1947-Roswell UFO Crash
By Billy Booth
UFO
Cornerstone:
If anyone mentions the word UFO, somewhere in the
conversation Roswell will come up. Just as theHill Abduction Case is
used to judge alien abduction reports, Roswell is the bread and butter of
Ufology. This one case will keep Ufology going, even through its darkest days.
The case is never over, there is never an end to the witness lists, and the
discussion goes on and on. Roswell is the very heart of the study of UFOs. This
distinction is very well earned.
Quick Death:
When the first
reports of a crashed alien craft reached the general public, many felt that the
long awaited proof of extraterrestrial intelligence had come. The news spread
world wide when the Air Force announced that they had a flying saucer in their
possession. But hopes were soon dashed, as a second news flash proclaimed that
it was nothing more than a weather balloon. The general public felt differently
then-they believed anything they were told by officials of our government. This
innocent obedience would not work a second time.
The
Resurrection:
Yet, the
enormous public interest in the case would be revitalized. After an almost 30
year absence from study, the Roswell case would again take its rightful place
in 1976, and since then, it has been as popular as any other case study. Thanks
be to Ufologists William Moore, and Stanton R. Friedman, who were studying
notes from an interview that Friedman had conducted. The interview was with
Jesse Marcel Sr. Intelligence Officer at Roswell Air Force Base, and Lydia
Sleppy, who was employed at radio station KOAT at the time of the Roswell
crash.
A Lone Rancher:
During the
first week of July, 1947 sheep rancher William W. "Mac" Brazel was
making his rounds of the Foster Ranch, located near Corona. Brazel served as
foreman of the facility. Brazel lived on the ranch in a farm house, although
his wife and children lived in Tularosa, to receive better schooling for this
children. Brazel would become a major figure in the Roswell case, although he
never desired the attention it sent his way.
Debris Found:
Brazel, home
for the night, was listening to a roaring thunderstorm, not uncommon for his
location, but this night it seemed worse than ever. He thought that maybe he
had heard an explosion. The next morning, he was out again, checking the
livestock, and riding fences for any breaks. A seven-year-old neighbor boy was
with him. Riding into an open field, the two horsemen noticed a large area
filled with some type of debris or wreckage. The wreckage was tiny pieces of
shiny, metallic material. This material was unfamiliar to the rancher.
Marcell Notified of Debris:
Brazel
collected some of the unknown debris, and showed it George Wilcox, of the
Chaves County Sheriff's Office. At first, Wilcox thought little of the
material, until he began to handle it. It was not like anything he had seen
before. Wilcox was concerned enough to call Roswell Army Air Field. He talked
to Major Jesse A. Marcel, and explained the situation of the discovery of the
material at the Foster ranch. Marcell left the base to come to Roswell and see
the material.
Marcell's Findings:
After
interviewing Brazel, Marcell was on the way to the debris field, accompanied by
Army Counter Intelligence Corps officer Sheridan Cavitt and Brazel. Marcell
related the events of the search through the debris in his own words:
"When we
arrived at the crash site, it was amazing to see the vast amount of area it
covered... it scattered over an area of about three quarters of a mile long, I
would say, and fairly wide, several hundred feet wide. It was definitely not a
weather or tracking device, nor was it any sort of plane or missile."
Headlines Claim "Flying Saucer" Found:
Marcel
examined the strange material, and even took some of it home with him. He
informed Air Force officials of what he had seen, and Colonel Blanchard gave an
order to Colonel Walter Haut, instructing him to inform the media that the Air
Force had in its possession a "crashed saucer." Haut claimed that the
saucer debris was sent to the 8th Air Force, under the leadership of General
Ramey in Ft. Worth, Texas. Meanwhile, the famous newspaper headlines were
released:
"RAAF
Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region."
The shocking
admission would soon be retracted, and the flying saucer became a weather
balloon.
The
Military's Actions:
Soon, rumors
were running rampant at the base, and word was beginning to filter into Roswell
about dead alien bodies. Although the military had secured the site of the
crash, and supposedly removed every bit of debris, there is never 100% silent
obedience for an event this dramatic. Any reasonable person will wonder that if
the debris came from a weather balloon, why the secrecy? Front page photographs
of so-called weather balloon debris would later be disputed by Marcel as not
being the same material he brought to the base.
The Story That Will Not Die:
Although the
theories about Roswell are composed of many conflicting accounts, some facts
are clear. Something important crashed near Corona-important enough that
witnesses were threatened if they revealed what they saw. There are too many
witnesses who claim to have seen the alien bodies. There is adequate evidence
to assume that autopsies were done on at least one alien body, and probably
more.
Numerous times, the Air Force has been adamant that
there is nothing to the crash, but too many times witnesses have come forward
with first hand knowledge of a crashed UFO, dead alien bodies, and a military
cover-up.
Early UFO Reports
See some of the best known early cases of flying saucers
- The Kenneth Arnold Sighting
- The Roswell Crash
- Gorman Plane - UFO Encounter
- The Mantell Crash
- Chiles-Whitted Encounter
- The Lubbock Lights
- Washington DC Buzzed by UFOs
- Felix Moncla Encounter
- Levelland, Texas Landings
- The Trindade Island Photographs
- The Papua, New Guinea Sightings
- Betty & Barney Hill Abduction
- The Socorro, New Mexico Landing
- The Kecksburg, Pennsylvania Crash
- Encounter at Falcon Lake
- Foo Fighters - UFOs of World War II
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