Something strange was buzzing through the conversations of Roswell, New Mexico residents on July 7, 1947 — unexplained flying objects had reportedly been spotted in the sky above town. A local named William Brazel came forward with a remarkable claim: while going about his work at Foster Ranch in Lincoln County (75 miles north of Roswell), he had stumbled upon a sprawling field of wreckage. From the site, he pulled rubber strips, tin foil, along with some paper and sticks.
The public was quickly swept up in the thrilling possibility that a "UFO" had been discovered, but the army wasted no time stepping in to shut down the speculation. Their explanation? The debris was nothing more than a crashed weather balloon. Within 24 hours of the initial press briefing about a flying object, photographs emerged showing Major Jesse Marcel standing beside weather balloon wreckage, presented as definitive proof. Yet locals did little to dismiss the persistent claims that an unidentified flying object had come down at a ranch in Roswell. As for Brazel, he gathered up the debris and turned it over to the Sheriff of Roswell, wanting to stay out of trouble with the authorities.
Meanwhile, another puzzling sighting unfolded on July 24, 1947, near Mount Rainier, Washington. A pilot by the name of Kenneth Arnold reported witnessing a crescent-shaped object streaking through the air at speeds reaching up to 1200 mph (about 1930 km/h) — velocities that no known aircraft of the era could achieve. Pilot Arnold's description of the craft gave rise to a now-iconic term: he said it flew like a "saucer would across water," and from that moment on, the UFO became popularly known as a "flying saucer." This separate encounter sent public fascination with the Roswell event skyrocketing exponentially.
Despite years of extensive research aimed at getting to the bottom of what really happened at Roswell, critical evidence remains elusive — leaving the UFO claims neither validated nor invalidated.
Roswell Today
The Roswell of today bears little resemblance to the town of 70 years ago. That legendary UFO sighting left a lasting imprint on the city itself, inspiring new building designs, streetlights, and décor that continue drawing tourists to this day. Beyond casual visitors, Roswell also beckons scientists, movie directors, and researchers — all arriving to feed their curiosity about what may or may not have happened in those desert skies.