"The evidence points to the fact that Roswell was a real incident and that indeed an alien craft did crash, and that material was recovered from that site. We all know that UFOs are real.All we need to ask is where do they come from, and what do they want?" -Capt. Edgar Mitchell Apollo 14 Astronaut.

Above left: The SOM 1-01 cover page from April 1954.  
Above right: An authentic US Military handbook from November 1954. (Images courtesy of Wood & Wood)     

Important Note: 'Source A' has now been publicly revealed as Richard Theilmann. Click here for more details.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

We have just posted NEW information and IMAGES which raise some serious questions regarding the testimony from Source A, and the provenance of this document - Click here to read more 

Much has been written with regards to the origins and provenance of this document; suffice to say that Dr Robert Wood and his son Ryan have invested more time in analyzing these documents than most; they present a strong case for authenticity and counter almost every  criticism in the “authentication” section at their website ². As evidenced in the image above, the document is identical in style and format to a known genuine manual from the period and conforms exactly to the USGPO (United States Government Printing Office) style manual from the period. ³

In a recent and surprising development, New York based researchers Clay and Shawn Pickering have agreed to release an alternate version of the SOM 1-01 which was given to them by their 'contact', a US Naval officer dubbed "Source A" ⁴ , in 2006.

For the first time we offer this document, along with an extensive background from Source A/The Pickerings and a preliminary analysis from Dr Robert Wood. Right click the link below to download the file:

Click HERE to Download  
(2.45 MB 27 Pages PDF)   

As mentioned previously the Woods have conducted an extremely thorough analysis of the original photographs, they also produced a 'forensic' replica and sought help from a Questioned Document Examiner and other specialists. Following a chance remark from an archival specialist they discovered what is known as a "zinger" - a subtle imperfection in letter alignment which resulted in a number of slightly “raised Zs”. This exact same "zinger" was discovered on a genuine manual by Ryan Wood (as depicted below) and is strong evidence that both manuals were printed by the United States Government Printing Office on a Hot Lead Monotype printing press in 1954. ⁵

The alternate version contains no such “zingers” and is most likely a retyped copy, or possibly a (draft?) revision, of the exact same document which was photographed and leaked in 1994. It is significant that according to "Source A", he copied his version in a Captain’s office at an undisclosed base in the early 1980's - at least ten years before the package arrived on Don Berliner's doorstep.
 
Clay and Shawn Pickering recently met with their source and asked him to retell and clarify the circumstances which offered him the opportunity to copy this document. Below is an excerpt from the notes of that meeting - the complete account is included within the attached PDF file :

"Source arrived at ******* and went into captain's office.  The captain told Source that he was going to leave the office for awhile, making it obvious that Source was welcomed to look at contents inside an open safe.  When we asked why the Captain breeched such security, Source stated that this was the Captain's way of offering a perspective as to why Source was held for three days, all the while maintaining the Captain's plausible deniability. [...] Source saw 4 manuals in safe.  They were field manuals.  The top manual was in pristine condition.  Source knew from experience that one should never look at the top document.  Moreover, he felt uneasy about disturbing the manuals, especially any manual in pristine condition.  He conveyed that when a pristine book is open, it can never retain its original state.  Source illustrated for us that creases and finger oils are often left on documents that are disturbed.   Therefore, Source took 3rd manual from the top and made a copy of it.  This manual was quite worn, obviously from previous use.  This is the document which was copied.  Source believed that the two manuals above the third (the one chosen) were of a newer print.  Also, Source noted that the newer manuals had the DOD stamp on the covers, not the Department of War stamp exhibited on the copied document, SOM 1-01." ⁶.

Contrasting the "Alternate SOM 1-01" with both the original photos, and one of Dr Woods Replicas ⁷ a large number of variations become apparent, many of these are covered in Dr Wood's analysis. Some examples:

•  The page width is wider in the alternate version which in turn affects paragraph formatting, offering more words per line and resulting in a shorter document (17 pages). Therefore the index page is incorrect.
  
  
• Some sections appear to have been revised; that is to say they are improved for the better, while other sections contain subtle mistakes.
  
  
• Many of the images are missing, but they are described in brief notes.
  
  
• Type face, font sizes and layout are almost, but not quite, the same - suggesting a revision as opposed to a simple copy.

Some concerns:

• The reference page appears to be a replica of the photos, meaning it does not contain information which is missing in the original. E.g. the first reference reads only "-4" (Strangely the word “[Applicable]” is visible on this document and on the replica but not in the photos.
   
• Dr Wood's replica reference page contains the following note at the top "There is some writing here" this is because the words are not visible in the photos. The alternate version has the exact same phrase in the same location.
  
  
• Why was one page from the Eisenhower Briefing Document included? It is clearly out of place alongside the SOM 1-01. (update - This question has now been resolved by Clay Pickering)   

In closing, if properly authenticated this alternate version of the SOM 1-01 could provide additional evidence for both the authenticity of the original leaked version, and help to substantiate the testimony from “Source A” regarding his involvement in covert, ET related, operations and the ‘UN Disclosure Initiative’. Unfortunately this might prove difficult, given that we only have second generation photocopies, and are therefore unable to determine the exact date of the paper and ink.

We encourage readers of this article to share their research, thoughts and observations in the forum’s dedicated discussion thread at:

http://lucianarchy.proboards21.com/index.cgi?board=unitednations&action=display&thread=4225&page=1#135816 

1. See the following links to download the original photos of the  SOM 1-01 document.

Part 1: http://www.majesticdocuments.com/pdf/som101_part1.pdf   
Part 2: http://www.majesticdocuments.com/pdf/som101_part2.pdf

2. See www.majesticdocuments.com/authentication for more on the work of Dr Robert and Ryan Wood.

3. See http://www.majesticdocuments.com/pdf/rmwood_mufon2000.pdf

4. See the Open Minds Forum United Nations Secret UFO Meeting discussion board

5. See http://www.majesticdocuments.com/pdf/rmwood_mufon2001.pdf

6. Excerpt from the attached PDF  http://download.openmindsforum.com/The_'Alternate_SOM_1-01'.pdf

7. See Glimpses of other Realities, volume II. by Linda Moulton Howe. Page 357.

 - Images courtesy of Ryan Wood.