1,903 total views, 2 views today
Chapter Three: The Roswell Incident and Crash Retrievals
Roswell is the crown jewel in mainstream Ufology. It has been written about in books, magazines, websites and covered in films and on television. In short, Roswell is a big case in the history of ‘Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena’ (UAP) and rightly so. Despite this, what I find particularly interesting is that most people you might speak with will have heard of the Roswell crashes, but most mainstreamers will not be able to tell you anything about it and often confuse the event with Area 51. Even the infamous United States AirForce (USAF) press releases from 1947, 1994 and 1997 are largely unknown by the public. Arguably, it’s not unless you get fully emerged within the literature do you get a feel for what actually happened back in 1947.
To give the most well-known ‘Unidentified Flying Object’ (UFO) case of all time its due diligence, we would advise that anyone wishing to research Roswell should examine all sides of the arguments, all witness testimony and all official statements before making any firm conclusions. One should take their time and research the surrounding 1947 UFO wave and the climax that resulted with something impacting the New Mexico desert that hot dry summer. But what happened there all those decades ago? Was it ‘Space-Aliens’, really? Something more explainable? Or was it something we still do not fully understand? We must ask thew question, ‘what do we really understand about Roswell’?
Stigma, Ufology and the cover-up
The crash (or crashes) at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 occurred. That is an accepted fact even among the most hardened sceptic. What isn’t accepted however, is what actually crashed that summer in those dry desert plains. The debate and counter debate amongst believers and sceptics is whether a vehicle(s) of extra-terrestrial origin was recovered and hidden away, classified higher than the Manhattan Project. You might consider that the real question which drives people is not so much the reality of UFOs and Aliens, but whether the government made a decision all those years ago to hide this information from the public. Was the national security defense apparatus built around what they found at Roswell? A discovery so threatening to human socio-psychological geopolitical and religious infrastructure that the very existence was covered-up indefinitely? Or maybe it was just a weather balloon after all? Either way, the issue has been debated for decades and decades.
In Ufology research there are wild theories about Roswell. Some claim that electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons shot down the Roswell UFOs, others have claimed that Russian aerial vehicles with piloting mutated children crashed at Roswell, and some claimed that a storm had somehow brought down the crashed objects. All of these are based on wild speculation. Yes, it may seem ridiculous, and in fairness, such claims probably are just that, ridiculous. Claims which are probably more extreme than that of ‘Space-Aliens’.
How does a hyper advanced vehicle made by super evolved space-aliens travel across the universe and then simply, crash? How would EMP weapons within the 1940s be able to down such advanced vehicles? How would a simple storm bring down such anomalous technology? And as for deformed children piloting Russian vehicles that somehow managed to make it as far as the New Mexico desert – that is probably the most absurd claim of all.
Regardless of the many claims and absurdities. How can we not talk about Roswell and its potential significance? Given that UAP are confirmed as real and potentially non-human, how then can we so easily dismiss the idea that they might crash? How do we separate disinformation, misinformation and fact? For example, the much-debated Roswell Slides (2015) and the Alien Autopsy video (1995) was enough to divert interest and promote stigma around Roswell. The ridicule factor was a powerful tool within the mainstream media who wrote dismissive articles without looking into what actually happened. In a way, there was an invisible line which media wouldn’t cross. And if they did, if they dared to investigate the Roswell or UFO mystery, they would find yourself being judged as a tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy loon for simply asking questions.
What happened in 1947?
The crashes in New Mexico are important for this topic for various reasons. For one, it is thought to be the official start of the UFO ‘cover-up’, for another, it is the topic that is most famously known. The influx of ‘Flying Saucer’ reports occurred from the summer of 1947 time period. This signalled the start of the modern UFO age which ran all the way to the end of the twentieth century and the start of the ‘UAP initiative’ in 2017. The beginning of what many people believe to be the UFO cover up was less than a month after the June 1947 Kenneth Arnold sighting. Arnold famously claimed to see multiple anomalous craft that skipped across the sky like saucers, hence the term ‘Flying Saucer’. The Arnold sighting symbolised the birth of the modern-day UFO age, and coincidentally, the birth of the nuclear age. Additionally, this was also the start of the Cold War with Russia, and some even suggest all of the above are connected. And right at the start of this era was this potentially incredible anomalous event.
