exist, down here being crushed under the heel of a “defense” establishment that has become the exact opposite of what it was intended to be.
I wonder if I published something classified in “Them.” If so, I had no way of knowing that. I don’t have a security clearance and never have had one. I do know a few people who may have them, but I’ve never asked them about that. Everything in the book comes from publicly available sources, as I point out in the book.
There are eleven letters analyzed at the beginning of the book. I received permission to use the ten that appear in the Communion Letters years ago. I recontacted all the authors to make them aware that I was publishing them again in this book. I also contacted the author of the eleventh letter and received permission from them. Some of the original ten had passed, three I could not track down, and some gave their permission, although, owing to the earlier agreement and publication, this was not legally necessary. Has one or more of them filed a complaint of some kind? The letters are published anonymously, so I cannot see how such a complaint could have any legal basis, but it would be enough to scare Amazon.
Bottom line, I am just finding it hard to believe that this involves some sort of DoD interference, or that Amazon/Audible, which takes such care in general with authors, would do this without some compelling reason. If there is no reason, such as a suit, then it would be an internal matter for them to correct.
What a world…
Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.
Whitley, you’ve got many fans, and people you’ve positively helped, so that you will be okay no matter what. Ultimately, they can’t erase or take back the impact you’ve made. Lawmakers have to figure it all out for themselves, and the Defense Department may be left feeling vulnerable, which means they are afraid of something. Take extra good care and know that many people would help you out in any time of need. Your contributions are valued and you are such an insightful, valuable person.
It saddens me to the core to read about this despicable harassment and frankly malignant decimation of you’re livelihood Whitley.
Someone is really desperately afraid of the truths you hold and what would happen to them if it came to light .
I,m so sorry these repeated attacks are having to be endured and constantly .
repulsed . I hope you can push through and survive intact for all our sakes .
Whitley, I’m so sorry that this is happening to you, and I pray for a quick resolution in your favor! Please lean on your friends & family in this time, as I know you are a beloved soul in their lives. Can you put up a Go Fund Me for legal help, so you can get your royalties flowing once again?
P.S. If you consent, I will gladly send distance Reiki healing to you. Please take care & know that you are loved by many!
Dearest Whitley. You are one of our most valuable teachers and investigators. Please remember that it is difficulties that hone our virtues and make us better people (after what you’ve gone through in your life you must be close to saint by now!) “O MY SERVANT! Thou art even as a finely tempered sword concealed in the darkness of its sheath and its value hidden from the artificer’s knowledge. Wherefore come forth from the sheath of self and desire that thy worth may be made resplendent and manifest unto all the world” (Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words, the Persian half). I’m going to do my best to remember to pray for you every day, until this is resolved. This short but powerful prayer of the Gate of the Unknowable Essence (Source), also known as the “Báb”: “Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants, and all abide by His bidding!” –The Báb, Also a longer prayer of Bahá’u’lláh called, “the Tablet of Ahmad” that i won’t post here, but it’s available online… P.S. I’m already a subscriber, but i think this warrents you setting up a go fund me, either for legal defense, and or for daytoday costs… i would certainly be willing to make a (small humble) contribution (as I’m close to the poverty line myself…)
Dear Whitley, know that you have support, love and encouragement by all of us during this terrible and threatening set of experiences.
You have given so much to this world. Linda Moulton Howe said: “the Soul knows how to cry out”. How can we help? How can I help? Who and What will show up for you?
Right now you are preparing for your presentation at Lily Dale, what path will open for you?
Stay close.
That’s just what I was going to ask, “How can we help?”
I guess the donation page, as mentioned by DESTINYK, is a good start.
I hope They are watching out and have some power against this. It’s especially poignant to read it after listening to the latest podcast, “The Universe Loves You.”
This is why mega-corporations are evil. They hold far too much power; are corruptible; and have little to no accountability. I’m angry and appalled on your behalf.
If you set up a crowd-sourced funding endeavor, I would gladly contribute to it and share it.
As a self-published author who has relied on Amazon’s platform for royalties, I’ve had my share of problems with them. Thankfully not related to payments, but I’ve heard stories from other authors, so your story may not be isolated. Have you considered using IngramSpark? They help distribute books to many markets.
Whitley,
I’m really saddened and disturbed by you’re the situation you are having to endure. There can no no excuse for Amazon or Audible denying you the funds you have clearly earned, but if this continues then you will have to remove those audio books etc from the site so that they can no longer take money from you.
Unfortunately the shape of our world at the moment means that corporations like Amazon are in a seemingly untouchable position against one individual. I think we will need to see a shift in authors selling their books and audio books from their own platforms, which of course has one drawback, reach. We simply can not continue to live in a world where corporations like Amazon have a strangle hold on artists and creatives.
