by Anthony Bragalia

Since the 1940’s the U.S. government has quietly engaged one of its key defense and intelligence agency contractors as a secret UFO “think tank.” New investigation reveals that the esteemed RAND Corporation has given far more than a passing thought to things extraterrestrial. RAN D’s hidden history of UFO involvement has been discovered to include work in policy analysis, evaluation of evidence, and in advising on the potential technological advantages achieved from UFO study. Telling connections have also been found between RAND and the Roswell crash event of 1947. Who is RAND? RAND Corporation was established in 1946 by the U.S Army Air Force as Project RAND

(“Research ANd Development”) and is today registered as a nonprofit organization. It is funded through government contracts, university col­laborators and “private donors.” RAND’s primary agency clients include the CIA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the think tank maintains branches worldwide. RAN D’s stated mission is to “help to improve policy and decision making through objective research and analysis.” Its work is officially conducted “for the public welfare and security of the United States of America.”

Over thirty Nobel Prize winners have been employed by RAND. From physics to economics,the 2,000-person think tank provides high-level information and evaluation to the U.S. government. Deeper review shows that RAND has conducted studies in such areas as weapons development, intelligence gathering and analysis, and the design of sensitive underground installations for the U.S. Air Force. Far more concealed is RAND’s intimate involvement in highly-classified UFO study for the U.S. government.

From its very inception, the men of RAND knew much about saucers. RAND was conceived by Donald Douglas, CEO of Douglas Aircraft (pro­tege of Dr. Jerome Hunsaker at MIT) along with two military officer luminaries who carried with them significant “UFO histories”: Major General Curtis LeMay (the U.S. Air Force’s Chief of Devel­opment) and General Hap Arnold (considered the “father” of the modern U.S. Air Force).

In May of 1948, RAND was separated from Douglas Aircraft and became its own operating entity. Among RAN D’s earliest government reports was the release of the enigmatically titled, “Preliminary Design of an Experimental World­Circling Spaceship.” General Curtis LeMay Curtis LeMay expressed deep interest and con­cern about flying saucer phenomena. More than this, LeMay himself was a keeper of the purported 1947 Roswell UFO crash debris. This was revealed in a stunningly candid interview with the late U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. Goldwater (a former

U.S. Presidential Candidate, Major General and Command Pilot) was General LeMay’s professional associate and close friend. LeMay’s UFO involve­ment was related by Goldwater in a live worldwide broadcast with CNN’s Larry King in 1994. The USAF had just issued its report that debunked the Roswell crash of 1947 as a Mogul balloon. Gold­water (who died just a few years later) informed King that he knew the truth to be far different.

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He knew this, he explained, because in the 1960’s he had approached LeMay about the crashed UFO issue. Goldwater-who no doubt held the highest security clearances-told Larry King: “I think at Wright-Patterson, if you could get into certain places, you’ll find what the Air Force and the government knows about UFOs. Reportedly, a spaceship landed. It was all hushed up. I called Curtis LeMay and I said, ‘General, I know we have a room at Wright-Patterson where you put all of this secret stuff. Could I go in there?’ I’ve never heard General LeMay get mad, but he got madder than hell at me, cussed me out and said, ‘Don’t ever ask me that question again!”‘ Goldwater never did.

LeMay was very well acquainted with Roswell Army Air Field Base Commander Butch Blanchard. Blanchard oversaw the base at the time of the Roswell crash event in 1947. It is believed that Blanchard helped issue the original press release on the crash, which prompted the famous head­line, “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region.” Blanchard’s former wife and daughter say that he was visibly upset by the event. He repeated only, “those Russians have some amazing things.”

Roswell mayor William Brainerd says that Blanchard told him, “What I saw was the damndest thing I’ve ever seen!” To Art McQuiddy, editor of the Roswell Morning Dispatch in 1947, Blanchard said, “I’ll tell you this and nothing more, the stuff I saw I’d never seen anyplace else in my life.” Pilot Ben Games related in inter views (with this author and to reporter Billy Cox) that he had flown General Laurence Craigie (Director of the Air Force’s R&D) to Roswell Army Air Field after the Roswell crash.

