The Roswell Incident

The Roswell Incident - Exactly 60 years ago, a light aircraft was flying over the Cascade Mountains in Washington State, at a height of around 10,000ft. Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the aircraft. Visibility was good and as pilot Kenneth Arnold scanned the sky to find the source of the light, he saw a group of nine shiny metallic objects flying in formation. He estimated their speed as being around 1,600 miles per hour - nearly three times faster than the top speed of any jet aircraft at the time. He described the craft as arrow-shaped and said they moved in a jerky motion - 'like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water'. A reporter seized on this phrase and in his story described the objects as 'flying saucers'. The age of the Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) had begun. Soon, similar reports began to come in from all over America. This wasn't just the world's first UFO sighting, this was the birth of a phenomenon, one that still exercises an extraordinary fascination. Then, two weeks after Arnold's sighting, something happened that was to lead to the biggest UFO conspiracy theory of all time. On or around July 2, 1947, something crashed in the desert near a military base at Roswell, New Mexico. Military authorities issued a press release, which began: "The many rumours regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence officer of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc." The headlines screamed: 'Flying Disc captured by Air Force.' Yet, just 24 hours later, the military changed their story and claimed the object they'd first thought was a 'flying disc' was a weather balloon that had crashed on a nearby ranch. Amazingly, the media and the public accepted the explanation without question, in a way that would not happen now. Roswell disappeared from the news until the late Seventies, when some of the military involved began to speak out. The key witness was Major Jesse Marcel, the intelligence officer who had gone to the ranch to recover the wreckage. He described the metal as being wafer thin but incredibly tough. It was as light as balsa wood, but couldn't be cut or burned. Some witnesses described seeing strange inscriptions on the wreckage. These and similar accounts of the incident have largely been dismissed by all except the most dedicated believers. But last week came an astonishing new twist to the Roswell mystery - which casts new light on the incident and raises the possibility that we have, indeed, been visited by aliens. Lieutenant Walter Haut was the public relations officer at the base in 1947, and was the man who issued the original and subsequent press releases after the crash on the orders of the base commander, Colonel William Blanchard. Haut died last year, but left a sworn affidavit to be opened only after his death. Last week, the text was released and asserts that the weather balloon claim was a cover story, and that the real object had been recovered by the military and stored in a hangar. He described seeing not just the craft, but alien bodies. He wasn't the first Roswell witness to talk about bodies. Local undertaker Glenn Dennis had long claimed that he was contacted by authorities at Roswell shortly after the crash and asked to provide a number of child-sized coffins. When he arrived at the base, he was apparently told by a nurse (who later disappeared) that a UFO had crashed and that small humanoid extraterrestrials had been recovered. But Haut is the only one of the original participants to claim to have seen alien bodies. Haut's affidavit talks about a high-level meeting he attended with base commander Col William Blanchard and the Commander of the Eighth Army Air Force, Gen Roger Ramey. Haut states that at this meeting, pieces of wreckage were handed around for participants to touch, with nobody able to identify the material. He says the press release was issued because locals were already aware of the crash site, but in fact there had been a second crash site, where more debris from the craft had fallen. The plan was that an announcement acknowledging the first site, which had been discovered by a rancher, would divert attention from the second and more important location. Haut also spoke about a clean-up operation, where for months afterwards military personnel scoured both crash sites searching for all remaining pieces of debris, removing them and erasing all signs that anything unusual had occurred. This ties in with claims made by locals that debris collected as souvenirs was seized by the military. Haut then tells how Colonel Blanchard took him to 'Building 84' - one of the hangars at Roswell - and showed him the craft itself. He describes a metallic egg-shaped object around 12-15ft in length and around 6ft wide. He said he saw no windows, wings, tail, landing gear or any other feature. He saw two bodies on the floor, partially covered by a tarpaulin. They are described in his statement