And here's something Exon said on the tape, which wasn't quoted in Randle's book. Kevin asks, referring to stories we've all heard about alien corpses at WrightPatterson: "You've heard the rumors about the little bodies, haven't you?" "Yes, I have," answers Exon. "In fact, I know people that were involved in photographing some of the residue from the New Mexico affair near Roswell." [My emphasis.] Here's something else, about how Exon knows that there were alien bodies from Roswell at Wright-Patterson: "People I have known who were involved with that" told him so. [Sandow’s emphasis.]
Look back at the quote Kal thinks is so damning: 'We heard the material was coming to Wright Field….It was brought into our material evaluation labs. I don't know how it arrived but the boys who tested it said it was very unusual.' Exon described the materiaclass="underline" '[Some of it] could be easily ripped or changed….there were other parts of it that were very thin but awfully strong and couldn't be dented with very heavy hammers….It was flexible to a degree,' and, according to Exon, 'some of it was flimsy and was tougher than hell and almost like foil but strong. It had them pretty puzzled.'"
Given the full context of Exon's remarks…and bearing in mind everything I've quoted from Kevin's interview with him….isn't it clear (a) that Exon certainly thought he knew quite a bit (even if not first hand) about the subjects he was quoted on, that (b) he says quite clearly that he'd talked to people who were involved first-hand, and (c) that therefore the passage Kal quotes from Kevin's book is really quite reasonable in both its tone and content? I don't think it misrepresents Exon at all. (Here's another quote from Exon, from the tape: "Most of the people you're talking to are a little bit like me. Close enough to know that there was something happening. They had no direct responsibility for any of it." Anyone who reads the complete sections on Exon from Randle's books will, I think, form exactly that impression.)
And now let's take a closer look at what Exon actually said. Let me say again that I've done more than read Kevin's two Roswell books (and, by the way, the second, which Kal doesn't mention at all, has additional material that continues to make it clear that Exon wasn't speaking first-hand). I've listened on tape to the interview Kevin quotes, and read Kevin's entirely accurate transcript.
What does Exon say? Taking account the full text of the interview, and the full extent of accurate quotes from it in Kevin's book, including many things I haven't mentioned here yet:
1. Exon says he believes the Roswell crash was extraterrestrial. ("Roswell was the recovery of a craft from space.")
2. He says he knows that debris from the crash was studied at Wright-Patterson, and that the debris was extremely unusual. His description matches that of alleged first-hand witnesses.
3. He says that "apparently" there were bodies found, and that they were located at "another location," or in other words not at the location of the metallic debris. The main body of the craft, he says, was also found there. (What he means by "apparently" isn't clear. He says this, however, just after he talks about what people have told him about the metallic debris. It seems reasonable to assume the same people told him about the bodies. Note that Exon's mention of "another location" supports Kevin's thesis of two crash sites. When you hear the interview on tape, it's clear that Exon says this all on his own. Randle hasn't even brought up the topic.)
4. He says the bodies were brought to WrightPatterson.
5. He says he flew over the Roswell crash site, and saw the "gouge" the crashed object made in the ground. (Kal, rather oddly, mentions this elsewhere in his book, but doesn't dispute it — or, in fact, even mention it — in the passage I'm discussing, which is his major examination of Exon's role as a Roswell witness. I can assure everyone that Exon indeed did say this. I heard him say it on the tape.)
6. He says there was a coverup. In fact, he calls it (on the tape) "a national coverup project."
7. He talks about which government officials served, in his opinion, on a secret UFO project.
8. He talks about a secret Air Force team that investigated UFO events. This is first-hand knowledge. He dispatched the planes that flew the team to the events they investigated.
It's also notable that he brings up Roswell all by himself. Kevin didn't know he knew about it. Kevin's only thought was to talk to someone who'd been at WrightPatterson about the rumors of crash debris there. Let me repeat a passage from the tape that I quoted earlier. Kevin asks, referring to stories we've all heard about alien corpses at Wright-Patterson: "You've heard the rumors about the little bodies, haven't you?"
"Yes, I have," answers Exon. "In fact, I know people that were involved in photographing some of the residue from the New Mexico affair near Roswell." This is the first mention of Roswell in the interview….and it comes from Exon.
Is all of this remarkable? Of course it is. An Air Force general, whose assignment at Wright-Patterson suggests he might have been in a position to know what he was talking about, says, in great detail, that he thinks the Roswell crash was real. This is big news. Does Kal give any hint of how big the news is? Not at all. In fact, his book raises a screaming, unspoken question. Suppose Kal's right to say that Kevin exaggerated Exon's knowledge. That doesn't change the fact that Exon really believed the Roswell crash was alien. Why, then, did Exon believe that? How deeply did he believe it? Does he believe it still? Aren't these the basic questions here? Why doesn't Kal seem even remotely interested in them?
One last point. Kal says that Exon doesn't stand behind what Kevin and Don Schmitt wrote. And sure enough, he has a quote from a letter [Exon] wrote to Randle: "Further, you both [Randle and Schmitt] likely recall on many occasions during my visits with you in person and on the phone…that I did not know anything firsthand. Although I believe you did quote me accurately, I do believe that in your writings you gave more credence and impression of personal and direct knowledge that [sic — I think he means "than"] my recordings would indicate on their own! I felt that throughout the portions where my name was used." Fine. Let's forget for a moment that Exon might have every reason to back off from what he'd said — he'd been talking out of school, and someone might have firmly told him so — and assume he really stands behind this criticism. He truly thinks Schmitt and Randle exaggerated his direct involvement. But he also says they quoted him accurately! In other words, he doesn't challenge their assertions that he thought the crash was extraterrestrial, that he'd heard the metallic debris was really changed, that he'd heard there were bodies, that he believed there was a coverup, that he believed top government officials were involved in a secret UFO committee, and that he himself had dispatched planes on secret UFO-related missions. If he's not challenging all of that, then his words to Kevin are the mildest of rebukes. If this relatively minor point is the full extent of his disagreement with the things about him in the book, isn't he in effect endorsing everything important that Schmitt and Randle said?
It should be noted here that Greg Sandow did visit me in my home and that I provided him with full access to all the notes, files and recordings that I had about the case simply because I have nothing to hide about it. Many of the debunker attacks are launched with information that I have provided in an attempt to be honest with the direction of the investigation. Without that, they would never have had some of the information about my work that they do. They would never know, for example, about the letter that Exon wrote to me because it came to me and it was clear from Exon that he had not made a copy of it. This demonstrates that I have been careful in what I said about Exon and his testimony.