The Day Before Roswell

[A51Watcher]

posted on 2-5-2011



By now we have obviously reached the date of the amazing -



07/05/47 - OREGON JOURNAL - PORTLAND POLICE SEE DISKS SAIL

headline shown in the OP.


At this point we now get a rare glimpse as to what the military was up to behind the scenes.

The following declassified US Army-Air Force documents give some pretty important indications:



We can see it was prepared by:
The Commanding General (4rth AF) at Hamilton Field, (California)

and sent to:
The Commanding General, Army Air Forces, (Washington, D.C.)

"in compliance with letter from: Headquarters Air Defense Command"
(Mitchel Field, New York).

(Has anyone seen this mysterious 'letter' ?)

And what was attached to this report, as indicated, are actual -hand typed verbatim copies- (not copies of the clippings or the clippings themselves) of the flying disc newspaper reports from my home town (in Oregon),

PORTLAND POLICE SEE DISCS SAIL

Also attached are in- depth, follow- up interviews conducted privately by unknown personnel, with each of the officers and the harbor- master listed in the articles.


All of which indicates what was to be done (discreetly), as laid out in the "letter" referenced above,
as ordered by - Headquarters Air Defense Command (New York).


Here now are the declassified AAF documents:




oops!   


Now how did THAT get in there? I thought I said declassified documents!



Ahh... that's better! 
































This of course now begs the question:

How many bases and facilities received this mysterious 'letter'...
and then in turn how many various reports were typed and sent to Washington, D.C. as the above case was.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 4-5-2011



(ed note: Idaho Statesman aviation editor, Dave Johnson was a former AAF B-29 pilot.)


July 6 1947 - Boise, Idaho

LEWISTON DAILY TRIBUNE (Idaho) 7/7


Idaho Newsman-Pilot Given 'Dream Assignment'

'Get Picture of Saucers Or Bring One Back Alive'-


By DAVE JOHNSON (Idaho Statesman Aviation Editor)
(AP) -- Flew instruments this afternoon for a couple of hours with the Idaho national guard. A lieutenant colonel sat up in front and watched for discs while I struggled with the gauges and the radio beam.

We got back into Gowen field's pattern, and the control tower called to report some people in Ontario, Ore., had told the CAA they saw some saucers wheeling through the sky.

Now, there's one thing about these saucers. I've never seen one, so on the way home I dropped into the Statesman office with an idea. That was to take the Early-Bird No. 3, our airplane, and be up tonight and prowl around the airways, just looking.


Gets Expense Dough

I broached that to the city editor and blew the foam off of it, and a you-know-what look spread over his face, just like somebody had tossed a brick into a mud puddle.

He talked for a few minutes and I listened. The upshot of it was that I walked out of the office with expense dough in my pocket and a date with Kenneth Arnold, the Boise man who two weeks ago saw the discs come roaring around Mt Rainier in Washington.

I have one of those things called a general assignment. I'm going disc hunting with Arnold in the Statesman plane.


Started In Idaho

The city editor had said: "Dave, I was just about to give you a call and discuss this damn saucer business with you. The thing started here in Boise with Arnold and it is getting out of hand. The wire services are moving more copy on it than any single story in years except the war, and no ' one knows any more about it now than when they were doubting this fellow Arnold who first reported seeing whatever it is that is being looked at, real or imaginary."

"As I said before, this business started in Boise and it is up to us if we can do it to help get it brought down to earth. I hope you can lasso one of the damn things and bring it in for display, but on the other hand, it might be a good idea to be ready to duck if you see something skipping along."


Dream Assignment

I might interject here that the boss doesn't fly. "Crank up your airplane," he said, "and go up around the Hanford atom plant area in Washington and stay there until you either find something or give it up. See if this fellow Arnold wants to go along (he jumped at the chance) and take the best camera equipment you can find and stay as long as you want to."

Such an assignment- stay as long as you want to- is not to be accepted lightly. "Fly around that area," said the city editor, "because my hunch is that if these things can come from any place they are coming from some project like Hanford. The army has denied this possibility but the army has been making denials a major business for years.

