Wright Field Crash Retrieval Meeting
The Wright Field Crash Retrieval Meeting refers to an alleged classified gathering that took place at Wright Field (later Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) circa 1949–1950, during which US government scientists and military officials discussed recovered UAP craft, materials, and occupants. The meeting is described in testimony from Robert Sarbacher and Eric Walker, both of whom confirmed their knowledge of or participation in discussions about crash retrievals and reverse engineering efforts during this period.
| Date | 1949-1950 |
|---|
Participants
According to Robert Sarbacher's 1983 testimony to researchers William Steinman and Stanton Friedman, the following individuals were involved in the UAP crash retrieval program:
- Vannevar Bush — Chairman of the DoD's Research and Development Board; identified by Sarbacher as heading the small group studying flying saucers.
- John Von Neumann — Mathematician, physicist, and Manhattan Project veteran; named by Sarbacher as "definitely involved."
- J. Robert Oppenheimer — Scientific director of the Manhattan Project; named by Sarbacher as "definitely involved."
- Dr. Eric A. Walker — Executive Secretary of the Defense Research Board (1950–1951); later confirmed his attendance at the Wright Field meeting in interviews with Steinman.
- Robert Sarbacher — Physicist and consultant to the Research and Development Board; stated he was invited to discussions but did not personally attend.
In his 1983 recorded conversation with Stanton Friedman, Sarbacher referenced an individual from Philadelphia who attended "all the meetings" and "acted very smug about it." Researchers subsequently identified this person as Eric Walker, whose professional history placed him in Philadelphia and whose role as Executive Secretary of the Defense Research Board granted him access to the program.
Topics Discussed
Based on Sarbacher's accounts, the Wright Field meeting(s) addressed:
- Recovered UAP craft: Discussion of physical characteristics, materials, and propulsion systems of downed flying saucers.
- Recovered occupants: Analysis of biological entities described as having insectoid anatomical features—lightweight, lacking traditional skin, and constructed to withstand extreme inertial forces.
- Materials analysis: Examination of materials reported to be "extremely light and very tough," consistent with accounts of debris recovered from crash sites.
- Reverse engineering efforts: Concentrated attempts to understand the modus operandi of the recovered craft.
Sarbacher indicated that the program was focused on understanding flight characteristics that appeared to violate known physics, particularly the craft's ability to execute high-speed maneuvers and instantaneous directional changes without deceleration.
Timing and Historical Context
The meeting occurred during a critical period in UAP history:
- July 1947: The Roswell crash and wave of UFO sightings across the United States.
- 1948: The alleged Aztec, New Mexico Crash.
- 1949–1950: The period when Wilbert B. Smith met with Sarbacher and documented Sarbacher's claim that flying saucer study was classified higher than the hydrogen bomb.
- March 1950: The Hottel Memo was written, documenting claims of three recovered saucers in New Mexico.
The Wright Field meeting(s) likely represented high-level deliberations on how to manage, analyze, and exploit recovered non-human technology in the context of escalating Cold War tensions and the US nuclear weapons program.
Eric Walker's Confirmation
Eric Walker, in his 1987–1990 interviews with William Steinman and researcher Dr. Henry Victorian, directly confirmed:
- He attended the Wright Field meeting described by Sarbacher.
- The meeting concerned crash retrievals and recovered bodies.
- Vannevar Bush was involved in the program.
- A group resembling or identical to Majestic 12 existed, and Walker had known about it for 40 years.
Walker's confirmation, delivered decades after Sarbacher's initial 1950 disclosure to Wilbert B. Smith, provides independent corroboration of the meeting's occurrence.
Significance
The Wright Field Crash Retrieval Meeting represents a pivotal moment in early UAP history: the convergence of the US government's most prominent wartime scientists—individuals who had built the atomic bomb and shaped postwar defense science—around the question of recovered non-human technology. The meeting placed UAP analysis at the intersection of nuclear weapons policy, advanced propulsion research, and national security—contexts that would define the secrecy and compartmentalization that continues to surround the subject.
The fact that multiple independent sources (Sarbacher, Walker, Smith's contemporaneous notes) reference the same meeting and participants lends substantial credibility to the claim that such discussions occurred, even in the absence of publicly released documentation.