DISK LANDS ON RANCH IN N. M.;
IS HELD BY ARMY
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SIZE SECRET; DISK REPORTED
FLOWN IN B-29
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By Associated Press
ROSWELL, N. M., July 8--The Army Air Force here today announced a flying disk had been found on a ranch near Roswell and is in Army possession.
Lieut. Warren Haught [sic], public-information officer of the Roswell Army Air Field, announced the find had been made "some time last week" and had been turned over to the air field through cooperation of the sheriff's office.
"It was inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field and subsequently loaned" by Maj. Jesse A. Marcel of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence office at Roswell "to higher headquarters."
The Army gave no other details.
(The United Press quoted officers at the air base as saying the disk was flown in a B-29 Superfortress to higher headquarters.)
In Washington D.C., Brig. Gen. Roger Ramey said today a battered object described as a flying disk found near Roswell, New Mexico, is being shipped by air to the A.A.F. research center at Wright Field, Ohio.
Ramey, commander of the Eighth Air Force with headquarters at Fort Worth, received the object from the Roswell Army Air Base.
In talking by telephone to A.A.F. headquarters at Washington, Ramey described the object as of "flimsy construction; almost like a box kite." It was so badly battered that Ramey was unable to say whether it had a disk form. He did not indicate the size of the object.
There were some "fragments of junk" found near the object near the New Mexico ranch where a rancher sighted it last week.
Ramey reported that so far as the A.A.F. investigation could determine, no one had seen the object in the air. Asked what the material seemed to be, A.A.F. officials here said Ramey described it as "apparently some sort of tin foil."
The rancher's name and location of his place were withheld.
(The United Press reported the disk landed on a ranch at Corona, N.M. and was discovered by W. W. Brizell [sic] of the Poster [sic] Ranch. The news agency said residents near the ranch reported seeing a strange blue light in the early morning on which the object crashed to earth.)
George Walsh of radio station KSWS, which provided first news of the announcement, said only Major Marcell [sic], Col. W. H. Blanchard, commanding officer at Roswell Air Field, and the rancher had seen the object here.
Later A.A.F. headquarters officials denied they had any information at all on the matter. They said they were trying to call Roswell by telephone to find out what had happened.
The War Department in Washington had nothing to say immediately about the reported find.
Haught's statement:
"The many rumors regarding the flying disk became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th (Atomic) Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disk through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff's office of Chaves County.
"The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell some time last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disk 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 disk 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."
Comment
Banner headline.
.The Seattle Times blended an AP earlier story and an update. For the separate earlier story and then the update, see the L.A. Herald-Express.
AP's standard misspelling of Walter Haut's name. It's useful as a tracer in stories with unspecified sources.
In the AP chronology, the bulletin of this announce- ment was at 5:53 EST. This was as far as the story was reported in any of the published news accounts from July 8.
Here is the standard version of what Ramey allegedly said when contacted by phone from the Pentagon. The Washington Post had Ramey giving a size of 25 feet in diameter if reconstructed. Other versions attributed the size statement to AAF spokesmen.
In the UP version, they had Ramey saying the remains of a balloon were found nearby.
More of the standard Ramey Pentagon description
Time of phone conversation was around 5:30 EST.
This was also in the UP telex of about 5:00 EST. These misspellings of Brazel's name and the Foster Ranch were characteristic of UP stories. The "strange blue light" was mentioned in the first known UP telex of 4:41 EST. According to this bulletin, it was seen by residents "several days ago."
How Walsh made this determination is never explained. He may have been told this by a base spokesmen, but it is known to be inaccurate.
This happened very soon after the press release of 5:26 EST, perhaps around 6:00.
The time of this AP bulletin was 6:11 EST.
This is the complete initial base press release according to the AP.
