Roswell Revisited

We all know, to a fairly large degree, what happened in Roswell after Mack Brazel showed up with the strange metallic debris. But what went on at the higher headquarters and what were the reactions of the men at those headquarters? Does it provide us with any sort of clue?

In 1947 Colonel (later Brigadier General) Thomas J. DuBose was the Chief of Staff of the Eighth Air Force stationed at the Fort Worth Army Air Field (later Carswell Air Force Base). According to a statement signed in front of a state of Florida notary public, Colonel DuBose received a telephone call from Major General Clements McMullen, the Deputy Commander of the Strategic Air Command who asked about the events that had occurred outside of Roswell. DuBose, in turn, called Blanchard in Roswell and ordered him to send the material, in a sealed container, to him at Fort Worth. It was never made clear if this was some of the stuff that was brought to Roswell by Brazel, or if it was some of the debris recovered by Marcel. The timing, based on what DuBose said during his video-taped interview made in August 1991, would indicate that it was some of the Brazel debris.

A plane was dispatched from Roswell. DuBose asked the base commander at Fort Worth, Colonel Al Clark, to take the material from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C. and delivery it to McMullen. DuBose then called McMullen, who told DuBose that he, McMullen, would send the material on to Benjamin Chidlaw at Wright Field. DuBose identified Childlaw as the commanding general of the Air Materiel Command, but in reality, in July 1947, Nathan F. Twining was the commander.

DuBose also identified the material photographed in Ramey’s office as part of a weather balloon. DuBose said that the weather balloon explanation was a cover story designed to divert attention of the press. Please note here that we have testimony from a highranking officer who was in the office at the time, telling us that the debris displayed there was a weather balloon. He would make it clear that this debris was not the strange stuff that had been found in New Mexico.

In interviews conducted in the early 1990s, and video taped for inclusion in the Fund for UFO Research’s video library, DuBose elaborated. He added that McMullen ordered Ramey to cover up the whole thing. They, meaning those at a higher command level, wanted to "put out the fire" as quickly as they could.

Speaking of the orders he received from McMullen, DuBose said, "He (McMullen) called me and said that I was…there was talk of some elements that had been found on the ground outside Roswell, New Mexico…that the debris or elements were to be placed in a suitable container and Blanchard was to see that they were delivered…they were placed in a suitable container and Al Clark, the base commander at Carswell [Fort Worth Army Air Field] would pick them up and hand deliver them to McMullen in Washington. Nobody, and I must stress this, no one was to discuss with their wives, me with Ramey, with anyone. The matter as far as we're concerned was closed as of that moment."

DuBose then called Blanchard in Roswell and said, "…and told him that there is this material his S-2 [Marcel] found in the desert and I said this is to be put in a suitable container by this major and you are to see that it is sealed, put in your little command aircraft, and flown by a proper courier [meaning an officer or NCO who is cleared to carry classified material], flown to Carswell and delivered to Al Clark who will then deliver it to McMullen."

Because it was hot that day, DuBose waited in his office until he was told that the aircraft from Roswell was in the traffic pattern. Once he had the word, he drove out onto the ramp and waited for the airplane to land. He couldn't remember whether it was a B-25 or a B-26, but did say he knew it wasn't a B-29. McMullen would not have approved of using one of the bombers.

As the plane rolled to a stop, Colonel Alan Clark walked over and received the bag from the Roswell crew. DuBose said, "Clark took the package and got into the B-26 [or B-25, the Fort Worth plane standing by] through the belly of it…he handed it to somebody…it was one of those things you tied to your wrist and he handed it to somebody and climbed in there. And that's the last I saw of it. In a couple…three hours it was delivered to McMullen and that's the last I heard of it."

DuBose wasn't sure of what happened to the debris after it got to Washington because McMullen had told him not to talk about it and certainly wouldn’t entertain questions about it. But he did say, "…McMullen said to me, or someone…what we're going to do with this is send it out to Wright Field and have it analyzed. That's a capability they didn't have at Andrews [the base in Washington where Clark and the flight landed.]"

According to DuBose, there were no guards on the flight from Roswell and none on the Fort Worth aircraft. He also said that he never had the opportunity to see the debris. "I only saw the container and the container was a plastic bag that I would say weighted fifteen to twenty pounds. It was sealed…lead seal around the top…The only way to get into it was to cut it."

That, according to DuBose, was the only package. He made it clear that the debris in the bag was different from the debris that would later be displayed in Ramey's office. There would be other flights, but by that time, everything would be highly classified. In fact, DuBose said that"…McMullen told me you are not to discuss this and this is a point at which this is more than top secret, beyond that… This is the highest priority and you will say nothing. That was the end of it."

