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Within The 509 th Bombardment

What Roswell's Press Release Actually Said

Walter Haut distributed a statement that named the 509th, called the object a disc and said it had been sent to higher headquarters.

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Preview for What Roswell's Press Release Actually Said

On this page

  • The surviving wording of the announcement
  • What the release stated as fact
  • What later retellings added or changed

Introduction

Walter Haut’s press release is the single most important contemporary document in the Roswell story because it represents the earliest official public statement issued by the military itself. On 8 July 1947, acting as the public information officer at Roswell Army Air Field, First Lieutenant Walter G. Haut distributed a short announcement stating that the intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment Group had recovered a “flying disc” with the assistance of a local rancher and the Chaves County sheriff. Within hours, higher headquarters replaced that account with the explanation that the recovered material was a weather balloon. The resulting contradiction has made Haut’s announcement the central documentary evidence in the Roswell controversy, not because it proves what was recovered, but because it records exactly what the local command believed—or was prepared to announce—before the public narrative changed.[AltMystery]altmystery.comroswell 1947Roswell 1947 & Area 51 · AltMysteryMay 26, 2026…Published: May 26, 2026

Haut Release illustration 1
Explanatory illustration 1

The surviving wording of the announcement

The press release was prepared under Colonel William H. Blanchard’s command and distributed by Walter Haut to local newspapers and radio stations. Although newspaper versions differ slightly in punctuation and formatting, the surviving text consistently states that:

“The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb Group… gained possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff’s office of Chaves County.”

It continued by explaining that:

  • the object had been found on a ranch near Roswell during the previous week;
  • the rancher had stored it until he could notify authorities;
  • Major Jesse Marcel and intelligence personnel recovered it;
  • the object was inspected at Roswell Army Air Field; and
  • it was then forwarded to “higher headquarters.”[altmystery.com]altmystery.comroswell 1947Roswell 1947 & Area 51 · AltMysteryMay 26, 2026…Published: May 26, 2026

Those points constitute the earliest official narrative released to the public.

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What the release stated as fact

The wording is notable because it made several affirmative factual claims rather than merely repeating local rumours.

First, it declared that the intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment Group had “gained possession of a disc.” It did not describe the object as an unidentified report awaiting investigation; instead, it presented the recovery as an accomplished fact.[AltMystery]altmystery.comroswell 1947Roswell 1947 & Area 51 · AltMysteryMay 26, 2026…Published: May 26, 2026

Second, the release identified the chain of custody. It credited cooperation between a local rancher and the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office before explaining that Major Jesse Marcel recovered the material and that it was sent onwards to higher headquarters. This description established that the object was being treated as a military intelligence matter rather than remaining with civilian authorities.[Ufologie]ufologie.patrickgross.orgUFOS at close sight: The Roswell 1947 incident in the Press, The Seattle Daily Times, July 8, 1947…Published: July 8, 1947

Third, despite the dramatic headline that followed in newspapers, the release itself contained remarkably little description of the object’s appearance. It did not discuss size, shape, construction or performance. Instead, the key descriptive word was simply “disc” or “flying disc”, terminology already widespread during the nationwide “flying saucer” wave that began after Kenneth Arnold’s widely reported sighting in June 1947.[AltMystery]altmystery.comroswell 1947Roswell 1947 & Area 51 · AltMysteryMay 26, 2026…Published: May 26, 2026

Why the word “disc” matters

The term “flying disc” has become one of the most debated elements of the document.

In 1947, “flying disc” was the standard expression used by newspapers and military personnel to describe reported unidentified aerial objects. It did not necessarily imply that investigators had performed a technical examination proving the recovered material was an extraordinary craft. Rather, it reflected the vocabulary of the day during an intense period of public speculation.[AltMystery]altmystery.comroswell 1947Roswell 1947 & Area 51 · AltMysteryMay 26, 2026…Published: May 26, 2026

For historians, this distinction is important. The release demonstrates that Roswell Army Air Field publicly adopted the prevailing “flying disc” terminology before the object reached higher headquarters. Whether that language reflected genuine belief, incomplete information, misunderstanding or haste is a separate question that cannot be answered from the press release alone.

Haut Release illustration 2
Explanatory illustration 2

What happened after the announcement

The announcement had an exceptionally brief public life.

After the story appeared on news wires, Brigadier General Roger Ramey at Fort Worth Army Air Field announced that the recovered material was not a flying disc but the remains of a weather balloon and radar target. Photographs of Major Jesse Marcel with balloon debris were released to the press, effectively replacing Haut’s original statement with the balloon explanation.[Ufologie]ufologie.patrickgross.orgUFOS at close sight: The Roswell 1947 incident in the Press, The Seattle Daily Times, July 8, 1947…Published: July 8, 1947

The speed of this reversal is one reason the original release remains historically significant. It preserves a snapshot of the local command’s public position before intervention from higher headquarters, allowing researchers to compare the two official accounts issued on the same day.

The Roswell Press Release - Lt. Walter Haut, US Navy / Disclosure Project Witness Testimony Archive

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What later retellings added or changed

As Roswell became the subject of books, documentaries and witness recollections decades later, the original press release was frequently expanded beyond what it actually said.

Common additions include claims that the release:

  • described a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft;
  • referred to alien bodies;
  • detailed unusual materials or technologies; or
  • explicitly stated that the object had crashed.

