Filer's Files

#1-1999
January 8, 1999

MUFON Skywatch Investigations
George A. Filer, Director, Mutual UFO Network Eastern

George Filer: Majorstar@verizon.net
Webmaster Chuck Warren
My website is at: www.nationalufocenter.com

UFOs SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR FOR THE HOLIDAYS:

Sightings seemed to disappear in the days before Christmas and into the New Year. Apparently even UFO pilots like to home for the holidays. We can speculate they are off for the holidays or over Iraq. The sudden lack of reports may indicate people are too busy to notice UFOs or report them. UFOs may have simply disappeared from our skies as they also seemed to do last year at this time. This apparent absence of UFOs may be an indicator to understanding the UFO phenomenon. My files indicate that December has been a comparatively slow month over several decades. I feel more than fifty percent of the sightings can be explained as aerial misidentifications, natural phenomenon, various types of secret military aircraft and the like. There continues a steady stream of reports throughout most of the year. It seems that the reporting of these misidentifications should continue, even if the real UFOs departed. In the few days before Christmas, the only UFO reports I received were an Utah report and observations of a large V shaped craft over Bagdad, Iraq during US and UK bombing raids. These raids were apparently conducted without contacting Russia resulting in the serious cooling of international relations between Russia and the US that could lead us back to the Cold War. CNN television carried live shots of the bombing and strange V- shaped craft above the city. These reports infer the US military may be using holographic technology or other sophisticated hardware to confuse Iraqi antiaircraft gunners.

In reviewing 1998, Georgia had more UFO reports than any other state. Early in the year the reports were centered mostly in the La Grange area of Western Georgia. The bulk of the sighting reports then moved towards and north of the Atlanta area. New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio followed with the most reports in the Eastern part of the US. California, Colorado and Arizona sent me the second largest group of reports.

Numerous reports are sent to the National Reporting Center, MUFON, ISUR, Skywatch, TASK, etc. We attempt to verify these reports as best as possible and many reports we receive are never published. The reader should be aware that verification of the reports is expensive and time consuming problem. MUFON investigators like myself are not paid or reimbursed for numerous phone calls, travel, and time expended to verify the reports. I have learned from experience that the Air Force, police and other organizations will seldom officially verify the presence of a UFO. Unofficially, we have received verifications after getting to know the officials on a friendly basis. Many conscientious people who report UFOs do not want their real name known and hide or refuse to respond to our attempts to contact them. I admit that I have occasionally been fooled by people hoaxing UFO reports. Fortunately the number of hoaxes is very small. I report the siting if it seems authentic. We attempt to have investigators follow up the reports. Often those people with the best sightings are very reluctant to be interviewed. They often do not want UFO investigators coming to their homes or giving out their names. I think this is understandable. Even under the best conditions it is difficult to have a meaningful follow up investigation. We have MUFON investigators driving hundreds of miles to meet with a witness who fails to show. Sometimes they refuse to fill out the papers or sign their name. I wish to thank those investigators who have driven the miles, spent their time and written the reports. One investigation done correctly can take days. MUFON and most UFO organizations are strictly volunteer with no pay. Expenses are not paid, and a great deal of time and effort is spent. The investigators deserve a medal, a thank you, and a well done. They are the heroes of this field.

During 1998, we had a series of hoaxers who claimed to have inside government information and secrets concerning UFOs. They seldom are long time researchers or investigators. They suddenly appear making wild claims and erroneous reports. Unfortunately, it is expensive and very time consuming to weed out hoaxers. They cause serious harm to the field and I often wonder if they are hired or compelled to cause trouble and confusion. I fail to understand their motivation. Little if any of their information has been proved to be valid. They create confusion and hurt serious researchers. Often they have information that seems accurate at first, but later is determined to be false. Often they will later admit lying despite their previous claims of being a NASA contractor, on the National Security Council, working inside NORAD and the like. Anyone who claims to possess startling UFO information should be able to provide at a minimum there military or government records, ID cards, college transcripts and similar evidence to prove their backgrounds and employment. Those people who possess insider documents and information should be willing to produce these documents to respected organizations such as MUFON, CUFOS, or the Fund for UFO Research. Ufology cannot expect to gain trust, if people without credentials are acknowledged without question. I strongly advise the reader to seriously question any claims of alien data, inside government knowledge, classifications above Top Secret and similar unsubstantiated UFO data.

