The Witnesses Will Not Be Silenced—MICHAEL RUSSO

MICHAEL RUSSO, FBI Agent, Retired

Michael “Mike” Anthony Russo (b. 1940) began his long career at the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1971. In 1973 he was appointed by then-director William Ruckelshaus to lead the investigation into the Apollo 18 incident. Continuing the inquiry under Clarence Kelley, Russo developed the most incendiary evidence in the case, evidence some believe to have been hidden by the President’s commission - an investigation that drew a different conclusion as to the cause of the disaster.

Russo submitted his report to Director Kelley in an “unfinished” form. The report was leaked to The New York Times and The Times subsequently lost a 1974 pre-emptive lawsuit brought against it by the Department of Justice to prevent publication of the “unfinished” report. Despite the suppression of his work on the Apollo 18 case, Russo remained with the FBI for twenty-one additional years, until he retired in 1995.