Friday, May 8, 2015

The Placard of the Roswell Slides: The Final Curtain


Special Rush report from The Roswell Slides Research Group


The Roswell Slides second biggest mystery was the content of the placard on the alleged alien body.

Several statements were made about it, some contradictory:








The Roswell Slides and the Truth by Anthony Bragalia
This ‘placard’ is not very evident in the video grab image. However, it has been enlarged by experts and the writing, in red ink, is handwritten, not typed, as would be found in a biological display in a museum.

Tom Carey was interviewed about the Roswell Slides on the March 22, 2015 episode of Jaime Maussan’s Contacto on Tercer Milenio TV. Carey said that experts have been able to read some words on the placard on the case and that, “debunkers will be disappointed.”


Tom Carey and Don Schmitt were interviewed, of the show's expert presentations, Schmitt said: 
This will be part of the event, part of the program in May, that all of these analytical reports, all of the analyses, all of the main experts as well as the photographic experts who examined- there’s a placard, very fuzzy, that can not be legibly read by the naked eye, yet we’ve had everyone from Dr. David Rudiak, to Studio MacBeth, even the Photo Interpretation Department of the Pentagon, as well as Adobe have all told us that it’s beyond the pale, that it cannot be read, it is totally up to interpretation. 
So, we truly feel we have performed due diligence; we have done everything we can to substantiate and prove what is contained within these slides, whether it is something of a human malady or something truly extraordinary. https://youtu.be/fQyAVrFnTos?t=1h24m2s





During BeWitness, it was announced that despite the work of a number of experts, the placard could absolutely not be read. 

In the second slide the placard was visible, and the writing was evident, if unclear.



News coverage, claiming the placard could not be read,


"We couldn't make anything clearly out of the placard... several others, who did not have much luck." - Adam Dew

"Nobody could read anything decisively in the placard, unfortunately. I am sure people will make attempts to do this going forward...." - Adam Dew

He was right, and most of the placard has now been read.

A member of The Roswell Slides Research Team used a newly acquired source image of the placard seen in front of the body. By manipulating the commercial software, SmartDeblur, he managed to significantly clear up the blurred text. Other members offered suggestions and helped narrow down the actual words.

Nab Lator deblurred the placard image.

Chris Isbert created an animated GIF to display the text.
http://s263.photobucket.com/user/europa73/media/macmini_1_zpsib9x40yc.gif.html


The first line was the most clearly resolved:
MUMMIFIED BODY OF TWO YEAR OLD BOY
There is little doubt that this is the true and correct text. The other 3 lines of the text are somewhat hard to read, some words more clear than others. The original results yielded:

MUMMIFIED BODY OF TWO YEAR OLD BOY

At the time of burial the body was clothed in a xxx-xxx cotton

shirt. Burial wrappings consisted of these small cotton blankets.


Loaned by the Mr. Xxxxxx, San Francisco, California



The entire effort only took hours, quite a difference from the claimed “years” of research that the Slides promoters camp claimed. Because the Slide hucksters haven’t released proper high resolution scans of the slides, our work was made more difficult. We could probably get clearer results from better images.

The mystery of the placard is solved, and so is the nature of the body in the case.

A boy, from Earth. 

The question then, becomes, how was this not discovered by the experts examining the case in the years of investigation?


Subsequent information filled in the missing placard letters. 


Mesa Verde Notes September 1938 Volume VIII, Number 1.


MUMMIFIED BODY OF TWO YEAR OLD BOY

At the time of burial the body was clothed in a slip-over cotton 

shirt. Burial wrappings consisted of three small cotton blankets. 

Loaned by Mr. S. L. Palmer, San Francisco, California.




The Roswell Slides Research Group

José Antonio Caravaca, Spain
Isaac Koi, UK
Nab Lator, France
Lance Moody, USA
Tim Printy, USA
Curt Collins, USA
Tim Hebert, USA
Paul Kimball, Canada
Gilles Fernandez, France
Trained Observer, USA
Chris Rutkowski, Canada
Roger Glassel, Sweden
S. Miles Lewis, USA

Thanks to our colleagues and associates, including Alejandro Espino (for the 
Israel Ampuero team, Spain), Philippe Hernandez, Jeff Ritzmann, Aaron J Gulyas, Irna France, Nick Redfern, Fin Handley and many, many more who provided help.


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Unable to Deliver: The Roswell Slides

The big Be Witness show was held, but failed to deliver new and compelling evidence. The only thing of substance were the two slides themselves:

Don Schmitt and Tom Carey



Slide 11

Slide 9, the one opened for examination


Prior to the show, there were some strong claims about what the slides depicted.

