Warm Up the Presses
Although our decade’s long investigation is nearing its end, and will culminate in the form of a book to be released later this summer, the work is continuing right up to the last minute.Information uncovered within the last year necessitated one final trip to the Southwest. This last jaunt took place primarily in Arizona as we were visiting various locations there.
Historian and aviation researcher Mike Price and I met with Dr. Frank Thayer, journalism professor at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces,
and former department head. Dr. Thayer has been an enormous help in our research and his skills in editing our new book have been invaluable; he wanted to join us on what we think is the last major excursion before we hit the "print button" for our tome.Once the boots-on-the-ground investigation was completed (re our newly uncovered information), we had the pleasure of meeting with J. Andy Kissner, the former State Representative from New Mexico, who has helped me with research on Aztec in the past.
Andy was also integral to former New Mexico Senator Steven Schiff’s investigation into the Roswell Incident, which involved an audit of the files of various military agencies, beginning with the Air Force—this was conducted by the General Accounting Office (GAO). The investigation ended with the GAO having more questions than answers as many documents were missing and presumed destroyed at some point.
We also had time to see Mike Fortson, one of the key witnesses to the Phoenix Lights case back in 1997. Mike and I have met before, but Mike Price and Dr. Thayer had never had the privilege. We had an enjoyable time sharing research (in general) as well as bringing Mike up to speed on the last stages of the book.20 Years Later, the Two Veteran Researchers Finally Meet
Following our stay in Arizona, we (Mike Price and I) were off to the west coast to meet with author/researcher Bill Steinman (Dr Thayer would make his way back to New Mexico). As the book is nearing fruition, I had made up my mind sometime back that a face-to-face meeting with Bill was paramount before the book goes to press.
I read Bill's book UFO Crash at Aztec back in 1991 after I had been researching the Aztec case for several years; I had not been aware of Bill's work until someone gave me a copy of the book and it wasn’t long before I contacted him.
This had been a long journey for me, as although I had been in communication with Bill for twenty years—we had never met. Going back in time for a moment, the “first’ conversation with him was quick and to the point; although he was cordial it was clear he didn’t take my interest seriously, or more to the point—like a few before me, he presumed “I wasn’t serious about Aztec research” and would soon lose interest. He instructed me to call him when I had more years under my belt! I explained to him that I first heard about the Aztec case back in the late 80's, but this fell on deaf ears, and he basically "sent me packing".Given my business background, hearing “no’s” or receiving less then desired results in initial introductions or meetings, I wasn’t deterred; in fact—quite the opposite! Within a few months he slowly started to warm up to me, and my research; we were soon brain-storming new ideas and he ended up giving me a few leads that he received after his book came out (important to remember that he is/was retired from UFO research at this time). We’ve been friends ever since.
Even when Bill was still actively involved in research, as a rule he didn’t give interviews, and in that vein, this meeting was a rare privilege. Although Ufology is behind him, he is still active in research of another flavor, as he is currently working on a new book entitled, The History of Rock and Roll.
He and his wife were wonderful hosts and we enjoyed our meeting; Bill was equally intrigued with our new revelations ala Aztec, as we were recounting the facts published in his book and well as some minutia that was left out, or was learned later.
As I stated earlier, (after our initial conversation) Bill has always had the time to listen to what I have found and compared it to what he learned over the years, as well. His book is probably more popular today than when it came out back in 1987. The Aztec case had been written off over the years but Bill picked up where Frank Scully left off. The interest seemed "light" until a few years ago when people started looking at the events in deeper detail.To our delight, before we parted company, Bill gave Mike and me a set of audio tapes of different people connected to Aztec that he recorded back in the ‘80's, and these interviews never made it into the book or have never been heard by the public. As our book goes to the final stages of editing by the talents of Dr. Thayer, I am listening to these tapes to see if anything needs to be inserted into our book at the last minute.
As if that wasn’t enough, the final gift granted by Bill, was his agreeing to write the preface for our book (the foreword is written by Stanton Friedman).
In the aftermath of our insightful, most rewarding meeting, on the flight home, I couldn’t help but reflect on the void that exists in Ufology without the likes of Bill Steinman being an active participant in it.
On a final note: traveling and doing research is not easy work; the past two years I have been blessed by having Mike Price along for the help. Mike can appreciate the long hours and sometimes "dusty" tasks of digging into old boxes. Moreover, our wives have held down the Forts or Farms while Mike and I were gone, and we certainly were thankful for their help.
I’d like to express my personal thanks to Dr. Frank Thayer for joining us in our last major road trip as well.
We will have more updates as the book nears publication.
Contact: scottramsey@aztec1948.com
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