Dorothy
Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 November 8, 1965) was
an American journalist and television game show panelist.
She started her career early as a reporter for the Hearst
Corporation's New York Evening Journal after spending only
two semesters at The College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle,
New York.[1] In 1936, she began her newspaper column, The
Voice of Broadway, which was eventually syndicated
to over 146 papers. She became a regular panelist on the
television game show What's My
Line? in 1950.
Kilgallen's
columns featured mostly show business news and gossip,
but also ventured into other topics like politics and
organized crime. She wrote front-page articles on events
such as the Sam Sheppard trial and later the John F. Kennedy
assassination, becoming the only reporter to interview
Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald's killer, out of earshot
of sheriffs' deputies. The circumstances of Kilgallen's
death have been the subject of conspiracy theories. Because
the cause of her death was officially ruled as "undetermined,"
and because she openly criticized U.S. government agencies
as far back as 1959, some believe that Kilgallen was actually
murdered in order to silence her.
Reporting
on UFOs
On
February 15, 1954, Dorothy Kilgallen commented in her
syndicated column, "Flying saucers are regarded
as of such vital importance that they will be the subject
of a special hush-hush meeting of the world military heads
next summer."
In
a May 22, 1955 report from London, syndicated by the INS,
Kilgallen stated, "British scientists and airmen,
after examining the wreckage of one mysterious flying
ship, are convinced these strange aerial objects are not
optical illusions or Soviet inventions, but are flying
saucers which originate on another planet. The source
of my information is a British official of Cabinet rank
who prefers to remain unidentified. 'We believe, on the
basis of our inquiry thus far, that the saucers were staffed
by small menprobably under four feet tall. It's
frightening, but there is no denying the flying saucers
come from another planet.'" This article, which
was separate from Kilgallen's column, appeared on the
front pages of the New York Journal American, the Cincinnati
Enquirer, and other newspapers. The Washington Post ran
it on page 8. Gordon Creighton, editor of the magazine
Flying Saucer Review, alleged the information was given
to Kilgallen by Lord Mountbatten of Burma at a cocktail
party, but attempts to verify this were unsuccessful.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Kilgallen