By Barbara Gill
barbara.gill@gaflnews.com
Do you believe?
For those who have followed Mulder and Scully through nine seasons of The X-Files television show, you know the meaning of these words, printed on a poster behind Mulder's desk in his basement office. The reference is to extraterrestrials - aliens.
Throughout the ages, we have recorded visits, sightings and even abductions by aliens from other worlds.
Many are convinced they have been, and remain, here among us.
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For the past 20 years, Earl Fulford of Mayo lived a quiet life here in North Florida. But Earl had a secret. The government told him and his fellow soldiers that "nothing had happened" back in 1947, but if they wanted to pursue the matter, they "could do it from Leavenworth prison," according to Earl's wife, Mary.
What was the big secret that Earl (and others) kept at the edges of their memories for almost 60 years before speaking out?
We start with Earl's military career. He was honorably discharged in 1946 after serving in the Navy in World War II as a diesel mechanic and gunner. In February 1947, he signed on with the Army Air Force and was sent to the middle of nowhere: Roswell, New Mexico. A few months later, on July 8, the Roswell Daily Record published these headlines, based on a press release from Lt. Walter Haut of the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF):
"RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region."
Authorities later said it was a weather balloon, not an alien craft, that had crashed in the New Mexico desert.
Earl was one of many airman who searched the crash site for debris and collected what he called "memory metal." As told by wife Mary, they were small, lightweight pieces like tin foil which when crushed and placed in the burlap bag, would return to their original shape without a wrinkle.
"He said the edges were straight and clean cut, no jagged edges," added Earl's son Brad. Earl also loaded a large crate onto a cargo plane late one night, but once again was told "nothing happened."
Earl, the last eyewitness to whatever it was that happened in Roswell, passed away in August. But his story lives on.
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Do you believe?
Earl always believed you would "be crazy to believe that we are the only ones on this planet," he told granddaughter Christina Holland in July while in Los Angeles filming for The History Channel's "UFO Hunters."
At one point in the trip, said Christina, Earl suddenly teared up and said, "It is so good to finally have people to talk to and don't think that I am crazy."
The trip followed by just a few weeks Earl's first return to Roswell for the annual July 4th UFO Festival, an event that his family says he had always wanted to attend. Earl, however, was a good soldier, and remained silent about what he had seen until about four years ago.
That was when Earl was contacted by Tom Carey, co-author of "Witness To Roswell: Unmasking the 60-Year Cover-Up." At first Earl said that he could not speak regarding his experience in the New Mexico desert, but when he was made aware of the 1994 Air Force Secretary's release of veterans from their security oaths, he was ready to talk ... and talk ... and talk. Earl was a great story teller and his family says his memory was remarkable.
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We can't cover in detail those events of July 1947 in this brief article, but we do know that one of the last survivors had a big weight removed from his shoulders once he was able to share his story with his family and then the world.
According to Christina, Earl was like an excited kid on his way to Disneyland for the first time. The family was not sure how he would take all the commercialism of the annual festival in Roswell, but he got a real kick out of kids dressed as aliens that wanted their picture taken with him, especially those who asked for his autograph.
Earl is on the cover of a recent issue of UFO Magazine. The story is called "Earl Fulford: A brave soldier's final act of courage." He was interviewed on the phone by Larry King on his cable TV show. The History Channel piece is scheduled to air in late November or early December. (We'll keep you posted.)
Earl died quietly on August 3 and is interred at the Florida National Cemetery near Bushnell. Brad, a carpenter currently working in Live Oak, custom made his father's urn out of red and white oak along with black walnut from the family farm in Indiana.
When Brad tells of moving to Mayo about three years to assist his mother and father as their health began to fail, you can sense the love he has for his father.
"Dad loved sports, especially NASCAR," Brad remembered. After Earl's first heart attack, Brad bought a big screen TV and together they enjoyed watching their favorite sports.
Brad says his father loved living here in Lafayette County, fishing in the Suwannee River and telling jokes: "making everybody laugh." He also loved crossword puzzles and did one every day.
Earl filled three spiral notebooks with stories from his life, and Christina has plans to publish them as his autobiography.
"His memoirs are more about what he saw and did outside of his on-duty time and his travels on days off," says Christina. "He tells about how the war affected his family and other people that he saw throughout the country."
But he wrote about everyday things as well.
Earl traveled over one million miles and even mapped out all of the routes he had driven during his years as a longhauler.
So long, Earl. Thanks for sharing your story.
