Re: 2nd UFO myths TV segment, on Aztec

SkeptInq@aol.com
Wed, 10 Mar 1999 16:42:08 EST 

Ken Frazier sends along this report on part 2 of the Albuquerque TV news
report on UFO crashes in New Mexico:



<<      Last night's (Tuesday, March 2) second Larry Barker/Channel 7
 Albuquerque "UFOs of New Mexico: History or Hoax?" investigative segment, on
 the Aztec (N.M.) crashed-saucer myth, was much like the first, on Roswell:
 Barker let the believers briefly tell the story, then countered it --
 himself and through on-camera interviews.
        The believers' side was stated quickly by a strange-looking woman
 named Cheri James (an "Aztec UFO Investigator," who talked about 14 or 16
 alien bodies), Howard Jones, and Linda Moulton Howe (interviewed from
 Philadelphia), who declared that some type of round, metallic craft crashed
 near Aztec in 1948. Barker noted that there's even been a book written about
 it, complete with drawings of spacecraft and extraterrestrials.
        Barker, standing at the supposed site near Aztec, summarized and
 then declared: "Nice story. Too bad it never happened. The Aztec myth was
 concocted in 1950 by two con men,...." and then gave the quick story of how
 the hoax evolved, with Dave Thomas on camera also giving some of the
 details.
        Barker asked Dave if he considered the book in question baloney. The
 book, among other things, "does set off my baloney detector," said Dave.
        Even Roswell proponent Stanton Friedman believes the story's a
 fraud, Barker said. Friedman then came on screen and pronounced: "Nothing
 that happened at Aztec had anything to do with flying saucers. It's
 balderdash."
        I was given the last say. Barker asked me, "Given what you know...,
 what would you say to the people of Aztec?"
        My answer: "I'd hope they could find something more interesting,
 more significant, more real to tout their place in history, and I'd say the
 same thing to the people of Roswell. I know people who have spent 10 to 15
 years of their lives caught up in the UFO subculture. It's sad when that
 happens. It's hard to get out of it. It's like a cult in some ways, or can
 be. It's a waste, a human waste."
        Barker then signed off: "Larry Barker for Target 7"

        Together the two segments are undoubtedly the best done in New
 Mexico on the notorious crashed saucer stories. They were straightforward,
 critical, and skeptical. Very refreshing.
                 I called Barker's office this morning and thanked his
 producer, Charlie Wollmann, for the good, tough, honest job they had done.
 He seemed appreciative. He apologized for having to trim things a little
 shorter than they had wanted.  He also said they intended to send the tapes
 to CNN and hope at least one might be used.  He also said they had enough
 material left over for a half-hour program if they could get support for it.

                                                                --  Ken  Frazier 3/3/99