From: Michael.Corbin@p0.f428.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Michael Corbin) Subject: Freedom Of Information Act - U.s. Blue Book Project Date: 7 Oct 93 16:10:02 GMT > I just watched an American television programme about various UFO > landings. > I am particularly interested in what seems to be the best documented > case where UFOs supposedly crashed in Nevada in the forties. A big area > was sealed off, and a nearby farmer`s family kept in house arrest while > army units collected the wrecks as well as bodies. > Can anyone tell me which governmental information is availiable on this > incident and whether such information is accessible due to the Freedom > of Information Act. I am incorporating a news clip from that period on the Roswell, New Mexico crash. No official acknowledgement has ever been made about Roswell, nor have they found anything through FOIA. However, thanks to the efforts of Kevin Randle and Don Schmitt, a lot of information about Roswell has been uncovered; testimony from first-hand and second-hand witnesses. There is also a book, UFO Crash at Roswell, by Randle and Schmitt, available on this subject. They are also about to publish an update on this case. Hope this helps. File: jul0947.asc From the Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 9, 1947 FLYING DISC TALES DECLINE AS ARMY, NAVY CRACK DOWN By United Press Reports of flying saucers whizzing through the sky fell off sharply today as the army and navy began a concentrated campaign to stop the rumors. One by one, persons who thought they had their hands on the $3,000 offered for a genuine flying saucer found their hands full of nothing. Headquarters of the 8th army at Fort Worth, Texas. announced that the wreakage of a tin-foil covered object found on a New Mexico ranch was nothing more than the remanants of a weather ballon. AAF headquarters in Washington reportedly delivered a "blistering" rebuke to officers at the Roswell, New Mexico, base for suggesting that it was a "flying disc." A 16 inch aluminum disc equiped with two radio condensers, a flourescent light switch and copper tubing found by F.G. Harston near the Shreveport, Louisiana, business district was declared by police to be "obviously the work of a prankster." Police believed the prankster hurled it over a sign board and watched it land at Harston's feet. It was turned over to officials at Barksdale army air field. U.S. navel intelligence officers at Pearl Harbor investigated clains by 100 navy men that they saw a mysterious object "silvery [Bcolored, like aluminum, with no wings or tail," sail over Honolulu at a rapid clip late yesterday. The description fit a weather ballon but 5 of the men, familiar with weather obsevation devices, swore that it was not a ballon. "It moved extremely fast for a short period, seemed to slow down, then disappeared high in the air," said Yeoman 1/C Douglas Kacherle of New Bedford, Massachusetts. His story was corroborated by Seaman 1X Donald Ferguson, Indianapolis; Yeoman 3/C Morris Kzamme, La. Crosse, Wisconsin, Seaman 1/C Albert Delancey, Salem, West Virginia, and Yeoman 2/C Ted Pardue, McClain, Texas. Admiral William H. Blandy, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic fleet, said like everyone else he was curious about the reported flying saucers "but I do not believe they exist." Lloyd Bennett, Oelwein, Iwoa, salesman, was stubborn about the shiny 6 1/2-inch steel disc he found yesterday. Authorities said it was not a "flying saucer" but Bennett said he would claim the reward offered for the mysterious discs. There were other discards. Not all the principles were satisfied with the annoucement that the wreakage found on the New Mexico ranch was that of a weather ballon. The excitement ran through this cycle: 1. Lt. Warren Haught, public relations officer at the Roswell base, released a statement in the name of Col. William Blanchard, bsae commander. It said that an object described as a "flying disc" was found on the nearby Foster ranch 3 weeks ago by W.W. Brazel and been sent to "higher officials" for examination. 2. Brigadier General Roger B. Ramey, commander of the 8th air force, said at Fort Worth that he believed the object was the "remnant of a weather ballon and a radar reflector," and was "nothing to be excited about" He allowed photographers to take a picture of it. It was announced that the object would be sent to Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio for examination by experts. 3. Later, Warrant Officer Irving Newton, Stessonville, Wisconsin, weather officer at Fort Worth, examined the object and said definitely that it was nothing but a badly smashed target used to determine the direction and velocity of high altitude winds. 4. Lt. Haught reportedly told reporters that he has been "shut up by two blistering phone calls from Washington." 5. Efforts to contact Col. Blanchard brought the information that "he is now on leave." 6. Maj. Jesse A. Marcel, intelligence officer of the 509th bombardment group, reportedly told Brazel, the finder of the object, that "it has nothing to do with army or navy so far as I can tell." 7. Brazel told reporters that he has found weather ballon equip- ment before, but had seen nothing that had resembled his latest find. 8. Those men who saw the object said it had a flowered paper tape around it bearing the initials "D.P." ------- [The following is a teletype message from the Dallas, TX, FBI office to the Cincinati, OH, FBI office regarding the event at Roswell. The "xx" means it was scratched out, "??" means I couldn't read it. The following material is from: _The Roswell Report: A Historical Perspective_, George M. Eberhart editor, 1991 the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies. ISBN 0-929343-59-X.] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FBI DALLAS 7-8-47 6-17 PM DIRECTOR AND SAC, CINCINNATI URGENT FLYING DISC, INFORMATION CONCERNING. MAJOR CURTAN, HEADQUARTERS EIGHTH AIR FORCE, TELEPHONICALLY ADVISED THIS OFFICE THAT AN OBJECT PURPORTING TO BE A FLYING DISC WAS RE COVERED NEAR ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, THIS DATE. THE DISC IS HEXAGONAL IN SHAPE AND WAS SUSPENDED FROM A BALLON BY A CABLE, WHICH BALLON WAS APPROXIMATELY TWENTY FEET IN DIAMETER. MAJOR CURTAN FURTHER ADVISED THAT THE OBJECT FOUND RESEMBLES A HIGH ALTITUDE WEATHER BALLOON WITH A RADAR REFLECTOR, BUT THAT TELEPHONIC CONVERSATION BETWEEN THEIR OFFICE AND WRIGHT FIELD HAD NOT xxxxxxxxxx BORNE OUT THIS BELIEF. DISC AND BALLOON BEING TRANSPORTED TO WRIGHT FIELD BY SPECIAL PLANE FOR EXAMIN INFORMATION PROVIDED THIS OFFICE BECAUSE OF NATIONAL INTEREST IN CASE xxxx AND FACT THAT NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY, ASSOCIATED PRESS, A OTHERS ATTEMPTING TO BREAK STORY OF LOCATION OF DISC TODAY. MAJOR CURTAN ADVISED WOULD REQUEST WRIGHT FIELD TO ADVISE CINCINNATI OFFICE RESULTS OF EXAMINATION. NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION BEING CONDUCTED. WYLY END CXXXX ACK IN ORDER WA ?? FBI CI MJW BPI HS S-32 PM O O-22 PM OM FBI WASH DC VH ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Michael Corbin - via ParaNet node 1:104/422 UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name INTERNET: Michael.Corbin@p0.f428.n104.z1.FIDONET.ORG