Did the U.S. Government Recover a Crashed UFO in Roswell, New Mexico?

April 18, 2026 10:00am

The July 8, 1947 headline of the Roswell Daily Record newspaper screamed "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region." The newspaper based the story on a press release issued by the Roswell Army Air Field stating that military personnel from the base had recovered a "flying disc" from a ranch near Roswell. But that press release was retracted the next day, and the government began threatening people who spoke about the incident.

Officials said the recovered object was actually a downed weather balloon not a flying disc. But first-hand accounts of witnesses say the recovered debris was absolutely not from a weather balloon. The story quickly evolved into decades of speculation, conspiracy theories, and debate about extraterrestrial life and government secrecy. Some witnesses alleged the debris was from an extraterrestrial spacecraft. Some even claimed that alien bodies had been recovered from the crash site and were secretly transported to military facilities for study. But what really happened?

I visited Roswell, New Mexico to meet with Dennis Balthaser, a researcher and investigator at the International UFO Museum and Research Center. We discussed the 1947 incident and the subsequent propaganda put out by the military that contradicted its original press release. My interview with Dennis aired on the radio today and is now archived online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/260418

I'm not saying it was extraterrestrials that crashed at Roswell. But I am saying that the United States Government sure put a lot of effort into silencing people about what the government claims was just a downed weather balloon.

Are we alone in the universe? Another discussion about UFOs is linked at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/blog/210522-0844