as about 4ft tall, with disproportionately large heads. Towards the end of the affidavit, Haut concludes: "I am convinced that what I personally observed was some kind of craft and its crew from outer space." What's particularly interesting about Walter Haut is that in the many interviews he gave before his death, he played down his role and made no such claims. Had he been seeking publicity, he would surely have spoken about the craft and the bodies. Did he fear ridicule, or was the affidavit a sort of deathbed confession from someone who had been part of a cover-up, but who had stayed loyal to the end? Another military witness who claimed to know that the Roswell incident involved the crash of an alien spacecraft is Colonel Philip J. Corso, a former Pentagon official who claimed his job was to pass technology from the craft recovered at Roswell to American companies. He claims that discoveries such as Kevlar body armour, stealth technology, night vision goggles, lasers and the integrated circuit chip all have their roots in alien technology from the Roswell crash. Corso died of a heart attack shortly after making these claims, prompting a fresh round of conspiracy theories. As bizarre as Corso's story sounds, it has support from a number of unlikely sources, including former Canadian Minister of Defence Paul Hellyer, who spoke out recently to say that he'd checked the story with a senior figure in the U.S. military who confirmed it was true. The U.S. government came under huge pressure on Roswell in the Nineties. In July 1994, in response to an inquiry from the General Accounting Office, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force published a report, The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert. The report concluded that the Roswell incident had been attributable to something called Project Mogul, a top secret project using high-altitude balloons to carry sensor equipment into the upper atmosphere, listening for evidence of Soviet nuclear tests. The statements concerning a crashed weather balloon had been a cover story, they admitted, but not to hide the truth about extraterrestrials. A second U.S. Air Force report, The Roswell Report: Case Closed, was published in 1997 and focused on allegations that alien bodies were recovered. It concluded that any claims that weren't entirely fraudulent were generated by people having seen crash test dummies that were dropped from balloons from high altitude as part of Project High Dive - a study aimed at developing safe procedures for pilots or astronauts having to jump from extreme altitudes. These tests ran from 1954 to 1959 in New Mexico, and the U.S. government suggested that sightings of these dummies might have been the root of stories about humanoid aliens, with people mistaking the dates after so many years, and erroneously linking what they'd seen with the 1947 story of a UFO crash. Sceptics, of course, will dismiss the testimony left by Haut. After all, fascinating though it is, it's just a story. There's no proof. But if nothing else, this latest revelation shows that, 60 years on, this mystery endures. UFO enthusiasts plan to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Roswell incident with a series of events. In Roswell itself there will be a conference partly sponsored by the city authorities. Thousands are predicted to attend. Roswell has become not just big news, but big business. Ever since Kenneth Arnold's sighting and the Roswell incident, UFO sightings have continued to be made around the world. In the UK, in 1950, the Ministry of Defence's Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Henry Tizard, said UFO sightings shouldn't be dismissed without proper, scientific investigation. The MoD set up arguably the most wonderfully named body in the history of the Civil Service, the Flying Saucer Working Party. Its conclusions were sceptical. It believed UFO sightings were attributable to either misidentifications, hoaxes or delusions. Its final report, dated June 1951, said no further resources should be devoted to investigating UFOs. But in 1952 a high-profile series of UFO sightings occurred, in which objects were tracked on radar and seen by RAF pilots. The MoD was forced to think again and has had been investigating ever since. To date, the MoD has received more than 10,000 reports. The best-known UK incident occurred in December 1980 in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk. In the early hours of December 26, personnel at RAF Bentwaters (a base leased to the USAF) reported strange lights in the forest. Thinking an aircraft had crashed, they went to investigate. What they found, witnesses say, was a UFO. They took photographs (which they were later told hadn't come out) of the brightly illuminated craft and one of the men got close enough to touch the object, which then took off and flew away. The stunned men briefed their bosses, including the deputy base commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Halt. Halt