If you want a full account of what happened in 1947, look to William Moore (1), Don Schmitt (2), Kevin Randle (3), Stanton Friedman (4), Colonel Philip Corso (5) or Tom Carey (6) and others, who brought the case back to life. Additionally, it was the Rockefeller-Clinton initiative that chose Roswell as the one case to look into and brought it national attention in the 1990s. This forced the USAF to once again pushback against claims of crashed ‘Flying Discs’ and recovered alien bodies. The USAF statements in 1994 and then 1997 of weather balloons and crash test dummies were extreme claims, almost as extreme as the idea of extra-terrestrials themselves, but it worked. True or not, the mainstream willingly believed it. People needed to disbelieve in Roswell.
TUESDAY – 01st of July, 1947
It had been two years since the Allied Forces took down the Axis power across Europe, and almost two years since two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the August of 1945. The world was ending a devastating war and rebuilding for the second time in less than a half a century that had cost the lives of millions. This was a time in which the Western nationalism and patriotism took on a different meaning. This was a time of unity, of family and of heritage, to be proud in a time of meaningful understanding for the armed forces and security state. A time like at no other point in history. The streets were lined with flag waving patriots who welcomed home their heroes, and solemnly mourned those who never came home, lost to the trenches. Their sacrifice not in vain. For the people could at last breathe easy, the fascist Nazi party had been beaten, their monstrous leader committing suicide before he could be captured. And as the news broke through of Hitler’s death in the days following the 30th of April, 1945, the world rejoiced that war was finally over.
However, another monster was lurking just over the horizon, the Soviet Union. Starlin had a pact with Hitler in the early days of the war, and arguably if their relationship hadn’t of broken down, we might have seen a very different end to the conflict in Europe. Following the fall of Nazi Germany, Starlin’s Russia was emerging as the ‘Red Threat’ – a communist regime that played into the hands of national security and extremely secrecy. So, when the nuclear age was born in the mid-twentieth century, the challenge of world destruction became a very real issue. Never before had humans held the ability to destroy the entire life on planet Earth and never before had frictions been so intense. The Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union ensured a strict compartmentalised policy was enforced throughout the United States (U.S.) Defense Departments. The scene was set for a devastating conflict that could lead to nuclear annihilation and in 1947 this was a terrifying emerging reality for the U.S. government. While the focus was focused across the oceans and to Russia – what was about to happen couldn’t be predicted by anyone. Something was happening, something unexpected, something above them.
Radar reports coming from White Sands testing range were made of fast flying unknowns on July 01st, 1947 (1). Something was in the skies above New Mexico, although it is unclear exactly how much the army knew at this point. Despite White Sands radar detectors and others picking up the objects, without visuals they couldn’t be certain. Whatever they were, they were there in numbers, they were above them at high altitude and couldn’t be caught, shot down or bargained with. There was a muted panic as confused questions circulated. What if the Soviet Union had developed faster, more dynamic aircraft, and what if they were carrying an atomic bomb? What if they dropped on key strategic points? Taking out a sensitive testing facility would definitely be on the list of targets. Was this a pre-emptive strike? With those speeds and manoeuvres the Russians could annihilate major cities without even a shot being fired. They would be rendered helpless. The United States was in big trouble.
WEDNESDAY – 02nd of July, 1947
The clouds rolled back with purposeful intent as they slowly turned the desert sky black. An insidious rumble vibrated across the dry plains as the penetrating summer sun beamed down to Earth. For it was here, under the unforgiving sun, that a humid climate was building below the stratosphere. Pressure had been slowly increasing all day with densely charged quantum particles resonating and anticipating the release of what was inevitable. A storm was coming.
The week leading up to the hot July 04th weekend across the southern state of New Mexico ensured intense thunderstorms struck that late Wednesday evening and into the night. In particular, the electrical storm had hit hard the rural desert fields between the small hamlet of Corona and the Captain Mountains some 65 miles from the sleepy town of Roswell (Corona was only 158km/98 miles from the White Sands Missile Range and 130km/81 miles from Roswell). All of whom shared a rural corner of America which saw nuclear testing, the first of which was Trinity in the Jornada del Muerto desert in July 1945. Those exact same skies that absorbed the nuclear testing fallout, those same skies that soaked up the radioactive decay, unbeknownst to those scientists at White Sands, reportedly contained an infectious anomaly that could alter the entire collective human psyche. The radioactive atmospheric effects were not fully understood. Their actions still unaccountable as the desert glowed with a beautifully deadly invisible light. And it was from within those same skies that the Anomalous operated, detected, observed, absorbed and existed.
