"The Truth" Capter 3 - The Discovery

North Fort Training Area, RAAF, 20:00 hrs, 2nd of July 1947.

Bryan was making his way as fast as he could to the border of the ranch. He was in a M151, ¼ ton Jeep with a soft top and no doors, the standard patrol vehicle for the MPs at the RAAF. He was thanking God that he had elected to reassign his partner tonight as his route was taking him to areas outside the post that he had only been to on horseback and he would not have attempted to go there in a jeep had he been responsible for someone else’s safety.

Thinking back about 4 1/2 hours ago to the Guard Mount, or Patrol Inspection, prior to the beginning of the shift, Bryan had indeed had himself a partner. Because Bryan had some personal things he wanted to do while on patrol, and because he had some serious thoughts he needed to mull over without having to explain himself to a partner, Bryan decided that he wanted to work alone this evening. He picked a Supernumerary; it’s the glorified name for a soldier that was at the top of the bunch for the evening. The soldier in his platoon that looked the sharpest and had adequately but professionally answered all the questions posed to him during the inspection. Bryan picked the soldier with the best shined boots and sharpest uniform and gave him the day off. Bryan’s scheduled partner took this soldier’s place in the patrol lineup.

On any given patrol shift here at the RAAF there were 7 two man patrols and a patrol supervisor. The Patrol Sup could be either a one or two man patrol depending on the strengths of the platoon on duty. As the Sr. Ranking Squad Leader, Bryan had the responsibility as Patrol Sup for Swing Shift tonight. They were assigned duties based on Platoon number. Right now, in the Rotation 2nd Platoon, his platoon had the Swing shift, 16:00 – Midnight. 1st Platoon had Mid Shift, Midnight – 08:00, and 3rd Platoon had the Day Shift, 08:00 – 16:00. 4th Platoon was in a training cycle and had deployed for a field training exercise to North Fort Training area. If the reports they had received from the public were accurate, 4th Platoon would be in the general vicinity of the projected crash area.

It never ceased to amaze Bryan how a situation can change in a matter of hours. Now, Bryan was moving cross country, through the New Mexico Desert in a jeep at its top speed with one canteen of water, a .45 cal pistol, seven rounds of ammunition, and the most desperate thoughts running through his mind. You see, Bryan was very worried. He knew his father sometimes travels out this direction when he first takes off to ride fence. But 5 hours ago Bryan’s situation was quite different.

Bryan had called his mother Sarah before he left the barracks, at 15:00 hrs this afternoon for work at the the MP Station. He had asked her if they were still having the annual Bar-B-Q on the Ranch for the 4th. Bryan had wanted to bring a few of his friends and wanted to make sure it was OK with his parents before he made the invitations. His mother had squealed with joy at his request. In her excitement she said that Rick, his Father, had set out early this morning to ride fence. And that he would be back tomorrow. She was so excited that he was coming home for the holiday. It had been a long time since the entire Foster Clan was together in one place for anything, and the 4th of July BBQ was always so much fun. Sarah had promised to make Bryan his favorite desert, cherry pie, if he made it for dinner tomorrow. He laughed and readily agreed as his mouth watered when he heard her say cherry pie. His mother was very happy when he ended his call with an "I Love You Mom", and hung up the phone, and as a matter of fact, so was he.

Bryan had been in the Transit Barracks when this whole mess had started. He was about three hours into his shift, and had finished the personal business he had needed to get done. He was talking with a group of his coworkers and friends in the dayroom when all hell had broken lose. They were standing watching, and critiquing, the game of pool being played when the earthquake hit. It moved the balls on the table and made everyone look around to find cover.

Then the radio traffic started spouting about some kind of Plane Crash. As it was not really busy tonight, all the Patrols were requesting permission to join the search for the crash site. Bryan had to immediately respond to the requests with a net call over all the radio frequencies they operated from, and issue a directive to the patrols. He would send one patrol north to the reported area and he ordered the others to remain in their assigned patrol areas. He would also be enroute to the reported crash site, as he was pretty familiar with that area. He remembered the last time he had been up there. with a chesser cat grin, he quietly said a girls name, and then looked around and checked to see if anyone had heard him or was watching him.

His father had taken him through that general area many times while they rode the fence line and tended to the ranch when he was growing up. Since he was his own man now and was always on the lookout for a quite out of the way place to take his girlfriends, he had taken advantage of this place and taken a pretty little blond girl named Bree Olson, into that remote area on horseback one weekend, to a little spot his father always camped at during his rides. He and Bree had planned on doing a little camping of their own. He had taken her there shortly after getting assigned to the RAAF and felt somewhat uncomfortable there, like his father was somehow watching him. As he refocused on the situation unfolding now, he thought, that is a story he would think about at another time.

