For the first time since the “Roswell Incident” occurred, the newspaper that broke the story to a worldwide audience is sponsoring an event that features experts discussing the alleged UFO crash in July 1947 and exploring other UFO topics.
The Roswell Daily Record and its first front-page story on July 8, 1947, made the incident famous. The two-day event will be held Friday and Saturday, July 1-2, at The Liberty in Roswell.
Tickets to the Roswell Daily Record’s Roswell Incident are available online at www.roswellincident.com or by calling the Record at 505-622-7710. Tickets will also be available at the event.
Immediately after the “flying saucer” story made news all over the world, the U.S. Army retracted its previous report and said it was nothing more than a weather balloon that had crashed on a ranch outside Roswell, and the sensation surrounding the incident faded into obscurity for years.
Then, in the 1980s, with help from Hollywood and a rise in speculation about other reported UFO encounters, the incident resurfaced and became a symbol of what the U.S. government didn’t tell the public
And now, according to Barbara Beck, publisher of the Roswell Daily Record, it’s time for the newspaper to revisit the event.
“The whole incident has become an important part of the Roswell landscape and attracts visitors far and wide,” said Beck, who returned to Roswell last August to take the helm of a newspaper that her family has owned for 80 years. “During the time of the incident in 1947, my family owned two newspapers, The Roswell Dispatch, a morning paper, and the Roswell Daily Record, and both newspapers reported on the ‘Roswell Incident’ after the event. So we feel that we have a large stake in this event and are looking forward to further exploration of the UFO and sci-fi topics that our expert speakers will be exploring.”
Included in the symposium are a host of experts in the field of ufology, along with some who have firsthand knowledge of the events that took place during the summer of 1947. One scheduled speaker, paranormal writer and researcher Lee Speigel, who writes for the Huffington Post, will present previously unreleased recordings of military personnel who spoke with him about the activities they witnessed in 1947.
Speigel, who helped create the resurgence of interest in the Roswell Incident in the 1980s with radio features that highlighted the alleged UFO crash, is one of several researchers who plan to attend the symposium. Others who are scheduled to make presentations include:
⋄ Nick Pope, an author, journalist and television personality who investigated UFO reports for the British government and has served as consultant for several alien-themed movies, TV shows and video games.
⋄ Alejandro Rojas, who is director of operations for Open Minds Productions, a UFO news and multimedia organization and a blogger for Huffington Post Science and Weird News.
⋄ Dr. Donald R. Burleson, a mathematician and longtime UFO investigator, who lives in Roswell.
⋄ Dr. John B. Alexander, a retired Army officer who served at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the author of numerous books and articles about UFOs and other topics, who has explored phenomena all over the world.
⋄ Col. Charles Halt, who at one time oversaw inspections for the Department of Defense and was deputy base commander for RAF Bentwaters in the 1980s and has written about the incident that took place over England in August 1956.
In addition, Keith Arem, president and creative director for PCB Productions, will present “The Phoenix Incident,” a 2016 movie based on events surrounding the “Phoenix Lights” incident in 1997, considered to be the largest mass UFO sighting in U.S. history.
Four people vanished from the Estrella Mountain National Park south of Phoenix at the time of the incident.
Ticketholders may view the film at Galaxy Theaters in Roswell.
And Race Hobbs, owner and founder of KGRA Radio and a researcher and field investigator of UFO phenomena for more than 25 years, will broadcast the event live online from the location at the Liberty, 312 North Virginia, Roswell, July 1 and 2.