Source


Source

In an interview leading up to the show, Schmitt was a bit more cautious.
Can we prove it’s an alien? Well, a picture unfortunately can’t do that. We don’t have the DNA, we don’t have a tissue sample. We can’t do that. But, for those who are open-minded, objective in their reasoning as to if they can accept that we are not alone, that we are being visited, there had to have been pictures taken, there had to have been people who were availed an opportunity to see what was recovered, and possibly at Roswell in 1947. And we’re not going to be the group of individuals who always live by the model anything but extraterrestrial, anything but ET.”

Not everything promised was delivered.

Despite prior indictions about concerns over his age and delicate health, it was not announced prior to the show that Dr. Edgar Mitchell would not appear. So too, was Carol Rosin absent, the person advertised as introducing him for a tribute. Paul Hellyer was presented as a substitute.

debunkers will be disappointed"
Tom Carey was interviewed about the Roswell Slides on the March 22, 2015 episode of Jaime Maussan’s Contacto on Tercer Milenio TV. Carey said that experts have been able to read some words on the placard on the case and that, “debunkers will be disappointed.”
During BeWitness, it was announced that despite the work of a number of experts, the placard could absolutely not be read. Tom Carey was right, though, debunkers were disappointed. Most everyone else was, too.


They presented their case. but...

some people continue to believe the body was something from Earth.


Later, I'll be preparing a more detailed examination of what was presented, but most of the arguments for the slide were known well ahead of the show and discussed previously.  Please see
and 



For further reading on the "Roswell Slides" story:




Roswell Slides Saga: "BeWitness" or The Day the Earth stood still... Part 1.

José Antonio Caravaca, Roswell Slides: The Moment of Truth 

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

BBL: Minor site update 4/28/15


Minor site update on Cash-Landrum documents and videos:


The section, "Resources: Articles and Documents" has been updated, mostly fixing some bad links and adding a link to where the APRO Bulletin articles can be found.
http://www.blueblurrylines.com/2013/07/resource-guide-for-cash-landrum-ufo-case.html




Also, the "Video" section has been updated to include the English language version of the Mysterious Worlds episode, UFO Secrets, aired in the USA in 2002. This features the last known filmed interviews of Betty Cash and Vickie Landrum. 
http://www.blueblurrylines.com/2012/07/cash-landrum-video-documentary.html

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Cash-Landrum UFO: A Fresh Look by George Wingfield


"There was no evidence presented that would indicate that Army, National Guard, or Army Reserve helicopters were involved." 
That was the conclusion  of Lt. Col. George C. Sarran's report of his investigation for the Department of the Army's Inspector General’s office on the allegations of U.S. military helicopters being present during the Cash-Landrum UFO encounter.
(For further details, see, The DAIG Investigation of the Cash-Landrum UFO Incident )

This guest article by veteran UFO researcher, George Wingfield, provides a good look into the political backdrop of the Cash-Landrum UFO story, and examines the military forces that could have been involved. Also, he tries to offer a purpose and function for the UFO in this case.   






A Fresh Look at the Cash-Landrum Incident by George Wingfield


Having looked at Curt Collins' findings on George Sarran’s memo about 100 helicopters at Robert Gray Army Airfield, I accept that this was not the smoking gun that it appeared to be.  There is no reason to think that George Sarran was being untruthful in saying that the DAIG investigation, 18 months after the event, had failed in its quest to find whether any Army or USAF (or other military unit’s) helicopters were those seen by Betty Cash and the Landrums during the infamous incident.

However, there are very good reasons for thinking that the helicopters were real and were indeed ones belonging to the US military.  This fact probably had to be covered up because this exercise required the very highest level of secrecy without which its whole purpose would have been lost.  Only the helicopter crews and the senior officers who ordered the exercise would have had the slightest idea about its purpose.

To make any sense of the episode one cannot afford to ignore the grave international political situation that had consumed the attention of the United States, the President, and the US military for all of the year 1980.  This was of course the Iran hostage crisis which blighted Jimmy Carter’s presidency and concentrated minds both in government and in the military to find some way of rescuing the 52 Americans who were eventually held for 444 days.

Operation Eagle Claw used eight RH-53 helicopters and several C-130s in an attempt to rescue the hostages on April 24, 1980. It failed miserably with the loss of several aircraft and the lives of eight servicemen.  Subsequently the crisis deepened.  A second rescue attempt, Operation Credible Sport, was planned using highly modified YMC-130H Hercules aircraft, one of which crashed during a demonstration flight at Eglin AFB on October 29, 1980. This project was abandoned shortly afterwards and it was on November 2, 1980, the Iranian parliament set forth formal conditions for the US hostages’ release. At just this time Ronald Reagan was elected President, although obviously he would not take up office until eleven weeks later.

