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122 tions officer of the SO9th Bomb Group, who was also inter- viewed in July 1990. In July 1947 he was on duty in the Opera- tions Office when things began to happen. "A call came in to have a B-29 ready to go as soon as possible. Where to? Fort Worth, on Colonel Blanchard's directive. [I was] in the Operations Office when Colonel Blanchard arrived and asked if the airplane was ready. When told it was, Blanchard waved to somebody, and approximately five people came in the front door, down the hallway and onto the ramp to climb into the airplane, carrying parts of the crashed flying saucer. I got a very short glimpse ... asked Blanchard to turn sideways so [I] could see, too. Saw them carrying pieces of metal: they had one piece that was eighteen by twenty-four inches, brushed stain- less steel in color." The plane went to Fort Worth and Marcel went with it, Shirkey added. There are certainly discrepancies, but after forty-three years, memories begin to fade and to swirl together. While specific details may vary, the general story is the same: A very special flight was loaded with a small amount of material and sent to Fort Worth under unusual and quite memorable conditions. It was generally accepted that the material was from a crashed flying saucer, though this was never put in writing or even announced formally. Men who work close together, especially in airplane crews, learn to communicate easily and to read between the lines. They had been alerted to some very different events by the Army's own security procedures. One of the next flights to leave Roswell AAF was apparently on or about July 9, according to former S/Sgt. Robert A. Slusher, of the 393rd Bomb Squadron, who agreed to be interviewed in early 1991. In midafternoon of that special day, he was aboard a B-29 that taxied to the bomb-loading area, located far from the main part of the base for safety reasons. There they loaded a single crate he estimated was twelve feet long, five feet wide, and four feet high. There were MPs on board, Slusher said, and they were armed, suggesting the crate contained something more excit- ing than canned hams or office supplies. Moreover, the four- CRASH AT CORONA