DARKNESS IN THE DESERT...

Melvin Brown and the Bodies...

2012-01-31T05:24:00.000-08:00

Back in 2007, Kevin Randle wrote a good post on the story of Melvin Brown, who was stationed at Roswell in 1947, and who claimed to have seen a number of unusual-looking bodies following the infamous event.

You can find the article here.

But there's something else about Brown's story that doesn't get too much publicity. In 1988, UFO author Tim Good interviewed one of Brown's daughters - Beverly Bean - about the things her father had told the family of a Roswell nature.

In Bean's own words, Melvin Brown had said that the bodies he saw, and that were recovered from the July 1947 crash-site, had large heads, but "could have passed for Chinese."

In other words, they were not the spindly, insect-looking Grays, nor were they diabolical Reptilians, or kindly Space-Brothers.

In fact, to say that they could have "passed for Chinese" is a statement that leaves very little - if, indeed, any - room for misinterpretation. It suggests they looked very, very human.

Given the allegations about a Japanese connection to Roswell, and given that this same Japanese connection has a link to Japan's notorious Unit 731 and experiments undertaken on Chinese people, maybe we have a clue in Brown's words as to what really took place.

And, maybe, those bodies weren't alien after all.

For further information, see: Alien Liaison, by Tim Good, Century, 1991.

John Keel, A "Screaming Monkey," and Roswell

2012-01-28T08:12:00.000-08:00

Over the years, a great deal of Roswell-related debate has focused upon John Keel's assertion that what came down at the Foster Ranch, New Mexico in July 1947 was a Japanese Fugo balloon.

Despite what some have said, Keel's theory is not one which I endorse.

The people I interviewed for my Body Snatchers in the Desert book said the Roswell device involved a Horten Brothers-type glider, held aloft below a massive balloon array based on Japanese designs for what was specifically described as a next-generation Fugo - and most certainly not the far smaller, less advanced designs that were used to attack the United States during the latter stages of the Second World War.

But, I digress. Back to Keel...

From 1990 to 1993, there was a deep debate on this very Roswell/Fugo matter in the pages of Fate magazine, with comments, observations and articles from the likes of Keel himself and Kevin Randle.

What I find intriguing is that many of the people who have commented on Keel's Fugo theory have failed to note - or comment on the fact that - he also talked about uncovering data on manned Japanese balloons that, allegedly, reached the U.S. in the closing stages of the war, and which - his sources said - were subject to U.S. military secrecy.

In April 1993, in an article titled Return of the Fu-gos, Keel noted that he had been contacted by three unrelated people who had intriguing reports to relate of things that occurred back in the 1940s.

These same things - which took place at some point in 1945 - involved the sighting of a low-flying balloon that had a gondola attached below it, and which, said one of the witnesses, contained "a living creature" that one thought, initially, was a "screaming monkey."

As the balloon came closer, said Keel, the "creature" could now be seen as a "a very small man wearing some kind of headgear, probably radio headphones. The poor fellow was clearly agitated...He appeared to be Oriental."

The balloon then disappeared over the horizon, and a couple of military jeeps quickly appeared on the scene, heading in the direction of the balloon. A few minutes later, gunshots rang out.

Realizing that the witnesses had seen or heard pretty much all that had taken place, the military returned and sternly warned them not to say anything about what they had experienced - to anybody at all.

Keel himself commented on this matter - of secret Japanese balloon-based flights to the U.S. undertaken in the latter stages of the Second World War with people on-board - as follows:

"If such a project was launched, they would have selected the smallest, lightest volunteers available...It is also likely they might have expired during the trip...their complexions would have been very odd, discolored by the cold..."

He concluded on this matter: "If even one such volunteer balloonist attempted the trip and crashed, we would have the answer to all those rumours and legends which persist to this day."

I intend pursuing Keel's data - and sources - on these claims, and, in fact, have already made some significant headway, which I will be reporting on in the near future.

The picture that is developing as a result of probing further into Keel's data is one suggesting a wealth of secret balloon-based ops in the United States with a Japanese connection, and a "bodies" link too. And not just at the Foster Ranch, New Mexico in 1947, but possibly as far back as 1944-era northern California and Washington State.

Some of these stories are focused on secret, domestic projects of the military. A few, astonishingly, really do appear to be genuine (albeit only several) examples of manned flights to the U.S. by Japanese military personnel in the latter part of the Second World War - all of which ended catastrophically for the crews, who did not survive the flights, for a variety of reasons; but chiefly as a result of altitude, weather and the rigours involved in undertaking such dicey missions.

I'll have more to report on this very soon...

Progeria & Dwarfs...Summer '47

2012-01-27T11:04:00.001-08:00

Contained within the pages of the November 3, 1947 issue of the Biology Division Bulletin of the Clinton National Laboratory at Oak Ridge, is a section titled Current Journal Articles of Interest in the Biology Library.

One of those "articles of interest" happened to be a four-page paper titled Uptake of Radioactive Iodine by the Normal and Disordered Thyroid Gland in Children.

Written by Edith H. Quimby and Donovan McCune, M.D., in August 1947, the paper focused on a series of studies undertaken midway through that year, that involved the administering of radioactive iodine to a particular group of physically and mentally handicapped children in an effort to try and better understand disorders of the thyroid gland.

More specifically, the report focused on the results of a whole range of radiation-related experiments undertaken in 1947 on no less than "fifty-four test subjects," of whom...

"...Fifteen were between one and four years of age; 7 were controls; 2 were classic cretins; 1 showed some features of hypothyroidism which were not modified by treatment; 2 were dwarfs; in 1 the diagnosis was 'gargoylism;' 1 was suspected of Progeria, a disorder associated with some of the features of hypothyroidism; and the last exhibited features of moderate sexual precocity. Twenty-seven were more than four but less than fifteen years of age. Of these 2 had unmistakable hypothyroidism, 2 Graves disease, [and] four were dwarfs."

It is, of course, decidedly interesting that barely a month after a number of sources I cited in Body Snatchers in the Desert stated that bodies displaying evidence of both dwarfism and Progeria (the latter a condition resulting in small stature, a lack of body hair, and an over-sized head; see the old B&W photo at the top of this page) were recovered from the New Mexico desert after a series of nuclear- and high-altitude-based experiments and transferred to Oak Ridge, personnel at Oak Ridge’s Biology Division were - we can now see - officially expressing "interest" in radiation-related experimentation undertaken on dwarfs and those afflicted with Progeria.

But, there's more.

One would expect that the documentation cited above would not be of interest to those outside of the strict confines of the medical community. Not so...

On digging further, I was able to uncover the fact that these same, specific files on individuals with dwarfism and Progeria were shared (for reasons currently unknown) with (A) staff from the Nuclear Energy for Propulsion of Aircraft program (NEPA); and (B) one William Randolph Lovelace II, who lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico; who, in the 1930s and 40s, worked on high-altitude exposure issues relative to the human body (some in conjunction with staff at Wright Field - now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton Ohio); and who, in 1958, was appointed the chairman of the NASA Special Advisory Committee on Life Science.

Significant to the Roswell affair? Irrelevant? To answer those questions, I continue to dig...

LaPaz, Fugos, and Roswell...

2012-01-26T06:36:00.000-08:00

According to the testimony of former Counter-Intelligence Corps operative Lewis “Bill” Rickett, one of those that he worked closely with on an investigation of the object that crashed on the Foster Ranch, New Mexico, in the summer of 1947, was Dr. Lincoln LaPaz of the University of New Mexico.

That LaPaz was the director of the university’s Institute of Meteoritics and was later involved in a study known as Project Twinkle, the purpose of which was to investigate sightings of strange "green fireballs" seen in the New Mexico region and elsewhere in the late 1940s and early 1950s, has led many commentators to assume that this logically infers an other-worldly point of origin for the Roswell wreckage.

It is a seldom-discussed fact, however, that while it is true that LaPaz did undertake work for Project Twinkle and was a renowned expert on meteorites, he was also one of the government’s leading experts on Japan's Fugo "balloon-bombs" that were launched against the United States during the latter stages of the Second World War.

As evidence of LaPaz’s deep connection to the wartime studies of Fugo balloons undertaken by the Government, consider the following press release titled New Mexican Had Lookout Job For "Japanese Germs" and issued by the University of New Mexico shortly after the close of hostilities in 1945:

"Dr. Lincoln LaPaz of the University of New Mexico was in the thick of the fight against Japanese plans to send disease germs into America by balloon, said President J.P Wernette of the University today. Commenting on stories from the Navy in Washington revealing that use of germs and viruses in the Jap balloon-barrage was an enemy project as the war came to an end, Dr. Wernette said that Dr. LaPaz, head of the department of mathematics and the University’s Institute of Meteoritics, was with the government’s secret anti-balloon project during the war.

"'If the war had not ended when it did, in the opening stages of a full-scale balloon offensive which probably would have taken place between October 1945, and now, when the velocity of the west wind at high altitude is greatest, this country would have had unpleasant experiences,' Dr. LaPaz said today. 'People most concerned were trained scientists, and stockmen, too, he said. Anthrax spores could have been sent over in the paper balloons in great numbers, and Manchurian sheep pox could have easily struck the hooved animals of this country because the disease has not been found here and there would be no natural immunity, Dr. LaPaz went on.

"'But the Japanese, using radio devices to locate their balloons on the flight to this country, apparently did not realize that we could pick up the signals an find the balloons before they reached the mainland,’ said Dr. LaPaz."

A similar press release issued by the University of New Mexico – also in late 1945 – describes further data on LaPaz and his research into Fugo balloons and meteorites:

"Observers, watching for meteors, thought they had something when they saw some brilliant lights in the sky from February to May, 1945. And they did, said Dr. Lincoln LaPaz, mathematics department head at the University of New Mexico and director of its Institute of Meteoritics, today.

"The displays were actually made by Japanese balloons, Dr. LaPaz said, revealing the history of a scientific study of meteors which went on before and during the time that Dr. LaPaz was busy in secret government work of studying and combating the balloon offensive [Nick's Note: Italics mine].

"Nevertheless, a few months later, on Nov. 29, 1945, a great meteorite fell slowly across northern California and Nevada, and observers mistook it for everything from a jet plane to a Hollywood publicity stunt. Members of the Society for Research on Meteorites and the American Meteor Society, thought at first that it was a new type [of] Japanese balloon bomb."

If, as the interviewees in my Body Snatchers in the Desert book asserted, the key event that led to the legend of the UFO crash at Roswell involved a "next-generation of Fugo" balloon that was responsible for launching an experimental aircraft that catastrophically crashed, then who better to enlist into the study of how and why the experiment failed than an expert on those very same balloons?

Roswell: The Issue Of Bodies

2012-01-23T07:47:00.000-08:00

As I noted at this blog in an earlier post, in 1994, the U.S. Air Force published a report suggesting that what came down on the Foster Ranch, New Mexico was not, after all, a regular weather-balloon. But, said the USAF, it wasn't a UFO either. Rather it was a collection or cluster of balloons designed to monitor for Soviet atomic bomb tests. However, the project utilized regular balloons in the Mogul program. In other words, there was nothing unique or special about the make-up of these balloons. It was just the purpose they were being used for that was considered classified.

While the Air Force's report of 1994 delved deeply into the world of Project Mogul, most noticeable by its stark absence was any serious attempt to address the statements of those sources that claimed to have seen unusual bodies at the Roswell site.

Indeed, this aspect of the controversy received only the following, brief statement from the USAF: "It should also be noted here that there was little mentioned in this report about the recovery of the so-called 'alien bodies.' [T]he recovered wreckage was from a Project Mogul balloon. There were no ‘alien’ passengers therein." (1)

Three years after the 1994 report was published, the Air Force made a surprising acknowledgement that the reported sightings of strange bodies at Roswell did have a basis in fact. Not only that: so compelled by then was the Air Force to address the "bodies" issue that it authorized the release of yet another report on Roswell.

The final word was apparently not the final word, after all.

BODIES OR DUMMIES?

Entitled The Roswell Report: Case Closed, the Air Force’s latest report on the New Mexico events of 1947 was published in 1997 and marked the 50th anniversary of the incident at Roswell. The report did little to dampen the notoriety surrounding the case, however. Indeed, the question of why the Air Force had concluded that there was a pressing need on its part to explain the reports of unusual bodies found in New Mexico (when it could have summarily dismissed them as hoaxes or modern-day folklore), arguably only heightened the interest in what did or did not occur.

The report focused practically all of its 231 pages on the alleged recovery of the strange bodies and asserted that: "'Aliens' observed in the New Mexico desert were probably anthropomorphic test dummies that were carried aloft by U.S. Air Force high altitude balloons for scientific research. The 'unusual' military activities in the New Mexico desert were high altitude research balloon launch and recovery operations. The reports of military units that always seemed to arrive shortly after the crash of a flying saucer to retrieve the saucer and 'crew,' were actually accurate descriptions of Air Force personnel engaged in anthropomorphic dummy recovery operations."