I’ve followed your work from Communion and have been a subscriber for many years and consider you the authority on the phenomenon of contact with the unknown. I don’t trust or have any faith in any government disclosure being a true reflection of the experience of contact.
No matter what, know that you are held in our thoughts and are loved. I pray and hope that you are being protected by Anne and that this situation will resolve itself. Lean on others to help you if you must.
Best wishes.
Just popping in to point out the “donation” page here, in case people feel called to financially support Whitley!
https://www.unknowncountry.com/donate/
I was about to donate, when I saw that donations here are supposed to keep the website functioning, not directly support Whitley.
Whitley, how best can we support you personally?
Its important for all that read this to show on social media what Amazon is doing. Ive reached out to Mitch Horowitz to see if he knows a way. Also the whole UFO community should know what is happening. At the end of the day you are one of us and we have to stick together. I know you are not friends with Steven Greer but he does know a lot of politicians and has connection. Maybe reaching out? You should not go it alone in this.
May a brilliant hedge of protection enfold and arm you always.💫💫
You sure do a lot of wondering..eventually you got me wondering too – are you reading your own Journal Entries?…Since after wandering here and there, you come up with this Gem:
“I sent “Them” to the entire Senate Intelligence Committee a few weeks back.”
Dah..
“What is most infuriating is that they don’t know what they are doing, and neither does the Defense Department”
Well…you may be correct – after all, high ranking individuals reach their positions only if they fail numerous exams on the way. It’s moron’s galore alright.
The only thing infuriating (not really), is your complete misunderstanding of yourself and the tremendous toll your experiences have had on your psyche (not different from the vast majority of Abductees) PTSD is just one part of the inner drama. You exhibited suicidal tendencies in your Entries in the past. The current one is your subconscious signaling that it’s getting ready to execute the program you wrote. No amount of money will change that. Get to a mental health professional ASAP, else your wish will be granted.
There! Now that you’ve been warned, do whatever…I’m just a selfish guy that doesn’t want this on his conscious. Cleared.
PS
DOD is like a cornered animal these days, and well….you probably want to lay low. Real low:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/15tx8hq/dod_barring_grusch_from_speaking_to_lawmakers_in/
A big company stops paying me the money that I need to live on and you think that means I require a mental health professional? Isn’t that a bit of a miss? What I need and have acquired is a lawyer.
Wouldn’t YOU be just a little bit upset, and maybe feel like you were in danger of a heart attack– especially if you were close to 80– if your income were suddenly yanked out from under you by a faceless corporation for no discernible reason?
Thank you for pointing this out. I thought that previous comment really did miss the mark. I was having some heart issues just the last few days from tension. I don’t think they were particularly dangerous but who knows? Now that I’ve got a lawyer on the case they have subsided. I am much calmer.
Glad to hear you are feeling better, and hoping the situation will resolve as quickly as possible.
I was faced with a large loss of income a few months ago when my husband died (along with all the other aspects of losing him). It was nowhere near the catastrophe you are describing, but I was still terrified, and my heart goes out to you.
Whitley, I’m hoping that you might rescind your comment, “I’m going to have a heart attack or stroke from the sheer terror of being deprived of my income”. In the past I think you have said that if you had a heart attack or something, it would be someone else’s doing, and to not believe it. I felt that when you publicly announced this a while back, it afforded you at least a tiny bit of protection.
The Congresspeople who had that hearing the other day swore that they wouldn’t allow whistleblowers and truthtellers to be harassed by the government. Do you want Unknown Country members to call these people to tell them what is happening to you? It may be worth a try.
I hope your situation is resolved soon. Good Luck
I clarified this in the document. I was not talking about suicide although I admit that’s what it sounds like. I was talking about just retiring and disappearing. Abandoning the fight.
Also, so far, it appears to me that the legislative branch is steering well clear of abductions, and in particular, one would assume, of me. However, if I can point to some specific and provable attempts to harm me that can be pinned on the defense department in some way, then I certainly think that I will contact Congress.
It may mean little in this moment, but there are those looking out for you. There are people who are not well-known that fly under the radar and quietly do the work.
You have been reading and issuing some really fine material, Cosmic Librarian. Thank you.
🙏
How are you doing?
Whitley,
I am so sorry you have had another so heavily laden challenge and hope you remind yourself of the truth involved in the curiously chosen Dreamland podcast title for this week. I deeply respect and thank you for your efforts, service, truth-telling, and sacrifices for the greater good.
So glad you have legal assistance, and it sounds like you have found really fine representation.