Brigadier General Arthur Exon

General Exon surfaced in 1990 as a witness to some of the events surrounding the crash of the craft near Roswell in 1947. Exon, a lieutenant colonel in 1947, was an Army Air Forces officer assigned to Wright Field. He was there when the crash debris and the bodies arrived at that base. Though he now claims no first-hand knowledge of those events and says that he was, in fact, speculating about them when researchers interviewed him beginning in May 1990, the situation as described by Exon then was considerably different than what he claims today. In other words, he back pedaled slightly on this. Researcher David Rudiak, however, reports that Exon, in interviews conducted before his death, made it clear that he, Exon, had talked to participants in the analysis of the debris and the bodies, and his discussions weren’t quite as speculative as debunkers would have us believe.

Exon was, because of his assignments and his locations during those assignments, in a position to see and hear things about flying saucers and the surrounding investigations. These he reported during the initial interviews with him, drawing on his memories of the situation and what he had seen himself. During these interviews, Exon kept referring to a group of high-ranking officials, both governmental and military, who controlled access to all the data about the Roswell crash in particular and UFOs in general.

Of course, by listening to the tapes of the interviews, and reading the letter that Exon sent to me on November 21, 1991, it is clear that most of what he told me wasn’t really speculation. It was information that he gained because of who he was and where he was and what he had seen himself. The areas of speculation were quite small. There were be more details of this discussed in “Investigators and Investigations” chapter.

Exon told me, for example, that he had been at Wright Field when they heard the material found at Roswell was being brought in. He said that he knew it was coming in. He said that the bodies had been brought to Wright Field and that he believed that one of those bodies had been sent to Lowry Army Air Field because the Army's mortuary service was based there.

During the initial interview conducted on May 19, 1990, I asked Exon, "You've heard the rumors about the little bodies and all that stuff hadn't you?"

Exon responded, "Well, yes, I have. In fact I know people that were in photographing some of the residue from the New Mexico affair near Roswell."

Exon then said, "As a result of that, I know they saw the one sighting and then where…a good bit of the information came down. There was another location where it was where apparently the main body of the spacecraft was [I will note parenthetically that Exon is confirming here, more than one crash site]…where they did say there were bodies there… I've got special information but it may be more rumor than fact about what happened to those bodies although they were all found apparently outside the craft itself but were in fairly good condition. In other words, they weren't broken up a lot."

Exon, a retired Air Force brigadier general, was saying that he heard, from those he knew at Wright Field, that the rumored bodies and the "residue" from New Mexico were being brought to the base for analysis. It was clear from what he said that he did not personally see the bodies, but had heard of them from those who had. He spoke of his special knowledge, suggested it might be rumor but then he described the discovery of the bodies in a serious light based on what his friends, who were first-hand witnesses, had told him.

Talking of the bodies and if they were taken to Wright-Patterson, he said, "Well, that's my information. But one of them was that it went to the mortuary outfit…I think at that time it was in Denver, where these people were being identified. But the strongest information was that they were brought into Wright-Pat."

Exon continued, saying, "But back in that '47 time period, everybody was, it happened and why wasn't there more information and who kept the lid on it. Well, I know [emphasis added] that at the time the sightings happened it went to General Ramey… who was at Carswell Air Force Base [Fort Worth Army Air Field] and he along with the people out at Roswell decided to change the story while they got their act together and got the information into the Pentagon and into the President."

There is no speculation here. Exon was telling researchers what he knew from his conversations with the people directly involved. Notice that there was no hint of speculation anywhere, but Exon, in fact, used the term "I know" instead of anything suggesting that he was guessing based on who he was and what he had heard through the grapevine.

"Of course President Truman and General Spaatz [then commander of the Army Air Forces], the Secretary of Defense [Forrestal] who has now passed away, and other people who were close to them were the ones who made up the key investigative teams in relation to the released information… So they decided to make it a national cover up…I did know [emphasis added] that their numbers one and two people were at the top of the staff including the Secretary of Defense and the Chief of Staff and the intelligence circle including the President, I don't know whether anybody outside the President's office, I never hear of any elected officials."

He then qualified the statements, saying, "This is stuff I've heard from '47 on to the present time, really. About why wasn't it…about who was responsible and it was no problem to find out who was in those positions in '47 and '48 and I just happen to remember them because the Air Force was being formed and I was in the Pentagon and worked around a lot between the Pentagon and the field so I knew these people."

Although he speculated about the location of the metal, meaning he believed that it was still at Wright-Patterson in 1990 when the interviews took place, he did know what happened once it had arrived at the base in 1947. He said, "I think it was there because there was quite a bit of effort to take it to the labs and try to analyze it chemically and metallurgy and everything else involved in trying to find out what the material was because some of it was very flimsy and was tougher than hell and other was almost like foil but strong. It had them pretty puzzled so I know people were investigating trying to find out what it was. And it wouldn't surprise me if some of the material wasn't still around. Certainly the reports."

