New month, new alien investigation!
Join us every Friday this month for an in-depth look at the Roswell incident that occurred in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.
Join our newsletter to get notified as soon as the next part of our investigation is posted!
Approximately June 14, 1947
W.W. "Mac" Brazel, a rancher near Corona, New Mexico, finds debris on his farm scattered across a whole square mile. It consists of rubber, thin wooden beams, and what appears to be tin foil. He thought nothing of it, so he gathers it up and disposes of it, pushing it under some brush.
Tuesday, June 24, 1947
A civilian pilot named Kenneth Arnold had seen nine, shiny unidentified objects while flying near Mount Rainer. He estimated the speed of the objects as at least 1,200 miles per hour. His description of the objects to the press coined the phrases "flying saucers" and "flying discs."
The story went viral and was reported nationwide, causing a UFO craze for over a week. This sighting was the first major UFO sighting post-World War II, and is considered the first sighting of the modern era.
Saturday July 5, 1947
Mac Brazell was on his way into town from his home. The house he lived in didn't have a radio or phone, so he had no idea the nation was experiencing a huge UFO craze. While in town, he learned of the UFO sightings and thought back to the debris he had discovered.
Monday July 7, 1947
Having dug up the debris the day before, Brazel makes his way to the Roswell Sheriff's office to report his findings. The Sheriff calls up Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) and the case is assigned to Major Jesse Marcel. Brazel brings Marcel and a few men to the original site of his findings. They found more tin foil material and rubber. Marcel takes the debris home.
Tuesday July 8, 1947
Marcel brings the debris to his superior, Colonel William Blanchard. Blanchard reports the finding to his superior, General Roger Ramey. Ramey orders all debris be immediately moved to Fort Worth Army Air Field (FWAAF). Alone, Marcel boards a B-29 Superfortress airplane and is flown to FWAAF.
A RAAF public information officer named Walter Haut issues a press release saying 509th Operations Group personnel had recovered a "flying disc" that had landed on a ranch near Roswell.
"The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff's office of Chaves County.
The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the sheriff's office, who in turn notified Maj. Jesse A. Marcel of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence Office.
Action was immediately taken and the disc was picked up at the rancher's home. It was inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field and subsequently loaned by Major Marcel to higher headquarters."
As soon as Marcel brought the debris to General Ramey, both Ramey and his chief of staff, Colonel Thomas Dubose identified the pieces as part of a weather balloon kite. When asked by reporters, a weather officer at FWAAF explained the weather kites are used at around 80 weather stations around the country.
The balloons are attached to a reflective device with six points that looks similar to a silver star. After it's launched, the balloon rises to about 60,000 feet, where it bursts and the pieces break apart upon reentry.
Wednesday July 9, 1947
An interview with Mac Brazel is featured in the Roswell Daily Record. Brazel estimated the balloon must have been about twelve feet long. The rubber was smoky gray, and scattered over an area of about 200 yards in diameter. He said the bundle of all the debris probably weighed about five pounds. There was no sign of any metal that might have previously been an engine, or propellers of any kind. "No strings or wires were to be found, but there were some eyelets in the paper to indicate that some sort of attachment may have been used."
Brazel said that once he heard the reports of UFOs and suspected he might have encountered debris from one, he went to Sheriff Wilcox and "whispered kinda confidential like" that he thought he might have seen a UFO.