The terrifying connection not yet known for another 70 years and would still not be understood fully even with increased awareness. As the last of the daylight disappeared behind the distant mountain range, something unidentified flew over the New Mexico State, something that was never meant to exist. In the hours immediately before the crash, various witnesses around Roswell were reported to have seen bizarre things in the sky. Mr. and Mrs Wilmot for example, who at 09:30pm described a ‘Flying Saucer’ shaped craft travelling with high speed in a Northeast direction. Then two Nuns apparently witnessed something bright in the sky after 11pm – Bernadette and Sister Capistrano, are said to have reported seeing a bright fiery object appear to go to the ground to the west and slightly north of Roswell (1), (2).
An unknown object of unknown origin, sped quickly across the state of New Mexico in seemingly a rough East to West direction. Whatever it was that had been witnessed, was now falling down to Earth, breaking up over the desert floor at Corona and then coming to finally crash into the San Augustin plains near Socorro. Most reported accounts place the vehicle(s), coming down late evening at around 11pm on the Wednesday. Let’s consider that some UAP do indeed have low observability (one of the 5 AATIP abilities) and are able to avoid radar tracking. Alternatively, what if some UAP, as suggested (1), could be seen on radar at White Sands? A more alarming thought, what if the vehicles electro-gravitational system were dislodged by an EMP-Atom bomb weapon. Some have suggested that potentially a classified ballistic ‘V2’ missile was sent high into the stratosphere to greet the swarm of UAP. Would that have been possible? Would this type of mission be unacknowledged, permanently. Although we should be sceptical as this is speculation.
Consider that the 1940s ballistic missiles were in their infancy, the rocket technology a new concept acquired only two years earlier as Nazi Germany fell to Allied powers. Arguably, the recovered ‘V2’ weren’t able to carry the sizeable nuclear A-Bombs similar to those first detonated over Japan. Consequently, must also consider that in July 1947, there was no nuclear weapons tests at White Sands. At least not on official record. Not that anyone believes the military wouldn’t launch a nuclear attack against UAP, particularly if they believed it was the Russians hovering high above sensitive test sights, trying to gain the destructive technology for themselves. However, there is the considerable realisation that the United States military knew that they weren’t Russian, maybe they already had crashed evidence of whatever the objects were.
What if the U.S. military had prior experience? Trinity occurred two years earlier in 1945 which apparently involved crash retrievals of anomalous vehicles and bodies. And if any of this is true, could we blame them? These things were very real to them, watching, encroaching, probing for weakness. These were the black-eyed monsters from children’s nightmares, bringing with them the dark extremity of an unwanted future. A future filled with nervous uncertainty and the fear of a technological power so radical it could incinerate the entire planet if it intended, and we didn’t even know what its intentions were. Those same brave men and women had just won a war against a great evil, pushed back the tyrants and dictators, and now they looked above them to something anomalous, something that encapsulated the societal subconscious fear of instant annihilation at any moment. The United States had won the atomic weapons race and developed the nuclear deterrent to supposedly bring world peace, and in the process brought with them the biggest threat in history. And what bigger fear is there, than that of the unknown? Death from above.
THURSDAY – 03rd of July, 1947
Reports stated that something came down across the desert plains of San Augustin and debris filtered across the fields facing Captain Mountain. Possibly, the unknown object had smashed into the ground or broke up in the air above ‘Crash Site A’ (at Corona) before coming to ‘rest’ miles away at ‘Crash Site B’ (San Augustin or another location) however there are multiple reports of other additional crash sites around the State of New Mexico, almost fitting in a linear pattern, as though the object was shedding parts of itself as it fell. The research tells us that something or somethings had come down in the stormy night of July 02nd. The U.S. military would have known thanks to various radar surveillance (that is if they appeared on radar). Additionally, if these anomalous vehicles had broken up in mid-air, it might mean that the technology to shield themselves from radar might also be non-functioning – again, should they have even possessed such a technology.
