The sudden announcement a short time after the photo session by General
Ramey-upon orders from his bosses in Washington, DC -that this debris
was but a "weather balloon and radar target" certainly makes good sense.
And the fact that no other member of the media or public ever has been
permitted to examine or even view the debris also is understandable.  It
undoubtedly was only through a fluke that I got to see, arrange, and
photograph the wreckage-and pose the military brass while examining it.

It was sheer luck that as military reporter for the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram, then the South's largest newspaper, and a veteran of the
Army Air Corps in World War II, I was available and in close proximity
to Fort Worth Army Air Base on the afternoon of July 8, 1947.

For weeks the whole world had been watching for flying saucers as
reports of sightings were being received daily from many parts of the
country.  And now, finally, the Air Corps announced that it had
"captured" one of the objects and was flying it to Fort Worth for
personal examination by General Ramey.

I was given the wire service "flash" announcement of this rapidly
developing story by my city editor and I headed for the air base.
Upon arrival at Ramey's office, I learned that the general was out but
expected to return momentarily.  The debris, transported from Roswell in
a series of "meat wrapper" paper covered packages, had been deposited on
the carpet in the general's office.  Just one package was opened
partially.  Some packages, still sealed, were scattered around the
office.

While Colonel DuBose went out to look for the general, I was left alone
in the general's rather spacious office.  This gave me an opportunity to
further unpack and to "pose" some of the pieces of wreckage.  I well
recall how frustrated I was at the burned and smelly debris and how
little opportunity this would permit for a good news photograph.

When the General entered the room I handed him the "flash"
announcement printed from the news wires.  He read it with interest.
I then took a couple of shots of him, still wearing his hat in his office,
examining the debris with the "flash" announcement held in his hand.

Then I asked his chief of staff, Colonel DuBose, to join him for a couple
of more poses.  I was desperate to get that "good shot" that every
photographer dreams of but could think of no very dramatic way to
portray a crashed "flying saucer."  I remember wondering if my single
peanut flash would even show sufficient detail in shooting the darkened
material.  But there was no time to set up a "slave" flash, which would
have enhanced the lighting.

While shooting the general I asked him what all this material was.  He
shrugged and answered something like: "Damned if I know."  But there
was no effort by anyone to avoid posing with the debris.

Then I grabbed a couple of shots of Major Marcel, who had gathered up
the UFO wreckage pieces at the crash site near Roswell and then had
first brought them to his commanding officer at the Roswell air base and
then on direct orders of the general couriered them on to Fort Worth.

I was off to the Star-Telegram to develop and print the shots.  But
before time permitted transmitting the photos by wirephoto to the
waiting world, General Ramey went on the radio to announce that the
earlier official announcement was in error and that this was only a
"weather balloon and target device."
 

It is suddenly no longer a mystery why Ramey would have issued the
so-called "cover up" announcement soon after I left his office.  If at
the time of the photo shoot it already had been determined that this was
for certain a "far out" craft, the general would dared not have tried to
pass off such a ruse since I could well have noticed the strange
"writings" and anomalous materials and confronted him with them.
So, only after my departure and after the debris was now safely hidden
from all the world could such an announcement have been made with
safety.

With a half century of speculation and folklore preceding this stunning
revelation, I now believe that I was just lucky.  I was ahead of the
story.  The general and his staff simply had not had sufficient time to
examine and evaluate the wreckage.  As DuBose later told a reporter, at
that time "we just didn't know what we had."

Perhaps these most unlikely events that permitted a
21-year-old news reporter to take a few pictures with
his brand-new Speed Graphic camera in 1947 may
finally help to unlock the secrets of the Roswell
UFO mystery.

New super enlargements were 
available for viewing at the Main     
Library of the University of Texas
at Arlington on June 1.                                                                                 Photoİ Debbie Stock

     
LOSING A FRIEND
VINNIE'S UNTIMELY DEATH
VINNIE'S INTERROGATIONS

SATELLITE INFORMATION
ALIEN INVASION
BATTLELAB
CANCER DETECTION
COSMIC CONSPIRACY
EOS: NEXT GENERATION
GPS FROM THE USAF
PACHYDERM PATROL
RAPID TARGETING CAPABILITY
SATELLITE OR UFO?
SPACE WARS


UFO RELATED
AREA 51
FOO FIGHTER
WHAT'S A UER?
UFO SHOT DOWN
USAF UFO RELEASE

UFOs & ASTRONAUTS-1    ASTRONAUTS-2
GORDON COOPER-1    COOPER-2

THE MOON
MOON FACTS
WATER ON THE MOON

GENERAL
HYPERSONIC MISSILE    
MICROCHIP IMPLANTS
RUSSIAN BOMBS
TITAN ROCKET EXPLODES

ROSWELL
J.BOND JOHNSON
SYMBOLS?
1947 PHOTOS
Scan 2    Scan 3    Scan 4    
Scan 5    Scan 6    Scan 7                
MORE SCANS                



RONALD REGEHR
BIO

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