The Roswell Incident
New Mexico, July 1947
In early July 1947, ranch foreman William ‘Mac’ Brazel discovered mysterious debris on the grounds of Foster Ranch, 30 miles outside of Roswell. Unable to identify it, he took a small fragment to his nearest neighbours Loretta & Floyd Proctor who said it was a material “like nothing they’d ever seen before”, and proved resistant to the men’s attempts to cut, break or burn it.
“What he brought up and showed to us was like a lightweight wood. ... It was six or seven inches long and a little bigger around than a pencil. He and my husband, they tried to cut on it and they tried to burn it and it didn’t make any mark or anything. It was different from anything we had ever seen.”
Article in Chicago Sun (26th June 1947) detailing Kenneth Arnold’s sighting in Washington
On July 6th, Brazel reported his discovery to Roswell’s Sheriff George Wilcox who, in turn, contacted intelligence officer Major Jesse Marcel at a nearby Army Airforce Base.
The following morning the military descended upon the ranch, gathering the mysterious debris and taking it away in armoured trucks.
On July 8th, RAAF public information officer Walter Haut issued a press release announcing that the US Army Airforce has recovered a crashed “flying disc” outside Roswell, which prompted national interest and media attention.
However, speculation was quickly quashed by the release of a second statement alleging that the debris was in fact a high altitude weather balloon.
A press conference was held, displaying the foil, rubber and wood of a typical weather balloon. The military claimed this material to be the same debris collected from the ranch, despite witnesses' protests to the contrary.
“[Col. Blanchard] told me that he wanted me to put out a press release which in effect stated that we had in our possession a crashed flying saucer. It was being transported to the 8th Air Force headquarters to be turned over to Gen. (Roger) Ramey, who was the next higher commander. I think I probably asked some idiot question like ‘Can I see it?’ and he said, ‘No.’ ‘Can you describe it?’ ‘No.’ It was just, ‘Here’s what I want in the press release — we’ve got it, had it in our possession, it’s gone on to General Ramey.’”
Jesse Marcel, head intelligence officer who initially investigated the debris from the site outside Roswell, in the Corsicana Daily Sun 9th July 1947.
Over the years, speculation surrounding the Roswell Incident has elevated the story to an almost mythic degree. With claims of alien bodies, cold war espionage, Nazi technology, government cover-ups and witness intimidation, it is unclear where truth blurs into conspiracy.
Although, Major Jesse Marcel, who accompanied the Roswell debris from the ranch to the base in Texas Fort Worth, has always maintained that the debris was like “nothing made on this earth”, and accounts by Brazel, Wilcox and the Proctors suggest that the material recovered possesses qualities that cannot be attributed to traditional man-made materials.
“[The debris recovery team] were carrying boxes of strange-looking material. One man had a piece, carrying under his arm right out in the open, about 16 by 22, coffee table sized. Maj. Marcel went through carrying this box with scraps of metal in it and one of the I-beams sticking up in the corner. Meanwhile a staff car had pulled up underneath the tail and they were handing some boxes up into the back door entrance.”