Bryan thought about calling to see if Sean was on duty, He wanted to invite him to the ranch for the BBQ anyway, and he figure he might be able to get some additional information about the crash. But after thinking about it, he then decided against it. He figured that if Sean was working he would be way to busy to talk. He would head out immediately instead. He could get the information from the Desk Sgt by radio while enroute. He would invite Sean to the ranch later, after his shift ended tonight. If Sean wasn’t working, then Bryan would find him after work or wake him up and maybe they could play a couple of games of pool on the table in the dayroom to wind down. But right now, Bryan was concerned that this thing might have actually crashed on the Ranch, so he didn’t waste anymore time.

He jumped in his jeep and headed north out of the post gate, and into the North Fort Training Area. This area is an open stretch of desert that went for what seemed like forever. Bryan had traveled cross country for about an hour and a half, occasionally getting radio reports from the Desk Sgt and stopping to check his bearing. He had lost radio contact with the other patrol about 10 minutes ago, mid transmission due to static.

Western Border Fence Line of the Foster Ranch, 23:00 hrs, 2nd of July 1947.

Bryan crested the top of a small ridge and saw the fence line about twenty yards in front of him. He knew that he was still too far south and turned left. He decided he would follow the fence line until he came to a place he had repaired a few of years ago, where all four strands of wire had been broken from a tree falling over and collapsing the fence. He would be able to open the wire drive the jeep through the fence and then quickly repair it the same way he had done before.

He thought about going in on foot but then thought that the pioneer tools on the Jeep may come in handy. These tools are standard vehicle inventory on the M151, they consist of a shovel, a pick, an axe, pry bar and a pick handle. The vehicle also has standard tools like a screwdriver, hammer, wrenches and tire tools. In addition to the tools the vehicle may come in handy as a mobile command post, someplace to lay maps out and direct operations from. He thought he should not separate from it at this point.

Bryan had just gone through a small stream when he spotted a soldier off to the right side of him. He was over the fence on the ranch waving and yelling to get his attention. It was one of the members of 4th Platoon. As Bryan came to a stop the soldier went between the wire by holding one strand and ducking under another. He approached Bryan and asked where he had come fromand if he had any information. Bryan recognized him; his name was Frank Cortez, he was a short muscular fellow. He had grown up in Florida, but it was said that his family was originally from one of the Caribbean islands. He was a likeable enough fellow, but not much of a pool player, though he tried and he really enjoyed the game. That is how Bryan had met him; they had played a few games together in the day room. Frank asked Bryan what he new about the Plane. And Bryan said that the reports were that it was a fast mover and crashed somewhere close by. Bryan asked where his Platoon Sgt was and Frank said His squad had been sent out from the Platoon CP (command post) a few miles away, to investigate.

Then from behind him Bryan heard a noise and turned to see the rest of Frank's squad approaching. He recognized Mike Slager, one of 4th Platoons Squad leaders, and one of Bryan’s peers. They exchanged greetings and immediately briefed each other on what they knew, which wasn’t much at this point as the 4th had just arrived on foot. Slager told Bryan they had lost their radio communications a while ago because of static. They were trying to re-establish communications, so they could request permission to leave the training area, and enter private property. Mike had sent Frank over the wire as a scout to see if anyone was around, but didn’t want to put the entire squad in jeopardy, for trespassing. Mike spouted off about the ranchers in this area not taking to well to strangers on there land especially armed soldiers. Mike figured it was safer for them on this side of the wire until they got permission to proceed so they wouldn’t be accused of rustling and shot on site from the owner of the land.

Bryan said “well being that this ranchland belongs to my family, I’m sure we won’t have that problem”. Mike looked at Bryan as if he had three eyes and asked if he was serious. Bryan sheepishly said yes and started to explain the plan of where they would cross the fence. Bryan took charge with Mike's blessing, and set the rally point (RP) approximately 1 1/2 miles up the fence line. Mike assigned one of his team leaders to bring the squad at a forced march to the RP and climbed in the jeep with Bryan.

They took off to the RP with the squad of 14 following them. When they were out of earshot from the rest of the squad, Mike told Bryan that they had seen the flaming craft shoot through the sky as it passed the Platoon CP. “It was huge “said Mike. “It was moving so fast that when it hit the ground it felt like an earthquake”. Mike said if he hadn’t been already sitting in his foxhole he would have ended up being thrown on his backside as most of his platoon had been. This resulted in a few minor injuries in his Platoon, a couple of broken bones and one soldier had a concussion from a tent pole hitting him in the head while he was getting some shut eye. Bryan told Mike that they had felt it all the way back at the Post. “Bryan, it was as big as anything I have ever seen at the airfield. It was much bigger than the bombers”, Mike explained. Mike shared his suspicion that it was an experimental aircraft, some new weapons platform or something that had not been shared with the rest of the world yet. He said “If they had a full crew we could be looking at a dozen or more casualties, and if there was anyone in the area where it hit maybe more.” Bryan tensed in fear for his dad’s safety.

