| EDITOR AND STILL SUPREME COMMANDER: James W. Moseley |
NON-SCHEDULED NEWSLETTER Volume 44, No. 7 August 5th, 1997 |
MAILING ADDRESS: P. 0. Box 1709 Key West, FL 33041 |
Luckily for the Roswell Police Department, the rock concert for
"less than 150,000 people" never materialized. William Shattner of Star
Trek canceled, and in general the crowds were somewhat smaller than
anticipated - in spite of millions of dollars worth of free nationwide
publicity. (We never thought we'd see an alien on the cover of Time Magazine.)
But those who did show up were treated to a town where nearly
every business joined in the light-hearted alien motif.
There was much confusion in regard to where various events were to take place. Some were at the two UFO museums, some at the convention center, some at an auditorium in the New Mexico Military Institute, and some were right at the Roswell Inn, where your humble "Smear" editor was staying. Of course, many events were held simultaneously, so it was not possible to cover everything. But we came away with over one hundred good pictures, a few of which are reproduced herein.
The speakers on the list at the top right photo are those sponsored by the main museum in town, called the International UPO Museum & Research Center, where a tall young lady named Deon Crosby holds sway. Some famous ufologists are on the list, but who the hell is Lance Strong Eagle Crawford?
Second-string speakers, including Karl Pflock, Kevin Randle, and cinematographer Russ Estes spoke at the Roswell Inn and another nearby motel, sponsored by the second-string museum, called The UFO Enigma Museum. This is owned by one John Price, who is being run out of business by one Max Littell, a local Wheel who by strange co-incidence is connected with the International UFO Museum. Enigma may soon be taken over by Clifford Stone, a local man who is a published UFO author.
There were also third-string speakers, in a group of eight from the East, who spoke to pitifully small crowds at the Roswell Inn on Sunday, July 6th, which was the last day of the Festival. We ran into time traveler Al Bielek having breakfast at the Inn (SHOCKING!) with esoteric teacher Chelsea Flor of New Jersey. Bielek told us that their sponsor had gone broke and they were stuck in Roswell till they could raise the money to get out! We don't know what happened after that.
A highlight of the Festival was the debate between Karl Pflock and Kevin Randle, on the question of whether the Roswell Incident was an extraterrestrial event or merely a Mogul balloon. We agreed with Pflock and his Mogul explanation, but mean old Randle won the debate by dramatically ripping up several sheets of balloon-like material from his pocket, and throwing the pieces up into the air like confetti. Ain't science grand!
Another highlight was a presentation in which TV producer Paul Davids, notorious ufologist Derrell Sims & several others, came forth with still another "authentic" Roswell metal fragment. After the lecture all the principals except Davids left hurriedly before the press could ask questions. We are told that they literally ran out the door and jumped into a car that was waiting for them in the parking lot with the motor running! (Science on the run!)
Still another great event, which we also missed, was a July 4th dinner-lecture by Whitley Strieber, which was interrupted by a very loud and violent thunderstorm. Some say that the famous crash near Roswell occurred at that same time of day, on July 4th exactly fifty years earlier. Others say this theory is nonsense. We say it really doesn't matter. The Roswell Incident is a legend that will never die!
(Left, below) An unsual and thought-provoking sign at a Roswell church (Middle) There are four suggested crash sites, re the Roswell Incident, plus the well-known "debris field". This sign refers to one of these four sites, where a crude shrine has recently been erected, (Right) Lt. Col. Philip J. Corso (Long Retired), co-author of "The Day After Roswell", at a Festival press conference. We asked him why he apparently believes in time machines, and he gave a rambling reply about the infamous Philadelphia Experiment.
(Left, above) Karl Pflock at his "Headquarters" near Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Right) Kevin Randle lecturing at the Roswell Festival.
(Photos by OISEAU.)
The press conference was a disaster, as Col. Haynes was nervous,
arrogant, and ill-informed. (It turns out he had not read the Report!)
When someone from the press asked, "How do you explain the fact that
these dummies were dropped several years after the Roswell Incident" Col.
Haynes snarled, "I don't explain it."
And yet, the Report is well worth reading. Only 600 copies were printed (a major miscalculation of demand!), and it was sold out before we could order a copy. However, through Karl Pflock we were able to contact the author, Captain Jim McAndrew, USAF Reserve, who was kind enough to send us a free autographed copy.
Space does not permit us to do justice to the Report here,but there are two important areas: First, the story told by retired mortician Glenn Dennis, who is considered to be the most important living Roswell witness, is actually a combination of events from a 1956 aircraft accident that killed 11 crewmen (3 of whom were autopsied at the funeral home where Dennis worked), and a 1959 manned balloon accident in which 3 crewmen were injured. Obviously Dennis, who didn't start talking till about 1990, deliberately pushed these events back into the 1947 Roswell time-frame.
Secondly, there were hundreds of Air Force tests during the 1950s in which anthropomorphic ( = human-looking ) dummies were released from balloons and Air Force personnel were sent out to recover them. Some people may have misjudged the time-frame, in telling their stories, many years later, of weird bodies on the desert; or, like Glenn Dennis, some may have deliberately twisted the facts to suit themselves.