I believe that one cannot understand the strange Cash-Landrum affair without first setting the scene.  New urgent plans for the military to rescue the hostages in Iran were still being prepared as from October 1980 since few believed that the Iranians would keep their word on any agreements that had been reached.  These new plans resulted in the formation of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), the ‘Task Force 160’ that is referred to in John Alexander’s book UFOs –Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities.  The 160th and US Navy SEALs are most likely to have been the occupants of the helicopters involved in the Cash-Landrum incident.

There is known to have been a second projected rescue plan, known as Project Honey Badger, by the 160th to rescue the Iran hostages in early 1981. This was called off when President Reagan came into office and the hostages were released on January 20, 1981.  However, it is known that the Honey Badger exercises continued until well after the 1980 US presidential election. “Numerous special operations, applications, and techniques were developed which became part of the emerging USSOCOM repertoire”  --according to Wikipedia’s entry on Operation Eagle Claw.   I suggest that Honey Badger was what produced the Cash-Landrum incident which had near fatal results for Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and her grandson Colby.   

If that were the case, we need to explain what the flaming object was that descended on the country road near Huffman, TX.  My suggestion is that it was some kind of “THW”.  That is my unofficial acronym for “Trojan Horse Weapon” and something of this kind was going to be needed for the hostage rescue mission to have any chance of success.


Illustration from a TV re-enactment of the event.

Everyone is familiar with the story of the great wooden horse which the Greeks left outside the gates of Troy during the Trojan War (c. 1200 BC). The Trojans were very puzzled as to what this was but, thinking the Greek forces had sailed away, they took it inside the city anyway.  Inside the horse Greek soldiers were hidden and in the dead of night they climbed out and opened the city gates for their returning comrades to rush in.  This clever deception allowed the Greek army to destroy the city of Troy and bring the lengthy Trojan War to an end.

Any modern THW would have to be a totally unfamiliar object and one whose purpose was not obvious to the people it was intended to fool. Its objective would be to deceive, distract, and possibly even disable the enemy defenders at the position attacked. I don’t suggest that it was meant to look like a UFO but this THW would have to descend from the sky at night, land close to where the rescue operation was going to take place, and completely distract the Iranians guarding the hostages.  If it worked, the hostages could be rescued from the large building where they were being held in Tehran.  Task Force 160 men would descend onto the roof of the building from helicopters and blast their way into where the hostages were being held.

It may have been planned as a similar sort of mission to Operation Neptune Spear which was sent to Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011 to kill Osama bin Laden. That was an easier proposition in that there were no hostages to rescue and few armed defenders in the bin Laden compound.  Even so, it involved several helicopters and a staging point in the desert for refueling of the aircraft and a holding position for the back-up CH-47 Chinooks. 

If the Cash-Landrum “UFO” was indeed a THW we can only guess at the role it was meant to play.  It may have been, primarily, an experimental nuclear lighting device powered by a small reactor that could have weighed 10 tons or more. Output would have been used to produce an exceptionally intense light source (or sources) for, if need be, an hour or more.  If it could be made to work as planned, it could have been flown into Tehran slung under a Chinook helicopter, and fired up when it was landed near the Teymour Bakhtiari mansion in Tehran where the hostages were being held as from November 1980.  The device’s intensely brilliant light(s) would blind any Iranian guards or soldiers who tried to resist the rescue mission which would have been carried out by Navy SEALs wearing special goggles to shield their eyes from the intense beam.  

A number of Task Force 160 helicopters could have carried such an operation and taken the rescued hostages to a waiting US Navy ship out at sea.  Such a THW –presumably unmanned—might have been intended to descend under its own power or else be lowered by cables from a Chinook helicopter high overhead.  During the Cash-Landrum incident the mystery object was said to be belching flames downward but whether that was from a descent rocket engine or simply part of its fearsome THW display is unclear.  It is most unlikely that any THW like this could fly the 400 miles between the Persian Gulf and Tehran under its own power and so it would have to be taken there inside a large aircraft --or else slung under a large helicopter-- before being deployed.    

If this scenario is correct, the operation that resulted in the Cash-Landrum fiasco was a dress rehearsal for the hostage rescue mission, probably flown from a US Navy carrier in the Gulf of Mexico.  The nuclear lighting device when fired up, intentionally or otherwise, presumably went out of control and it had to be put down on a road in Texas with the resulting radiation burns to the two unfortunate women who were in the car that stopped near it.

