Early on 8 July 1947, a press release issued by the 509th Bomb Group based in Roswell, New Mexico revealed to the world’s media that something incredible had happened: a UFO had crashed in the area, and the United States Army Air Forces was now in possession of a “flying disk”.
The news was issued by 1st Lt. Walter Haut, the public information officer at the base, at the behest of base commander and close personal friend, Colonel William Blanchard.
By day’s end, the information was retracted and a new press release was issued claiming a mistake had been made and that the UFO was, in fact, a crashed weather balloon – a turn of events that made Haut a figure of public ridicule.