The Day Before Roswell

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011

June 24 1947 - Mt. Rainier, Washington - 2:50 P.M. PST

NORMAN TRANSCRIPT (Oklahoma) 6/26





Bug-Eyed Salesman Reports Fast-Flying Mystery Planes


PENDLETON, Ore., June 26 -- (U.P.)-- Residents of Pendleton sought an explanation today for the nine strange "saucer-shaped" planes an amateur pilot claimed he saw flying at an estimated speed of 1,200 miles an hour across southwestern Washington.

The story was told by Kenneth Arnold, flying fire extinguisher salesman from Boise, Ida.

He landed here, slightly bug-eyed, Wednesday and told how he spotted the "extremely shiny nickle-plated aircraft" skimming along at 10,000 feet on Tuesday. Arnold was on a search for a missing Marine corps plane at the time.

"They were shaped like saucers and were so thin I could barely see them," he told Jack Whitman, a local businessman.

"There were nine of them and they were flying in a screwy formation about 25 miles away from me. It wasn't any military formation I ever saw before.

"I figure they were moving about 1,200 miles per hour because I clocked them with a stop watch during the time it took them to fly from Mount Rainer to Mount Adams. That's 42 miles and they made it in one minute 42 seconds -- about 1,205 mph."

Arnold said the strange aircraft were skittering across the southwest slope of Mount Rainier when he first sighted them.

Whitman suggested tactfully, that Arnold had been seeing things but the pilot insisted, "I must be believe my eyes."


There was no comment from military authorities on Arnold's story.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011



June 24 1947 - Hood River, Oregon - 3:00 P.M. PST

PHOENIX REPUBLIC (Arizona) 6/26


(AP) -- Pendleton, Oregon - This morning prospector Fred M.Johnson in the Hood River region of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon sighted five or six discs flying silently overhead, heading toward the southeast.

He noticed that his compass began spinning when the discs passed over.

His watch also stopped running.


(In FBI files Johnson stated that they flew off faster than anything he had seen before, and resembled no object he had been witness to in his 40 years of prospecting the mountains.)

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011

Think you've ever taken grief for talking about UFO's?... Try this on for size:


June 27 1947 - SPOKANE DAILY CHRONICLE (Washington)

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011

   

July 4 1947 - Santa Monica, California - 5:00 P.M. PST

HOLLYWOOD CITIZEN-NEWS (California) 7/5
LOS ANGELES HERALD-EXPRESS 7/5
YUMA SUN & ARIZONA SENTINEL (Arizona) 7/5
CINCINNATI TIMES-STAR (AP) 7/5
CHICAGO HERALD-AMERICAN (INS, Seattle) (ILLINOIS) 7/5
SALT LAKE CITY DESERET NEWS (AP) (Utah) 7/5
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER (INS) (California) 7/6
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (California) 7/6
CHICAGO SUNDAY TIMES (Illinois) 7/6


"Fliers Get Close Up -- One Says Ovals "Scared Him Silly"


Pilot Dan J. Whelan, and companion Duncan Underhill, had taken off from the Santa Monica Airport in a private plane, bound for San Diego.

Twenty-five miles to the south, while flying at an altitude of 5,000 feet, they saw a disc-shaped object "catapulting across the sky" toward the northwest on a steady course at about 7,000 feet.

"It was traveling 400 to 500 miles an hour," Whelan said. "It was not spinning, but looked exactly like a skeet" (a rifle practice target).

Both he and Underhill estimated the disc was "about 40 to 50 feet in diameter."




Whelan admitted to the press that the appearance of the object "scared me silly."

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011



July 4 1947 - Between Emmett, Idaho and Ontario, Oregon - 9:04 P.M. MST

OREGON JOURNAL (Portland) 7/5
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER (Washington) 7/5
OREGONIAN (Portland) 7/5 & 7/6
BOISE DAILY STATESMAN (Idaho) 7/5 & 7/6
CHICAGO TIMES (AP, Boise) (Illinois) 7/5, 7/7
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER (AP) (California) 7/5
NEW YORK HERALD-TRIBUNE (AP) 7/6
AP, UP & INS in nearly all papers for 7/5 & 7/6


Flying Disc Mystery Grows As Airline Crew Spots 5 More


United Air Lines Flight 105 left Gowan Field, Boise, bound for Seattle with Captain Emil J. Smith at the controls and First Officer Ralph Stevens in the co-pilot's seat.

