SUBJECT: TIMELINE OF THE ROSWELL EVENT FILE: UFO2764 TIMELINE OF THE ROSWELL EVENT Note: Bracketed [] entries are those for which we have only indirect evidence or for which a time slot could not be definately established. This chart is a revised version of the one that appeared in _UFO Crash at Roswell_. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date/Time | Events at Roswell, N.M. | Events elsewhere ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Tue. 7/1 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | | Sherman Campbell discovers | | weather balloon debris | | near Circleville, OH. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Wed. 7/2 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Night | 9:50pm. Mr. & Mrs. Dan Wilmot report | | oval-shaped UFO moving NW, toward the| | crash site. William Woody and his | | father also observe a bright, arching| | light with a red contrail as they are| | driving NW of Roswell. | | Mac Brazel and others hear loud | | explosion. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Thu. 7/3 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Mid- | Mac Brazel, accompanied by 7-year-old| morning | D. Proctor, discovers a large amount | | of light-weight, metallic debris on a| | remote pasture (the debris field). | | | Late | Brazel visits his neighbors, the | Aborted V-2 rocket launch morning | Proctors, and shows them some of the | at White Sands Proving | material. | Grounds, NM. | | Evening | Brazel removes a large, circular | | piece of debris from the debris field| | and stores it in a shed. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Fri. 7/4 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | Holiday. | 1:00-2:00pm. Flying disks | | observed at Portland, OR. | | 9:12pm. United Air Lines | | flight crew watches 9 | | disks over Emmett, ID. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Sat. 7/5 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | Brazel goes to Corona, NM, and tells | | some acquaintances about the find. | | On the way back he stops again at the| | Proctors. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Sun. 7/6 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Morning | Brazel drives to Roswell to visit | [Army Air Force captain | Sheriff Wilcox. | sees flying disk near | | Fairfield, CA. | | Early | Brazel and Wilcox call Roswell base | 1:45pm B-25 crew observes afternoon | and report the find. | silvery disk over Clay | | Center, KS. | | | Col. Blanchard, Maj. Marcel, and CIC | | Captain Cavitt arrive at Wilcox's | | office to interview Brazel. | | | Mid- | [Blanchard returns to the base with | [General Ramey alerts the afternoon | a portion of Brazel's debris and | Pentagon about the find. | alerts General Ramey in Fort Worth | The Pentagon orders debris | about the find.] | sent to Fort Worth.] | | Late | Marcel and Cavitt accompany Brazel | afternoon | back to his ranch to go to the debris| | field. | | The two deputies return to Sheriff | | Wilcox, having found an area of | | blackened ground. | | | Evening | 1st flight out. Debris flown to | | Fort Worth. | | | Night | Marcel and Cavitt stay at Brazel's | Col. Alan D. Clark flies | ranch and examine the large piece | debris in a B-26 from Ft. | stored in the shed. | Worth to Washington, DC | | for Gen. McMullen. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Mon. 7/7 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Early | Brazel takes Marcel and Cavitt to | morning | debris field. | | | Daytime | | 11:45am. Koshkonong, WI, | | flying disk sighting. | [General Twining makes an unannounced| 2:30pm. East Troy, WI. case. | visit to Kirtland Air Field, near | 9:00pm. William Rhodes takes | Albuquerque.] | photograph of flying disk | | over Phoenix, AZ. | | Late | Marcel and Cavitt leave for the | [Debris from Washington evening | Roswell base after loading their | is sent to Wright Field, | vehicles with debris. | near Dayton, OH.] ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Tue. 7/8 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Very early| Marcel stops at his home (2:00am) and| morning | shows some of the debris to his wife | | and son before proceeding on to the | | base. | | | Early | Blanchard orders Maj. Easley to post | morning | guards on the access roads to the | | debris field. | | [7:30am] Staff meeting held by | | Roswell base officers to discuss | | debris. | | | Mid- | 9:00am Cavitt and his assistant M/Sgt| afternoon | Rickett obtain a staff car and drive | 9:30-11:50am. Series of disk | to Brazel's ranch to pick him up and | sightings by pilots and | return to the debris field. | officers at Muroc Air Base | Troops arrive at debris field to | CA. | begin recovery. | | [11:00am] Blanchard dictates a press | | release on the recovery of a flying | | disk to PIO Walter Haut. | | | Mid-day | Haut goes into town to deliver his | | press release to the radio stations | | and newspapers. His first stop is at| | station KGFL, where he gives the | | release to Frank Joyce. | | Noon. The information is put on the | | AP wire. | | 1st flight in arrives from Washington| | DC, carrying a special team of photo-| | graphers and W/O Robert Thomas. | | William Woody and his father, still | | curious about their sighting, drive | | toward Corona. They are turned away | | by MPs posted on outlying roads. | | | Early | News of the recovery spreads as the | afternoon | story hits the wire services. Phone | | lines at the base, at the sheriff's | | office, and at newspaper and radio | | news offices are tied up. | | Sheriff Wilcox sends two more | | deputies to the debris field; they | | are turned back by MPs. | | Cavitt and Rickett return to the | | Roswell base with Brazel. | | | Mid- | Brazel is flown back to the debris | afternoon | field from the base; other planes | | from Roswell are similarly recon- | | noitering the area. | | The impact site is discovered from | | the air; ground troops are directed | | toward it. | | [Barney Barnett and a group of | | students and archeologists or rock- | | hunters are already at the impact | | site and see debris and bodies; they | | are escorted off by the Army.] | | Col. Blanchard "goes on leave" from | | the base, but he actually leaves to | | visit the debris field. | | Material has been brought from the | | debris field and loaded onto a C-54; | | this 2nd flight out is flown by Capt.