On July 7, 1947, in Roswell, New Mexico, there was much talk around town about unexplained flying objects in the sky. William Brazel, a local, announced that he found a large wreckage area while working at Foster Ranch in Lincoln County (75 miles north of Roswell). He pulled rubber strips, tin foil, and some paper and sticks from the site.

Just as the general public became excited about the discovery of a possible “UFO,” the army acted swiftly to debunk the story. They claimed the debris was just that of a crashed weather balloon. Shortly after the press briefing about a flying object, pictures of Major Jesse Marcel surfaced 24 hours later as he posed next to weather balloon debris as proof. However, locals do little to dispel claims of an unidentified flying object crashing at a ranch in Roswell. Brazel collected and delivered the debris to the Sheriff of Roswell to avoid trouble with the authorities.

In a similar sighting on July 24, 1947, near Mount Rainier, Washington, pilot Kenneth Arnold claimed to have seen a crescent-shaped object flying up to 1200 mph (about 1930 km/h). At the time, no known aircraft could reach such top speeds. According to pilot Arnold, the UFO later became popularly known as a “flying saucer” because it flew as a “saucer would across water.” This event exponentially increased the excitement about the Roswell event.

Although a lot of research has gone into validating the UFO event at Roswell over the years, there’s still a lot of missing evidence to validate or invalidate the claims of a UFO.

Roswell Today

Roswell town looks different than it did 70 years ago. The UFO sighting inspired new building designs, streetlights, and décor that still attract tourists. The city also attracts scientists, movie directors, tourists, and researchers who come to satisfy their curiosity.