There is no doubt (indeed, it is a matter of historical record) that the Air Force conducted a wide array of tests using crash test dummies in New Mexico and that at least some of these tests did occur in the vicinities of both the White Sands Proving Ground and the town of Roswell. But were those same tests responsible – either in part or in whole – for the stories concerning highly unusual-looking bodies recovered by the military during the summer of 1947?

A HISTORY OF MILITARY MANNEQUINS

During the First World War, extensive research was conducted at McCook Field, Ohio, into the development of parachutes for the military. To test the parachutes, engineers experimented with a number of different dummies, finally settling on a model constructed of three-inch hemp rope and sandbags with the approximate proportions of a medium-sized man. Known by the nickname "Dummy Joe," the model made more than five thousand "jumps" between 1918 and 1924.

By 1924, parachutes were routinely required on military aircraft, with their serviceability tested by dummies dropped from aircraft. This practice would continue until the early stages of the Second World War, when, due to both increased reliability and large numbers of parachutes in service, this routine practice was discontinued. Nevertheless, test dummies were still used frequently by the Parachute Branch of the Air Materiel Command (AMC) at Wright Field, Ohio, to test new parachute designs. But it was as a result of research into ejection seat development that the crash test dummy came to the fore in the post-war era.

The ejection seat had been developed and used successfully by the German Luftwaffe during the latter stages of the Second World War, and was recognized as a highly effective device when one was obtained by the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1944. To properly test the ejection seat, the Army Air Forces required a dummy that had the same center of gravity and weight distribution as a human; characteristics that parachute drop dummies did not possess. In 1944, the USAAF Air Materiel Command contracted with the Ted Smith Company to design and manufacture the first dummy intended to accurately represent a human, but only with abstract human features and “skin” made of canvas.

In the late 1940s, the Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory submitted a proposal for an improved model of the anthropomorphic dummy – this request having been originated by Air Force scientist and physician, John P. Stapp, who conducted a series of ground-breaking experiments at Muroc (now Edwards) Air Force Base, California, to measure the effects of acceleration and deceleration during high-speed aircraft ejections.

Stapp required a dummy that had the same center of gravity and articulation as a human, but, unlike the Ted Smith dummy, was more human in appearance. A more accurate external appearance was required to provide for the proper fit of helmets, oxygen masks, and other equipment used during the tests. Stapp requested that the Anthropology Branch of the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright Field review anthropological, orthopaedic, and engineering literature to prepare specifications for the new dummy. Plaster casts of the torso, legs, and arms of an Air Force pilot were also taken to assure accuracy. The result was a proposed dummy that stood 72 inches tall, weighed 200 pounds, had provisions for mounting instrumentation, and could withstand up to 100 times the force of gravity, or 100Gs.

SIERRA SAM

A contract was awarded to Sierra Engineering Company of Sierra Madre, California, and "Sierra Sam," as the dummy was affectionately known, was born; and a similar contract for anthropomorphic dummies was awarded to Alderson Research Laboratories, Inc., of New York City. Dummies constructed by both companies possessed the same basic characteristics: a skeleton of aluminium or steel, latex or plastic skin, a cast aluminium skull, and an instrument cavity in the torso and head for the mounting of strain gauges, accelerometers, transducers, and rate gyros.

Declassified documentation made available by the Air Force shows that forty-three high altitude balloon flights carrying 67 anthropomorphic dummies (that were transported to heights of up to 98,000 feet) were launched and recovered throughout New Mexico.

And as The Roswell Report: Case Closed notes: "Due to prevailing wind conditions, operational factors and ruggedness of the terrain, the majority of dummies impacted outside the confines of military reservations in eastern New Mexico, near Roswell, and in areas surrounding the Tularosa Valley in south central New Mexico."

For the majority of the tests, dummies were flown to altitudes between 30,000 and 98,000 feet attached to a specially designed rack suspended below a high altitude balloon; and on several flights, the dummies were mounted in the door of an experimental, high-altitude balloon gondola. Upon reaching the desired altitude, the dummies would be released and "free-fell" for several minutes before deployment of the main parachute.

Dummies utilized in these operations were typically outfitted with standard equipment, including a one-piece flight suit, olive drab or gray in color, and a parachute pack. In addition, the dummies were fitted with an instrumentation kit that contained accelerometers, pressure transducers, and a camera to record movements of the dummy during free-fall.

The recovery of the dummies was handled by Holloman Air Force Base’s Balloon Branch; and under normal circumstances, eight to twelve civilian and military recovery personnel would secure the landing site of one or more of the dummies, and would be complemented by a variety of aircraft and vehicles, including a wrecker, a six-by-six, a weapons carrier, and L-20 observation and C-47 transport aircraft. On one occasion southwest of Roswell, Lieutenant Raymond A. Madson, even conducted a search for dummies on horseback.

Documentation reviewed by the Air Force as part of its attempt to lay to rest the claims that strange corpses were recovered from the New Mexico desert in the summer of 1947, demonstrated that Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, has – to date - launched and recovered no less than 2,500 high altitude balloons, with the majority having been launched by the Holloman Balloon Branch. But under what circumstances did these operations begin?

In 1946, as a result of research conducted for Project Mogul, Charles B. Moore, the New York University graduate student working under contract for the Army Air Forces, made a significant technological discovery concerning the use of polythene for high altitude balloon construction. Polythene, a lightweight plastic that can withstand stresses of a high altitude environment differed drastically from, and greatly exceeded, the capabilities of standard rubber weather balloons used previously. As an example of this, polythene balloons flown by the Air Force have reached recorded altitudes of 170,000 feet and lifted payloads of 15,000 pounds.

It is also a fact that in the late 1940s, a characteristic associated with the large – and newly invented – polythene balloons, was that they were often misidentified as flying saucers. In fact, according to Bernard D. Gildenberg, Balloon Branch Meteorologist and Engineer, so many flying saucer reports were generated as a result of the balloons launched from Holloman AFB that accounts from police and news services were regularly used by Holloman’s technicians to supplement early balloon-tracking techniques.

Indeed, balloons launched at Holloman AFB in 1947 generated an especially high number of flying saucer reports due to the excellent visibility in the New Mexico region. Also, the balloons, flown at altitudes of approximately 100,000 feet, were illuminated before the earth during the periods just after sunset and just before sunrise. In this instance, receiving sunlight before the earth, the plastic balloons appeared as large bright objects against a dark sky. Also, with the refractive and translucent qualities of polythene, the balloons appeared to change color, size and shape.

Research also undertaken by the Air Force as a part of its Roswell investigation showed that one of the key areas of investigation in New Mexico at the time that involved balloon-based studies was in relation to “space biology” and the way in which cosmic ray particles might adversely affect living tissue; while other projects gathered meteorological data and collected air samples to determine the composition of the atmosphere.

The Air Force’s new research also led it to elaborate further upon the strange debris recovered by rancher Brazel on the Foster Ranch: "As early as May 1948, polythene balloons coated or laminated with aluminum were flown from Holloman AFB and the surrounding area. Beginning in August 1955, large numbers of these balloons were flown as targets in the development of radar guided air-to-air missiles. Various accounts of the 'Roswell Incident' often described thin, metal-like materials that when wadded into a ball, returned to their original shape. These accounts are consistent with the properties of polythene balloons laminated with aluminum. These balloons were typically launched from points west of the White Sands Proving Ground, floated over the range as targets, and descended in the areas northeast of White Sands Proving Ground where the ‘strange’ materials were allegedly found."

THE GLENN DENNIS SAGA

With the reports of strange bodies recovered near Roswell relegated to the world of the crash test dummy, the Air Force then focused its attention upon the claims (many of which surfaced from Roswell mortician W. Glenn Dennis) that alien bodies were taken to the base hospital at Roswell Army Air Field following the events of the summer of 1947.

The relevant section of The Roswell Report: Case Closed runs to no less than 50 pages and I would urge anyone with an interest in the case to review it in depth. For the sake of space, however, I cite the Air Force’s conclusions on this particular aspect of the affair: "Claims of bodies at the Roswell Army Air Field hospital were most likely a combination of two separate incidents," asserted the Air Force.

The former incident occurred on 26 June, 1956, when an Air Force refueling plane caught fire while in flight and crashed, killing all eleven crew members. The corpses of the crewmen were soaked through with fuel and burned beyond recognition, and some even lost numerous body parts. Some autopsies of the victims were conducted at civilian facilities, and the report suggests that this incident was the source of the claim that the military had retrieved gruesome, alien bodies that were described as "black" and "very mangled" by witnesses.

The second incident that the Air Force believed led rise to the claims that alien bodies were transported to the base hospital occurred on 21 May, 1959, when Air Force Captain Dan Fulgham suffered a serious head injury when the balloon he was piloting crash landed in New Mexico. His head, severely swollen with blood, was described by one associate as "just a big blob," and the USAF suggested that Fulgham’s condition may have caused a civilian observer at Walker Air Force Base hospital to later report seeing an "alien creature" enter the facility. (2)

REACTION AND FALL-OUT

At the time of its release, the conclusions of the Air Force’s (final...?) report provoked a furor of controversy – for two key reasons. While there is absolutely no doubt that tests utilizing anthropomorphic dummies were widespread in New Mexico and in the Roswell region, the Air Force’s report largely and very carefully glosses over the fact that these particular tests did not begin until the early 1950s. Likewise, the two events that the Air Force asserted led to the legends of alien bodies taken to the Roswell Army Air Field hospital occurred in the late 1950s and long after the purported incident of 1947.

This was an issue not lost on the media during the Air Force’s press conference at the Pentagon that accompanied the release of the report in July 1997. When asked by a reporter, "How do you square the UFO enthusiasts saying that they’re talking about 1947, and you’re talking about dummies used in the 50's, almost a decade later?" Air Force spokesman, Colonel John Haynes replied: "Well, I’m afraid that’s a problem that we have with time compression. I don’t know what they saw in ‘47, but I’m quite sure it probably was Project Mogul. But I think if you find that people talk about things over a period of time, they begin to lose exactly when the date was." (3)

Notably, too, in the wake of the report’s release, Associated Press revealedthat no less a source than the project officer at Holloman Air Force Base, Lt. Colonel Raymond A. Madson, (Ret.) wasn’t buying the latest Air Force explanation of what occurred in Roswell in July 1947 – despite the fact that Madson was cited in the report prepared by the Air Force. (4)

Neither was Roswell/UFO author and researcher, Stanton Friedman, who stated: "One of the silliest official USAF stories is the crash test dummy nonsense. I spoke in person with Colonel Madson, whose picture is in the Case Closed volume and was heavily involved in the research program. He is adamant that the explanation doesn’t fit. Remember that the dummies had to be the same height and weight as air force pilots. None were dropped anywhere near the two crash sites and none were dropped earlier than 6 years after the 1947 events.” (5)

And according to Walter Haut, the man who issued the original press release from Roswell Army Air Field in July 1947: “It’s just to me another cover-up. If you’re dropping a dummy, any dummy would know what a dummy looks like.” (6)

In essence, the material related above represents the current state of play with regard to the U.S. Air Force's stance on the issue of bodies associated with the events on the Foster Ranch, New Mexico in early July 1947.

The Air Force stands firmly behind its Mogul and crash test dummy explanations, UFO proponents assert that this is all part of a huge and on-going conspiracy designed to hide the fact that an alien spacecraft crashed at Roswell, and the general public and the media look on with a mixture of interest, puzzlement, bemusement and amusement.

To this day, a decade and a half after the "Crash Test Dummy Report" was published, the USAF has not changed its stance on the nature of the bodies found in and around the Roswell area in the summer of 1947.

1. Report of Air Force Research Regarding the Roswell Incident, Colonel Richard L. Weaver, United States Air Force, 1994. The Roswell Report: Fact Vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert, Colonel Richard L. Weaver, United States Air Force, 1995.

2. The Roswell Report: Case Closed, Captain James McAndrew, United States Air Force, 1997.

3. United States Air Force Press Conference, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C., July 4, 1997.

4. "Dummies Weren't Classified, Says Retired Colonel," Associated Press, 5 July 1997.

5. Scientist Challenges Air Force Regarding UFOs,
www.v-j-enterprises.com/sfchlgaf.html

6. www.moreabcnews.go.com/dispatches/bureaus/roswell702/roswell702.html

Roswell: From Schiff To Mogul

2012-01-20T14:54:00.000-08:00

In relation to my previous post (of yesterday, on Roswell's missing files), I got an email from someone asking what it was that set the General Accounting Office on the trail of Roswell.

Good question!

It goes like this...

In the spring of 1993, New Mexico Congressman Steven Schiff began to make inquiries with the Defense Department in an attempt to determine the truth surrounding certain aspects of the controversy.

In an 11 March 1993 letter to the then Secretary of Defense, Les Aspin, Schiff wrote:

"Last fall I became aware of a strange series of events beginning in New Mexico over 45 years ago and involving personnel of what was then the Army Air Force. I have since reviewed the facts in some detail, and I am writing to request your assistance in arriving at a definitive explanation of what transpired and why.

