Having seen the wreckage in the rear of the ambulance and
believing there had been an accident, he asked another officer in the
hospital if there had been a plane crash. The officer, whom Dennis had
never seen before, asked him: “Who in the hell are you?’ When he
responded he was “from the funeral home,” the officer summoned two
MPs to escort him from the hospital.14
However, before Dennis and the two MPs had left the hospital,
he heard someone say, “We’re not through with that SOB, bring him back
here.“15When Dennis turned around, he observed a redheaded captain (in
one version of these events Dennis is quoted as describing this person as a
“big redheaded colonel”‘6) hw o said, “You did not see anything. There was
no crash here. You don’t go into town making any rumors that you saw
anything or that there was any crash... you could get in a lot of trouble.“”
Angry about being called an SOB, Dennis informed the
redheaded officer that he was a civilian, not under his authority, and that he,
the redheaded offtcer, “can’t do a damn thing to me.“l* The redheaded officer
was alleged to have threatened Dennis by responding “Oh yes we can”...
“Somebody will be picking your bones out of the sand”...“We can do
anything to you...” That we want to.“‘9 A black sergeant, whom Dennis
recalled had accompanied the redheaded offtcer, allegedly stated he would
“make real good dog food.“20 Following this exchange, Dennis claimed he
was “picked up...arm and arm” and escorted back to his place of business
by two MPsZ’
The following day, July 8, 1947, Dennis attempted to telephone the
nurse he had seen in the hall at the hospital to find out “what was going on.“22
He stated that he was unable to reach the nurse but did reach another nurse,
a ‘Captain Wilson,” who explained to him that the nurse he was trying to
contact was not on duty, but “Wilson” would give her a message to call him.23
The nurse called Dennis later that same day at the funeral home where he
worked and agreed to meet with him at the officers club at Roswell AAF
that afternoon.24
When the two met, the nurse appeared disturbed and ill.25 Dennis
asked her to explain what was going on when they met in the hospital the
day before. The nurse explained that, in the course of her normal duties,
she entered an examining room to get some supplies and encountered
two doctors whom she did not recognize that “supposedly were doing a
preliminary autopsy” on “three,” “very mangled,” “black,” “little bodies.“26
The doctors requested the nurse remain in the room because they needed her
assistance.*’ She allegedly explained that there was a terrible odor in the
room that made both her and the doctors il1.28 Due to this terrible odor and
inadequate ventilation, the nurse allegedly told Dennis that the autopsies
were moved to another facility on the base and then “everything” was taken
to “Wright Field” (now Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio).29
The nurse described the little bodies in detail and even provided a
diagram.jO She described “little bodies” three to four feet in length that had
large, “flexible,” heads, and concave eyes and noses. 31