In LeMay’s 1965 biography, Mission with LeMay, he speaks sparingly about the UFO subject. LeMay of course discounts a government cover-up about UFOs, but belies this with a brief and telling statement, “There is not a question about it: these were things which we could not tie in with any natural phenomena known to our investigators.”

General Hap Arnold

As early as 1943, this fabled Five Star General was investigating unidentified flying objects. Found in Box 166 of General Arnold’s papers

(at AFHRC, Maxwell AFB) is a detailed analysis from 1943 that assessed a number of sightings of “small, luminous, silver y discs” reported by B-17 pilots. “Foo fighters” were an anomalous aerial

“ball-of-light” phenomena reported and photo­graphed by pilots during combat in Europe in the 1940s. Hap Arnold was intimately involved in the study of the baffling phenomena.

In November of 1945, an Adjutant from Hap Arnold’s office delivered a packet of sealed docu­ments relating to analysis of the mysterious “foo fighters” to Arnold’s friend, Jo Chamberlin of American Legion Magazine. In a 1991 interview with researcher Jeffrey A. Lindell (USAF retired Electronic Warfare Systems Analyst) Chamberlin said he retained these foo fighter documents from Arnold and had never opened them after reading them in 1945. At the time of the interview, Cham­berlin said he had promised Arnold he would never circulate them. General Arnold was closely associ­ated with Colonel William “Butch” Blanchard, the Commanding Officer of the 509th bombing wing and the Roswell Base Commander at the time of the 1947 crash.

On July 7, 1947 Uust days after the Roswell crash) Arnold was quoted in a UP story that, “General H.H. (Hap) Arnold, head of the army air forces during WWII, said today the discs could be a development of United States scientists not yet perfected.” Of course, during the period imme­diately following the Roswell crash, U.S. military were obfuscating by giving the public various explanations on the nature of the discs. But Arnold knew the discs had been seen by his own pilots operating in the European theater.

RAND’S Early UFO Involvement

An official Air Force memorandum written on October 12, 1948 has been located by the historical research group Project 1947. Project 1947 is operated by respected researcher Jan Aldrich, sup­ported by the civilian UFO research organization CUFOS and is known for its expertise in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. This 1948 document is very instructive about RAND and the early study of the troubling UFO phenomena.

The subject header of the document is “Request for Study by RAND Project”1 and is directed to the U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff. The author of the document is Col. WR. Clingerman, the Acting Chief of Intelligence. Clingerman was associated with Project Sign, the official USAF study of the UFO phenomena. Clingerman seeks the approval of the USAF Chief of Staff: “It is requested that the special study, described in the enclosure, be approved and that the RAND Corporation be authorized to establish a study of priority, con­sistent in scope and degree of treatment with the described requirements.”

In a later paragraph of the document, Cling­erman explains that he wishes RAND to: “Assist in the collection of information relating to unidenti­fied aerial objects that may possibly represent spaceships or spaceship test craft and the technical information that includes the distinguishing design and performance parameters for spaceships is con­sidered necessary.” He adds, “It would be valuable to this Command” to have RAND provide “further scientific clues that may assist in their detection and identification by RAND scientific personnel.”

Clingerman writes that RAND is an organiza­tion considered ideal for initiation of work on the UFO phenomena. He suggests that the “space­ships” have “distinguishing characteristics”

about which RAND personnel would be uniquely suited to provide technical information, and that they could find “further scientific clues” about the “unidentified aerial objects.” RAND is to be

“monitored” by Air Materiel Command, in confor­mance with an “Air Corps Letter” dated one year after the Roswell crash (Air Corps Letter 80-10, 21, July, 1948).