"In brief, according to contemporary newspaper, wire service, national radio newscast, and numerous eyewitness accounts, on or about July 3, 1947, rancher William W. (Mac) Brazel found a large amount of unusual debris on property he managed northwest of Roswell, New Mexico, near the town of Corona. He brought his find to the attention of Chaves County Sheriff George Wilcox, who then contacted the Roswell Army Air Field, home of the 509th Bomb Group (Atomic) commanded by Colonel William H. Blanchard…According to testimony of the group intelligence officer, Major Jesse A. Marcel, he and the Counter Intelligence Corps officer in charge at the field, Captain Sheridan, W. Cavitt, then accompanied Mr. Brazel to the discovery site.

"Marcel testified that he and Cavitt found an area measuring about three-quarters of a mile long by 200 to 300 feet wide densely strewn with large amount of extremely lightweight, extremely strong materials neither could identify. Samples of these materials were flown to Eighth Air Force Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas…

"A few hours later, Eighth Air Force Commanding General Roger M. Ramey told reporters in Fort Worth that what had been found in New Mexico were the initially misidentified remains of a weather balloon and its Rawin radar target. Recently, in written and videotaped depositions, Brigadier General Thomas J. DuBose, USAF(ret.), General Ramey’s chief of staff at the time of the incident, testified that the balloon explanation was a cover story…

"The inconsistency between repeated official denials and the public record and testimony of those involved has led to a great deal of sensational speculation and called into question the credibility of the Departments of Defense, Army, and the Air Force…

"Therefore, Mr. Secretary, I respectfully request that you direct such a review be undertaken on a priority basis and that a representative or representatives of the Department of Defense and the responsible Military Departments promptly arrange to brief and provide me with a written report providing a current, complete, and detailed description and explanation of both the nature of what was recovered and all official actions taken on the matter…"

On 31 March 1993, and as a direct result of this action, Schiff received the following reply - not from Aspin but from Colonel Larry G. Shockley, USAF, Director, Plans and Operations:

"I have received your letter of March 11, requesting information on alleged events which occurred in Roswell, New Mexico. In order to be of service to you, I have referred this matter to the National Archives and Records Administration for direct reply to you. If I can be of further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to let me know."

Schiff’s office duly followed this on 7 April 1993 with a submission of material to Rudy deLeon, Special Assistant, Office of the Secretary of Defense, who replied:

"This is in regard to your recent letter to Secretary Aspin regarding alleged events which occurred in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. I, too, find these unexplained occurrences of great interest; however, these records are too old to be available here at the Pentagon. I would, therefore, recommend that you contact the National Archives for additional information, as I believe Colonel Shockley has already done on your behalf. I regret that my response in not more favorable, but I trust you will find this information helpful."

Once again, Congressman Schiff’s office quickly sent a follow up letter to Secretary of Defense Aspin:

"I realize that, after almost 46 years, it is a virtual certainty that all or most of the records concerning this incident have been archived. However, my staff and several independent investigators have conclusively established they are not in any of the unclassified, including previously classified, holdings of the National Archives. Moreover, it is my understanding that it is highly unlikely they reside in any of the classified files in the custody of the Archives.

"Wherever the documents may be, what is at issue is my request for a personal briefing and a written report on a matter involving actions taken by officials of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, agencies under your purview. I realize the research required to uncover the relevant documents and related materials will take time and considerable effort, and I am prepared to wait a reasonable amount of time for this to be accomplished. However I expect the job to be done and my request to be addressed as set forth in the penultimate paragraph of my March letter…"

On 20 May 1993, Congressman Schiff received his reply from the National Archives:

"This is in reply to your letter of March 11, 1993, concerning information about a UFO sighting at Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. The Department of the Air Force forwarded your letter, and we received it on May 6, 1993. The U.S. Air Force has retired to our custody its records on Project BLUE BOOK relating to the investigations of unidentified flying objects. Project BLUE BOOK has been declassified and the records are available for examination in our research room. The project closed in 1969 and we have no information after that date. We have received numerous requests concerning records relating to the Roswell incident among these records. We have not located any documentation relating to this event in Project BLUE BOOK records, or in any other pertinent Defense Department records in our custody."

Interpreting the fact that he was being passed back and forth from the Defense Department to the National Archives as stonewalling, Schiff once again determined to resolve the matter once and for all with Secretary Aspin:

"…While I realize that the Department of Defense, and you, Mr. Secretary, have been very busy in areas throughout the world, while also concerned with proposed changes in policy within the Department, I must insist on the courtesy of a reply to my letter, which is now three months old. To reiterate, while I am prepared to wait a reasonable length of time for the briefing I requested, I do insist that the Department do the research on my inquiry and report the findings to me. I also must insist on having my letters to the Department of Defense acknowledged and acted upon. I look forward to your response to my letters, and to the scheduled briefing. I will expect a reply to this inquiry by September 7th."

Nevertheless things did not go according to Schiff’s wishes, and as a result, he contacted the General Accounting Office (the investigative arm of Congress) in a concerted effort to bring the Roswell controversy to rest, once and for all - as the Washington Post noted in January 1994:

"…GAO spokeswoman Laura A. Kopelson said the office’s investigation…stemmed from a meeting in October between Schiff and GAO Controller General Charles A Bowsher. Schiff complained then that the Defense Department had been ‘unresponsive’ to his inquiries about the 1947 incident…’I was getting pretty upset at all the running around,’ Schiff said, adding that at his meeting with GAO officials, ‘they made an offer to help.’… ‘Generally, I'm a skeptic on UFOs and alien beings, but there are indications from the runaround that I got that whatever it was, it wasn’t a balloon. Apparently, it's another government cover-up,’ Schiff said. He called the Defense Department’s lack of response ‘astounding,’ and said government accountability was an issue ‘even larger than UFOs.’…He added, ‘If the Defense Department had been responsive, it wouldn’t have come to this.'"

As a result of Schiff’s efforts, (A) the GAO duly launched an investigation and on 28 July 1995, a report surfaced from its National Security and International Affairs Division that disclosed the results of that same investigation; (B) the Air Force trotted out its controversial "Mogul Balloon" theory for Roswell; and (C) the UFO research community was faced with more data, more questions, but still no hard evidence of what it really was that happened at Roswell...

Coming Soon: Roswell & Fort Stanton...

2012-01-19T13:08:00.001-08:00

On the horizon...

New data - shocking, controversial, and illuminating data - on a link between Fort Stanton, New Mexico and the Roswell affair.

Stay tuned for news on matters of a secret, Japanese, and high-altitude-based nature.

Shameful...

About Those Missing Roswell Files...

2012-01-19T09:46:00.001-08:00

On July 28, 1995, the General Accounting Office's report on the Roswell affair surfaced from its National Security and International Affairs Division. And although the GAO's report did not provide any smoking-guns - or, rather, any old B&W photos of dead bodies and wreckage at the crash-site on the Foster Ranch, New Mexico - it did provide something interesting and controversial. And it's something that has been misinterpreted for years.

During the course of their search for records to try and better understand what had taken place at Roswell in early July 1947, the GAO learned that the entire outgoing messages from Roswell Army Air Field generated during the period that the event occurred were missing, and under circumstances that could not be fully determined and proved.

This, inevitably and very understandably, led certain Roswell researchers to proclaim that this was evidence of a significant event of UFO proportions having occurred, and which certain elements of officialdom were determined to keep forever hidden from the populace, the media, and the UFO research community - and possibly, even, from anyone else in government who might dare to come looking, such as investigators of the GAO.

And, maybe, that's precisely what happened.

But...the story is not quite as straightforward as that.

Time and again, I have heard UFO researchers say, words to the effect of: "Because the 1947 files are missing, this means the government or the Air Force pulled them years ago, so no-one could get to them."

Sure, that's not impossible. But, there's another issue. The files in question that are unavailable to us do not cover just the key period of the Roswell affair. Rather, they extend back as far as March 1945 and as late as December 1949 - practically into the 1950s, no less.

We are led to believe that if aliens crashed at Roswell, then it was an event out of the blue, with little or no advance notice, and certainly not something that had been anticipated for a significant period of time.

So, that being the case, why the need to pull files from as early as March 1945 to hide something that is said to have occurred, without much warning (if any), in the summer of 1947?

Proponents of the notion that aliens crashed at Roswell might say that the government was just being overly careful, and wanted to make sure that (a) nothing was left behind, and (b) nothing had been misplaced in an earlier collection of material, or indeed, within a later collection of material, possibly held in secure safes at the base. So, they chose the best and quickest option available to them and scooped up pretty much everything that covered approximately two years or so before, and up to two-and-a-half years after the crash.

And, maybe, that is exactly what happened.

On the other hand, one can make a valid argument that the vanished files issue has no bearing on Roswell, because the documents that are missing incude papers dating from two years before the event even took place.

This also offers a theory (and, granted, that's all it is) that there was another reason for the large-scale loss of material that the GAO sought to uncover.

Let's see what the GAO had to say about this matter of missing messages in its 1995 report:

"In addition to unit history reports, we also searched for other government records on the Roswell crash. In this regard, the Chief Archivist for the National Personnel Records Center provided us with documentation indicating that (1) RAAF records such as finance and accounting, supplies, buildings and grounds, and other general administrative matters from March 1945 through December 1949 and (2) RAAF outgoing messages from October 1946 through December 1949 were destroyed." [Bold emphasis mine.]

When the GAO demanded to know the reasons behind this development, they got an answer, as GAO files note:

"According to this official [the Chief Archivist for the National Personnel Records Center], the document disposition form did not properly indicate the authority under which the disposal action was taken. The Center’s Chief Archivist stated that from his personal experience, many of the Air Force organizational records covering this time period were destroyed without entering a citation for the governing disposition authority. Our review of records control forms showing the destruction of other records--including outgoing RAAF messages for 1950--supports the Chief Archivist’s viewpoint."

So, in other words, we have yet another explanation that does not include high-level conspiracy to explain the loss and destruction of files, but which says far more about bureaucracy. Note too that, on digging further, the GAO learned that 1950-era Roswell files had been destroyed as well, not just records up until December 1949 (which is something else that fails to get mentioned to any great degree by ET proponents of Roswell).

So, what's my point in all this? Well, this is my point: Yes, it certainly is intriguing that half-a-decade of certain files are missing from the old Roswell Army Air Field, and it may even be an issue of deep conspiracy.

Or, it may not be.

But, if UFO/Roswell researchers wish to maintain that the missing files from 1947 point to a specific cover-up of the Roswell event - and Roswell occurred out of the blue in July of that year - then they have to provide a viable reason as to why documentation dating back as far as March 1945 was pulled too, and why additional documentation remains missing from as late as 1950.

Saying "the outgoing Roswell messages from July 1947 are missing" is absolutely true, and it opens eyes and it catches the attention of people. Noting that, in reality, the files actually cover 1945 to 1950, and also cover general administrative issues at the base, is far less attention-grabbing.

The issue of the missing files is undeniably interesting and deeply worthy of further study, scrutiny, and investigation. But, if we are to remain balanced in our approach to addressing this aspect of the affair, we need to recognize that the "vanished documents" saga is not as clear-cut as it might seem, or as many might prefer it to be.

Body Snatchers: The Stuart Miller Review

2012-01-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

Before his tragic death in a traffic accident in 2011, Stuart Miller (of UFO Review and Alien Worlds) helped give a great deal of positive publicity for my Body Snatchers in the Desert book, in the face of much criticism from the UFO research community that hoped and prayed I was wrong.

The picture on the left shows Stuart on the left and me on the right, and was taken in the summer of 2006 at Stuart's home in England.

And here's Stuart's review of Body Snatchers in the Desert, written shortly after publication of the book in the summer of 2005:

In "Body Snatchers", Nick almost certainly offers the definitive explanation about what happened at Roswell. It may not be what you want to hear because I will tell you right now; it doesn't involve aliens, but as you read what he says, if your reaction is the same as mine was, then you will find yourself reluctantly coming to the conclusion that he has probably cracked it. As you read it, there is a "dreaded" sense of feeling that it all just seems to make a horrible sense.

There is a lot to take in and it will be difficult to absorb in one hit but as you do, you will be struck with a further wave of shock as you then consider the implications of what he has to say. They are very, very profound for this subject that we love.

For others there will be a sense of relief that, as they see it, this albatross is finally removed from around their necks and Ufology can get on with its "life" unfettered by the distraction of this incident.

I would like to congratulate Nick on what I consider to be a truly excellent piece of research. My feeling is that this may well come to be regarded as his seminal work.

The essential point of Nick's case is not new, although it actually may be new to you. The theory first surfaced with author John Keel about fifteen years ago although he was off base quite a bit, but in the mid 90s "Popular Mechanics" got very close indeed. Not quite there, but nearly. It is an interesting exercise to go back and read their piece again. They obviously had contacts.

And others have been there too. It's been looked at, tossed around, laughed at, dismissed, and generally considered very unlikely. It will be a little harder to discard this time though. Nick presents new witness testimony and documentation and the way he pulls it all together is impressive. What is also interesting is the manner in which the story came to him. From two different separate strands, separated by five years.