Whatever the downed vehicle was, it needed boots on the ground and men in the field to secure it. If it was a Russian spy plane or an off-course top secret test rocket, the Pentagon knew that such things needed to remain secret. If this was something else entirely, well that was simply much too terrifying to even consider, such a reality too volatile for the American public’s belief system. However, the most logical explanation would be something in their control. After all, the last thing the Pentagon needed was their enemies getting wind of an operation gone wrong, or civilians finding out that a missile had blown up some poor farmers ranch house on the New Mexico plains. Even if it really was a top-secret mogul weather balloon, there would be an interest to collect and retrieve their classified property. My mind asked the question about how much the military actually knew? Given the possibilities of previous crash retrieval cases, prior to 1947, maybe they already knew the process. Perhaps, they were ready for the Anomalous? Or maybe they had no idea?
Crash Site A: Corona, Foster Ranch Debris Field
The more famous crash site, was Crash Site A. This is the debris field site on the Foster ranch, that foreman William ‘Mac’ Brazel found and took into Roswell for the army to review. This was the object the USAF initially stated was a ‘Flying Disc’, then changed their answer to a weather balloon, then some 50 years later would change their answer to a Mogul balloon that somehow involved ‘crash test dummies’. Crash Site A is the site that we have all heard about in books and films, documentaries and newspaper articles. This was the site that some believed was a distraction from another site that occurred, a different location with different findings. On Crash Site A – the Foster/Mac Brazel site – various sized pieces of strange metal were found across vast fields. Some of the metal was as thin as tin foil but unbreakable and then somehow returned to original size after manipulation. Other pieces were in the shape of ‘I-Beams’ that, according to the son of Major. Jessie Marcel had strange type of hieroglyphs imbedded into them like a form of ‘alien’ writing. Mac Brazel found the pieces the day after the night-time thunderstorm as he herded sheep which refused to cross the debris field. He collected some of the wreckage and took the pieces in looking for a reward after the July 04th weekend.
The closest Airforce base was the 509th bomb squadron, the only nuclear strike force team in the world at that time and who had dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan two years earlier in 1945. Within that week, they sent out intelligence officer Jessie Marcel, Lt Colonel Sheridan Cavitt and Master Sergeant Bill Rickett to the ranch to collect the debris and investigate. The military men brought it back to base and they, in their naïve wisdom, thought it to be part of a flying disc – possibly without Pentagon approval? In those early days no-one seemed to know what to think, and most certainly, the data was incredibly contradicting. Sceptically, we should ask why Brazel changed his story after being held by the military for days after he came forward. Also, why did he wait a few days to bring in the ‘alien’ wreckage if it was so important? Additionally, we can ask how could the military intelligence of the 509th bomb squad not recognise a simple weather balloon that were regularly used in the area? Why are the descriptions of the wreckage different to the Airforce weather balloon explanation? Something was wrong.
MONDAY 07th of July, 1947
Crash Site B: The Plains of San Augustin, Socorro, disc and bodies
For over four days the intense New Mexico sun baked whatever remained on the hot desert floor. Whatever it was laid undetected, open and completely exposed to the harsh conditions of the desert. Somehow, the U.S. military hadn’t found them, or weren’t looking. It wasn’t until a team of civilian archaeologists that included Professor Curry Holden and soil engineer Barney Barnett had stumbled across dead ‘alien’ bodies and a crashed disc on the desert plains of San Augustin near Socorro, New Mexico (4) or was it nearer to the first crash site (Crash Site A) in Corona? The second main location (and others) have been debated and contested. Roswell researchers have suggested that local firemen had also arrived on the scene that included Dan Dwyer whose testimony was corroborated by his daughter, et al (7). The military had arrived at the second crash scene quickly and controlled the site, recovering whatever it was they found, and forced the civilians and their families into secrecy. They used forceful prompts. Either way the general consensus within the Roswell research community is that following the discovery of the debris field on the Foster Ranch, a further recovery was made that included a relatively intact vehicle and bodies, one of which, was still alive. Despite being not the more well-known or documented, ‘Crash Site B’ should have been the main site. As stated, this is allegedly where the full-bodied craft was found by various civilians and military police, with testimony placing the full bodied ‘egg shaped’ or ‘Disc’ at Crash Site B on Tuesday the 8th of July, 1947. This discovery was apparently almost entire week after the Foster Ranch debris site at ‘Crash Site A’ came down.