If this operation was as I have suggested, it was most certainly Top Secret --to the very highest level of security.  Whether or not such a Project Honey Badger rehearsal was sanctioned by President Carter in the last days of his presidency, we cannot tell.  It may well have been solely authorized by some senior figure in the Pentagon.  When it failed, all traces of the operation had to be concealed and it does seem quite likely that someone in the military may have promoted the wild idea that this was a UFO incident simply to prevent the real explanation becoming public knowledge.

This also raises the intriguing question of whether the “UFO” which landed in Rendlesham Forest and was approached by Jim Penniston and John Burroughs could have been a similar --or identical—Honey Badger THW being given a dress rehearsal test.  This is pure speculation but it seems no less likely than an alien spacecraft landing by mistake in Rendlesham Forest at the very same time as the Cash-Landrum episode in Texas.   If there ever was a US Trojan Horse Weapon being tested in December 1980, it never had to be used in anger since the Tehran embassy hostages were freed just three weeks later when President Reagan came into office.



George Wingfield has been researching and writing about the UFO phenomenon since 1987 and has contributed to numerous books and magazines on the topic. George is the co-author of  UFO: Strange Space on Earth with Paul Whitehead.



    

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Cash-Landrum UFO Case: Legal Rumors


Since the very beginning, rumors swirled around the Cash-Landrum case. An early one was about the Government quietly paying medical expenses for the witnesses, and a later one claimed the USG offered to settle with them out of court. 




“In February of this year, there was a rumor going the rounds to the effect that the U.S. government was paying all of the medical expenses of Betty Cash and Vicki Landrum, two of the three principals in the ‘Cash-Landrum’ case of December 29, 1980. ...After hearing the rumor, APRO checked with Mrs. Landrum by telephone and she confirmed our initial suspicion that the information was an unfounded rumor.” Rumors Permeate Cash-Landrum Case APRO Bulletin Vol. 30 #6 June 1982

The APRO article was correct, but  reporting the rumor also helped spread it further.

What Deal?

Highly recommended!

In Project Beta by Greg Bishop,  2005,  he provides a brief summary of  the Cash-Landrum UFO case, discussing it primarily in terms of how Paul Bennewitz perceived that it was connected to an alleged U.S. cover-up of an alliance with space aliens. Of the C-L court case, he says,
Early in the legal battle, the Air Force quietly offered to pay medical expenses if Cash and the Landrums agreed to sign a nondisclosure form promising not to discuss the case anymore. Their lawyer, Citizens Against UFO Secrecy president Peter Gersten, advised them against this, and tried to fight the Air Force to disclose the existence of the craft. When it became clear that the case was going nowhere, Cash and Landrum decided to accept the original deal, but the Air Force reply was a cold and confusing “What deal?” 
 Project Beta pg.170

Greg’s otherwise excellent book seems off the mark on this one point. I'd suggest that his sources mislead him in this instance with some inaccurate information. Primary sources in the case are very difficult to obtain, and almost all information on the C-L case is second-hand. 


Written for the witnesses.
The gate-keeper of the case, John F. Schuessler in his book, The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident (1998) devotes pages 187 to 223 to the legal case in great detail. The thrust of Schuessler's book is that the witnesses are victims of a government cover-up, but there is no mention of an out of court settlement with the government. 

Vickie Landrum talks about Settling

Vickie Landrum from Sept. 1985 interview with Chris Lambright

In September 1985, UFO researcher Chris Lambright had a far-ranging conversation on the case with Vickie Landrum in her home. While it was not a formal interview, he videotaped it, but unfortunately the audio quality is poor due to excessive background noise.  Chris shared a copy of this unique  recording with me. In it, Vickie talks about her many frustrations about the case at length, but makes no mention of being offered and denied a deal, but the subject of a settlement does come up.

Lambright asks Vickie about their legal battle, and if she would settle out of court. Vickie says she wants to get the best care for all of them, but to not let America know about what really happened would be a disappointment. Accepting a settlement would be a hard decision, and she felt to do so would “let American people down.” She really seemed to want a public court hearing, in part for the "people who stood by me."

If there had been a settlement offer that had been retracted, Vickie would have mentioned it.

How it ended

Damage claim forms against the Air Force were picked up in Aug. 1981, but not filed by Peter Gersten until near the 2nd anniversary of the case on Dec. 1982. The claim was denied in May 1983. (Appealed, denied again.)

In January 1984, Civil Suit against the U.S. Government,  H-84-348 was filed,  followed by much contention and publicity.


