THE ROSWELL INCIDENT: CASE VERY MUCH NOT CLOSED
Researchers Tell of New Leads, New Progress, New Hope

No UFO case in history has been more thoroughly investigated, argued over,
satirized, distorted and debunked than the Roswell Incident of July 1947. For
the U.S. Air Force, it is the UFO case that refuses to die despite being
repeatedly stabbed through the heart. For many UFO researchers, both in
America and abroad, it is a case upon which far too many hopes are hung, upon
which far too much time and attention has been lavished, while other and
perhaps better cases have languished.

And of course, even among those most devoted to Roswell, there are endless
arguments. Which is the true crash site, or sites? Who are the most authentic
witnesses? What is the exact timeline? What day, indeed, did the crash really
happen? Were there four bodies, or five, or any at all? Was there one saucer
or two? Where was the debris sent? Who knew, and when did they know it?

And there are many tangential but related controversies as well, about alien
autopsies, about MJ-12 documents, about alleged shards of debris. All told,
Roswell is a sprawling mess of a case.

But, all that said, Roswell refuses to fold under pressure from those who have
tried to explain it away. The Roswell case is not closed, and it shows every
sign of remaining wide open for eternity.

And maybe the reason Roswell doesn't just fade away is that it is basically
true -- that behind all the smoke and confusion, there is too much substance
to ignore.

If fact, if CNI News were in the business of prophecy, we might predict that
one day, perhaps not too many years hence, there will come a break in the case
that shows once and for all, beyond the slightest doubt, that something not of
this world did crash a few dozen miles from Roswell, New Mexico in the summer
of 1947, and was retrieved by elements of the U.S. military under cover of
great secrecy, and has been the subject of much covert study and subterfuge
ever since. Yes, we might predict that the basic assumptions of people like
Stanton Friedman and Kevin Randle and Don Schmitt and a handful of other
notable Roswell researchers are correct, and will one day be proven so.

In 1997, the world suddenly discovered Roswell. For one brief summer around
the 50th anniversary of the event, every kind of media wanted a slice of the
Roswell pie. All the U.S. networks and many foreign TV affiliates examined
Roswell from every conceivable angle. Roswell made the cover of major
magazines and headlined in major newspapers. Roswell the town drew some 50,000
people to a week-long "celebration" that was two parts serious and eight parts
goofy, but huge by any standard.

And then, the hoopla was over. And attention shifted elsewhere.

But Roswell, the UFO case, remains. If it is true, as described by its
ufological chroniclers, then it signifies something bigger than conventional
history and weirder than conventional wisdom can contemplate. Maybe it is
true.

Work on Roswell continues. A new research paper just received by CNI News from
long-time Roswell researcher Donald R. Schmitt, co-authored by Thomas J.
Carey, spells out some of the promising angles currently under examination.
Far from being tired or discouraged, Don Schmitt for one is as enthused and
determined as ever. The case is alive and well. Progress is being made. New
leads keep appearing. Here are some highlights from Schmitt and Carey's
report, excerpted with permission.

With first-hand witnesses growing older and fewer in number every year, the
two researchers agreed in 1998 to collaborate on a new effort to uncover any
eyewitness testimony or material evidence that may have been previously
overlooked. For this purpose, they took two trips to Roswell in May and
October of 1998. "Contrary to finding a stale, over-plowed landscape populated
with well-worn paths and dry holes, we were impressed by the number of new
leads that we were able to obtain, as well as some surprising new twists in
the testimony of 'old' witnesses," they write. "Right now, we believe that we
are on the verge of a new, or at least a modified, Roswell timeline and in
possession of more leads than we can ever hope to follow in our lifetimes,
given our present resources."

One of the most urgent goals of Roswell research is to obtain an authentic
piece of the wreckage. There have been several provocative claims in the
recent past, but none that have gained widespread acceptance among ufologists,
not to mention mainstream scientists. But Schmitt and Carey are confident that
such physical evidence does exist, and they have several promising leads:

"We are presently trying to enlist the cooperation of a first-hand witness who
claims to have actually held a piece of something similar to Frankie Rowe's
'memory metal' in his hands within the past two years....