Colonel Philip Corso, who claimed to be a part of the UFO cover-up, would later write in his 1997 book ‘The Day After Roswell’ (5), that the ‘Grey Aliens’ were placed onto stretches and taken away from Crash Site B. He reported that the one living alien that survived the impact crash was reportedly shot at by the military police after its discovery. However, without proof or multiple testimony of such an event, we should proceed with caution when evaluating any claim that the U.S. military started shooting at extra-terrestrials in the New Mexico desert.
Sceptically, we can find issue with how the U.S. military didn’t find the second site for so long. As we don’t know what the radar data showed, we don’t know what the military knew. The 1994/1997 USAF report explanation – that the object was a classified Mogul balloon – meant that what came down was important to the military, and therefore they should have been out looking (as opposed to a simple everyday weather balloon). The capture of ‘alien’ bodies also poses a major problem for the United States government. It would mean they covered up and lied about the greatest, most profound discovery in human history. Not something you want on your record.
TUESDAY – 08th of July, 1947
It had been a week since the reported unknowns buzzed above the New Mexico skies, which were apparently tracked via multiple radar systems. And yet despite the discovery of a debris field on the Foster Ranch, there had been no official government position on the incident, that was, until a press release was issued. On July 8th, 1947, RAAF public information officer Walter Haut issued a press release stating that personnel from the field’s 509th Operations had recovered a “Flying Disc”, which had crashed on a ranch near Roswell. Questions over whether Haut was just naïve or whether this was part of a plan to distract attention away from other, more interesting crash sites were asked. It had been a week since the reported unknowns buzzed above the New Mexico skies – which were apparently tracked via multiple radar systems. And yet despite the discovery of a debris field on the Foster Ranch (Crash Site A), there had been no official government position on the incident, that was, until a press release was issued. On Tuesday July 8th, 1947, RAAF public information officer Walter Haut issued a press release stating that personnel from the field’s 509th Operations had recovered a “Flying Disc”, which had crashed on a ranch near Roswell. Questions over whether Haut was just naïve or whether this was part of a plan to distract attention away from other, more interesting crash sites were asked in later years by researchers.
Ultimately, after the story was out to the public, the Pentagon – who acted quickly – went into lockdown debunking mode. General Roger Ramey then famously retracted the statement and insisted what they had found was a simple weather balloon. Intelligence Officer Jessie Marcel then posed for a picture with the weather balloon as the press took pictures. When you see those old black and white photos, one cannot unsee the facial expression of Major Marcel as the photo is taken. In that moment he knows he will always be remembered as the man who mistook a ‘weather balloon’ for a ‘Flying Disc’. Years later in the 1980s, Marcel would admit to researchers that it was a crashed disc, and the weather balloon story was a cover-up (which made sense, given that he handled such balloons and knew what a weather balloon looked like). There was a reported massive military operation surrounding the incident at the time, the debris sent off to Wright-Patterson Airfield – which didn’t fit the story of a downed weather balloon. But what was it?
Researching the Roswell incident can be frustrating. There are copious amounts of witness testimony to examine. So many books have been written with so many different versions of accounts with differences of opinion around what occurred that summer of 1947. Most of the Roswell data in Ufology comes from ‘believers’, who you might argue are biased when it comes to the case, particularly when trying to argue the extra-terrestrial element. Then we equally have the problem of ‘debunkers’, who you might also argue suffer from researcher bias, who knowingly try to rewrite witness’s testimony if it is unfavourable to their outcome. Then we equally have the problem of ‘debunkers’, who you might also argue suffer from researcher bias, who knowingly try to rewrite witness’s testimony if it is unfavourable to their outcome.
A quick search of Wikipedia on Roswell (8) shows massive problems with factual information. The page is incredibly inaccurate and heavily biased in favour of debunkers, listing none of the hundreds of important witnesses (6), and leaves out the military proponents that negate the Mogul balloon theory proposed by the USAF some 50 years after the weather balloon explanation. The USAF press conference and report from 94 and 97 was even worse, a terrible mess that simply cherry-picked data to provide a narrative that ignored all of the hundreds of witness testimonies. A critical review shows that the USAF sponsored report was a whitewash.
