The Roswell Incident officially began on June 25, 1947. Kenneth Arnold, an Idaho rescue pilot working for the U.S. Forest Service, flew over the Cascade Mountains of Washington State that day, looking for a missing plane. What he found, however, were nine disc-shaped craft, which he guessed to be moving at a speed of 1,200 miles an hour and at an altitude of 10,000 feet. When Arnold described their motion as resembling "a saucer skipping over water," a newspaper headline dubbed them "flying saucers." Almost instantly, believable witnesses from other states and several foreign countries began reporting similar sightings (Sobel 90). One such sighting occurred on the evening of July 2, 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Dan Wilmot watched in awe as an object passed over their Roswell, New Mexico home. They later described it as "two inverted saucers faced mouth to mouth" ("RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region" A1). The following day widely scattered wreckage was discovered by local ranch manager, William Brazel. The incident was reported a few days later, and Major Jesse Marcel of the Roswell Army Air Field was sent to inspect the crash site. Marcel reported back to his commanding officer, Colonel William Blanchard, who ordered the wreckage to be collected. After collecting the debris, a press release was authorized by Colonel Blanchard. It began, "The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc" (Brookesmith 1118). However, that was the last time that concerned Americans would be told the truth regarding this incident. .
The day following the official press release, the government recanted their story and told the nation in a second press release that what they had found was the remains of an Army weather balloon and its attached tinfoil radar target.