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By Thomas J. Carey and Donald R. Schmitt
Roswell radio station KGFL had every intention of broadcasting the story of the millennium. That was the reason its staff escorted local rancher Mack Brazel to the home of the station's owner, Walt Whitmore Sr.,
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Jud Roberts, minority owner of Roswell radio station KGFL, told investigators about a secret wire recording they made of Mack Brazel telling his story of finding wreckage of a flying saucer in a remote pasture on his sheep ranch. Roberts also told of receiving a threatning phone call from Senator Dennis Chávez if the station went ahead and aired any part of the interview.
PHOTO COURTESY OF INTERNATIONAL UFO MUSEUM, ROSWELL, N.M. AS REPRODUCED BY TOM CAREY.
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and recorded Brazel's testimony late in the evening of Monday, July 7, 1947. At least, that was the plan — until the U.S. Army took custody of Brazel and the KGFL wire recording, and removed them both to Roswell Army Air Field south of town.
Efforts continued the next morning to disseminate preliminary news information to the local townspeople. But Washington was watching. Early in the morning on July 8, 1947, Jud Roberts at KGFL received a long-distance phone call from the secretary of the Federal Communications Commission, who warned him that the matter involved national security. Should KGFL air any portion of Brazel's interview, or issue any information regarding it, they would lose their broadcasting license.
As if that weren't enough to squelch the story, another call to KGFL came from Washington a few minutes later. It was from U.S. Sen. Dennis Chávez (D-N.M.). Sen. Chávez was at that time the chairman of the influential Senate Appropriations Committee. The senator strongly suggested that KGFL do exactly as the FCC had cautioned. When station executives asked for his help, he indicated that the decision was out of his hands. The station immediately complied with the FCC's order.
While the officially sanctioned intimidation of a news source in Roswell was underway, another situation was developing at KOAT Radio in Albuquerque.
Lydia Sleppy, in addition to fulfilling other duties at the station, operated the teletype machine. KOAT was an affiliate of both ABC and Mutual networks at that time. Sleppy remembers vividly the excited phone call she received from reporter John McBoyle, of sister station KSWS in Roswell. McBoyle's station had to rely on KOAT to transmit to the wire services.
"Lydia, get ready for a scoop!" McBoyle said. "We want
to get this on the ABC wire right away. Listen to this!
A flying saucer crashed. ... It crashed near Roswell."
Sleppy urgently asked acting station manager Karl Lambertz to witness her reception of the story and its transmission.
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Wire recorder of the type used in 1947 by radio station KGFL to record the story of Mack Brazel. The station intended to air portions of the interview periodically as a "scoop" on the other Roswell media.
PHOTO BY TOM CAREY.
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Using the teletype, she alerted ABC News headquarters in Hollywood to expect a "high bulletin" story. Lambertz looked on as she initiated the contact.
"Its a big crumbled dishpan," McBoyle continued over the phone.
"And get this. They're saying something about little men being
on board."
Before Sleppy could type out a mere couple of sentences, a bell rang on the teletype machine, indicating an outside interruption. McBoyle, meanwhile, started to converse with someone in the background. Moments later he nervously told Sleppy, "Wait a minute, I'll get back to you. ... Wait. ... I'll get right back."
He did not. The very next moment, the teletype came back on and printed out the following order:
ATTENTION ALBUQUERQUE:
DO NOT TRANSMIT.
REPEAT DO NOT TRANSMIT THIS MESSAGE.
STOP COMMUNICATION IMMEDIATELY.
In stunned disbelief, Sleppy observed that the message was from the FBI. No further attempt was made to transmit McBoyle's story in any shape or form.
At a later time, Sleppy was speaking with McBoyle and broached the subject of the strange series of events. The veteran reporter's response shocked her:
"Forget about it. You never heard it. Look, you're
not supposed to know. Don't talk about it to anyone."
It was more than 30 years before she did.
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