ordered the men to make official witness statements, including sketches of the craft. The following night Halt was at a social function when a flustered airman burst in, saluted and said: "Sir, it's back." Halt looked confused and said: "What's back?" "The UFO, Sir. The UFO is back," the airman replied. Halt and a small team went to investigate. His intention, he later reported, was to 'debunk this nonsense'. As they went into the forest, their radios began to malfunction and powerful mobile searchlights cut out. Suddenly, Halt and his team saw the UFO and attempted to get closer. At one point it was directly overhead, shining a bright beam of light down on them. After these events, Halt ordered an examination of the area where the UFO had been seen on the first night. Three indentations were found in the ground where the craft had landed. A Geiger counter was used and radiation readings were taken, which peaked in the three holes. Halt reported it to the MoD and an investigation began. This was inconclusive, but Defence Intelligence Staff assessed the radiation readings taken at the landing site were 'significantly higher than the average background'. The MoD's case file on the incident has only recently been released under the Freedom of Information Act. Another spectacular UFO incident occurred in March 1993. Over six hours, around 60 witnesses in different parts of the UK reported a series of sightings of spectacular UFOs. Many of the witnesses were police officers and the UFO also flew over two military bases in the Midlands, RAF Cosford and RAF Shawbury. The Meteorological Officer at RAF Shawbury described the UFO as being a vast triangular-shaped craft that moved from a hover to a speed several times faster than an RAF jet in seconds. He estimated that the UFO was midway in size between a Hercules transport aircraft and a Boeing 747 and said that at one point the craft had been as low as 400ft. He also said that it had been firing a narrow beam of light at the ground and emitting an unpleasant low-frequency hum. The MoD investigation lasted several weeks and the case file - also recently released - runs to more than 100 pages. The final briefing submitted to the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff stated: "In summary, there would seem to be some evidence on this occasion that an unidentified object (or objects) of unknown origin was operating over the UK." That is about the most frank admission on UFOs that the MoD has ever made. Sixty years after Kenneth Arnold's 'flying saucer' sighting, pilots are still seeing UFOs. In April this year, Captain Ray Bowyer, a pilot based in Alderney, saw two bright yellow UFOs in the vicinity of the Channel Islands. Some of his passengers saw the same thing, another pilot in the area made a similar report and some unusual readings were seen on air traffic control radar. The MoD and the Civil Aviation Authority investigated the incident and no explanation has been found. Despite any number of hoaxes over the years, interest and belief in UFOs remains strong. Under the Freedom of Information Act, the MoD receives more requests relating to UFOs than on any other subject.
The Public Roswell Incident- The Public "Roswell Incident"On July 8, 1947 at 5:26 EDT, an Associated Press news wire announced that Roswell Army Air Field had reported recovering a "flying disk" from a nearby rancher's property, first found "sometime last week," and that it was being flown to "higher headquarters." The curious base press release triggered a national press feeding frenzy. Later "higher headquarters" was announced to be Brig. Gen. Roger Ramey, head of the 8th Army Air Force at Fort Worth, Texas. The Roswell 509th Bomb Group was a subcommand of the 8th AAF. It was also announced that the recovered "disk" was eventually destined for Wright Field, Ohio, home of the Air Materiel Command and the AAF's aeronautical research labs. Within about an hour of the press release, Gen. Ramey began putting out an alternate weather balloon version of the story. And about two hours later, the photo at the above right was taken of Gen. Ramey (crouched down) and his Chief of Staff, Col. Thomas Dubose (seated). Ramey repeated his story that what was recovered at Roswell was nothing more than the remains of a weather balloon and its aluminum foil radar target kite shown displayed on the general's office floor. Later Ramey brought in a weather officer to make the identification official.The press bought the change of story. Just to make sure, the Army and Navy engaged in a debunking campaign during the following days which involved weather balloon and radar target demonstrations. The weather balloons, the public was told, explained not only what was found at Roswell, but also accounted for the numerous "flying disk" or "flying saucer" sightings that preceded the Roswell events.Air Force Changes Its StoryThis was the official story for the next 47 years until constituents asked Congressman