Charges of a Cover Up
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| CH-47s, suspects in cover-up |
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| The accused: Col. George Sarran, ret. |
On the UFO Hunters episode "Alien Fallout", Bill Birnes questioned Colonel George Sarran about the following entry in his notes for the DAIG investigation of helicopters:
“- 100 helicopters- Robert Grey airfield, came in, for effect”
Colonel Sarran was unable to explain the entry. The implication was that he'd uncovered a massive helicopter operation and then buried the evidence. A bit of digging reveals the probable source for the helicopter notation.
According to October 1982 issue of the MUFON Journal article written by John Schuessler:
"On 19 March 1982 I was called by Lt. Col. George Sarran from the Department of the Army Inspector General office in the Pentagon. Col. Sarran explained that his office had received the inquiry from the Air Force Liaison Office because the Air Force had concluded their units were not involved. He explained that his interest was in the possibility that Army helicopters were involved. He would be investigating that allegation. He stressed that the U.S. Army had no opinion about the unidentified object or UFOs in general."
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| Sarran DAIG investigation notes released via FOIA. |
Lt. Colonel George Sarran made these notes, in March or April 1982, probably during a phone conversation with UFO investigator John F. Schuessler in preparation for their first meeting in May. The "100 helicopters" notation seems to be just a recording of Schuessler’s comments. Compare them to earlier published statements by John Schuessler:
"One significant helicopter operation took place at Gray Air Force Base near Killeen, Texas, where more than 100 helicopters came in from the field “for effect.”
-The Spectrum of UFO Research: The Proceedings of the Second CUFOS Conference (Sept. 25-27 1981, book published 1988, Published first in UFO Report Winter 1981 Vol. 9, No. 4: Texas UFO Trauma by John Schuessler)
"The unit operating out of Ellington AFB in Houston had landed before the sighting time. Robert Gray Field had 100 helicopters come in from the field at one time "for effect," but claimed to have avoided the Houston area. Hence, no one claims the helicopters that filled the Huffman area sky that winter night."
Cash-Landrum Radiation Case" by John F. Schuessler -MUFON UFO Journal November 1981 pg. 6
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| Army Chinooks |
They might have?
"At the Robert Gray Field near Fort Hood a spokesman said they might have 100 helicopters from the field home at one time "for effect", but he claimed they avoided the Houston area."
"Blind Terror in Texas" by John F. Schuessler, The Unexplained (UK magazine) 9(107) 2121-25, (1982)
On a site hosting a video of the UFO Hunters episode, one of Col. Sarran's co-workers spoke on his behalf, describing his interview techniques. "exitpleasantrealty" writes:
"The characterization that Mr. (Former Colonel) Sarran was lying is quite incorrect - - you have to know Mr. Sarran as I do and have for six (6) years - - he literally (even after retirement and becoming a businessman) writes down notes copiously. As soon as we saw this episode we knew someone had mentioned "100 helicopters" and he had merely wrote it down...........if they had shown all the notes instead of just that line you would have probably seen more info - - this man doesn't lie."
The Smoking Gun
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| Accuser: John F. Schuessler |
It made for a "gotcha" moment on the UFO Hunters show, but in this case, the charges are false.
(Note: This is a revised and updated version of an earlier post.)
C. 2013, Curtis L. Colllins
So, in the Nov 1981 Mufon Journal, John stated that on the night of the incident the unit at Ellington AFB had "landed before the sighting time", which may have rightly dismissed them--but 100 helicopters from Grey Field (Fort Hood) had actually been out somewhere, though a spokesman claimed they were not near Houston!!? What investigator would just take the word of a spokesman and write off Grey Field/Fort Hood after hearing they, in fact, had a huge number of the right kind of helicopters out that same night? Furthermore, here is a statement that John claimed came from a Ft. Hood spokesman that totally discounts any claim by Klass or others (trying to discount Fort Hood) that during the holiday week you couldn't get that many helicopters in the air.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to gauge context on a second-hand comment, but let's look at this one again:
ReplyDelete"At the Robert Gray Field near Fort Hood a spokesman said they might have 100 helicopters from the field home at one time "for effect", but he claimed they avoided the Houston area."
J. F. Schuessler, The Unexplained (UK magazine) 9(107) 2121-25, (1982)
The official Ft. Hood spokesman was Major Tony Geishauser, press officer, but Schuessler does not identify his source or quote him directly. In my reading of the comment, it indicates that on occasion, exercises were conducted involving large numbers of helicopters. nothing I see indicates that they were flying during the Christmas/NewYear period in question. When Schuessler recounts the story in other places, it was a specific helicopter operation on the specific day. That's the kind of leaps found in the investigation when the facts are compared to what was reported.
I agree with you about the reaction of the investigator. Receiving what he perceived as conflicting information stopped him in his tracks and caused him to conclude a cover up.