THE AZTEC CRASH

In July Randy Barnes spoke at “The Aerial Phenomena Research Group” here in Cortez, Colorado. Randy and his wife put on the Aztec Conference every year. We had met him when we attended and asked if he would speak at our meeting since he used to live here and had many experiences.

Rany brought along handouts, this article being one. Since many persons are not aware of the Aztec Crash in 1948 I thought it would be worthwhile to type up this article so everyone will be aware of what happened way back then. Thank you Randy!

THE AZTEC RECOVERY1948

It was the columist Frank Scully who first alerted the world to sensational stories of recovered flying saucers and little men in his best-selling book Behind the Flying Saucers published in 1960. Scully claimed that up to that time there had been four such recoveries, one of which was alleged to have taken place around Aztec, New Mexico, when sixteen humannoid bodies were recovered together with their undamaged craft. According to Scully’s informants, the disk that landed near Aztec was 99.99 feet in diameter, its exterior made of a light metal resembling aluminum but so durable that no amount of heat (up to 10,000 degrees was applied) or diamond-tipped drill had the slightest effect. The disk apparently incorporated large rings of metal which revolved around a central, stabilized cabin, using an unfamiliar gear ratio. There were no rivets, bolts, screws or signs of welding.

Investigators were eventually able to gain entry., Scully was told, because of a fracture in one of the portholes, which they enlarged, revealing a knob inside the cabin which, when pushed with a pole, caused a hidden door to open. Sixteen small humanoids, ranging in height fromj 36 to 42 inches, were supposedly found dead inside the cabin, their bodies charred to a dark brown color. Scully was told that the craft landed undamaged, having
landed under its own guidance.

The craft was eventually dismantled, the investigators having discovered that it was manufactured in segments which fitted in grooves and were pinned together around the base. The complete cabin section measuring 18 feet in diameter, was lifted out of the base of the saucer, around which was a gear that fitted a gear on the cabin. These segments together with the bodies, were then transported to Wright Field (Wright Patterson AFB). Some of the bodies were later dissected and examined by the Air Force, and were found to be similar in all repects to human beings, with the exception of their teeth, which were perfect.

NEW SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE

According to important information published by William Steinman in 1987, there is a large grain of truth in the Aztec story, and he has managed to acquire some astonishing supportive evidence. Like Scully, he is unwilling to divulge his sources, which inevitably lays him open to charges of fabrication.

Steinman discovered that the Aztec disc came to earth on 25 March 1948, having been detected by three separate radar units in the southwest, one of which was said to have disrupted the craft’s control mechanism. The area of impact was calculated by triangulation and the information was immediately relayed to Air Defense Command and Gen. George C. Marshall, then Secretary of State, who allegedly contacted the MJ-12 group as well as the Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit (IPU) of the Army Counterintelligence Directorate. The IPU operated out of Camp Halo, Colorado, at this time. Steinman claims, and its main function was to collect and deliver disabled or crashed disks to certain specified secret locations. The craft was recovered within hours by the IPU scout team about 12 miles northeast of Aztec. General Marshall ordered Air Defense Command to go off alert status, and the radar units werre advised that there had been a false alarm. Marshal then gave orders tothe commander of the IPU to organize a recovery team and contacted Dr. Vannevar Bush - the head of MJ-12 to gather together a team of scientists to accompany the IPU to the crash site. Steinman has named these scientists as follows: Dr. Lloyd Berkner, Dr. Detlev Bronk, Dr. Carl Al Heiland, Dr. Jerome Hunsaker, Dr. John van Neuman, Dr.Robert J. Oppenheimer, Dr. Mark A. Tuved Dr. Horace B. van Vandenberg..

The IPU convoy used a route to the site that avoided main roads and on arrival roadblocks were set up at strategic points within two miles of the recovery area.. The owner of the ranch and his family were allegedly held incommunicado and told never to discuss the matter . Equipment hauling trucks were camouflaged to look like oil drlling rigs during the operation.

INSIDE THE CRAFT

A team of scientists arrived at the site a little later than the IPU team and began dissecting the disc.According to Steinman, they entered the craft one by one, entry having been gained via a fracturd porthole as described in Scullys account. The portholes themselves looked metallic, and only appeared translucent on close inspectin. Inside the craft they found two humanoids, aout two feet in height, slumped ove an instrument panel charred deep bown. Anothr 12 bodies lay sprawled on the floor in chamber wthin the cabin, making a total of 14 bodies (not 16 as Scully had been told).

An instrument panel supposedly had several pushbuttons and levers with hieroglyphic-type symbols, as well as symbols illuminated on small display screens. Bush and an Neumann discovered that the control panel had drawers which rolled out, but no wiring could be detected. A book composed of parchment-like leaves with the texture of plastic also contained the strange hieroglyphs similar to Sanskirit, Oppenheimer thought. This was given to General Marshal, who then passed it on to two leading crytoplogical experts for analysis. Wiliam F. Friedman and Labros C. Allihamos (who both later led distinguished careers in the National Security Agency).

Dr. Bronk, a physiologist and biophysicist, examind the bodies and asked Bush to get hold of cryogenic equipment with which to preserve them. Cryogenics specialist Dr. Paul A. Scherer,a colleague of Bush’s was contacted and advised Bush to obntan some dry ice.. Meanwhile, another small group of scientists and military personnel examined the craft and were eventually able to dismantel it when several intelocking devices were found which opened up seams at specific points.

Three days later the segments were loaded onto three trucks, together with the bodies, and covered with a tarpaulin marked “Explosives.” The convoy headed, at night by the least conspicuous and most laborious route to the restricted Naval Auxiliary Airfield Complex at Los Alamos, arriving one week later. Here they remained for over a year, Sheinman claims, before being transported to another base.