Steven Schiff of New Mexico to look into it. After getting what he thought was the run-around from the Air Force, Schiff in 1994 asked the Congressional General Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate, forcing the Air Force to amend its old weather balloon story. Now it wasn't just any weather balloon. It was supposedly a top secret Mogul balloon made up of multiple weather balloons and radar targets and launched from nearby Alamogordo, N.M.Three years later, just in time for Roswell's 50th anniversary, one of the USAF counter-intelligence agents involved in the earlier report issued an additional "Case Closed" report on the stories of bodies being recovered. According to him, the reports of bodies were nothing more than highly distorted memories of "crash dummies" used in ejection tests carried out in New Mexico during the 1950's.The Ramey Message -- What really happenedBarely noticeable in one of the 1947 photos and clutched in Gen. Ramey's left hand is a slip of paper (boxed in red). Probably unwittingly, Gen. Ramey had the text side facing towards the camera, allowing the text on this paper to be photographed. When blown up and analyzed, it tells a remarkably different story of events from the one Ramey or contemporary Air Force counter-intelligence wants you to believe.Ramey Message Summary -- "Disk" and "Victims" foundThe message turns out to be a telegram from Gen. Ramey to the Pentagon and Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg, the acting AAF Chief of Staff at the time. Ramey is providing Vandenberg an update on the very fluid situation in-the-field at Roswell. The first paragraph describes what had been found. Ramey starts by acknowledging "THAT A 'DISK' IS NEXT NEW FIND." He then adds that "THE VICTIMS OF THE WRECK" and something else (possibly just "A WRECK") had also been found near the recovery "OPERATION AT THE 'RANCH'." At the end it states that "YOU" (i.e. Gen. Vandenberg) had ordered the "victims" and/or the wreckage "FORWARDED" to "FORT WORTH, TEX."In the second paragraph, Ramey describes how the situation was being handled. Ramey first states that something "IN THE 'DISC'", probably the bodies of the "forwarded" "victims" (and possibly termed "AVIATORS") would be flown by a B-29 Special Transport or C-47 to the "A1" (personnel director) of some "8TH ARMY****" division, most likely the head flight surgeon at Fort Worth given the context. Wright Field, Ohio, home of the AAF's aeronautical labs, was to assess the Roswell crash object (possibly referred to as an "AIRFOIL").Finally Ramey outlines how the situation was being treated publicly and how they were going to cover it up. First he assures Vandenberg that the earlier highly inflammatory Roswell base press release (referred to as the "MISSTATE MEANING OF STORY") was the work of an Army counter-intelligence team ("CIC/TEAM"), but that the "NEXT SENT OUT PR" (Press Release) would be "OF WEATHER BALLOONS." Ramey finishes with the statement that the weather balloon story might be better accepted if they also added weather balloon radar target demonstrations. This apparently was the impetus for the national debunking campaign using the devices that followed over the next few days.Brief Analysis of Ramey Message -- ImplicationsThere is no question that Ramey's message, even when greatly enlarged and then enhanced by computer, is a very difficult read because of fuzziness, film grain noise, uneven development, photo defects, paper folds and tilt, shadows, and text obscured at the left margin by Gen. Ramey's thumb.This will inevitably prompt comments from die-hard skeptics that my full "take" on the Ramey message is strictly in my imagination. (For a summary of methodology used in deciphering the message, click here.)However, there are various keywords and phrases that can be readily seen by anyone, even in lower resolution scans of the message first analyzed in 1999 by a number of people. These keywords and phrases unambiguously prove that there is no truth whatsoever to the various Air Force "explanations," be they the original 1947 "weather balloon" story, or the Air Forces updated "Mogul balloon" and "crash dummies."Far and away the most important word of the entire message is "VICTIMS" on the third line (part of phrase "THE VICTIMS OF THE WRECK"). If there were "VICTIMS", then this was no Mogul balloon crash. As the Air Force Roswell report itself noted (using splendid circular reasoning) reports of bodies being recovered couldn't be true because the crash was of a Mogul balloon, which had "no 'alien' passengers therein."Of course Ramey's mention of "VICTIMS" in 1947 also disproves the already preposterous "crash dummies" theory. The only way these 1950's crash dummies could be "victims" is if they also time-warped back to 1947.Another easily seen keyword and phrase is "DISC" and "IN THE 'DISC" on the fifth line. Ramey is clearly describing the crash object as a "DISC", not as a "weather balloon", or a "Mogul" or a "radar target" or a "RAWIN" (jargon term for a radar wind target), or any other word or phase that in any way suggests some sort of balloon or balloon paraphenalia. In fact, the only mention of "weather balloons" and "RAWIN" targets comes at the very end of the message in the context of issued public statements and damage-control.