“How come you never told me you were from around here?” Mike Asked as they drove. Bryan made some lame excuse about him not wanting people to know he was a local. But the truth was that Bryan really didn’t know Mike that well. He didn’t know what kind of person he really was. They didn’t have the same interests or hang out with the same people. Mike was a Gear Head, he liked cars and engines. That just wasn't Bryan’s cup of joe. Bryan liked the excitement of the chase, he liked the hustle, and he loved the intricasies of the game of pool. Whether he was chasing girls or bad guys Bryan, loved to use his head to try and figure people out. They were way too different from each other to be close friends.

They came to the Rally Point, and Bryan was right on track, he knew exactly where he was. There was a thin smoke and a strange odor in the air that seemed to cover this whole area. The fence was taken down and they had the vehicle through before the rest of the squad caught up. Bryan assigned a member of the squad to guard the hole in the fence and should the need arise, to keep the cows from getting out. And they moved into the ranch.

They had moved about 1000 yards when the smoke got heavier. It wasn’t as bad as it would have been during a wild fire but looked as though a fire had been put out for about two days and was still smoldering. It was in the air but didn’t really block their view. They spread out into a moving Squad V formation with the vehicle at the apex. All the grass and trees seemed to have been through a fast moving wild fire. They were scorched and smoking but not burnt completely. This whole pasture area would surely have to be cleared and set ablaze when it was safe to do so, to prevent a wild fire environment or an actual unplanned fire. Probably wouldn't be safe to do until winter though. Then come spring, this grass would be new and tender. The cows would soon love this whole area.

Bryan still smelled the strange odor; it was reminiscent of burnt fuel of some kind, and it was getting stronger. He checked the direction of the breeze and decided to enter the area from up wind allowing the gentle breeze to blow the smoke and fumes away from them, though it really wouldn’t matter as it seemed to be everywhere across this pasture.

They proceeded into what appeared to be the general impact area. They parked the Vehicle and moved out on foot. They had moved about 50 yards when one of the men to the left yelled that he saw something. They went to investigate and discovered a charred dead cow. This cow had been severely burnt and mangled. Its eyes were ruptured which means the heat was explosive and intense enough to flash boil the liquid inside the eyeballs. As they proceeded they began to find more cattle in the same if not worse condition. Then they spotted the crash site. Bryan ordered them to set up a parameter around the site at an interval where they could maintain visual contact with the men to either side of them.

As they circled the site, one man yelled for assistance, and then screamed a blood curdling scream. Bryan and Mike went to his aid at a sprint. When they got to him he was on his hands and knees crawling away from an object in the singed brown grass. They got to him and asked what was wrong what had he found. He couldn’t speak, he was in a panic, all he did was point at the charred lump in the grass. Bryan, being somewhat prepared to find another mangled cow went to the thing in the grass. As he got close enough to see what it was he stopped and drew his pistol. Mike, following him, got a look over Bryan’s arms as he held the pistol aiming at the thing they were looking at. After a few minutes, as the shock began to ware off, He said to Bryan calmly, “Bryan I don’t think that thing is alive. It’s so charred, it’s not moving and it’s missing a leg”. He calmly tapped Bryan’s arms and told him to holster his pistol. Bryan did as he was told and they approached the Body laying before them.

It was about 4 1/2 feet long. It had a head the size of a large oblong pumpkin and it was kind of a pale gray with a green tint to it. The eyes were large, black, and evenly spaced on the head but spaced wider than a human’s eyes would have been. Its nose was missing and looked as though it had been torn off in the crash. A hole was in its place and a green ooze was emanating from the orifice. What was left of the body was clothed in a light green jumpsuit of some kind. Though one of its legs was missing the other was still fully covered, as was half of its upper body. Bryan knelt down beside it, being careful not to touch it. He noticed that the parts of this body that were exposed were charred severely, but the parts that were still cover by the jump suit and the suit itself were completely undamaged by the heat. The smells from this whole area were an assault to his senses. He felt like his stomach was going to release its contents. He was fighting the urge to vomit, when someone to his right yelled that they found a live one.

Bryan and Mike leapt up and sprinted in the direction of the yell. They both had weapons ready as they approached the soldier and the body leaning up against a small tree. As they approached Bryan could make out what appeared to be long legs moving and covered in what looked like blue denim jeans. Then he recognized the footwear as pointed leather cowboy boots. As he stepped next to the soldier who was knelt down beside this body, Bryan looked down and yelled “Dad!”

(To be continued)