So Exon was aware of the various laboratory tests that were conducted. It is not necessary for him to have witnessed the tests to know what had transpired during them. Exon might not have seen the tests or participated in them but he was reporting exactly what he had heard from those who had.

In fact, the only area of speculation was that the material would still be around Wright-Patterson somewhere in the 1990s. And, if the material itself couldn't be located, then the reports and analysis of the debris would be available. Reasonable speculation by Exon considering who he was and what he had already admitted to knowing.

Exon then began to speak of the alien bodies. I mentioned the bodies to Exon, saying that he knew the bodies from Roswell had been taken to Wright-Patterson. Exon answered saying that he knew it too, and then added, "Well, I don't know that."

Exon then said, "People I have known were involved in it and they're the ones that told me they [the bodies] got to Wright-Patterson. But what I've been trying to do is try to imagine what could have been done with them scientifically from a storage stand point for further investigation. It's one thing to kind of have an autopsy and another thing to keep them. I know there were facilities available that could have done that but I don't believe they were at Wright-Patterson."

In other words, Exon's speculation wasn't about the bodies arriving at Wright-Patterson, or even the fact there were bodies recovered. Instead, he was speculating on the tests that could be conducted on them when they arrived at Wright-Patterson and where they could have been stored once the preliminary research had been completed.

His knowledge of the Roswell events went far beyond what he had been told by those he trusted. Again, in the last few months before he died, Exon has suggested to some researchers, or more accurately it has been reported by those researchers, that the situation isn't exactly as has been reported. He supposedly told some investigators that he had flown over many areas in the desert southwest and as he had, he had speculated about the location of the crash.

But this reading of the situation simply isn't the case. On June 18, 1990, Don Schmitt had the opportunity to visit Exon at his home in Riverside, California. Schmitt was able to record most of the conversation, though he had trouble with his recorder and a gardener who decided that it was time to mow the lawn. Schmitt also made notes to back up the tape and provided me with a copy of those notes.

Again, Exon explained about the oversight committee that controlled access to the information about the crash. Exon was telling Schmitt what he knew, based on his position as the base commander at Wright-Patterson.

Schmitt asked, "Was there any name for the operation?" Exon answered, "Well, I…no, I don't recall that there was. Our contact was a man, a telephone number. He'd call and he's set the airplane up. I just knew there was an investigative team. There probably was a name but I…"

There was a slight break in the tape and then Exon said, "…Stuart Symington, who was Secretary of Defense [actually he was Under Secretary of War for Air in July 1947], Joe [actually Carl] Spaatz [Chief of the Army Air Forces]…all these guys at the top of the government. They were the ones who knew the most about Roswell, New Mexico. They were involved in what to do about the residue from that…those two findings."

Schmitt said, "You say those two.

Exon answered, "Probably part of the same accident but two distinct sites. One, assuming that the thing, as I understand it, as I remember flying the area later, that the damage to the vehicle seemed to be coming from the southeast and northwest but it could have been going in the opposite direction but it doesn't seem likely. So that farther northwest pieces found on the ranch, those pieces were mostly metal [again I note that he is confirming more than one location for crash related debris]…"

Exon described the debris that had been found, saying, "…couldn't be easily ripped or changed…you could change it. You could wad it up you could change the shape but it was still there and…there were other parts of it that were very thin but awfully strong and couldn't be dented with heavy hammers and stuff like that…which at that time were causing some people concern…again, say it was a shape of some kind you could grab this end and bend it but it would come right back. It was flexible to a degree."

Since Exon began claiming, at lease to the ears of some debunkers, that he had flown over many sites and was only speculating, a letter he sent me on November 24, 1991 becomes important. At that time I had been accused of misquoting Exon. After I supplied a copy of his taped interviews, a copy of the book showing the context of the quotes that I had used, I asked in what area Exon believed he had been misquoted.

He wrote back, "I'm sorry that a portion of my interview has caused you trouble. I will acknowledge that the 'quick' quote does have me saying that my flights later, much later, verified [sic] the direction of possible flight of the object. I remember auto tracks leading to pivital [sic] sites and obvious gouges in terrain."

In 1998, Exon was interviewed by Tom Carey, a careful researcher living in Pennsylvania, in an attempt to clarify some of the confusion that had grown up around Exon’s statements about the crash site. Now, instead of suggesting that there were multiple sites and multiple locations, Exon again talked of two distinct sites. He spoke of them as if he had known, in 1947, what he was seeing. He knew that these were the locations where the metallic debris, and the craft and bodies had been recovered. He told Carey that there had been discussion in the aircraft, meaning the one in which Exon was flying at the time, about the Roswell crash. The idea that Exon’s testimony was “speculation” is an obvious attempt to reduce the critical information to unimportant. Audio tapes of that interview also exist.

