A Robertson Panel of another sort, the Texas UFO mystery metal of 1947.
Leonard Robertson of Perryton, Texas, witnessed a UFO explode in late July 1947, and afterwards he was able to recover a large fragment of it. The incident occurred shortly after the flying disc story in Corona and Roswell, New Mexico, only about 250 miles away. The Texas news appeared on the front page of the Amarillo Daily News on August 6, 1947:
Perryton Man Displays Proof of Saucer Story
PERRYTON, Aug. 5 - Leonard Robertson, former Perryton city marshal and now with O. A. Schuster of the Perryton Gas Company, has proof that he really saw something flying through the air recently. Robertson just realized today that he might be in possession of a flying disk or something odd that flew through the air with the greatest of ease - until it exploded almost in his face. He took his find to Mr. Schuster and Sheriff W. H. Lance, but they haven't been able to help him. Here's Mr. Robertson's story: "I was riding my motorcycle south into Dumas - I believe it was July 25 - when something bright in the sky to my left attracted my attention. I pulled off the road and saw a strange object floating over a field about a mile away. It was kind of oval and looked to be about 15 or 20 feet in circumference. It looked something like a big bubble. "While I was watching it, the durned thing exploded. I saw pieces falling in all directions. I decided to see if I could find some of the pieces so I rode down a side road and walked into the field where I thought the thing fell. This is what I found." Mr. Robertson displayed a piece of what looked like aluminum, but was much lighter. It was about 30 inches long and 24 inches wide and slightly curved. There were two small holes in it and the center appeared to have been burned. Two of the edges showed where they had overlapped another piece. There was neither number nor name of any kind on the piece of material. Mr. Robertson plans to go back and see if he can find more evidence to back his saucer story.
Amarillo Daily News, Aug. 6, 1947
A photograph of the UFO debris taken by Sheriff W. H. Lance appeared in the follow up story on page 5 of the Aug. 9th paper:
Salvage From Mystery Blast
What is it? Leonard Robertson of Perryton discovered this strange object in a field near Dumas recently. He says it is part of a strange object he watched explode near where he was riding his motorcycle. The material is lighter than aluminum and it has two small holes and a burned spot in it. Mr Robertson said the object appeared to be globe-shaped. He couldn't find any other pieces.
Amarillo Daily News, Aug. 9, 1947
We could wish for a more detailed description of the fragment. "Lighter than aluminum," but rectangular and "slightly curved," does not sound like foil from a rawin target, or part of a balloon. Like Mac Brazel before him, Robertson didn't put much significance on the debris until he, "realized today that he might be in possession of a flying disk or something odd..." While it's possible that the report might have been a joke or a hoax, it seems unlikely that Robertson would target his employer and the local sheriff. Robertson’s report apparently went no farther than the local sheriff, and there is no mention of the incident in Project Blue Book files. There was no subsequent press on the UFO incident, and the debris truly can be said to have come from a saucer that time forgot. If there are any readers in the Amarillo area, we ask you to make inquiries to find out what became of this physical evidence.
James A. Lee (1900 -1979) is one of the ufologists that time forgot. When Lee is mentioned in UFO literature, it’s generally for his role in investigating the famous UFO case in Levelland, Texas. Even then, it’s often only in passing, as in these two books from key authors on the saucer subject:
Flying Saucers: Top Secret by Donald Keyhoe, 1960, chapter, November Crisis:
“The great ‘flap’ of 1957 began on November 2... It began near Levelland, Texas, on Highway 116. The cases described were confirmed for NICAP by Sheriff Weir Clem and NICAP member James Lee, exactly as they were reported to the Air Force.”
J. Allen Hynek, The UFO Experience A Scientific Inquiry, 1972, Footnote #6 to chapter 10, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
There is much more to the story of James A. Lee and his research, but only a fraction of it was documented, mostly through newspaper stories. Thanks to the work of STTF’s Claude Falkstrom, we've pieced together a clearer picture of Lee and his UFO work.
