On July 8, 1947, an otherworldly incident occurred in Roswell, New Mexico, adding another layer to the mystery surrounding extraterrestrial phenomena in the American Southwest.
Walter Haut, an Army Air Force public relations officer stationed near Roswell, New Mexico, released a press statement to the media, even for the events of 1947. In essence, Haut claimed that the field’s 509th operations group had managed to capture one of the curious “flying disks” that had been making news headlines throughout the Western world.
The object, according to Haut’s statement, had crashed on a ranch near the town of Roswell, owned by a local farmer named Mac Brazel.
Upon investigation, this had been the initial story. Later that same day, however, contradicting reports emerged, asserting that the official story had been intentionally altered by the military. General Roger Ramey, in charge of the Eighth Air Force, changed the official statement, now claiming that the object was a “weather balloon.”
This claim would persist in infamy within UFO circles, and over the years, ufologists and conspiracy theorists would continue to question whether the story of the material recovered at Brazel’s ranch was indeed a “weather balloon” or something far more mysterious.
At various points in time, this Roswell incident would resurface, along with pilot Kenneth Arnold’s encounters with strange flying objects over Mount Rainier, forming a new era of clandestine avionics known as “ufology.” These events suggested that, while less publicized, non-official military maneuvers to explore the frontiers beyond Earth persisted, even in the face of skepticism and denials.
On July 3, 1947, just days before the report of the alleged crashed object in New Mexico, the following report of an “unidentified flying object” brought to the attention of the commanding officer of a local RCAF base, as compiled by Air Commodore W.W. Brown, surfaced.
The information was supplied by the U.S. military’s RCMp and confirmed by the RCMp reporter for the area Charlottetown Guardian. The memo reads as follows:
UFO Forestry “brenton Clark, a farmer in the vicinity of Augustaville, saw an object approximately 10,000 feet east of his position moving southward at high speed. The time was approximately 17:45 hrs AST 3 Jul 47. It maintained level flight for some distance and then appeared to be heading on a trail (apparently a vapor trail) behind it. After the object had disappeared to the southeast he heard a sound which he assumed to be the “size of an apple”. It appeared to resemble a shooting star and was an indescribable color. It appeared to remain in the sky for about ten seconds. The above report was passed to us by James Harris, a farmer in the vicinity of Summerside PEI, who stated that he (Harris) and his hired man, Herman Linkletter, had observed the object in the same general position at the same time.
It was moving southwestward and there was such a brilliant reflection from it that its shape was indiscernible. It was visible for approximately ten seconds.
The object, while reminiscent of a falling star, is described here as a “flying saucer,” according to one witness account. All parties stated that the object seemed to reflect daylight as it traveled above. But perhaps most compelling is the multi-page witness report detailing an apparent large object that became “a meteor-like object” before reaching a “speed of an apparent projectile” in the direction of the ground.
All parties stated that the object seemed to reflect daylight as it traveled. However, we can’t assume that the craft had crashed, like anomalous vehicles causing alleged crashes at Roswell. New Mexico, reported as a “flying disc” just a few days earlier in Canada, doesn’t necessarily indicate a similar incident.
While it appears to be an anomalous vehicle, resembling a flying saucer, it doesn’t conclusively suggest a crash. Reports emphasize the object’s reflection of daylight and its movement above, with uncertainty about whether it crashed or continued its trajectory. The incident was noted by various officials, including those in Roswell, suggesting a potential connection between the two sightings.