"UFO Lawyer," Peter Gersten
The August 1985 MUFON Journal reported that Peter Gersten stated that chances of his winning the case in court were "slim and none.”

The case was finally dismissed without going to trial  August 21,1986. This was due in part to sworn statements by military branch representatives that the U.S. did not own or operate a vehicle like the UFO described.


Not one of ours they said.





There were some strange turns in the legal case, but that’s a much longer story for another time.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Is This Mummy the Famous "Alien" in the Roswell Slides?



Guest article by José Antonio Caravaca

(Note: Mobile users may find this version more device-friendly:
Esos Misteriosos Objetos Celestes y sus Tripulantes)





After several weeks of hard controversies surrounding the so-called "Roswell Slides" new information could shed light on the true nature of the alleged extraterrestrial portrayed in the images. For a start, the humanoid shown in one of the slides has many similarities with a child-sized mummy.


Could this Egyptian mummy be the cause of all the commotion created about the alleged Roswell slides?



The size and general appearance of the mummy seems to coincide perfectly with the alleged Roswell alien.



Both bodies lack abdomen, have the severed head and limbs are thin ...


Curiously, the "alien" corpse has remarkable similarities to a mummy discovered in the city of Thebes (Egypt) in 1856, and was transferred to the Wistar (Philadelphia) museum in 1860 and subsequently forwarded to the Smithsonian (Washington, DC) in 1956, where it remains today.



The mummy was exhibited in the museum Wistar (Courtesy Isaac Koi)



Despite the strangeness shown by those involved in the investigation of the slides, the alleged extraterrestrial humanoid proportions and anatomy perfectly corresponds to that of a human. The curious thing about this finding is that a group of Spanish researchers came to the same conclusion after analyzing slides, the group of international scholars in which the author of the article involved. The researcher Israel Ampuero, director of the radio program "Cuadernos de Bitácora" with researchers Alejandro Espino, Sara Hernandez, Edgar Luis and Nacho Hernandez had practically reached the same deductions, plus other interesting discoveries have made ​​around the Roswell slides . (Courtesy Curt Collins)



Researchers Gilles Fernandez and Curt Collins have made several comparisons between humanoid slides and a child mummy found in Thebes. (Courtesy Curt Collins)



Like the alleged alien slides, the mummy designated specimen 2397 has a severed head and its measurements comply with those disclosed by researchers, 86 cm.

Could the original owners of the images have visited an exhibition of this mummy?

... are the Roswell slides a case of mistaken identity? ....





The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of researchers Curt Collins, Roger Glassel, Gilles Fernandez, Isaac Koi, Paul Kimball and Lance Moody.


JOSE ANTONIO Carav @ CA

The total or partial reproduction of the material contained in this blog is forbidden without prior permission. Owned by José Antonio Caravaca.


Some further reading on the "Roswell Slides" story.

Tim PrintyMay 5, 2015: The day that will change the world
José Antonio Caravaca, Roswell Slides: The Moment of Truth
Tim HebertCurrent State of Affairs: Roswell Linked Kodak Slides
Jeff RitzmannThe Birth of Anti-Evidence: The ‘Roswell Slides’
Paul KimballBragalia on mummies and the "Roswell slides"
Gilles FernandezThe Roswell Slides Saga: Some Claims versus some Facts

Monday, March 16, 2015

"Roswell Slides" or Fraud Prints?





“People are asking for science, but these are photos. 
There is only so much science you can get out of photos.” 
Adam Dew quoted at Open Minds


"Please, do not be skeptical, give it a chance, as you will see, 
it is much better than anything you have on TV sci-fi, 
and also the worst that could happen 
(no, not an alien invasion) 
is to come out with a new perspective, 
far from what they show you in the movies."
Jaime Maussan (translated) beWitness

A Roswell Slides Recap

To summarize the Roswell Slides history: Tom Carey put together a Dream Team to produce the ultimate Roswell book. The project got sidetracked, but Carey continued to work with his writing partner Don Schmitt, assisted by Anthony Bragalia and David Rudiak, who both had provided help for the Witness to Roswell book. Then, the slides entered the story. As much as possible, I’m going to let the players themselves tell the tale.


