Tom was unable to leave his job at the time, and sent a fellow Montoya supporter Fred Willard in his place. Montoya was helped into car, and it drove away toward the hotel. Those who had heard the unbelievable story that their hero had told them pondered what it meant, or wondered what was wrong with Montoya.
The next day, the Anaya brothers drove to the Nickson Hotel to check on Montoya. The lieutenant governor was somewhat more at ease now. He began to update the two men. Montoya claimed that the aliens had been shipped to Texas, and were in a hospital. He repeated his warning of the day before: they should never speak of what he told them. If they did, he would deny everything, making the brothers look like fools to the world. The Anayas returned to their respective homes. That evening, they would receive a surprise visitor: Sheriff George Wilcox. The two families, wondering why he was there, went outside to meet Wilcox. The Sheriff was there to deliver a warning.
Wilcox, acting on the admonishment of the military, made his message to the two families very clear. If they talked to anyone about what they had been told by Montoya, they and their entire families would be killed! Later, it would be determined that the Anaya families' warning was only one of many similar warnings given during that time period by Wilcox and others working with him. In subsequent attempts to talk to Montoya, the Anayas, along with Moses Burrola, were told to leave the entire story alone, or they would be dealt with by the FBI.
Senator Dennis Chavez also gave the four men who rescued Montoya a warning, telling them that Montoya was a liar, and for them not to believe a word they had been told. They would NOT repeat what they had heard from the lieutenant governor. Chavez used the excuse that Montoya had inadvertently seen a secret government project, and if any information about it went public, it could hurt the cause of the United States with foreign countries, most namely Germany and Russia.
Joseph Montoya served as US Senator for New Mexico from 1964-1977. By this time, there had been no news of the Roswell crash for 20 plus years. It was during this time that Pete and Mary Anaya's son John, would serve on Montoya's staff. Don Schmitt and Thomas J. Carey interviewed John in 2002, at his parents' home during a taping for a UFO documentary. When asked by researchers if he believed Pete and Mary's story, he stated that he did, and that he had even asked Senator Montoya about it. Montoya told him that the story was true, but if it was ever made public, he would deny it.
Ruben Anaya died in 2002. Moses Burrola has been dead for many years, but before he passed away, he discussed with his wife that unforgettable day that he was part of the four man team who picked up Montoya at Hangar P-3. Ralph Chaes has never been located. Researchers would also make contact with another witness of importance, Fred Willard. Willard told Don Schmitt that he was Montoya's driver and pilot during the Roswell crash days, and coordinated the politician's schedule when he visited the city. When queried about driving Montoya from the Anaya house to the Nickson Hotel, he would not answer, and became visibly shaken. What he knew, he kept to himself. It would easy to surmise that, he too, had given his word to Montoya about discussing the incident, and was only keeping that promise.
There is no end in sight to the investigation into the Roswell crash of 1947, as new evidence is still being uncovered. Yet, as eyewitnesses grow older, and many of them meet their maker, it is so very important that some of the documented accounts like the Montoya episode is now etched in stone. Maybe... just maybe, some day the entire truth will be revealed about this most famous case in the UFO hall of mysteries.
sources:
"Witness to Roswell"
"UFO Crash at Roswell"
"Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe"
"The Roswell File"
