Mystery Of San Leon UFO Crash Grows
Whatever it was that crashed to Earth in San Leon on September 24th, it has generated a lot of interest from the United States government and from private investigative groups. In fact, motels in the area are practically filled with researchers and bureaucrats from all over the country.
The known facts are that on the evening of September 24th, several witnesses saw a fiery object moving at a high rate of speed fall from the sky and land in a cow pasture at 18th Street and Broadway. This occurred just after 5:30 pm.
The object reportedly exploded in a fireball upon impact, setting the field afire. The first responders to arrive were the San Leon Volunteer Fire Department. They were reportedly unaware of what had started the blaze, but battled flames that threatened to get out of control in the dry gusty conditions on that date. They finally brought the blaze under control at about 7 pm. The fire covered about 60 acres of pasture, and no buildings were destroyed.
At first. Assistant Fire Chief Scott Lyons was very cooperative, telling us that the object might have been a meteorite, or part of a falling satellite. We published that information in our last issue.
Since then, Lyons and other officials won’t speak “on the record” about the incident, saying they cannot comment on cases that are still under investigation. They were unable to disclose exactly what is under investigation, or even whether there is any investigation regarding the incident.
In the meanwhile, a team of scientists from the NASA Space Center visited the scene the morning after the fire, and closed the area off with yellow crime scene warning tape. They encamped at the spot for two days, and – judging from the mess they left behind – removed a large amount of dirt from the site.
Unmarked helicopters, presumably military, have also been seen hovering above the site and flying around it on several occasions recently.
A neighbor who asked not to be named, wrecker service owner Sam Adams, said that at one point a member of the NASA crew at the site asked him to bring a winch and assist in loading a truck with some debris from the site.
Adams said he was not able to see what was loaded into the flatbed truck, as it was wrapped up and tied inside of a large tarpaulin. He said whatever it was weighed 600-800 pounds, and was approximately the size of a grand piano.
The NASA crew at the site was wearing white-colored hazmat safety suits, but Adams said they appeared to be wearing US Air Force uniforms underneath. The one who requested Adams help had an eagle insignia, indicating the rank of Colonel.
“They paid me $100 cash, and I wrote them a receipt. It took about 30 minutes start to finish” Adams reported.
Two days later, after the NASA team had left, there were more visitors poking around in the cow pasture.
On September 27th, a group of at least 5 civilian researchers arrived from New Mexico. We know this because they checked into a local motel, and their vehicles all had “Land Of Enchantment” license plates. Dianna Reyes of San Leon reported to the Seabreeze on October 30th that she had spoken with a female college student from the group who said they were investigating the crash of a UFO in San Leon. She met the woman at Sullivan Pharmacy in Bacliff on the 28th.
Reyes said she had not read the story in our last issue, and knew nothing about any UFO crash until later when she told her husband about it. He then told her about the fire, and the meteorite theory that had been published in the newspaper.
The following day, Reyes also told her boyfriend, who encouraged her to contact us and KHOU News in Houston.
Reyes said that the young woman she met was very enthusiastic about whatever had happened in San Leon. “She sounded pretty sure that it was a UFO that crashed, and that the government had taken away the evidence.”
Other civilian investigators have also turned up at the site, which is now the subject of several internet web pages. One refers to it as “Area 52 – San Leon Texas” while another claims that tiny bits of debris have been found which are unlike any known objects – tiny bits of a very light metallic substance.
One UFO blogger who claimed to have visited the site said that readings taken with a magnometer indicate that there was a tremendous amount of energy released at the point of impact. He claims the readings were what might be expected at the site of a large explosion created by a bomb, missile, or comet. “This release of energy was very concentrated and powerful, much greater than would be seen in the case of a meteor or space debris” he concluded.
This is confirmed by eyewitness Jerry Long of San Leon, who saw the object fall and the subsequent explosion, then dialed 9-1-1. “I saw it fall out of the corner of my eye, I didn’t really get a good look. But as I turned that way, it hit the ground and blew up like a huge bomb. The ground shook. The flames shot out in every directions for hundreds of feet. I fell down on the ground, I was so startled and shaken.”
Our attempts to get some comment from NASA was unsuccessful. We were referred to the Public Affairs Officer at the Johnson Space Center, Michael Kincaid, who said the only thing he had the authority to do would be to send us a brochure about the Space Center and Museum and tours.
“Speaking off the record, and not for publication” Kincaid said, “I can tell you that the object seen by the witnesses in San Leon was most likely a reflection of swamp gases caused by decaying vegetation in the nearby bayou.”
The UFO/Roswell community is astir about what happened in San Leon on September 24th, and they are clearly not buying the meteor theory. “What did they remove from the site? Why did they do so?” asks Leon Baine, author of a book called “One Thousand Tomorrows” – a book about the government policy toward UFOs that was framed during the Eisenhower years. Baine says that the government still uses the “deny and attack” policy adopted over 50 years ago. “They deny everything, and attack the witnesses. It‘s the official policy” he stated.
As we go to press, another small group of civilian researchers has arrived in San Leon, where they are interviewing all of the witnesses and photographing the site of the crash.
ALMOST FORGOTTEN: This is not the first time San Leon has made the news regarding possible UFO activity. This snapshot was taken in 1968 by a San Leon resident, the late Henry Janner. Janner reported sighting this unidentified flying object near his business, Captain Henry’s on Bayshore Drive, on August 2, 1968. Janner’s photograph was first published in the August 5, 1968 edition of the Houston Tribune. According to the caption published with the photo, a group of approximately 30 people also claimed they saw the object.