In one case an Army man said there's nothing to get excited about, "if there were anything to the saucers the army would have notified us." Also... Good Luck! If you see anything that answers the description—or the hundreds of descriptions-- grab a picture and high-tail for Boise." "Oh yes," he added. "Good luck to you."

They take the insurance out of my check. I phoned Arnold. We are taking off bright and early in the morning. Arnold has a new movie camera with a telephoto lens and we're fortified for pictures.





From somewhere up in eastern Washington tomorrow night you'll hear from us, providing, of course, we don't run into something that proves these reports to be the McCoy and it runs over us.

The city desk says he'll stand behind us.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 6-5-2011     

July 9 1947 - Boise, Idaho - 12:15 P.M. MST

BOISE DAILY STATESMAN (Idaho) 7/10, 7/11
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER (AP, Boise,7/9, 7/10) (Washington) 7/10, 7/11
SEATTLE TIMES (AP, Boise) (Washington) 7/10
AP in numerous papers for 7/10


On his third day of aerial search for flying objects, on assignment for his newspaper, the Idaho Daily Statesman, pilot-newsman Dave Johnson's search paid off.

While circling Gowan Field at 14,000 feet, preparing to land after having spent the morning searching in vain, he saw a dark object against a massive cloudbank to the east of Boise.

"I turned the airplane broadside to it and pulled back the Plexiglas canopy so there would be no distortion. The object was still there. It was rising sharply and jerkily toward the top of the towering bank of alto-cumulus and alto-stratus clouds.

At that moment it was so round in shape I thought it was a balloon. The object was turning so that it presented its edge to me. It then appeared as a straight black line. Then, with its edge still toward me, it shot straight up, rolled over (at) the top of this maneuver, and I lost sight of it."

Johnson said that at one point during his observation, which lasted 45 seconds, he saw "the sun flash from it."

Later in the afternoon Johnson discovered that at about 2:00 p.m. ground observers at Gowan Field had seen an object similar to the one he reported. Observers included National Guard pilots Warren Noe, Bob Ayers, and Ferm Sabala, the latter a Guard photographer.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 6-5-2011



July 10 1947 - Morristown, New Jersey - Early A.M. EST

MORRISTOWN DAILY RECORD (New Jersey) 7/11


Six daylight discs observed from aircraft


John H. Janssen, editor of the Daily Record reported that on the preceding morning he "caught a glint in the sky and saw a formation of six luminous spherical craft, with hazy rings around them flying in a trail at about 10,000 feet in the sky" above him.

He grabbed his camera and "quickly fitted a filter to his camera lens" -



"I had only time for this one picture. While I was turning the film for the next exposure the lead disc suddenly shot upward and toward New York City in a dazzling burst of speed. The other three followed and all were out of sight in a twinkling of the eye."

"In my brief glimpse of the discs I did notice that the lead one was of a dull metallic color and the others appeared to be of a silvery hue."

"From where I stood on the top of my car watching the strange craft," he said, "I guessed them to be anywhere from 100 to 300 feet in diameter. The circumference was the thinnest part of the ships and widened toward the middle where possibly they could be ten to twenty feet high.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 6-5-2011



July 23 1947 - Morristown, New Jersey

NICAP

http://www.nicap.org/morristown.htm


John H. Janssen stated "While my eyes played over the horizon, I became aware of a shaft of light that seemed like that of a photographer's flash bulb. It came from aloft, very high up. It was above that position over my plane's nose that flier's call 11 O'clock.

At first I thought it was merely the reflected sun bouncing off the sides of an exceedingly high flying aircraft. I gave it no more thought. But then the engine of my own plane began to perform peculiarly. It coughed and sputtered spasmodically.

So I pulled on the carburetor heat and gave it full throttle hoping to thaw any ice that might be accumulating in the carburetor. The engine emitted one final wheezing cough and then quit. Now, the nose of my plane, instead of dropping to a normal glide, remained... rigid... fixed on the horizon, in its normal level flight attitude.

Abruptly, I became aware that my plane was now defying the basic law of gravity. I became frightened and close to panic at so weird a predicament. I saw that the airspeed indicator was at zero! There was now an odd prickling, electric-like sensation coursing through my body.

