Roswell North?

I remember for the first time hearing about "flying saucers" just after the last war and a lot of people reported seeing strange objects although I do not remember hearing of them prior to that.

There was one story of two pilots in a Canadian plane reporting a large silver object had flown alongside for 20 miles and when the plane edged closer to get a better look the object made three fast circles around the plane (photography?) and then headed north at an amazing speed.

In August a veteran R.C.M.P. officer who had headed detachments in the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta was in his detachment in Hay River in late August of 1947 when two men walked into his office. One was the commanding officer for the northern region and the other was introduced as "Charlie" who was an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He was told he was to go on a top secret mission to retrieve instruments from two craft about 140 miles north and west of Great Slave Lake. A jeep with special balloon tyres was to arrive the next day. He was to get gas and provisions and supplies for seven days. He was told he and the officer "Charlie" might have to walk the last 30 miles to the locations. He was sworn never to mention this assignment for seven years. He told this story in 1954.

They started out and moved out through bush roads and then onto the tundra. (Check if there is tundra there.) The American plotted their course with an instrument which was much more sophisticated than a compass. The officer had plotted two circles (dots?) on the map and he said they were the location of flying saucers. (Check if that term was used then.) They left at night so as not to "broadcast" their departure. This "compass" was so designed that it kept them "on course" to within two degrees. If the terrain led them a bit off course they had to reverse until the lines evened up so to speak. The jeep had been re-designed to 20 miles an hour top speed. They made good time. Finally using his bearings and the speedometer reading and a slide rule (?) he said they were within 30 miles from Number One. Two hours later they came upon a swath in the scrub and low Arctic trees. They went north five miles and came upon a large object. It was 40 feet across and had a large "horseshoe" shape cut out of the rear and six exhaust (?) pipes protruded. The machine was described as a "huge saucer." It took four hours to unbolt some instruments from the interior after the officer opened a steel flap door with a key. Inside the flap in black letters was "U.S. Air Force." (?---it is my recollection that the army and the navy had air forces but the air force as an entity was not created until later but I'm probably wrong.) They ate and had a short sleep and then proceeded another 20 miles across the tundra and came across Number Two and the same procedure took place. When the officer finished removing the equipment and stowing it in the jeep he told the policeman to drive off a bit and he placed an explosive in the craft. Fifteen minutes later driving south they were jolted by a blast and almost immediately heard a tremendous explosion. Proceeding to Number One the officer placed a second charge and blew it to smithereens. They returned to Hay River on the fourth day. The policeman said he was not allowed to take a camera and the U.S. officer took one roll of film of each craft.

Later the R.C.M.P. officer received an ambiguous letter (from whom he didn't say) thanking him for his services. All he learned from the officer was that the two craft had been launched from a secret test field east of Los Angeles (in the desert) and were operated by remote control, had a speed of 600 miles per hour (about twice the speed of a jet fighter in those days) and had enough fuel for six hours. (Check the distance using speed and fuel and destination.) The policeman said the flights had been "recorded" and that is how they knew where to go so precisely. (The Americans had air fields in the north then as they had taken over northern Canada during the war and a spotter plane or planes might have been in the area and noted their landings by visual sight or possibly radar.) The officer told him that many (workers, military) knew of the craft but this test was "at a second level of intelligence." It seems probable that the test craft would be directed north into an area of tundra which would provide a "soft landing" and also far from any human habitation. Any other compass point would have landed them in the ocean, inhabited country or jungle where they might never be found.

Common sense tells one that these were not "flying saucers" as such but some American military experience, possibly to be used for surveillance but they were unmanned and therefore would have no combat use. It probably was an outrageous waste of taxpayers' money as the second generation of high speed jet planes were already in the works and would make them useless.

I was a newspaperman since 1942 with time out for the infantry and since 1972 I have been an author, 17 books, and am now virtually retired. The policeman, I believe, is still alive and despite the skepticism which goes with the trade of newspaperman-author of non-fiction, I have no reason to disbelieve this story. In the main, it holds together and besides, there is no reason whatsoever for him to make up this experience. I have never heard of a similar story although probably your network has. Also, he told it after the seven years was up.

bye and aye...

Name withheld by request.

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