So the truth has been out there, of sorts, for a while. They have told us. They just didn't tell us they were telling us.

There is bound to be controversy caused by Nick's conclusions and perhaps even mocking, and it would be naïve to expect otherwise. A lot of people are going to be disturbed by this. A lot of people have given their ufological professional lives to pursuing a particular aspect of Roswell or a particular case and all will be deeply affected and that should not be under estimated. The controversy will be welcomed. There are bound to be rough edges to Nick's story here and there and possible occasional inaccuracies but it is unlikely they will undermine the core of his account. But Nick would welcome the interest and input of other researchers, without question. He hopes that people will go out and check up on what he has written for them selves, and possibly even take the story further. His narrative also opens up many other potential avenues of research.

If people accept what he has written and fully comprehend the consequences, then the affects will take time to filter through. The details, although a lot, you will take on board. It's the digestion process afterwards where the pain might come.

Most of you though will be disappointed, but, we cannot hide from the truth. Nick has, quite frankly, done us an enormous favour and I consider this to be, unquestionably, the most important book in relation to Ufology for a very, very long time. Possibly ever.

Dummies and Roswell

2012-01-14T09:59:00.001-08:00

Back in the summer of 1997, when the Roswell, New Mexico incident was all the news (due to the fact that the case - involving who knows what - was then precisely 50 years old), the U.S. Air Force came out with a somewhat bizarre and still-controversial report suggesting that the alleged "alien bodies" found outside of Roswell were actually crash-test-dummies used in high-altitude experiments.

The theory provoked a wealth of debate within the domain of Ufology, and even the mainstream media addressed the scenario with some doubt when it was demonstrated by eagle-eyed sleuths that the dummy tests didn't even begin until 1952 - five years after Roswell occurred!

No wonder the debate continues to rage.

Anyway, for those who are interested, you can find one of the dummies in question on display at the UFO Museum at Roswell - and here it is (this photo was taken by me 6 or 7 years ago).

But, there is one interesting (to me anyway!) thing about the crash-test dummy story that very rarely - if ever - gets touched upon.

I have heard UFO researchers say time and again that it would be absurd to imagine that people could mistake dummies for aliens - chiefly because the dummies were all six-footers (or thereabouts), and the bodies at Roswell were only from three to five-feet in height.

And, I agree that the dummy scenario does not solve whatever it was that did or did not happen at Roswell.

But (yep, another but!), the dummy on display at the UFO Museum is not a six-footer. It's probably around five-foot-two or -three, or maybe an inch or two more. I'm six-foot-tall, and I tower over the one in the museum display!

So, even though I am not in the slightest bit persuaded by the theory that the Roswell bodies were dummies, contrary to what many UFO researchers have claimed, the dummies were not all big "guys."

That's one of the issues I have with many facets of Ufology (and Forteana in general): certain incorrect statements (such as this one about the dummies, the "95 per cent of all UFOs can be explained" statement, the "alien abductions began with Betty and Barney Hill" assertion, and the "Kenneth Arnold coined the term Flying Saucer" claim, etc, etc) are trotted out time and again, and without any independent attempt to confirm the statement.

Why? Easy! Because someone else said it, and someone else said it before them, and so on and so on. And it's easy and lazy not to do one's own research - for many.

So, no, in my view the dummies of Roswell are not the bodies of Roswell. And the dummies were certainly not dwarf-like in size. But, they were not all 6-footers either. In fact, nowhere near. If you don't believe me, go to Roswell, and have your photo taken next to the town's resident dummy.

If people want to say something about UFOs, and UFO events, they should investigate them. They should not be relying on what someone else said and simply assume its fully correct. Don't, in other words, be a dummy.

A Strange Search for the Roswell Bodies

2012-01-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

Something happened outside of Roswell, New Mexico in the summer of 1947.

And - in my view - it didn't involve a weather-balloon, a Mogul-balloon, or crash-test dummies.

Do I think there's a good chance that bodies (possibly human) were found within, or near to, the large field of wreckage stumbled upon by rancher Mack Brazel on that legendary day back in July 1947?

Yes, I do!

So what, you may ask, does any of this have to do with the accompanying photo that looks suspiciously like a seance is about to kick-off? Well, first, that's exactly what it shows!

And if you're wondering where it was taken, I'll tell you. The location was Hangar 84 at the old Roswell Army Air Field where, some have alleged, the bodies from the Roswell crash were briefly held after their discovery on a remote part of the (equally remote) Foster Ranch.

The reason for me being at the old hangar was as simple as it was bizarre: I was there with several psychics who planned on trying to contact the souls of the Roswell-deceased to determine who they were, where they were from, and what happened to them.

It was around the witching-hour on an appropriately dark, chilly and wind-filled night in December 2005 when the seance began, and which lasted for around 40-minutes, or thereabouts.

With their minds trained, the psychics said that they felt the presence of something (souls, in other words), that they had imagery of some sort of vehicle violently crashing to earth on the harsh desert floor, and of the bodies of the crew being strewn around the area, and well and truly pummelled in the process.

Okay, much of that we know already. But to hear it during a seance, at midnight, in a hangar - or, rather, in that hangar - at Roswell was memorable in the extreme.

Granted, not exactly the most conventional of all investigations into the Roswell bodies, but I'll bet there has not been a stranger one!

Roswell: Storing the Debris

2012-01-14T09:43:00.001-08:00

Why, you may ask, have I included in this post interior and exterior shots of an old building, in some desolate desert locale?

Well, I'll tell you why!

This is the very building into which none other than rancher Mac Brazel hauled - for safe-keeping - a bunch of anomalous debris found on the Foster Ranch, New Mexico in the summer of 1947.

Yep, that's right: Roswell.

I had the opportunity to spend some time at the crash-site itself in February of 2011 (nope, I didn't find anything weird unfortunately!), and was very pleased when I was invited to check-out this seldom-seen construction that played such an integral role in Roswell - regardless of what did or did not happen on that fateful day.

And,correct me if you think I'm wrong, but if aliens really did crash on the Foster Ranch, isn't it maybe time for permission to be sought to tear down the building and do a full search of its foundations and immediate surroundings?

You know: just in case...

The Plaque of Roswell

2012-01-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

When it comes to Roswell, Ufology's premier case - or a saucer-themed equivalent of Jack the Ripper, in the sense that it's all so long ago it will likely never be resolved to the satisfaction of everyone - there is, rather surprisingly, one thing upon which we can all agree.

What's that?

That something came down on the Foster Ranch all those years ago!

But...weather-balloon, Mogul-balloon, UFO, a military experiment, aliens, Russians, Japanese, crash-test dummies? Well...who knows? And who can prove anything definitive even if they do know?

But, whatever the event involved, it has its very own celebratory plaque out at the Foster Ranch, which is actually a long and winding road from the town of Roswell, particularly so when one gets to the ranch itself and the "road" becomes very primitive, to say the least!

I took the above photo of the plaque on a snowy, freezing morning at the crash-site in February of 2011.

Crash-Test Dummies at Roswell...

2012-01-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

I don't believe that Crash-Test Dummies can account for the Roswell bodies.

But...

Check out this old issue of Popular Mechanics, the page of which in the link below shows a parachute-related experiment (years before Roswell) that involved a very small dummy/doll with what looks like a large bald head.

Note, too, the link to Wright-Field (now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base), which has long been associated with tales of crashed UFOs and small alien bodies.

Does it prove anything? Nope. Do I think it's, um, "interesting" and worthy of further study? Maybe!

Here's the link, so make up your own mind!

More On Area 51, Roswell, Jacobsen, Etc.

2011-05-31T06:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the controversy surrounding Annie Jacobsen's Area 51 book rumbles on at a steady pace - as this latest post from Tony Bragalia demonstrates. And, for further evidence of the way in which the UFO research community has been commenting on (and continues to comment on) the controversy, check out the Comments section at this recent post at The UFO Iconoclasts.

But, there's something else I want to talk about. It's something that has not been noted thus far, but is nevertheless highly relevant to this particular saga.

The angle of insiders with links to Area 51 being told that Roswell was a Soviet hoax (involving genetically-altered human beings) is an intriguing one. Now, just so there can be no misunderstanding, I don't mean that because it's intriguing I believe it's the answer to the puzzle. I certainly don't.

However, the scenario of Area 51-linked people being told such a story does not begin and end with Jacobsen's informant. Six-months ago, my book, The NASA Conspiracies was published and included a whole chapter that told the tale of a man who had worked at Area 51 in the early 1970s, and who had heard a very similar story.

It's a strange and convoluted saga involving a man named John who was exposed to a series of weird and controversial files that told astonishing tales of alien visitation and UFO crashes in the early, formative years of the Flying Saucer era.

As I note in my book, The NASA Conspiracies:

"John stressed that although the documentation at issue certainly looked genuine, he was never able to entirely dismiss from his mind the possibility that his exposure to the files could have been a part of some large, and very curious and convoluted, mind game on the part of NASA and the intelligence services, such as the CIA, Air Force Intelligence, and the National Security Agency. Since his work at Area 51 and his access to the files surfaced as a direct result of his FBI contacts, John speculated that his superiors may have exposed him to totally bogus materials at Area 51, and then watched his every move to see if he spoke out of turn, and to those without security clearances. The fact that John never did speak out of turn in that twelve month period, and was thereafter considered utterly trustworthy, led him to be rewarded with a near decade long career in the private security sector. It was a career that saw him move, practically effortlessly, within highly influential circles in the world of U.S. Intelligence that were totally unconnected to UFOs."

To me, at least, this is all very refreshing. Whistle-blowers are generally extremely keen to have their story believed; but John noted to me from the absolute outset (and as the above extract clearly demonstrates) that the nature of the data to which he was exposed should be addressed very carefully, and not accepted uncritically at all.

But, there's more.

John related an aspect of the story to me, that was published in my NASA book, and which dealt with one specific set of papers that, today, we can see is highly relevant to the account provided to Jacobsen. I described it in the pages of my 2010 book like this:

"...John did assert, however, that there was a brief collection of documents dating from July 1947 speculating that this might have all been the result of a very ingenious hoax on the part of the Soviets – until, that is, it very quickly became acutely apparent to one and all that not even the Soviet Union would have had the required expertise to successfully pull off such a fantastic ruse, much less biologically alter, or mutate, a number of human beings into something very different."

To me, this is important, as we have old files (that ultimately found their way to Area 51 - they did not originate there) discussing the two central points of the story told to Jacobsen: (A) the idea that Roswell was a Soviet ruse; and (B) the theory that the bodies found at the crash-site might have been biologically altered or mutated by the Russians.

The story told by John, and published by me in late-2010, is astonishingly close to the one provided to Jacobsen. The big difference, of course, is that Jacobsen's Area 51 source believed the Russian theory, while the originators of the files read by John at Area 51 clearly did not accept it as having any validity.

But, that such files did apparently exist at Area 51, and did refer to both the Russian hoax angle and the issue of genetically altering human beings, does make me think that this Russian-themed story/theory was indeed in circulation amongst Area 51 personnel at some point decades ago.

And maybe some who were exposed to the files, to the rumors, and (as John speculated as a possibility) to some weird loyalty-testing mind-game, came to accept the Russian story as being utterly genuine; when in reality the truth may have been very diferent.

This controversy, I suspect, is far from over...

Stalin, Roswell, H.G. Wells & Science Fiction Secrets

2011-05-17T12:51:00.001-07:00

One of the things that has deeply surprised me about this new Roswell/Stalin controversy is that absolutely no commentary has been given to the fact that this is not the first time that Stalin's name has surfaced in relation to matters of a Fortean/conspiratorial nature.

And, given that Annie Jacobsen's Area 51 book suggests Stalin was supposedly prompted to embark upon the program that ultimately led to the Roswell legend - as part of an effort to provoke War of the Worlds-style hysteria in the U.S. population - it's intriguing to note that this additional Fortean issue actually involved Stalin meeting none other than the author of War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells, himself.

In my book 2009 book, Science Fiction Secrets, I included an entire chapter on the very weird 1920s saga of how Stalin - allegedly prompted by H.G. Wells' novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau - had utterly crazed plans to create an "army" of half-human/half-ape soldiers that would be near-unstoppable on the battlefield. Of course, all attempts to cross-breed apes and humans ended in complete disaster and failure. The secret project was quietly closed down.

However, what is not well known is the fact that H. G. Wells visited the Soviet Union in 1934, and, on July 23 of that year, actually met and personally interviewed Joseph Stalin. Constantine Oumansky, then head of Russia's Press Bureau of the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, recorded the conversation, which lasted from 4:00 p.m. to 6:50 p.m.

As far as can be determined, the two men did not drift into a discussion of genetically-created, half-human super-apes; their exchange was largely focused upon the then-current state of the world from a purely economic perspective.

But, given that my Science Fiction Secrets book shows that Stalin met H.G. Wells - who wrote War of the Worlds (Orson Welles' 1938 radio-version of which provoked a degree of public hysteria in the United States), I have to wonder if this meeting might have had a bearing on Stalin's alleged attempt to scare the shit out of the United States via a faked UFO event; an event inspired by Wells' classic novel of alien invasion, if the scenario as provided to Annie Jacobsen is real, of course!