A Student of the Universe
James A. Lee was born near Abilene, Texas, and had an interest in science and the mysteries of the universe. In 1929 he began selling healthcare accessories, and in 1941 opened the the Lee Medical Supply Company, which sold hearing aids, “rubber household gloves, walking canes and many other items, Lee was also a life-long amateur short-wave radio operator, from 1924 on his “ham” radio to communicate with others as far away as Hawaii.
James A. Lee, 1965
Lee was a member of the the Ancient and Mystic Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC). On their behalf, in 1933 Lee presented a copy of Rosicrucian Principles for the Home and Business to the local library to help spread the word. Lee’s studies over three decades of exotic books helped him develop a hypothesis for the origin of tornadoes in 1954. He was convinced that scientists were wrong about space being a vacuum, and that it was filled by Ether, the solvent of all matter. Tornadoes were leftover energy from God’s creation of the world: “When the earth was created, space or the ethers began to spin... this whirling element measured millions and millions of miles across. He went on to say that, “There is no such force as gravity... All things are forced to the earth by the vortex of ethers...” Therefore, when conditions were right, it was these whirling ethers that sometimes formed tornadoes.
Lee’s radio hobby developed into a network in the early 1950s “composed of hams (amateur radio operators) throughout the Southwest who are interested in technical and scientific data. Hams from at least 42 cities and towns take part in the information-swapping sessions which start a 9 p.m. Mondays. Lee was the informal leader of the group which “ delved into science, UFOs, astronomy and other related subjects.” They originally called themselves “The Screwball Net” for several years, but around 1955 adopted a new name, “The Interplanetary Space Patrol.”
Space and Saucers
Lee was a member of the National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), the relatively conservative UFO organization headed by retired Major Donald Keyhoe, the man who popularized the hypothesis that: flying saucers were real, they came for outer space, and that the US government covered it up. Lee followed Keyhoe’s lead, and he spoke about publicly about the UFO topic, including it in his lecture for the Hardin–Simmons University’s Science Club, “A Study of the Universe” on March 1, 1957.
Saucers were just part of Lee’s interest in space, though. In March 1957, he was seeing to gather thirty volunteersand $1,500 to establish a “Moonwatch station” in Abilene to monitor the planned US launch of earth satellites which were to begin launching in January 1958. The chairman of the Smithsonian Institute’s technical steering committee met with Lee in Abilene and added his support. Selection of volunteers began in April.
May took Lee back to the UFO business, and he travelled to George Van Tassel’s Interplanetary Spacecraft convention at Giant Rock in California. Contactee Howard Menger was one of the feature speakers, but James Lee wasn’t listening. According to theInternational News Service story published in The Tyler Morning Telegraph, May 5, 1957:
“James A. Lee of Abilene, Texas was cruising the desert area in his special car rigged with an ‘infrared beam’ detector designed to track spacecraft that may have been spying on the flying saucer meeting.” (More later about Lee’s “Space Wagon.”)
A Message from Space
The Soviets beat the US into space, and in October 4, James Lee was one of the ham radio operators listening to the transmitted beeps of the satellite Sputnik 1 as it orbited the earth. James A. Lee had a lecture on UFOs scheduled for Sunday Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. at the Terry County Amateur Radio Club at Brownfield, Texas. The night before, two space-related things happened. Sputnik 2 launched from Russia on November 3, 1957, and at almost the same time, one of the most famous UFO sightings occurred in the United States, in the Levelland, Texas area, just 29 miles away from whereLee was to lecture.
Late in the evening of November 2, 1957, several independent reports of a giant lighted object were phoned into the office of Sheriff Weir Clem in Levelland, Texas. Some of the callers reported that their vehicle’s engines were stopped during the sighting, apparently electromagnetic interference. Here’s a link to summary of the Levelland case hosted at the NICAP site. It’s by J. Allen Hynek from his 1972 book, The UFO Experience, pages 123-128.