The 1997 Air Force Report was written mainly because the earlier 1994 Report on Roswell did not deal with the question of bodies. Having solved the Roswell Incident with the Mogul Balloon explanation for the "debris field", where no bodies were found, the Air Force naively expected that would be the end of it. Now, having finally (somewhat) explained the bodies, they naively hope that they have satisfied the True Believers. Little chance of that!
It is interesting to note that there would be no Air Force reports on Roswell, and thus no solution to this persistent mystery, were it not for a fortunate combination of circumstances. Mary Martinek, wife of UFO researcher Karl Pflock, happens to be the office chief of staff for Congressman Steven Schiff of New Mexico, who is a senior member of the Congressional committee that oversees the General Accounting Office (GAO). In late 1992, Pflock arranged a meeting in Washington, D.C., composed of himself, Jesse Marcel Jr., Stanton Friedman and others from the Fund for UFO Research. This meeting succeeded in interesting Schiff in the Roswell case. Thereafter Schiff tried in vain to get information on Roswell from various branches of the government. After his requests for information were ignored, he finally contacted the GAO, and this eventually led to the nearly 1,000 page 1994 government report on Roswell, which in turn led to the present report. Pflock and the Fund, working through the System (not wildly, like Ed Komarek!), are responsible for the fact that, like it or not, the Roswell Incident is finally solved.
Pflock is the author of an unpublished book about Roswell, and is co-author, together with your "Smear" editor, of a hopefully forthcoming book called "Shockingly Close to the Truth".
Says Dr. Paul Kurtz of CSICOP: "The promoters of the alien autopsy film are claiming copyright infringement. However, if their footage is authentic as they claim, then there can be no copyright violation because the film belongs to the United States government and the American people. You can't copyright government property."
This is another interesting book by former Air Force Captain Kevin Randle, who has moved to the forefront of UFO research through quantity if not through quality of output, mainly on the subject of Roswell.
Randle has come a long way toward UFO Belief since his "Position Statement" in Ronald Story's UFO Encyclopedia (1980), where Randle states in part: "As a science fiction writer, there is almost nothing I would rather see than a UFO land at the river entrance of the Pentagon.. but until something comes along to convince me, I must say that I don't think UFOs are spaceships."
"UFOs in the `90s" mainly concerns cases that occurred considerably before the `90s. It was obviously written in haste, but is a fair presentation of several well-known cases, going all the way back to the Roswell Incident. Randle has lost Faith in Roswell witness Jim Ragsdale, and even has a chapter entitled "The Decline and Fall of Roswell". Yet his Belief persists, due to other witnesses and other evidence. He rejects the Mogul Balloon explanation, of course, but he also mercifully rejects the alien autopsy film as well as the MJ-12 documents. Randle is apparently trying to be objective, and he even apologizes for the fact that his book contains so many negative conclusions.
At this stage of his research, Randle is inclined to disbelieve the complex Travis Walton abduction case, as well as the Ed Walters/Gulf Breeze scenario, as well as the tales of chupacabras. He is undecided about the 1996 Brazil landing, and looks favorably on the STS-48 case as well as the little-known Shag Harbor, Nova Scotia (Canada) crash of 196?.
Randle erroneously believes that UFO research has improved in the 199Os, as compared to previous eras. If it has improved at all, it is because of a few objective professionals from outside the field, of whom he is not one. We do appreciate the free review copy of "UFOs in the'9Os" that Randle personally sent us, and we forgive him for the fact that neither "Moseley" nor "Saucer Smear" appears in the index even once!
"...As for the continuing phony document controversy, it is my opinion that the various assertions which have been made are interesting but inconclusive. Unfortunately I am unable to shed any further light on the matter, having already told those involved all that I can. I reiterate however, that IF they are fabrications, I am not the one responsible..."With respect to the course of recent events, controversies, etc. there are several things of importance about which a few comments would appear to be in order:
"First, I completely agree with Jim Oberg's recent letter (as published in the last `Smear'), especially his last two paragraphs, and I am glad somebody in a position of importance has finally come out and said it. As Mr. Oberg has indicated, there are a lot of stories hidden under that particular rug which would serve to illuminate many present myster ies.
"Second, after deep and careful consideration of recent developments concerning Roswell, and because my name continues to be connected with this story, I wish to advise anyone who might be interested that I no longer am of the opinion that the extraterrestrial explanation is the best explanation for this event. I concede that it remains in the running as a possible explanation...
"And finally, with respect to Kal Korff's recent book wherein I figure somewhat prominently, I wish to say that I find it an interesting mixture of truth, half-truth, exaggeration, speculation, and a few just plain honest mistakes. I have always had a high degree of respect for Kal and his efforts to tell truth as he sees it. ...
"All things considered, Korff is a far better skeptic than Phil Klass will ever be. Could it possibly be that in this intelligent young man we finally have an heir apparent to that mean-spirited crusty old fart?"
