Kevin Randle’s preoccupation with information produced by people who die reaches a peak when it comes to a man named Patrick Saunders. Saunders was the 509th adjutant for a short period of time in July 1947 and could possibly know about the whole event. When asked about Roswell, Saunders stated he knew nothing about the little green bodies and said that the whole thing was a big joke. Kevin Randle was perplexed and appeared to give up on Saunders until he died in 1995. Now we discover that Saunders wrote in the flyleaf of at least one copy of the book, The Truth about the UFO Crash at Roswell, "Here’s the truth and I still haven't told anybody anything" (Randle Randle 203). Then Randle states that he told all his close friends all about it in the months before he died. If this is true, why didn't he call Randle up and tell him the "whole truth"? Randle supposedly had this copy of the book and I originally felt that this was a figment of his imagination since he did not publish a copy of this note. However, Randle eventually would publish an image of this note. I was surprised and it is signed "Pat" (Randle "The Roswell Disconnect"). Randle contemplates that Saunders may have been pulling his leg but then dismisses it. Nobody knows the context of the "message" and I felt, at one point, that it could have been a forgery. It was my original contention that the document should be verified as coming from Saunders. After all, there have been plenty of forgeries and lies told in the Roswell story.
According to Randle, Saunders was going to make a videotape of his story before he died but never got around to it. Randle states Saunders is a key player because, "Patrick Saunders was the base adjutant in 1947. The recovery operation couldn't have gone forward without his knowledge because he would have been responsible for all the paperwork that would have been generated. He would have had to know" (Randle "The Roswell Disconnect"). What Randle fails to mention is that there was no paperwork found concerning any crash! What is he supposed to be doing? Did he simply generate and then immediately destroy the paperwork? Maybe he was telling everyone not to generate paperwork. Then how come he is never mentioned by any of the other witnesses about being told not to generate reports/paperwork? What was Saunders "need to know" and why would he be involved at all? I see no proof that Saunders was involved except for this fleeting note. Then there is the question of how accurate can this be when many of the principle witnesses in the book have been shown to be lying and much of what was in the book was found to be inaccurate. How can this book be a reflection of what really happened if so much is wrong? The actual purpose of the note appears to have been revealed when more information became available.
Kevin Randle, in an effort to give Saunders more credibility, has presented another book with a note in it from Saunders. This is a copy of UFO Crash at Roswell, which he sent his daughter. The writing on the document states "You were there. Love, Dad" (Randle "The Roswell UFO Crash..."). At the bottom of the page there are various numbers listed. Most of these are page numbers where his name appears in the book. After looking at it, I think I begin to understand what has transpired. It appears that this is probably Saunders handwriting and the context is that of an old man, who seemed interested in how he will be remembered. I was somewhat confused by the "You" as a note to his daughter, which would mean she was there. I am sure it probably is meant as a joke. In light of this, one can look at the other note and realize it too was probably a joke. Little did he realize his little jokes were going to become part of the grand conspiracy theory of Kevin Randle and Don Schmitt.
The whole idea of Saunders writing little cryptic notes in books is just plain silly. Had Saunders really engineered all of this and wanted everyone to know, he would have made it clear in a diary/notebook/document to be opened after his death. Instead, we get these little tidbits that are vague and inconclusive. If he were really involved in such a cover-up, why not go through the book and correct all the factual errors so history could preserve what really happened? He then could write on the cover that this is what really happened. Where Randle sees proof of a grand conspiracy, I see nothing more than some humorous comments by an old man to friends and family.
If there were a saucer crash in the desert outside of Roswell, the craft could only have been shipped to one place, Wright field in Ohio. However, very few people even mention any form of alien craft being stored there. That is, until Schmitt and Randle produced General Arthur Exon.