(The word "DISK" is also used on the first line in reference to what had been found, but this instance of the word is not so easily seen.) Furthermore, the message refers to the subsequent shipment of something "IN the disc." Neither balloons nor the two-dimensional, flimsy radar kites had anything "inside" that could be shipped. If Ramey had been referring to some piece of balloon payload equipment, then the phrase should have begun with "attached to" or "suspended from", or "with", etc. In speaking of "THE VICTIMS OF THE WRECK",, using the word "DISC" for the crash object, and shipping something "IN THE DISC", Ramey is clearly referring to something other than a balloon crash. The simplest interpretation is to take the words literally. There is no reason for Gen. Ramey to be describing events abstractly in a secret communication to his superiors. This was the actually crash of a so-called "flying disk" craft with a dead crew found on the inside, as corroborated by the testimony of military and civilian witnesses.Secret Project?Ramey is quite explicit about the existence of bodies and the crash object being a "disc." The only thing not made explicit in the message is the exact nature of the bodies or "disc." Ramey probably does not refer to the bodies as "nonhuman," "alien," or some similar term. Nor does he use terms like "spaceship," "craft of unknown origin," etc. to describe the "disc."Among the theories about the Roswell incident is that this was the crash of some highly secretive government experimental craft piloted by a human crew. However, nobody has ever presented evidence that such an experimental disk-like craft ever existed or was tested in New Mexico at that time. It also seems highly unlikely that even a highly secret craft but with half-century-old technology would still be kept secret. Further, it makes no sense that the government would be completely unaware of the crash of one of their own craft until some sheep rancher came into town to report it.The same logic applies to the crash of something more conventional, such as a bomber carrying nuclear weapons (another theory sometimes proposed). The military would not wait for a local rancher to tell them about it nor would there be any need for continued secrecy into the present day. (Similar nuclear accidents have been declassified and are now in the public record.) And why would Gen. Ramey call it a "disc"?Finally, both the Air Force and General Accounting Office (investigating on behalf of Congressman Schiff) in 1995 reported that air crash records revealed no plane crashes in that area during that time frame that could possibly explain the Roswell incident. In brief, there is simply no evidence for the crash of any conventional or experimental aircraft
Witness Testimony - Witness TestimonyThere seems to be no conventional explanation that squares with the statements found in Gen. Ramey's memo. But when we look at the contents of the message in conjunction with witness testimony, the evidence clearly points to an actual flying saucer crash, as astonishing as this conclusion may seem to many. This testimony is gone into in much greater detail elsewhere in this Website. It consists primarily of numerous and consistent descriptions of highly anomalous debris and to a lesser extent of alien bodies. Here are a few key witnesses:Lt. Walter Haut: Former Roswell base public information officer who issued the base press release. Haut's "deathbed" sealed affidavit has just been published. In it he confesses to seeing the spacecraft and bodies in base Hangar 84/P-3 and tells us the mysterious press release was Gen. Ramey's idea to divert press and public attention away from the closer and more important craft/body site.Sgt Frederick Benthal: Army photographer flown in from Washington D.C., said he photographed alien bodies in a tent at crash site and saw large quantities of crash debris being hauled away in trucks.PFC Elias Benjamin: Roswell MP, said he escorted the alien bodies from the heavily guarded base Hangar P-3 to the base hospital, and saw a live one being worked on by doctors; was threatened afterwards if he didn't keep quiet.1st Lt. Chester P. Barton: A crypto specialist and assigned to an MP unit, Barton said he was ordered to the crash site 45 minutes north of town to check on the cleanup, saw a football-field-size burn impact area heavily guarded by MPs, scattered metal debris, was told radiation was at the site, heard archeologists had first discovered it, and also heard bodies were taken to base hospital and then to Fort Worth. Because of what he saw, he knew that the balloon explanation was ridiculous and there had been a