Levelland Video from WKY-TV:
Sheriff Weir Clem and witness Newell Wright interviewed
On hearing of the UFO sightings, Lee rushed to Levelland and shadowed Sheriff Clem as he questioned the witnesses. Lee was interviewed for the radio and newspapers, and stories appeared in nationally via news services. Lee made the bold assertion that the Levelland UFO “was a space craft from one of the neighboring planets.” Lee phoned in a report to NICAP, and the case was the lead story in their magazine, The UFO Investigator, Jan. 1958.
“Unfortunately for Donald Keyhoe, the one NICAP investigator on the scene in Texas was a Mr. James Lee of Abilene. Lee was not the most objective UFO detective. Compounding the problem was the fact Lee headed his own UFO group, 'The Interplanetary Space Patrol,' a name which sounded like a TV show starring Captain Video. Lee was his own 'boss' thus hard to rein in. Statements on November 6th was more about "mass space ship" invasions then discussions of evidence, but while written documents by Lee may have to be treated with caution, it seems he and his fellow investigator Roger Bowen tape recorded interviews with Levelland witnesses, data of value if they are ever found in someone's attic today.”
The Ballinger UFO Investigation
Another UFO sighting in the area was discovered, one from Nov. 1, about 230 miles to thesoutheast of Levelland. A big mysterious light had been seen over an oil rig in Ballinger, Texas, and once again, Lee traveled to investigate.Loren Gross' UFOs: A History: 1957: November 7th-12thprovides clippings and commentary on the Ballinger UFO investigation.
“NICAP's James Lee rolled into Ballinger, Texas, on the 8th of November to gather more data. It was hard to miss Lee when he came to town. He drove a 1949 Cadillac with special control panel just above the dashboard. The panel was filled with gadgets, dials, and all sorts of controls. Lee nicknamed the vehicle the "Space Wagon." The controls were for more than just show. Lee had a complex short-wave radio transmitter in his car so he could communicate with other ham operators.
Lee had plenty of opinions about UFOs but that didn’t mean he was speaking with Keyhoe's blessing.”
A prime example of Lee speaking his opinions without NICAP's blessing from The Abilene Reporter-News, Nov. 9, 1957:
James A. Lee... whose hobby is the study of flying saucers makes these assertions he says are based on interviews with various witnesses of the saucer occurrences:
1. That "there is a probability something big will happen this month," as "indicated" by messages received from the unidentified flying objects by certain U.S. residents.
2. "Beings" in the saucers have learned English and their voices exist on recorded tapes in this country.
3. Saucers must be from other planets, possibly Mars or Venus, and the smaller saucers ostensibly sighted on earth are remotely-controlled by mother ships.
4. The Pentagon in Washington was deliberately “buzzed” by saucers several years ago.
The Abilene Reporter-News, Nov. 9, 1957
The Final Years
For some reason, by 1958 James Lee’s enthusiasm for the Moonwatch project died. He said, “I don’t think such a station is necessary now. You can see these satellites without using complicated equipment. Lee also had a negative opinion of rockets for space travel, saying, “They’re not practical for space travel.” He thought solar or magnetic powered flight was the way to go.
The Abilene Reporter-News, Feb. 2, 1958
Lee continued to lecture, speaking about astronomy, outer space, and sometimes, saucers. He continued to be a member of NICAP and responded to their 1961 request for ham radio operators to attempt the creation of a national “UFO Network,” similar to the one he ran in Texas.
NICAP’s The UFO Investigator, July-Aug. 1961
The Abilene Reporter-News, Jan. 1, 1965
Lee continued to be a UFO proponent, but was less active publicly. Due to health problems, Lee retired from his medical supply business in 1969. He died ten years later on September 5, 1979.
The July 7, 1965, Abilene Reporter-News contained a letter to the editor by Lee replying to a news story containing authorities' prosaic explanations for flying saucers. James A. Lee's last known comments on UFOs blasted the skeptics. “Weather balloons? How ridiculous can intelligent people be?
The Abilene Reporter-News, July 7, 1965 . . .
