He Filmed History and Often Became Part of It
Article by Jorge Encinas January 2, 2021 (gvnews.com)
• In 1952, Ralph Mayher enlisted in the US Marines. He had studied photography in a trade high school in Cleveland, so he was assigned as a combat photographer in a photographic unit with the Third Marine Air Wing at Opa-locka, Florida. For the next 22 years, Mayher traveled the world, documenting history as it happened – sometimes in dangerous circumstances – as a photographer for the Marine Corps and then for ABC News. He covered the Watts Riots in Los Angeles in 1965 and the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. He filmed an ABC News documentary in the Soviet Union called “Comrade Soldier,” in 1967 (pictured above), and covered the Mexican government’s brutal suppression of university protesters known as the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968.adventure
• Mayher, now 90 years old, has no shortage of amazing stories spanning his 22 years of filming newsreels. Twice he and his wife of more than 50 years, Gypsie, had attempted to write a memoir on his exploits as a news photographer. But it wasn’t until they were stuck at home during this past year’s pandemic that they had the time to finish the job. “My wife had saved detailed documents and photographs for at least 25 years,” Mayher said. “It wasn’t easy going through the material, and especially the photographs, but we enjoyed doing it. I dedicated the book to my wife because she kept all of the documents with all of our moves around the country and in and out of the country. And without her keeping these documents and photographs, we wouldn’t have had a book.” The stories shared in their new book, The Last Newsreel, were well worth the wait.
• One of Mayher’s most fascinating stories happens to be his first. When PFC Mayher had just begun his two years as a photographer in the US Marine Corps in Florida, he heard about a UFO that appeared over Miami Beach on June 28, 1952. Local television station WYVJ in Miami was willing to pay $50 for footage of the UFO. Mayher decided he was going to be the one to capture the image. He positioned himself with his 16-millimeter camera at a spot where he anticipated the UFO would return, and sure enough, it did. His camera caught a bright yellowish-orange saucer-like UFO as it flew overhead. Three crew members flying a Navy amphibious aircraft nearby confirmed the UFO sighting at the same altitude, in the same area, and on the same night. Mayher processed the photos and turned them in to the newspaper. The next day, a Miami Daily News article headlined, “Miami’s Saucer? Marine Here Snaps Disc”. Mayher never got his $50.
• By 1957, Mayher had left the Marine Corps and was working for KYW-TV in Cleveland when the station decided to do a UFO documentary. He offered up his Miami Beach UFO photos. Surprisingly, two CIA officers showed up at the TV station and wanted to see the photos. Mayher gave them some 8x10s. As the CIA officers were leaving, they “suggested” that the UFO photographs should not be used on the show. The CIA agents also told Mayher to deny that the CIA were ever involved. “What do you mean?” Mayher responded. “This is a news story, and you’re here.'” The CIA officers pointed out that Mayher could be recalled to serve six more years in the Marine Corps, referring to him as ‘corporal’ – Mayher’s last rank. After the CIA’s veiled threat, Mayher never aired the photos for the UFO documentary. In 2011, Mayher learned that his original UFO photos were now in the possession of the US Air Force.
Ralph Mayher has no shortage of amazing stories spanning his 22 years of filming newsreels. And thanks to a
little cabin fever, he put them down in black and white in a book recounting the history he recorded for the world.
Mayher, 90, said his two previous attempts to put his memories into words didn’t pan out when the stress of putting them together stalled the efforts.
But with the pandemic making travel and everyday errands ill-advised, he decided to give it another shot. And the stories in “The Last Newsreel” were well worth the wait.
Mayher, who lives in Green Valley, took up photography at a trade high school in Cleveland. In 1952, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, where his education took him straight into a photographic unit with the Third Marine Air Wing at Opa-locka, Florida.
He was a combat cameraman, but Mayher said he thankfully didn’t deploy to Korea. But his time at Opa-locka was anything but typical.
And that’s where Mayher’s story begins. A Marine, a 16-millimeter camera and a UFO.
Miami Beach
PFC. Mayher had heard about a UFO that appeared over Miami Beach on June 28, 1952, and he had a feeling it wasn’t going to be the last sighting.
He heard a local television station was willing to shell out $50 for footage of the UFO, and Mayher decided he was going to be the one to capture the image.
“So, I tell my buddies I’m going to go out and film a UFO at Miami Beach the following night, June 29, 1952,” he said. “And they all said, ‘We knew you were a little bit off your rocker, but here’s the camera. Good luck.’ I said not only thank you for the good luck, but we’re going to have a beer party when I get my 50 bucks from WTVJ in Miami.”
And, wouldn’t you know it, Mayher’s hunch paid off. His 16-millimeter camera caught the bright yellowish-orange saucer from Miami resident Herman Stern’s back patio.
“The gentleman who allowed me to go out on his patio, he thought I was crazy as well, but when the damn thing flew over, I was able to get about nine frames of film of the UFO,” he said.
It wasn’t just Mayher who saw it. Three Navy crew members flying a Consolidated PBY Catalina confirmed the UFO sighting flying at the same altitude, in the same area, on the same night.
The Miami Daily News reported the sighting in an article headlined, “Miami’s Saucer?: Marine Here Snaps ‘Disc.'”
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