UFO Crash Retrievals: Three with Explanations

 

Blogger’s Note: Periodically I feel the need to commit Ufological suicide. This means, simply, that a reference in some of the latest material about UFOs annoys me because I believe I have a solution for the cited cases. In the last few days, I have been asked questions about certain UFO crash/retrieval cases in which I have inside information. Or maybe a better way is to point out that my investigations include being on the site, interviews with witnesses, and a review of documents that suggest a solution that others have glossed over.

First on this agenda, is the report of a crash in Aurora, Texas, in April, 1897. I may have been one of the first of the current crop of investigators to have actually gone there and talked to some of those residents who were still alive in 1971 when I made the trip. I have covered this case several times on this blog and you can read those analyses here:

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2005/03/aurora-texas-story-that-wont-die.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2018/04/aurora-texas-again.html

There are three facts that are often overlooked in a discussion of Aurora. First, in the decade that followed, and according to the Wise County Historical Society (Aurora is in Wide County), two histories of the county were written. Neither contained an account of the UFO crash. Since the histories were written so close to the event, there would have been many witnesses available but none were found… well, that’s not exactly accurate. There were none to be found because the case is a hoax.

Photo of Aurora, Texas by Kevin Randle

Second, in the interviews that I conducted in 1971, I talked with the man, Brawley Oates, whose hands were badly deformed. He told me then that the crash hadn’t taken place. We are now told that others, who never spoke to Oates, but who did interview his widow, that there are reports of radioactivity in the area.

Third, we are told of all the other Airship reports from the era. I’ve reviewed, literally, hundreds of them. The Airship landed in various locations and the crews were interviewed. Some said they were on the way to bomb the Spanish as the Spanish-America War was not far off. There were tales of secret testing the Airship which would soon be revealed to the world, but never was.

There are dozens of illustrations of the Airship and one photograph. The Airship had landed in Waterloo, Iowa, when the leader of crew fell overboard and drowned in the Cedar River. Later is was all admitted to be a hoax.

The Waterloo Airship, 1897.

Second, let’s talk about the Del Rio, Texas, UFO crash. I’m not going into depth here because I have provided much more information about my investigations and other aspects of this case. It is single witness, the report provided by a man who lied about his military service, who changed the data of the crash repeatedly, and did sign an affidavit for CUFOS. I am convinced that his name was Robert Willingham, but nearly everything else he said was untrue.

I mentioned the changing date. I found the first reference to the crash in Skylook, the original publication of MUFON. It said:

Col. R. B. Willingham, CAP squadron commander, has had an avid interest in UFO’s for years, dating back to 1948 when he was leading a squadron of F-94 jets near the Mexican border in Texas and was advised by radio that three UFO’s "flying formation" were near. He picked them up on his plane radar and was informed one of the UFO’s had crashed a few miles away from him in Mexico. He went to the scene of the crash but was prevented by the Mexican authorities from making an investigation or coming any closer than 60 feet. From that vantage point the wreckage seemed to consist of "numerous pieces of metal polished on the outside, very rough on the inner sides."

Please note that in one of the latest reports on this, the date is December 6, 1950. When I interviewed Willingham, he said that he didn’t remember the exact date but it was either 1954 or 1955. Willingham told Noe Torres and Ruben Uriate, that he had served in Korea in the fall of 1950. Given that tale, it would have been impossible for him to be flying fighters in the United States at the time he was in Korea.

Willingham in his CAP Uniform. He never served as an
officer in the Air Force and was not a fighter pilot.

I will point out there is no official documentation showing that Willingham was ever an officer in the Armed Forces of the United States. He did serve with the Civil Air Patrol which is not the same thing. For those interested in this whole, sad tale, you can find all the information here:

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2014/04/eisenhower-briefing-document-mj-12-and.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2014/04/eisenhower-briefing-document-mj-12-and.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2010/07/del-rio-ufo-crash-and-mj-12.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2012/02/willingham-1978-interview.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2011/08/roswell-festival-part-two.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2018/06/mj-12-and-cognitive-dissonance.html

There are other articles, but they often repeat much of the same information. To research all of them, just type “Willingham” in the search engine and scroll through the articles. I’ll note that some of the comments do get interesting.

Finally, the Kingman UFO crash has reared its ugly head again. This was one of the first crash/retrievals to gain some traction. The original story is traced to Arthur Stansel, who was interviewed by to teenagers, Jeff Young and Paul Chetham. During that interview, Stansel told of a UFO crash near Kingman, Arizona, on May 21, 1953.

Kingman, Arizona. Photo by Kevin Randle.

He talked about taken by bus from his base in Nevada to the crash site where he put his engineering background to work. He said that the windows of the bus were blacked out and those on the bus were not allowed to share any information about themselves including their names. But, once at the crash site, their names were called as they exited the bus. That really makes no sense.

Again, rather than go through all this, I’ll just point to a series of postings here for review.

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-decline-and-fall-of-ufology.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2010/05/kingman-ufo-crash.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2011/05/kingman-ufo-crash-really.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2021/03/kingman-rises-from-dead.html

There are two points to be made here. First, Stansel said, repeatedly, that when he drank, he tended to make up stories. He told Young and Chetham that he had been drinking on that Saturday afternoon prior to the interview.

Much had been made about the affidavit he signed. The trouble is that it was in the name, Fritz Werner, which, of course, invalidates the affidavit, since that was not his real name and was a lie.

The overall problem is that in these three cases, there is clear evidence of hoax. Often these aspects are not fully reported. My philosophy has always been to report are relevant facts and let the reader decide what to belief. I’m not trying to build a case for alien visitation, just report, accurately on what I had learned. Often, I have investigated the cases myself in an attempt to discover the truth.

These are just three of the UFO crash/retrieval stories being circulated in the world today. If there were as many crashes as some have claimed, we would be having a different discussion. My hope here is to provide, well, a different perspective on some of the ongoing reports of UFO crashes. In too many cases, it is the will to believe that gets in the way of credible investigation.