| | Pappy Henderson to Wright Field. | J. Bond Johnson, of the | 3rd flight out, a B-29, carries | Fort Worth Star-Telegram, | Marcel to Fort Worth Army Air Field. | is told to go to Fort | A few wrapped packages [of debris] | Worth Army Air Field to | are also on the plane. | cover a flying disk story. | | Late | Clean-up continues at the crash | Marcel arrives in Fort afternoon | sites. | Worth and confers with Gen. | Brazel is flown back to the base, | Ramey; at some point | then leaves and is located by Walt | remnants of a balloon are | Whitmore, Sr., of radio station KGFL,| substituted for the real | who interviews him about the find. | debris. | Blanchard visits the debris field | A press conference is held | and impact site with his staff. | in Ramey's office; Johnson | A 2nd flight from Washington, DC, | photographs Marcel and | arrives at the base; Rickett gives | Ramey with the balloon | the crew a sealed box filled with | remnants; W/O Irving | debris; the plane returns shortly to | Newton identifies the | Washington (4th flight out). | material as a balloon with | The Roswell Daily Record carries | a radar target device | "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer" story. | attached. | | Ramey issues a statement | | claiming that the Roswell | | officers were fooled and | | that the material was from | | a weather balloon. | | Early | Sgt. Melvin Brown looks under a tarp | 6:17pm Memo from FBI Dallas evening | on the back of a truck at the impact | office to SAC regarding | site and sees several alien-looking | weather balloon cover | bodies. | story. | Glenn Dennis, a local mortician, is | Ramey gives an interview | intrigued by several inquiries from | on Fort Worth radio station | the base about tissue preservation | WBAP about the weather | and the smallest caskets he has | balloon cover story. | available. | | Truck carrying the bodies arrives at | | the base. | | A preliminary autopsy is attempted at| | the base hospital by pathologist Dr. | | Jesse Johnson, Jr. | | Dennis tries to visit the base | | hospital but is turned away forcibly;| | a nurse friend warns him to leave | | before he gets in trouble. | | [8:30pm] Barnett returns home to | | Socorro. | | | Night | Capt. John Martin, Sgt. Brown, and | | other MPs guard a crate containing | | the bodies that has been placed | | inside an empty hangar. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Wed. 7/9 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Early | Troops continue clean-up at the crash| morning | sites. | | At the base, three C-54's begin to be| | loaded with crates filled with debris| | (8:00am). | | [Senator Dennis Chavez calls Walt | | Whitmore Sr. to warn him against | | broadcasting an interview with | | Brazel; a representative of the FCC | | threatens to pull his broadcast | | license.] | | | Mid- | Officers from the base locate Brazel | morning | (who had stayed with Whitmore) and | | return him to the base for | | questioning. | | | Late | Brazel is taken by the military to | morning | the office of the Roswell Daily | | Record, where he gives a revised, | | sanitized version of the story. | | [A special secret service envoy | | representing President Truman arrives| | from Washington (3rd flight in.)] | | | Noon | The crate with bodies is moved from | | the hangar to Bomb Pit Number One. | | [Floyd Proctor, Lyman Strickland, | | and others observe Brazel in town | | escorted by soldiers.] | | | Early | Officers from the base visit | General Schulgen requests afternoon | newspaper and radio offices in town | FBI cooperation in solving | and recover all copies of Haut's | the flying disk problem. | original press release. | The War Department tells | Brazel is taken to radio station | the FBI that the disks | KGFL, where he gives a revised | do not belong to the | version of his story. | Army or Navy. | | Late | Three fully loaded C-54's (5th-7th | afternoon | Flights out) carry debris to Los | | Alamos, NM, via Kirtland Field. | | 4:00pm. The crate from Bomb Pit | | Number One is transferred to a B-29 | | and flown (8th Flight out) to Fort | | Worth. | 5:00pm. Ball of light | The Roswell Daily Record carries a | deposits odd metal on | sanitized version of Barzel's story. | ground near Midland, MI. | | Early | | 6:00pm. Officers and a evening | | mortician in Fort Worth | | meet the incoming B-29 | | from Roswell; the flight | | crew returns to Roswell | | with Marcel. | | Late | 8:00pm. Marcel arrives back in | 11:30pm. Constable in evening | Roswell (4th Flight in). | Grand Falls, Newfoundland, | | observes 4 flying disks. