> We can argue the merits of particular Roswell witnesses, but there
> is one inescapable historical fact that can't be denied. The
> commander of the Roswell Army Air Field officially announced that
> the U.S. Army Air Force had recovered a "flying disk."
There is a lot of doubt about this.
Walter Haut, who according to Randle/Schmitt et al. wrote this
release, has stated many times that Col. Blanchard told him to issue
it. In an article for the August/September 1992 issue of _Air &
Space/Smithsonian_ magazine, Frank Kuznik wrote:
Before my trip to Wright-Patterson, I tracked down Walter
Haut, the retired base public information officer who wrote the
infamous press release, and asked him if he ever actually saw the
wreckage. "No, and I feel like an idiot every time somebody asks
me that," he said ruefully. "I got a call from the base
commander, who basically dictated what was in the press release."
And yet the "flying disk" release states that: "The _Intelligence_
office of the 509th Bombardment group ... announced that the field
had come into possession of a flying saucer. According to information
released by the department _over the authority of Maj. J.A. Marcel,
intelligence officer_, the disk was recovered.... The _intelligence
office_ stated that no details...etc.."
In the _OMNI_ article, "The Truth About Roswell", a copy of which can
be found at: http://www.omnimag.com/o07jul/ros_truth.html, Dava Sobel
questioned Walter Haut about this point and more confusion arises:
"When Blanchard talked to you about what to say, did he use the
words 'flying saucer?"' I asked. "Did he seem to be frightened?"
[...]
"I do not remember the minute details," Haut told me. "I feel that
I've had a pretty full life, and how the colonel passed that
information on to me I cannot honestly tell you. I don't know
whether he called me on the phone and said, `Haut, I want you to
put out a press release and hand deliver it to the local news
media. Here's what I want in it.'
"Or," Haut continued, "the adjutant might have called and said,
`Haut, the old man's got a press release he wants you to pick up
[269 lines left ... full text available at <url:http://www.reference.com/cgi-bin/pn/go?choice=message&table=05_1997&mid=3257248&hilit=UFO> ]
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Article-ID: 05_1997&3230496
Score: 84
Subject: Re: Why are they here?