2014 marked the 67th anniversary of what has become known as the ‘Roswell Incident.’ In the years since the release of Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore’s seminal The Roswell Incident in 1980, the Roswell UFO case has become an iconic and enduring global pop culture phenomenon. Even though new developments are still being reported and new eyewitnesses come forward -like the recent revelations of Chase Brandon, former high-level CIA liaison to Hollywood – the ambiguity which was originally created around the case by the media in 1947 effectively discredited the story in the mind of the public. There were many valid reasons for the United States government to employ such disinformation at the time; not so much today.

The state of New Mexico and the city of Roswell have both benefited substantially from the tourist dollars generated by the Roswell UFO story. The name Roswell has become synonymous with UFOs, thanks to the continuing world-wide interest in this great American urban legend. But is it really just a legend? Not to the many thousands of visitors who walk through the doors of the International UFO Museum in Roswell every year. Today, believers and skeptics alike flock to Roswell for the annual UFO convention, held every 4th of July weekend. The attendees include people from around the world and from all walks of life, including scientists, doctors, teachers, engineers, and of course alien enthusiasts. There are a wide range of events to partake in, including lectures from well-known UFO researchers, authors, ‘abductees’ and conspiracy nuts; one-of-a-kind vendor tables, quirky events like costume contests, and a completely over-the top parade through the middle of town featuring all manner of local freaks and weirdos. It is quintessential New Mexico; true Americana, and an utterly unique experience which I highly recommend.

But incredibly, the story of the UFO crash – or whatever it was – near Roswell remained successfully buried for almost 40 years, with the full cooperation of the mainstream media – at least in the beginning. Eventually the story was simply forgotten after being successfully debunked.

The reasons for this secrecy and the subsequent policy of official denial and ridicule are highly complex and profoundly disturbing. Unfortunately, many of these issues are beyond the scope of this post and can only be summarized within these pages. My intent is simply to demonstrate that for whatever reason, the United States government – thanks to the extremely compliant post-war media – acted very quickly and very decisively to deconstruct the event in the mind of the public and create the impression that the entire incident was just a case of mistaken identity. In this blog I hope to expose some of the methods used by the major media outlets on behalf of the US government to immediately and successfully put an end to what could – and should – have been the story of the century.

Due to the highly controversial nature of this subject and the institutionalized ridicule attached to the study of unidentified flying objects, there has been very little scholarly work published regarding the Roswell incident – at least in the mainstream, un-classified world. The Journal of American Folklore is one notable exception. In my analysis, I have reviewed several newspaper articles from the crucial time-frame of July 8th and 9th, 1947 – when much of the Roswell narrative was fixed in the contemporary cultural landscape. My primary sources are the original press reports from July 8 and 9, 1947, in The Roswell Daily Record, The Albuquerque Journal, The Las Vegas Journal Review, The Ceylon Observer, The Wyoming Eagle, The Sacramento Bee, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Journal of American Folklore.

My goal is to demonstrate how the conflicting initial reports of the Roswell incident (the headlines, leads, facts cited, sources of information used and rhetorical techniques) helped to construct the meaning of the event in the mind of the public, and how these same techniques were used to deconstruct the events in subsequent reports. In my conclusion, I will analyze some of the possible reasons for the mainstream media’s framing of the event in a negative context and demonstrate how this case reflects the ideological principles and stark realities of the Cold War era, even up to the present day.

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On June 24th, 1947, a private pilot named Kenneth Arnold claimed he spotted a string of nine, shiny unidentified objects flying past Mount Rainier at 1,200 miles an hour as he was piloting his twin-engine Piper Cub over Washington State. He achieved the status of a minor celebrity after reporting the event, garnering national news coverage. Kenneth Arnold is credited with the first modern-era UFO sighting in America. His portrayal of the objects led to the creation of the popular descriptive terms “flying saucer” and “flying disc” still used today by the media. The immediate aftermath of Arnold’s sighting, just weeks prior to the events at Roswell – was unexpected by the government and the media. The country was gripped by a wave of sightings as more people came forward with eyewitness testimony. Public interest in the subject was high at the time and growing.