Top: Carey, Maussan, Schmitt
Bottom: Bragalia, Dew, Rudiak

Adam Dew makes a call

The slide collection seems to have been owned by a couple in Midland, Texas, Bernerd and Hilda Ray. Adam Dew claims that a friend’s sister salvaged some slides while cleaning out a house that was going to be demolished. 
“A quick timeline as I understand it: Hilda died in 1988. Slides discovered when emptying out a garage outside of Sedona (Cottonwood we think) in 1998. Slides were deemed intersting (obviously old color slides) but not fully examined until around 2008. While I think that the home may have belonged to Hilda's lawyer, there is no way to know for sure as the woman who found them didn't keep records of the homes she cleaned out. ...I don't think the slides came from Hilda's home.”http://ufocon.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-many-slides-stories.html
Adam Dew of SlideBox Media, LLC

The woman’s brother told Dew about the slides in 2012. Dew formed SlideBox Media, LLC and took the lead in marketing the slides. The show started coming together when he contacted Carey and Schmitt.


Secrets Exposed

Bragalia's article as printed in UFO Today magazine.



While the search for a profitable platform for the slides was on, details about them leaked out. Anthony Bragalia wrote an article outlining that the slides, showed a corporeal being. It was a humanoid, most certainly not of earth and it was dead.”  Based chiefly on Bernerd Ray’s profession as a geologist, Bragalia speculated that,
Given this background on the slides we are now confronted with an inescapable truth:
A prominent geologist who explored the New Mexico desert in the 1940s is directly associated with two 1947 Kodachromes depicting a humanoid corpse as found at Roswell.”
In other words: a weird picture of a body was found, and a scenario was imagined, trying to tie it to Roswell. In the comments, Bragalia states, “I am aware that two 1947 slides of a dead alien do not equate to tissue slides/samples or the actual cadaver itself. But given the confirmed authenticity and provenance of the slides- it is as close as we will ever come that kind of physical evidence.”

Provenance. That’s a funny word to use when there’s nothing to tie the content of the slides to UFOs, Roswell, the military or even the United States of America. It can’t be proven these slides were taken by the Rays. As Adam Dew notes, it can’t be determined who owned the house where the slides were found.

Wait and see, they say!

There is very little left to wait for, just the allegedly clear images of the slides themselves. The promoters and their associates have been discussing the details of the slides and voicing their conclusions about the slides since 2013. The delay in showing them was due to the search for a platform to release them, and they’ve chosen an entertainment venue,  Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City.

Due to the carelessness in the “Kodachrome - A Documentary - Official Trailer,” images of the slides have been isolated, and “leaked” online. According to one insider, it is as good or better than what he could see viewing them on a lap top.

Eyewitness testimony about the “Roswell Slides”


Larry Lemke posted about examining the slides, and has posted the best description available about what is depicted.

Early in March, 2014, I met with the owner of the slides, viewed them, and talked to him about his plans. (Actually, I viewed digital reproductions of the slides.) ... The owner affirmed that it is his intent to present the slides and their story to the public in a non-sensationialistic forum, after he has satisfied himself as to their authenticity. He feels he is nearing the end of that phase.

He goes on to describe the photographs:

1. There are 2 photos, taken in an indoor setting.

2. The photos are of poor quality (focus, exposure) compared to virtually all the other photos in the same collection. For this reason, edge detection, contrast enhancement and other photoanalysis techniques are warranted and are being used.

3. The photos appear to have been taken about 4 or 5 feet from the humanoid, from a position slightly above it.

4. To my eye, the humanoid is lying on a clear glass shelf and is surrounded by either clear glass walls and/or a full glass enclosure. The enclosure appears to be more like a rectangular box than like a bottle.

5. In one of the photos, a woman is standing behind the glass case (visible from approximately the waist down). In the other photo a man is visible in the same location, leading to speculation that the man and the woman traded places and took turns taking pictures.

6. The humanoid is not immersed in a fluid; it appears to be open to the air (at least if the lid were off).

7. The glass shelf/ box that the humanoid is on/in appears to be supported on shelf brackets that are connected to vertical, metal supports. The vertical supports are perforated at regular intervals (nominally, 1 inch spacing) by drilled holes. The shelf arrangement gives the appearance of a laboratory apparatus rack.

8. The humanoid is lying on its back, with its head to the camera’s left and feet to the right.

9. There is some type of placard on the front of the glass case, with (currently undecipherable, out-of-focus) writing on it. (Shades of the Ramey memo!) It is my suspicion that this placard is the source of the idea that the genital area of the humanoid was deliberately covered up in order to escape the wrath of the censors when the slides were developed. I don’t think that is the case. From what I could see, the genital area was not visible to the camera due to the view angle of the camera. I suspect that the placard simply serves to identify the contents of the glass case.

10. The proportions of the humanoid appear to be slightly different than a “normal” human, but probably, no single dimension of the body is outside the range of naturally occurring sizes. The length of the head (crown to chin) is approximately the same length as the torso (neck to crotch). The arm length (shoulder to wrist) is approximately the length of the torso (i.e., the wrist joint is approximately aligned with the hip bone). The leg bones are long, compared to the arms.

