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THE
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO March 3, 1952
Colonel Doyle Rees Dear Colonel Rees You no doubt recall the investigation carried out jointly by the 17th District OSI Office and the Institute of Meteoritics in the Mescalero-Apache Reservation. Our guide on the field trip made through the Reservations was Mr. Charles Milligan [Milliken], who was on leave from his engineering work with the Lockheed Corporation in California. I have just had a long distance phone call from Mr. Milligan, informing me that a group of engineers and scientists which he recently helped organize have a new and very interesting approach to the green fireball problem which has long been a matter of concern to you and me. Mr. Milligan and his associates are anxious to discuss this matter with agents of the OSI. I have promised to bring this matter to your attention at the Washington office in the hope that you would be able to arrange for OSI agents to communicate with the secretary of Mr. Milligan's group, namely, Mr. William M. Thompson, 8054 Laurel Grove, North Hollywood, California. Lt. Paul Ryan, with whom we several times cooperated in the Roswell area, is personally acquainted with Mr. Milligan and was responsible for Milligan's acting as guide during the Mescalaro search. I mention this so that if you desire, you can question Lt. Ryan before taking action on Milligan's request. Recently we have had several reports of remarkable fireball phenomena in the East, one coming from Colonel J. K. Caldara, USAF Joint Strategic Plans Group, Room 2E-973, The Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington 25, D. C. I incline to the belief that the fireballs observed in the East are not of the green variety, but probably result from genuine meteorite falls. With every good wish to you and highest personal regards, I remain
March 11, 1952
Dr. Lincoln LaPaz
Dear Dr. LaPaz, I enjoyed very much receiving your letter of 3 March 1952 and learning that the fireball phenomena is still continuing. I often think of the great assistance you so willingly gave me during that investigation. I have lost contact entirely since I came to Washington. I do not know how much help it would be to Mr. Milligan [Milliken] to talk with OSI Agents on the subject, because as you know, the investigative reports are classified. However, this is a matter he should take up with the District Commander in the area concerned. I expect to be in the 18th OSI District at Cheli Air Force Specialized Depot, Post Office Box 310, Maywood, California (part of Los Angeles) during the period 24 March through 5 April. I will be pleased to talk with Mr. Milligan or any member of the group during that time. However, as I pointed out previously, in view of the fact that the project is classified in our files, there would be very little I could discuss with him. If you wish to pass this on to Mr. Milligan, it may be of some help to him. I am interested in the fact that they are going to initiate a study, but somehow I feel that a study of this nature cannot be successful if conducted on part time basis or as an extracurricular activity. Let me again express my appreciation for your assistance to me while I was District Commander, 17th OSI District.
P.S. Life Magazine representative spent some time with me recently. Same subject. Advised me he had talked with you also.
* Charles Smyth Milliken, Design
Engineer at Lockheed Aircraft Corp., Burbank, Calif. – Back To LaPaz Letter |
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