Before they boarded the plane in Boise, someone had asked them if they had seen any flying saucers, and Smith jokingly retorted, "I'll believe them when I see them."

Eight minutes later, both he and Stevens were converted into believers.

As they flew over Emmett, Idaho, approaching a cruising altitude of about 7,000 feet, Stevens reached over to blink his landing lights, believing he had seen a plane ahead at about the same level as the airliner. He called Smith's attention to it.

They immediately saw four more, arranged in a "loose formation."

"At first I thought it was a group of light planes returning from some Fourth of July celebration," said Smith, "but then I realized the things were not aircraft, but were flat and circular."

Not believing their eyes, they called the stewardess, Miss Marty Morrow, forward. Without telling her what to look for, they directed her attention to the sky ahead of them. Looking out the cockpit window, Miss Morrow exclaimed, "why, there's a formation of those flying discs!"

The objects appeared "huge" and were dark grey, silhouetted against the bright evening sky.

The pilots thought they were much larger than ordinary aircraft... The discs were "smooth on the bottom, and rough on top," according to the witnesses.

As soon as Miss Morrow had confirmed their observation, Smith called the control tower at Ontario, Oregon, giving his position and flight direction. He asked the tower operators to step outside to see if they could see anything unusual in the direction from which the plane was approaching. The tower operators saw nothing, which led Smith to believe that the discs were larger and farther away than they originally estimated -- possibly as far away as 30 miles.

The objects appeared to "merge," and then disappeared to the northwest. No sooner had they gone out of sight when another group came into view to the left and ahead of them.

By this time the airliner had reached its cruising altitude of 8,000 feet, and was flying over rugged country toward the Blue Mountains, in eastern Oregon.

In the second group, the discs were arranged in a straight line, three together and the fourth off by itself. "This group seemed to be higher than our flight path," reported the pilot, "and when they did leave, they left fast!"

The nine objects had been in view for at least twelve minutes, seen over a distance of more than 45 miles. Smith was certain that the objects had to be considerably larger than a DC-3 to have been seen for such a great distance.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011     



July 5 1947 - Albany, Oregon - 3:20 P.M. PST

OREGONIAN (AP) (Portland) 7/6
SEATTLE TIMES (Washington) 7/6
AP & UP in many papers for 7/6


Ted Tannich and William Lemon, said they saw a silvery, disc—shaped object flying in a straight course to the south.

The disc made a sudden stop, reversing its course almost instantaneously and moved back north.

The entire maneuver took place in less than 15 seconds, according to the witnesses.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011

   

July 5 1947 - Zanesville, Ohio - 8:55 P.M. EST

COLUMBUS DISPATCH (AP, Zanesville 7/5) (Ohio) 7/6
SALT LAKE CITY TRIBUNE (AP, Zanesville 7/5) (Utah) 7/6


Weather observer and CAA Communications Operator Miss Barry Peruzzo, at the Zanesville Airport control tower, said that she had seen two disc—like objects flying over the field about ten minutes apart.

She reported that she had seen the first "fairly oval" object while she was checking the ceiling visibility, one of her duties. "I had just stepped outside when the first object came over at about 5,000 feet," she said, "it was flying under the ceiling of clouds. The second disc followed it five or ten minutes later".

"They went very fast, headed in a northeasterly direction," she added. The witness declined to estimate the speed of the objects, as she was uncertain of their size.

"I saw them for only about 15 seconds at a time," she said. She heard no noise.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011



July 5 1947 - Cambridge, Maryland - 9:45 P.M. EST

CAMBRIDGE DAILY BANNER (Maryland) 7/7


Mrs. Scott Jones, daughter, and children witnessed a "shooting star" turn and float toward the Phillips Packing Company in Cambridge.

It then turned again in an opposite direction.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011

[A51Watcher]

posted on 24-4-2011

Originally posted by syrinx high priest

I'va always found it interesting a lot of UFO activity being reported in the US very soon after the nazi scientists were brought to the US like von braun...

