On 8 July, 1947, the world learned about the alleged flying saucer crash in Roswell, New Mexico. Curiously, on that very same day, the FBI received a memorandum alerting authorities to the dangers of the UFO phenomenon. The memo was authored by Meade Layne, a former USC professor and early researcher in the field of ufology.

The memorandum warned that “a very serious situation may develop at any time with regards to the flying saucers.” He states flatly that under no circumstance should the flying discs be attacked, the reason being that “the attacking plane will almost certainly be destroyed.” The result could create in the public a “near panic and international suspicion.”

The memo goes on to announce that they now have the “principal data” concerning the nature of these unidentified flying objects, and this information must be revealed regardless of how “fantastic and unintelligible” it may be to the average person. This information is outlined in nine distinct bullet points:

  1. Part of the discs carry crews, others are under remote control.
  2. Their mission is peaceful. The visitors contemplate settling on this plane.
  3. These visitors are human-like but much larger in size.
  4. They are NOT excarnate earth people, but come from their own world.
  5. They do NOT come from any “planet” as we use the word, but from an etheric planet which interpenetrates with our own and is not perceptible to us.
  6. The bodies of the visitors, and the craft also, automatically materialize on entering the vibratory rate of our dense matter.
  7. The discs possess a type of radiant energy, or a ray, which will easily disintegrate any attacking ship. They reenter the etheric at will, and so simply disappear from our vision, without trace.
  8. he region from which they come is NOT the “astral plane,” but corresponds to the Lokas or Talas. Students of esoteric matter s will understand these terms.
  9. They probably can not be reached by radio, but probably can be by radar, if a signal system can be devised for that apparatus.

It was on 8 July, 1947, that the Roswell Daily Record published the first account of the Roswell incident. On that day, a press release was issued by the 509th Bomb Group based in Roswell, New Mexico, stating that the military had recovered a flying disc near Roswell. The Associated Press released the statement on the wire service later that day, stating:

“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 through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff’s office of Chaves County. The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the sheriff’s office, who in turn notified Maj. Jesse A. Marcel of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence Office.”

Andrew K. Arnett is a writer for New Dawn Magazine and author of the book The Crowley Conspiracy available on Amazon.