11. Given that the body is about 3 feet long, if it is human, then it must be either a child or an adult with a developmental disorder. (Human Trisomy 17 has been suggested as a candidate.)

12. I could not see digits on either the hands or feet, and so could not count them.

13. The mouth is open and no teeth are visible.

14. The skin of the humanoid is smooth and appears to have shrunk taut against the bones (ribs, legs, arms, cranium). Whether this is due to natural effects of death (saponification, dessication, etc.) or is the result of some post-mortem treatment (embalming, freezing, etc.) is not clear.

15. The head appears to have been severed from the top of the spinal column and then replaced, lying at an unnatural angle relative to the torso.

There is nothing in the photo that would either definitively connect this to the Roswell event or definitively disconnect it. Any connection is coincidental (it appears to have been taken at about the right time). http://ufocon.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-roswell-slides-may-not-see-light-of.html

Leaked slide image by Narrenschiffer 

The leaked image must not be all that bad. Lemke refers to it as showing more detail than what he was shown of the originals.

"Nearly a year ago I saw what I would consider low resolution computer screen images of the slides for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes. ... the images I saw at that time were of poor enough quality that I could not see other features that others were claiming to be present. ... It wasn’t until I saw the cleaned up images earlier today that I could see enough detail to form an opinion... Having looked at the cleaned up image produced by the Germans over at the UFO Conjectures site, it looks to me like a hydrocephalic child is a pretty good fit. ... possibly an Andean mummy.http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2015/02/roswell-slides-and-video-clips.html

Physical Evidence?

Supposedly, Kodak experts have certified that the slides are authentic. The team promoting the slides has focused on discussing their age and supposed authenticity of the slides, but that’s only a small part of what’s important about them. We need to see proof of several other things before they can be considered evidence of anything.

 Tom Carey was the one to first make an official teaser announcement about the slides and what he claims they are. “We have come into possession of a couple of Kodachrome color slides of an alien being lying in a glass case,” he said it was, “3 and a half to 4 feet tall, the head is almost insect-like. The head has been severed, and there’s been a partial autopsy; the innards have been removed, and we believe the cadaver has been embalmed, at least at the time this picture was taken. 


Tom Carey
In the promo video used in the beWitness press conference, Jaime Maussan asks Tom Carey if the slides are physical evidence, and Carey responds, "I think it's physical evidence. I think we have physical evidence." Carey then goes on to say, "A picture is worth a thousand words." 

No, it’s not physical evidence, and it’s important to understand when a picture has value. Usually, a photo can begin to be considered supporting evidence only when time, location and the photographer are known. In addition, it’s vital to know what instrument recorded the data. We don’t have the camera or any of the other information about how the slides of the body were taken. The other claims are all based on speculation, trying to make the slides and the Ray’s history fit into the narrative of the Roswell story. 

Don Schmitt
Don Schmitt has been somewhat more cautious in his statements, emphasizing the witness testimony collected in their books. Maussan asked him if it is the greatest story of all time. “One of the greatest stories. I always say of the millennium, so in the last thousand years, yes.”



More Eyewitness testimony about the “Roswell Slides”


From a beWitness promo video

Anthony Bragalia said, 
"Clear versions of the slides depict a being whose anatomy does not correspond to a human being. The limbs (legs and arms) are exceeding thin, frail and fragile, characteristics that are not associated with hydrocephalus. In fact, the torso (which has been opened) and rest of the body look nothing like any known case of hydrocephalus in history. The structure looks very make-shift, resembling a quickly-assembled ‘erector set’ type deal, with beams that have ratchet holes in them. The set-up in no way whatsoever resembles that of a professional museum display. ... I believe that this is a 'private viewing' of a creature recently deceased, partially autopsied, and preserved.”http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-roswell-slides-update-by-tony.html
Not everyone agrees with his assessment, and many have found that the photos closely resemble an ancient body on display in a museum case being photographed by a tourist.

Placard: Employees must wash hands after touching alien?
Roswell expert David Rudiak was asked to analyze if the placard on the body.

“Because poor focus seemed to be the main problem, I tried various refocusing software, but couldn't get what I thought were consistent results. ... Tom Carey wanted me to have a look because of my work on the Ramey memo. But there is much less to work with here, such as unknown circumstances and font, quite unlike the Ramey memo. I'm not claiming to be a full-fledged image processing expert, and when examination of the placard in high resolution is hopefully undertaken after May 5 by multiple qualified people, maybe we will get a definitive answer as to what is shown.
As Robert Hastings just wrote... the placard is the key to resolving this thing (or somebody finding something like a child mummy that is an exact match to what is shown.)