cover-up. However, Barton was unusual in being a flying saucer crash skeptic, instead thinking that it was maybe a B-29 crash and nuclear accident.Major Jesse Marcel: Then the intelligence chief at Roswell and the first to investigate sheep rancher Mack Brazel's find, Marcel confirmed in a number of interviews 30 years later that the crash debris had highly anomalous properties and was "not of this Earth." Marcel also spoke of Ramey's weather balloon cover-up at Fort Worth. Click on link to Marcel for more information on his service record, which belies efforts of debunkers to paint him as hysterical and incompetent. Note particularly highly laudatory post-Roswell evaluations by base commander Col. William Blanchard, Gen. Ramey, and future USAF Chief of Staff Col. John Ryan. Marcel's sighting before Roswell & other witnesses seeing saucer explode.Bill Brazel Jr.: Rancher Mack Brazel's son, Bill Brazel independently corroborated many details of Marcel's testimony, including the strange debris, the large, elongated debris field, and his father's story of an explosion in the middle of a violent electrical storm. Louis Rickett: One of the regular Army CIC agents in Marcel's office, Rickett confirmed the anomolous quality of the debris, a major cleanup operation at Brazel's ranch, high secrecy, and being involved in a subsequent investigation to determine the trajectory of the craft. He was also told by others about the shape of the main craft. Like Chester Barton, he placed the main impact site a 45 minute drive north of Roswell. Brig. Gen. Arthur Exon: Though not a direct participant, Exon was stationed at Wright Field at the time, overflew the area soon afterwards, and was later commanding officer of Wright-Patterson AFB. Exon when first interviewed flatly stated, "Roswell was the recovery of a craft from space." Among other things, he confirmed the existence of two main crash sites. Exon also said he heard that bodies were recovered and confirmed the debris was highly anomalous based on testing done by labs at Wright-Patterson. Exon added that he was aware of other crash-recoveries that occurred while he was C/O at Wright-Patterson. Click on link to see Exon's Air Force biography and some of his testimony.Steven Lovekin (served in the White House Army Signal Corp durng Eisenhower and Kennedy administratons, 1959-1961) Although like Exon not a direct participant, Lovekin said he received 1959 Pentagon briefings and being shown a metallic beam with symbols from a 1947 N.M. crash (presumably Roswell) plus being told of either 3 or 5 aliens being recovered, one initially alive. He also said he was shown very compelling photographic and radar evidence of UFOs. He also testified of the threats against military personnel given this information if they were to publicly reveal it. Finally, he told of Eisenhower's concern over losing control of the situation with power falling into the hands of private corporations given access to the materials. Lovekin is a Disclosure Project witness.Brig. Gen. Thomas Dubose: Gen. Ramey's Chief of Staff in 1947, Dubose handled the high-level phone communications between Roswell, Fort Worth, and Washington. Dubose went on record many times about the high secrecy involved (including the matter going directly to the White House), receiving direct orders from Washington to instigate a cover-up, Gen. Ramey's weather balloon cover story, and a highly secret shipment of debris from Roswell to Fort Worth, Washington, and Wright Field. Dubose's damning testimony made him a complete nonentity in the Air Force's 1995 Roswell report, which didn't even bother to identify him in the photos taken of Gen. Ramey with his weather balloon. His sworn affidavit, and a more detailed discussion of his testimony which the Air Force was so eager to avoid.Sgt. Robert Slusher and PFC Lloyd Thompson: Crew members on a mysterious B-29 flight from Roswell to Fort Worth on July 9, 1947, transporting a large wooden crate in the bombbay surrounded by an armed guard. Upon arrival, the plane was met by high brass and a mortician. This is probably the flight referred to in the Ramey memo that would ship whatever was "in the 'disc'" to Fort Worth by a B-29 Special Transport plane. New witnesses to the flight, including daughter of the head security guard, saying that alien bodies were inside the crate.Frank Kaufmann: A highly controversial witness claiming to be one of the exclusive members of a special CIC-team (Army Counter-Intelligence Corp) in charge of the Roswell recovery operation. Nonetheless, some of Kaufmann's claims seem to be corroborated by the Ramey message, including the existence of such a team, the recovery of an intact "disk" with bodies inside about 35 miles north of Roswell base, and the special team being responsible for the initial Roswell base press release. Kaufmann also testified to knowing of a wooden crate guarded in a hangar with the bodies packed inside awaiting shipment, perhaps the same crate independently described