None of those claims appears in the surviving wording distributed by Walter Haut. The announcement simply reported possession of a “flying disc”, explained how military personnel acquired it and noted that it had been forwarded to higher headquarters.[AltMystery]altmystery.comroswell 1947Roswell 1947 & Area 51 · AltMysteryMay 26, 2026…Published: May 26, 2026

Similarly, later statements by Walter Haut—including his posthumously released affidavit describing what he said he later learned or witnessed—are historically distinct from the July 1947 press release itself. Those later recollections have become part of the broader Roswell debate, but they should not be read back into the text of the original announcement, which remains a short operational news release with much narrower claims.[Dallas Observer]dallasobserver.comDallas Observer Contact | Dallas ObserverDallas ObserverContact | Dallas ObserverApril 3, 2003…Published: April 3, 2003

UAP Files #2: The Army Announced a Flying Saucer (Rosswell)

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Why the release remains the key documentary evidence

The value of Walter Haut’s release lies less in what it proves than in what it unquestionably records.

It establishes that:

  • the statement originated from Roswell Army Air Field’s public information office;
  • it was issued under the authority of the local command;
  • it identified the 509th Bombardment Group’s intelligence office as having recovered a “flying disc”;
  • it documented transfer of the recovered material to higher headquarters; and
  • it was superseded within hours by a different official explanation.[altmystery.com]altmystery.comroswell 1947Roswell 1947 & Area 51 · AltMysteryMay 26, 2026…Published: May 26, 2026

Those uncontested documentary facts explain why the Haut release continues to occupy such a central place in discussions of the Roswell incident. Regardless of later interpretations, it remains the earliest surviving official announcement that shaped the controversy and the benchmark against which every subsequent account has been compared.

Haut Release illustration 3
Explanatory illustration 3

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Endnotes

1. Source: altmystery.com
Title: roswell 1947
Link:https://www.altmystery.com/article/roswell-1947/

Source snippet

Roswell 1947 & Area 51 · AltMysteryMay 26, 2026...

Published: May 26, 2026

2. Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org
Link:https://www.ufologie.patrickgross.org/rw/f/fbimemo01.htm

Source snippet

UFOS at close sight: Roswell 1947, declassified official documents, [FBI memo]({{ 'fbi-memo/' | relative_url }}) of July 8, 1947...

Published: July 8, 1947

3. Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org
Link:https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/rw/p/seattledailytimes8jul1947.htm

Source snippet

UFOS at close sight: The Roswell 1947 incident in the Press, The Seattle Daily Times, July 8, 1947...

Published: July 8, 1947

4. Source: dallasobserver.com
Title: Dallas Observer Contact | Dallas Observer
Link:https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/contact-6389022/

Source snippet

Dallas ObserverContact | Dallas ObserverApril 3, 2003...

Published: April 3, 2003

5. Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org
Link:https://www.ufologie.patrickgross.org/rw/w/walterhaut.htm

6. Source: qsl.net
Link:https://www.qsl.net/w5www/roswell.html

7. Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org
Link:https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/rw/p/renogazette8jul1947.htm

8. Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org
Link:https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/rw/p/losangelesheraldexpress8jul1947.htm

9. Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org
Link:https://www.ufologie.patrickgross.org/rw/p/rdr8jul1947.htm

10. Source: ufologie.patrickgross.org
Link:https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/rw/p/sacramentobee8jul1947.htm

11. Source: youtube.com
Title: The Very Real Top Secret Cold War Project That Gave Us the Roswell Incident
Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP43ny3q0V8

Source snippet

Walter Haut...

12. Source: youtube.com
Title: Walter Haut
Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lY8VLKhTEM

Source snippet

Roswell press release 1947 The Roswell Press Release - Lt. Walter Haut, US Navy / [Disclosure]({{ 'disclosure/' | relative_url }}) Project Witness Testimony Archive...

Additional References

13. Source: rte.ie
Link:https://www.rte.ie/archives/2017/0629/886515-roswell-ufo-report-50-years-on/

Source snippet

RTÉ Archives | Society | Roswell UFO Report 50 Years OnJune 29, 2017 — THE WORLD'S MOST PERSISTENT UFO MYSTERY 1997 Society iframe RTÉ Ne...

Published: June 29, 2017

14. Source: area51aliencenter.net
Title: Roswell Incident: Part 4 | Alien Center Nevada
Link:https://area51aliencenter.net/historical-events/roswell-incident-part-4/

Source snippet

HERE'S THE FOURTH INSTALLMENT OF OUR ALIEN ROSWELL INVESTIGATION. LET'S DIVE IN. WALTER HAUT 1st Lieutenant Walter H...

15. Source: ufonut.com
Title: The Great Roswell Cover-up!
Link:https://ufonut.com/the-great-roswell-cover-up-part-one/

Source snippet

Part One. - Chuck Zukowski UFO/Paranormal Investigations: Chuck Zukowski UFO/Paranormal InvestigationsJuly 1, 2022 — On July 8, 1947, Co...

Published: July 1, 2022

16. Source: youtube.com
Title: The Roswell Press Release
Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__6nOYeS_dw

Source snippet

UAP Files #2: The Army Announced a Flying Saucer (Rosswell)...

17. Source: youtube.com
Title: The Truth about Roswell: Decoding Decades of Deception
Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rih9-80p0Ec

Source snippet

The Very Real Top Secret Cold War Project That Gave Us the Roswell Incident...

18. Source: fbi.gov
Link:https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository/inside-the-fbi-ufos-102921.mp4/view

19. Source: youtube.com
Title: UAP Files #2: The Army Announced a Flying Saucer (Rosswell)
Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBBAlenxU4s

Source snippet

The Truth about Roswell: Decoding Decades of Deception...

20. Source: astronomyufo.com
Link:https://www.astronomyufo.com/UFO/RAAF.htm

21. Source: roswellslides.com
Link:https://www.roswellslides.com/pressrelease/

22. Source: ufoencounters.co.uk
Link:https://www.ufoencounters.co.uk/walter-hauts-deathbed-roswell-confession.html