The Internet is abuzz
with all manner of stories related to the latest
efforts of some to discern, once and for all,
whether or not the
(in)famous photographs of the "Roswell Debris"
taken on that fateful
July 8, 1947 afternoon by James Bond Johnson
do or do not include
strange images reminiscent of those reported
by both Maj. Jesse
Marcel
and his son, Jesse Marcel, Jr.
What started it all? And what is the
current status of the
investigation? That is the subject of
this article.
My involvement began innocently enough when
I received a call from
Photojournalist Debbie Stock. She said J. Bond
Johnson recently
contacted her and stated
he found anomalous marks on objects
seen in an
11x14" copy of one of the
black and white pictures he took
as photographer for the Fort Worth Star Telegram in July 1947.
According to Johnson, these marks
vindicated Gen. Roger Ramey
of any wrong-doing.
Ramey has long been
accused of swapping
junk for the actual debris transported from
Roswell Army
Air Field to Ft. Worth Air Field by Maj. Marcel.
The three of us reside in Southern California and met locally for
lunch, proceeding
to discuss events surrounding Bond's
involvement
with Roswell, UFOs and the
photos of alleged
UFO debris.
A cursory examination of
one photograph
referred to as "Marcel
Right" (indicating Maj.
Marcel is
looking to his right) showed several
items of interest:
what can be described as an "I" beam, a "chrome"
strip, a pile of
baseball-sized black chunks of something,
Maj. Marcel's
scuffed
"boondockers" and most significantly, what
appeared to be
raised
marks on one of the pieces of debris.
Bond stated he wasn't interested in becoming embroiled
in
controversy but hoped someone would analyze the pictures,
letting the resulting data stand
or fall on its merits.
He asked Debbie and me if we would analyze the Roswell
photos and revisit an issue the Air Force called
"Case Closed" in 1997.
We then went to a local STAPLES office supply
store to obtain
preliminary copies from Bond's "master". When we asked for
their finest reproductions, the clerk told us those would
be
from their digital laser color-copy machine. We ordered the copies
and enlargements (approximately 5X) of the area containing
the
"marks". I then went home and wrote a press release under my
private firm name, Research/Investigations. The press
release was picked up by AP and media calls came in.
The following Monday, I ordered two 16 x 20 copies of each of
the four negatives from the University of Texas, Arlington
repository providing a set for Stock and one for myself.
My request for copy negatives from the original 4X5" black
and white negatives is pending. (An Air Force rep previously
asked for the original negatives but was denied access to
them and was provided a set of copy negatives.)
In addition, I spoke with Don Berliner of the Fund for
UFO Research and asked him to find out if an associate,
Dr. Bruce Maccabee would perform image enhancements.
Equipped with the finest resources, the government consultant
might, at best, be able to validate or repudiate observed
marks in the photographs.
Will the analysis of these photographs be "the answer" to
the Roswell mystery? Or will they prove to be just more
salt in the otherwise pungent brew known as the Roswell
Incident?
What have we discovered to date?
Part Two
