Alleged retrievals of crashed or disabled strange craft, whether Earth-made as secret duplications of alien craft, or as alien craft per se, are a part of this paper for review. I have received numerous reports of what appeared to be demobilized stranfe craft witnessed on the ground but at the head of the list is the controversial saucer-shaped craft that allegedly landed at the Army base in Ft. Riley, Kansas, on December 10, 1964. The witness, AK, as reported in Abstract #20 in my first paper, (known as "David" since his case received publicity at the MUFON Symposium in Dayton: His real identity is known to a few researchers) has come under criticism based on a few supposed holes in his story. One is his reference to a General allegedly present on the scene with him while he was assigned guard duty. He had assumed

Following is a brief review of the incident from my first paper:

The incident occurred on a crisp, cold night on December 10, 1964. At 2:00 a.m. AK, a PFC on guard duty at the Motor Pool, and three other army personnel of the 1st Division on regular guard duty, were summoned by the Officer of the Day, Lt. H. (name known but withheld), to join him by vehicle to a remote area on the base described as a training area in Camp Forsyte, which is part of the Ft. Riley complex. On departing to this area, he was issued an extra clip of ammunition for his M-14 rifle.

After driving a good distance, Lt. H. parked his vehicle alongside the road. AK and the other guards were ordered to hike about a half mile across an open flat field. Before him, AK watched the searchlight beam from an overhead Huey helicopter playing down on the field. It was focused on a large round object resting on the ground. Already on the scene were about 10 army personnel of various ranks, including a Major General. Promptly, AK was asked for his ID and given a direct order by the General to patrol the grounded craft by circling around it and to "shoot anyone if they tried to force their way to the craft." He was also sharply warned that he would have his "..... shot off" if he talked. Comments AK, "When I was in the Army, when a General tells you something, you obey!"

The lone Huey chopper continuously flew overhead while certain personnel on hand checked the object with instruments, and maintained communication by field radio with head phones. Nearby, a 5-ton truck was parked with lights off. On two occasions, the Huey chopper flew over parts of the field, said AK, as though looking for other evidence. On several occasions during his 2¼ hours of guard duty, Ak got close to the metallic craft. "The air was much warmer when I got close," he said.

The grounded UFO, said AK, which had impacted into the soil and stood at a tilt, was approximately 35 to 48 feet in diameter and 12 to 18 feet in height. It was perfectly round, shaped like a hamburger bun. In the middle, or at the equator of its smooth aluminum-like surface, was a black band made up of squares, each jutting out about 10 inches. AK could not determine if the squares were windows or what purpose they served. The only major protruding part on the UFO, said AK, was a fin-like device and beneath it an aperture which may have been an exhaust unit. AK said that the UFO was not lighted, and he smelled no odors. "It was dead," he said. Asked about occupants aboard, he replied, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I was not aware of any life inside the craft, or that any bodies were taken out of it later."

Since the release of his story, AK has been cooperative in all of my requests for supporting data. He has sent me a copy of his Army discharge papers, testifying that he was in Ft. Riley at the time of the incident. He also has sent me the original letter, dated December 11, 1964, which he had sent to his fianc in California in which he makes a reference to his call to special guard duty. His letter said in part, "...Had some excitement last night...in the boondocks of Ft. Riley...There was some odd thing in a field that we guarded for a couple of hours, probably some new type of aircraft..." The envelope bears the proper return address, and a postmark dated December 14, 1964, Junction City, Kansas. Affixed to the envelope was an 8 cent airmail stamp of proper issue for that time.

To get more information, I encouraged AK, as a test, to seek publicity about his incident. He placed an ad in the Los Angeles Times, and it was promptly seized upon by the media. Using "David" as his identity, he got calls from many radio stations throughout the U.S.A. for interviews. It brought one positive result - another alleged witness. The new witness called AK by phone from another city, described his observation of a strange craft being removed by rig in a remote area on the Ft. Riley base, and stressed his need for anonymity for several understandable reasons. When I was informed of this new contact, and AK sent him a copy of my first retrieval paper, there was an impasse of several weeks before communications reopened. I asked for a statement. More waiting. On November 17, 1978, I received the following letter from the informant, signed "Ron":

Dear Mr. Stringfield:

For the last two months, I've promised AK that I would write to you and tell you about a possible UFO that I observed in Fort Riley, Kansas in 1964.

