On 8 July 1947, the Roswell Daily Record carried the following headline "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch In Roswell Region." It was a headline that referred to, what was to become, the biggest UFO story of all time. The small town of Roswell, together with its military base, is situated in the US state of New Mexico and despite the crash, reported in the Daily Record, happening 75 miles northwest of the town, Roswell was to become known across the world as the place where a craft from outer-space, complete with aliens, crashed to earth.
The story is one of unbelievable intrigue. First the RAAF acknowledged the recovery of a flying disk by the US military only to retract the story within hours, announcing it was nothing more than a weather balloon. Claims of a cover-up quickly followed, even involving the Pentagon, debris found described as 'not of this world', reports of witness intimidation by the military, some witnesses claiming they were told their lives would be threatened if they spoke of what they saw.
The facts relating to the incident have become extremely confused, not least because the official explanation by the military that it was no more than a weather balloon was generally accepted by those who had initially been excited by the first announcement of an alien disk having been recovered, causing the story to lose momentum.
It was not until thirty years later, in 1978, that two researchers Stanton T. Friedman and William L. Moore compared notes on interviews each had carried out independently. The evidence collected became compelling. It was at this time that Friedman interviewed Jesse Marcel, an Army Major who in 1947, had been responsible for press releases at the military base. It was Marcel who describe debris as ... not of this world.
Interest in the Roswell Incident reignited and led to many witness statements being given, either personally or second-hand recollections being recounted by families and associates. Some
of those originally involved in the incident had died during the interim period.
The actual site of the alleged 'disk crash' was reported as being two-and-a-half miles east of where the 'balloon wreckage' was discovered. The 'exotic' debris found at the first site was discovered by a rancher by the name of Mac Brazel, who died in 1963, prior to Friedman and Moore carrying out their investigations, it was his discovery that triggered the whole Roswell story, he could never imagined at the time the affect it would have on the future world of UFO investigation.
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Starting in the Journal tomorrow and continuing for eight days, the feature article will be devoted to the Roswell UFO Incident The articles will be devoted entirely to the many witness statements made, many as signed affidavits. Sceptics have set out to discredit these accounts and in fact claim to have disproved, without doubt, some of the claims made. However, UFO enthusiasts maintain much of what has been said cannot be disputed. They would argue that if what happened in Roswell back in 1947, could be accounted for by simple explanation, then why did the government and the military go to such great lengths to put in a place a cover-up. Don't miss this absorbing series starting in the Journal tomorrow, then at the end of the series make up your own mind ... Roswell fact or fiction?
