Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The Roswell Slides - Once Again


Although this might be considered kicking the sleeping dogs and stirring the pot unnecessarily, I think it important to address this issue one more time. I have, previously, denied that I was involved in the investigation of the slides that allegedly show the body of an alien creature. When I said that I hadn’t participated in the investigation, some saw that as a lie on my part, but the truth then, as now, is that other than a few limited enquiries made prior to learning more of the story, I did not investigate.

To recap, about a year ago, rumors began to circulate that members of the Team had learned of two slides that showed an alien creature on a gurney. At that time, I knew nothing about this and the claim that we all were obligated to remain silent because of some kind of nondisclosure agreement (NDA) was untrue. Nick Redfern seemed to have some information about that and I called him. He told me the story and I had no reason to doubt what he was saying which is not to say that it was accurate. Nick was telling me what he had been told without investigation on his part (sort of the same thing I’ve been saying).

I emailed the members of the team, telling them what I knew and that I had signed no NDA. I was surprised to learn that Nick's information was accurate. There were two slides and an NDA had been signed. At this point, realizing that anything I said publicly could be construed as a violation of the agreement, meaning simply that the man holding the slides would believe that either Tom Carey or Don Schmitt had told me about the slides violating the NDA. This was not true. I would have liked to publish on my blog that information because my source on it was Nick Redfern, but I was afraid that the slide owner would not believe I had learned about them from another source.

That was the extent of my “investigation.” I learned that others were working on this and that anything I did could compromise their working relationship with the source. Once in a while, I would hear something new, mostly from Nick or at Rich Reynolds’ UFO Iconoclasts blog. But I was getting no new information from those involved in the investigation and was offering no advice, other than to suggest that I thought the whole thing problematic. There was no provenance for the slides and no one really knew who the photographer was. This is the same basic problem that haunted the MJ-12 nonsense for years.

At one point late last summer, after suggesting these problems, I was shown a research protocol for validating the slides. I did not solicit the document. I was provided with it because of a negative comment I had made in another arena. At the time, I thought the document was telling me about things that been done, but on rereading it, realized it was merely a proposal for investigation.

All this is just a preliminary to remind those who have not been paying attention the circumstances of this dust up. I had told many that I wasn’t involved in the investigation and I mentioned to a few that I knew some of the details but not all of them. In fact, when Nick said that the “nether” regions of the alien were covered, I thought he meant by a cloth, not by a hand-lettered sign. Such was my knowledge of the slides and my “investigation” into them.

Just a few days ago I received a copy of UFO Today. Philip Mantle supplied it to me and I found the article “Do Slides from 1947 Show A Roswell Humanoid,” written by Tony Bragalia. It is a recap of the investigation into the slides and how Tom and Don came into possession of them. It was similar to a piece he had published last year. Tony wrote, “My research associates, pioneer Roswell investigators and authors Tom Carey and Don Schmitt, began a dialog with…” Well, for my purposes here, the rest of the sentence is irrelevant (oh, okay, it said, “…with a brother and his sister, a onetime estate-cleaner.” See? It was irrelevant.).

At that point Tony tells how the unnamed brother and sister got their hands on the slides and how the discovery of them eventually reached Tom and Don. He goes into some detail about the woman who originally owned the slides, supposedly, I guess, inherited from her husband and the like. For those interested, check out the UFO Today web site to learn how you can acquire that issue of the digital magazine.

Later in the article, Tony wrote, “Anyone who may know more about Ray [the man who owned the slides] (or his professional colleagues) are encouraged to contact a Roswell investigative team member – Tom Carey, Don Schmitt, David Rudiak or this author with any relevant information.”

See, once again my name is left out. Why? Because, I was not involved in the investigation. These four were working on it without consulting me. This article, I believe, proves that I wasn’t involved in it. I was knowledgeable (as were several others), but not involved.

True, I had some inside knowledge, but that isn’t the same as participating in an investigation. I have inside knowledge of Project Blue Book (well, not so inside anymore) but I didn’t investigate UFOs for the Air Force or Project Blue Book. Yes, I know that this will do nothing to convince those who believe I lied about it that I did not. But maybe some of those who are sitting on the fence will understand that sometimes situations are just not black and white and sometimes people just make errors.

