Eliot Stein Interviews Donald Schmitt, co-author of "The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell"
©Eliot Stein
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Donald, thanks for joining us. Why has this particular UFO case more
credibility than most of them?
DON: We consider the Roswell crash of 1947, the grandaddy of all UFO
cases! First, it happened at a time when there was little to influence
public opinion on UFOs. There wasn't all the UFO movies in theaters...
nothing that would influence the mass public.
You could pull out major newspapers from Jun-July 1947, and find page
after page of flying saucer reports! The concerns were from the public
and the government of sightings of unusual aircraft. By all the
accounts and witnesses--we were dealing with SOMEBODY else's aircraft.
Then we had the crash. The crash of an unknown object. Two specific
sites. One 75 miles Northwest of Roswell, New Mexico the second site
halfway between the first site and Roswell which necessitated a press
release--JULY 8--that the U.S. military had recovered a flying disc.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Who made this announcement?
DON: The press release was issued by the 509th atomic bomb wing under
the command of Col. William Blanchard.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Where did this release go to?
DON: Over the wire service --it managed to get out well enough for the
next number of hours that every major newspaper had headlines about this recovery--all over the
world.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: What time was the announcement?
DON: 12 NOON July 8 CST.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: So here we have an official press release from the
U.S. government that they have recovered a "flying disc" that goes out
on the wire services. What happens then?
DON: By 7:30 p.m. that evening, the announcement was RETRACTED...by Brig. Gen. Roger
Ramey. Displaying a very conventional radar reflector in his office--he "explained" away the
entire event.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Did most people including the news media fall for this cover-up--after all,
this was our government, who NEVER lied to us?
DON: Probably out of fear and because of the patriotic atmosphere of the nation at that time--the
explanation was accepted without any second thought! It would not be until 30 years later that
the INTEL officer, Major Jessie Marcel, broke the story to the media, stating that he had actually
handled pieces of the genuine flying saucer! That was in 1977..and the only publication that
would even touch the story was the National Enquirer.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: These days, Time and Newsweek would be there in a
flash!
DON: Marcel persisted. After that additional witnesses came forward.
They talked about the material...the recovery of the material.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: How big was the saucer that landed?
DON: It wasn't a saucer. The description of it was that it was without
wings or a tail section. The term flying saucer was coined by a reporter from Oregon, who had
been told about what a witness saw--nine flying objects. It was like the heel of a shoe--15 feet in
width--about 15-20 feet in length. It had a center crew department.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Were there any occupants in this crash landing?
DON: Six first hand witnesses not only described the shape of the
craft... but independently described five bodies that were recovered!
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: What did the bodies look like according to the
accounts?
DON: The descriptions are basically identical! Humanoid--short in
stature, about 5 feet in height--
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: So far you're describing Danny DeVito.
©Eliot Stein
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Donald, thanks for joining us. Why has this particular UFO case more
credibility than most of them?
DON: We consider the Roswell crash of 1947, the grandaddy of all UFO
cases! First, it happened at a time when there was little to influence
public opinion on UFOs. There wasn't all the UFO movies in theaters...
nothing that would influence the mass public.
You could pull out major newspapers from Jun-July 1947, and find page
after page of flying saucer reports! The concerns were from the public
and the government of sightings of unusual aircraft. By all the
accounts and witnesses--we were dealing with SOMEBODY else's aircraft.
Then we had the crash. The crash of an unknown object. Two specific
sites. One 75 miles Northwest of Roswell, New Mexico the second site
halfway between the first site and Roswell which necessitated a press
release--JULY 8--that the U.S. military had recovered a flying disc.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Who made this announcement?
DON: The press release was issued by the 509th atomic bomb wing under
the command of Col. William Blanchard.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Where did this release go to?
DON: Over the wire service --it managed to get out well enough for the
next number of hours that every major newspaper had headlines about this recovery--all over the
world.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: What time was the announcement?
DON: 12 NOON July 8 CST.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: So here we have an official press release from the
U.S. government that they have recovered a "flying disc" that goes out
on the wire services. What happens then?
DON: By 7:30 p.m. that evening, the announcement was RETRACTED...by Brig. Gen. Roger
Ramey. Displaying a very conventional radar reflector in his office--he "explained" away the
entire event.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Did most people including the news media fall for this cover-up--after all,
this was our government, who NEVER lied to us?
DON: Probably out of fear and because of the patriotic atmosphere of the nation at that time--the
explanation was accepted without any second thought! It would not be until 30 years later that
the INTEL officer, Major Jessie Marcel, broke the story to the media, stating that he had actually
handled pieces of the genuine flying saucer! That was in 1977..and the only publication that
would even touch the story was the National Enquirer.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: These days, Time and Newsweek would be there in a
flash!
DON: Marcel persisted. After that additional witnesses came forward.
They talked about the material...the recovery of the material.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: How big was the saucer that landed?
DON: It wasn't a saucer. The description of it was that it was without
wings or a tail section. The term flying saucer was coined by a reporter from Oregon, who had
been told about what a witness saw--nine flying objects. It was like the heel of a shoe--15 feet in
width--about 15-20 feet in length. It had a center crew department.
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: Were there any occupants in this crash landing?
DON: Six first hand witnesses not only described the shape of the
craft... but independently described five bodies that were recovered!
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: What did the bodies look like according to the
accounts?
DON: The descriptions are basically identical! Humanoid--short in
stature, about 5 feet in height--
ELIOT STEIN-HOST: So far you're describing Danny DeVito.