The initial reports surrounding the Roswell incident helped to frame the narrative development and mythologizing in the public’s mind for many years to come. In the Tuesday morning edition from 8 July, 1947 (ironically, the same day as the Roswell press release), the Albuquerque Journal printed a story from the Associated Press: “Game of Spotting ‘Flying Saucers’ Sweeps Country as Mystery Holds.” The staff at the Journal was apparently unaware of the events unfolding that same day at an Army Air Force Base a hundred miles away in Roswell. Explanations of the phenomena ranged from the theory that they were radio controlled flying missiles sent aloft by the U.S. military scientists to the suggestions that they might be merely sunlight reflected on the wings of jets flying overhead.

“The game of spotting ‘flying saucers’ broadened Monday to include Massachusetts and Vermont as stories about the disks continue to swirl fully as rapidly as the objects themselves. A woman in Spokane, Washington insisted the objects she saw were huge: “about the size of a five-room house” if they landed. A Clearwater, Florida woman said the disks she observed resembled “pie pans.” In Vermont another woman reported that she and her husband witnessed a brilliant object in the night sky which she assumed to be a flying saucer. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, a housewife said she saw “A group of white flying saucers whirling around and going at a tremendous speed…”

The reports brought to 40 the number of states where the objects had been observed up until that time. The human interest aspect is highlighted in this portion of the account. The only sources are the sometimes wacky statements of the witnesses, who are all women, oddly enough. These accounts are then juxtaposed with a rather more sober assessment from the government spokesmen:

Reports persisted that the Army was looking into the phenomena, but Gen. Carl Spaatz, Army Air Forces commandant, said he knew of no AAF plans to search for the saucers. The Navy and Atomic Energy Commission said they had no connection to the mystery. Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves, who headed the Army’s wartime atom bomb project, tonight denied any knowledge of the “flying discs” which have been reported throughout the country. He said: “I know nothing about flying discs and I know of no one who does.”

The tone of the piece is rather more open-minded and cordial than later reports, as we shall see. UFO sightings are described as a sort of “game.” Still, the author makes a point of highlighting the eyewitness aspect of the story, employing several dubious accounts from across the country in order to help inform the (negative) narrative. The descriptions are a mix of seemingly rational accounts mixed with the utterly fanciful. A pattern is already being formulated. At this early stage in the phenomena, the picture is still somewhat ambiguous, however, and there is brief mention of possible government involvement: the Navy, the Atomic Energy Commission and significantly, the Army Air Force; all of which quickly deny any involvement. Army Air Forces commandant General Spaatz and General Leslie Groves are both quoted directly in the article.

Later that morning, on July 8th, 1947, the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) Public Information officer Walter Haut in Roswell, New Mexico, issued a press release stating that personnel from the 509th Bomb Group (based in Roswell) had recovered a crashed ‘flying disk’ from a ranch near town; about 70 miles northwest on local rancher Mac Brazel’s sprawling property. The story initially sparked some media interest. The Roswell Daily Record (1947) famously ran the scoop on the front page with the headline on 8 July: “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region.” The byline reads: “No Details of Flying Disk Are Revealed; The Roswell Hardware Man and Wife Report Disk Seen.”

“The intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment group at Roswell Army Air Field announced at noon today, that the field has come into possession of a flying saucer… the disk was recovered on a ranch in the Roswell vicinity, after an unidentified rancher had notified Sheriff Geo. Wilcox here, that he had found the instrument on his premises…After the intelligence officer here had inspected the instrument it was flown to higher headquarters. The intelligence Office stated that no details of the saucer’s construction or its appearance had been revealed…”

This is the original, very candid press release with no embellishment or sensationalism. The basic facts are presented to the reader: a disk was recovered on the land of an as yet unidentified rancher, and the “instrument” was immediately flown to “higher Headquarters.” No details of the construction of the object or even its appearance are given. These details are then mixed with the tried-and-true human interest angle: the first-hand account of two eyewitnesses, albeit in this case well-respected citizens of the area – local hardware store owner Dan Wilmot and his wife.

