The “Roswell Incident”

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The National Archives has been unable to locate any documentation among the Project BLUE BOOK records which discuss the 1947 incident in Roswell, New Mexico.

On September 8, 1994, the Secretary of the Air Force, Sheila E. Widnall, announced that the United States Air Force had completed its study to locate records that relate to the alleged 1947 UFO incident near Roswell, New Mexico. Pro-UFO researchers claim that an extraterrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants were recovered near Roswell in July of 1947, and that this fact was kept from the public.

At the request of Congressman Steven H. Schiff (R-NM), the General Accounting Office (GAO) initiated an audit in February of 1994, to locate all records relating to the “Roswell Incident” and to determine if such records were properly handled. The GAO audit was completed and the results published by the Headquarters, U.S. Air Force in 1995. The publication is entitled “The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert.” This publication may be obtained from most U.S. Government Depository Library. The call number is ISBN 0-16- 048023-X.

The General Accounting Office audit involved a number of government agencies but focused on the Air Force. To support this audit, the Air Force initiated a systematic search of current Air Force offices as well as numerous archives and records centers which might help explain the incident. Air Force officials also interviewed a number of persons who may have had knowledge of the events. Prior to the interviews, Secretary Widnall released those persons from any previous security obligations that may have restricted their statements.

The Air Force research did not locate or develop any information that the “Roswell Incident” was a UFO event nor was there any indication of a “cover-up” by the Government. Information obtained through exhaustive records searches and interviews indicated that the materials recovered near Roswell was consistent with a balloon devise of the type used in a then classified project. No records indicated or even hinted that the recovery of “alien” bodies or extraterrestrial materials.

All documentation related to this case are now declassified and the information in the public domain. Documentation has been turned over to the office of the Air Force Historian.