Roswell--Why did the Army even make a press release about a recovered disc?

This has bothered me for some time, and I've never seen a good explanation for it--after the alleged crash near Roswell, NM of a "flying disc," why did the US Army write and release a statement purporting they had recovered such an artifact?

This was 1947. TV was in its infancy, and the internet wasn't even a gleam in any developer's eye. The media consisted of newspapers and radio. Something--and I won't even call it a UFO because to me whether that's what happened is immaterial in what I'm trying to discuss here--out of the ordinary transpired in pretty much the middle of nowhere in New Mexico. Because it was unusual, the nearby Army post was alerted and responded to the situation.

It could've ended right then and there. Roswell was a sparsely populated town. Whatever rumors might have spread from the "incident" wouldn't have gone far, and they certainly wouldn't have gone "viral" in 1947 America. The Army didn't need to tell the locals anything, especially if nothing usual had actually occurred. Nothing public needed to be said, and if the Army felt compelled to address the situation to calm the concerns of the locals, the Army could've simply replied, "this is a national security matter" and left it at that.

But they didn't.

Pretty much everything that blossomed into the "Roswell Incident" developed because the Army made a press release reading in part, "The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff’s office of Chaves County. The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the sheriff’s office, who in turn notified Maj. Jesse A. Marcel of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence Office. Action was immediately taken and the disc was picked up at the rancher’s home. It was inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field and subsequently loaned by Major Marcel to higher headquarters."

Even though the Army later rescinded its statement, my question is why did this see the light of day in the first place?

The press release had to be written up based on something, and the assumption would be that it was based on the truth of what occurred. Were Army press releases (especially in 1947) routinely written up based off of false information? And at some point, this must have been cleared by a higher-up for release. If it was completely incorrect--especially given the use of the term "flying disc"--wouldn't it have been stopped and/or rewritten to make it accurate?

If not, then could it have been a practical joke? Some Army private poking a bit of fun at the yokels? I can't imagine that is something the Army routinely (or ever) does or would allow.

Was it part of an elaborate smoke-screen in which the Army stirred up the UFO theory in order to cover other, terrestrial Top Secret tests? If this was the case, then that means the Army had been sitting on such a plan for sometime, waiting for some sort of unknown incident to occur so that it could launch this national camouflage, and Roswell was it. But if that were the case--and my believe is that this scenario, at this point in time, is a bit of a stretch even for the US government--then releasing and quickly repealing the press release doesn't seem to make total sense given the supposed plan.

To my way of thinking, the fact that the US Army did write and release that statement solidifies the Roswell Incident as being true, and that they did in fact recover a flying disc of unknown origin. All of the actions that follow it indicate a cover-up of that original statement. Otherwise, why wouldn't the Army have trotted out the soldier who wrote up the press release and have him make a statement claiming it was a mistake, joke, or otherwise? Why go to the trouble of having Major Marcel get photographed with the balloon wreckage? It seems to me that if the report of a "flying disc" was completely erroneous and released on accident (which, again, I don't see happening given the Army's oversight) then there were easier ways of explaining away the subject--especially since they were the originators of the tale.

Any thoughts, ATS?

Thats a fairly good question...

about the only off hand answer I could give after 18 yrs military time 3 years civil service time is that military leadership, and the federal govt in general is fairly incompetent.. lot of folks getting into a position of power that should not be there... which leads to bad decisions being made.

Maybe whatever crashed out there was so fantasmic that a flying disc was a step down from whatever it was!

It is a good question though... Why go to the effort? Maybe there was no trust the rumour wouldn't spread. "Putting out a fire before it's fire" comes to mind. But then again, as you said, how would the fire spread in 1947?

This has always bothered me too. Sorry, but mistaking a weather balloon (project Mogal) seems very unlikely. If it was project Mogol, no way could that be mistaken for a disc ufo

a reply to: MrParanoid

Isn't 1947 just a few years after all those natzi specialists where supposedly imported to the USA?

a reply to: MrParanoid

As a first cover story for the top secret Mogul Weather Balloon crash. Perhaps the furore that followed was unexpected and the initial claim turned out to be a bad idea.