I had an eerie feeling that I was being watched and examined by something that minutely studied my features, my clothing, and my airplane... I flicked a cold bead of perspiration from my eye. Then I saw it! Above and slightly beyond my left wing tip was a strange wraith-like craft, one of the flying objects!

Its flanged and protecting rim was dotted on either side with steamer-like portholes. It seemed to radiate a dull metallic hue that conveyed an impression of natural strength, and a super-intelligence not of this planet. It was motionless.

Perhaps a quarter of a mile away... beyond, and slightly higher, I could see another object, seemingly fixed in the sky. I assumed that the second strange ship was but waiting for the one nearest me to complete its examination.

Then I had the most unaccountable urge to reach up and snap on the magneto switch. I had turned it off when the engine quit. I switched both magnetos to the on position. Slowly the propeller began to turn... then the engine burst into a steady rhythmic roar. The plane nosed up into a stall, dropped off, picked up airspeed and steadied under control," recalled Mr. Janssen.

"I really believe these craft to be operated by an intelligence far beyond that developed by we earth-bound mortals and am inclined to agree with the theory that they are space craft from another planet...
In all probability these are reconnaissance craft and as they have been seen all over the world and not only in this country, are probably making a thorough study of us and our terrain and atmosphere before making any overtures."

He went on to theorize on possible magnetic and antigravity methods of propulsion to explain the acceleration of the objects.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 7-5-2011



It seems likely that the above report was torpedoed from being reported due to it's obvious inflammatory nature, done in the same manner as the Roswell reports that managed to reach the local media early on:




___________________________________________________________________________


AFFIDAVIT OF "JUD" ROBERTS


(1) My name is George "Jud" Roberts

(2) My address is:

(3) I am (X) retired ( ) employed as: __________________________________

(4) In July 1947, I was a minority stockholder and manager of KGFL Radio in Roswell, New Mexico. We did an interview with W.W. "Mac" Brazel, the rancher who found some debris on his property. He hid him out at the home of the station owner, W.E. Whitmore, Sr., and recorded the interview on a wire recorder.

(5) The next morning, I got a call from someone in Washington, D.C. It may have been someone in the office of [Senators] Clinton Anderson or Dennis Chavez. This person said, "We understand that you have some information, and we want to assure you that if you release it, it's very possible that your station's license will be in jeopardy, so we suggest that you not do it." The person indicated that we might lose our license in as quickly as three days. I made the decision not to release the story.

(Whitmore's home was soon searched by the military and the wire recording confiscated.)

___________________________________________________________________________


The following day we have a hand- written document received by the FBI addressed to Mr. J. Edgar Hoover (obviously not from any underlings, who always first used the title 'Director' in any dispatch sent to his attention) from someone who seems to feel at ease advising 'Mr. Hoover' as to what is "wisest" for him to do: 








It is inconceivable that in either case J. Edgar Hoover or a Senator would have undertaken such blatant actions on a whim of their own, without getting approval (or more likely orders) from their superior.


In fact chief of staff at 8th Army-Air Force Headquarters at Fort Worth, Texas - Brigadier General Thomas DuBose, (shown here on the right, posing solemnly along commanding Brigadier General Roger Ramey inspecting the remains of the weather balloon he had just had his staff demolish for the big picture opportunity)



after many years of silence stated: "[It] was a cover story. The whole balloon part of it. That was the part of the story we were told to give to the public and news and that was it."

There can be NO doubt that the orders (and authority) to cover-up the saucer story (by any means deemed necessary as illustrated by the actions above),

came from our Chief Executive:



who by then was fully aware of the true nature of the event at Roswell, and had then in turn authorized and directed which proposed actions were to be taken.

[A51Watcher]

posted on 7-5-2011

reply to post by spacedonk




Well hey there spacedonk! 

Thank -you- for taking the time to stop by and read my ramblings.  I am pleased to hear you find them enjoyable.

Comments from members are what let me know that someone is still reading. 

Yes I am continuing the plot map project, which involves not only where they are seen, but also researching why they might be visiting that location and adding that to the map.

I think we inadvertently tipped our hand as to where some of our interesting locations are, by having radar sites at sensitive locations. I am sure that the connection between radar sites and interesting stuff to look at quickly became apparent and a good sign post where to visit next, for example:





Also having above- ground, open- air "cooling ponds" for radioactive rods was probably a red flag on somebody's scanning scope too.