Sources, Clippings and Further Information
The most detailed news story on James A. Lee and his UFO work appeared in The Abilene Reporter-News, Nov. 6, 1957. The complete text follows.
Did Abilenian's Talk Bring Levelland ‘Saucer’?
By Warren Burkett, Reporter-News Staff Writer
The "dateline" is Abilene, Texas, November 6, 1957.
Here is the statement:
"We are referring to the statement of Dr. Donald Menzel of Harvard College Observatory. His remarks to the effect that the Texas 'Bright Lights' are nothing more than a mirage is, to say the least, ridiculous and not based on known facts.
"The days of the skeptics are numbered and they had better find a good place to hide away, for even the entire population of our large cities will see these ships as they come in from outer space. They will soon come in large numbers for all to see, and the skeptics will not have a leg left to stand on.
"There is no need for alarm over the situation at this time."
This statement, given Wednesday morning to one of the nation's news wire services, is signed: "Jim Lee, Director, Interplanetary Space Patrol."
Jim Lee, director, Interplanetary Space Patrol is James Lee of 1834 Bellinger St. in Abilene. He is a 57-year-old businessman, tall and grey-haired. He was born in the tiny community of Hodges about 15 miles north of Abilene. He is married and has two sons, went as far as the 10th grade in Hodges school, buys and reads every book published by Harvard University, talks about his family with loving pride, studies until midnight every night and sleeps beneath one of the largest headboard bookcases in existence reaching almost to the wall on either side of his bed.
He builds amateur radio sets and helped a blind man build and operate his own radio set and provides him with recorded tapes from the books in Lee's library He speaks in a calm reasonable fashion things. about the doggondest things.
He's currently in the news from Boston. Mass, to California be cause of the mysterious lights which were seen Saturday night and Sunday morning near Levelland, Tex. By 5 p.m. Sunday,Lee accompanied by blind Roger Bowen, 38, of Hodges, reached Levelland. There they interviewed all who had seen the lights, felt their effects and speculated on what they saw.
Lee is convinced these Levelland lights are a space ship from another planet. He notes that the glowing object was seen on four roads around Levelland. And being seen was the purpose of the visit from these interplanetary visitors, says Lee.
Lee says these aerial phenomena are often seen where Lee and others who believe like himself are scheduled to speak on 1. "unidentified flying objects," 2. visitors from outer space and 3. un known beings who direct the operation of the "lights in the sky" with a plan and a purpose.
Why should these "beings" make the "lights" appear near where they are to be discussed? "It's a mailer of conditioning the minds of the people," Lee says. "Remember," he declared, "I don't buy all these stories. That's the problem, we get took in quite often." But, says Lee, where there are qualified observers such as newsmen, law enforcement officers or reports confirmed by ship or airplane radar, he believes.
Why did the lights appear Saturday and Sunday? Lee was scheduled to deliver his illustrated lecture on "unidentified flying objects" to the Terry County Amateur Radio Club at Brownfield, 29 miles south of Levelland. Why did the "space ships" appear at Levelland instead of Brownfield? Lee says the roads are more traveled around Levelland, and the "lights" would be seen by more people.
And Lee's free lecture in this tiny radio club shack at Brownfield was delivered at 2 p.m. that Sunday afternoon, complete with his forecast that more of the objects would be sighted. About 150 persons heard him, Lee says.
Lee has been called by more than a dozen radio stations scattered all across the United States since he returned from Levelland, equipped with tape-recorded statements from the people who saw the lights.
"I can tell you it takes guts to say these things," Lee declares, "I'm hubbing up against the big shots now." He's contradicted statements from engineers and scientists including Dr. Donald H. Menzel, director of the Harvard College Observatory, a man big in Lee's own field of self-study for 20 years, astronomy. And that's about the same length of time he's been fascinated by the thoughts of space travel.
