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Cover article for FT181:30-36 and some news:
http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_9513.shtml
Aztec UFO fest opens Friday
By Debra Mayeux/The Daily Times
Mar 17, 2004, 12:54 am
AZTEC — Fifty-six years ago on a small, dirt road north of Aztec, something unexplainable happened.
A saucer-shaped ship, 100-feet in diameter, was said to have crash-landed leaving small charred bodies inside. There were eyewitnesses — military, locals and police officers. There are Air Force documents one man is working to declassify.
Scott Ramsey of Charlotte, N.C., has spent the past 14 years of his life researching the purported Aztec UFO crash of 1948. He has traveled to 28 states, visited numerous military bases and talked to alleged eyewitnesses of the event.
“We want to be extremely careful to make sure people are reliable witnesses,” Ramsey said of his research. “We really try not to open our mouth until a lot of research has been done.”
Ramsey will present his findings at the 7th annual Aztec UFO Symposium Friday through Sunday at Koogler Middle School. His talk, which he says is “no smoking gun,” will be presented at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The alleged Aztec crash occurred only months after the more famous 1947 Roswell crash of another alleged UFO. It was two years before the March 17, 1950, Farmington UFO Armada, which celebrates its 54th anniversary today.
News accounts at the time, including a front page story in The Daily Times, said a fleet of hundreds of UFOs were seen by hundreds of residents flying in formation at high rates of speed across the city. The event later became know as the Farmington UFO Armada.
Ramsey said there were several UFO sightings in the state between 1947 and 1953, almost of which were documented in Air Force archives.
“Aircraft were picking up UFOs in New Mexico,” the researcher said. “My declassifications are centered around Aztec and the Air Force during that time frame.”
Most of his research began with a book, “Behind the Flying Saucers,” published in the 1950s by Frank Scully, who was tipped off by New Mexico oil men Silas Newton and Leo GeBauer. The two did not have the best reputation and most skeptics believe the story was a farce used by Newton and GeBauer to sell oil “doodle bug” equipment.
“They had their share of encounters with the law,” Ramsey said of the men, but Scully also claimed he received information from eight or nine scientists.
Ramsey said Scully went into such great detail in his book, it had to come from scientists. Ramsey said he was able to prove many of the details from documents declassified in 1999.
“It’s hard to put my presentation into a nutshell, but we’ve looked at Scully’s story,” he said.
In addition to Scully’s claims, Ramsey was able to discover secret military radar sites in the state. These sites may have detected the UFO before it crashed near Aztec, but Ramsey said he still has years of research before solidifying that claim. What he does have is maps of the radar bases for public review at the symposium.
Ramsey also commissioned a study of artifacts found at the crash site. Unfortunately the findings will not be ready for presentation until next year.
A key artifact was a piece of concrete slab at the site. The slab has been dismissed as a well cap, but a member of the military told Ramsey its purpose was as a footer for a crane used to remove the UFO.
“It’s a controversial piece, we’re trying to date to 1948,” Ramsey said adding the study is highly controlled with only one person on staff knowing the concrete came from a purported UFO crash site.
Ramsey said he will present his findings to date, some claims from skeptics, as well as a time line for the crash. He will also lead tours to the crash site, when he is not speaking at the symposium.
The cost for the symposium is for Saturday and Sunday, plus an additional for the Meet and Greet from 6-8 p.m. Friday. A one day ticket is .
Information: The Aztec UFO Information Center, (505) 334-9890 or on the Web at http://www.aztecufo.com.
http://www.daily-times.com/artman/publish/article_9513.shtml