Roswell: White Hot!

2011-05-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Further to my earlier post of today, there is yet another MJ12 document that has a bearing on the Annie Jacobsen story of a Russian link to Roswell. It can be found within the the 19-page, so-called White Hot Technical Report.

The document (real, disinformation or hoax - one is forced to take one's pick) states:

"There is a good chance that the Russians may try to make use of the flying saucer scare by public news media and diplomatic means of a technological breakthrough in aircraft and missile development. We feel that such a disclosure would most certainly cause great embarrassment to our elected officials and to the military, not to mention the panic felt by the citizenry."

This is interesting, as it clearly suggests the Russians might claim to have developed Flying Saucer-style craft, with the intent of provoking "panic" in the U.S. "citizenry."

Is that what we're seeing in the Jacobsen story? Could matters have really been even more convoluted? Did Stalin essentially "hijack" a genuine UFO event? And was it his intent, after the United States was thrown into a state of hysteria (by alien invasion fears), to ultimately reveal Roswell as something of his (and Josef Mengele's) own making? Could this story get any weirder? Probably, yes it could - and it surely will!

We should also note the following Air Force report of 3 January 1952 (on the subject of flying saucer sightings investigated by the Air Force in the late 1940s and early 1950s) from Brigadier General W.M. Garland to General John A. Samford, Air Force Director of Intelligence makes this point abundantly clear and also touches upon the work of the Horten brothers:

“It is logical to relate the reported sightings to the known development of aircraft, jet propulsion, rockets and range extension capabilities in Germany and the USSR. In this connection, it is to be noted that certain developments by the Germans, particularly the Horten wing, jet propulsion, and refueling, combined with their extensive employment of V-l and V-2 weapons during World War II, lend credence to the possibility that the flying objects may be of German and Russian origin."

Roswell, Stalin & MJ12: A Thickening Plot

2011-05-17T07:46:00.001-07:00

Further to my post of yesterday regarding Annie Jacobsen's new book, Area 51, there's another bit of data worth reporting on that also has a bearing on the story discussed in her book that has provoked so much controversy in the last few days - namely, that Roswell was a Cold War op initiated by Soviet Premier Josef Stalin and designed to cause "alien invasion"-based hysteria in the U.S.

This additional piece of data comes via the notorious MJ12 documents. I'm not talking about the original documents (the Eisenhower Briefing Document and the Truman memo) that first publicly surfaced in Tim Good's 1987 book, Above Top Secret, and that shortly afterwards surfaced just about here, there and everywhere.

Rather, I'm talking about the even more controversial collection that came to researchers Dr. Robert Wood and Ryan Wood via UFO researcher Timothy Cooper in the mid-to-late-1990s.

There seem to be four prevailing theories regarding the Cooper documents: (a) that they are the real thing (unlikely); (b) that they are government disinformation (not impossible); (c) that they are the work of someone in the public UFO arena acting alone, and who - by creating the documents - was intent on helping to champion Roswell as an alien event (interesting and plausible); and (d) that they were still the work of someone within Ufology, but who was getting the data for inclusion in the documents from old-timers who wanted to spill the beans, but in a fashion that would not come back and haunt them and provoke a government-driven backlash.

Frankly, I'm not sure where I stand on all this, beyond stating that I don't believe the documents to be authentic, original documents. I have seen some intriguing testimony that suggests the creator of the documents may have been privy to startling insider data on UFOs, and duly used this to weave the documents for their own somewhat obscure reasons. And that's something to bear in mind as we now we come to the main part of the story.

Of the near-Aladdin's Cave of documents that Cooper had in his possession, one is a highly-controversial (for its spelling errors, several date formats used throughout the document, and more) paper titled Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit Summary of 1947.

As you might guess by its title and date, the IPU summary describes the events that have come to be known collectively as the Roswell Incident. It provides names, dates, places and events that tell an extraordinary story - and it's a story that some support, many dismiss as outright fabrication, and even more have forgotten, 15-years after the files surfaced.

But, there's one very intriguing entry in the document. It appears in the last-but-one paragraph of the IPU report, and is presented as, essentially, the tentative conclusions of officialdom regarding what did, or did not, come down outside of Roswell in 1947.

It states:

"Our assessment of this investigation rests on two assumptions: 1) Either this discovery was an elaborate and well orchestrated hoax (maybe by the Russians), or; 2) Our country has played host to beings from another planet."

As I mentioned, the Cooper collection of MJ12 material is as intriguing as it is controversial. But, I do find it very thought-provoking that (regardless of who wrote or created the documents, and for whatever purpose - obscure or otherwise) the IPU document suggested that U.S. authorities had allegedly addressed the idea that the Roswell event was borne out of a "well orchestrated hoax (maybe by the Russians)."

This is, of course, all very relevant to the story told to Annie Jacobsen, and cited in her Area 51 book. Did her source seen the IPU document at some point? Did her source have access to further files (or testimony) relative to how this determination of a Russian hoax had been made? What was it that prompted the creator of the IPU document to include that particular data on the "Russian hoax" in its pages? Are the MJ12-Cooper files nothing more than fabrications, or is the revelation above indicative of something weirder going on?

I don't know, but I intend to keep digging - very, very deeply...

New Book: Roswell Was Secret Experiment

2011-05-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

In yet another intriguing twist in the seemingly never-ending saga that goes by the name of "Roswell," we see a new story that - in several respects, at least - dovetails closely with at least some of the data contained in my own (2005) book on Roswell: Body Snatchers in the Desert.

The latest story appears in a newly-published book from author Annie Jacobsen, titled Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base. The book includes a thought-provoking story suggesting that the Roswell craft and bodies were, in reality, the diabolical creations of a near-Faustian pact between the notorious Nazi (and "Angel of Death)," Dr. Josef Mengele and Soviet premier, Joseph Stalin.

The purpose of this early Cold War plan: to plunge the United States into a kind of War of the Worlds-style panic (echoing the Orson Welles affair of 1938) by trying to convince the U.S. Government that aliens were invading.

And how would the plan work? By placing grossly deformed children (courtesy of the crazed Mengele) inside a futuristic-looking aircraft designed by the brilliant aviation experts, the Horten brothers, and then try and convince the U.S. of the alien origins of both. Unfortunately for Stalin, the plot failed when a storm brought down the craft and its "crew" in the wilds of New Mexico, an event that did not lead to widespread panic, but that instead was hastily covered-up by U.S. military authorities.

Is the story true? Was Jacobsen duped? Is it a blend of fact and fiction specifically weaved by government insiders to even further confuse the true nature of what did, or did not, happen outside of Roswell back in the summer of 1947?

I don't know, but it's intriguing that several central themes of the story divulged to Jacobsen parallel some of the data provided to me for use in my Body Snatchers in the Desert book back in 2005.

Although my book chiefly focuses on alleged diabolical human-experimentation undertaken by the Japanese during - and shortly after - the Second World War by its beyond-notorious Unit 731, I do focus to a significant degree on the two issues that are central to the data that was provided to Jacobsen, as I'll now demonstrate.

Number 1, The Horten Brothers: As my book reveals (page 149), two of the old-timers from U.S. Intelligence I interviewed said that (quote), "...at least two of the aircraft that were test-flown at [the] White Sands [Missile Range] in 1947 and led to the legend of the Roswell Incident, were based upon the revolutionary aircraft designs of the Horten brothers, Reimer and Walter."

Number 2, The Crew/Bodies: As I note, one of my informants said of the Roswell bodies that, "...there was no doubt that they were human - handicapped humans - and from Japan or China, I would say to you. Some were obviously the result of inbreeding and some showed characteristics of larger heads, some what I now know to be Progeria, six fingers; all kinds of syndromes."

Progeria (as this link demonstrates) is chiefly a condition that affects children - the reason being that those affected by Progeria simply do not (for the most part) reach adulthood, as a result of the ways in which it ravages the human body. Progeria also causes the person to exhibit certain symptoms: a dwarf-like body, an enlarged head, and a lack of hair - all reportedly characteristics of the Roswell "crew."

I also relate, in Body Snatchers in the Desert, the weird saga of one Bernard Newman that, to a degree, echoes the Stalin angle - namely to create a staged, alien event to influence and provoke government concern and response.

Published in Britain in June 1948, Bernard Newman’s novel, The Flying Saucer, was the first in the world to deal with the emotive topic of crashed flying saucers.

The book tells the tale of an elite group of scientists that decide to “stage” a series of faked flying saucer crashes, with the express purpose of attempting to unite the world against a deadly foe that, in reality, does not exist.

The Flying Saucer begins with a series of worldwide “UFO crashes” (involving distinctly terrestrial vehicles built for this specific task): the first in England, the second in New Mexico, and the third in Russia. The “crash sites” are carefully chosen and involve all of the three major powers that emerged out of the carnage of the Second World War. But, the work of the scientists is only just beginning.

Not content with creating its bogus UFO crashes, the team takes things one step further and constructs a faked “alien body” that is pulverized in one of the crashes, and is then presented to the world’s scientific community as evidence of the alien origin of the creatures that pilot the craft.

As a result of these events - and with remarkable speed - the many and varied differences between the governments of the Earth dissolve under the “Martian” threat and the final chapter of Newman’s book sees practically every international political problem hastily resolved.

So, we have a story told to me (between 2001 and 2004, and published in 2005 in Body Snatchers in the Desert), and a story provided to Annie Jacobsen and newly-published.

Yes, of course, there are big differences: in Jacobsen's book the Roswell event is the result of a failed Soviet, Cold War-era deception, and in my book the incident results from the equal failure of a secret, domestic operation.

Weird-looking aircraft designed and built by the Horten brothers, handicapped children with large heads and dwarfish bodies, and faked UFO events: key components of two stories told to two authors, and both linked with Roswell.

Are we seeing evidence of governmental deception, perhaps of a definitively psychological warfare nature? Is one story true and the other a mutated, distorted version of the truth, but spread and carefully altered by disinformation artists at an official level to confuse the Roswell saga even more?

I do not know. But I suspect the "human experiment" angle of Roswell is set to be deeply scrutinized yet again...

SOURCES:

Body Snatchers in the Desert, Nick Redfern, Simon & Schuster, 2005.

Area 51, Annie Jacobsen, Little, Brown & Company, 2011.

The Flying Saucer, Bernard Newman, Gollanz, 1948.

The Mystic and the Spy: Two Early British UFO Writers, Philip Taylor, Magonia, Winter 1997.

Roswell: An Endless enigma

2010-04-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Over at The UFO Iconoclast(s) I have a new article titled Why Roswell Will Never Be Solved.

And, with a blog-post title like that, you might think I have given up the hunt, lost my enthusiasm, or taken on a decidedly pessimistic approach to Roswell. I would, however, strongly disagree. Rather, my words are borne out of what I would say is a realistic and practical approach to the Roswell debate - or, perhaps, the Roswell problem is a better term.

And here's why I am certain that Roswell will never be resolved.

Roswell and the Reich

2010-02-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

Next month sees the launch of Joseph Farrell's new book, Roswell and the Reich: The Nazi Connection which offers a down-to-earth explanation for Roswell, one involving secret experimentation developed by Nazi Germany.

Here's the Amazon link for those who want to purchase the book, and as soon as I have read it, I'll be reviewing it right here.

In the meantime, here's the publisher's blurb for Roswell and the Reich:

"Physicist and Oxford-educated historian Farrell continues his best-selling series of exposes on secret Nazi technology, Nazi survival, and postwar Nazi operations such as German survival and Project Paperclip with the newly formed CIA and other defense/military establishments. In Roswell and the Reich alternative science and history researcher Joseph P Farrell presents a very different scenario of what crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in July 1947, and why the U.S. military has continued its cover-up to this day. By means of a meticulous review of the best-known Roswell research from both UFO-ET advocates and skeptics alike, as well as some not-so-well known Roswell research, Farrell presents a fascinating case sure to disturb both ET believer and skeptic alike, namely, that what crashed may have been representative of an independent postwar Nazi power, an extraterritorial Reich monitoring its old enemy, America, and its continuing developments of the very technologies it confiscated from Germany at the end of the war."

Unit 731: Breaking News

2010-02-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest news on what's going on in the seemingly never-ending story of Japan's Unit 731...

A Rocket at Roswell?

2009-10-22T12:57:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought that there couldn’t be another aspect to the controversy of what did - or did not - happen at Roswell, New Mexico in July 1947, along comes this…

As I state in the article, in part:

“Up until now, however, the story I am about to relate has remained curiously absent from the ufological research field. Why, I do not know; since those who had an awareness of it all those years ago could have easily spilled the beans back then.

“Many readers of this post will be very surprised to learn that, around a decade ago, select portions of a draft-document of questionable origins were made available to a number of UFO researchers across the United States - a document supposedly having been written by (and 'leaked' by) a CIA source known as the 'Blue Boy.' I was not one of those researchers; however, a copy of the draft was made available to me six or seven years ago.

