The alleged recovery of a crashed flying saucer and alien bodies by the U.S. military near Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947, has become not only the most famous and publicized UFO case of all time, but also an American icon. Unfortunately, with regard to serious UFO research, it has become in effect a "red herring", diverting time and resources away from the study of the actual UFO phenomenon. Compelling new evidence is examined, including recently released 1948 military documents, a hypnotic session with the most important living Roswell witness by a renowned expert in the use of regression hypnosis for forensic purposes, and statements by former members of the 509th Bomb Group and former officers from the Foreign Technology Division at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Although the results of this research are a disappointment to many, it should now become patently obvious to anyone willing to look open-mindedly and objectively at the facts that the Roswell debris was not of extraterrestrial origin
Almost one hundred years ago, a very concerned eight-year-old girl from New York City, Virginia O'Hanlon, wrote the Question and Answer Department of her family's evening newspaper, The New York Sun, requesting to know the truth about Santa Claus. Virginia had been a firm believer, but her young friends had started to sow the seeds of doubt.
On September 21, 1897, Virginia's answer finally came. Francis Pharcellus Church, a former Civil War correspondent and an aging writer for the Sun, replied to Virginia's letter in one of the most eloquent and enduring editorial responses in the history of journalism. Church transcended the cold har facts of reality and avoided shaking Virginia's childlike faith by subtly alluding to Santa Claus as a metaphor for that which is good and noble in life -- "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and giv your life its highest beauty and joy...."
Recently, the International Roswell Initiative (IRI) received an inquiry from a young girl, Lauren M., living in a small town in New Jersey, that is in many ways reminiscent of Virginia O'Hanlon's 1897 letter to the New York Sun. While the IRI is primarily a grass roots effort to declassify whatever information the government might have on UFOs or extraterrestrial intelligence, it has received numerous inquiries over the last three years about the actual Roswell event, many from children.
January 6, 1997
Dear International Roswell Initiative:
I am a 6th grade student who is studying all kinds of interesting information about UFOs... I believe that there are really aliens who have landed and crashed (such as Roswell), but the government tried to cover it up...If you have any information that can help me prove that there are UFOs and aliens, please send me that information. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Lauren M.
Mrs. Nielsen's 6th grade
Having been extensively involved over the last few years with both the investigation of the Roswell case and the effort to get the matter declassified, I would love to be able to answer Lauren M.'s letter in the affirmative. Unfortunately, in clear conscience, I cannot -- either directly or metaphorically. Unlike a fanciful story from Western folklore created to appeal to the imaginations of children, the 1947 Roswell case involves real people and an actual event. Additionally, with all the publicity the Roswell event and its alleged coverup have received, along with the accompanying implications of conspiracy and deceit on the part of the U.S. government, Roswell represents a controversy that extends far beyond the relatively narrow confines of the so-called UFO community. As such, Roswell demands an objective, straightforward, and, if possible, definitive answer.
During the last year, compelling new evidence has come to the fore that now makes such a definitive answer possible. Unfortunately, it is not the answer that those of us familiar with the Roswell case have wanted to hear. Declassified 1948 military documents, new testimony from retired military men from both Roswell and the Foreign Technology Division at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and a thorough reexamination of how the crashed-disk story got started in the first place, make it unequivocally clear that the material recovered northwest of Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947 was not of extra-terrestrial origin. In other words, NO UFO CRASHED AT ROSWELL -- WITH OR WITHOUT ALIENS. IT DID NOT HAPPEN. PERIOD. For those willing to look objectively and rationally at all the evidence, this contention should become resoundingly clear, not just beyond a reasonable doubt, but beyond all doubt.