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From the High Desert book cover

From the High Desert

A Cultural History of Art Bell

Thumbnail for July 4, 1997: Beyond Roswell - Michael Hesemann | UFO Crash Site Debris - Linda Moulton Howe

July 4, 1997: Beyond Roswell - Michael Hesemann | UFO Crash Site Debris - Linda Moulton Howe

Jul 4, 1997
2h 49m
0:00 / 0:00
Art Bell broadcasts live on Independence Day with reporter Linda Moulton Howe calling in from Roswell, New Mexico. Howe covers a groundbreaking press conference where Dr. Russell Vernon Clark of UC San Diego presents isotope ratio analysis of a mysterious fragment. The nearly pure silicon piece contains trace amounts of zinc, nickel, silver, and germanium, all with ratios that do not match any known terrestrial source. Paul Davids explains that replication tests through Stanford University confirmed the findings.

German researcher Michael Hesemann joins from Roswell to discuss his book Beyond Roswell and his investigation of the Santilli alien autopsy film. Having communicated extensively with filmmaker Ray Santilli, Hesemann reports that chemical analysis of the film stock confirms it dates to the 1940s. He notes that pathologists worldwide have identified the subject as a real biological entity rather than a dummy. Hesemann contrasts the serious scientific coverage of UFOs in Europe with the pop-culture treatment the subject receives in American media.

Art also touches on the successful Mars Pathfinder landing earlier that day, praising NASA for the mission while setting up a later discussion with Richard C. Hoagland about the significance of the Pathfinder images and the questions they raise.

Key Moments

  1. Vernon-Clark unveils Roswell fragment isotope analysis: Linda Moulton Howe reports live from Roswell on chemist Dr. Russell Vernon-Clark's UC San Diego presentation: a one-tenth-milligram sample, almost 100% silicon, with anomalous isotope ratios in trace elements.

  2. Anomalous isotope ratios in nickel, zinc, germanium, silver: Howe describes Vernon-Clark's finding that the silicon sample contained trace nickel, zinc, germanium and silver - and that all four trace elements showed isotope ratios not matching terrestrial samples.

  3. Replication confirms 99.995% pure silicon, anomalous ratios: Howe and Davids stress that replication confirmed Vernon-Clark's findings: the fragment is 99.995% pure silicon - which cannot occur naturally on Earth - with parts-per-billion trace elements all showing anomalous isotope ratios.

  4. Hesemann's Roswell witness interviews and Santilli investigation: Michael Hesemann describes his 1992 Roswell visit and interviews with Glenn Dennis, Robert Schocke and Walter Haut, then his trip to London after the 1995 alien autopsy footage surfaced to meet Ray Santilli.