Similarly, when then Gov. Meldrim Thomson of NH wrote to the federal govt requesting nuclear weapons for the New Hampshire State National Guard, there was apparently a bit of a quandary of how to reply. They eventually settled on a similar approach of noting that someone had gotten a hold of his stationery and that he should implement better security.
Sorry to be vague on the details, I couldn't find the letters in a quick search -- if anyone can find a link, it's definitely a funny read (considering it all ended well).
Edit: here's one link to a newspaper referencing it, which gives us a date before 7-June-1975:
He was an interesting character, according to his Wikipedia page.
"During his governorship, and thereafter, Thomson was criticized for a number of controversial actions:
in 1976 and 1977 he ordered the flag at the statehouse to flown at half-staff on Good Friday to "memorialise the death of Christ on the Cross." [1]
having an aide examine his political opponents' tax records, a move later invalidated by the New Hampshire Supreme Court
suggesting nuclear weapons for the state National Guard.[10]
during the 1977 anti-nuclear demonstrations in Seabrook, he dressed in military fatigues and was brought in by helicopter to order in person the arrest of 1,400 protesters.[11]
personally arresting speeders from his official car.[12]
visiting South Africa in 1978 and then praising the government and its apartheid policy.[13]
threatening to veto all funding for the University of New Hampshire in 1974 after the Gay Students Organization held a dance and performed a play on campus.[14]
sending out a press release in 1977 saying that he wanted journalists to keep the "Christ" in Christmas and not call it Xmas, which, he asserted, was a pagan spelling of Christmas, despite being a representation by the Greek letter chi.[15]
petitioning unsuccessfully, in 1990, that candidate Dick Swett (for New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district) be listed on the ballot as Lantos-Swett, the name he had used in the telephone book, voter registration, buying real estate, and business.[16]"
The letter and response may be apocryphal. I think he made some statements at a conference that were publicized and then he "clarified" that he was looking to have the Guard trained on the latest equipment including offensive and defensive nuclear related systems, but he did not want them to actually stockpile and control nuclear weapons.
One reason it may be in the popular consciousness is because Stephen King mentioned the episode in The Dead Zone.
That's possible, tho' I distinctly recall reading scanned copies of both outgoing and reply letters. It's frustrating that I can't find them now. At the time I read them, I had no doubt that that they were real scans of actual documents, but I didn't do any hard skeptical verification either.
Completely unrelated but the judge under this article [1] on the same page looks so shockingly like Nigel Farage [2] that I feel like I have to make this comment pointing it out.
That's a wonderful response. It would be grossly negligent to pass over this opportunity to mention the Marx Brothers' legendary response to Warner Brothers concerning use of the name Casablanca: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/02/i-had-no-idea-that-city...