"We know of a retired MP (military policeman) who claims to have a piece of
the Roswell wreckage stored in his attic for safe keeping and who will
supposedly give up the piece to civilian investigators when he dies....

"We have spoken several times to a relative of a well-known Roswell personage
who claims to know of parties who have pieces of the Roswell crash material.
When pressed further, he identified one of them as none other than himself.
When asked for its provenance, he stated that it came, not from the craft, but
from 'one of the bodies' and that it is currently being analyzed by degreed
professionals in the appropriate forensic fields. He claims that the artifact
is not a tissue or fabric sample, but 'something else'. He plans on going
public with this and other Roswell-related 'evidence' in his possession in
1999. We shall see," Schmitt and Carey write.

Also in the offing: a "full scale archeological dig" at the Foster Ranch where
the main debris field was located. The theory is that, if small pieces of
wreckage were strewn on the ground for as little as a few hours, prairie dogs,
rabbits and ground squirrels in the area would have taken some samples into
their burrows, where they might well remain today.

Another lead: A young man named Fred Miller, who died in the Vietnam war, had
reportedly found pieces of wreckage and hidden them in a nearby cave. Local
legend had circulated for years about "Miller's cave." Now, Schmitt and Carey
say, they know where the cave is.

Among eyewitness testimony, "deathbed confessions" hold a special
significance. Several known participants in the Roswell incident have already
made dying remarks attesting that the UFO crash story is true. More recently,
Schmitt and Carey have heard from widows or children of several deceased
Roswell-era military personnel who have added new details to the story. In at
least one instance, there is a claim of some significant documents left by a
deceased relative. And, say the authors, "we are aware of a former officer who
was stationed at Roswell in 1947 who is terminal and knows it. He has told his
family that he would like to make a statement concerning Roswell but at a time
of his own choosing. We have been in touch with the family who has assured us
that they will let us know when it is time."

Then there are the so-called "reluctant witnesses." Over the years, several
people have been identified as key players in the Roswell incident, who have
repeatedly refused to talk. Schmitt and Carey say there are several such
witnesses on their "most-wanted list." One example:

"There is a witness, still living at the relatively young age of 58 years old,
whose identity is known to all Roswell investigators. He saw everything and
could solve this case for everyone tomorrow [and put all of us out of our
misery in the bargain]. The problem is: we know who he is and where he is, but
no one has interviewed him as yet. Not for lack of trying, however. He has the
knack of being able to 'disappear' every time an investigator gets near, so
far with a 100% success rate. How long can his luck continue? We keep trying
and hoping and are open to suggestions."

Schmitt and Carey say that an accumulation of new testimony is helping them
refine the probable timeline and sequence of events, "causing us to reconsider
some prior conclusions as to what occurred, where it occurred and when it
occurred. Without giving the store away here, a future article will suggest a
new Roswell crash sequence while answering the nagging question as to why the
military kept 'Mac' Brazel in 'custody' for so long," they say.

Finally, Schmitt and Carey note the contribution made by several researchers
who have been studying enlargements of the photos taken by James Bond Johnson
in the office of General Roger Ramey on July 8, 1947. In one of those photos,
a teletype message in Ramey's hand can be seen to contain several readable
words. Though most of the words are indistinct at best, "there is no dispute
whatsoever that the phrase, '...victims of the wreck ...forwarded to Ft.
Worth, Tex.', can be seen on the Ramey memo," say the authors. They
characterize this phrase as a possible "smoking gun," adding that it
positively proves that whatever crashed at Roswell was not a mere balloon,
Project mogul or otherwise.

Thus, the work continues. New leads keep developing, and older leads beg for
more attention. Roswell is the case NOT closed, and may one day prove to be
everything that UFO researchers have hoped for, and more.