Roscoe Inman

Lieutenant Commander Roscoe Z. Inman is Mark Meltzer's contact at the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). Little is known about his background or military status. Inman says he wants to help Meltzer and provides information when possible.

Roscoe Inman is introduced as a character at the end of phase one of There's Something in the Sea. When Mark Meltzer sends a letter to Congress about the connection between the red lights and the kidnappings, it is forwarded to ONI where it apparently caught the attention of Inman. ONI was considering opening an investigation called "Project Blue Book" relating to "unexplained nautical phenomena" at the time, and Inman promised to assist Mark if he would share the results of his investigation in return. He sends Mark some documents detailing a possible connection between Andrew Ryan and a no go zone in the North Atlantic. However, when asked for further information on the phone, he is evasive. Inman distrusts Celeste Roget, another one of Mark's contacts, as she was the only survivor from her expedition to the Himalayas, and he feels that she could be lying about her story. His suspicion proved to be partly correct, because she had been lying to Mark about Orrin Oscar Lutwidge being dead. Inman also sent Mark material regarding deep sea creatures, which helped solve one of Lutwidge's puzzle boxes.

Mark appears to trust Inman to a certain extent, often considering him the only rational one of his contacts. At one point, when Mark was discouraged after his daughter was taken, he wanted to give all his data to Inman and let him carry on the investigation without him.

5/26
"Meltzer, Inman here, just found out about your accident - call me ASAP and give me the brief. I'm hoping you've got some kind of assessment of what we're up against. And if you found any leads regarding your daughter's whereabouts let me know if there's anything I can do on this end. Still monitoring intel, but it's dead quiet, we got zero for weeks now."

6/1
"Meltzer, this is Roscoe Inman. I received your message, but I’m in the field on an ONI assignment and I haven’t been able to access a private line before now. Look, I think you should take all this with a grain of salt. Remember, your story’s been in the newspaper. This recent contact may not even be connected to the abductions. It could be... some cruel trick or someone attempting to manipulate you. To what ends I won’t conjecture. Anyway, take it under advisement, I have to go."

6/12
"Meltzer, this is Inman. I know I promised you materials on the missing person's situation but... look, I wanted to warn you. ONI has been under lock-down after recent events. They have us prepping files on potential dissidence. Unstable personalities. Paranoia is running high all levels. I'd advise you to maintain a low profile, and watch your back."

6/25
"Meltzer, this is Inman. Have I encountered these "James Oakes" people? Absolutely. We've got more than a few people in command who buy into these theories, but as they regard the Vanishings, it's pretty clear it's a blind alley. I've seen internal analysis from the Soviets and this idea that they're behind it, well it's dead wrong. I'll try to slip you a copy, and keep me posted."

7/14
"Meltzer, this is Lt. Commander Roscoe Inman, I know that last call kind of rubbed you the wrong way but there's a reason I'm asking about your other contacts. There's a lot of intentional disinformation in this area of research. Might be the Russians' work, hell, might be our own. But regardless, this Celeste Roget woman, she's kind of my main concern;, this incident in Tibet she talks about. Now remember, she was the sole survivor. There's no version of this story except hers. I'm not making any accusations, I'm just saying: Know what you don't know, you read?"

=== 7/29 === "Meltzer, Commander Roscoe Inman here. I got your message about the charts and I've never heard of anything quite like it. Now the Office of Naval Research has been developing detailed charts on the currents... what you're talking about sounds like it's years ahead of us. Even our guys can't track debris to a specific urban location. Somebody worked that out? I want to see the evidence. Keep me posted."

8/20
'' "Meltzer, this is Lt. Commander Roscoe Inman. Just touching base. It's been awhile. I put in a few calls but I never heard back from you. I'm real curious on what exactly you were looking for out on the beaches. Assuming you found anything. Thought we did some pretty good work together last year chasing down those sightings. So if you get any evidence, if there's anything I can help with, we can do it all off the books. I got a lot of resources and command doesn't have to know a thing. Just don't leave me out in the cold... old buddy. Thanks." ''

10/3
"This is Lt. Commander Rosco Inman. Mark, you've been avoiding my calls, and it's high time I lay it on the line. You and I both know there is something going on in the "no go zone" in the North Atlantic. Frankly, I've largely been operating on my own... now, I've got a problem, someones looking into my work, and not in a good way. Might be my own people, or it might be another government agency. Mark these people will shut me down unless I can show some proof, so if you've got anything to share, now's the time, get back to me Mark, as soon as possible. Thanks."

10/27
"Meltzer, this is Roscoe Inman, and I do apologize but there's been an internal security investigation over here. Certain parties want to know why I've been tracking your research, and I tell you it's a witch hunt. The same thing's been happening at the Air Force with Project Blue Book. The bigger the brass; the smaller the minds. Frankly Meltzer, I've disagreed with a lot of your conclusions, but at this point, I may be getting forced out of the navy. Just as well, I wanna confer with you on some other matters, for example the UFOs and any thoughts you might have on the so-called "Philadelphia Experiment". I'll slip you whatever files I can. Good luck Meltzer... I think we'll both need it."