Physicist Eric Davis (contractor for BAASS/AAWSAP/AATIP) discussed Roswell with journalist Alejandro Rojas in 2019. Davis considered the possibility that two UAP objects may have collided with each other and crashed in different time periods. That theory suggests there were two crashes, years apart, resulting from the same collision in 1947, possibly explaining the various crash sites and even the time/discovery discrepancy. However, how can we validate such claims.
Due to the absence of an official government report that doesn’t involve crash test dummies, tinfoil, sticks and wood, we are limited in collating all the holistic data. Researchers have done a good job to bring together the facts of the case, but still inconsistencies remain with some dates, times and testimony. Another frustrating part about the Roswell incident, is that the USAF seemingly changed its official story three times since they first admitted it was a ‘Crashed Disc’ in July 1947. Additionally, the USAF have provided a poor holistic account of the incident, cherry picking data which didn’t fit the weather balloon explanation.
Admitting to the Cover-up
In 1994 the USAF was forced to admit that the weather balloon story was a government cover-up for the real story – that a high-altitude Mogul balloon was what actually crashed. Mogul balloons at the time were a top-secret project used to listen in and detect Russian nuclear testing. The USAF in 1997, also claimed the alien bodies that were reported by civilians were actually just crash test dummies (that didn’t come into production until years later in the late fifties). Considering research from Randle, Schmidt, Friedman, Cooper et al, the claims of weather balloons and crash test dummies simply doesn’t fit what was described by the multiple witnesses. Not one person who was there in 1947 – from the hundreds on record, claimed that the object was a weather balloon.
Researchers have maintained that it was General Roger Ramey was the person who put out the second story of a weather balloon simply to throw the media and public off the real story. And if true, then it worked very effectively.
Public information officer William Haut would later verify Jessie Marvel’s story – claiming that the original press release was correct and that the object recovered was a crashed disc with occupants. Haut went on record to say how Colonel Blanchard took him to ‘Building 84’ – one of the hangars at Roswell – and showed him the craft itself. He describes a metallic egg-shaped object around 12-15ft in length and around 6ft wide. He said he saw no windows, wings, tail, landing gear or any other feature. He saw two bodies on the floor, partially covered by a tarpaulin. They are described in his statement as about 4ft tall, with disproportionately large heads. Towards the end of the affidavit, Haut concludes: “I am convinced that what I personally observed was some kind of craft and its crew from outer space.” (2).
◆◆◆
Conclusions
Consider that ‘if’ dead non-human biological entities were recovered from Roswell (and other early crash retrievals), it would be the greatest discovery in human history. Additionally, should this be true, it raises problems of proof and evidence and what it means to be able to conclusively state something as fact within a high degree of certainty. How could we ever trust our government after such a revelation? We find ourselves in a strange position, in that there is the possibility that part of the U.S. government (possibly an USAF defense contractor), has dead non-humans somewhere stashed away along with anomalous craft behind a hanger door – and yet, there is zero tangible proof of this beyond various whistle-blower testimonies.
Moving further into it: can we discount the argument of ‘could’ the military and Pentagon keep such a secret? Arguably, yes, they could. The Manhattan Project showed that the government can keep secrets – as does every classified program since 1947 that we have never heard about. Also, more specific to UAP – the programs AATIP and AAWSAP were kept secret from 2007-2012 (officially). With Congress investigating claims of unacknowledged special access programs into UAP that go back to 1945, we can certainly say that there is something of interest being hidden away. The ability of the military to keep sensitive secrets in a time before the internet, and in a time following the Second World War when people were patriotic to the cause, was undeniable. The USAF could, in theory, have very easily kept Roswell a secret.
