Incident · July 1947 · Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell crash
Partly explained. The Air Force traced the debris to a Project MOGUL balloon (1994) and the "alien" accounts to 1950s test dummies and accidents (1997); crash-retrieval claims dispute this. (The Roswell Report: Case Closed (U.S. Air Force, 1997), summary)
In early July 1947, rancher Mac Brazel found debris of tinfoil, paper, tape and sticks scattered across his ranch near Corona, New Mexico. Maj. Jesse Marcel of Roswell Army Air Field collected it, and on 8 July the base announced that it had recovered a "flying disc". Within hours Gen. Roger Ramey retracted the statement in Fort Worth and identified the material as a weather balloon.
The story lay dormant until 1978, when the ufologist Stanton Friedman interviewed Marcel, who said the balloon story was a cover. Books from 1980 onwards added accounts of a crashed craft and recovered bodies, and later witnesses such as Lt. Col. Philip Corso made broader claims about recovered technology.
In 1994 the U.S. Air Force acknowledged that the weather-balloon explanation had been a cover story for Project Mogul, a classified programme using balloon trains to detect Soviet nuclear tests, and traced the debris to a Mogul flight launched on 4 June 1947; its 1997 report attributed later accounts of "alien bodies" to parachute tests with dummies. A 1995 GAO review requested by Rep. Steven Schiff found no Roswell records at the CIA and no information on the alleged "Majestic 12" group. Most historians regard the crash-retrieval claims as unsupported.
Sources: GAO report NSIAD-95-187 · Wikipedia
Facts and claims
- documented In July 1947 the Roswell Army Air Field announced it had recovered a “flying disc”, then retracted the statement and called it a weather balloon. Source: gao.gov (archived)
- documented The Air Force's 1994 report concluded that the debris came from Project MOGUL, a balloon-borne research project. Its 1997 report, Case Closed, attributes the later "alien" accounts to anthropomorphic test dummies dropped from high-altitude balloons, and the hospital "bodies" to a 1956 KC-97 crash and a 1959 balloon mishap. It says events from many years had been compressed into the July 1947 story. Source: The Roswell Report: Case Closed (U.S. Air Force, 1997), summary
- claimed The only contemporary record of Mac Brazel's own account, the Roswell Daily Record of 9 July 1947, says that “on June 14 he and 8-year old son Vernon” came upon the debris, that he “did not see it fall from the sky”, and that “on July 4 he, his wife, Vernon and a daughter Betty, age 14, went back to the spot” to collect it. The date of 4 July as the night of a crash comes from later accounts, among them Philip Corso's book (1997). Source: ufology.patrickgross.org (archived)
Connected files
Books
- Conspiracy of Silence: From Roswell to Project Blue Book — What the Government Doesn't Want You to Know About UFOs (subject of)
- Crash at Corona: The U.S. Military Retrieval and Cover-Up of a UFO (subject of)
- The Day After Roswell (subject of)
- Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs (subject of)
- Roswell in the 21st Century (subject of)
- The Roswell Legacy: The Son of the First Military Officer at the 1947 Crash Site Tells His Father's Story — and His Own (subject of)
- Roswell UFO Crash Update: Exposing the Military Cover-Up of the Century (subject of)
- Roswell: The Ultimate Cold Case — Climax of a Cover-Up (subject of)
- The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell (subject of)
- UFO Crash at Roswell (subject of)
- UFO Crash/Retrievals: Status Reports I–VII (subject of)
- UFO Secrets Inside Wright-Patterson: Eyewitness Accounts from the Real Area 51 (subject of)
- Witness to Roswell: Unmasking the 60-Year Cover-Up (subject of)
Claims
- A craft of non-human origin crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947, and the military recovered it (subject of)
Concepts
- Bismuth–magnesium “Roswell” sample (Art's Parts) (claimed in)
- Crash retrieval & reverse engineering (alleged case of) — Books from 1980 on added a crashed craft and bodies; the Air Force attributes the accounts to balloons and test dummies
Documents