The force is truly with you, as Anne and as so many others. Please let me know if I can be of further support. 🦋
Hey Whitley glad to hear you’ve consulted a lawyer on this and that you are calmer about it. I was so sad to read your post on Thursday.
I recently joined after being a decades long follower of yours! I’ve read many of your books since Communion came out. While I have been terrified and curious over the years it’s enlightening to follow you on your quest for a deeper understanding of our visitors. My 81 year old mother and I are connoisseurs of paranormal phenomena and you feature prominently in our discussions! I bought Them and she liked it very much. Now it’s my turn to read it! I also found your 2012 in a thrift shop and will be reading that too.
I want you to know that as a young woman two of your book made a big impression on me – Warday and Natures End – the stuff of my life long (post) apocalyptic fears!
Watch your back and continue to Persevere!
Audible is owned by Amazon and Amazon is well-known by self-published authors to pull a bunch of shenanigans out of thin air. I have heard horror stories of authors getting their account permanently banned for no reason whatsoever. Even I got banned at one time. They’re a faceless leviathan that can get away with so much because of their monopolistic standing. It’s too bad it takes an attorney just to get something.
Has anyone on here experience with crowdfunding/setting up a GoFundMe and how we could publicize it to help Whitley?
I will set this up if necessary. Let’s let the lawyer do his work first.
Whitney, I know you are tied of all the harassment and hate you have received over the years. You have not let these attacks stop you. You are amazing and you will rise from this even stronger. I appreciate all the long hours of study and also the hard work of speaking to us sharing what you have learned. I have learned so much from you. I read Communion in 1987 and continued to read and listen to you all these years to 2023. You are a major force in my life and I know it for true for many others. I pray that you be protected in a holy cocoon where you will feel and be safe from evil. Love is most powerful and will always be inside us carrying us thru eternity. Lindy
Whitley, I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase from WWII bombing runs “the closer you are to the target, the heavier the flak”.
It seems that the winds are blowing towards disclosure of some sort but it is focused on the Stanton Friedman’s strictly physical UFOs approach with the “aliens” being scientists from Zeta Reticuli.
They do NOT want it coming out that the Visitors are from another dimension, can pop in and out of our reality at will and have always been with us and and have had life long relationships with people for generations.
AND there is NOTHING the US government can do about it !
I think MJ12 or whatever they call themselves these days are terrified that you would testify before congress. You would raise questions that THEY just don’t want raised or answered.
Whitley, you have been a pioneer in this field for over 40 years and I hate that they are still harassing you after all of these years. If you get tight money wise, please setup a Go Fund Me and many of us will help out.
Oh man, more evidence of this being “true”. Keep your chin up Whitley and focus on the distance. It’s just more, not new.
We love you man…
I wish I could do something to help. You’ve done so much for my path over the years since Communion first came out.
Know, for what it’s worth, most of us here sincerely love you and Anne.
You both remain in my prayers.
1. The US Federal Trade Commission may be about to launch a Federal lawsuit against Amazon for its monopolistic practices, claimed one recent news report. 2. If these financial attacks on you continue, be aware that my family and I have an extra unused bedroom in the small old family home we now live in, 10 miles south of downtown LA. You are welcome to live there for nominal rent ($20.00 a month + $20 a month for utility costs) for the rest of your life. Share our vegetarian meals for free. Large attached garage. You could use the old commercial corner office adjacent to our garage as your office.
Thanks, and thanks everybody! It is so good to know that I’m not alone. The lawyer has sent a breach letter to Audible. They have a week to respond. I’ll keep you all posted.
So sad. I hope this isn’t deep rooted and is fixed quickly. I have taken the stance that the hard right evangelicals will not let go. Maybe I’m wrong. Abductions and their world view can’t exist in time. I’m so sickened that that have so much influence at the Air Force Academy. There’s no doubt that they are at least partners in the denial and cover-up.
I’m so sorry you’ve been made to suffer for so long. I’m glad you’ve found help.
Amazon, Google and Facebook are each exerting anticompetitive big company bullying. We need trust busters again.
Sorry about your difficulties. I sympathize a little in my own isolation and financial insecurity. You have responded admirably. I struggle without apparent DoD interference. Apologies for being overbearing and overly critical of your great work in adding my perspective. Thanks for UC.
Whitley, do you have any further updates to share?
I’m so frustrated for you I am so sorry. Hang in there hopefully things will come to light and be resolved in a positive way, sending prayers your way
Whitely – I am new to UnknownCountry. Sorry to see you having such severe legal and financial nightmares.
s/ I was expecting your journal to discuss how our government will provide full UAP disclosure in only a few days. /s
Seriously, I DEMAND all the gods free you of this DOD insanity. – Dave