the Aztec story, Behind the F/yip Suucer.? bears many similarities to the
Roswell Incident. most notably, descriptions of covert “flying saucer” and
“little men” recoveries interspersed with doses of unsubstantiated accusations
directed at the U.S. Air Fo~e.~~
In his book, Sadly claimed he had information from two scientists, Silas
M. Newton and a mysterious “Dr. Gee.” who he claimed investigated the crash
for the government. O’ In reality, Newton and Gee were con-men who convinced
Scully of the story’s authenticity.“’
Intrigued by the sensational claims made in Behind the Flying Srrucer~r,
a reporter for the San Frmcisco Chronirlr, J. P. Cahn, decided to look into
the matter. What resulted from Cahn’s research were articles in the September
1952 and August 1956 edition of True magazine which determined that the
story was as “phony as a headwaiters bow and smile.“O”
Cahn, with the assistance of a magician, devised a plan to “sting” the
two con-men.“‘To execute the sting, he used sleight of hand switching an
“indestructible” metal disk, claimed to be from a flying saucer, with a slug of
his own manufacture. After the switch, Cahn submitted the disk to a laboratory
for analysis revealing that they were of earthly origin, in particular, a grade of
aluminum used to manufacture pots and pans!”
Even with the exposure of this obvious fraud, the Aztec story is still
revered by UFO theorists. Elements of this story occasionally reemerge and are
thoueht to be the catalwt for other crashed flying saucer stories, including the
Roswell Incident,
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