Skeptics and believers alike agree an object crashed to the earth on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico in July of 1947. What was it?

THE BEGINNING OF THE MODERN UFO ERA

The first reported sighting of a 'ufo' in the American modern era, was on June 24th, 1947. Reputable pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine kick-shaped objects near Mt. Rainier, flying at over 1,000 mph. Reports of sightings then blossomed across the country. In 1948, the Air Force established Project SAUCER which they soon renamed Project SIGN. It's purpose was to evaluate information and reports and decide if there was a threat to national security. Their conclusion, according to cia.gov, was that "almost all sightings stemmed from one or more of three causes: mass hysteria and hallucination, hoax or misinterpretation of known objects". Project SIGN was closed, but the Air Force, CIA and other governmental groups have continued to collect and evaluate UFO information over the years. In the 1950's the Air Force claimed that, "90 percent of the reported sightings were easily accounted for… the other 10 percent were characterized as 'a number of incredible reports from credible observers'." (cia.gov)

ROSWELL

So, back to the Roswell incident. Ranch forman WW "Mack" Brazel said he found debris that created a very long trench in the ground when it crashed onto the land in July of 1947. He claimed the debris was made up of strange material. Roswell Army Air Field intelligence officer for the 509th Bomb Group, Maj. Jesse Marcel, corroborated the debris was unusual. By July 8th, the Roswell Army Air Field public information officer released the story which was picked up by the AP with the headline, "The Army Air Forces here today announced a flying disk had been found." The military got busy. The wreckage was transported out of Roswell and another press release was sent out rescinding the first, and claiming officers had incorrectly identified a weather balloon and radar apparatus.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

In this new era of government's releasing of documents, could more Roswell information be forthcoming? Maybe it's time for each person to contact their congressperson for more information.

LEARN MORE

The FBI vault:

Roswell UFO Museum

Smithsonian

MUFON: Roswell UFO Retrieval - 1947

csicop.org: What Really Happened at Roswell