Page 81 - MY STORY

At the same time, we were shipping large quantities

(freight rail-car loads) of the newly developed all-beta
alloy sheet to our warehouse. Occasionally an unmarked
truck would appear in the middle of the night and pick up

the sheet stock. The name of the company on the
purchase order was one I’d never heard of, with a PO
address somewhere in the San Fernando Valley.

One day a US Government individual who acted like a
“take charge” guy appeared at our office and let us know

that the late night material pick-ups would continue for
some period of time and there might other stuff in our

warehouse than titanium sheet or plate. He also made it
clear that it would not be in our best interest to wonder
where the unmarked truck went, and definitely “do not
even think about following it!” We were told that the

truck would always be accompanied by an armed
unmarked escort, and he would not like to see us harmed

in any way.

About a week later, George, a salesperson from one of our

competitor titanium companies came to my office and
demanded to know who the customer was for those tons
of beta alloy coming to the west coast. Titanium

shipments were openly available information, and his