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The International UFO Museum And Research Center At Roswell, New Mexico
Something strange happened in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947.
Rancher William Brazel found a bunch of debris in the desert that he couldn't identify. He described it in the July 9, 1947, issue of the Roswell Daily Record as a "large area of bright wreckage made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough paper and sticks."
The paper reported that Brazel estimated that all together the debris "weighed maybe five pounds. There was no sign of any metal in the area, which might have been used for an engine, and no sign of any propellers of any kind, although at least one paper fin had been glued onto some of the tinfoil. There were no words to be found anywhere on the instrument, although there were letters on some of the parts. Considerable scotch tape and some tape with flowers printed upon it had been used in the construction."
Not sure what he had, he contacted the Roswell Army Air Field, which sent two men out to gather the material. The local base commander then released a statement that a "flying disk" had been found. This gained national publicity. America was in the midst of its first wave of flying saucer sightings and this fit the bill. The next day, General Ramey of the Eighth Air Force made an official statement that it was a downed weather balloon.
Gallery: Roswell's UFO Mystery
The incident was soon forgotten, even by most Ufologists, until in 1978 a UFO researcher started interviewing locals who claimed to have seen the debris and said it was part of an extraterrestrial craft. Accounts of alien bodies and a massive cover up also came to light. The stories snowballed and Roswell became the world's most famous UFO crash.
The International UFO Museum and Research Center is dedicated to studying the UFO phenomenon in general and the Roswell crash in particular. It was founded by Walter Haut, who was the press officer at the air field when the crash occurred, and Glenn Dennis, who claims to have seen alien bodies taken from the crash. The museum displays a huge collection of photos, documents, and eyewitness accounts related to the Roswell incident and other sightings.
The result is a detailed history of the UFO craze from its beginnings up to the present day, told in newspaper stories, photos and eyewitness accounts. You can spend a lot of time here studying the various sightings, and you'll come away with the realization that an awful lot of people think they've seen something strange in the sky.
I'm an agnostic in all things. Although I've investigated all sorts of paranormal occurrences ranging from ghosts to visitations from Purgatory, I generally come down on the side of interested skepticism. While this museum didn't decrease my skepticism, it was highly entertaining and certainly an excellent resource for anyone interested in the UFO mystery. They get extra points for pointing out some parts of their photographs that aren't UFOs, and showing how observers can often mistake man-made objects or natural phenomena for extraterrestrial craft.
Besides the museum, several local shops get in on the action selling alien memorabilia and there are numerous UFO tours. Roswell also hosts an annual UFO conference, held this year from June 28-July 1.
The enduring publicity over the Roswell incident, both in New Mexico and around the world, has led to numerous statements by the government that nothing happened. In 1994, the Air Force stated that the debris actually came from a secret project called Project Mogul, which attempted to use strings of high-altitude balloons, or a single giant balloon, to spy on Soviet nuclear activities.
While this prompted some UFO researchers to change their minds and state that no UFO crashed at Roswell, it only encouraged others. If the government didn't tell the whole truth at first, they reasoned, they could be lying now. Personally, I have a hard time believing that an alien spacecraft (made of tinfoil and sticks, no less) crashed in the New Mexico desert. Sure, considering the vastness of the universe it's unlikely that we're alone, but that doesn't mean aliens are coming here.
I see something more insidious going on with all of this. If the government was lying to divert attention from secret projects, it could be still doing this. Perhaps the Ufologists should stop watching the skies and use their research skills and tenacity to uncover secret activities going on right here on Earth, such as government corruption, secret military operations, support of nasty dictators (Saddam Hussein, for example) and the undermining of civil liberties. By chasing phantoms, the Ufologists are playing into the hands of those have the real power in this world, and who have a lot more sinister things to hide than evidence of extraterrestrials.
[Photo courtesy Kimble Young]
The International UFO Museum and Research Center is dedicated to studying the UFO phenomenon in general and the Roswell crash in particular. It was founded by Walter Haut, who was the press officer at the air field when the crash occurred, and Glenn Dennis, who claims to have seen alien bodies taken from the crash. The museum displays a huge collection of photos, documents, and eyewitness accounts related to the Roswell incident and other sightings.
The result is a detailed history of the UFO craze from its beginnings up to the present day, told in newspaper stories, photos and eyewitness accounts. You can spend a lot of time here studying the various sightings, and you'll come away with the realization that an awful lot of people think they've seen something strange in the sky.
I'm an agnostic in all things. Although I've investigated all sorts of paranormal occurrences ranging from ghosts to visitations from Purgatory, I generally come down on the side of interested skepticism. While this museum didn't decrease my skepticism, it was highly entertaining and certainly an excellent resource for anyone interested in the UFO mystery. They get extra points for pointing out some parts of their photographs that aren't UFOs, and showing how observers can often mistake man-made objects or natural phenomena for extraterrestrial craft.
