"Roswell Slides" or Fraud Prints?

“People are asking for science, but these are photos. 

There is only so much science you can get out of photos.” 

Adam Dew quoted at Open Minds

"Please, do not be skeptical, give it a chance, as you will see, 

it is much better than anything you have on TV sci-fi, 

and also the worst that could happen 

(no, not an alien invasion) 

is to come out with a new perspective, 

far from what they show you in the movies."

Jaime Maussan (translated) beWitness

A Roswell Slides Recap

To summarize the Roswell Slides history: Tom Carey put together a Dream Team to produce the ultimate Roswell book. The project got sidetracked, but Carey continued to work with his writing partner Don Schmitt, assisted by Anthony Bragalia and David Rudiak, who both had provided help for the Witness to Roswell book. Then, the slides entered the story. As much as possible, I’m going to let the players themselves tell the tale.

Top: Carey, Maussan, Schmitt
Bottom: Bragalia, Dew, Rudiak

Adam Dew makes a call

The slide collection seems to have been owned by a couple in Midland, Texas, Bernerd and Hilda Ray. Adam Dew claims that a friend’s sister salvaged some slides while cleaning out a house that was going to be demolished. 

“A quick timeline as I understand it: Hilda died in 1988. Slides discovered when emptying out a garage outside of Sedona (Cottonwood we think) in 1998. Slides were deemed intersting (obviously old color slides) but not fully examined until around 2008. While I think that the home may have belonged to Hilda's lawyer, there is no way to know for sure as the woman who found them didn't keep records of the homes she cleaned out. ...I don't think the slides came from Hilda's home.”http://ufocon.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-many-slides-stories.html

Adam Dew of SlideBox Media, LLC

The woman’s brother told Dew about the slides in 2012. Dew formed SlideBox Media, LLC and took the lead in marketing the slides. The show started coming together when he contacted Carey and Schmitt.

Secrets Exposed

Bragalia's article as printed in UFO Today magazine.

While the search for a profitable platform for the slides was on, details about them leaked out. Anthony Bragalia wrote an article outlining that the slides, “showed a corporeal being. It was a humanoid, most certainly not of earth and it was dead.”  Based chiefly on Bernerd Ray’s profession as a geologist, Bragalia speculated that,

“Given this background on the slides we are now confronted with an inescapable truth:

A prominent geologist who explored the New Mexico desert in the 1940s is directly associated with two 1947 Kodachromes depicting a humanoid corpse as found at Roswell.”

In other words: a weird picture of a body was found, and a scenario was imagined, trying to tie it to Roswell. In the comments, Bragalia states, “I am aware that two 1947 slides of a dead alien do not equate to tissue slides/samples or the actual cadaver itself. But given the confirmed authenticity and provenance of the slides- it is as close as we will ever come that kind of physical evidence.”

http://web.archive.org/web/20140329131206/http://ufocon.blogspot.com/2013/11/do-slides-from-1947-show-roswell.html

Provenance. That’s a funny word to use when there’s nothing to tie the content of the slides to UFOs, Roswell, the military or even the United States of America. It can’t be proven these slides were taken by the Rays. As Adam Dew notes, it can’t be determined who owned the house where the slides were found.

Wait and see, they say!

There is very little left to wait for, just the allegedly clear images of the slides themselves. The promoters and their associates have been discussing the details of the slides and voicing their conclusions about the slides since 2013. The delay in showing them was due to the search for a platform to release them, and they’ve chosen an entertainment venue,  Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City.

Due to the carelessness in the “Kodachrome - A Documentary - Official Trailer,” images of the slides have been isolated, and “leaked” online. According to one insider, it is as good or better than what he could see viewing them on a lap top.

Eyewitness testimony about the “Roswell Slides”

Larry Lemke posted about examining the slides, and has posted the best description available about what is depicted.

Early in March, 2014, I met with the owner of the slides, viewed them, and talked to him about his plans. (Actually, I viewed digital reproductions of the slides.) ... The owner affirmed that it is his intent to present the slides and their story to the public in a non-sensationialistic forum, after he has satisfied himself as to their authenticity. He feels he is nearing the end of that phase.

He goes on to describe the photographs:

1. There are 2 photos, taken in an indoor setting.

2. The photos are of poor quality (focus, exposure) compared to virtually all the other photos in the same collection. For this reason, edge detection, contrast enhancement and other photoanalysis techniques are warranted and are being used.

3. The photos appear to have been taken about 4 or 5 feet from the humanoid, from a position slightly above it.

4. To my eye, the humanoid is lying on a clear glass shelf and is surrounded by either clear glass walls and/or a full glass enclosure. The enclosure appears to be more like a rectangular box than like a bottle.

5. In one of the photos, a woman is standing behind the glass case (visible from approximately the waist down). In the other photo a man is visible in the same location, leading to speculation that the man and the woman traded places and took turns taking pictures.

6. The humanoid is not immersed in a fluid; it appears to be open to the air (at least if the lid were off).

7. The glass shelf/ box that the humanoid is on/in appears to be supported on shelf brackets that are connected to vertical, metal supports. The vertical supports are perforated at regular intervals (nominally, 1 inch spacing) by drilled holes. The shelf arrangement gives the appearance of a laboratory apparatus rack.

