"The government claimed they had recovered a UFO — they had a press release about it, No other government in the world has said 'We have a spacecraft,' and then the next day there's another press release that says, 'Never mind, it was just a weather balloon',"

Ben Smith, former CIA operative

In 1947, something crashed outside of Roswell, New Mexico and was brought to Roswell Army Air Field by Army officers. Since then, there have been many a discussion about what exactly the object was. That's because soon after the incident, the Roswell Army Air Field issued a press release announcing that they had recovered a "flying disc..

The military's initial press release was straightforward in its handling of the discovery of wreckage by rancher W.W. "Mac" Brazel.

"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 press release read.

"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."

The Roswell Daily Record headlined the story "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region," providing a historical artifact.

The Army was quick to retract that and say it was actually just a weather balloon. Then, in the '70s, a retired Army officer who retrieved pieces from the crash came out to say he believed it was extraterrestrial. The conspiracies continued and in 1994, the Air Force published a r

James McAndrew