How to Understand the Roswell UFO Incident of 1947
The Roswell UFO incident of 1947 is the seminal event in ufology, or the study of UFO phenomena in the U.S. In 1947, an unidentified flying object supposedly crashed about 75 miles northwest of the small town of Roswell, New Mexico. The crash itself is undisputed and substantiated by government documentation, but what is disputed is what actually crashed and whether there have been attempts by the U.S. government to cover up the true history of the Roswell UFO crash.
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Instructions
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Recognize the fact that no definitive perspective has emerged regarding the Roswell UFO incident. Some believe that the initial reports of a UFO crash were destroyed and replaced with the cover-up story that a small weather balloon, rather than a UFO, had crashed in the desert. The government has maintained its position since 1947, but the recent emergence of a 1950 FBI memo has called that position into question. The memo, released in April 2011, indicates that three "flying saucers" were recovered in the Roswell Incident of July 1947. The authenticity of the memo has not been verified (as of April 2011).
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Examine the major events surrounding the Roswell incident that give a clearer picture of what led to the controversy. UFO researchers maintain that in the month of June 1947 hundreds of reported incidents of UFO activity throughout the U.S. preceded the Roswell UFO crash. The evidence for this is scant at best. During the first week of July, a rancher named William "Mack" Brazel was said to have discovered debris from a UFO crash. After the discovery was reported to the local sheriff, the United States Air Force got involved. This is where the controversy begins. Despite the fact that the "Roswell Daily Record" reported the discovery of a flying saucer on July 8, 1947, the USAF maintained a "weather balloon" story which flew in the face of what many of those who lived through the incident knew to be true.
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Recognize that fascination with the 1947 Roswell UFO crash is a relatively recent phenomenon that has emerged since the 1970s. This incident coincides with the meteoric rise of science fiction movies like Star Wars and Star Trek, along with other movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind that captured the attention of the American public. Of course, science fiction movies have been a part of the Hollywood ethos dating back to the 1950s, but the rediscovery of the Roswell UFO crash in American culture seems to coincide with the more recent science fiction fascination. This may be a coincidence or it may not.
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