8. The humanoid is lying on its back, with its head to the camera’s left and feet to the right.

9. There is some type of placard on the front of the glass case, with (currently undecipherable, out-of-focus) writing on it. (Shades of the Ramey memo!) It is my suspicion that this placard is the source of the idea that the genital area of the humanoid was deliberately covered up in order to escape the wrath of the censors when the slides were developed. I don’t think that is the case. From what I could see, the genital area was not visible to the camera due to the view angle of the camera. I suspect that the placard simply serves to identify the contents of the glass case.

10. The proportions of the humanoid appear to be slightly different than a “normal” human, but probably, no single dimension of the body is outside the range of naturally occurring sizes. The length of the head (crown to chin) is approximately the same length as the torso (neck to crotch). The arm length (shoulder to wrist) is approximately the length of the torso (i.e., the wrist joint is approximately aligned with the hip bone). The leg bones are long, compared to the arms.

11. Given that the body is about 3 feet long, if it is human, then it must be either a child or an adult with a developmental disorder. (Human Trisomy 17 has been suggested as a candidate.)

12. I could not see digits on either the hands or feet, and so could not count them.

13. The mouth is open and no teeth are visible.

14. The skin of the humanoid is smooth and appears to have shrunk taut against the bones (ribs, legs, arms, cranium). Whether this is due to natural effects of death (saponification, dessication, etc.) or is the result of some post-mortem treatment (embalming, freezing, etc.) is not clear.

15. The head appears to have been severed from the top of the spinal column and then replaced, lying at an unnatural angle relative to the torso.

There is nothing in the photo that would either definitively connect this to the Roswell event or definitively disconnect it. Any connection is coincidental (it appears to have been taken at about the right time). http://ufocon.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-roswell-slides-may-not-see-light-of.html

Leaked slide image by Narrenschiffer 

The leaked image must not be all that bad. Lemke refers to it as showing more detail than what he was shown of the originals.

"Nearly a year ago I saw what I would consider low resolution computer screen images of the slides for a period of about 10 to 15 minutes. ... the images I saw at that time were of poor enough quality that I could not see other features that others were claiming to be present. ... It wasn’t until I saw the cleaned up images earlier today that I could see enough detail to form an opinion... Having looked at the cleaned up image produced by the Germans over at the UFO Conjectures site, it looks to me like a hydrocephalic child is a pretty good fit. ... possibly an Andean mummy." http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2015/02/roswell-slides-and-video-clips.html

Physical Evidence?

Supposedly, Kodak experts have certified that the slides are authentic. The team promoting the slides has focused on discussing their age and supposed authenticity of the slides, but that’s only a small part of what’s important about them. We need to see proof of several other things before they can be considered evidence of anything.

 Tom Carey was the one to first make an official teaser announcement about the slides and what he claims they are. “We have come into possession of a couple of Kodachrome color slides of an alien being lying in a glass case,” he said it was, “3 and a half to 4 feet tall, the head is almost insect-like. The head has been severed, and there’s been a partial autopsy; the innards have been removed, and we believe the cadaver has been embalmed, at least at the time this picture was taken. 

Tom Carey

In the promo video used in the beWitness press conference, Jaime Maussan asks Tom Carey if the slides are physical evidence, and Carey responds, "I think it's physical evidence. I think we have physical evidence." Carey then goes on to say, "A picture is worth a thousand words." 

No, it’s not physical evidence, and it’s important to understand when a picture has value. Usually, a photo can begin to be considered supporting evidence only when time, location and the photographer are known. In addition, it’s vital to know what instrument recorded the data. We don’t have the camera or any of the other information about how the slides of the body were taken. The other claims are all based on speculation, trying to make the slides and the Ray’s history fit into the narrative of the Roswell story. 

Don Schmitt

Don Schmitt has been somewhat more cautious in his statements, emphasizing the witness testimony collected in their books. Maussan asked him if it is the greatest story of all time. “One of the greatest stories. I always say of the millennium, so in the last thousand years, yes.”

More Eyewitness testimony about the “Roswell Slides”

From a beWitness promo video

Anthony Bragalia said, 

"Clear versions of the slides depict a being whose anatomy does not correspond to a human being. The limbs (legs and arms) are exceeding thin, frail and fragile, characteristics that are not associated with hydrocephalus. In fact, the torso (which has been opened) and rest of the body look nothing like any known case of hydrocephalus in history. The structure looks very make-shift, resembling a quickly-assembled ‘erector set’ type deal, with beams that have ratchet holes in them. The set-up in no way whatsoever resembles that of a professional museum display. ... I believe that this is a 'private viewing' of a creature recently deceased, partially autopsied, and preserved.”http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-roswell-slides-update-by-tony.html

Not everyone agrees with his assessment, and many have found that the photos closely resemble an ancient body on display in a museum case being photographed by a tourist.

Placard: Employees must wash hands after touching alien?

Roswell expert David Rudiak was asked to analyze if the placard on the body.