I have not reported on the release of new MJ-12 documents in these files, because I am not convinced they are genuine. How would one person be able to steal these highly classified documents from the government? There are guards, safes and controls to prevent this from happening. In many little ways the documents are vague and seem to contain errors. For example, the documents infer they were written in 1951. The documents then refer to the Chief of Chaplains as a Major General Luther Miller who retired in 1949. This is a small, but significant error. Government documents generally contain more specific and detailed information. They are written by a team of people representing various offices. These documents seem to be written by one or only a few persons. The new MJ-12 documents simply do not feel right to me, so I withhold judgment on their legitimacy.

Later, in these files there is further analysis of photographs taken by Dr. J. Bond Johnson in General Ramey’s office of the Roswell crash debris. This is old news but we now have new technology that may help prove what happened. There is a legitimate record of the film kept in storage at the University of Texas and Dr. Johnson. The analysis may lead to an unsatisfactory conclusion, but at least we know the photographs are authentic. Many abductees and military personnel have reported seeing similar strange symbols on board alien craft. In fact, some of the latest technology is similar to certain aspects of the debris. You are invited to help and judge for yourself. Therefore, I will continue to cover this story.

To those who desire to learn the truth about UFOs, I encourage you to read information from the respected leaders in the field such as Richard H. Hall's "Perspectives" column. It's published monthly in the "MUFON UFO Journal" For example Richard states:

The Art Bell piece [published in the November 1998, issue of the "MUFON UFO Journal"] makes me think about how the sociological aspects of the UFO movement distract from the physical science aspects. News media gleefully report on the colorful personalities, the more paranoid the better, but where is their reporting on the potentially important airline pilot sightings of the past few years? Obviously, Bell is viewed by the media as representative of the UFO field, even as guru for ufologists. Well, count me out. Let's stick to facts, logic, and science. Thanks to Bob Soetebier and the December ’98 MUFON Journal page 18.

Last week I credited Victor Kean with an Edmonton, UK sighting, it apparently originated with Tony Spurrier, Project FT's web page to whom we wish to thank.

UTAH

PARK CITY: Manny Fernandez writes and asks ? Did anyone see 3 UFOs on December 23, 1998, in Utah? It was a clear night, at 9:15 PM, when my wife and I saw three bright white lights, in a triangular formation, silently streak across the sky at a tremendous speed over the Wasatch Mountain range, at first in a straight line and then make a left turn and recede until they disappeared, over the span of about 5 seconds. Did anyone else see this? Thanks to Manny Fernandez at manny1@ix.netcom.com

NEW DATA ON GENERAL RAMEY’S ROSWELL DEBRIS PHOTOGRAPHS:

Neil Morris and J. Bond Johnson and the Roswell Photo Interpretation Team (RPIT) continue to update their findings. RPIT using state of the art enhancement techniques, have taken a close up look at the photographs that J. Bond Johnson shot on July 8, 1947. The following is: A discussion of what the debris in these photos shows or doesn't show, links to these enhanced photos and related Web pages. What in my opinion is the MOST promising in all of this, is a discussion of the analysis of a MESSAGE General Ramey is holding in his hand in EACH OF THE FOUR PHOTOS JOHNSON TOOK OF GENERAL RAMEY some of these photos. This could REALLY provide the answers everyone's been looking for. NOTE THAT IN THE FIRST TWO PICTURES TAKEN OF GENERAL RAMEY ALONE AND THE FIRST ONE TAKEN WITH COLONEL DUBOSE. THE MESSAGE IS FOLDED AND RAMEY COULD NOT BE READING THE MESSAGE. HOWEVER, IN THE LAST PICTURE TAKEN BY JOHNSON RAMEY HAS FOLDED THE PAGE INTO THIRDS AND APPEARS TO BE READING THE LAST PARAGRAPH OF THE MESSAGE EVEN WHILE THE PHOTO SHOOT IS IN PROGRESS. AN ARGUMENT CAN BE MADE THAT THIS MESSAGE WAS THE GENERAL'S "MARCHING ORDERS" FROM HIS SUPERIORS IN THE AAF SINCE IT INCLUDED MENTION OF "VICTIMS OF THE CRASH" BEING TAKEN TO FORT WORTH, TEX -- A HIGHLY UNUSUAL PROCEDURE FOR VICTIMS OF AN AIRCRAFT CRASH -- AND ALSO "WEATHER BALLOONS" -- WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN ORDERING HIM TO ISSUE THE "WEATHER BALLOON COVER-UP" STORY TO "KILL" THE PRESS' GROWING INTEREST IN THIS BREAKING STORY. Some of these photos, now housed at the University of Texas at Arlington, show debris spread out on the floor of GENERAL RAMEY'S office at the headquarters of the 8th Army Air Force, Fort Worth, Texas, now known as Carswell AFB. A spirited debate has been going on for some time now regarding exactly what the debris in these photos actually is. At the time, and AFTER Dr.Johnson took his photos, Brigadier General Roger Ramey, Commanding General of the 8th Army Air Force, held a press briefing (THERE IS NO EVIDENCE ANYWHERE THAT THERE WAS ANY PRESS BRIEFING OTHER THAN THE BRIEF CONTACT BETWEEN RAMEY AND JOHNSON IN RAMEY'S OFFICE AND RAMEY'S PERSONAL RADIO BROADCAST LIVE FROM THE "WBAP" STUDIOS. NO KNOWN MEMBER OF THE PRESS EVER FILED A STORY AND NO OTHER PHOTOGRAPHER EVER PRODUCED A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DEBRIS DISPLAYED IN RAMEY'S OFFICE -- OTHER THAN THE SINGLE PHOTO OF WEATHER OFFICER NEWTON WHICH WAS TAKEN AFTER JOHNSON DEPARTED THE OFFICE AND WHICH WAS DISTRIBUTED TO THE MEDIA BY RAMEY'S STAFF TOO LATE TO RUN IN MORNING PAPERS ON JULY 9, 1947.) General Ramey went on WBAP radio announcing the debris in the office was nothing more than the remains of a Rawin Radar Reflector that had been carried aloft by a weather balloon, and crashed on a ranch outside of Roswell. This, he claimed, was the debris brought to him by Major Jesse Marcel, which earlier that day had been mistakenly reported as debris from a crashed "Flying Disc" WHICH HAD BEEN "CAPTURED" BY THE AAF.

