The Fishing is Always Better in Texas

By James Carrion
Center for UFO Truth
7-15-10

While doing some historical research on the Roswell incident, I came across an interesting tidbit that piqued my curiosity and although mentioned on various Roswell websites has not been explored in depth. It centers on the curious case of Louis E. Starr of Portland, Oregon, the National Commander of the Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) organization and his comments about flying saucers.

The timeframe involved is July 3-6, 1947 and the location is Columbus, Ohio. VFW is holding its 27th annual encampment and Starr, an outspoken personality who was often critical of the Truman administration, is quoted by news reporters on Saturday, July 5, 1947 stating that “too little is being told to the people of this country” and that he was expecting a telegram (source not revealed) from Washington on “the fleets of flying saucers.” He added that “when I get the information, I will make a public announcement of as much is as consistent with national security.”

Starr also stated that General Carl Spaatz had a “group right now” searching for the objects. In a separate newspaper article on July 7, 1947, Spaatz denies this:

“General Carl Spaatz, commandant of the army air forces, in the Pacific Northwest on a fishing trip, said he knew nothing about the mystery objects or of plans to use AF planes to search for them.”

Now here comes the interesting part. Most newspapers quoting Louis Starr only mention that the expected mystery solving telegram would come from Washington, but three different newspapers added the following to his quote:

“The VFW commander said he might not be able to ‘expedite’ the message since it ‘is Saturday night and everybody in Washington has gone home.’ He added, however, the message he expected might come from Texas instead of from the capital.”

Now that’s an interesting tidbit – “might come from Texas.” As the reporters anxiously wait to see what Starr’s mystery telegram will reveal, their hopes are dashed the very next day on Sunday, July 6, 1947 when Starr clams up and refuses to talk.

“Louis E Starr, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars who promised an explanation of the flying saucers today intimated that he may have said too much already. Today he replied to numerous questions from newsmen with a flat ‘no comment’ and said: ‘I have had no comment to make since Saturday when I inadvisably said as much as I did.’"

How interesting that Starr starts off as the champion of the people by being critical of the Government’s silence on flying saucers, promises to release what he learns from his anonymous inside source and then backtracks on that promise the very next day.

What did he say that revealed too much? Well let’s examine each of his quoted statements:

Too little is being told to the people of this country

He was expecting a telegram from Washington.

The message might come from Texas instead of the capital.

Carl Spaatz had a group out looking for the objects.

He would make a public announcement of as much is as consistent with national security.

So which of these quotes was too much information? Well according to Spaatz, Starr spoke out of turn about the Army Air Force searching for the objects so Starr could possibly have been reprimanded by the Air Force brass. The only other quote that seems unusual here is the expected telegram possibly coming from Texas instead of Washington.

Which brings up the following interesting questions:

How did Louis E. Starr know on July 5, 1947 that the telegram he was expecting could come either from Washington or Texas?

Who was Starr’s mystery source and why was this source potentially sending the communiqué from either location?

Why from Texas? Is it just a coincidence that the Ramey deflation of the disc story occurred from Fort Worth?

Who was Starr’s source of information on Spaatz sending out a search group?

How did news reporters get Spaatz’s quote if he was off fishing in the Pacific Northwest and why does the fishing story conflict with other newspaper reports?

If we examine the Roswell incident timeline, allegedly the Army Air Force did not know about the Roswell debris until July 6, 1947 when Sherriff George Wilcox informed Roswell Army Air Field of what Mac Brazel found on the Foster Ranch. The Haut press release was sent on July 8, 1947. The “debris” was flown to Fort Worth, Texas and the infamous weather balloon paraded by Ramey, Dubose and Marcel in front of the press in time to hit the presses on July 9, 1947.

Until further research can be done into Louis E. Starr’s known sources in Washington and Texas, the fact that the state of Texas is mentioned at all could be due to one of three possibilities:

An unrelated detail. The source was mobile between Washington and Texas. One high ranking Army Air Force officer that was moving between Texas and Washington was General Hoyt Vandenberg who spent July 4, 1947 in Wichita Falls, Texas and then returned to Washington on July 5, 1947.
An anachronism if the Texas connection is related to General Ramey’s office as Ramey allegedly did not know about the debris until two days later.

You fill in the blank.

As for Spaatz fishing trip, according to Stanton Friedman’s website, Stanton states: “I was able to show via Spaatz’s flight log, his desk calendar, and a newspaper article, that he was fishing in Port Aransas, Texas, several hundred miles away” on July 7, 1947.” In the MUFON 2000 Symposium Proceeding, Stanton elaborates:

"One (leaked document) states unambiguously that there was a secret meeting between General Twining and USAF General Carl Spaatz on July 7, 1947, at Alamogordo Army Air Field. Twining was certainly in the neighborhood, as I had reported in Ref. 6, but was Spaatz? During a trip to the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, I once again went through General Spaatz's papers and discovered his flight log in the back of a recently declassified box, along with his desk calendar. Thanks to the help of Don Berliner who performed a similar task (decoding the old airport symbols) for General Twining's flight log, we know that Spaatz flew from Seattle, WA, with several stops, to Corpus Christi, Texas, just west of Port Aransas a well known fishing spot in the Gulf of Mexico. His desk calendar says for July 7 "Fishing at Port Aransas." I contacted the Corpus Christi newspaper which did some research for me and sent a clipping showing one of Spaatz's fishing buddies with two large fish caught that week at Port Aransas...600 miles East of Alamogordo. Spaatz had his own B-17. I am told that rarely are flight logs faked as to stops made. Twining's wasn't, based on comparisons with his pilot's flight log, newspaper coverage, etc."

