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Roswell Facts
for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting information, history and
facts on Roswell for kids.
Roswell
Facts for kids
Roswell
Facts -
1: The story of the
Roswell UFO Incident began with a large number of
alleged sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO's)
that occurred in the area between May 17,1947 and July
12, 1947.
Roswell
Facts - 2: Location: Roswell
is located in Chaves County, New Mexico, United States.
The city is situated at the confluence of three rivers,
the Spring, the Hondo and the Pecos. The area was
originally the homeland of the Mescalero Apache and the
Comanche Native Americans who roamed the hot, dry, arid
desert land dotted with cactus.
Roswell
Facts -
3: In 1941, during
World War II, the Roswell Army Air Field was established
south of Roswell as a military training center to train
bomber crews.
Roswell
Facts - 4: The Roswell Army Flying School
also known as Roswell Army Air Field (AAF) in New Mexico was named
the Walker Air Force Base and became a major Strategic Air Command
base.
Roswell
Facts - 5: Walker Air Force Base, New
Mexico, became famous for the Roswell UFO incident, an event that
happened on July 4, 1947 when initial reports alleged that a "flying
disk" had crashed during a severe thunderstorm near the base at
Corona, New Mexico.
Roswell
Facts - 6: The famous story started when
widely scattered wreckage, strewn over half a mile, was discovered
about 75 miles north-west of Roswell, New Mexico by a local 48 year
old ranch manager, William "Mac" Brazel.
Roswell
Facts - 7: "Mac" Brazel. initially paid
little notice of the wreckage but, after hearing rumors about
'flying disks' being seen in the area, he went back to the crash
site and collected the scattered materials that consisted of an
unusual types of incredibly strong, shiny tinfoil and light plastic
materials.
Roswell
Facts - 8: Bessie Scheiber (Mac's
daughter) stated that "...some of these pieces had something like
numbers and lettering on them, but there were no words you were able
to make out. Some of the metal-foil pieces had a sort of tape stuck
to them, and when these were held to the light they showed what
looked like pastel flowers or designs..."
Roswell
Facts - 9: On July 7, 1947
Mac Brazel went to see sheriff George Wilcox and
whispered "kinda confidential like" that he might have
found a flying disk. He said that he did not see it fall
from the sky so he did not know the size or shape it
might have been.
Roswell
Facts - 10: Sheriff George
Wilcox contacted the Roswell Army Air Field and Major
Jesse Antoine Marcel, a staff intelligence officer of
the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence Office, and a
Counter-Intelligence Corps officer in plain clothes
arrived at his office to inspect the crash site
materials. The two men accompanied Sheriff Wilcox
to his home to try to reconstruct the materials.
Roswell
Facts - 11: Descriptions of the wreckage
by Major Jesse Antoine Marcel's son, Jesse Marcel Jr., stated that
"...the most unusual part of that was the symbols or writing on the
inner surface. I thought, at first, it was like Egyptian
hieroglyphics, but when I looked closer, it seemed more like
geometric symbols of some kind - it was very strange."
Roswell
Facts - 12: On the same day,
July 7, 1947 the local KSWS radio station started
reporting the news of the wreckage.
Roswell
Facts - 13: On July 8, 1947, the city editor of
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram sent 21-year-old Fort Worth
Star Telegram reporter and photographer James Bond
Johnson to take photos of the crash debris.
Roswell
Facts - 14: The officers
returned to the base with the crash wreckage and Colonel
William "Butch" Blanchard, the base commander
authorized the release of an official press statement
confirming that the wreckage of a flying disc had been
recovered.
Roswell
Facts -
15: Walter Haut, a
Public Information Officer for the 509th Bomb Wing at
Roswell AAF, issued a press release to the local media
claiming recovery of a flying disc.
Roswell
Facts - 16: On July 8, 1947 the Roswell Daily
Record, announced the "capture" of a "flying saucer".
Roswell
Facts - 17: Colonel Blanchard
contacted General Roger M. Ramey of the Eighth Air Force
in Fort Worth, Texas, and General Ramey ordered the
object be flown to Fort Worth Army Air Field. General
Ramey sent officers to reclaim the debris and held a
press conference claiming the wreckage was the remains
of a weather balloon.