All of the noted Roswell researchers and authors over the years have presented evidence supporting the theory that acting on orders from Major General Clements McMullen in Washington, D. C., General Ramey had the real debris Marcel brought with him switched with the Rawin debris. (THIS IS INACCURATE. ACTUALLY ONLY A FEW AUTHORS EVER MENTIONED ANY DEBRIS "SWITCH." THIS CLAIM WAS BASED ENTIRELY ON AN AMBIGUOUS STATEMENT MADE BY MAJOR JESSE MARCEL, SR. TO AUTHOR WILLIAM MOORE MORE THAN 40 YEARS AFTER THE INCIDENT THAT THE PHOTOS OF MARCEL WERE MADE WITH THE REAL WRECKAGE BUT THAT LATER PHOTOS WERE OF SUBSTITUTED DEBRIS. WITH THE DETAILED PHOTO INTERPRETATION BY RPIT IT IS GENERALLY AGREED THAT THE DISPLAYED DEBRIS IS THE SAME IN THE RAMEY, DUBOSE AND MARCEL PHOTOS. HOWEVER, IT APPEARS THAT SOME OF THE BEAMS WHICH INCLUDE RAISED SYMBOLS AND OTHER ANOMALOUS OBJECTS WHICH WOULD NOT BE FOUND IN A WEATHER BALLOON OR RAWIN RADAR DEVICE AND WHICH ARE SEEN IN THE RAMEY, DUBOSE AND MARCEL SHOTS ARE NOT SEEN IN THE SINGLE NEWTON SHOT MADE LATER. General DuBose, shortly before his death, in a video interview makes no mention of a "switch" of debris. He confirms General McMullen’s orders to put out the "cover story" of the weather balloon to get the press off the AF's back. This was a deliberate effort to get the press off the AF's back, and apparently cover up the fact they had indeed recovered a crashed "Flying Disc" near Roswell. In other words the press release that initiated from the Roswell AAF got out before the Pentagon had a chance to react. Thus, this was damage control. At least this is one commonly held theory. RPIT (Roswell Photo Interpretation Team), believe their photo enhancements show AT LEAST some of the debris material is not part of the Rawin target material. In other words original crash debris, or at least SOMETHING else is mixed in. Therefore, they proclaim General Ramey is not guilty of having switched the debris material. Neil Morris writes, At first I had to agree that there could be a mixture of debris to be seen in the photographs, but I now have to say that I am moving more towards the thought that little if any of the debris seen in the images is from a radar target or that, due to items such as "buttons" being found on the "balloon envelope"!, a balloon. The large foil panels are said to be the foil-backed cardboard of the radar reflectors, in the images of Major Marcel look VERY closely at his fingers as he holds the foil, look how incredibly THIN the foil sheets are. In my eyes far thinner than a foil- cardboard sandwich. Also notice how the sheet is flexed, again this doesn't seem to be how I would imagine, or have seen, a cardboard sheet flex, bend and RIPPLE as these sheets have. 1. It is accepted as fact that Major Marcel brought with him on the flight from Roswell to Ft. Worth actual material from the Brazel debris field. IT IS UNCONTROVERTED THAT MARCEL UNWRAPPED AT LEAST SOME OF THIS DEBRIS AND DISPLAYED IT ON THE FLOOR OF GENERAL RAMEY'S OFFICE. (SOME ACCOUNTS STATE THAT THAT MUCH OF THE DEBRIS REMAINED ON THE B-29 AND WAS TAKEN ON TO WRIGHT FIELD IN OHIO.) THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO UNOPENED PACKAGES SHOWN ON THE FLOOR NEAR THE DEBRIS DISPLAY SEEN IN THE PHOTOS TAKEN IN RAMEY'S OFFICE. At least 1 "plant stem" can be seen with the debris indicating the debris was most likely gathered "outdoors." 2. It is accepted as fact that Rawin Radar reflector material IS the predominant material in the photos. THIS IS INCORRECT. A REVIEW OF THE RESULTS OF RPIT MEMBERS' PHOTO INTERPRETATION OF THE RAMEY OFFICE PHOTOS AS POSTED ON THE WEB INDICATES THAT THERE IS NOTHING SEEN IN THE PHOTOS WHICH IS FOUND IN EITHER A WEATHER BALLOON OR RAWIN RADAR DEVICE. THE STRANGEST FINDINGS ARE THE VARIOUS SYMBOLS -- WHICH APPEAR TO BE BOTH "PRINTED" AND CARVED IN BAS RELIEF -- DISPLAYED THROUGHOUT ALL THE PHOTOS. THE FOUR EXISTING ORIGINAL NEGATIVES AS EXPOSED BY JOHNSON ON JULY 8, 1947, HAVE BEEN IN CONTINUOUS CUSTODY EITHER OF THE STAR- TELEGRAM OR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SINCE THAT TIME.