by Slusher and Thompson. However, in light of the Ramey memo, that places the finding of "victims" and a "disk" on around July 8, Kaufmann's statements about a July 5 recovery date for the craft and bodies is almost undoubtably false, as was his crash location. Shortly before he died, Kaufmann changed this craft/body recovery site to a more westerly location closer to the debris field site. Glenn Dennis: A Roswell mortician and another highly controversial witness, Dennis spoke of receiving strange calls from the base about preservation techniques and child-sized coffins. Dennis also claimed to be at the Roswell base hospital, seeing unusual debris in the back of an ambulance including a pod-like object perhaps alluded to in the Ramey message, and being threatened. He also claimed to know a Roswell nurse who assisted in a preliminary autopsy at the base hospital and who described the aliens to him. However, attempts to identify the mystery nurse have proven to be a complete failure after Dennis provided a false name. Some other parts of his testimony also do not add up, making his overall testimony questionable. However, also see some corroborative evidence immediately following Dennis' affidavit, such as David Wagnon, a medical technician, who remembered the nurse fitting Dennis' description, and former Roswell police chief L. M. Hall., who stated that Dennis was telling him of calls from the base about small coffins for the aliens only a few days after the crashed saucer story broke in the Roswell papers. In addition, other independent witnesses have provided first and second-hand testimony about small bodies being found with details very similar to those provided by Dennis, including Walter Haut, Frederick Benthal, Eli Benjamin, and relatives of "Pappy" Henderson, immediately below.Family and friends of Oliver "Pappy" Henderson: Henderson was one of the senior pilots at Roswell. When the first public stories of a Roswell saucer crash began circulating in 1981, Henderson confided to family and friends of being the pilot who flew bodies of the aliens and crash wreckage to Wright Field. He also claimed to have seen the craft and bodies, and provided a description of the aliens.Sgt. Robert E. Smith: A member of an air transport unit at Roswell, Smith said he helped load crates filled with debris for transport by C-54's, including one flown by Henderson and his crew. Smith was also among the witnesses to describe the mysterious "memory foil" which he said was in the crates. He further described strangers to the base dressed in plainclothes and flashing ID cards for some unknown project, perhaps part of the special CIC-team mentioned in the Ramey memo and by Frank Kaufmann. Finally he claimed that distant cousin of his was with the Secret Service and was there at the base representing President Truman. (The same name was also provided by Kaufmann.) S/Sgt. Earl V. Fulford: In the engineering squadron, Fulford said he participated in the large debris field cleanup guarded by MPs, handled the mysterious "memory foil," saw what may have been the tarped crash object on a flatbed truck being towed to Hangar 84, and in the middle of the night was made to load a large wooden crate into an idling C-54.Earl Zimmerman: Formerly with AFOSI (AF counterintelligence). While in officers' club heard many rumors about flying saucer crash and of it being investigated under the guise of an airplane crash. Several times observed Gen. Ramey and Charles Lindbergh being at base unannounced in connection with this. Like Robert Smith, spoke of seeing an unknown CICman being at base. Col. Blanchard told him it was OK. Later worked with astronomer Dr. Lincoln LaPaz and corroborated story of Roswell CICman Lewis Rickett that LaPaz investigated Roswell afterwards with the help of the CIC to try to determine objects trajectory. Again an airplane crash was the cover story.Lt. Robert Shirkey: Then the assistant operations officer, Shirkey witnessed the loading of the B-29 that took Major Marcel to Fort Worth to see Gen. Ramey. He said he saw boxes of debris being carried on board, including an I-beam with raised markings and a large piece of metal, brushed stainless steel in color, obviously not part of a tinfoil radar target. He was told it was from a flying saucer. Along with witness Robert Porter, he also stated that the plane's pilot was Deputy Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Payne Jennings, who was now the Acting C/O with Col. Blanchard officially on leave. Nine days later, Shirkey was abruptly transferred to the Philippines to a post that didn't exist. Jennings personally flew him to his next assignment. Sgt. Robert Porter: Was on Marcel's flight to Fort Worth and was handed wrapped packages of debris samples. Said that flight was piloted by Deputy base commander Jennings. He was told on board that the crash material was from a flying saucer. Later, they told him it was a weather balloon. Said debris was loaded onto another plane.