Over all, this appears to be a fairly even-handed and straightforward account of the events. Again, the army goes out of its way to deny any involvement, and no further details are forthcoming, except that whatever has been recovered by the AAF was sent to “higher headquarters.” This is a rhetorical device alluding to an appeal to authority, argumentum ad verecundiam. The report is quick to point out that the Navy and Atomic Energy Commission had nothing whatsoever to do with it. The authorities have spoken!

The Sacramento Bee was one of the few national dailies to pick up the story before it was discredited. It quotes the original press release at length, but it also mentions Public Information Officer Lt. Walter Haut by name (sic). This time, ‘higher headquarters’ is the byline in the column. The theme of an all-knowing, higher authority is thus continued. The San Francisco Chronicle’s version of the story printed the following day (9 July, 1947) seems to be the most salient:

“The many rumors regarding the flying disk became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eight Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the co-operation of one of the local ranchers and the Sheriff’s Office of Chaves County. The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week….the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the Sheriff’s office, who in turn notified Major 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.”

Some patterns are emerging here, as well as some new, questionable details: the wreckage was stored for an undisclosed period of time on the property? It was picked up from his house? These accounts already serve to muddy the waters and confuse the issue. And again we see the term “higher headquarters” used. This time, the AAF was “fortunate” to acquire the disk, and in this report we learn that the debris was simply loaned to higher headquarters – an odd turn of phrase indeed. Two different spellings for the word ‘disc’ are also evident in this version. Still more details arise from the next report in the Wyoming Eagle from July 9th: “Only Meager Details Of Flying Disc Given – Kite-Like Device Found in N.M.; Studied by Army.”

“The mystery of the “flying saucers” took a new twist tonight with the disclosure that the Army Air Forces has recovered a strange object in New Mexico and is forwarding it to Wright Field, Dayton, O., for examination. AAF headquarters later revealed that a “security lid” has been clamped on all but the sketchiest details of the discovery.”

Now we’re finally getting somewhere. Some really meaty details begin to emerge. We see the term ‘saucer’ used for the first time to describe the object. We are told the object was discovered three weeks ago, and that it was sent to Wright Field in Ohio for examination. Significantly, the report mentions that a tight ‘security lid’ has already been placed over the story by the AAF. Later in the report the writer quotes General Roger Ramey as describing the object as “flimsy” and “kite-like,” made with a material resembling foil. The question could reasonably be asked: if this were simply a kite or a weather balloon, why the need for such a tight security lid? The disinformation campaign has already begun:

“Brig. Gen. Roger B. Ramey, commander of the Eighth Air Force at Ft. Worth, Texas, said the purported “saucer” was badly battered when discovered by a rancher at Corona, 75 miles northwest of Roswell, N.M. Ramey scoffed at the possibility that the object could have attained the supersonic speeds credited to the “flying saucers” allegedly spotted in recent weeks. He reported that the object was too lightly constructed to have carried anyone and that there was no evidence that it had had a power plant of any sort. It bore no identification marks and Ramey emphasized that no one had seen it in flight. AAF sources ruled out the possibility that it might have been an army weather-kite.”

Thus the spin pattern has been established. The major media outlets initially covered the UFO phenomenon like any other news story coming over the wires. Now the tide starts to turn and the Army begins to understand the huge military potential of whatever it is they’ve got on their hands. Some of the sources explicitly state the wreckage is of utmost importance and was being sent to Ft. Worth, Texas via B-29 Super-fortress to the AAF experimental center at Dayton, Ohio. One assumes this is the ‘higher headquarters’ referred to in the earlier reports. AAF commanders in New Mexico refused to permit the object to be photographed on the grounds that it was “high level stuff,” although General Ramey “scoffed at the possibility that the object could have attained the supersonic speeds,” and he indicated he was “not attaching too great importance to the find” – and you should do the same. At least that is the implication. The announcement came from Col. William H. Blanchard, commanding officer of the Roswell army air base, who specifically described the discovery as “a flying disc.”

Further news reports in The Las Vegas Journal Review and the Ceylon Observer both follow the proscribed themes and claim the disc had been forwarded to this mysterious ‘higher headquarters.’