“Highly dubious of its validity, however, I have not highlighted it until now.”

Japan-Roswell Revelations?

2009-10-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

From today's Anomalist:

Roswell Whistleblower: The Real Story, From The Documents Above Top Secret. Former Department of Defense research librarian, Douglas Dietrich, provides information gained from handling top-secret documents about the incident in Roswell, NM. His account seems to confirm the rumors that the government was testing acquired WWII technology in New Mexico. Could Nick Refern's thesis about Roswell, which he presented in Body Snatchers in the Desert, be correct after all? Dietrich can be seen in many other YouTube videos, beginning with Douglas Dietrich Responds To ATS comments! MUST SEE!!! part 1/12.

Sunshine Secrets

2009-09-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

Over at The Anomalist today:

Body Snatching of the Documented Kind The UFO Reality. Nick Redfern replies to the critics who said there no evidence to support the notion, which was presented in his book Body Snatchers in the Desert, that diabolical human-experimentation was the cause of the Roswell controversy and that government and military agencies would never engage in - or sanction - such terrible actions. His evidence, not directly allied with the events described in his book, is the history and activities of Project Sunshine, a horrifying example of the way human beings and bodies were experimented upon and utilized during the Cold War.

Roswell: A Valid Question

2009-08-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

Over at The UFO Iconoclasts, the RRR Group asks a valid question: if the debris, and possibly bodies and craft, recovered outside of Roswell, New Mexico in the summer of 1947 had extra-terrestrial origins, then why did the aliens’ comrades fail to attempt to recover the priceless materials before elements of the U.S. military appeared on the scene?

Of course, if ET did crash, then a number of possibilities do spring to mind:

1. The aliens wanted to introduce themselves to us in the form of a staged-crash, and as vulnerable, mortal beings, to whom we could possibly relate, and without being confronted by infinitely advanced intelligences.

2. The event was the result of some “Trojan Horse” scenario - also staged by the other-worldly ones, but for more sinister purposes - such as attempting to expose us to alien viruses, but in a seemingly innocent and accidental fashion?

3. The aliens, far away from home, may not actually have been too far in advance of us - perhaps a century or so - and simply didn’t have the adequate resources and reserves at-hand to engage in a hasty retrieval.

There is another theory: aliens didn’t try and recover the Roswell wreckage because…what happened at Roswell didn’t involve aliens…

Body Snatchers in Japan

2009-08-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

For those who may be interested, a Japanese edition of my Body Snatchers in the Desert book has just been published. It will be interesting to see if this results in any more data coming forward on this particular aspect of the Roswell affair...

For more data on this edition, click here.

Roswell and the Cold War

2009-06-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

Bruce Duensing with a highly thought-provoking article on Roswell and Cold War deception...

Memory Metal & Roswell

2009-05-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have been following the debate/postings over at Rich Reynolds’ UFO Iconoclast(s) on the latest Roswell revelations relating to the so-called “Memory Metal;” Nitinol; and Battelle.

Rich has just posted a new article from me that offers my thoughts and opinions on the Nitinol/”Memory Metal” saga, and which can be found right here.

The Ramey Memo

2009-05-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

There's a lively debate going on over at Kevin Randle's A Different Perspective blog on the "Ramey Memo" controversy - the "Comments" section of which has a discussion of some aspects of Body Snatchers.

Body Snatchers Comments

2009-05-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

Tony Bragalia has a new post over at UFO Iconoclasts that delves into the whole Nazi UFO angle of Ufology, and which is in part focused on my Body Snatchers in the Desert book. Tony's posting (like those of so many within Ufology!) is not supportive of the Unit 731-Roswell connection.

Body Snatchers: A New Interview

2009-05-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago Greg Taylor of The Daily Grail interviewed me about my research into Roswell, and specifically the data contained in my Body Snatchers in the Desert book, and the brand new data that has surfaced on this aspect of Roswell since the book first surfaced four years ago.

We get into a lot of areas, including:

1. New documents I have uncovered that demonstrate a Lincoln County, New Mexico/Unit 731 link;

2. The implications for Ufology if Roswell collapses (as a UFO event, at least);

3. The response to my book when it was published;

4. The possibility of a psy-op involvement, and much more.

Here's the link to the complete article; and as a taster, here's a brief extract below:

"I think the new data - such as that relating to official documents concerning Unit 731 and Japanese balloon-flights in not just New Mexico, but at Lincoln County, NM, too - is very important, and for several reasons. One: it adds to the general scenario given to me half a decade or more ago. And, two: who could have predicted back in 2005 that official files with a specific Unit 731/Lincoln County link would surface several years later? For me at least, that adds weight to the claims of a Japanese connection to Roswell."

(NOTE: The photo above is of Shiro Ishii, the commander of Unit 731.)

Roswell: A Quest for the Truth

2009-04-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Right now, I'm reading a very interesting - and very personalized - book on the events of July 1947: Roswell - A Quest for the Truth, written by John A. Price.

I had actually overlooked the book when it was published back in 1997 (it was recently brought to my attention by a fellow-researcher); however, reading it now reveals some intriguing data that may be of relevance to that which is contained in my own Body Snatchers in the Desert.

For example, on pages 31-32 of the book, Price recalls how, in 1978, and while working as a roofer at Hingerman (a small town southeast of Roswell), he witnessed at one particular home several unusual-looking, deformed children.

In Price's own words, they were around "four and one-half feet tall," "had larger heads;" and "were completely hairless." Also: "...their noses and ears were very small."

Interestingly, he added: "They were the closest I've ever seen who looked alien to me. I knew they were not."

Further on in the book (in a chapter specifically titled Was it Ours?), Price quotes from the letter of a man who advised him that "...the aliens I was looking for were at Fort Stanton."

Fort Stanton, as I have noted previously at this blog - and as I detail in my brand-new Darklore article on Roswell for Greg Taylor - was home during the Second World War to Japanese individuals and, later to physically-handicapped people, too.

The letter-writer added to Price that with respect to Fort Stanton: "...There were some pretty deformed young men there...mongoloid large heads, small ears, pin heads who could function and had shrill voices. They were supposed to be of incest, but from their looks - Outa-space."

Is Price's collective data on this matter of relevance to the data contained within the pages of Body Snatchers in the Desert? Those who support an other-worldly scenario for Roswell would, of course, say "No!"

However, I'm inclined to ask: what are the chances of aliens from some far-off world (with large heads, small ears, and dwarfish bodies) turning up in the same location as human-beings seemingly exhibiting similar characteristics?

Personally, I'd say the chances are slim to zero...

Roswell in Darklore

2009-04-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

The new volume of Greg Taylor's Darklore is now available and includes a chapter from me that greatly expands upon the data published in my controversial book, Body Snatchers in the Desert.

Secret Japanese balloon flights; FOIA documents linking Japan's notorious Unit 731 with disturbing events at "Roswell-Central" - Lincoln County, New Mexico; and official files concerning dwarfs used in radiation experiments in the summer of 1947, are just the tip of a large and ever-growing iceberg.

And, here's Greg himself to tell you more:

"Forget that other announcement about an impending book by Dan Whatisname - I've got the goods for you, and you can have it now. That's right, Darklore Volume 3 is now available for sale!

"Hidden history, the paranormal and Forteana, all packed into 316 fascinating pages of fun. As with previous releases, DL3 is available in paperback format, or as a limited edition hardcover, restricted to just 333 copies, for all the collectors out there."

Amazon US Limited Edition Hardcover

Amazon US Paperback

Amazon UK Limited Edition Hardcover

Amazon UK Paperback

"Here's a sampling of the kick-ass content in Volume 3:

"Nick Redfern has some groundbreaking revelations about the Roswell mystery, which suggest that what happened in New Mexico was completely human, and rather nasty to boot. This one is going to cause plenty of controversy!

"Robert Bauval investigates the missing sarcophagus of the Egyptian pharaoh Menkaure.

"Mike Jay takes a look at how the world's most famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, had quite a raging cocaine habit.

"Robert Schoch finds a sacred Egyptian locale which may have provided the setting for the Biblical tale of Moses upon the mountain.

"Theo Paijmans examines the occult roots of Nazi technology.

"Greg Taylor goes in search of near-death experiences, before they were known to the general public.

"The Emperor looks at what may be the greatest sci-fi tale ever told: The Philadelphia Experiment.

"Adam Gorightly digs deep into sordid tales of sex, drugs and UFOs.

"Greg Bishop profiles the 'Magus of Delaware', Mario Pazzaglini.

"Geoff Falla finds interesting connections between earthquakes and meteor reports.

"Blair MacKenzie Blake opens his rare-book collection to give us all a glimpse into the strange circumstances surrounding the legendary 'Varo Edition' of UFO investigator M.K. Jessup's book The Case for the UFO.

"Philip Coppens traces the forgotten (or is that hidden?!) traditions surrounding the star Canopus.

"Michael Tymn tells a tale of archaeology from beyond the grave.

"Neil Arnold goes in search of Dutch monsters in his article 'Neverland in the Netherlands'.

"Once again, it's a great mix of subjects, from some of the best researchers and writers in the field. I'll be posting some free content from DL3 later in the week, just in case you're not convinced by the above.

"I really appreciate the support everyone has shown for Darklore so far (Volume 1 has now sold around 1500 copies), and I'm sure that Volume 3 will give you plenty of enjoyment. Each release we're aiming to be bigger and better, so please don't hesitate to send feedback - good or bad - on what you think of the anthology.

"Lastly, for those who think the cover image is pretty sweet, I'll be posting some desktop wallpaper versions tomorrow for downloading.

"Let's see if we can give that Brown fellow a run for his money in the Amazon rankings (hey, I can dream can't I?)...."

Roswell in "Paranoia"

2009-04-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

The latest issue of Paranoia magazine (issue 50, Spring 2009) includes an interesting article from researcher Kathy Kasten titled Demystifying the Myth Called Roswell, and which states in part:

"My research has uncovered the fact that the American Government was testing many different types of aircraft at the time of the Roswell crash; some of it for the purpose of forming the basis for a future space program, and perhaps even one that involved American-Japanese ex-internees from a New Mexico secret detention camp."

Check it out for yet another highly intriguing lead linking Roswell with Japan...

Mac on Body Snatchers

2009-02-19T14:32:00.001-08:00

Mac Tonnies comments on my Body Snatchers in the Desert book:

"The events at Roswell in the summer of 1947 -- dawn of the modern era of UFO sightings -- constitute a daunting mystery that has come to adopt the trappings of myth. While some evidence suggests a nonhuman presence in the New Mexico desert, alternative hypotheses abound. Nick Redfern's Body Snatchers in the Desert, a disturbing book that re-examines the case in light of the military secrecy prevalent at the time of the crash, posits that the supposed 'alien' bodies were in fact those of unwitting Japanese test subjects who perished in an aerospace mishap. Although subjected to much criticism (mostly from within the UFO community), Redfern's hypothesis has yet to evaporate. Even if it ultimately fails to explain the eponymous 'Roswell incident,' it might lead to a broadened understanding of the military's role in the American Southwest at the beginning of the Cold War."

Beyond Body Snatchers...

2009-01-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

Coming Soon: Yet more revelations of a Body Snatchers nature...

Uncanny Roswell

2009-01-22T13:36:00.001-08:00

Here’s a new book to which I have contributed two chapters: Uncanny Encounters: Roswell.

The book has an interesting concept: while my contributions are specifically on what we know (or think we know!) about Roswell in the world of fact, the other authors have all penned sci-fi/fantasy fiction stories borne out of the Roswell legend.

As the publisher states:

“Where Fact Meets Fiction. Join our panel of award winning authors as they explore the Roswell crash both historically and through the lens of science fiction & fantasy. History by noted researcher Nick Redfern plus stories by Robert E. Vardeman, Jean Rabe, and Stephen D. Sullivan. Believer or skeptic, this book is sure to provide new insights on the most famous UFO incident in history!”

Here’s the link if you want to buy your own copy.

Roswell: Coming Soon!

2009-01-05T12:48:00.001-08:00

Aztec Back in Print

2008-08-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

I was recently interviewed for a new edition of Frank Scully's old-time UFO book, Behind the Flying Saucers, which was the first title to address the controversy surrounding the alleged UFO crash at Aztec, New Mexico in 1948.

As I point out in Body Snatchers in the Desert, there is a small-but-intriguing body of evidence suggesting that the telling of the Aztec story might very well have been encouraged by the Intelligence world to steer people away from the more down-to-earth and controversial truth behind the late 1940s "UFO crashes."