What becomes clear upon reviewing the tapes, the 1991 letter, and the new interviews by Carey and Rudiak, is that Exon was not speculating about these events and activities as some now suggest. There is nothing in the statements he made, nor in the letter he wrote to me that suggests that he wasn't discussing what he knew from either first-hand observation or communication with those who were directly involved. The speculations revolved around what happened after the debris or bodies had arrived at Wright-Patterson, not about the recovery of the craft, material or bodies. In fact, he wasn't even speculating about some of the testing. He said that he received the information about the tests from technicians who had actually conducted the tests and whom he personally knew.

Exon said that the material, the metallic debris, was flown on to Wright Field. Pappy Henderson, a pilot with the 1st Air Transport Unit at Roswell, said that he was one of the pilots who flew the debris to Wright Field.

Exon talked of the bodies coming into Wright Field. Helen Wachter, was visiting a friend with a new baby, when her, the friend’s husband came home, somewhat agitated. He was an MP at Wright Field and was talking about aliens that had been brought into the base. She, at first, thought he was referring to people from another country, but it soon became clear he was talking about creatures from another world.

Exon described the debris in the same terms used by a dozen other witnesses including Bill Brazel, Major Jesse A. Marcel, Master Sergeant Lewis S. Rickett, Sergeant Robert Smith, Sallye Tadolini and Loretta Proctor. There is no indication that Exon was personally acquainted with any of these people, though it is clear that he was aware of the Roswell case and its implications before any investigator interviewed him.

Exon's somewhat vague description of the location of the impact site agrees with what has been suggested over the last several years. In fact, looking back to his statement about two distinct sites, there is another clue about the validity of the statements made by Exon. He said, "So the farther northwest pieces found on the ranch, those were mostly metal."

He was speaking of flying over the two sites, and if he had followed the conventional wisdom, if he had followed the scenario developed in the late 1970s, then Exon's statement should have read, "So the farther east pieces found on the ranch…"

Clearly Exon was not speculating, nor was he drawing on what he might have read elsewhere. He was describing, in the first hand, a situation he had witnessed. And, as the investigation continued, drawing on the testimonies supplied by Edwin Easley, Lewis Rickett, W. Curry Holden (a historian who did research in the Roswell area in 1947), Thomas Gonzales, and the second-hand information from Barbara Dugger (granddaughter of Sheriff Wilcox), it is obvious that Exon's claim that the impact site was to the southeast of the Brazel ranch was correct. This suggests an inside and intimate knowledge of the events near Roswell. Exon was not relating what he believed to be the truth, or was speculating about what he believed to be the truth, but was describing the situation as he had lived it in 1947. The statements he made on tape and the words he used are crystal clear.

The question to be asked, then, is if Exon was speaking candidly, and if the information is accurate, then why now the claim that he was speculating? The answer is threefold.

First, it seems that the change in Exon's attitude was precipitated by outside events. Exon provided many facts that he should have kept to himself. He was caught him off guard by the first interviews, speaking of events that were more than thirty and forty years old. He assumed that the information was no longer classified and it was no longer important to keep it hidden. Because of that, he spoke freely of events he should have kept to himself.

Second, some of the controversy around Exon's statements were the result of the politics inside the UFO community. If Exon was telling the truth about the development of an oversight committee to control the debris, craft, and bodies, and if his information was accurate, then clearly the MJ-12 documents were fraudulent. The wrong people were named on the oversight committee. Because of that, proponents of MJ-12 claimed that Exon had been misquoted. Rather than suggest where Exon was wrong, they attacked the accuracy of the quotes, ignoring that the fact that the statements were recorded on audio tape and some of those claiming that I had misquoted Exon had heard the tapes.

Finally, and most telling is the information given to Schmitt near the end of his interview with Exon. Schmitt said, "We still have witnesses involved with Roswell that tells us they are sworn to secrecy or at least that's still their perception…they will go to their graves honoring their commitments."

Exon then said something that becomes important when all is considered. He said, "I'd do the same thing. You'd just be hazed and hassled by everybody who was trying to reconstruct the thing…"

Exon, then being "hazed and hassled" and probably having been reprimanded by someone inside the Air Force, was trying to subtly "rewrite" history. He was claiming that his statements were speculations, or there are those who are dismissing his statements as speculations. This simply isn't the case. Exon might not have liked it, the skeptics and the debunkers might not like it, but his words are on tape and taken in context. He let quite a bit of information out of the bag, probably not realizing what he was doing. It is clear from what he said, and from the corroboration that has been found that Exon knew the truth.