RAND and UFO Photo Analysis

Brief mention in extant literature notes that in 1966 RAND Corporation coordinated the photographic analysis of alleged UFO photos.

The “Zanesville, OH UFO” photos of November 13, 1966 were taken by local barber Ralph Ditter. Widely circulated at the time, the two photos appear to show a large saucer above the Ditter home. The RAND photo analysis determined that the object was a model only 3-4 inches in diameter and only 3-4 feet from the camera. The analysis was correct and Ditter later confessed the hoax as a way to please his curious daughter. Interestingly, most such analysis was officially conducted by the National GeoSpatial Intelligence Agency (formerly the National Photographic Interpretation Center.) RAND apparently had such capability as well, and has applied this capability to the UFO phenomena.

While working for RAND, senior analyst Dr. James E. Lipp wrote one of two scientific reports for the USAF’s official UFO study known as Project Sign. It was completed in February of 1949 and was classified. In the report Lipp makes an extraordinarily astute observation. He notes that by the spring of the previous year there had been a total of five atomic bomb explosions. Lipp believed that these explosions could have served as inter­stellar ‘smoke signals’, and that they would be a potential source of extraterrestrial interest. Even skeptic Curtis Peebles noted that Lipp’s evaluation might represent, “the first U.S. government spon­sored study of non-human life in the universe.”

Lipp added, “visits from outer space are believed possible.” Ultimately though, Lipp seemed to cautiously conclude that he did not con­sider most reported UFO events as described to be evidence of such visits because they made “no logical sense.”

ical sense.” Stephen H. Dole, scientist at the RAND Corpo­ration, authored the intriguingly titled “Habitable Planets for Man” in 1964. Based on his analysis while at RAND, Dole believed that the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence was extremely high, even probable. In other reports he estimated the number of life-bearing planets (based on available information at the time) at 640 million.

It appears that RAND not only analyzed the UFO problem, but also evaluated the larger cos­mological issues of our place in the universe, the likelihood of ET, and how to determine and quan­tify the extent of cosmic life.

The Report They Didn’t Want Us to See

RAND analyst George Kocher authored an assessment report entitled, “UFOs: What to Do?” dated November 27, 1968.2 Kocher’s paper was stamped “For RAND Use Only.” It further instructs on its cover page: “Do not quote or cite in external publications or correspondence.” Though known by the UFO research community for some years, it was only in 2000 that RAND was forced to officially acknowledge the paper’s existence and authenticity. Today RAND counters that it was an “internal draft” that was never formally considered. It is easy to understand why RAND would want us to think this is the case.

From a summary of this report we learn the author’s conclusions about the phenomena: “Since WWII there seems to have been a drastic increase in sightings. We have enough data to know that the phenomena is unambiguously extraordinary and clearly inexplicable in modern terms.” Chapters in the previously restricted document include,

“UFOs: Historical Aspects” “UFOs: Astronomical Aspects” “Phenomenological Aspects” and its conclusion, “UFOs: How to Proceed and Why.”

We know based on the above-mentioned 1948 Air Force document that RAND was engaged in official research. In 1968, two decades later, RAND was still engaged in such analysis. And they likely continue this work today.

Keeping It All in the Family

RAND’s Executive Vice President is Michael D. Rich. Mr. Rich is also Director of RAND National Security Research. A family man, Mr. Rich’s own family history is very telling. His father was avia­tion genius Benjamin Rich. Ben helped to lead aerospace giant Lockheed Martin as President of Lock heed Adv a need Aeronautics. He oversaw the ultra-secret Lockheed “Skunk Works” division, where he spearheaded the development of the Stealth bomber. Rich Sr. is universally acknowl­edged as “the father of Stealth technology.”

Ben Rich stated some extremely revealing things about the reality and nature of UFOs before he passed. In a letter to his friend and associate John Andrews he replied to Andrew’s observations about the UFO phenomenon. Andrews had written a letter to Rich in which he wrote, “I believe with certainty in manmade UFOs. I am tending to believe there are also extraterrestrial UFOs.”