Here's the Amazon link for those who might want to buy the new edition of Scully's book. And here's what Tim Green Beckley (who is republishing the book) has to say about it:

"The CONSPIRACY JOURNAL is very proud to offer this expanded version of perhaps the most seminal book in the history of the unexplained . . . a case that now stands right beside the UFO crash at Roswell, MN for its credibility and veracity. For years the Aztec case was spurned by serious researchers who did not have access to all the information now available on the crash. . . In addition to reprinting the entire, unabridged, text to the rare 50s Scully book (reset in an easy to read, 'large print,' large format edition) journalist Sean Casteel has dug deep to provide the reader with an updated account of what really happened outside this isolated desert town near the Four Corners. His up to date research on Aztec includes material supplied by such outstanding researchers as NICK REDFERN -- STANTON FRIEDMAN -- ART CAMPBELL -- SCOTT and SUZANNE RAMSEY." --Tim Beckley, Conspiracy Journal.

Tim continues:

"AN IMPORTANT RE-EXAMINATION OF AN HISTORICAL UFO CASE! - - - Were 16 alien bodies recovered from a dome-shaped device that crashed near the town of Aztec, New Mexico circa 1948? . . . Why does the FBI continue to withhold 200 pages of classified material on the case for alleged 'national security reasons?' . . . Was the incident covered up with a camouflaged 'front story' presided over by con men and scam artists, who were perhaps in the government's 'back pocket?' . . . Did President Eisenhower make contact with aliens around the same time, thus adding weight to this and other UFO crash cases?"

Cadavers, Experiments and More...

2008-07-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

In my book Body Snatchers in the Desert I made a passing reference to a story concerning the alleged transfer to Los Alamos, New Mexico (between 1945 and 1947) of what were rumored to be a number of refrigerated Japanese cadavers used in secret experimentation. Outrageous? Some thought so; but now there's this...

Roswell & Body Snatchers at The Daily Grail

2008-07-11T07:18:00.001-07:00

I was interviewed a few days ago by The Daily Grail. In the interview we discussed Roswell, and - in part - here's what I had to say about the 61-year-old case:

"...what I do think is that the more and more time passes, the less chance we have of resolving the older cases. That isn’t being defeatist: it’s just a fact! Look at Roswell: something clearly happened, and I’m personally convinced it was something highly controversial, and probably a down-to-earth event rather than ET.

"But, look at the cold, hard facts: nearly all of the players are dead, the government steadfastly refuses to say it was anything other than Mogul balloons and crash-test-dummies, and we have no official files on the case to suggest otherwise.

"So, short of someone on the inside leaking the goods to us, we are at complete stalemate. So, in a sense, a case like Roswell is obsolete because – no matter how significant it could be in theory – in practice it isn’t going to go anywhere anymore. And loftily demanding that the government 'tell us the truth' is utterly laughable and naive.

"Plus, witness testimony alone for Roswell will never prove ufology’s case: only a corpse or an undeniable old file will do that. I have mentioned to other people that I see Roswell as a ufological Jack the Ripper: everyone has heard of it, it happened a long time ago, there are a lot of theories, everyone is dead (mainly), there are countless books on the subject, but the mystery never gets fully solved and laid to rest. And as more time passes, so does the chance of resolving it."

And here's the rest of the interview.

The Roswell Legacy

2008-07-10T14:07:00.001-07:00

Well, I just now received in the mail an "advance uncorrected proof" (in Word.doc form) copy of a forthcoming book titled The Roswell Legacy: The Untold Story of the First Military Officer at the 1947 Crash Site, written by Jesse Marcel, Jr., and Linda Marcel, and with a foreword from Stan Friedman.

As the publisher tells me: "In his page-turning, thriller of a non-fiction book, Marcel, Jr. explains the government cover-up and the people involved; backs up his father's knowledge and expertise as an investigator; and portrays other frightening UFO sightings. He ends the book by describing his recent, hair-raising encounter with a high U.S. official who gives the author a glimpse into a Pandora's Box of covertly funded "black government" activities that include hiding the Roswell Incident."

The book isn't actually published until September, so I'm not sure why the publisher has sent me a copy now in Word form. But, hey, I'm not complaining! As soon as time allows, I will digest and review...

Paul Kimball On Why Roswell Was Not ET

2008-06-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Canadian Paul Kimball is a good friend of mine. We agree on some ufological issues and disagree on others. And it's fair to say that when it comes to Roswell, we both agree and disagree. In other words, it a bit of a, ahem, "gray" area...

Basically, we are both in agreement that nothing of an extraterrestrial nature came down at Roswell. However, Paul does not subscribe to the theories - nor does he agree with the testimony - presented within the pages of my Body Snatchers in the Desert.

Nevertheless, and despite our Roswellian differences, Paul makes a good case as to why Roswell was not an ET-related event in a new article titled (what else?!) Why the "Roswell Incident" was not a crashed ET spacecraft.

Commenting on one of the difficult questions for pro-ETHers (namely the issue of why, if Roswell was E.T. in origin, did the aliens not recover the wreckage and bodies before the U.S. military arrived on the scene?) he says:

"...surely they would have moved to recover any crashed excursion module as quickly as possible, a process which, considering the advanced technology that the aliens must possess in order to get 'here' from 'there' is something that they would have accomplished before Mack Brazel discovered the debris field and then altered the military, even if that involved simply disintegrating the debris field so as to leave no trace behind of the crash."

It's a damned good question.

And, of course, there are a number of possibilities. But, to my mind - and Paul's - the reason why aliens did not race to recover the Roswell wreckage before the military was able to get its hand on the material is very simple: the Roswell wreckage wasn't alien.

MJ12 and the FBI: The 1991 Documents

2008-06-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Although it has been reported in a number of books (including my own Body Snatchers in the Desert) that the FBI conducted an investigation - in 1988 - of the infamous Majestic 12 documents, much less well known is the fact that the FBI was tasked with looking into MJ12 again - in 1991.

The 1991 files reveal that, somewhat oddly, on the morning of 18 October 1991 a man (whose name is deleted from the relevant FBI documents that have been declassified via the terms of the Freedom of Information Act) who lived and worked in Salt Lake City, Utah had been walking "through the lobby of his place of employment" when he found copies of the MJ12 documents "lying on the lobby floor."

His response: he contacted the FBI.

As was the case in 1988, the FBI began asking questions - on this occasion, with the Department of Defense - as it sought to get the answers. As in 1988, the FBI was informed that the documents were utterly bogus.

Rather tellingly, a comment on one of the internal FBI documents (that is now declassified) states: "The fact that this Airtel is dated on Halloween day is purely coincidental; it could have been worse and dated on the first of April."

You Can't Please Them All...

2008-05-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ufology, as a collective body of souls, was hardly enamored by my Body Snatchers in the Desert. And here's the latest commentary.

Roswell, Body Snatchers and Culture of Contact

2008-05-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Over at my new blog at Culture of Contact (titled Nick Redfern's On Something) you can find a new article from me that lists the three things I hate most of all about Ufology.

Roswell is my Number One.

As I say in the article:

"If Roswell collapsed tomorrow as a UFO event – and I mean conclusively collapsed – would we see widespread shock and dismay from the UFO research community? Yes. Would we see overwhelming disillusionment amongst the ET faithful? I’m certain we would. And would that same ET element suffer massively as a result? Of course! But that’s exactly what happens when you build something up to such a level: when it comes crashing down to earth, the fallout is both widespread and devastating. Yes: rather like the debris field on the Foster Ranch, ironically."

Here's a link to the complete article.

Interview Online

2008-05-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, I was interviewed by Ghost-Mysteries.com about my research into UFOs and cryptozoology. The interview has now been posted online and can be found here. Towards the end of the interview, we get into a discussion of my research into Roswell, Japan's Unit 731, and my Body Snatchers in the Desert book.

Going Offline

2008-04-23T05:26:00.001-07:00

I'll be offline from now until next Tuesday.

The Mammoth Book of Cover-ups Tackles Roswell

2008-04-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

This new book, The Mammoth Book of Cover-Ups, includes a section on Roswell. I haven't seen it yet, but for Roswell devotees it's one you'll likely want to read.

The Roswell UFO Festival: July 4 to 6

2008-04-02T11:56:00.000-07:00

Guy Malone updates on what’s going on at the Roswell UFO Festival this coming July:

Greetings from sunny Roswell New Mexico!
Plans for the 2008 Roswell UFO Festival are well underway, and many of the details are firmed up enough to share, with still more being finalized.
Musically, Element 115 and Ufoetry will be performing, and initial details are listed now at http://www.roswellufofestival.com
You’ll also see a link on the right side of the page to “UFO Festival Speakers,” with dates (July 4-6) and pre-registration info for the CE4 conference, themed “Contact : The Evidence. The Message” Speakers include Dennis Balthaser, Mike Bara, Greg Bishop, Donald Burleson, John Carpenter, Karyn Dolan, Richard Dolan, David Flynn, Paola Harris, Joe Jordan, Dave Ruffino, Alejandro Rojas, Farah Yurdozu, Debbie Zigelmeir, Chuck Zukowski - Peter Robbins, mc.
More events will be announced on The City’s new and separate website (still under construction), but The Roswell Daily Record reported this week: “Some of the events planned for the 4-day gala are an alien village at DeBremmond Stadium, entertainment by the vocal group UFOetry at the Convention and Visitors Center, an alien encounter haunted house, a light parade down Main Street, the Fourth of July celebration and the showing of the 1994 made-for-TV movie, ‘Roswell.’”
The UFO Museum will also be planning events July 4-8 and most likely speakers as well, but no info is yet available on their website.
I’ll do my best to keep you posted on all developments. Please note that http://www.roswellufofestival.com is an independent site right now, not affiliated with The City of Roswell nor The UFO Museum. BUT I’m stalking them on your behalf.
For those interested, I’ve also added the text of the 1947 Roswell Daily Record UFO articles to this website in case you’ve never actually read them, as well as a link for purchasing souvenir reproductions directly from the RDR.
Happy spring to you, and hope to see you this summer!
Best,Guy Maloneaka http://www.AlienStranger.com

Human Experimentation: A Sordid Story

2008-03-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

If you thought that disturbing and shocking experimentation of the type outlined in Body Snatchers in the Desert could never occur on American soil, you are very wrong or sadly deluded. Check out this for just a few of the dark things that have gone on behind closed doors...

UFOs? No: Balloons

2008-02-27T06:07:00.000-08:00

Roswell was not the only supposed UFO event that, in reality, had a balloon link. There are these cases, too.

Roswell: The Debris Field

2008-02-21T06:38:00.000-08:00

The controversy surrounding the so-called Roswell "debris field" is under the microscope again.

Jacques Vallee on Roswell

2008-02-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

Check out Jacques Vallee's interview on Coast to Coast two days ago for his notable comments and observations on the Roswell controversy. It's available as a handy MP3 download. While many of the "I want to believe" crowd will disagree with him, Vallee is right on target.

Japanese Balloon-Bombs in the News

2008-02-14T18:59:00.000-08:00

Japanese Balloon-Bombs in the Media...

Alien Worlds: On Sale Today

2008-02-08T08:22:00.000-08:00

Alien Worlds (see my post directly below for Body Snatchers in the Desert relevancy) goes on sale today.

Alien Worlds and Roswell

2008-02-04T10:34:00.001-08:00

Alien Worlds is the new magazine from Stuart Miller. The first issue goes on sale in a few days time and includes from me an article that reveals the very latest news (and highly intriguing new documentation) relating to my Body Snatchers in the Desert book.

New Revelations on the Human Experimentation Angle of Roswell

2008-01-08T05:45:00.001-08:00

A new and intriguing piece on the human experimentation angle of Roswell.

The Aeroshell

2007-12-30T12:55:00.001-08:00

Roswell authority Kevin Randle discusses an unusual, Flying Saucer-like craft tested at the White Sands Missile Range. It was from White Sands, I was informed, that the balloon-based flights that led to the legend of the events at Roswell, NM in 1947 were launched.

Round Table Reviews on Body Snatchers

2007-12-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

Body Snatchers in the Desert: A Round Table Review.

Unit 731, UFOs, the FOIA and the National Security Agency

2007-12-21T09:24:00.001-08:00

This is interesting: this link at the official website of the ultra-secret National Security Agency will take you to a section of their site that deals with Freedom of Information Act requests.
As you'll also note, the NSA has titled the section: "UFO Related Information (No Records Exist)."
Notably, it's all listed alphabetically; and if you scroll down to the "U" section you'll see that someone requested information from the NSA on Japan's notorious Unit 731 - whose work formed the crux of my Body Snatchers in the Desert book.
How intriguing that the NSA should list the Unit 731 FOIA request in the "UFO Related Information" section.
Did the requester ask for any documentation that specifically linked Unit 731 with Roswell? And if so, was that the reason why the Unit 731 data was listed on that particular UFO-related web-page by the NSA?
Or, does the NSA have its own reasons, and knowledge, for linking UFOs and Unit 731 under one banner...?

"Alien Worlds" Magazine - Coming Soon With Roswell Revelations...

2007-12-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

Alien Worlds magazine is an exciting new venture courtesy of Britain's Stuart Miller (editor of UFO Review). The magazine is a professional, glossy-covered publication that goes on sale in February, on a bi-monthly basis, and in numerous countries. Good job, Stuart!
For more details, click here and here.
In the first issue, you will be able to read a controversial article from me on Body Snatchers in the Desert.
At the website of Alien Worlds, Stuart provides you with a taste of what the article will contain.
In Stuart's own words...