In this current story arc through the reports you can see I chose to follow primarily the pilots, military men and scientists view of the sightings (oh yeah and the cops!) 

[A51Watcher]

posted on 16-5-2011



Is anyone starting to get the feeling that perhaps Roswell was not an isolated event that happened back in the dusty pages of history? 

I am getting the distinct impression that instead - it happened during the middle of a full- blown flying saucer invasion that had the public in a panic (and the military too), and lasted for several weeks.

Which as far as I have been able to determine, began on:

_________________________________________________________________________________________

March 30 1947 - Lutz, Florida - 11:00 A.M. EST

ORLANDO SENTINEL STAR (Florida) 7/6


Mrs. J. E. Harp, her seven-year-old daughter Sandra, and her mother Mrs. W. H. Brown saw several flying discs while driving. The discs were silvery colored and seemed to appear and disappear. They did not have time to count the number...

_________________________________________________________________________________________

and ended, (as far as we know) on:

_________________________________________________________________________________________

September 12 1947 - Necker Island - 1:00 A.M. local time

AAF FILE


A Pan American flight eastbound from Midway Island to Oahu.






Just after passing Necker Island, the crew spotted an intense incandescent white light off the starboard side of their aircraft.






At first the pilot thought it might be the navigation lights of another plane, but it was
far too bright for that.

The flight crew tracked the unknown object and determined it held a true course of 350 degrees while holding at a steady altitude of 9,500 feet. The captain estimated its distance from their aircraft at five miles.

But just as he took the plane off automatic pilot, the light approached within one mile, then it quickly veered off to a course of 190 degrees at which time the light split into two parts. The two separate orbs then changed to a less bright reddish hue and flew in a side-to-side formation until zooming out of sight at tremendous speed (in six seconds), estimated at over 1,000 miles per hour.

_________________________________________________________________________________________


(I think they might need to attend one of those 'talks' at the Lyons club.) 

[A51Watcher]

posted on 17-5-2011



_________________________________________________________________________________________

June 1 1947 - Grand Rapids, Michigan - Night EST

GRAND RAPIDS HERALD (Michigan) 7/1


Mrs. Inez Nostrant observed numerous bright luminous plate-sized objects flying in groups of two's and four's as high as planes over Grand Rapids.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

June 2 1947 - Waverly, Iowa - 1:30 P.M. CST

WATERLOO COURIER (Iowa) 7/10


An inverted saucer-shaped disc of brilliant metal was sighted by John Laube and Fred Platte in Waverly.

It flew just above the top of a 180-foot grain elevator at Waverly Sugar Manufacturing Plant. They had it in sight for five minutes before it was obscured by trees as it flew away.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

June 17 1947 - Madison, Wisconsin - Evening CST

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL (Wisconsin) 7/1
WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL 7/7


Professor Emeritus from the University of Wisconsin Dr. E.B. McGilvery saw a bright round luminous object, about two-thirds the size of the full moon...

-quite rapid
-left no trail of light as a meteor does,
-did not appear to be fiery
-looked like an "illuminated body."
-heading to the northeast

_________________________________________________________________________________________

June 19 1947 - Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Night CST

DES MOINES REGISTER (Iowa) 7/8


From his back yard, R.D. Taylor spotted eight to ten discs which were lighted from within as they zoomed over Cedar Rapids.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

June 20 1947 - Kelso, Washington

OREGONIAN (Portland) 6/28


Flying Saucer Story Grows

Mrs. Jerry Neels said she saw "bright and shiny" discs south of Kelso on the 20th.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

June 22 1947 - Greenfield, Massachusetts - 11:30 A.M. EST

US-AAF File - Weekly Intelligence Summary, ATC 7/30


Edward L. de Rose reported seeing a "brilliant, round-shaped silvery-white object" moving in a northwesterly direction over Greenfield.

It traveled at a high rate of speed somewhere at around 1,000 feet of altitude and "streaked across the sky" in a matter of only eight to ten seconds before vanishing from view.