Yes I would imagine that Werner Von Braun and his fellow Operation Paperclip scientists who arrived in late 1945 and early 1946 at Fort Bliss, Texas:



were responsible for several 'reports of UFO activity' in that area, since their TS modified V-2 project was producing a new type of aerial display never seen before.

However those would not account for - not only the bodies and craft recovered at Roswell - , they could not account for the manuevers we see described in these newspaper accounts, such as:

A year and a half after arriving at Fort Bliss is hardly time to create and develop technology that violates the laws of physics, such as disc shaped craft with no aerodynamic surface controls performing speeds of 15,000 mph and cutting 90° corners without slowing down, and also sudden instantaneous vertical ascent into space.

I also doubt they would continually buzz their own cities and military installations with these craft, increasing the public hysteria day by day.

However you can be sure that Von Braun was more interested than most, in these 1947 saucer sighting reports of incredible manuevers at unimaginable speeds, and read the daily reports with great curiosity.

In fact he would be an obvious expert for The Pentagon to consult on what these new mystery discs might be.

And already having active TS clearances for his work, he would be ready to go on any sudden field trips that might arise, such as the one related by Clark C. McClelland:

During the periodic MFA (Manned Flight Awareness) meetings that were held at Cocoa Beach, I was able to talk freely and briefly with such scientists, particularly Dr. von Braun.

"On one such occasion, he and I had taken a break and stepped out of the Cocoa Beach Ramada Inn into the back patio. I admitted that I was aware that he and his German Scientific team were located not too far from the crash site at that time. They were launching captured V-2 rockets from the White Sands Testing Range.

On this night, I asked him a question concerning the Roswell Incident that caused his eyebrows to raise.

Did the Roswell Incident in fact happen, was an alien craft recovered along with alien bodies? Did you have a chance to go to the crash site?"

Von Braun lit a cigarette, thought for a second, and then began to discuss the crash openly.

He trusted me to hear such astonishing events because I vowed to not report it to newspapers, magazines, television, etc. I never broke that vow. Since he is deceased, and the incident happened over fifty years ago, I am now disclosing what I heard...

Dr. von Braun explained how he and his associates had been taken to the crash site after most of the military were pulled back. They did a quick analysis of what they found.

He told me the craft did not appear to be made of metal as we know metal on earth. He said it seemed to be created from something biological, like skin. I was lost as to what he indicated, other than thinking perhaps the craft was "alive."

The recovered bodies were temporarily being kept in a nearby medical tent. They were small, very frail and had large heads. Their eyes were large. Their skin was grayish and reptilian in texture. He said it looked similar to the skin texture of rattle snakes he'd seen several times at White Sands.

His inspection of the debris had even him puzzled: very thin, aluminum colored, like silvery chewing gum wrappers. Very light and extremely strong.

The interior of the craft was nearly bare of equipment, as if the creatures and craft were part of a single unit.

That's when I became lost in the moment. We returned to the awards ceremony, in which he participated, later bidding farewell. I went home with my head spinning from all I had heard."

http://www.rense.com/general77/vbraun.htm

It is therefore no suprise that we find the final following quote:

"Wernher Von Braun knew about the extraterrestrial issue." -
Dr. Carol Rosin, spokesperson for Wernher Von Braun last years of his life.

[A51Watcher]

Condemned0625 posted on 25-4-2011   

reply to post by A51Watcher



Damn. I had no idea that he was at the crash site. This information you provided greatly increases the legitimacy of the crash. I wonder what kinds of excuses skeptics would have for that. There's too many identical testimonies from people who were there when it happened and they all can't be dismissed.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 2-5-2011



July 4 1947 - Portland and Milwaukee, OR, and Vancouver, WA - 1:05 P.M. PST

OREGONIAN (Portland) 7/5


Radio newsman Frank Cooley of station KOIN, INS wire service employees in the Portland Oregon Journal Building, Clark County Sheriff's Deputy Fred Krives, Deputy Clarence McKay, Sgt. John Sullivan, Portland Police Officer Kenneth A. McDowell, Harbor Patrol Capt. K. A. Prahn, Harbor Patrolmen A. T. Austad and K. C. Hoff, Portland Police Officers Earl J. Patterson, Walter A. Lissy and Robert Ellis, Oregon Highway Patrol Sgt. Claude Cross, and many others over a wide area, for 30-90 seconds saw 5 large discs moving at high speed to the E, 2 flying S and 3 to the E, with oscillating or wobbling motion, sudden 90° turns or zigzagging.