I'd forgotten all about it until I heard Dave's broadcast (radio station call letter omitted by request). Anxious to help him, I called and related the information to him. When I told my wife about my experience and about my call to Dave, she became very upset and didn't want us to get involved. I explained my situation to Mr. K and naturally, he was disappointed but said he understood.

Mr. K kindly mailed a copy of your report, "Retrievals of the Third Kind," which both my wife and I read. Oddly enough, after reading the report, she seemed less apprehensive about our involvement and agreed to my writing to you.

On the morning of December 11, 1964, I was stationed in a section of Fort Riley known as Camp Funston, located at the far end of the complex. At approximately 7 or 8 a.m., I drove into the Main Post area of the fort to pick up the mail for our company. The postal clerk told me the mail wouldn't be sorted until 10 or 11, that morning.

To kill time, I decided to drive around in the jeep and go exploring. I drove for about an hour heading towards Camp Forsyte until I came to a paved road that was somewhat hilly in spots. It looked interesting and I wanted to see where it led. About 1¼ miles up there was a barricade across the road. The sign read RESTRICTED AREA NO UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES BEYOND THIS POINT. My curiosity was aroused. No guards were posted around the area so I concluded that it must have been an old sign and went around the barricade and proceeded up the road. When I reached the crest of the hill, two M.P.'s greeted me with their rifles pointed directly at me. They asked for my ID and then, "What in the hell is the matter with you, can't you read? You're in a restricted area, leave at once!!!" I obeyed immediately.

About 60 to 80 feet behind the M.P.'s, I saw a gigantic flat bed truck, the kind they use to move houses. There were about 6 men dressed in white, like they were wearing CBRCBW germ warfare suits, which covered the entire body including the face; the face portion was covered with a gas mask which fit over the white hood. On the trailer or flat bed was an object which took up the whole load area. I couldn't tell what the object was; it was round and covered with canvas and held down with very large gauge chains. I guess that I was there no more than a minute, so I didn't see too much.

Well, that's about it. I hope it will help Mr. K and I'd like to wish you both luck in your search for the object that he saw. Please, let Mr. K know that I wrote to you.

Sincerely, (Signed Ron)

After I received the letter, I sent AK a xeroxed copy and learned promptly that his contact regretted that he had sent the letter and if it were published, he had reason to fear for his job. AK tried to persuade his informant that the letter was important as a testimonial backup for his claim. He wouldn't budge. In September of 1979, I reached AK by phone and requested his approval to use the letter in this paper. He finally agreed on the condition that I omit the call letters which might pinpoint his informant's area.

In the Spring of 1978, I inquired about the status of the Ft. Riley incident with Barry, who asked his former C.I.A. contact. He learned that he was aware of the incident but was not personally involved.

 

COMMENT:

Of the hundreds of letters and comments I have received from readers of my first paper, one stated in part, "As a former officer of psychological operations with the United States Army, I am perhaps more than normally alert to discrepancies in testimonials...A case in point: In a super secret operation of the sort described, PFC's are never present. Indeed, the presence of a PFC pretty much eliminates the possibility of the crash's having been secretively handled..."

Under normal circumstances, I agree that proper personnel from the base, or from another base, would have been dispatched to the site to cover all phases of operations, including guard duty. There are exceptions to the rule even in the military when emergencies arise, and personnel of any rank, such as PFC AK, are called upon for duty. In the case of AK, he was already on duty in the Motor Pool and was readily available.

I recall during WWII while stationed near the village of Tanuaun in Leyte, a combat zone in the Philippines, that I was called to check a possible enemy radio unit. I remember asking for the armed support of a PFC to join me while I probed the suspicious area. It is understandably difficult for anyone not having been involved in a retrieval operation, or having seen an alien body, to be a believer. I find it difficult to the point of frustration to rationalize the data I have received from the most creditable sources, yet listening to Ak's story repeatedly and evaluating its supporting evidence, I feel that there is a preponderance of pluses in its favor.

The relevance of the Ft. Riley incident is that if a strange, saucer-like craft had crashed or landed there, then is it typical of other retrieval operations; and, if life was aboard, was it human or humanoid