Lexicon · Concept

Roswell incident

The Roswell incident is a case connected to debris found near Roswell, New Mexico, in Summer 1947, which ufologists interpret as the crash of an extraterrestrial spacecraft. According to the official finding, it was the remains of a secret military balloon program.

The Roswell incident is one of the best-known cases in UFO research. In June 1947, rancher W. W. "Mac" Brazel found unusual debris on a ranch in New Mexico, near Corona, roughly 120 kilometers from Roswell. In early July he reported it to the Roswell sheriff, who notified the nearby military air base (Roswell Army Air Field). On July 8 the base announced in a press release that a flying disc had been found, but the same day the Army presented the debris as a weather balloon.

What proponents claim

According to proponents of an extraterrestrial origin, an alien spacecraft crashed, the Army removed the debris and possibly members of the crew, and the matter was covered up. This version became known in the late 1970s, when ufologist Stanton Friedman contacted Jesse Marcel, the base's former intelligence officer, who had taken part in collecting the debris. It was popularized widely by the book The Roswell Incident, published in 1980, followed by further books and witness testimonies.

Official finding and skeptical position

In 1947 the Army cited a weather balloon. According to a 1994 U.S. Air Force report, the debris was the remains of a high-altitude balloon train from a secret program called Project Mogul, which was intended to detect Soviet nuclear tests. The 1997 report explained the later accounts of "bodies" as dummies used in parachute tests in the 1950s and other aircraft accidents, which were later conflated with the 1947 event in the witnesses' accounts. Ufologists also often cite a 1995 report by the congressional investigative office (GAO), according to which some of the Roswell base's outgoing messages from 1947 had previously been destroyed. According to skeptics, the witness testimonies were given decades after the events and contain many contradictions.

Significance

The Roswell case is one of the cornerstones of modern UFO culture. Through the International UFO Museum and Research Center, which opened in 1991, and the UFO festival held every summer, it has also become a tourist attraction for the town.

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