Roswell and Matilda O'Donnell MacElroy

 

There are times when I am truly amazed at the credulity of the UFO community. Cases that are admitted hoaxes resurface with “new” evidence but are still admitted hoaxes. Cases that have been shown to be fake, resurface as others seem to believe that we have missed an important fact. And there are some that should have never taken off, given the “evidence” surrounding them.

Just the other day I was treated to a renewed interest in the story of Matilda O’Donnell MacElroy who claimed to be a former member of the military who had been in Roswell in 1947 and who had communicated with an alien creature that survived the crash. There is so much wrong with this, that I can’t believe that anyone took it seriously.

An alleged photograph of MacElroy... this is a picture of a 
commissioned officer and not an NCO.

Let’s just begin with the photograph on the cover of the book. It is of an Army nurse, who may or may not have been MacElroy. The trouble here is that MacElroy claimed to have been an NCO but the woman in the picture is in an officer’s uniform. Clearly there is a problem here that is never clarified and this is the first hint of trouble.

We’re told that MacElroy was a nurse, but, of course, her name doesn’t surface in any of the documents we have that provide listings of those serving in Roswell in 1947. She said that she was an NCO, but Army nurses, in fact all military nurses, are commissioned officers, so she wasn’t a nurse. Some sort of technician, maybe? Well, we have no information suggesting that there were any female medical technicians assigned to Roswell in 1947, so that doesn’t work. Besides, she said that she wasn’t a technician.

Then we have the trouble with her rank in 1947. She said, because she had made telepathic contact with the alien, she was assigned as its “companion?” or some such nonsense. She was given a raise and promoted to Senior Master Sergeant. This was a rank created by the Air Force (which didn’t exist in July 1947) in June of 1958. 

She said that she drove Mr. Cavitt out to the site where one was alive. But, in all my conversations with Cavitt, in all the questions Don Schmitt and I asked him about others who might have some knowledge, and in all the names that Cavitt supplied, hers never came up. Of course, Cavitt, as a captain, wasn’t authorized a driver. Either he, or one of the others assigned to the CIC office, would have driven the vehicles.

Bill Rickett, the number two man in the CIC office, and who was willing to answer all the questions put to him, never mentioned a female driver assigned to their office and never mentioned a female who had worked with them, even on a temporary basis. At some point as the questions were asked about those working in the office, this would have been mentioned.

What we see here is someone spinning a tale who knows nothing about the military or the rank structure or its history. It’s as if he (and yes, I mean he) is pulling the details out of thin air because they sound good.

Here is what we are told in the very beginning of the book, Alien Interview: The Letters and Notes of Matilda O’Donnell MacElroy. “This special READERS EDITION of ALIEN INTERVIEW [emphasis in original] contains only the original Letters, the personal Notes written by Matilda O’Donnell MacElroy, and a copy of the U.S. Army Air Force Top Secret Official Interview Transcripts received by Matilda in 2007.”

Except, of course, it wasn’t the U.S. Army Air Force in 1947 but was, in fact, the U.S. Army Air Forces. True, a minor error, but one that suggests that the writer didn’t really understand the situation in 1947 and one that those in that branch of the military service would not have made.

And why would a top secret document be sent to a witness. She would have no need for it and would not have the capability to properly store it. But, then, since we don’t have that document, we don’t really know what was in it, how accurate it might be, or if it existed at all.

But then there is the Disclaimer. It removes all doubt about the authenticity of the book. I don’t know why more people haven’t paid attention to it. The Disclaimer said:

As far as the Editor of the book, “Alien Interview” is concerned, and for all practical purposes, the content of the book is a work of fiction. The Editor makes no claim to the factuality of the content, and in fact, cannot prove that the alleged author actually ever existed. Although some of the dates, locations, persons and incidents described may be factual or based on fact, there is no evidence to authenticate that equally as many may be subjective contrivances of the author.

All of the information, notes and transcripts received by the Editor are contained in the complete, original form, as represented in the book. The Editor is no longer in possession of any original documents or copies of original documents from the author, i.e., Mrs. MacElroy.

Some material contained in the book may have similarities to Earth philosophies as the variety of these are too numerous to list, and bear too many fundamental similarities to be easily differentiated. Although the book discusses the origins of the universe, the time track of the physical universe, paranormal activities or immortal and/or extraterrestrial beings, “aliens” or “god”, it is in no way the intention of the Editor to represent, endorse, forward or assume the viewpoint of the author, any political doctrine, economic vested interest, scientific hypothesis, religious practice or philosophy, whether terrestrial or extraterrestrial.

The notes and transcripts contained in the book, are solely and only based on the representations and documents provided by the author, the late Matilda O’Donnell MacElroy, unless otherwise specifically annotated by Footnotes in the Appendix of the book.

The Editor is not responsible for any assumptions, inferences or conclusions made by the reader based on the material in this book, which are solely and only the responsibility of the reader.

What is true for you, is true for you.

Lawrence R. Spencer – Editor

I’m not sure if I need to say that Spencer wrote that he had none of the documentation that was sent to him. He says that he no longer has possession of it which means that we can’t independently test any of it. We have only his word that those documents ever existed but with so many flaws in the story, it seems unlikely that they ever did. In fact, at one point he says that he can’t even prove that MacElroy existed and that he only spoke with her one time, on the telephone, for about twenty minutes. Certainly not a ringing endorsement for the validity of the tale.

In what should have been, and should be nearly the first thing said about the book, Spencer wrote, “As far as the Editor of the book, “Alien Interview” is concerned, and for all practical purposes, the content of the book is a work of fiction.”

At that point, I have to ask, “Why should we treat it any differently?” He said it is a work of fiction and with that disclaimer, we should have no further reason for discussing the book in a forum about UFOs. He said he had none of the documentation and he couldn’t prove that MacElroy ever lived. The book belongs in the realm of science fiction, not very good science fiction, but science fiction nonetheless. All questions about the importance of the book and the authenticity of the information have been answered. It is a work of fiction. End of discussion.