WHO RECORDED THE JONESTOWN TAPE Q875?
FBI Tape Q875 was one of the many cassette tapes discovered at the site of the Jonestown massacre in Guyana by the FBI, which have been released by the Freedom of Information Act in the last few years. Q875 appeared to be similar to the other tapes, and was found in a bundle with the rest, but there is one stark difference: Q875 appears to have been recorded November 19th, 1978. The day after the massacre.
The tape itself is a recording of newscasts, at least 2 American and 2 Guyanese, detailing the deaths of Congressman Leo Ryan, 3 reporters, and People’s Temple member Patricia Parks at Port Kaituma in Guyana. There is also a report heard that eerily reports, unconfirmed, what would soon be known as fact:
“Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports reaching Georgetown say there have been mass suicides at the Jonestown settlement. A government spokesman said, they had received a report and have sent out an Army officer to clarify it, but he has not yet reported back.”
There are additional voices and sounds heard over the radio, however, as certain clearly audible voices “shhh” each other, move chairs, slam doors, and mutter randomness.
Is one of those voices Jim Jones himself? Was his suicide really a day after the massacre he led? How many people are actually audible in the tape? Was it a elaborate scheme by the CIA? Theories have abounded since the tape was released, and many close to Jim or the People’s Temple have came forward to offer their explanations. The Jonestown “death tape” (FBI tape Q042) has gotten a lot of attention for obvious reasons, and is VERY available to find on the internet, for obvious reasons, but Q875 contains the strangest mystery of Jonestown: what happened at Jonestown after the massacre, but before the United States found out?
Many more articles and commentaries are available at the Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple website, and streaming audio of the tape in question are at the Jonestown Archives Youtube channel.