Rich, in a handwritten letter, replied to Andrews, “Yes, I am a believer in both categories.” Andrews was a forensic illustrator and aviation model-maker. Before his own death, Andrews related that Rich went further in privately explaining that, “there are two types of UFOs, the ones we build and the ones ‘they’ build.” Rich told Andrews of his concern that the public should not be told. But Rich told Andrews he had recently changed his mind on this and that those “involved in dealing with the ‘subject’ could represent a bigger problem to citizens than knowledge of the visitors themselves.” Just before he died, Andrews says that Rich confirmed to him that “items” were recovered at the crash at Roswell in 1947. Rich also told associate Jeff Goodall, “we have things at Area 51 that you and the best minds in the world won’t even be able to conceive for the next 30-40 years.” (YouTube, Search: “Lockheed Skunk Works Chief Ben Rich remark to Jim Goodall”)

In fact, Rich gave numerous clues and hints about the alien reality to several before he passed . The father of Stealth, who is also the father of RAND’s current Director, gave his gift of truth to history before he died. He confirmed official government study of the UFO reality and the crash of an extraterrestrial vehicle to earth.

RAND-Battelle Connection to UFOs

Prior articles by this author (available on the UFO Iconoclasts website http://ufocon.blogspot. com, and in the book Witness to Roswell) have shown that, like RAND, Battelle Memorial Institute was heavily engaged by the U.S. govern­ment to study UFOs. It now appears that Battelle metallurgists likely analyzed the memory metal retrieved from Roswell. That conclusion was drawn from a “reverse engineering of information” of the literature on shape recovery metal, the statements of two U.S. Generals, the confession of a senior Battelle scientist, and by establishing other con­nections.

Perhaps the most interesting of these telling connections is this: The Director of Battelle at the time of the Roswell crash, Clyde E. Williams, simultaneously sat on the Board of Trustees of the RAND Corporation. Williams directed RAND and Battelle’s activities at a time when both organizations were highly engaged in UFO study. Clyde Williams was installed as Trustee of RAND in 1948 (the year after Roswell) and remained a RAND trustee until 1963. Battelle is also known to have supported analysis of UFO sightings for the Air Force’s Project Blue Book during William’s tenure.

The line between “public” and “private” sec­tors is blurred when it comes to things UFO. Such fuzzy, “quasi-public” organizations were of grave concern to a wise President and military icon. Dwight Eisenhower was instructive in his farewell to the nation. He warned that we should beware of the unchecked powers of the “military-industrial complex.” And the Five Star General was right, for it is in military-industrial complexes like Battelle and RAND that the alien truth resides, unchecked. Until now.

The Roswell Debris

Newly discovered documents reveal that in the months immediately following the purported 1947 UFO crash at Roswell, secret government studies began on a material that was previously unknown to science. The “memory metal” that was studied precisely matches some of the debris material reported by several witnesses to the crash. Evidence shows that, under military direction, these unique metal studies were undertaken by a contracted laboratory that possessed adv a need technical capabilities that the U.S. government itself did not have at the time. A former high-level scientist employed by the laboratory has offered a confession that he was tasked to study the crashed UFO material. Information provided by two U.S. Air Force Generals also offers direct support for this discovery.

The documents suggest that after the crash, the U.S. government attempted to develop a unique material that is today referred to as memory metal. This shape-recovery alloy was reported by several witnesses to the Roswell crash in the summer of 1947. The lightweight “morphing” material was able to be crumpled or deformed and then return itself instantly and seamlessly to its original state. The metallurgical discoveries that resulted from these studies were then “seeded” for further tech­nology development to other government agencies (including NASA) and through a series of military contracts to universities and industry.

The laboratory contracted by Wright-Patterson to perform these studies was Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio. It has been credibly reported that Wright-Patterson was the very base where the Roswell UFO debris was flown after the crash. Recently obtained documents reveal that these studies were conducted at Battelle under the direction of Dr. Howard C. Cross. In the late 1940’s, H.C Cross was Battelle’s expert scientist in exotic metallurgy and Titanium alloy research.