 I remember paying most of my attention on the head and commenting to Tom that it looked much more human than I would have expected if it was an alien.” http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-roswell-slides-and-mummies.html
 Rudiak also said,
“I agree that it makes no sense that the Rays could casually photograph an alien corpse on display somewhere. Further, there is that woman in the dress standing in one of the pictures. From the low quality screen captures we've seen, the dress does NOT suggest a military nurse standing in the picture, but a civilian. I agree it looks more like a civilian setting, perhaps a museum, perhaps somewhere else.?"http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-roswell-slides-and-me.html

Tom Carey and Jaime Maussan
Jaime Maussan asks Tom Carey, as a physical anthropologist, to explain what type of creature is pictured in the slides, and if it is a primate. Carey says it is bipedal, but does not recognize it as being human, but that, “Certainly, in our taxonomic categories that we use since Carolus Linnaeus described the order of primates, it certainly does look like it would be classified as a primate, perhaps even a hominid.”
Conferencia de Prensa Jaime Maussan beWITNESS / Sé Testigo Auditorio Nacional
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxezh3MJLGA (At 1:16:00)


perhaps even a hominid
A quote from Witness To Roswell by Carey & Schmitt, pages 35-37:
“In science, where the bottom line is also the search for truth, Occam’s Law of Parsimony, a.k.a. Occam's Razor, is used to decide among competing hypotheses the one that best explains the observed data. It holds that, with all other factors being equal, the simplest hypothesis that explains the most observed data is the best, and must prevail. Thus employed, it serves as a tool for eliminating competing-but-lacking theories, hypotheses, and from others being considered.”

Ergo, a picture of a hominid in a glass case is a dead Roswell alien.

Since there is no actual evidence provided by the slides, the promoters are trying to prop it up by marrying it to the Roswell research done by Carey and Schmitt.  



The Cinco de Mayo show



The slides were originally said to be awaiting presentation in a non-sensational format, but that changed. Jaime Maussan came on board, arranging for the venue and advertising, billing it as a chance of a lifetime, to be able to witness a historical event, the presentation of evidence of extraterrestrials.




As best I can tell, the program will go something like this: Jaime Maussan as host, Carol Rosin will introduce Edgar Mitchell, who is there as part cheerleader and part celebrity endorsement. Adam Dew will introduce the story about the mysterious well-connected Rays, then Carey & Schmitt will pick it up and frame it in the context of Roswell (probably giving with a recap of their research and digs, bringing out an alleged witness to testify it looks like what he saw at RAAF. 
Witness testimony.

The slides will be projected, then the CGI hologram of the body onstage. Richard Dolan fits in there somewhere, supposedly helping us digest how this Disclosure will change our World. Maussan will probably close the show with a speech about how everyone has witnessed history, the cast will take a final bow, the lights will come on. An  announcer may direct the audience to pick a up a few souvenirs on their way out.

Jaime Maussan is advertising the show this way:
Be WITNESS, El Cambio de la Historia contará con tecnología de punta: tridimensional y holográfica por primera vez en México y en el Auditorio Nacional, un evento con características únicas para ser testigos directos de la realidad extraterrestre en la Tierra, un evento único e irrepetible.
Translation:
Be WITNESS, The Changing the of History will feature technology: three-dimensional holographic, a first in Mexico and the National Auditorium, an event with unique characteristics in order to be direct witnesses of extraterrestrial reality on Earth, a unique and unrepeatable event. 

It ain't over 'til it's over


A sequel? KOB 4 reported that "The (Roswell International UFO Museum & Research Center) museum says there will be a presentation on the pictures in Roswell during the UFO festival in July." Alejandro Rojas informs me that, "Don and Tom are board members and present every year." Additionally, Don Schmitt has several solo convention appearances booked.

What about scientific study of the slides? Adam Dew says he's asked around a bit, but that science will have to wait until after the show. 
"I will continue to show the slides to more pediatricians/forensic pathologists/etc. And after May 5, every forensic pathologist on Earth can take a stab at it."


Some further reading on the "Roswell Slides" story:

Tim Printy, May 5, 2015: The day that will change the world
José Antonio Caravaca, Roswell Slides: The Moment of Truth
Tim HebertCurrent State of Affairs: Roswell Linked Kodak Slides
Jeff RitzmannThe Birth of Anti-Evidence: The ‘Roswell Slides’
Paul KimballBragalia on mummies and the "Roswell slides"
Gilles FernandezThe Roswell Slides Saga: Some Claims versus some Facts