Roswell: the First Encounter

The Roswell incident may as well be “the event” that has aroused the interest and the curiosity of people on the possibility of alien life forms. The draw for some is due to the widely believed major cover up done by the United States government. Rumors of autopsies done on extra-terrestrial beings authorized by government units ,and the abrupt transfers and disappearances of people involved in the incident stirred up the suspicions about an intentional government cover up. Moreover the media has added to this growing excitement by gathering testimonies of locals who claim to have seen an unusual shaped flying object at the same time as the discovery of extraordinary debris on a ranch.

The local police initially thought that the debris scattered across the ranch could somehow be connected with the military operations done by the Roswell Army Field. However, the local paper had an altogether different perspective. The headlines announced that the debris found were the remains of a flying saucer. After releasing the initial press release that indeed a flying disk was discovered, a second press release tried to put a stop to the speculation on the “UFO” story by reporting that it was a weather balloon.

For thirty years, the Roswell incident slumbered as the general public accepted the government’s side of the story putting to rest the excitement generated by the possibility of an alien aircraft containing alien life forms. It wasn't until 1978 when two researchers by the names Stanton Friedman and William Moore gathered a new series of interviews which supported the rumored cover up story done by the government. Interviews with Lydia Sleppy and Retired Colonel Jesse Marcel revealed that the FBI had prevented the news of “the crashed flying disk with bodies” from reaching the radio stream. In addition to this groundbreaking news, the testimony of retired Air Force Brigadier General Arthur Exon had said that while being stationed at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base he came across the shipment of a strange material which was very thin and lightweight. The metal was impossible to bend or be damaged in any way. He had a strong conviction that “Roswell was the recovery of a craft from space” (according to Exon’s testimony).

It comes as no surprise that as much as the supporters of the existence of UFO's and aliens express fervor and passion, the critics have done their part to discredit published testimonies labeling them as second-hand information and from not so credible sources. The truth behind this phenomenon is still indiscernible but one can't deny the contribution of such a splendid idea to man’s imagination.