Besides the museum, several local shops get in on the action selling alien memorabilia and there are numerous UFO tours. Roswell also hosts an annual UFO conference, held this year from June 28-July 1.
The enduring publicity over the Roswell incident, both in New Mexico and around the world, has led to numerous statements by the government that nothing happened. In 1994, the Air Force stated that the debris actually came from a secret project called Project Mogul, which attempted to use strings of high-altitude balloons, or a single giant balloon, to spy on Soviet nuclear activities.
While this prompted some UFO researchers to change their minds and state that no UFO crashed at Roswell, it only encouraged others. If the government didn't tell the whole truth at first, they reasoned, they could be lying now. Personally, I have a hard time believing that an alien spacecraft (made of tinfoil and sticks, no less) crashed in the New Mexico desert. Sure, considering the vastness of the universe it's unlikely that we're alone, but that doesn't mean aliens are coming here.
I see something more insidious going on with all of this. If the government was lying to divert attention from secret projects, it could be still doing this. Perhaps the Ufologists should stop watching the skies and use their research skills and tenacity to uncover secret activities going on right here on Earth, such as government corruption, secret military operations, support of nasty dictators (Saddam Hussein, for example) and the undermining of civil liberties. By chasing phantoms, the Ufologists are playing into the hands of those have the real power in this world, and who have a lot more sinister things to hide than evidence of extraterrestrials.
[Photo courtesy Kimble Young]
Filed under: History, Learning, North America, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
B May 12th 2012 1:47PM
Researching ufo's and corruption are not mutually exclusive. If we completely rid the world of corruption, would it then be ok with the author if we investigated ufo's? ...because that will never happen.
I liked your aricle otherwise.
Al Schrader May 20th 2012 5:41PM
I was curious, just like the people who visit this museum only I got a lot more than I bargained for. I talked to a witness that had seen a very bright formation of crafts
in Aurantia , a small Florida town. I went there, looked around, found absolutely nothing. Some time later this thing showed up in the sky near my home, hung there, no sound, and flashed a light in my face. Then it left so fast I never saw it go. Was broad daylight. No more UFO investigating for me.....Al-
ron chandler May 20th 2012 8:02PM
A few years ago I was driving on a trip through sothern Illinois at night and a group of bright lights lit up my car scared the crap out of me. I had heard about UFO's being seen it that area so I punched it, man was that cop pissed.
Ron Chandler May 20th 2012 6:16PM
My Dad was stationed at Walker Army Air Base outside of Roswell in 1947 when this took place. I was two at the time and the story that I was told by my Dad and every one he knew for years until he retired fro the Air Force was that a flying saucer hit a top secret weather balloon at about seventy five thousand feet and crashed northwest of Roswell. All parts of the craft and occupants were taken to a hangar at Walker and placed under armed guard . Three days later everything was flown to Wright Patterson in Dayton Ohio. Only one occupant survived the crash and was determined to be a female, she was flown to a hospital in Boston where she gave birth to Georgr W Bush.
Bob May 30th 2012 7:28PM
Are you sure it wasn't Obama?, he's an illegal. :)
Al Schrader May 20th 2012 8:15PM
Yeah, I used to think it was all anecdotal. That thing didn't make a sound, just hung there and turned slowly. Made me sick to my stomach. Why ? Cause I felt like the million year behind ape creature stuck on this rock. The craft was metalic shaped like a soda can with flats on one end. Dirty like it had been everywhere. No windows.
I'm an aircraft and rocket expert. That thing was not made on this planet, trust me. I never saw "them". What ever they wanted in that town, they can have it.
I'm a weapons expert. Nothing we have could stop that craft because it could move instantly. It didn't start and stop, it moved in the wink of an eye, no sonic boom. Somehow it cut a path through the atmosphere. I'm lucky they only gave me a warning. I don't even drive through Aurantia....Al-
janet May 20th 2012 7:20PM
When I visited the museum a few years ago, I was sceptical. What REALLY happened was the flying saucer was from the U.S. Airforce and the aliens were ROBOTS.
Ron chandler May 20th 2012 7:59PM
Naa! it was George.
Sheila May 20th 2012 8:18PM
My father was in the Army and sent to Roswell to cover this incident. I was one year old at the time, but my family said they pumped my father for years trying to get some info. He said it was top secret, and he could not comment on any of it. If it was a weather balloon, why all the secrecy?
Brian May 21st 2012 2:49AM
So birdbrain Brazel can't figure out on his own what is laying on the ground right in front of him so like the naive farmer he obviously was he calls the military and they come and abscond with everything which is a mystery in itself. Taking home some unusual stuff and doing a little research might have been more prudent. Why would they make off with every scratch of material on the farm in such a big hurry if it was nothing of consequence? A weather balloon? Right. Weather balloons go up quickly and come down slowly and don't crash like a semi and a telephone pole. Someone can do better then that. Just give us complete access to Area 51 and put all this entertainment to rest.