In 2005, when Nick Redfern published Body Snatchers in the Desert, he caused a storm and attracted both praise and abuse – mostly the latter.
Nick presented the theory that what happened at Roswell was nothing to do with an alien space ship crash but everything to do with secret experiments the American army were conducting on experimental nuclear powered aircraft and the human body’s ability to withstand exposure to radiation.
To do this, they used living, deformed and sick prisoners of war captured from the Japanese at the end of WW2 – the “aliens” that so many witnesses claimed to see. That was the big secret of Roswell – the very practices that the Nazis and the Japanese had been condemned for, the Americans were now employing in 1947, and on American soil.
The “problem” for Nick was that his theory made sense, but when you undermine a belief system that has held sway for 60 years, you invite trouble.
Furthermore, his testimony was based on the statements of former intelligence personnel and a Los Alamos employee, who were anonymous, although known to Nick. To back it up, he had little by way of documentary evidence.
In the two years since publication however, much has happened. More people have come forward and documents have begun to surface, all of which go to confirm Nick’s original explanation.
In this in depth, specially written piece, Nick updates us on what has occurred since Body Snatchers first came out and what new evidence has subsequently emerged, as the “alien event” theory gradually recedes into the Roswell tourist landscape and the focus on the reality of America’s post war misdeeds continues to sharpen.

Unit 731 in the News

2007-12-14T11:22:00.001-08:00

The medical atrocities of Japan's Unit 731 continue to make the news.

Japan's Secret Wartime Weaponry

2007-12-14T11:18:00.001-08:00

For those interested in learning more about the many and varied secret weaponry that Japan was working on during the Second World War, click here.

The Mother of all Crashes...

2007-12-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

Philip Coppens delves into the Roswell affair, Body Snatchers in the Desert, and official disinformation.

Fugo Balloons, Roswell and You Tube

2007-12-10T18:29:00.000-08:00

You Tube, Japanese balloons and Roswell...

Advanced German Technology: Paradigm Probe reports...

2007-12-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

Over at Paradigm Probe, an interesting series of articles can be found on advanced technologies that the Nazis were working on in the closing stages of the Second World War and that may have been inherited by the Allies...

Darklore and Roswell

2007-11-30T14:24:00.001-08:00

Dark Lore is an excellent new publication that is the brainchild of Greg Taylor of The Daily Grail.
The book contains a fascinating chapter by Blair MacKenzie Blake titled Incredible As It May Seem which offers an intriguing, and seldom-discussed theory for Roswell that is connected with a relatively obscure UFO novel titled The Flying Saucer that was written by Bernard Newman (an author with some intriguing intelligence ties) and published in 1948.
Blair spends quite a bit of time discussing my Body Snatchers in the Desert in what is a highly thought-provoking paper.
Dark Lore is definitely a book well worth investing your money in.

Fugos and Saucers

2007-11-30T14:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a very good article on Japan's Fugo balloons, with data on the 1947 Flying Saucer wave.

The FBI, Flying Discs and Fugo Balloons

2007-11-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

Here's something I wrote a while back, but I still consider it to be wholly valid:

"I want to draw your attention to the fact that even the FBI drew a parallel between the investigation of UFOs in the summer of 1947 and the Japanese Balloon wave of a few years earlier.

"The document quoted below shows that in the period of summer 1947 there was a 'mindset' that suggested disc sightings were not unlike the Japanese Fugo balloon sightings and investigations of a couple of years earlier.

"This demonstrates why - possibly - some people in the official world (even perhaps at the Roswell Army Air Field) made a psychological association between discs and balloons in the early period of summer 1947 and why they might have thought the 2 were connected (hence the Roswell Press Release). The following is extracted from a 1947 FBI document."

It is felt that the situation regarding these flying saucers and flying disks is very similar to the situation which was previously encountered by the Bureau during the past war in handling complaints arising out of the sightings of Japanese balloons. You will recall that at the inception of these complaints the Bureau conducted considerable investigation and located numerous balloons as a cooperative measure for the Army then informed that these were military weapons and that they would take over the handling of these completely. This they did and in an extremely short time issued a big press release as to the splendid work of the Army in locating these Japanese balloons. From the information available thus far it does not appear that these disks should be treated other than as a military weapon. Certainly the Bureau has no way to determine what experiments the Army and Navy are conducting and whether such might be arising out of experiments being conducted by them, nor do we have any way of determining how far the Russians have progressed in certain experiments and whether such might be the results of experiments by the Russian Army.

I continued thus: "So, the FBI drew a parallel between investigations into discs in 1947 with investigations into Japanese Fugo Balloons in 1944/45.

"And, based on their previous experience with the Japanese balloons, the FBI stated that:
'From the information available thus far it does not appear that these discs should be treated other than as a military weapon.'

"In other words, the FBI felt that disks were a military weapon and the line of thinking in official circles was that they should be treated - at an investigative level - in a similar way that the Japanese Fugo Balloons were investigated.

"That, in official quarters, people were seeing parallels between the Japanese Balloon saga of 1945 and the disc wave of only 2 years later, again reinforces why some people in the official world might have been inclined to think that disks were balloon- like and that balloon debris might be from a disc - because these parallels and ideas were already circulating.

"What we need to do is focus perhaps less on the reports, but on what was going through the minds of the official world when disc sightings began in the summer of '47. Were they perceiving these things as alien spaceships? For the most part: No. Were they drawing parallels between the Japanese balloon raids of 2 years previously? Yes. Official files - such as the FBI document above - reflect that attitude.

"As this FBI document shows, from the very beginning parallels were being drawn up in the official world between Japanese balloon based operations of 1944-5 with what was happening with disc reports in 1947.

"And if people in the official world were seeing/investigating unusual balloons from Japan in 1944/1945, then those same people might apply - as the FBI certainly did - the same line of thinking to what was being seen in 1947. Hence the circulating idea that perhaps discs were constructed upon balloon principles, or were at least inter-linked with all this somehow.

"That actually makes it much easier to understand why the people at Roswell - after finding a huge field of balloon debris - might have assumed there was a disc connection, (or far more importantly than a connection - a parallel) to balloon debris.

"That thought/connection/parallel was already floating around (particularly with the FBI, as we have seen)."

Adam Gorightly On Body Snatchers

2007-11-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

Here's an extract from a blog-post by Adam Gorightly (author of the excellent The Prankster and the Conspiracy) on the July 2007 Roswell UFO Festival that we both attended. With respect to my lecture on my Body Snatchers in the Desert book, Adam said:

"Nick Redfern’s lecture, Bodysnatchers in the Desert, provided some of the more controversial moments of the festival. In particular, when one contentious audience member challenged Nick’s theory (that the so-called alien bodies observed might have been experimental human test subjects afflicted with the disease progeria).

"In rebuttal, said contentious audience member cited the recent release of Walter Haut’s postmortem death bed confession, and accused Nick of dismissing Haut’s affidavit, and worse, of not having even read it.

"However, Nick repeated that he indeed took Haut’s 'confession' seriously, and had in fact read the affidavit, but that the reference to 'bodies' therein did not necessarily imply the existence of actual aliens, a conclusion that many in the UFO field immediately jumped to.

"To some, challenging the Roswell-dead-alien-theory is akin to roasting Ufology’s most sacred cow, which Nick pointed out during Sunday’s speaker’s panel. Unfortunately, there are those within the UFO field who see Roswell as the fundamental linchpin holding the entire ET Hypothesis together, and that if Roswell is proven to be something other than an alien crash, it might indeed bring down a whole Ufological house of cards, which is rather short sighted, but is nonetheless the sentiment I seem to pick up on when–among the Ufological set–anyone dares challenge the Roswell crash as anything other than extraterrestrial in origin.

"Which is not to say that Mr. Redfern (or your humble author, for that matter) has come to a definitive conclusion as to what happened at Roswell although Nick seems as open as anyone to the possibility of ET’s visiting our planet.

"The point he was trying to make is that we need to look objectively at all UFO cases, not only Roswell, and let the truth lead us where it may. (Leave your agendas at the door, please.) And if indeed Roswell was something other than an alien crash, then let’s be willing to face those facts as they emerge, and then get on with further research."

Unit 731: Declassified Documents

2007-11-30T13:35:00.000-08:00

A wealth of formerly-classified files - and crucial background data - on Japan's notorious Unit 731 (see this photo for an example of their "work") and its military's secret Fugo balloon flights over the United States during the Second World War has been declassified and is now available for inspection at the National Archives in Maryland. Click here for details.

The Best Of Roswell

2007-11-29T16:12:00.001-08:00

The Best of Roswell is a recently-published book that includes all of the various articles on the Roswell controversy that have appeared in Fate Magazine over the course of the last few decades.
You will find in its pages a debate between myself and Roswell author and investigator Kevin Randle on the subject of my Body Snatchers in the Desert book.
The Best of Roswell also contains a wealth of seldom-discussed data from Fortean authority John Keel on secret Japanese balloon flights over the United States in the final stages of the Second World War - including officially-unacknowledged, but rumored, manned-flights - that may had a major bearing upon the legends of crashed UFOs.

Matt Cale On Body Snatchers And The Roswell UFO Festival

2007-11-29T15:54:00.001-08:00

In July 2007, amid blistering temperatures and surrounded by stars of both Star Trek (Chase Masterson) and The X-Files (Dean Haglund) I lectured at the annual UFO Festival at Roswell, New Mexico.
Most of the attendees (and indeed most of the speakers, too!) were hardly enamored by the fact that here I was, about to suggest that nothing of an alien nature ever crashed in the deserts outside of Roswell back in 1947. Some, however - such as attendee Matt Cale - were not so scathing about anything that might upset the Roswell apple-cart.
Cale wrote a good report on my lecture, which can be found here.

Stuart Miller Of UFO Review Praises Body Snatchers

2007-11-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

Stuart Miller, of the acclaimed UFO Review, has this to say about Body Snatchers in the Desert:

In "Body Snatchers", Nick almost certainly offers the definitive explanation about what happened at Roswell. It may not be what you want to hear because I will tell you right now; it doesn't involve aliens, but as you read what he says, if your reaction is the same as mine was, then you will find yourself reluctantly coming to the conclusion that he has probably cracked it. As you read it, there is a "dreaded" sense of feeling that it all just seems to make a horrible sense.
There is a lot to take in and it will be difficult to absorb in one hit but as you do, you will be struck with a further wave of shock as you then consider the implications of what he has to say. They are very, very profound for this subject that we love.
For others there will be a sense of relief that, as they see it, this albatross is finally removed from around their necks and Ufology can get on with its "life" unfettered by the distraction of this incident.
I would like to congratulate Nick on what I consider to be a truly excellent piece of research. My feeling is that this may well come to be regarded as his seminal work.
The essential point of Nick's case is not new, although it actually may be new to you. The theory first surfaced with author John Keel about fifteen years ago although he was off base quite a bit, but in the mid 90s "Popular Mechanics" got very close indeed. Not quite there, but nearly. It is an interesting exercise to go back and read their piece again. They obviously had contacts.
And others have been there too. It's been looked at, tossed around, laughed at, dismissed, and generally considered very unlikely. It will be a little harder to discard this time though. Nick presents new witness testimony and documentation and the way he pulls it all together is impressive. What is also interesting is the manner in which the story came to him. From two different separate strands, separated by five years.
So the truth has been out there, of sorts, for a while. They have told us. They just didn't tell us they were telling us.
There is bound to be controversy caused by Nick's conclusions and perhaps even mocking, and it would be naïve to expect otherwise. A lot of people are going to be disturbed by this. A lot of people have given their ufological professional lives to pursuing a particular aspect of Roswell or a particular case and all will be deeply affected and that should not be under estimated. The controversy will be welcomed. There are bound to be rough edges to Nick's story here and there and possible occasional inaccuracies but it is unlikely they will undermine the core of his account. But Nick would welcome the interest and input of other researchers, without question. He hopes that people will go out and check up on what he has written for them selves, and possibly even take the story further. His narrative also opens up many other potential avenues of research.
If people accept what he has written and fully comprehend the consequences, then the affects will take time to filter through. The details, although a lot, you will take on board. It's the digestion process afterwards where the pain might come.
Most of you though will be disappointed, but, we cannot hide from the truth. Nick has, quite frankly, done us an enormous favour and I consider this to be, unquestionably, the most important book in relation to Ufology for a very, very long time. Possibly ever.

Magonia and Desert Cover-Ups

2007-11-29T15:20:00.000-08:00

Magonia magazine provides a balanced review of Body Snatchers.

Mike Heiser Comments On Body Snatchers

2007-11-29T15:17:00.001-08:00

Author and researcher Mike Heiser comments on Body Snatchers in the Desert.

Concatenation Reviews Body Snatchers

2007-11-29T15:15:00.000-08:00

Body Snatchers under the microscope...

Body Snatchers: The Press Release

2007-11-29T15:14:00.001-08:00

Click here to download the press release on Body Snatchers in the Desert.