The Roswell Incident Book Published by Moore and Berlitz

EVENT TITLE: The Roswell Incident Book Published by Moore and Berlitz
EVENT DATE: 1980-10-01
EVENT TYPE: disclosure

Charles Berlitz and William Moore published 'The Roswell Incident' in 1980. This book was the first book-length treatment of the 1947 Roswell crash, bringing the case to mainstream attention.

The Incident

In 1947, an object crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. Jesse Marcel, Sr., an intelligence officer at the 509th Bomber Unit at Roswell Army Air Field, was dispatched to retrieve the wreckage. Marcel described the debris as including foil-like material of incredible toughness and I-beams that looked flimsy but could not be bent or broken, also noting strange hieroglyphic-like writing on them.

The fragments were transported to Roswell Army Air Field, then to Fort Worth, Texas, and finally to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, for analysis. While at Fort Worth, Marcel stated he had to lie to the press, claiming they were recovering a downed weather balloon. Marcel was certain the object was not a balloon, nor any type of aircraft or rocket.

Investigation

Stanton Friedman met Jesse Marcel, Sr. in January while lecturing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Prior to this, William Moore found the July 1947 press release which said the Air Force had recovered a flying disc, as well as a press release from three hours later claiming the object had been an ordinary weather balloon. Friedman and Moore interviewed almost 100 people who knew something about the event.

Significance

'The Roswell Incident' book, published in 1980 by Berlitz and Moore, was the first comprehensive examination of the Roswell crash. It brought the Roswell incident to a wider audience and helped solidify it as a central case in UFO lore. The book was based on interviews with witnesses, including Jesse Marcel, Sr., and research into official documents.