If Lee's contention that the mysterious lights are being used to condition the people of the world to the appearance of things from outer space, Abilene may see the lights next Monday night. That's the next meeting date for the Interplanetary Space Patrol, a group of 100 amateur radio operators who tune together around the world each Monday night at 9 p.m. and talk about space visitors. This Monday is the night when Lee's special guest will be Ray Stanford of Corpus Christi, a 19-year-old man who spotted a "flying saucer" on Padre Island, off Texas' Gulf Coast, in 1954.
The Project Blue Book file on the Levelland case makes no direct mention of James A. Lee, but it contains several news clippings featuring his investigation and opinions on the sighting.
A nationally syndicated news story by United Press reported on May 13, 1950 that a flying saucer had landed at a Texas airport, The witness was B. G. Hunter (probably Bobby Gene Hunter), age 21, the night service man for Tradewind Airport, which at the time was about a 640-acre airfield. While it was a single-witness case, there was trace evidence from the landing.
The story appeared in papers under various titles:
The Baytown Sun, May 13, 1950
“‘Saucer’ Lands at Airport”
The Shreveport Times, May 13, 1950
“Amarillo Worker Claims Saucer Landed at Field”
The Victoria Advocate, May 14, 1950
"Saucer Lands at Airport, Burns Grass"
The Shreveport Times, May 13, 1950
The Associated Press also ran a version of the story with several additional details including a direct quote from the witness describing the shape of the UFO.
The District Commander of the 11th OSI unit stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, immediately ordered agents to Amarillo, Texas to question the night serviceman at the Tradewinds Airport. It took something special to lure OSI investigators all the way to Amarillo but in this case the trip seemed worth the trouble.
Gross quotes the OSI report, which redacts the name of B. G. Hunter and the sleeping pilots:
I glanced aloft, and saw what appeared to be an exhaust flame approaching from the West-Southwest. I watched the approach of the flame until it passed overhead, and judged it's altitude to have been approximately 500 to 700 feet . I was mainly interested in it because it did not have any navigation lights and until then supposed it to be a plane.
After the object passed overhead, immediately returned to the main hangar, went inside and tried to awaken--- (deleted), a pilot employed by Tradewinds Airport, who was sleeping in the hangar. Being unable to awaken --- (deleted), I then returned to the front of the hangar, and saw the object approaching 200 to 300 miles per hour. I again went inside to try and awaken--- (deleted), and being unable to do so, returned to the front of the hangar. By that time the object had swerved to the right and was headed in the direction of English Field, North-East. Approximately five minutes later, I was going from the office, in the front of the hangar into the main hangar itself, and saw this brilliant light approaching from the West-North-West. I switched on the flood lights in the front of the hangar, and saw the object come to rest approximately three hundred feet in front of the hangar, on a grassy area . The approach of the object was accompanied by a slight swishing sound. By the time the object had landed, I had the flood lights on, and stepped outside the hangar to get a better view of the object.
It appeared to be flat on the bottom, but otherwise elliptical in shape, with a sharp cut off section toward the rear. The rear of the object was sharply cut away. It had a bubble setting forward on the top of the object, which appeared to be about the size of a football helmet. Toward the rear of the object was what appeared to be a pipe or tube protruding from the body of the craft, approximately one foot high. The object seemed to be sitting on the ground, and small exhaust flames were coming from the rear of the craft. While it sat on the ground, it seemed to be idling.
I again went inside the hangar to try and awaken --- (deleted), but being unable to do so, returned to the front of the hangar. The object remained on the ground for a period of three to five minutes, and after returning to the front of the hangar, I noticed the grass beneath the object beginning to smolder and burn. While watching the object, it suddenly raised, a whining sound was heard, accompanied by white flames, approximately three feet in length, shooting from the rear. After reaching a level of four feet, it then took off in a Southeasterly direction, with a terrific roar. The take-off was gradual, and it started off in a shallow climb until reaching the far side of the field, when it started a steep climb. It then leveled off, and seemed to turn, but without the bank of a conventional aircraft. It appeared to remain on an even keel while making the turn, and then proceeded to gain speed and momentum; headed in a Westerly direction, and with a sudden burst of speed was soon lost to sight.