"...After reading your letter in the latest Moseley newsletter, I have to say that Budd Hopkins was entirely in his rights to choose not to share a platform with Phil Klass. Hopkins was not objecting to any critic but to a particular one, notorious for irrational excess, character assassination, and double-dealing. To share a platform (or, for that matter, to make the inexplicable decision to invite Klass to speak at the UnConvention) is to give legitimacy to Klass' extremism. If Klass were pro-UFO, he would be universally recognized as a crank and treated accordingly. Budd was right to do what he did, and to the extent that audience members disapproved, they were wrong...
"...I was most interested to learn of Bruce Maccabee's First Law of UFO Investigation, 'Proof that a picture could be faked is not the same as proof that it was faked.' This prompts me to propose Klass' First Law of UFO Investigation: `Proof that Bruce Maccabee could be the world's most credulous and gullible UFO investigator is not the same as proof that he is the world's most credulous and gullible UFO investigator.'"
"Debris from a New York University (NYU) balloon train, launched in support of Project Mogul, was THE complete explanation for what W.W. `Mac' Brazel found on the Foster Ranch on June 14th, 194?, and which he subsequently turned over to Major Jesse A. Marcel."Short and to the point! - Editor
"I wanted to thank you for sending the copy of `UFO 1947-1997: Fifty Years of Flying Saucers' by Evans and Stacy. I continue to find `Smear' interesting and unique as always. Your rather iconoclastic viewpoints are one of a kind. In this regard you remind me very much of Ray Palmer, or `Rap', as he liked to be called.We hope we don't remind anyone too much of Ray Palmer, though we found him to be a very bright, interesting guy. - Editor
"In response to K. E. Sackett's `shockingly close to the truth' remarks (in the last `Smear') concerning we aging, lower middle class `ufoologists' of modest attainments, I say - why not tell us something we don't already know, Sackett! I mean, can't we under-achievers have a little bit of fun? Besides, K. E., don't you know that nobody likes a smarty pants!?"
"After reading the new Walters/Maccabee book, it seems to me to be `deja vu all over again', to borrow a trite phrase. Mr. Ed (Walters) makes some pictures, writes a story about them, and sends them to Maccabee (otherwise known as Dr. Edsez). Dr. Edsez states that the photos are valid and the story true because he believes Mr. Ed. Mr. Ed then gloats that his pictures and stories have been validated by Dr. Edsez, and the circle is complete. They both then giggle all the way to the bank!"It should be noted that several nationally recognized professional photo analysts have offered definitive proof that Mr. Ed's photos are hoaxed. Nonetheless, the True Believers will probably sop up every word as if it were gospel, and the hard core skeptics will probably become more skeptical, if that is possible. Hopefully, the more objective reader will recognize this as another apparent work of fiction and move on to more important issues. The anecdotes in the book from other sources do make somewhat interesting reading and can be evaluated on their own merits. However, they do not validate Mr. Ed's claims in my opinion.
"Coincidentally, the same weekend that I read the book, I received a phone call from one of Mr. Ed's old neighbors, when he lived on Silverthorn. I told the neighbor about the new book, and he repeated a story that he had told me before, a few years ago. It seems that between about 4:30 and 6:00 P.M. on Nov. 11th, 1987, the neighbor and two local sales persons were in the neighbor's front yard negotiating some work to be done. The area in front of Mr. Ed's house where the UFO was supposedly lurking was in plain view to the three of them, the entire time. None of the three saw any UFOs or blue beams. For that matter, they didn't even see Mr. Ed in front of his house with trusty camera in hand!..."
"The statement by James Oberg in `Smear' whets my appetite to know more. The implications are incredible. If Oberg is accurate, then much of UFO history is artificial, and not real! We must learn more!..."
"...I have noticed that if I mention you somewhere in the magazine, I get a plug. In the future, you will always have a home in the pages of `The Excluded Middle', even if it's only your name on a page with no explanation at all. Perhaps I could use that picture of yourself in volume two of Jerome Clark's `UFO Encyclopedia'. Have you gotten around to suing him for that yet?..."How dare Richard Hall call some of the contactees authors of `the ten worst UFO books of all time'. Once more the insecurity~of the 'mainstream' (?) Ufologists rears its ugly head! Scientific respectability (such as it is) is unattainable for UFO researchers under our present rules of `truth' and evidence. To my mind, the contactees tales are just as believable as the abductees. The friends of the space brothers just had different filters for their experience. Same strange force, different cultural bias. The new scientific revolution is going on right now, but it isn't covered by the media - except in `The Excluded Middle', of course!"
"...I have come across both you and Phil Klass in `Alien Agenda', a newly published UFO book by journalist Jim Marrs (suspicious last name!)"I found your name on Page 193. Here's the reference: `There is no doubt that on at least one occasion Adamski was set up as the object of a hoax. bong after his death, two writers - James W. Moseley and Gray Barker - admitted that, as a joke, they had concocted a letter implying an endorsement of Adamski's views on a State Department letterhead. Adamski had widely publicized the fraudulent letter from a nonexistent official named `R.E. Straith'. The two writers decided not to reveal the joke at the time because federal agents were investigating this apparent misuse of official letterhead stationery.
"Very tricky, Jim!..."
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