FLYING DISC TALES DECLINE
AS ARMY, NAVY CRACK DOWN
By United Press
(UP) -- Reports of flying saucers whizzing through the sky fell off
sharply today as the army and navy began a concentrated campaign to stop the rumors.
One by one, persons who thought they had their hands on the $3,000 offered
for a genuine flying saucer found their hands full of nothing.
Headquarters of the 8th army at Fort Worth, Texas, announced that the wreckage
of a tin-foil covered object found on a New Mexico ranch was nothing more than
the remnants of a weather balloon. AAF headquarters in Washington reportedly
delivered a "blistering" rebuke to officers at the Roswell, New Mexico, base
for suggesting that it was a "flying disc."
A 16 inch aluminum disc equiped with two radio condensers, a fluorescent
light switch and copper tubing found by F.G. Harston near the Shreveport,
Louisiana, business district was declared by police to be "obviously the
work of a prankster." Police believed the prankster hurled it over a sign
board and watched it land at Harston's feet. It was turned over to officials
at Barksdale army air field.
U.S. naval intelligence officers at Pearl Harbor investigated claims by 100
navy men that they saw a mysterious object "silvery colored, like aluminum,
with no wings or tail," sail over Honolulu at a rapid clip late yesterday.
The description fit a weather balloon but 5 of the men, familiar with weather
observation devices, swore that it was not a balloon.
"It moved extremely fast for a short period, seemed to slow down, then
disappeared high in the air," said Yeoman 1/C Douglas Kacherle of New Bedford,
Massachusetts. His story was corroborated by Seaman 1/C Donald Ferguson, Indianapolis;
Yeoman 3/C Morris Kzamme, La. Crosse, Wisconsin, Seaman 1/C Albert Delancey, Salem,
West Virginia, and Yeoman 2/C Ted Pardue, McClain, Texas.
Admiral William H. Blandy, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic fleet, said like
everyone else he was curious about the reported flying saucers "but I do not believe they exist."
Lloyd Bennett, Oelwein, Iowa, salesman, was stubborn about the shiny 6 1/2-inch
steel disc he found yesterday. Authorities said it was not a "flying saucer" but
Bennett said he would claim the reward offered for the mysterious discs.
There were other discards. Not all the principles were satisfied with the
announcement that the wreckage found on the New Mexico ranch was that of a weather balloon.
The excitement ran through this cycle:
1. Lieut. Warren Haught [sic, Walter Haut], public relations officer at the
Roswell Base released a statement in the name of Col. William Blanchard, base
commander. It said that an object described as a "flying disk" was found on the
nearby Foster ranch three weeks ago by W.W. Brazel and had been sent to "higher
officials" for examination.
2. Brig. Gen. Roger B. Ramey, commander of the 8th Air Force said at Fort Worth
that he believed the object was the "remnant of a weather balloon and a radar
reflector," and was "nothing to be excited about." He allowed photographers to
take a picture of it. It was announced that the object would be sent to Wright
Field, Dayton, OH.
3. Later, Warrant Officer Irving Newton, Stetsonville, Wisconsin, weather officer
at Fort Worth, examined the object and said definitely that it was nothing but a
badly smashed target used to determine the direction and velocity of high altitude winds.
4. Lt. Haught [sic, Walter Haut] reportedly told reporters that he had been "shut
up by two blistering phone calls from Washington."
5. Efforts to contact Col. Blanchard brought the information that "he is now on leave."
6. Maj. Jesse A. Marcel, intelligence officer of the 509th bombardment group, reportedly
told Brazel, the finder of the object, that "it has nothing to do with army or
navy so far as I can tell."
7. Brazel told reporters that he has found weather balloon equipment before, but had
seen nothing that had resembled his latest find.
8. Those men who saw the object said it had a flowered paper tape around it
bearing the initials "D.P."
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