“The Other 1947 Roswell Newspaper”

By Dennis Balthaser
www.truthseekeratroswell.com
© 8-1-09

     When doing any research, and particularly the 1947 Roswell Incident, its always exciting when a new witness comes forward or other information not previously uncovered is found. I suppose that’s what keeps some of us “digging” into the events surrounding the incident that happened 62 years ago. Many have given up, or moved on from researching the Roswell Incident, however in my case and for several other researchers, we’re not yet convinced that all the information has been brought to the table. After all, the 4 different excuses given thus far do not satisfactorily answer the many questions raised over time about what happened on the Foster ranch northwest of Roswell in 1947.

First and second-hand witnesses are dying at an alarming rate, due to now being in their 80’s, if still alive, so when a new witness is discovered, it’s critical to obtain as much information as possible and attempt to verify that information. Such was the case at this years Roswell UFO Festival July 2-5, 2009, when I was introduced to an 85 year old gentleman that “claimed” he was on the airplane that transferred the debris from Roswell to General Ramey’s office in Fort Worth Texas. He indicated that Intelligence Officer Major Jesse Marcel, military police and several wooden crates were on that same flight and was anxious to meet Major Marcel’s son Jesse Jr., who I was able to introduce him to. Other researchers have interviewed him and perhaps this adds more validity to the accounts we’ve been hearing for years.

Another group is in the process of testing some material obtained from the Foster ranch during a dig that was done there several years ago, with the University of New Mexico Archeological group. If the material being tested should turn out to be of unknown origin, it would simply add more validity to the ongoing research being done about the Roswell Incident, proving again that the material recovered was not a weather balloon, Mogul balloon, or crash test dummies as we’ve been told on three separate occasions by the Air Force to explain Roswell.

That leaves us with the first excuse that Lt. Walter Haut wrote July 8, 1947 for media distribution as the Public Relations Officer at Roswell Army Airfield, under orders of the base commander Col. William Blanchard.

By now everyone interested in the Roswell Incident is familiar with the Roswell Daily Record newspaper headline written by Haut stating:


This headline was not only printed in the afternoon edition of the Roswell Daily Record, but was also a major headline in many afternoon newspapers west of Chicago July 8, 1947.


By the next day, (July 9, 1947), General Ramey and many others in charge of a cover-up story had the following headline ready for the afternoon Roswell Daily Record and most morning newspapers east of Chicago, which read:


General Ramey’s headline indicated that the “elite” 509th bomb wing stationed at Roswell Army Airfield had misidentified a weather balloon for a flying saucer.

For all the years that I’ve been doing Roswell research I have known that there were two newspapers in Roswell in 1947, (The Roswell Daily Record and The Roswell Morning Dispatch), and two radio stations (KGFL and KSWS), that Lt. Walter Haut had contacted to release the original press release he had written. I had never seen a copy of the “The Roswell Morning Dispatch”, so I began a search of several local archives to try and locate it, which included the Historical Society for Southeast New Mexico Archives, the Roswell Public Library, The Chaves County Court House and the Roswell Daily Record newspaper, which has become the only newspaper in Roswell, changing from an afternoon paper to the morning paper, as it remains today. Those searches required a lot of asking questions and looking through July 1947 microfilm. My search was finally successful when almost by accident I located the July 9th, 1947 Roswell Morning Dispatch. Since the original press release went out about noon on July 8th, 1947 I knew the Morning Dispatch wouldn’t have anything for July 8th and I limited my search to the following day July 9th, when the cover up was already in place. The Roswell Morning Dispatch headline was two lines:


In a “sub-title” on the front page was another smaller headline that stated:

“Officers Say Disk Is Weather Balloon”
I thought it was interesting that the word “Disc” was spelled “Disk” in the Morning Dispatch article.

Perhaps other researchers had previously found a copy of the July 9, 1947 “Roswell Morning Dispatch”, but I had never seen it, so it was exciting for me to personally discover it. Some of the other headline stories on the front page included a photo of Sheriff Wilcox with a headline of:

“Flying Disk Transforms Sheriff’s Office to International Newsroom”

and

“Object Found on Foster ranch causes excitement”
Both of these articles were large enough that they were continued on page 8 of the July 9th newspaper. The Roswell Morning Dispatch had other disc articles through the July 11th editions continuing the follow-up, including one with a photo of Kenneth Arnold.

The microfilm machine I used to make copies of the Morning Dispatch articles was only able to copy on 8 ½” x 11” paper, so to get a full size print I had to tape individual sheets together, however I’m hopeful that I can find a way to get a full size copy of the front page done in the future, to preserve it.

It appears that the coverage of what happened near Roswell in 1947 was not only of importance to the media here locally in Roswell, but also across the country as indicated by the many newspaper articles that have been discovered covering both the initial report that we have a flying saucer in our possession, and the cover-up story the following day by General Ramey that it was only a weather balloon.

For me the evidence continues to mount that something of extreme importance happened near Roswell in 1947, based not only on the coverage it received in July 1947, but the continuing efforts by many researchers during the past 30 years with bits and pieces still coming forward. My personal theory remains that what ever was recovered on the Foster ranch, and perhaps at other locations since, is still being back engineered for the benefit of our military, and until that technology (propulsion, guidance, etc) is understood, neither the military or government will admit to the event.

More . . .

See Also:

The Truth Is Out There: Roswell Incident Recalled By Local Vet

The Roswell Legacy
By Jesse Marcel Jr.

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