Second New Mexico Crash

Second New Mexico Crash
By Paul Harden - to G. Cotsonas
George P. Cotsonas                      Internet email: geopi@hocpa.att.com
Wireless Terminals Laboratory           Telephone:      (908) 834-1046
From: pharden@newshost.aoc.nrao.edu (Paul Harden)
Subject: Re: Second NM Crash Info
Date: 20 Apr 1995 16:14:43 -0600

From: fmm1@cornell.edu (Fred Muratori)
In article <3MSAIU$5OF@NEWSBF02.NEWS.AOL.COM>, din23@aol.com (DIN23) wrote:
(snip)
>> interference. Anyway the second crash happened in an area west of 
>> Socorro, New Mexico, known as the Plains of San Agustin, where 
>> witnesses discovered not only a damaged metallic "aircraft" resting 
>> on the flat desert ground, but also dead bodies.   The first 
>> witness on the scene was Grady L. "Barney" Barnett, a civil 
>> engineer with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service who was on a 
>> military assignment at the time.
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
              N O T

>From: fmm1@cornell.edu (Fred Muratori) wrote:
>Take a look at _The truth about the UFO crash at Roswell_ by Kevin D.
>Randle and Don Schmitt (Evans, 1994), which devotes a chapter 
>to this case. Randle investigated the San Agustin scenario 
>pretty thoroughly and found 
> many, many inconsistencies and no corroborating witnesses. 
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
       N O T                            N O T
The VLA observatory now sits on the Plains of San Agustin amongst severalranches. I have worked there 18 years and have been shown the spot where the craft supposedly crashed by two different ranchers. The site itself is on the Bruton Ranch near the VLA's south-west arm. I am not aware of any involvement by Barnett with the military ... he and some students were several miles south of the crash site excavating the newly found "Bat Cave" for folsom period Indian artifacts. A couple of those students now work at the New Mexico Tech campus as professors, one at the Bureau of Mines. Barnett and his students were unable to find the crash site as it was after sunset when this occured and getting dark. However, it was heard by the Brutons and they went and investigated and found the crash site. To this day, they insist there were no bodies, only a heap of twisted metal. He did not know what it was, but felt it was a "piece of an airplane."
The next morning the Army arrived at the Bruton Ranch with several trucks. The Brutons were escorted from their ranch and placed in a motel room in Socorro for several days with little explanation. They willing submitted as WW-II had only been over for a short while and assisting "the war effort" was a common attitude. It was mid-morning when Barnett and his students found the crash scene -- being cleaned up by the military. To his dying day (only a few years ago), he consistently refused to comment on what he had seen. Another nearby rancher, Marvin Ake, also saw the military on the Bruton Ranch removing two truck loads of debris. Jack Bruton, Jr. was 5 yrs old and remembers his stay in the Socorro motel because it was the first time he had been taken to a movie and went swimming at the motel pool. (The motel was moved in 1960's when they built the interstate; it was owned by the Hefners who moved several of the motel units behind their house, where they still stand. The original owners still have the desk register which I have seen). The El Camino Restaurant now stands at this motel site.
Several miles to the north of the Bruton Ranch WAS a small radar tracking site for far-field tracking of missiles from White Sands. When all of this happened, an impressive thunderstorm was brewing. A couple of soldiers manning the radar facility were sitting outside the radar trailer watching the lightning and saw the "object" fall from the sky and land behind the Bruton Ranch. This is how the Army was so quickly informed. I worked with a guy (now retired) who was manning another remote radar site and he recounted several times the radio communications that took place as these soldiers described what they saw. There are still two men working at the observatory who used to be radar techs at White Sands. This story is well known and oft repeated by those who work at the Stallion Range at White Sands.
(BTW, the location of this portable radar station is just north of U.S. 60 about 6 miles east of the VLA turnoff. There is a big gravel pit used by the Hiway Department there now. Ask any of the old timers around here about it. No big deal, everybody knew about it ... it was right on the highway for everyone to see!)
It is an intriguing story to me and personally confused as to whether or not it was related to the Corona Crash (Roswell crash for you out-of-staters). Or, whether in fact a UFO. But the above information is fairly well known around here, some of it documented, and many living witnesses. The story is also remarkably consistent, regardless of who you talk to. Therefore, the statement that there has NEVER been any corroborating witnesses is totally false. Or that there are many, many inconsistencies. I have provided names and places herein for you to verify or dispute on your own. Also, unlike many of you, I am NOT using an annonymous mailer. Did these Randall and Schmidt guys even so much as bother to have a cup of coffee in Socorro and ask anyone about this? Or just wanna write a UFO book to sell to suckers?
I can tell you more. But what I can't tell you is whether or not it was a UFO that the Army removed from the Bruton Ranch in 1947.
Paul