- The Roswell Report: Case Closed (U.S. Air Force, 1997), summary (documented in)
- FBI file: Majestic 12 (subject of)
- GAO report on the Roswell crash records (B-262046, July 28, 1995) (subject of)
- FBI “Guy Hottel” memo (misattributed record) — Often cited as proof of the Roswell recovery; the FBI notes it does not mention Roswell
Events
- The 1947 flying disc wave (part of) — Roswell Army Air Field announced a recovered “flying disc” on 8 July 1947, at the height of the wave
Hearings & briefings
- Citizen Hearing on Disclosure (subject of)
Incidents
- Magenta crash (alleged, 1933) (similar to) — Grusch calls it the earliest retrieval he can discuss publicly; if true, it would predate Roswell by fourteen years
People
- Philip J. Corso (claims by) — Corso made broader claims about recovered technology
- Edgar Mitchell (vouched for by) — Mitchell, who grew up in Roswell, said the 1947 crash was genuine
- Donald Schmitt (researched by) — He says he and Tom Carey have interviewed more than 600 people connected with the case
- Eric Davis (claims by) — He says the grays he knows of came from the crash near Corona, New Mexico, which he says is misnamed Roswell
- Guy Hottel (wrongly linked) — His 1950 memo is often cited as proof of Roswell, though it does not mention Roswell
- Hal Puthoff (claims by) — Puthoff says Battelle worked on foil-like material reportedly from Roswell, and that a layered sample came from Roswell debris
- Jesse Marcel Jr. (witnesses)
- Kevin Randle (researched by) — Co-author of UFO Crash at Roswell (1991) and many later books on the case
- Linda Moulton Howe (related to) — According to Hal Puthoff, she received the bismuth–magnesium “Roswell” sample through Art Bell
- Paul Hellyer (claims by) — His views changed after Philip Corso's book The Day After Roswell, which he relied on heavily; Corso's claims have not been corroborated
- Stanton Friedman (researched by) — He was the first civilian researcher to document the Roswell case, after finding Jesse Marcel in 1978
Organizations
- Battelle (allegedly studied by) — Hal Puthoff says Battelle worked on foil-like material reportedly from Roswell; no official record supports this
Places
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (sent to) — The FBI's July 1947 message said the Roswell disc and balloon were being sent to Wright Field
Videos
- UFO Cover-Up?: Live! (1988 television special) (subject of)
- UFO Cover-Up Live with Larry King (CNN/TNT, 1994) (subject of)
- Col. Philip J. Corso: The Day After Roswell lecture “at the Ranch” (22 February 1998) (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Associated Phenomena (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Closing Remarks (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: History & Background, Part 2 (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Opening statements (Mitchell, Hellyer) (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Roswell, Part 1 (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Roswell, Part 2 (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Science & Technology (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: The Truth Embargo (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Truth, Lies & the Cover-up, Part 1 (discussed in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: Truth, Lies & the Cover-up, Part 2 (discussed in)
- “These Are Parts Of an Alien UFO!”: Garry Nolan at Stanford (American Alchemy) (discussed in)
- Eric Weinstein Debates CIA UFO Expert Hal Puthoff (American Alchemy) (discussed in)
- The Sol Forum #1: Hal Puthoff, Jacques Vallée and Larry Lemke (discussed in)
- Understanding UAP: Science, National Security & Innovation (House Oversight and Government Reform) (discussed in)
- Avi Loeb on NewsNation's The Hill: the PURSUE triangle, and sensors at the sites (23 October 2026) (discussed in)
- Interview with The Honorable Paul Hellyer, Former Minister of National Defence & Deputy PM of Canada (discussed in)
- Exopolitics Toronto - Paul Hellyer Speaks of UFO Disclosure - 9/25/2005 - Part 1 (discussed in)
- Joe Rogan Experience #2314: Hal Puthoff (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- Steven Schiff (Person)
- Central Intelligence Agency (Organization)