I hope that information from one of those who did participate and are participating in the investigation will be good enough but I know it won’t. They are too deeply invested in the idea that I was a participant in the investigation. Sometimes you just get caught between the rock and the hard place and there isn’t much you can do about it. This is not the first time that something like this has happened to me… guilt by association… but I can hope it will be the last.

6 comments:

cda said...

Are you saying that the 'Dream Team' is not really a team? It sounds more like a group of smaller, disparate subgroups, each with its own agenda and not bothering, or wanting, to keep the others informed.

Some team! Yet this 'team' is hoping, presumably, to produce something that will astound the scientific world this year. After 67 years all will be revealed, for the nth time.

Anonymous said...

It figured CDA would be first to throw stones at the Team. I expect many more regulars of RR's Blog to show their face here and follow suit.
That blog is ripe with individuals who bash anything related to Randles name on a weekly basis.... all the while reminding us they(Dream Team) have nothing for us to see.

But in any sense like with any job or career path, you will always have those few, ready to pick apart someones flaws, if any, in what someone else is doing. Negative Nancy's whom walk a thin line between good criticism and just plain ol' wanting attention.

I stated wayyyy far back, but of course it was later deleted by our holier than thou buddy Rich, that people were jumping to conclusions over these slides.
They all demanded answers, all wanted to know what was what, who was who before the investigation even got too far going.
I asked everyone to at least let those involved release an official statement, before judging, but that was too much to ask.

But I will say, regardless of who or what you believe, Kevin always played things straight up and honest. As much as some tried really hard to make people dislike him, I found no fault in what he did or has stated now.
I enjoy your blog, I follow it for the discussions and I'm sorry there are others out there who EVERY WEEK, find it of interest to trash you and your team over anything and all that you do.

For some who disbelieve and ride the "UFO COMMUNITY IS DEAD" bandwagon, they sure do talk a lot about UFO's lol.
Especially Roswell....

Maybe, just maybe, those individuals who tell us all that the UFO Community is full of "geezers" now, maybe they just feel a little left out?
Maybe they think by writing a few blogs throwing stones, that the real researchers involved with the slides, will be forced to make known every and all efforts made so far. It just sounds like a formula of bullying, not truth seeking for "the good of the community". Yep, that same "community" said persons are now claiming is dead mind you...

Just relax and let the members of the Team finish their investigations. If not ahppy, investigate YOURSELF. But pethaps if its the truth you seek, maybe its better to investigate the information at hand, instead of bullying other researchers into coughing up what THEY ARE DOING WITH THEIR OWN FREE TIME.
And please get off Kevin's back already.....
Nobody cares about how many "private" emails you want to present on him. Its immature, childish and does nothing to push forward the slides investigation.

Nitram said...

Rick Hall said "It figured CDA would be first to throw stones at the Team. I expect many more regulars of RR's Blog to show their face here and follow suit.
That blog is ripe with individuals who bash anything related to Randles name on a weekly basis.... all the while reminding us they(Dream Team) have nothing for us to see."

Well said Rick and thank you for your comments... since there is obviously nothing to Roswell I also can't understand why so many debunkers continue to post on Dr Randles blog?!

CDA - you obviously don't have enough to do, but maybe I can help.
Can you find me someone in photography or computer software with the technology to do a 30,000 DPI scan of a document I have please?
You arrange this, and I in return, will get you a letter of thanks signed by the members of the dream team, which you can of course frame on your wall - how about that for an offer you can't refuse!

Kevin - remember that you have important work to do and that silence on your part does not mean admission to random accusations.

Regards
Nitram

KRandle said...

CDA -

Since you opened this can of worms, let me point out that all of us have our specialities. I wouldn't expect Don to be a part of an indepth look into some military aspects of various investigations because he has no military experience. I have a great deal. So, I might be investigating something from the military aspect and when I finish I would share that with Don.

In other words, somethings are so complex that they demand specific expertise and not everyone has all aspects of the expertise. Sometimes a team is broken into subsets for the purpose of covering more ground and that conclusions as shared later.

Unknown said...

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH...

Steve Sawyer said...

Oh, yes we can.

Problem with your CAPS LOCK KEY?