Philip Taylor Kramer

Philip Taylor Kramer (July 12, 1952 - February 12, 1995) was a bass guitar player for the rock group Iron Butterfly during the 1970s. After this he obtained a night school degree in aerospace engineering, worked on the MX missile guidance system for a contractor of the US Department of Defense and later in the computer industry on fractal compression, facial recognition systems, and advanced communications. His disappearance on February 12, 1995 caused a mystery lasting four years.

Total Multimedia Inc.

In 1990 at the age of 38, Kramer co-founded Total Multimedia Inc. with Randy Jackson (brother of Michael Jackson) to develop data compression techniques for CD-ROMs. [Leiby (1996)] [Henry, Tamara (March 31,1999) USA Today "Internet Promise Goes Unfullfilled"] ["Maxim", "The Vanishing"] The firm claims it developed the first video compression capable of producing full motion video from a single speed CD-ROM in 1992. In 1994 the company was reorganized under bankruptcy and hired new leadership. Kramer continued working there until his death. ["Maxim", "The Vanishing"] [ [http://tmmi.us/history.html Total Multimedia history on corporate web site] ] Kramer co-developed SoftVideo based on fractal compression and he also claimed to work on a transmission project that would result in faster-than-light speed communications. The latter related to his father Ray's long-running family effort to discredit Albert Einstein's theories. ["Maxim", "The Vanishing"]

Death

On February 12, 1995 he drove to Los Angeles International Airport to pick up an investor. He spent forty-five minutes at the airport but failed to meet the investor. Kramer did make a flurry of cell phone calls, including one to the police during which Kramer said, "I’m going to kill myself. And I want everyone to know O.J. Simpson is innocent. "They" did it." [Southwell and Twist (2007) p.56] ["Maxim", "The Vanishing"]

He was never heard from again. This led to a massive search, many news reports, and talk show segments including an episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show", "America's Most Wanted", and "Unsolved Mysteries" some years later. [ Leiby (1996)] An article in "Skeptic Magazine" reported numerous conspiracy theories about his death. [ [http://www.skeptictank.org/kramer.htm Rice, Fredric (1996) "Iron Butterfly Member Disappears After Allegedly Working on Faster-Than-Light Communication - Is He In A Godda Da Vida?"] ] In 2000, Kramer was featured on an episode of "The Unexplained" ("Strange Disappearances").

On May 29, 1999, Kramer's Ford Aerostar minivan and skeletal remains were found [ [http://music.yahoo.com/read/story/12055660 Iron Butterfly Fans Come To Terms With Apparent Discovery Of Missing Rocker's Remains] ] [ [http://elvispelvis.com/philipkramer.htm Collected News Stories about Kramer] ] by photographers looking for old car wrecks to shoot at the bottom of Decker Canyon near Malibu, California. ["Maxim", "The Vanishing"] Based on forensic evidence and Kramer's emergency call to the police his death was ruled as a probable suicide committed on the day on which he was last heard. [Southwell and Twist (2007) p.57]

References

* "Maxim" Online, [http://www.maximonline.com/articles/index.aspx?a_id=2193 "The Vanishing"] (author unknown, October 1999 issue)
* Leiby, Richard (Oct 6, 1996) [http://web.archive.org/web/20040807081111/www.mrkabc.com/mrkabc/news/kramer01.html "Far out Taylor Kramer, rock musician, rocket scientist, entrepreneur, has vanished into thin air."] , "Washington Post". also archived [http://www.skepticfiles.org/evenmore/kramer2.htm]
* Southwell, David and Twist, Sean (2007), "Mysterious Deaths and Disappearances", ISBN 1-40421-081-4