On first "impressions" just "glancing" at the photographs the debris MAY LOOK LIKE weather balloon debris, if you look deeper into the images this impression quickly disperses. Some of the group do go with the idea of a mixture, as I have explained above I personally now think there may be very little if any balloon/reflector debris in the pictures. It's not a black and white point more a sliding scale, and towards which end of the scale you stand. Unless and until it can be proven beyond any doubt Non-Rawin material is mixed in the debris, in my opinion the entire debate is moot. THE RPIT MEMBERS HAVE MADE NO CLAIMS AS TO THE ETIOLOGY OF THEIR FINDINGS BUT HAVE INVITED THE WORLD TO SPECULATE AS TO WHAT COULD BE THE ORIGIN OF THESE STRANGE SYMBOLS. SO FAR NO ONE HAS OFFERED ANY SERIOUS SUGGESTION. No one can prove absolutely the photos are of the very same material Marcel brought with him from Roswell. BUT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THIS WAS NOT THE MATERIAL THAT MARCEL COLLECTED ON THE ROSWELL RANCH. Bill Moore claims Major Marcel told him he was photographed with "some of the less interesting debris" or words to that effect. Dubose maintained there was no switch of debris. Neil Morris mentions there are the supporting fact of "plant stems" in the debris photographs. Without this proof on when the Rawin material may or may not have been substituted for the real crash material, everything else is speculation, conjecture, and opinion. It doesn't matter if Ramey ordered the switch on his own, or acted on orders of General McMullen. What's important is what's shown in the photos! The photo's tell the same story, "unchanged", as they did 50 years ago on the day they were taken, they are in effect a little time machine allowing us to peek in through a window in Ramey's office just at that moment when Bond's flash went off. HERE IS WHAT IS CLAIMED TO BE IN THE MEMO IN RAMEY’S HAND SO FAR: The Crest in the Upper Left Hand corner of the message appears to be a cradle phone circa 1947 which could indicate that this was an official phone message. Niel Morris says his interpretation of this differs, He has outlined what he thinks this feature is on his web site, an insignia of some type. The time of receipt appears to be 1533 (which coincides with the RPIT time line precisely). He only "suggested" these hand written numbers "might" be a time, but it would fit the proposed time-line if they were. There is agreement among two local RPIT members (Ron Regehr and Debbie Stock) as to the following words: AS THE ... 4HRS THE VICTIMS OF THE ... YOU FORWARDED TO THE ... AT FORT WORTH, TEX. ... THE "CRASH" "STORY" .... FOR 0984 ACKNOWLEDGES ... EMERGENCY POWERS ARE NEEDED SITE TWO SW MAGDALENA, NMEX ... SAFE TALK ... FOR MEANING OF STORY AND MISSION ... WEATHER BALLOONS SENT ON THE . AND LAND . ROVER CREWS... (SIGNED) TEMPLE. OTHER RPIT MEMBERS CONFIRM AT LEAST SOME OF THE KEY WORDS AS SET FORTH ABOVE. I have listed below the Web sites where you can view the enhancements and decide for yourself. If, as most people who have taken the trouble to view the "message" agree the text on the message IS typewritten and therefore on a "fixed grid" layout of characters, some of this EARLY interpretation cannot be correct, the letter count of the words just don't fit in the grid, but on a number of "key" words all are agreed, i.e. "VICTIMS" and "STORY". Just these 2 words suggest both an event involving deaths, and possibly of the requirement for a "STORY". But it is still early days in the task of recovering the text from the "message" and I don't think the task is going to be as simple and easy as some people have thought. The characters in the "message" are at the very limit of the image resolving capabilities the original negatives and as some of the text areas have sustained damage. It is quite likely some of the words may never be resolved conclusively, of course the carbon copy might still be lurking somewhere in the great Government machine.
http://www.ufomind.com/people/j/johnsonj/ (about J. Bond Johnson)
http://adm2.ph.man.ac.uk/ (Main Link to Debris and Memo)
http://adm2.ph.man.ac.uk/ftw-pics/index.htm (Ramey Office Photos)
http://adm2.ph.man.ac.uk/ftw-pics/new-1/index.htm (Memo)
http://adm2.ph.man.ac.uk/ftw-pics/new-1/rmysignl.htm (Memo)
http://adm2.ph.man.ac.uk/ftw-pics/download/index.htm (2.5 meg image scan a BIG file)
http://www.abduct.com/aaer/n52.htm (Symbols In Debris)
http://www.abduct.com/aaer/n53.htm (Symbols In Debris)
http://www.artbell.com/jbjohnson.html (Ramey Photos & Symbols)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/8827/ramey.html (Memo)
http://www.abcfield.force9.co.uk/rpit/letter.html. (Thanks to RPIT and Dr. Bond Johnson)

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Filer's Files Copyright 1998 by George A. Filer, all rights reserved. Readers may post items from the Files on their Websites provided that they credit the newsletter and its editor by name and list the date of issue that the item appeared.

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