Two different military cordons have been described by witnesses. One cordon was thrown up around the Foster Ranch or Mac Brazel ranch debris field about 75 miles northwest of Roswell. The other cordon started 15-20 miles north of Roswell along Highway 285 and extended to at least Ramon, about 60 miles north of Roswell, according to witness William Woody. Access to the west of the highway was blocked by sentries, including state Highway 247 leading to Corona and passing north of the Brazel ranch site.
"West of the cordon" probably refers to this cordon thrown up along Highway 285 blocking access to the west.
The location of where "a 'disk'" had just been found is vague. Ramey's telegram was written and sent at approximately the same time that Major Marcel arrived from Roswell on a B-29 with debris he had recovered from the debris field the previous day. Marcel stated that when he first arrived at Ramey's office, Ramey wasn't there. (Quite possibly, Ramey was sending the telegram at that very moment.) When Ramey came in shortly afterwards, he took Marcel to the map room so that Marcel could tell him exactly where events were taking place.
This anecdote from Marcel might suggest that the location in the Ramey message is vague because Ramey himself wasn't sure of the location at the time he sent the message. Furthermore, Marcel would no longer be aware of what was happening in the field at this time, including any new discoveries. All we know of for sure was that Marcel investigated the Brazel debris field.
Marked on the map are the cordon described by Woody and the approximate region of the Brazel ranch debris field near Corona. Also marked is another alleged crash site described by Frank Kaufmann, near Highway 285 and about 35 to 40 miles north of Roswell. Shortly before his death in early 2001, Kaufmann said he was deliberately trying to lead Roswell researchers away from the true crash site. He amended the location to a site much futher west of Highway 285. The approximate location of this Kaufmann site is also marked on the map (site 3).
Originally Kaufmann had described yet a third alleged crash site within only a few miles of the debris field. Whatever Kaufmann's actual involvement (or lack thereof), it is obvious that he had been jerking investigators around for years.
Kaufmann also claimed that an intact craft was recovered along with five crew members, four dead and one allegedly alive. In his original story, Kaufmann also claimed this recovery occurred early on July 5, not on July 8, the date of the Ramey memo. Either there were two separate recoveries (one on July 5 and one on July 8), or this aspect of Kaufmann's story does not square with my interpretation of the Ramey memo.
One aspect of Kaufmann's story that does agree with the memo is the crew being found along with the craft, most of them inside. This would match the phrase starting the second paragraph of the memo, which probably reads, "AVIATORS IN THE 'DISC' THEY WILL SHIP..."
Yet another crash site was described by witness Jim Ragsdale (site 4 on map), about 15-20 miles south of Kaufmann's last site. According to Ragsdale, the military quickly arrived and cordoned off this site as well.
Ragsdale, however, drastrically altered his story about what happened when offered a small book deal, including pulling gold helmets off the aliens. If there ever was anything to Ragsdale's orginal story, he shot his credibility all to hell when he started embellishing the details.
Credible witnesses to military cordons either along Highway 285 or around the Brazel debris field include:
William M. Woody.
Woody was age 12 in July, 1947 and lived on a farm east of Roswell AAF.
Woody recalls his father and himself in early July on a hot night seeing a brilliant fireball coming out of the southwest and seeming to come down about 40 miles north of Roswell. Duration was approximately 20 to 30 seconds. Several days later, convinced it was a large meteorite, his father took him out to go looking for it. (There is verification some sort of large fireball in early July from at least 2 other sources.)
Woody affidavit (9/28/93): Woody said they "went north through Roswell on U.S. 285.
About 19 miles north of town, where the highway crosses the Macho Draw, we saw at
least one uniformed soldier stationed beside the road. As we drove along, we saw
more sentries and Army vehicles. They were stationed at all places ranch roads,
crossroads, etc. where there was access to leave the highway and drive east or west,
and they were armed, some with rifles, others with sidearms.
"We stopped at one sentry post, and my father asked a soldier what was going on. The
soldier just said his orders were not to let anyone leave 285 and go into the
countryside.
"As we drove north, we saw that the Corona road (State 247), which runs west from
Highway 285, was blocked by soldiers. We went on as far as Ramon, about nine miles
north of the 247 intersection. There were sentries there too. At Ramon we turned
around and headed south and home.
"I remember my father saying he thought the Army was looking for something it had
tracked on its way down. He may have gotten this from the soldier he spoke with during
out drive up 285"
Dr. C. Bertram Schultz: A vertebrate paleontologist, and Professor Emeritus of Geology and Paleontology at the University of Nebraska. Interviewed by Kevin Randle in 1993, Schultz said he saw soldiers blocking access to the western side of Highway 285 as he was driving 15-20 miles north of Roswell. He also said he had spent time in Roswell and spoken with a group of archeologists who knew of the crash. Among these that he spoke with at some time was archeologist Dr. W. Curry Holden of Texas Tech who had been at the crash site. Holden told him of seeing the wreck. Schultz's two daughters reported that their father has been telling the story of the crashed flying saucer for many years.
M/Sgt. Louis Rickett:
One of the Army CIC people in the Roswell intelligence office. He said he had driven out with his CIC boss, Sheridan Cavitt, and a group of MP's to the Brazel debris field on July 8, arriving there probably in the early afternoon. They had to pass through a checkpoint and the region was already cordoned off by armed guards.
Bud Payne:
A rancher and neighbor of William "Mac" Brazel, his ranch adjoined the Foster ranch, which Brazel managed. Payne said he was turned back by armed guards as he approached the Foster Ranch and the debris field.
Affidavit, 9/14/93: "When I heard about the flying saucer coming down on the Foster
ranch a few days after it happened in early July 1947, I decided to see if I could get a
piece of the thing. The site where the saucer came down was about two or two and a
half miles east of the east boundary of our pasture. I drove over there in a pickup truck.
"Before I reached the site, I was stopped by two soldiers sitting in an Army truck parked
beside the ranch road I was on. They were in field uniforms, and they may have been
armed, wearing pistols. There were more vehicles and soldiers on higher ground
beyond where I had been stopped.
"I told the two soldiers who stopped me I was going to where the flying saucer came
down. They said 'We know where you're going, but you can't go in there." They did not
threaten me, but they had their instructions to turn everybody back."
George "Jud" Roberts: A co-owner and manager of Roswell radio station KGFL along with Walt Whitmore Sr. Roberts said he and Whitmore tried to drive out to the Brazel place but couldn't get close because the military had the place cordoned off. Roberts also described how Whitmore had previously wire-recorded an interview with Brazel. Roberts said he was called from Washington and was threatened with losing the station's license if they aired the interview.
Affidavit, 12/30/91: "I made an attempt to go out to the crash site to see it for myself,
but I was turned back by a military person who said we were in a restricted area.
Robin Adair: An Associated Press photographer and teletype operator, Adair said he was in El Paso, was ordered to Roswell from New York to cover the story, and had to charter a small plane to get there. En route to Roswell, he attempted to overfly the Brazel debris field to get pictures. According to Adair's testimony in Feb. 1993:
"...Even then the place was surrounded by policemen, FBI people. They wouldn't let us
in within three-quarters of a mile of the place. We were afraid to go too low. Afraid they
would shoot at us. ...They [military officers on the ground] just waved. ...You couldn't tell
if they were waving us off or just politely telilng us to get the hell away from there."
[Source: "The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell" by Kevin Randle and Don
Schmitt]