I would estimate the size of the object to be approximately six to eight feet in length; from one and one-half to three feet tall at the highest point.
After taking off I noticed the grass where the object had been sitting was still burning. I took a fire extinguisher from the hangar, and used almost all of the contents in putting out the fire.
(Gross cites the source as: "Special Inquiry," by S/A Dale W. Dawson. DO #11 Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 18 May 50. Blue Book Files, OSI records.)
Tradewind Airport, circa 1955
What the OSI document fails to disclose is the extent of the examination, if the burned grass from the landing spot was tested, there’s no record of it. All we have is the testimony of Hunter, the lone witness.
A few years later, the excitement of the Levelland, Texas, sightings prompted a review of earlier cases in the Amarillo News-Globe, Nov. 10, 1957. B. G. Hunter told his story once again with a few additional details.
Hunter's sighting remains just as mysterious today. While the UFO doesn't sound particularly unearthly, the object described would have been too small to hold a human pilot. At the time, unmanned aircraft development was in its infancy; a remotely controlled jet landing and take off at night as described, is to say the least, improbable. The landing spot of the UFO may offer a clue, though. It was close to the airport offices where it could be seen. That would seem to indicate that the intelligence behind it was attempting to put on a show.
Everybody knows turtles don't fly--so what was that thing Mrs. Flora Rogers saw paddling through through the air over her West Texas ranch?
Newspaper clipping from Project Blue Book.
Stanton, Texas, about 100 miles south of Lubbock
The Abilene Reporter-News August 13, 1952
As with so many of the most interesting UFO cases featured here at The Saucers That Time Forgot, Project Blue Book has no file on this incident... but they do have a bad, faded copy of a news article with a drawing of the UFO. https://www.fold3.com/image/6996929
Gray Barker
It was left to ufologist Gray Barker in his historic 1956 book, They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers, to chronicle this event. He managed to stretch the newspaper story into three pages of his book, concluding his coverage thusly:
When pressed for an opinion as to what she thought the object represented, Mrs. Rogers hazarded a guess, but insisted it was only an idea she evolved while watching it."It must have been some sort of radar machine taking pictures of the ground beneath."
And so ended another flying saucer story few people would believe, except those who heard her tell it first hand, a story that would be discounted by the Air Force and forgotten by all but a few who had the temerity to collect and file away data on such unusual and unlikely events.
Welcome to The Saucers That Time Forgot, where we focus on the cases that UFO historians either missed, or would like to keep buried. Your hosts are Curt Collins and Claude Falkstrom, and our first case is from Amarillo, Texas, 1950, about a boy who made contact with a flying saucer:
The first report of a UFO burning a witness seems to be this April 8. 1950 CE2 case from Amarillo, Texas. According to the story, David Lightfoot, age 12, and his brother Charles age 9, saw an object land behind a hill, and they were able to walk up to it. Davidreached out: "My fingers just barely touched it and it felt slick, sorta like a snake would. It was hot, too." It sped off toward northeast, and after the encounter, David's face and arms became red with welts.
Amarillo Sunday News Globe, April 9, 1950.
The Unbeliever
The man who told the world that Flying Saucers are real did not want to believe. In Flying Saucers from Outer Space, while discussing the Sonny Desvergers 1952 Florida Scoutmaster case, Major Donald Keyhoe noted:
"However, there had been one other case where a saucer was said to have burned an observer. Two boys at Amarillo, Texas, had reported seeing a small disc land near them, its top section still spinning. When one boy touched it, the rotating part speeded up, throwing off a hot gas or spray. Then the disc took off with a whistling sound and quickly disappeared.
To back up this incredible story, the boy displayed some odd red spots on his face and arms. Later I was told that Intelligence had made no investigation; apparently they believed the story had been made up to cover some childish prank which had caused the burns. It sounded like a logical answer."
As with so many of the most interesting UFO cases featured here at The Saucers That Time Forgot, Project Blue Book has no file on this incident.