He felt certain the mysterious craft could not have been a balloon and represented something very real when later filing this report with the A-2 section of Army Intelligence of the Atlantic Division.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

June 22 1947 - Portland, Oregon - 4 P.M. PST

OREGON JOURNAL (Portland) 6/30


Lads Declare They Saw "Flying Disks"

Two boys Sunday said they saw "flying disks" speeding southeast of the Lambert Gardens shortly after 4 pm.

John Waymire and Freddie Hodge, both 13, telephoned the Journal that they observed the "disks" dipping and flashing in the sun.

They were flying very high, according to the boys, and appeared larger than a plane soaring near the earth.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

June 23 1947 - Hazel Green, Alabama

HUNTSVILLE TIMES (Alabama) 7/1


E.B. Parks and a dozen other witnesses saw two illuminated discs fly at terrific speed low over Hazel Green.

_________________________________________________________________________________________


A note of interest at this point -

While all the sightings in this post so far share the 'brilliant, bright, shiny' description, they are also all before Kenneth Arnold's sighting on the 24rth.

These people did indeed report them to the newspapers on the day they happened, but before Arnold no papers had published any sightings. After his sighting made nationwide headlines, they all now decided to publish any previous sighting reports they had in their possession.

(I always include the newspaper publish date along with the sighting date, so you can see the lag time.)

[A51Watcher]

posted on 27-5-2011

Originally posted by annella
reply to post by A51Watcher



Hi there annella 

Just so you know....the time and effort you have put into this thread since you began it a few months ago is really really appreciated by moi....

Well that's good enough for me! 


I personally find these sightings fascinating for a few different reasons:

I know what these people in the reports are talking about.

While others may have a hard time imagining what all these people mean by "catapulting across the sky", "terrific speed", "going like blue blazes", "speed like that of a shooting star", while at the same time "occasionally jumping sideways" or cutting 90° corners without slowing down...

I know exactly what they are describing. I have seen these same incredible maneuvers performed by "silvery discs" just as they did (including the odd flying circles around each other), with my own eyes, except for me it was 20 years later (as shown by the sighting in my signature).

And then -yet again- some 23 years later, out in the middle of the Nevada desert, as evidenced by my rants in a few other threads. 

Coincidence?

We did not then, and do not now, have the technology for even remote control 20 to 50 foot discs to go 15,000 mph and cut corners on a dime, or to suddenly stop and reverse course in mid- flight at such speeds.


So for me, this thread is much more interesting to work on since it is new information (to many of us anyway).

[A51Watcher]

posted on 28-5-2011



I am also mapping the locations of the reports.

While mine is taking some time to complete while researching the location histories, here is one compiled by researcher Larry Hatch using his *U* UFO Database, based only on the 1947 reports he was aware of so far:

[A51Watcher]

posted on 11-6-2011
Originally posted by Pimander

This thread shows that there was lots going on in the press....

Hi Pimander, yes indeed. And another interesting surprise is that - so far I have posted here not quite 10% of the reports I now have in my possession from that summer. Obviously much more was going on there than we have been led to believe.

There were also unusually large numbers of fatal air accidents in the same time period which I will report to members soon. It shows that Roswell was part of something that seems to have been a lot bigger than is generally perceived.

I look forward to it. The most famous one I am aware of is the 2 AAF officers that interviewed Kenneth Arnold, and later while flying back from a different investigation crashed and were killed.

[A51Watcher]

zorgon posted on 10-7-2011
   

Heyyo_yoyo and Area51watcher...

We should all get together over at John's house one day and shoot the crap  He doesn't get out much these days since we closed the mine. I am sure he would be up for it 

[A51Watcher]

posted on 10-7-2011     

Originally posted by zorgon

Heyyo_yoyo and Area51watcher...

We should all get together over at John's house one day and shoot the crap  He doesn't get out much these days since we closed the mine. I am sure he would be up for it

How about we keelhaul him on a road trip north/east from Hwy 375 and bring along a night vision cam? 

[A51Watcher]

zorgon posted on 10-7-2011


Might be a plan    He had a great set of Gen3 googles but we can't find them since we closed the mine cabin. Someone may have picked them up, or its buried in the garage somewhere. There were the $5G set  I'll call him today and see if they turned up yet

Jack Arneson was planning to come out this way and do some 'off roading' but its a little warm out there right now