THE REVEREND AT ROSWELL: A CHAPLAIN AT THE CRASH?

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TOPIC: THE REVEREND AT ROSWELL: A CHAPLAIN AT THE CRASH?

vinitjain
Senior Member

Posts: 181
Date: October 17th

THE REVEREND AT ROSWELL: A CHAPLAIN AT THE CRASH?

The enormity of suddenly being confronted with sky-fallen craft and beings from another world near Roswell, NM in July of 1947 was no doubt spiritually shattering. The psychological impact of such an event had to have been deep and lasting. Everything must have come into question relative to man's place in the universe. Newly-acquired information indicates that the Roswell Base Chaplain at the time -Reverend Elijah H. Hankerson- may have provided needed support to those that were not prepared to deal with such a momentous event. There are three telling elements to the Hankerson saga:

- Just days after the crash Reverend Hankerson was shipped out of Roswell Army Air Field and was replaced by a Catholic priest of higher rank
- Hankerson and his wife Annie kept from their children the fact that he was ever even stationed at Roswell. The family is stunned.
- Hankerson may have made a "silent confession" to them at the end of his life, possibly hinting at his involvement

THE CHAPLAIN AND THE TRAUMA

We can only guess at the "coping mechanisms" that had to be instantly developed by those who viewed the crash. The Chaplain would have likely been there to help cope with this sudden trauma. Chaplains in the U.S. armed services have a special role in our nation's military. Two very important functions of the Chaplain are to provide spiritual counseling and assistance in emergency situations. Required to be available whenever called upon, they help individuals in times of continuing crisis as well as in ministering to those distraught by a sudden and recent event causing physical or mental challenge. In the 1940s. there were no "trauma psychologists." This role was assumed by men of the cloth. As part of the team of "first responders" to an air accident, they provide needed support, hope and encouragement. They pray over the dead- and they calm and assure the living who are suffering from a traumatic incident.

What could have been more traumatic than seeing dead non-human pilots who commanded a craft of entirely unknown construction, spread out in pieces on the desert floor?

The trauma was measurable.

Read more at http://theunexplainedmysteries.com/roswell-reverend.html

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