Page 31 of 242
16 had to track down people, mostly military, more than thirty years after the fact. Of those who were still living, how many could be found? And if any could be located, would they be willing to talk about a matter almost certainly wrapped tightly in "national security" considerations? As members of the 509th Bomb Group, they had been more security-conscious than almost any others, having been entrusted with many of the secrets of atomic bombs, dropped history's only two nu- clear weapons in wartime, and participated in postwar A-bomb tests in the Pacific. They lived with high security twenty-four hours a day. The obvious first step was to get back to retired Lt. Col. Jesse Marcel, for they knew where he lived and that he was willing to discuss the details he knew of the crash ... unless parties unknown had gotten to him in the interim and convinced him he would be better off keeping quiet. He had details that were assuming great significance as the reality of the event became established. Moore talked with him in the middle of February 1979 and soon got in contact with his son, Jesse, Jr., a medical doctor, pilot, and aircraft-accident investigator. Only eleven at the time of the crash, he nevertheless had knowledge of part of the story, and now, as a leading member of his community, he was highly regarded by all who knew him. In April 1979 Dr. Marcel wrote to Moore with additional information: In reference to our recent phone conversation regarding the UFO incident of 1947 I omitted one startling description of the wreckage for fear that it might have been [interpreted as] the fanciful imagination of an 11-year-old. Imprinted along the edge of some of the beam remnants, there were hieroglyphic-type characters. I recently questioned my father about this, and he recalled seeing these characters also, and even described them as being a pink or purplish-pink color. Egyptian hieroglyphics would be a close visual description of the characters, except that I don't think there were any animal figures present, as there are in true Egyptian hieroglyphics. I keep wondering if some remnants of the crash might still be CRASH AT CORONA