UFO book

Originally published in 1966, Flying Saucers Serious Business was the first UFO book I read. I got it  nearly 50 years ago, in November 1970, at a book sale in the Illing Jr High school library in Manchester CT. Prior to reading the book, I was on the fence about UFOs, or even skeptical. When I disparaged UFO books at the sale, a kid surnamed Meier gave me good advice. In effect he urged me to keep an open mind, read the book and then judge and decide. So I bought the tome, and it changed my outlook completely.
The book converted me from an ignorant skeptic to a informed believer. The UFO subject seemed so  unreasonably marginalized. I don't know what shocked me more, the incredible nature of the reports in the book, or the indifference of society considering their potential significance. Repeatedly, strange flying craft had been observed landing and humanoid creatures emerging from them. If just one of the reports were true, it would be the most important event in human history. Yet I seldom if ever read such reports in the newspaper. They was mostly new to me because they had been swept under the rug.
Interestingly, Flying Saucers Serious Business included an account of the Roswell incident. This was in 1966, over a decade before the case was reopened (1978-80). The author's version of Roswell differs markedly from the one established by researchers later. No doubt that reflected the paucity of information available in the '60s. As Edwards noted, people weren't talking. Despite the erroneous account, the book did a service by establishing that Roswell was real and considered ET many years before Marcel sr spoke openly about the case.

Marcel's "Journal"

In a blog post of July 8, 2018, Kevin Randle announced he had received emails from "several colleagues" about the discovery of writings from Major Marcel of Roswell fame. The "colleagues" were not identified, nor did Randle say how they learned about this discovery before he did. But according to Randle, Jesse Marcel III, the grandson of Marcel sr, and son of Marcel jr, had found a "treasure trove" of old documents relating to his grandfather's military service. The most important of these is a journal Marcel had written. To some, it offered hope that documentation of the Roswell case had finally been found.
But there are serious problems with this "discovery." First, it's just the latest example of evidence not coming to light for a suspiciously long time after its supposed creation. As one commentator pointed out, it's hard to believe that Marcel jr, the father of Marcel III, failed to find this documentation decades ago. In response to this criticism, Randle mentioned he had discovered letters from his father unknown since WWII. But that was different. His father was not famous. Considering the far greater interest in Marcel, everything he had would've been thoroughly searched long ago, for clues to Roswell. How could a "a treasure trove" be overlooked for thirty years after Marcel's death? The claim is not credible.
Another problem is lack of access to the evidence. For over a year after the announcement, absolutely nothing of the putative journal or other documentation has been revealed publicly. That is very suspicious, and almost certainly indicates a hoax.
In the past, researchers unmasked various hoaxes such as the "Eisenhower Briefing Document"(EBD). Investigation of the paper and typewriter used, signatures, format and usage showed they weren't genuine. Hoaxers must've concluded that since it was nearly impossible to find paper and a typewriter etc as old as 1947, there was little point in producing anything open to scrutiny. It would be better to just announce a discovery without revealing anything, and this is what seems to have happened.
Had the "journal" been real, at least some of it would've been shown to us. Even if a journal contains some classified material, it would also contain plenty of innocuous material. Had this been a real find, Marcel III would've been happy to reveal parts of it, to prove the handwriting is his grandfather's, and the paper and typewriter (if used) date from the proper time. One can't help but suspect that nothing has been shown precisely because no fake documentation would survive critical analysis  (hence wasn't created in the first place).
Randle denied the Marcel family is up to something nefarious. But over the years many seemingly credible people have made false statements, which serve the government's agenda....
There is a third issue. In July 2018, while commenting on the alleged discovery, I wrote that "If the journal mentions it (i.e. Roswell) at all, it may only do so in (encoded) language." *
Interestingly, in his July 13, 2019 update on the Marcel journal, Randle wrote that the (Marcel) family needs the help of a linguist with a working knowledge of cryptic writing. They thought that something might be encoded in the journals..."
I think those behind the "journal" got that idea from my comment of a year earlier. Apparently influenced by something written after it was found, the "journal" almost certainly doesn't exist.


















Major Marcel in 1947.

*At the time I erred by using the term "codified" instead of "encoded" but I believe it was clear what I meant.