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Thu. 7/10 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | Clean-up continues at the crash | [A flight from Wright Field | sites. | arrives in Fort Worth and | Brazel continues to be interrogated | returns to Wright Field | and held at a guest house on the | with more debris and a | base. | large, metallic container | [Remaining debris confiscated from | on board.] | Sheriff Wilcox by military | FBI memo, Fitch to Ladd. | personnel.] | Aborted V-2 launch at | | White Sands. | | [General Twining stops at | | White Sands before return- | | ing to Wright Field.] | | President Truman derides | | flying disk stories. | | 4:00pm. TWA representative | | sees flying disk at Harmon | | Field, Newfoundland. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Fri. 7/11 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | MPs and others involved in the | | retreival are debriefed and told to | | forget that it happened. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Sat. 7/12 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | Bill Brazel Jr. returns to his | 6:30pm. Flying disk follows | father's ranch; no evidence of a | a C-47 at Elmendorf Field, | military presence remains. | Alaska. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Late July | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | July 15 - Mac Brazel returns to his | | ranch from the Roswell base after his| 7/20- Silver-white disk | interrogation. | moving at great speed | | reported near Cumberland, | | MD. | | 7/26- National Security | | Act passes, which | | coordinates the Army, Navy, | | and Air Force into a single | | national military | | establishment under the | | Secretary of Defense. The | | Army Air Force becomes | | the U.S. Air Force. | | 7/30- The first Air Force | | "estimate" of the nature | | of the flying disks is | | drafted by Gen. Schulgen's | | staff. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- August '47| | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | Mac Brazel and Tommy Tyree spot a | 8/19- FBI memo, Fitch to | piece of debris in a sinkhole near | Ladd. | the debris field. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Sept. '47 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | Prof. Lincoln LaPaz, secretly charged| 9/5- Gen. Schulgen tells | with reconstructing the object's | the FBI that the disks do | trajectory, arrives from Washington | not belong to the Air | and rediscovers the area of black- | Force. | ened ground with Rickett. | 9/23- Gen. Twining calls | | for an official invest- | | igation of the flying | | disks. | | 9/24- Alleged memo from | | Truman to Forrestal, | | establishing Operation | | Majestic Twelve. Vannevar | | Bush meets with Truman. | | 9/25- FBI memo, Ladd to | | Hoover, advising that FBI | | discontinue flying disk | | investigations. | | 9/26- Sidney Souers named | | head of new National | | Security Council, which | | holds its first meeting. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Oct. '47 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | | 10/1- Truman letter to | | Vannevar Bush, the sig- | | nature of which matches | | the MJ-12 memo of 9/24. | | 10/28- Schulgen issues a | | draft collection memo- | | randum that outlines the | | essential elements of | | information required to | | analyze flying disk | | reports. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Sep. '48 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | LaPaz tells Rickett that he is still | | convinced the Roswell debris was an | | unoccupied probe from another world. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- Summer '49| | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | The gouge is still visible at the | | debris field. | | Mac Brazel, having found various | | scraps of debris for the past two | | years, mentions in Corona that he | | still has the material. The next day| | a Capt. Armstrong and three others | | from the base confiscate the pieces. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- 1978 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | | Pappy Henderson confides | | to a close friend that he | | had flown wreckage from | | a crashed saucer to Wright | | Field; he still has a | | fragment of the debris. | | Marcel, located by | | researcher Stan Friedman, | | says he is sure the debris | | was nothing from earth. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- 1980 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | | In Search Of interviews | | Marcel, who says he is | | sure the Roswell debris | | was nothing from earth. | | Charles Berlitz and William | | L. Moore publish their | | report on the case, The | | Roswell Incident. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- 1982 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | | Pappy Henderson tells his | | wife Sappho about his role | | in the recovery. ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- 1988 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | Oct.- An Air Force pickup truck is | | seen on the Foster Ranch; the driver | | asks ranch hand Jim Parker if the | | Roswell crash site is nearby. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- 1989 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | Sept. 15-19 The Center for UFO | | Studies conducts an expedition to | | the debris field. | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- 1991 | | ----------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------- | | July- Kevin Randle and | | Donald Schmitt's account | | of the case, UFO Crash | | at Roswell, is published | | by Avon Books. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ********************************************** * THE U.F.O. 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