SUBJECT: E B E's FILE: UFO1025
PART 6
In 1981 the Lorenzens received an anonymous letter from someone
identifying himself as a "USAF Airman assigned to the 1550th
Aircrew Training and Testing Wing at Kirtland AFB." The "airman"
said, "On July 16, 1980, at between 10:30-10:45 A.M., Craig R.
Weitzel. .. a Civil Air Patrol Cadet from Dobbins AFB, Ga.,
visiting Kirtland AFB, NM, observed a dull metallic colored UFO
flying from South to North near Pecos New Mexico. Pecos has a
secret training site for the 1550th Aircrew Training and Testing
Wing, Kirtland AFB, NM. WEITZEL was with ten other individuals,
including USAF active duty airmen, and all witnessed the
sighting. WEITZEL took some pictures of the object. WEITZEL went
closer to the UFO and observed the UFO land in a clearing
approximately 250 yds, NNW of the training area. WEITZEL observed
an individual dressed in a metallic suit depart the craft and
walk a few feet away. The individual was outside the craft for
just a few minutes. When the individual returned the craft took
off towards the NW." The letter writer said he had been with
Weitzel when the UFO flew overhead, but he had not been with him
to observe the landing.
The letter went on to say that late on the evening of the next
day a tall, dark-featured, black-suited man wearing sunglasses
called on Weitzel at Kirtland. The stranger claimed to be "Mr.
Huck" from Sandia Laboratories, a classified Department of Energy
contractor on the base. Mr. Huck told Weitzel he had seen
something he should not have seen, a secret aircraft from Los
Alamos, and he demanded all of the photographs. Weitzel replied
that he hadn't taken any, that the photographer was an airman
whose name he did not know. "The individual warned Weitzel not to
mention the sighting to anyone or Weitzel would be in serious
trouble," the writer went on. "After the individual left
Weitzel[']s room, Weitzel wondered how the individual knew of the
sighting because Weitzel didn't report the sighting to anyone.
Weitzel became scared after thinking of the threat the individual
made. Weitzel call [sic] the Kirtland AFB Security Police and
reported the incident to them. They referred the incident to the
Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), which
investigates these matters according to the security police. A
Mr. Dody [sic], a special agent with OSI, spoke with Weitzel and
took a report. Mr. Dody [sic] also obtained all the photographs
of the UFO. Dody [sic] told Weitzel he would look into the
matter. That was the last anyone heard of the incident."
But that was not all the correspondent had to say. He added, "I
have every reason to beleive [sic] the USAF is covering up
something. I spent a lot of time looking into this matter and I
know there is more to it than the USAF will say. I have heard
rumors, but serious rumors here at Kirtland that the USAF has a
crashed UFO stored in the Manzano Storage area, which is located
in a remote area of Kirtland AFB. This area is heavily guarded by
USAF Security. I have spoke [sic] with two employees of Sandia
Laboratories, who also store classified objects in Manzano, and
they told me that Sandia has examined several UFO's during the
last 20 years. One that crashed near Roswell NM in the late 50's
was examined by Sandia scientists. That craft is still being
store [sic] in Manzano.
"I have reason to beleive [sic] OSI is conducting a very secret
investigation into UFO sightings. OSI took over when Project Blue
Book was closed. I was told this by my commander, COL Bruce
Purvine. COL Purvine also told me that the investigation was so
secret that most employees of OSI doesn't [sic] even know it. But
COL Purvine told me that Kirtland AFB, AFOSI District 17 has a
special secret detachment that investigates sightings around this
area. They have also investigated the cattle mutilations in New
Mexico."
In 1985 investigator Benton Jamison located Craig Weitzel, who
confirmed that he had indeed seen a UFO in 1980 and reported it
to Sgt. Doty. But his sighting, while interesting, was rather
less dramatic than the CE3 reported in the letter; Weitzel saw a
silver-colored object some 10,000 to 15,000 feet overhead. After
maneuvering for a few minutes, he told Jamison, it "accelerated
like you never saw anything accelerate before" (Hastings, 1985).
He also said he knew nothing of a meeting with anyone identified
as "Mr. Huck."
In December 1982, in response to a Freedom of Information
request from Barry Greenwood of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy
(CAUS), Air Force Office of Special Investigations released a
two page OSI Complaint Form stamped "For Official Use Only."
Dated September 8, 1980, it was titled "Kirtland AFB, NM, 8 Aug-3
Sept 80, Alleged Sightings of Unidentified Aerial Lights in
Restricted Test Range." The document described several sightings
of UFOs in the Manzano Weapons Storage Area, at the Coyote Canyon
section of the Department of Defense Restricted Test Range. One
of the reports cited was a New Mexico State Patrolman's August 10
observation of a UFO landing. (A later check with state police
sources by Larry Fawcett, a Connecticut police officer and UFO
investigator, uncovered no record of such a report. The sources
asserted that the absence of a report could only mean that no
such incident had ever happened.) This intriguing document is
signed by then OSI Special Agent Richard C. Doty.
In 1987, after comparing three documents (the anonymous letter
to APRO, the September 8, 1980, AFOSI Complaint Form, and a
purported AFOSI document dated August 14, 1980, and claiming
"frequency jamming" by UFOs in the Kirtland area), researcher
Brad Sparks concluded that Doty had written all three. In 1989
Moore confirmed that Doty had written the letter to APRO.
"Essentially it was 'bait,'" he says. "AFOSI knew that Bennewitz
had close ties with APRO at the time, and they were interested in
recruiting someone within . . . APRO . . . who would be in a
position to provide them with feedback on Bennewitz'[s]
activities and communications. Since I was the APRO Board member
in charge of Special Investigations in 1980, the Weitzel letter
was passed to me for action shortly after it had been received."
According to Bruce Maccabee, Doty admitted privately that he had
written the Ellsworth AFB document, basing it on a real incident
which he wanted to bring to public attention. Doty has made no
public comment on any of these allegations. Moore says Doty "was
almost certainly a part of [the Ellsworth report], but not in a
capacity where he would have been responsible for creating the
documents involved" (Moore, 1989a).
end of part 6
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