Editing Noted Expert Finds Account Convincing (section)

==A WEATHER BALLOON?==

Forty three years later, Anderson smiles wryly when reminded of the Army's pronouncement, "A lot of people wondered why, if it was just a weather balloon, the military put the pieces under armed guard and flew them in a B-29 to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio," he observes.

Anderson believes the wreckage scattered near Roswell and the barely damaged saucer on the Plains of San Augustin are connected. "There was a gash in the side of the disc we saw, like it had been crushed in," he says. "The contour of the craft would fit into that gash perfectly - like another one of these things had hit it. I think two of these discs had a mid-air collision. One exploded and feel in pieces near Roswell, and the other crash-landed where we found it.

With all evidence confiscated and the military steadfastly sticking by the weather balloon explanation, the story faded from the news by July's end. And Gerald Anderson says he tucked away the memory as he grew into manhood. "I learned you just don't go up to the average person on the street and say, "Damn, know what I saw?" The guy will go, "Get away from me, fool! Are you crazy?" In later life, he didn't mention it even to his wife until a few years after their marriage.

Anderson joined the Navy in the late 1950s and served a dozen years in posts around the globe. He lived for a few years in Colorado, working as a paramedic and working toward a college degree in microbiology. In 1979, he moved to Missouri to better raise his daughter away from what he terms the "druggy" atmosphere of Denver. In addition to his law enforcement posts, Anderson has worked for two southwest Missouri trucking firms as a driver and instructor.

Anderson also has been active in the Episcopal Church. He recently was elected to the vestry at Ascension Episcopal in Springfield and is studying toward becoming a deacon. A gold crucifix - a cross complete with a figure of the martyred Christ affixed to it - suspended from a chain around Anderson's neck is testimony to his faith.