[Editor’s note: This article is part of a special report by the November 18 Project. The table of contents for the report is here.]
Over the years, a community of independent researchers, scholars, podcasters, and writers has expanded the vast body of resources on this site with their insights and analysis. By pooling our knowledge and expertise, we hope to foster a deeper understanding of Jonestown and Peoples Temple.
In 2023, site co-manager Fielding McGehee proposed the idea of a collaborative effort by these researchers to create comprehensive timelines and detailed reports addressing unresolved questions about Peoples Temple and Jonestown. At the outset of this project, it was determined that our first objectives would be to address the unanswered questions surrounding the events of November 18, 1978.
I began my journey years earlier by digitizing tapes recovered from Jonestown for this site. Inspired by what I heard, I created Transmissions from Jonestown, an audio documentary that explores the history of Peoples Temple and Jonestown. My work with the tapes led me to connect with other researchers, including Joel X. Thomas, Brian Holtz, and Adrian Whicker. Each of us had independently created transcripts of Q042, the Death Tape. Joel X. Thomas wrote extensively about the making of the Death Tape and Jonestown’s audio infrastructure. I interviewed eyewitness Tim Carter, who was in Jonestown at the time the first half of the tape was recorded, and U.S. Army Intelligence Officer Richard T. Helmling and U.S. Consul Douglas Ellice, who were among the first to hear the tape at the embassy in Georgetown just after it was recovered. As we compared our notes and transcripts, we realized that by combining our research, we could answer many lingering questions about the tape. Together, we produced what we think is the most detailed and accurate transcript of Q042 to date.
Adrian Whicker and Brian Holtz independently developed NBC footage guides, identifying faces using the Who Died section of this site and giving the footage additional context with detailed notes. Joel X. Thomas developed a virtual map of Jonestown using photographs and speaking with former residents of Jonestown and was able to determine where all of the footage was shot. I have interviewed dozens of former members. Former Jonestown residents like Dianne Scheid, Tracy Parks, Tim Carter, Eugene Smith, Thomas Beikman, Mike Touchette, Stephan Jones, and a handful who would prefer to remain anonymous graciously devoted time reviewing photographs and footage to help Joel build his map and identify faces in the NBC footage.
We had a little over two hours of footage to work with but knew there was likely more. NBC acknowledged in communication cables with the State Department that roughly 13 hours of footage was filmed during Congressman Leo Ryan’s visit to Guyana. I interviewed NBC audio technician Steve Sung, who indicated that not all of the footage his team captured has been released to the public, describing some of the missing footage. I submitted a FOIA request, hoping to unearth the missing tapes. Although the request did not yield the footage itself, the response confirmed its existence.
In the fall of 2025, independent researcher Aliah Mohmand visited the National Archives (NARA) in Washington, D.C., where she scanned thousands of pages from the House International Relations Committee’s Special Investigation Group (SIG) on the assassination of Congressman Leo Ryan. Among those pages, she discovered a transcript believed to document at least some – if not all of NBC’s missing Jonestown footage. The scenes described in Aliah’s found transcript closely matched what NBC audio technician Steve Sung had detailed during our interview.
Working collaboratively, we developed the NBC Footage Guide (link), a comprehensive resource that contextualizes the surviving footage, addresses missing segments, and identifies the people and places seen in the film.
The November 18 Project continues to grow, branching into new areas of research and archival work. We have ongoing projects, including an in-depth investigation into the making of Q875, the development of a detailed timeline of the tragedy and its aftermath, and Joel’s map, which reconstructs the landscape of Jonestown itself. Each project builds upon the last, adding details and answering questions – giving rise to new questions, new connections, and new possibilities for understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple.
(Shannon Howard is a researcher, audio documentarian and collector of oral histories. Her long format documentary podcast Transmissions from Jonestown. Her collection of articles for the jonestown report may be found here. She may be reached at radiojonestown@gmail.com.)