Coast-to-Coast AM: The Rhodes Photographs Revisited

 

Given one of the developing situations in the world of the UFO, I thought I would revisit the information swirling around two photographs taken by William Rhodes in July 1947. There are two reasons for this. I have found a great deal of misinformation about Rhodes on the Internet recently, and the official investigation into the sighting shows the bias against witnesses, even when they have photographic evidence ignored by those charged with the investigation. This is something that persists even in today’s more enlightened environment. And that’s not to mention the recent NASA report that suggested no solid evidence of alien visitation had been found. Had the Air Force (yes, I know it was the Army Air Forces at the time) investigation in 1947 been conducted properly, the photos might have provided the sort of solid evidence that NASA desires, if they were inclined to research any of the history of UFOs.

Rhodes, according to what he told reporters and later military and government investigators, was on his way to his backyard lab when a “whooshing” sound caught his attention. He thought it was a jet, but when he spotted the object, he realized his mistake. He ran to his lab and grabbed his camera. Back outside, he photographed the UFO.

It was a black, heel-shaped object with what he described as a clear dome in the center. In the drawing he made it was more of a domed disc than heel shaped, but that might be a matter of perspective. He took one picture and realized there was a single frame left on the film. He hoped the object would come closer and when it didn’t, he took the last picture.

The best of the two Rhodes photos, showing the "dome" in the
center and the heel shape that would become important.

The Air Force investigated, were unimpressed with Rhode’s lifestyle, suggesting he was living off his wife’s occupation rather than earning a living himself. They noted he sometimes played piano in a local bar but I’m not sure why that would be a disqualification. They didn’t care for his claim to be the director of the Panorama Research Lab, which was the well-equipped lab in his backyard. They officially wrote the case off as a hoax. I believe that was mainly because they just didn’t like him.

However, Kenneth Arnold, the man whose sighting brought us the term flying saucer, had been asked by Ray Palmer, the editor of a science fiction magazine, to investigate the Maury Island sighting of June, 1947. That was because he and Arnold had something of a professional relation, meaning Arnold had supplied an article about his sighting to the magazine. Arnold traveled to meet the witnesses but found himself overwhelmed by the task. Arnold called on Lieutenant Frank M. Brown, who had investigated Arnold’s sighting.

None of that would be relevant to the Rhodes’ sighting, except that Brown and Captain William L. Davidson, joined Arnold in that investigation. Arnold asked Brown what was happening with that flying saucer business. Confidentially, Brown told him about Rhodes. Arnold asked what was happening with the whole flying saucer business. Brown said they, meaning the Army Air Forces had received two pictures that looked like Arnold’s original heel-shaped object. Although Brown didn’t supply much in the way of information, just mentioned evidence in Phoenix, but that was a clear reference to the Rhodes.

The original drawing Arnold provided to the Air Force. It shows the heel
shaped-object. Rhodes would not known about that in 1947.

The Air Force smeared Rhodes’s with allegations about his character. They interviewed his neighbors who said that Rhodes didn’t like their animals running around on his property. Most of it was trivia like that. And the investigation ignored information that would shed a more favorable light on Rhodes. Others since then have used the Air Force file as a source to reject the value of the Rhodes photographs. Not many look beyond what is found in the Project Blue Book file.

I have learned more about Rhodes. He claimed a Ph.D., but could not produce documentation except for a replicate of his diploma in a small, plastic sealed card. Rhodes explained that while serving with the Navy at the beginning of WW II, the Navy gave its civilian employees a test. Depending on the score, they were awarded the equivalency of a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or a Doctorate. Rhodes scored high enough for the doctorate. That might be the source of the confusion, though Rhodes seems to be a little vague about it.

I spoke with a friend of Rhodes who told me that Rhodes had something of an abrasive personality, but that he was a genius. Rhodes liked to solve problems and this man said that they had hired Rhodes to solve a problem at an Arizona university.

As I say, I have written more about this here and in a couple of my UFO books. You can find that information in no particular order here:

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2023/05/coast-to-coast-am-flir-and-william.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2012/04/kenneth-arnold-william-rhodes-and-maury.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2006/11/more-of-best-ufo-photographs.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2010/10/beyond-rhodes-photographs.html

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2010/10/william-rhodes-and-his-phd.html

The point here is that we have some very good information about specific UFO sightings but they are overlooked because of controversy. Often that controversy is injected as a way of eliminating compelling testimony and evidence without a good reason. That’s where we are with Rhodes, and it is where we are going with much of the latest testimony. Nobody remembers the good, only the bad. Just ask Bill Buckner.

X-Zone Broadcast Network - Kenneth Dudley

This week I talked with Kenneth Dudley, who has said of himself, “I know more than anyone else in the UFO world about what has happened and this is a national security issue…” He also has suggested that his field of expertise is military intelligence and UFOs.” I thought this might make for an interesting show. You can listen to the program here:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/21485151

We did talk about his becoming interested in UFOs after he was involved in a car

Kenneth Dudley

accident but no one seemed able locate the woman who caused it. He found her in Colorado, but in his discussion with her, remembered a UFO sighting he’d had in October 1973, along I-70 near Green river, Utah. I will note here, apropos of nothing at all, I have driven through Utah on I-70 a number of times, and it is a long, lonesome road. There used to be a sign as you entered the western end that the next service stations were 138 miles away. That’s been changed in the world today with the creation of several service station plazas, but in 1973, that sign just underscores how deserted that stretch of highway used to be.

His sighting wasn’t all that spectacular, just a glowing disk close to the ground that took off in a burst of speed. It wasn’t in sight for very long, and I mentioned that it was quite mundane, in terms of detail. Of course, if you were the witness, your perspective would be somewhat different. Since Dudley said he nearly hit the UFO, he thought of it as a little more exciting.

For corroboration, he mentioned that radars at Cheyenne Mountain had tracked the UFO at about the time of his sighting. Without a little more information, I wasn’t all that sure that the connection could be made or that this could be considered corroboration.

One of the views along I-70 in Utah.

When he talked about the trouble in the UFO community and the seeming lack of interest in his sighting, I suggested it might be his claim about knowing more than anyone else in the UFO world. He did backtrack on that.

He mentioned five people who had died when they came in contact with UFOs but couldn’t provide any names. I confess that I didn’t help. I thought of Mantell (who was chasing a UFO but I think that has been identified in the world today) and of Cash-Landrum, both of whom claimed health issues after they witnessed a close approach of a diamond-shaped UFO. The event and health problems might have contributed to their deaths years later. That would have led to another discussion which I feared would take up too much of our limited time. I had other things that I wanted to address.

We also talked about the national security implications, with Dudley citing the shutdown of missile launch systems. While an outsider having the ability to disable missiles and preventing their launch certainly has national security implications, the connection to UFOs is somewhat tenuous. The Air Force, of course, denied that a UFO had been involved, but they didn’t offer much in the way of solution either.

Next week, I’m going to take some time to look at some of the issues that are floating around the UFO world. At the moment, I am thinking about addressing what is known as “cancel culture,” meaning you must embrace all aspects of the UFO world or you’re considered a debunker, a look at Stan Friedman’s dark side, and the Deep State influence in UFO investigation. If you have questions, or points you might wish to make, append them at the end of this column and I’ll try to get to them.