Gordon Novel

Gordon Michael Dwayne Novel (February 7, 1938 – October 3, 2012) was an American private investigator, electronics specialist, and controversial figure whose life intersected with politics, intelligence, and UFO research. Based for much of his life in New Orleans and later Los Angeles, he became known for his alleged involvement in anti-Castro activities, his conflict with New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison during the JFK assassination investigation, and his later work on high-profile legal cases and UFO- and conspiracy-related inquiries.

Novel was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and raised as an only child by his mother. He graduated from East Jefferson High School in 1956 and went on to study engineering at Northrop Aeronautical Institute of Technology in California. He also attended the University of Southern California and later took motion-picture directing classes at the Pasadena Playhouse before returning to Louisiana State University.

In the early 1960s Novel’s activities ranged from drag-racing and running a dragstrip in Hammond, Louisiana, to producing auto shows and entering the entertainment business.

He served as Director of Operations for the “Bourbon Street Pavilion” at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, where the pavilion reportedly became one of the fair’s most financially successful commercial attractions. Trade press at the time described him as an entrepreneurial “boy wonder” for his role in managing entertainment and promotion.

After the fair, Novel returned to New Orleans and founded an electronics company, International Dynamics Corp., specializing in covert listening devices and other surveillance equipment sold to politicians, businessmen, and diplomats. He also became involved in nightclub and restaurant ventures in the French Quarter.

Novel came under scrutiny after a 1961 raid on a Schlumberger munitions bunker in Houma, Louisiana, where weapons intended for anti-Castro Cuban exile groups were taken. Novel later stated that the operation was carried out under the direction of former FBI agent Guy Banister and pilot David Ferrie, and that it was connected to CIA-backed efforts against Cuba rather than a conventional burglary.

He claimed that the raid was a sanctioned “war materials pickup” tied to covert operations such as the Bay of Pigs invasion and Operation Mongoose, although documentary proof of formal authorization, including an alleged “letter of marque” signed by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, has never been conclusively established.

Novel’s most famous early public profile arose from his conflict with New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Novel briefly worked with Garrison’s office before becoming one of the DA’s targets.

Garrison suggested in interviews that Novel had CIA ties and implied he might be linked to a broader conspiracy surrounding the assassination. Novel responded by filing a multi-million-dollar libel suit against Garrison and Playboy magazine; the case generated extensive pre-trial testimony but was ultimately dismissed before going to trial.

Declassified records and later research indicate that Novel portrayed himself as having worked both with Garrison and with federal interests, and that there were disputes over alleged attempts to create or manipulate photographic evidence during that period. These claims remain controversial among historians and assassination researchers.

Leaving New Orleans, Novel transitioned more fully into work as a private investigator and consultant. He became associated with several high-profile and often controversial cases, including disputes involving alleged government misconduct, corporate intrigue, and high-profile defendants.

• John DeLorean and the DeLorean Motor Company – Novel conducted investigative work for automotive executive John DeLorean, whose defense team argued that government agencies and financial interests conspired to destroy his company and entrap him in a drug-trafficking sting.

• Waco siege aftermath – In the 1990s Novel investigated aspects of the 1993 Branch Davidian siege near Waco, Texas. He argued, based on his interpretation of FLIR (forward-looking infrared) video and other material, that federal agents engaged in misconduct and fired on individuals attempting to flee the compound, claims that were disputed by official inquiries.

• Advising public figures – Reports and media coverage have stated that Novel advised various celebrities and public figures, including John DeLorean, Michael Jackson, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, particularly on security and legal strategy.

From the 1990s onward, Novel became increasingly involved in the UFO research community. He described himself as working with or alongside intelligence personnel, while denying that he was a formal CIA officer. In interviews he emphasized a long-standing, amicable relationship with individuals in the intelligence community and argued that many of them were “patriots.”

Novel also became associated with stories about unofficial “disclosure” efforts to bring information about UFOs and alleged reverse-engineering programs to the public, often in connection with proposed media projects and briefing scripts aimed at senior U.S. political leaders.

Gordon Novel died on October 3, 2012, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 74. Public reports indicate that he passed away in his sleep, and his death is generally attributed to natural causes.

Novel’s technical background was rooted in electronics and aeronautical engineering studies. Through his New Orleans-based International Dynamics Corp., he developed and sold audio surveillance and “bugging” equipment during an era when electronic eavesdropping technology was becoming increasingly important in politics and business.

As a private investigator, Novel tended to specialize in complex, high-visibility cases involving alleged government misconduct or corporate plots. His work often combined legal investigation, media strategy, and technical analysis, for example interpreting infrared footage or communications records.

Supporters saw him as a resourceful investigator with access to unusual sources; critics characterized him as a self-promoter whose claims were difficult to independently verify.

Novel stated publicly that he believed UFOs were real and that some represented advanced, possibly non-human technology that had been studied by elements of the U.S. government. He was associated with the concept of a “Replicated Alien Machine” (RAM), an advanced propulsion or energy system allegedly derived from back-engineering extraterrestrial craft.

Within this narrative, Novel portrayed himself as part of a small group that sought to develop and eventually disclose such technology, sometimes framed as a government-sanctioned disclosure effort and sometimes as an independent initiative using media and entertainment as vehicles.

“Supreme Cosmic Secret: How the U.S. Government Reverse-Engineered an Extraterrestrial Spacecraft!” is the title associated with a book or manuscript attributed to Gordon Novel. Sources in the UFO research community date iterations of the work to the late 1990s and 2000s.

The text, circulated largely in draft or limited-distribution form, presents Novel’s account of alleged covert programs to recover and reverse-engineer extraterrestrial craft, along with his broader views on intelligence operations, energy technology, and global politics.

According to available excerpts and summaries, “Supreme Cosmic Secret” includes several recurring themes:

• UFO crash retrievals and reverse-engineering – Novel discusses cases in which he believes the U.S. government obtained non-terrestrial craft or components and attempted to replicate their propulsion and energy systems.

• Advanced propulsion and energy concepts – The book links supposed alien technology to exotic energy and propulsion ideas, including high-field electromagnetic systems and gravity-modification or inertia-reduction concepts, often related to his RAM (Replicated Alien Machine) discussions.

• Intelligence community interactions – Novel portrays a complex relationship between researchers, private contractors, and elements of the intelligence community in managing or shaping information about UFOs and advanced technology.

• Disclosure through media – A notable aspect of the “Supreme Cosmic Secret” concept is its link to proposed film and media projects, such as briefing-style scripts intended to dramatize or catalyze official disclosure of UFO-related secrets to the public.

Unlike a widely distributed commercial book, “Supreme Cosmic Secret” has circulated mostly as an underground or community-shared document. References appear in UFO literature, radio shows, and online archives, and PDFs of a manuscript version have been shared among researchers and enthusiasts.

Commentary on the work reflects the broader divide in reactions to Novel himself. Supporters treat the manuscript as a rare insider’s glimpse into classified programs and intelligence-community thinking on UFOs. Skeptics question the verifiability of its claims and see it as part of a larger pattern of unverifiable or semi-fictional narratives surrounding UFO secrecy and “insider” testimony.

While “Supreme Cosmic Secret” never achieved mainstream commercial publication, the title and its core ideas have persisted within certain UFO research and conspiracy-theory circles. The phrase “supreme cosmic secret” has also been reused in discussions of high-level UFO classification and alleged disclosure scenarios, often linked back to Novel’s book and the associated media projects he promoted in his later years.