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A WORD FROM 11S!LENCED" BUT NOT FORGOTTEN FRANK EDWARDS:
Many hundreds of letters have been received asking for ninside"details behind
Frank Edwards' dismissal from radio. Many have voiced their anger and,
many like Shirley Watson of Vienna, Va. , have vociferated their feelings to
Mr. Meany, AFL President. CRIFO owes a lot to Frank Edwards, so Iwrote
Frank recently and asked him for a statement. Here is Frank's reply of
August 26, 1954 in part:
"The facts are that for a long time I had been fighting the encroachment of cen­
sorship imposed by Meany.
The final straw came when on Aug. 2nd this year he
sent me a memorandum imposing conditions which my attorneys regard as a
violation of my contract ... and conditions under which I could no longer con­
tinue to produce the same type of broadcast which had built my program to one
of the top three ... according to AFL statements.
"Meany• s Aug. 2 memo notified me that the AFL censor would tell me what
items MUST be carried. Still disguised as an 1editor 1 the censor would inspect
the scripts and stand by to see that I carried the material as directed.
"Am glad that I was able to be of assistance to you in the dissemination of the
material in which we both, along with millions of others, are so deeply
interested. 11
Best wishes,(Signed) Frank Edwards
Readers will be interested to know that Frank Edwards has written an article
entitled "SPIES IN THE SKIES? 11 which is to appear in the Nov. issue of Real
magazine. Says Frank: "It deals with some of the little known aspects of the
greatest news story of our times." DON'T MISS IT!
MYSTERY METAL IGNITES ROAD: Woodside, California officials and resi­
dents were baffled by a shower of white-hot metal pellets, Aug . 27, 1954. The
furore was triggered when a woman motorist saw a "circle of fire " along
Pertola Road. Later firemen found scores of small pieces of flaming metal
burning the pavement over an area about 70 by 250 feet. The blacktop bubbled
where the metal burned into it and grass fires were started where the metal
burned along the shoulders of the highway.
A resident, Ignacio Miramontes,
reported hearing a loud explosion about 4: 15 P. M., but saw nothing .
According to U . P. release, "Metallurgists and AF officials offered no solution
for the whi'te-hot pellets. "San Mateo officials reported the pellets ranging in size
from a dime to a 50 cent piece, and according to Woodside Fire Chief, John
Volpaino, the metal shower burned holes in the road surface a quarter of an
inch deep. "I just can't figure it out," he said. "It has me completely mysti­
fied." Deputy Sheriff Robert Benassini said the metal scraps had irregular
marking and appeared to have come from a "cylindrical object. "
An Air Force spokesman advanced the theory, the metal came from jet plane
exhaust pipes which reach extreme temperatures in flight. However, a check
with air bases disclosed no military jets were in the bay area Friday. (Thanks
to Perry G. Powers of Duarte and an unnamed informant who sent in the story
from San Fransisco Call Bulletin: )
THE "SPLOTCHED PAINT MYSTERY": On the same date in Little Hollywood,
in a community in the valley by the bay just north of San Fransisco County line,
residents were baffled by.a •11 splotched paint mystery'! About half of the approxi­
mate 300 homes in the area were affected. One white stucco hous e turned pink,
a gray house splotched, a green house came out looking like a "marble cake. "
None of the residents had an explanation.