“Because poor focus seemed to be the main problem, I tried various refocusing software, but couldn't get what I thought were consistent results. ... Tom Carey wanted me to have a look because of my work on the Ramey memo. But there is much less to work with here, such as unknown circumstances and font, quite unlike the Ramey memo. I'm not claiming to be a full-fledged image processing expert, and when examination of the placard in high resolution is hopefully undertaken after May 5 by multiple qualified people, maybe we will get a definitive answer as to what is shown.
As Robert Hastings just wrote... the placard is the key to resolving this thing (or somebody finding something like a child mummy that is an exact match to what is shown.)

 I remember paying most of my attention on the head and commenting to Tom that it looked much more human than I would have expected if it was an alien.” http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-roswell-slides-and-mummies.html

 Rudiak also said,

“I agree that it makes no sense that the Rays could casually photograph an alien corpse on display somewhere. Further, there is that woman in the dress standing in one of the pictures. From the low quality screen captures we've seen, the dress does NOT suggest a military nurse standing in the picture, but a civilian. I agree it looks more like a civilian setting, perhaps a museum, perhaps somewhere else.?"http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-roswell-slides-and-me.html

Tom Carey and Jaime Maussan

Jaime Maussan asks Tom Carey, as a physical anthropologist, to explain what type of creature is pictured in the slides, and if it is a primate. Carey says it is bipedal, but does not recognize it as being human, but that, “Certainly, in our taxonomic categories that we use since Carolus Linnaeus described the order of primates, it certainly does look like it would be classified as a primate, perhaps even a hominid.”

Conferencia de Prensa Jaime Maussan beWITNESS / Sé Testigo Auditorio Nacional

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxezh3MJLGA (At 1:16:00)

perhaps even a hominid

A quote from Witness To Roswell by Carey & Schmitt, pages 35-37:

“In science, where the bottom line is also the search for truth, Occam’s Law of Parsimony, a.k.a. Occam's Razor, is used to decide among competing hypotheses the one that best explains the observed data. It holds that, with all other factors being equal, the simplest hypothesis that explains the most observed data is the best, and must prevail. Thus employed, it serves as a tool for eliminating competing-but-lacking theories, hypotheses, and from others being considered.”

Ergo, a picture of a hominid in a glass case is a dead Roswell alien.

Since there is no actual evidence provided by the slides, the promoters are trying to prop it up by marrying it to the Roswell research done by Carey and Schmitt.  

The Cinco de Mayo show

The slides were originally said to be awaiting presentation in a non-sensational format, but that changed. Jaime Maussan came on board, arranging for the venue and advertising, billing it as a chance of a lifetime, to be able to witness a historical event, the presentation of evidence of extraterrestrials.

As best I can tell, the program will go something like this: Jaime Maussan as host, Carol Rosin will introduce Edgar Mitchell, who is there as part cheerleader and part celebrity endorsement. Adam Dew will introduce the story about the mysterious well-connected Rays, then Carey & Schmitt will pick it up and frame it in the context of Roswell (probably giving with a recap of their research and digs, bringing out an alleged witness to testify it looks like what he saw at RAAF. 

Witness testimony.

The slides will be projected, then the CGI hologram of the body onstage. Richard Dolan fits in there somewhere, supposedly helping us digest how this Disclosure will change our World. Maussan will probably close the show with a speech about how everyone has witnessed history, the cast will take a final bow, the lights will come on. An  announcer may direct the audience to pick a up a few souvenirs on their way out.

Jaime Maussan is advertising the show this way:

Be WITNESS, El Cambio de la Historia contará con tecnología de punta: tridimensional y holográfica por primera vez en México y en el Auditorio Nacional, un evento con características únicas para ser testigos directos de la realidad extraterrestre en la Tierra, un evento único e irrepetible.

Translation:

Be WITNESS, The Changing the of History will feature technology: three-dimensional holographic, a first in Mexico and the National Auditorium, an event with unique characteristics in order to be direct witnesses of extraterrestrial reality on Earth, a unique and unrepeatable event. 

It ain't over 'til it's over

A sequel? KOB 4 reported that "The (Roswell International UFO Museum & Research Center) museum says there will be a presentation on the pictures in Roswell during the UFO festival in July." Alejandro Rojas informs me that, "Don and Tom are board members and present every year." Additionally, Don Schmitt has several solo convention appearances booked.

What about scientific study of the slides? Adam Dew says he's asked around a bit, but that science will have to wait until after the show. 

"I will continue to show the slides to more pediatricians/forensic pathologists/etc. And after May 5, every forensic pathologist on Earth can take a stab at it."

Some further reading on the "Roswell Slides" story:

Tim Printy, May 5, 2015: The day that will change the world
José Antonio Caravaca, Roswell Slides: The Moment of Truth
Tim Hebert, Current State of Affairs: Roswell Linked Kodak Slides
Jeff Ritzmann, The Birth of Anti-Evidence: The ‘Roswell Slides’
Paul Kimball, Bragalia on mummies and the "Roswell slides"
Gilles Fernandez, The Roswell Slides Saga: Some Claims versus some Facts