The other question is ‘would’ the USAF and the Pentagon have kept the secrecy of crashed UAP and bodies? Yes. We should expect the military in 1947 would classify such sensitive concerns – should they have occurred. Roswell was particularly relevant, given that the Cold War was beginning, and this ‘Flying Disc’ technology presented as an opportunity to develop weapons through reverse engineering. And what about ‘should’ they have hidden away the biggest story of human history? This answer is dependent on various perspectives and from the position you might hold. Perhaps the secret was appropriate at the time, however, the question now is whether such secrecy should still be in operation some 80 years later. However, none of these issues matter if there is no proof that can be taken to Congress and accepted by the scientific community. Condensing 80 years’ worth of research into a chapter doesn’t do the incident justice, nor to the researchers who have spent a lifetime uncovering the truth, or to the witnesses who have come forward to tell us what happened back in the summer of 1947.
Roswell itself is known all over the world and for good reason. It has the credibility of multiple witnesses who verify and corroborate many of the extreme claims. However, we must also consider that an issue with the case would come from the many years of misinformation and second-hand testimony, memories can be easily distorted over long periods of time, and with various emotional/psychological inclusion/exclusion factors. The debate and counter debate are decades long, and far more complex than this chapter could ever do it justice. Testimony is always found to be less relatable than physical evidence in any given case which has social-psychological implications and connotations (such as the reality of UAP). Despite the USAF denials and pushback, we are inclined to conclude that something potentially anomalous crashed in 1947. And it wasn’t a simple weather balloon. For that we can be relatively certain.
Firstly, because the 509th bomb squad was the competent unit that launched the Boeing B-29 ‘Enola Gay’ and the ‘Bockstar’ – the two historical aircraft that dropped the bombs over Hiroshima, Japan on Monday the 6th of August, 1945 and then over Nagasaki, Japan on Thursday the 9th of August, 1945 (9). The intelligence officials from that very same unit, based out of Roswell, knew exactly what a weather balloon looked like.
Secondly, because in 1994 and 1997, the Pentagon was forced to concede that the weather balloon story was a coverup (that lasted some 50 years), and that the real object was a Mogul high altitude balloon (incidentally which we should also take issue with).
Thirdly, and most importantly, is that the hundreds of witnesses do not allude to a weather balloon being recovered in the New Mexico desert that summer (6). They do however, in vast numbers, tell a very different story to what the USAF told back in 1947 (the second time) – and then in 1994 – plus 1997 also (10).
Admittedly, it is a difficult concept to advocate – that some persons in authority took steps to manipulate the data, swop out the real debris for a simple weather balloon that came down in multiple locations (11). It is unthinkable. But that’s what we must consider. Admitting past mistakes isn’t easy… but surely, it’s important to try? After all, should any of this be true, that information belongs to the people.
◆◆◆
References
(1). Moore, W. and Berlitz, C. (1988). The Roswell Incident. New York: Berkley.
(2). Schmitt, D. (2017). The Cover-up at Roswell: Exposing the 70-year conspiracy to suppress the truth. New Page Books.
(3). Randle, K. (1991). UFO Crash at Roswell. HarperCollins Publisher.
(4). Berliner, D. and Friedman, S. (2001). Crash at Corona: the Us Military Retrieval and Cover-up of a UFO. Marlowe and Co. Anniversary Edition.
(5). Corso, P. Col. Ret. (1998). The Day After Roswell. Pocket Books.
(6). Carey, T. and Schmitt, D. (2007). Witness to Roswell: Unmasking the 60-year Cover-up. Career Press. New Page Books.
(7). Randle, K. (2007). A Different Perspective: Frankie Rowe and the Roswell Crash. [online] A Different Perspective. Available at: https://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2007/03/frankie-rowe-and-roswell-crash.html?m=1 [Accessed 9 Nov. 2022].
(8). Wikipedia (2022). Roswell incident. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_incident [Accessed 9 Nov. 2022].
(9). Whiteman Air Force Base (2021). 509th Bomb Wing. [online] Whiteman Air Force Base. Available at: https://www.whiteman.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/323963/509th-bomb-wing/ [Accessed 9 Nov. 2022].
(10). McAndrew, J. (1997). The Roswell Report: Case Closed. [online] Available at: https://media.defense.gov/2010/Oct/27/2001330219/-1/-1/0/AFD-101027-030.pdf [Accessed 9 Nov. 2022].
(11). Allen Haynek, J. (1992). The Plains of San Agustin Controversy, July 1947. [online] Available at: http://www.cufos.org/books/Plains_of_San_AgustinR.pdf [Accessed 9 Nov. 2022].
◆◆◆
