The Roswell Incident—the alleged government cover-up of the recovery of a crashed flying saucer and the bodies of its crew at a site near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947—has achieved worldwide notoriety as the strongest "proof" of extra-terrestrial visitation.

On June 14, 1947, William "Mac" Brazel discovered a sizable amount of debris on the ranch he operated some 75 miles north of the town of Roswell. The material included a tangle of rubber strips, paper, sticks, and tinfoil. Brazel reported his findings to local authorities, which occasioned a minor cause célèbre in the town of Roswell.

The police ultimately referred the matter to the nearby Army Air Field. Base office collected the debris from Brazel and shipped it to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where, after much analysis, it was determined to be the wreckage of a weather balloon. The public accepted the story, and the case...