Curiously, although he was a research metal­lurgist, Cross was also Battelle’s “point person” in later studies on UFOs that Battelle conducted in the early 1950’s for the U.S. Air Force’s official UFO study, Project Bluebook. Cross is likely an author of Project Bluebook’s still-missing Report Number 13. He is also the author of a strange letter from Battelle to Wright-Patterson known as “The Pentacle” memo.

Founded in 1929, Battelle is engaged in research, development and commercialization of technological innovation. They specialize in materials science and engineering, life sciences, energy science and national security. Battelle oper­ates many of our country’s National Laboratories, including some of the U.S.’s most sensitive installa­tions such as Oak Ridge, Lawrence Livermore and Brookhaven Laboratories. Battelle is headquar­tered in proximity to Wright-Patterson and remains one of the nation’s leading defense contractors. Their metallurgical capabilities and technical talent continue to be recognized as world-class.

Nitinol Memory Metal

Nitinol Memory Metal The direct connection between the Roswell debris and Battelle studies is revealed in a material known as Nitinol. Nitinol is a specially processed combination of Nickel and Titanium, or NiTi. It displays many of the very same properties and physical characteristics as some of the crash debris materials that were reported at Roswell. Both are memory metals that “remember” their original shape and both are extremely lightweight. The materials are reported to have similar color, possess a high fatigue strength and are able to withstand extreme heat.

Today Nitinol is incorporated in items as far­ranging as medical implants and bendable eyeglass frames. It is produced in many forms including sheet, wire and coil. Newer “intelligent metal” systems are being studied by NASA in the creation of bendable or flappable wings, as self-actuators and as a “self-healing” outer hull “skin” for space­craft. It is believed that the memory metal found at Roswell came from the outer structures of a downed extraterrestrial spacecraft.

The earliest known combination of Titanium and Nickel reported in the scientific literature was in 1939 by two Europeans. However, this crude sample was a “by-product” of research entirely unrelated to the study of Nitinol. Its “memory metal” potential was not sought or noted. The sci­entists would have been unable to purify Titanium to sufficient levels at that time, and would not have known about the energy requirement needed to create the “morphing” effect.

The next time the unique combination of Titanium and Nickel emerged was at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Lab. It was there that Nitinol

was “officially” created in the early 1960s. But Nitinol’s “official” history, including the date and reasons for discovery, is conflicting. Recently gained information suggests that it was, in fact, Battelle’s metallurgist and UFO researcher, Dr. Howard Cross, who “fed” the U.S. Navy informa­tion (including the “phase diagram” and details on Titanium processing) that is required to create Nitinol.

Research by this author has confirmed that Nitinol studies actually began at Battelle immedi­ately after the Roswell crash and not in the early 1960’s, and that it was Wright-Patterson (the base where the crash material was flown) that con­tracted the secret work. Confirmation is given in a brief footnote found in a study by one of Nitinol’s “official” inventors at the U.S. Naval Lab. In that military report on Nitinol, the author footnotes a 1949 Battelle study that clearly pertains to the refinement of Titanium and Nickel. The citation relates to a “phase diagram” that examines states of matter and how the two metals could be successfully alloyed. If processed in the right way, the result is Nitinol memory metal. It is possible that the “official” co-inventors of Nitinol were unaware that the memory metal’s origin was to be found in the study of the Roswell debris.

Only three other references to this Titanium and Nickel memory metal report by Battelle have ever been found. In each case, they appear only as buried footnotes, and only in metals studies con­ducted under U.S. military auspices. In one case this included having a “Project Monitor” present from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

A historical analysis of the scientific literature shows that no other a I Joys had ever been studied by the U.S. military as a potential “memory metal” prior to this late 1940’s timeframe and Battelle’s Wright-Patterson study contract. Wright-Patterson needed Battelle to accomplish this work. Much of the reason for this is because Battelle had some­thing that Wright-Patterson did not-an advanced arc furnace that was capable of melting and refining Titanium to the purity required to make memory metal.