I don't see this at all mysterious. More like obvious. The local guys at the fairly remote base got the story and put out the release without thinking they needed further permission. Higher-ups moved to quash the notion and invented a quick cover story. It happened exactly as you would expect. I don't see where such a series of events would bother anyone at all.

a reply to: midicon

But they could've said it was anything--a B-17, a prototype jet, or whatever. Why choose a flying disc of all things?

originally posted by: MrParanoid
a reply to: midicon

But they could've said it was anything--a B-17, a prototype jet, or whatever. Why choose a flying disc of all things?

It might have seemed a good idea to someone at the time. Also, descriptions of the debris really do fit the bill for the Mogul explanation.

Rumors were already starting to spread around town so, they used a press release to stop people from coming out to the crash site for a few days while letting the townsfolk continue to believe the rumor.

By stating they had already recovered the "disc" people believed there was nothing out there to look at while they thoroughly
swept the sight for a few days.

I honestly believe they released the information because we were living at times when our Govt. wasn't trying to hide everything from us.. Not saying they didn't have covert missions and things they kept from the general public, but in most cases, they were a lot more transparent, comparatively speaking to today's government

originally posted by: MrParanoid
a reply to: midicon

But they could've said it was anything--a B-17, a prototype jet, or whatever. Why choose a flying disc of all things?

Because it was a flying disk? They were naive and didn't realize the import of that first press release. And no, it wasn't a Mogul Balloon. Those tests happened a couple of years later.

a reply to: MrParanoid

It might be a bigger ploy to cover up Top Secret Aircraft

Von Braun 1945

Roswell 1947

War of the Worlds 1953

Now everyone is aware of UFO's and they can fly top secret aircraft.

a reply to: schuyler

That's just my point. I believe what was initially stated was the truth, and only once it really made its way up the chain of command did those at the top say, "cease and desist." Otherwise, as I wrote, the original press release makes little sense.

a reply to: abe froman

Again, why say a "disc?" If they said it was just a weather balloon--no matter if Project Mogul was really going on then and there at the time--that would've been enough it keep people from checking it out. I would think printing "disc" would attract more eye than dissuade them.

a reply to: Gargoyle91

While I can see possibilities with a UFO cover story, as I wrote in the OP that would mean the US was prepared to run with that idea by 1947 and needed something to kick it off. They would need a Roswell to occur without creating it themselves, and I think that is difficult to buy into as of that date. Plus, I don't total buy that as a cover story for Top Secret craft as it is. Saying "UFO" makes people look up when in fact you want them looking in any other direction than to the sky if that's your intent.

a reply to: MrParanoid

I heard a great conspiracy theory about this on a recent podcast. Jack Parsons (one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Lab) and L. Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology) were both members of an OTO lodge in Calif. They performed some rituals of Alastair Crowley that supposedly opened a portal to another dimension. This was all done under the auspices of the CIA. The aliens that crashed were actually beings that entered through the portal. The UFO was a cover story because the CIA didn't want the public knowing that they had just been instrumental in opening Pandora's Box. The CIA then continued to use the UFO lie as a psy-op till the current day.

I don't believe this but still find it quite interesting.

originally posted by: schuyler

originally posted by: MrParanoid
a reply to: midicon

But they could've said it was anything--a B-17, a prototype jet, or whatever. Why choose a flying disc of all things?

Because it was a flying disk? They were naive and didn't realize the import of that first press release. And no, it wasn't a Mogul Balloon. Those tests happened a couple of years later.

Good point about Mogul and when it comes to flying discs the sheer number of reports in the two week period before Roswell is quite surprising (especially around top secret military installations).


The Day Before Roswell

a reply to: Gargoyle91

I've only seen a sphere personally but a lot of the triangle descriptions are pretty convincing.

The Army invented the word "SNAFU," and in the post-war military which was in the turmoil of being reorganized, it is a lot easier to chalk it all up to an FU with communication than see it as some kind of hasty cover-up of THE GREATEST EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.