Radio reports alerted other officers who saw the objects, aluminum or chromium color, disc or hubcap or pie-pan or half-moon shape flashing in the sun, no vapor trail, no noise (except possible humming), some at 10,000-40,000 ft others at about 1,000 ft.

McDowell noticed pigeons reacted. Sullivan, McKay and Krives noted low humming sound and reported 20-30 objects. Cooley reported 12 discs at about 20,000 ft.

Patterson, Lissy and Ellis were pilots.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 2-5-2011



July 4 1947 - Portland, Oregon - 1:05 P.M. PST

Los Angeles Herald-Express, (INS, Portland) California 7/5


While others were reporting seeing discs all over the city, Frank Cooley, formerly a Marine Corps observer, and employed by radio station KOIN in Portland, confirmed the numerous reports of disc-shaped objects.

Cooley reported seeing twelve of the objects flying overhead at an estimated altitude of 20,000 feet. He flatly declared they were "operated and maneuverable devices," and believed that they were larger than generally supposed,

"They plainly exercised maneuvers in the sky," Cooley said. "At one time a number of the discs would get into formation and fly circles around another disc. It was hard to follow their behavior exactly because of the great height, their gleaming surface and their nature." He said that they could only be seen clearly when "tilted to catch the sun's rays."

He was convinced, he added, that the discs were operated either "by some human or remote control." He quickly dismissed suggestions that they might be ordinary, lightweight objects "tossed around by air currents."

At approximately the same time that Cooley made his observation, a number of similar objects were seen from the windows of the International News Service office in the Journal Building. INS employees said that "at first they appeared to be high-flying birds, as their motion undulated, (as if) some kind of wings propelled them," INS reported.

"They banked sharply and without apparent system of direction. Two objects were so high that reports of their disc-like appearance could not be verified, but they seemed to move with high speed.

They were last seen heading south after circling sharply over the west-side area."

[A51Watcher]

Pimander posted on 2-5-2011

Originally posted by A51Watcher
In the period between Randle and Schmitt's first and second book, I asked Kevin how many witnesses we had so far. The answer was: 500+ first and second hand witnesses to either craft, wreckage or bodies[at Roswell, 1947].

According to Schmitt and Carey, they now have 600+ witnesses. They also have a deathbed affadavit from a key witness since you asked Randle. See Witness to Roswell

http://www.amazon.com/Witness-Roswell-Unmasking-60-Year-Cover-Up/dp/1564149439

[A51Watcher]

posted on 2-5-2011
reply to post by Pimander



Hi Pimander, thanks for posting that. I tend to believe -The Men Who Were Actually There- such as Walter Haut, much more than armchair quarterbacks whose "research" consists of google. 

But actually I did post his testimony here several pages back, but it sort of got lost in the shuffle during a "Nazi UFO" debate raging at the time here about whether these Roswell flying saucers were ET in origin or not. In fact I did not even finish posting the -The Men Who Were Actually There- testimony series I was working on at the time.

I decided to wait until after posting all the various newsclips during this period that have come to light. These sightings provide the backdrop and context for the events that were about to occur at Roswell. As several members have commented, the weather balloon excuse now looks laughable in light of all these sightings.

While still alive, Walter publicly stated several times "If you were a soldier of my vintage, you learned to do as you were told, and keep your mouth shut. (Loose lips sink ships, etc.) Especially (later on) when your retirement pension is on the line."

Thus pre- answering why he did not reveal his testimony while alive.

He and Colonel Blanchard were actually old friends dating back to when they were both pilots during WWII and flew their missions out of Roswell Army Air Field for the 509th squadron , and is the reason Colonel Blanchard gave him a tour of the craft, wreckage and bodies.

Thanks again for posting that important item, and anything else I might miss as we go along.

Cheers