The history of Titanium (which is required to make Nitinol) is itself also revealing. According to Encyclopedia Britannica: “After 1947, Titanium changed from a laboratory curiosity to an impor­tant structural metal.” According to the Industrial Arts Index, the number of science abstracts published on Titanium spiked dramatically after 1947. In RAND Corporation’s 1962 abstract “The Titanium Decade” we learn that: “A far larger Titanium industry arose from the point of view of production capacity than was needed to produce the material that was actually used in aircraft. The time period of 1948-1958 involved virtually all of the costs.” An astonishing $2.5 billion (in today’s dollars) was spent on Titanium research by the U.S. government in the years immediately following 1947.

The Battelle memory metal report is titled “Second Progress Report on Contract AF33 (038)-3736” and was completed for Wright­Patterson Air Force Base in 1949. It is authored by C.M. Craighead, F. Fawn and LW Eastwood. It appears to be part of a series of such contracts conducted th rough the early 1950’s. Interestingly, the scientists who authored the report were very closely associated with Battelle’s chief Titanium metallurgist (and later, Battelle’s UFO researcher for Project Bluebook) Dr. Howard Cross, previ­ously mentioned. The scientists went on to author reports on exotic metallurgy that related to such areas as “meta I and superplasticity,” “meta I trans­formation,” and “metal microstructures.”

Based on the sections of the studies that were found that reference this Battelle report, we know that this “progress report” offers the first “phase diagram” ever produced to attempt to successfully alloy Titanium and Nickel. This would be required to make memory metal. We can also infer that it examined refinement of Titanium to high purity levels required to create the shape-recovery effect.

No references have ever been located to something that must surely exist: Battelle’s “First Progress Report” on the memory metal. While the Second Progress Report (completed in 1949) refers to techniques to process the alloy, the First Progress Report (authored in 194 7 or 1948) prob­ably relates to the actual analysis of “Roswellian” memory metal. Although Nitinol is not identical to the Roswell debris material, it represents our best attempts at re-creation of the found memory metal. The impetus for this “shape-recovery” metallurgical research has to be the crash debris discovered at Roswell in the summer of 1947.

Missing Battelle Reports

Missing Battelle Reports A year-Jong effort was made by this author

to locate Battelle’s First and Second Progress Reports on memory meta I. Though footnotes have been located to the reports in military sponsored studies on memory metal, access to the actual reports remains impossible.

Battelle’s own Historian/Librarian was unable to locate the documents. In a later follow-up call to Batte I le, Sarasota Herald Tribune reporter Billy Cox was told that Battelle is still unable to find the report and that it remains a “mystery.” Likewise, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base’s own Archivist and Manager of its Special Collections was unable to locate the documents. Both librarians from each organization worked together to find them. They are baffled and suggest that it may mean that the reports were destroyed (though there is no record of this) or that they may remain highly classified.

The U.S. DOD’s Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) is the master repository of our nation’s military sponsored technical reports and studies. Their database also fails to locate the Bat­telle reports. Finally, with the guidance of reporter Billy Cox, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Secretary of the Air Force/WPAFB was filed by this author. Information has yet to be provided that is responsive to this request.

It is hoped that the Second Progress Report will one day be located. If it contains “phase dia­grams” for the alloying of Nickel and Titanium, it will confirm the work on memory metal. It would strongly suggest that shape-recovery alloys were precisely what Battelle was attempting to create for the military in the time period directly after the Roswell crash. The likelihood that the First Progress Report by Battelle on memory metal will ever be found is even more remote.

