“I’ve had men on this for two months,” he told me. “I might as well warn you, it’s a tough story to crack.”
“You think it’s a Russian missile?” I asked him. “Or an Air Force secret?”
“We’ve had several answers. None of them stacks up. But I’m positive one was deliberately planted when they found we were checking.”
He told me the whole story of the work that had been done by the staff of True and of the reports sent in by competent writers. The deeper he delved into the mystery, the tougher the assignment got. The more I learned about flying saucers, the less I knew.
“There’s one angle I want rechecked,” Purdy said.
“You’ve heard of the Mantell case?”
I nodded.
“O.K. Try to get the details of Mantell’s radio report to Godman Tower. Before he was killed, he described the thing he was chasing—we know that much. Project ‘Saucer’ gave out a hint, but they’ve never released the transcript. Here’s another lead. See if you can find anything about a secret picture, taken at Harmon Field, Newfoundland—it was around July 1947. I’ll send you other ideas as I get them.”
Before I left, Purdy wished me hick and told me that he would work in closest harmony with me.
“But watch out for fake tips,” he said. “You’ll probably run into some people at the Pentagon who’ll talk to you ‘off the record.’ That handcuffs a writer. Look out they don’t lead you into a blind alley. Even the Air Force statements and the Project ‘Saucer’ report contradict each other.”