However this conflicts with a July 11, 1947, Page 11 Corpus Christi Times newspaper article that places Spaatz and his party on July 10, 1947 in Corpus Christi on their way to Port Aransas for fishing.

The July 10, 1947 Corpus Christi Times elaborates that:

“ Air Force Visitors

General Carl Spaatz, Chief of the Army Air Forces, Washington, D. C., spent the first of the week in this section, and was the guest of Col, and Mrs. D. Harold Byrd at the Heart o' the Hills Inn. Other guests included Major General and Mrs. Fred Anderson, also of Washington, General Anderson being a member of General Spaatz' staff. Col. George Stone, Wing Commander of the Ohio Civil Air Patrol, and Mrs. Stone, were included in the party.

General Spaatz made the trip from Randolph Field to Kerrville in a B-17, landing at the Louis Schreiner Municipal Airport “

The July 11, 1947 Corpus Christi times added:

“PORT ARANSAS—Gen. Carl A. Spaatz and his party of seven left the Port. Aransas Boat Basin in four boats this morning to go sail fishing in the Gulf. They were to go out about 18 miles and be gone all day, Henry Studemann, manager of the basin, said.

Prospects for sailfish were good as the Gulf this morning was calm. General Spaatz, and Col. D. Harold Byrd, whose plane was used to fly the party to Corpus Christi, went out in a boat named Popcorn 11, and run by Gerald Curry.

General Spaatz is to leave Sunday afternoon.”

Which in turn conflicts with the July 7th issue of the Charleston Gazette article that had this to say about Spaatz’s fishing trip:

“Gen. Carl H. Spaatz, commandant of the Army Air Forces, was in the Pacific Northwest. He denied knowing anything about the flying discs —or of plans to use AAF planes to look for them. ‘I've been out of touch with things for four or five days,’ he said. Then he went to Medford, Oregon, on a fishing trip.”

Which in turn conflicts with the July 7, 1947 Amarillo Daily News article that doesn’t even mention fishing, but instead:

“Gen. Carl Spaatz, Air Forces commandant, was in the Pacific Northwest, where the majority of the strange objects were reported seen. An Air Forces spokesman in Washington said he had not gone there to investigate, but merely to make a speech at Seattle and for an airfield inspection today at Tacoma.”

Which conflicts with a letter that Spaatz wrote to Dr. Vannevar Bush on July 7, 1947, as referenced in a response letter from Dr. Bush’s secretary on July 17, 1947.

Well we know that Spaatz was officially out of the office because General Hoyt Vandenbergs’s desk log shows Vandenberg attending the 12 noon War Council meeting in General Spaatz absence on July 7, 1947.

General Spaatz was in Seattle on July 4, 1947 as the guest of honor at the City’s holiday celebrations according to the Walla Walla Union Bulletin editions of July 3, 4 and 5th.

According to newspaper reports, Spaatz was:

Test flying a new Boeing jet on July 3, 1947 in Seattle

Giving a speech at a July 4, 1947 celebration in Seattle

Inspecting an Army Air Field in Tacoma on July 7, 1947

In Corpus Christi, Texas by 5:30 PM on July 10, 1947 having arrived there from Kerrville via Randolph Field in San Antonio. Spaatz piloted his own B-17 to Kerrville and then was ferried to Corpus Christi on the private plane of Harold Byrd.

Fishing in Port Aransas, Texas from July 11 – 13, 1947

The unanswered questions are:

Where was Spaatz at after the Army Air Field inspection in Seattle on July 7 till showing up in Corpus Christi, Texas on July 10, the same time period that spans the Roswell Press release and retraction?

Why did Spaatz comment to newspaper reporters that he was out of touch for 4 or 5 days prior to July 7th when he was evidently engaged in various official tasks and accessible to reporters?

Where did the fishing in Medford, Oregon story originate?

Why did he continue on his fishing expedition in Texas if Roswell allegedly represents a watershed event in human history?

For serious open minded researchers, the unanswered questions are within reach if you dedicate the time to searching for the answers using the tools of forensic history at your disposal. As I aim to prove that UFOs were promulgated in 1947 as a Cold War deception operation, tracking the whereabouts of those that would be “in the know” about what really happened surrounding Maury Island, Kenneth Arnold and Roswell is paramount. As newspaper articles and other corroborating documents confirm, there definitely seems to be something mighty fishy happening in Texas that first week of July, 1947.

All supporting documentation for this article can be downloaded from:

Shared Documents - The Center for UFO Truth