Roswell
Facts - 18: Between 1947 -
1949 a top secret espionage project codenamed Operation
Mogul was being conducted by the US Army Air Force
during the Cold War
Arms Race. Project Mogul involved the use of
microphones flown on high-altitude balloons for the
long-distance detection of sound waves that were
designed to monitor soviet nuclear tests.
Roswell
Facts - 19: At the start of
Project Mogul the early balloons consisted of large
clusters of rubber meteorological balloons. The early
Mogul balloons were replaced by new, massive balloons
made of polyethylene plastic. It is clear that the top
secret Project Mogul was behind the press statement
reference to 'weather balloons' made by General Ramsey.
Roswell
Facts - 20: The following day, July 9,
1947, the Roswell Daily Record reported on the press statement made
by General Ramsey (see details of the text below). The wreckage was
described of consisting of "...tinfoil, paper, tape and sticks..."
Continued...
Roswell
Facts for kids
Facts
about the Roswell Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with interesting information, history and facts
on Roswell for kids.
Roswell
Facts for kids
Roswell
Facts - 21: Whether the crash wreckage was
an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO') or simply a 'weather balloon'
has been debated ever since.
Roswell
Facts - 22: Project Sign: What can be
confirmed is that another top secret project, codenamed Project Sign
(1947 - 1948), was established as an official U.S. government study
of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) undertaken by the United
States Air Force.
Roswell
Facts - 23: In September,
1947, two months following the Roswell incident,
astronomer and meteor expert Dr. Lincoln La Paz
(February 12, 1897 – October 19, 1985) was recruited by
the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps to become a
member of Project Sign and was tasked with interviewing
witnesses and determine the direction, speed and
trajectory of the craft prior to its impact.
Roswell
Facts - 24: It has since been
reported that Dr. Lincoln La Paz had experienced a UFO
sighting of his own which occurred on July 10, 1947 just
70 miles north of Roswell near Fort Sumner, New Mexico
(only two days after the Roswell UFO incident).
Roswell
Facts - 25: In 1961 Betty and
Barney Hill claimed that alien beings had abducted
them and taken them to a saucer-shaped spaceship. The
aliens were described as small, grey-skinned humanoid
beings with an enlarged head and large black eyes, which
were later called "Greys". Conspiracy theorists linked
the "Greys" to the alleged Roswell UFO incident claiming
that the wreckage, or even alien bodies from the Roswell
crash, are being held at the US military base known as
Area 51.
Roswell
Facts - 26: In February, 1949
Project Sign was replaced by Project Grudge which was
then followed by Project Blue Book. A termination order
was given for the study of unidentified flying objects
(UFOs) conducted by the United States Air Force in
December 1969, and all activity under the project ceased
in January 1970.
Roswell
Facts - 27: The Roswell UFO
Incident and Projects Sign, Grudge and Bluebook should
be considered in relation to the events of the era when
the USA and the USSR were engaged in the Cold War Arms
Race.
Roswell
Facts - 28: Due to the media
coverage the Soviets were aware of the reports coming
from Roswell, New Mexico. The fast denial of the UFO and
assertions of the 'weather balloon' explanation led
Joseph Stalin to believe that the first UFO report was
what actually happened and that the Americans really had
'captured' a UFO. If the Americans had a UFO then Stalin
wanted a UFO. Who knew what technical advantages the USA
were making...
Roswell
Facts -
29: As a result Stalin initiated
extensive investigations into UFOs by the Soviet Union -
taking numerous scientists and military personnel away
from the work on the development of nuclear weapons
during the Cold War Arms Race.
Roswell
Facts -
30: Was the Roswell UFO incident a clever
plan and double bluff by the USA to divert the Soviets
from the real concern of the day - the development of
their own nuclear weapons?
Roswell
Facts for kids
Roswell - President Harry Truman Video
The article on the
Roswell UFO Incident provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
Harry Truman video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 33rd American President whose presidency spanned from April 12, 1945 to January 20, 1953.
Roswell UFO Incident,
New Mexico
●
Interesting Facts about Roswell UFO Incident for kids and schools
●
Summary and Definition of the Roswell UFO Incident in US history
●
Roswell UFO Incident Facts with important dates and key
events
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UFO Incident Facts with important dates and key
events
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Fast, fun, interesting facts about the famous UFO
Incident
●
Foreign & Domestic
policy of President Truman
● Roswell UFO Incident,
New Mexico, facts for schools,
homework, kids and children |