Confirmation By Air Force Generals

In an interview conducted in the 1990’s, former Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Brigadier Gen­eral Arthur Exon confirmed the existence of the Roswell metal reports. Exon, the Base Commander of Wright-Patterson in the 1960s, related that he was privy to some of the details on the composi­tion of the crash debris and the variety of tests that were performed on it. Astonishingly, Exon stated of the debris: “It was Titanium and some other metal they knew about, and the processing was somehow different.” Of course, special “pro­cessing” of Titanium and the “other metal” that “they knew about” (Nickel) is required to create Nitinol.

Exon added tellingly, “And it wouldn’t surprise me if the material wasn’t still around, certainly the reports are.” Exon was likely referring to the Bat­telle Progress Reports on memory metal done for Wright-Patterson in the late 1940’s.

Air Force General George Schulgen (who led Intelligence at the Pentagon at the time of the Roswell incident) authored a previously “secret” draft memo on the flying saucer issue on October 30, 1947, about four months after the crash. In the verified version of this memo is found a section entitled “Items of Construction.” Schulgen instructs his officers to be aware of flying objects and their materials of construction. He specifically notes the “unusual fabrication methods to achieve extreme lightweight,” and that the material is of a “composite construction … using various combina­tions of metals.”

Schulgen is describing precisely some of the very characteristics of Nitinol. Just like the Roswell debris material, it is an “extreme light­weight” intermetallic alloy. As a novel “composite construction,” it is created by an “unusual fabrica­tion” method that “uses a combination of metals,” perhaps like Titanium and Nickel.

Battelle Scientist Confesses

Battelle scientist Elroy John Center has stated that he analyzed metal from a crashed UFO when he was employed by the Institute. Center was a Senior Research Chemist who worked for Bat­telle for nearly two decades, from 1939 to 1957. This has been confirmed by both his University of Michigan alumni files and by the location of scientific papers that he authored during his employment at Battelle.

A graduate Chemical Engineer, Center authored papers that appeared in highly technical journals. His areas of research included the chemical testing of metals; the microdetermination of metals in alloys; and the spectroscopic analysis of unique materials. Center was likely involved in early analysis of the Roswell debris. A groundbreaking meta Is analysis technique that Center developed has been found cited in studies related to the “polygraphic determination of Titanium” in alloys. Specially-selected Titanium is required to create the Roswell-like “memory metal” Nitinol.

Roswell-like “memory metal” Nitinol. Center’s family members confirm that he had an intense interest in UFOs and the extraterres­trial. In May of 1992, noted historical researcher Dr. Irena Scott of Columbus, OH (a former Bat­telle scientist) inter viewed a close professional associate of Elroy Center for the Ohio MU FON Journal. Center had privately related to him in June of 1960 that while he was employed at Battelle he had been involved in a very strange laboratory project. #3

Center said he had been tasked by his superiors to assist on a highly-classified Battelle study that was contracted by the government to work on a very unusual material. He understood that this debris material was retrieved by the U.S. government from the earlier crash of a UFO. He referred to the item he studied as a “piece.” He explained that this “piece” was not something with which anyone was familiar. He also said that the debris had been inscribed with strange symbols that he called “glyphics.” Similar markings have been reported by some of the wit­nesses to the Roswell crash debris. Center stopped short of providing any further details. The Battelle scientist passed away in 1991.

References

1. “Request for Study by RAND Project,” Col. WR. Clingerman, (October 12, 1948) is available at www.project 7 947.comlgr/48randufostudy.htm. 2. The RAND document “UFOs: What to Do?” (November 27, 1968) is posted in PDF format at www.nicap.org/docs!rand!randdoc68 7 7 27.pdf. 3. Telephone conversation between the author and Dr. Irena Scott.

About the Author

Anthony Bragalia writes for the UFO Iconoclasts website at http://ufocon.blogspot.com. The full story of the Roswell-Battelle connection is relayed in the newly published sequel book Witness to Roswell (Revised, 2009) by Tom Carey and Don Schmitt, in chapter contributions made by this author. Scientific citations, references and report images are also included in the updated edition.