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ROSWELL chaplain found. Said some strange things | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 82347 United States 07/05/2007 10:10 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | The Roswell Base Chaplain would have acted as a "first responder" to this air accident. As a Reverend, he would have provided comfort to those at the scene. He would have provided needed spiritual and psychological counseling to those that were not prepared when confronted by such a momentous event. And he would have prayed over the dead occupants of the craft. Very recently (through working with the US Army Chaplain Corps and the Executive Director of the US Army Chaplain Museum at Ft. Jackson, SC) I have conclusively identified the Base Chaplain for RAAF in July, 1947. His name is Elijah Hankerson. Hankerson, a black National Baptist, was stationed there until September, 1947. Hankerson began his military career in 1944. He passed away in 1990. However, I have located and contacted Hankerson's only daughter, Esther. Thanks to a well-known Ufologist on this List, I learned that Hankerson lived off base at 601 E. Summit in Roswell. He indicates that Hankerson is mentioned, though not pictured, in the RAAF 1947 base yearbook. Another Chaplain, Captain William Benson, a Catholic, was brought into RAAF on July 10, 1947. I have been unable to locate his descendants. In my discussions with Esther I learned that: 1) Her father, very strangely, never even told anyone in the family at any time ever that he was in fact stationed at RAAF. It was a complete surprise to all of his descendants, according to Esther. She was astonished that neither her father nor her mother Annie Hankerson ever mentioned being at RAAF at any time during their entire lives. She is uncertain how it is at all possible that no one knew of his connection to RAAF. Esther was born after Roswell. The entire family is quite amazed and a bit overwhelmed about this. Had she known he was stationed there, Esther says that would have asked him about Roswell, as she herself was first aware of the Incident by the mid-1980s. 2) Her father was both a military officer and a Reverend. She stated that her father was the type that would be entrusted to keep secrets. She indicates that he was known for being extraordinarily tight-lipped about his work in the military, even though he was in the Army for two decades. She says that her mother Annie also could be entrusted with secrets. Esther finds it very odd that the late 1940s "are a complete and utter blank" when it comes to her family history. She said that its "almost as if someone took an eraser" to that period of time in her family history. In fact she asked me if I had any pictures of him during that time. Family records and photos somehow simply "skip" this period. 3) Her father, she says, did in fact act as a "first responder" to other air accidents and she remembers him being "called out at all hours" to respond to military accidents when she was a child. She believes her father would likely have been called to the Roswell crash to provide comfort and counsel those who were traumatized by the event. She also thinks it likely that he would have prayed for the dead. Her father always led family prayers for those friends and family that had passed. 4) Interestingly, toward the end of his life, Elijah increasingly spoke about "the Universe" and the "man's place in it", sometimes repeating trancelike "I'm just a man" and "in my Father's house there are many mansions." He told her something to the effect that "knowing too much is not always a good thing." She does not know what to make of these statements. Perhaps he may well have been trying to "say something" without saying.... Not much, but I thought I would relate it to Listers on the 60th anniversary of the Incident... It is unfortunate Hankerson was never located and directly interviewed in the early days of Roswell research. |
ufonut User ID: 262328 United States 07/06/2007 12:07 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
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