These individuals played a significant role during the incident:
- LT. GEN. ROGER M. RAMEY
The most well-known person from the incident is Roger Ramey. The memo he held during the press conference is named after him. It is known that Ramey had very good connections with the press, particularly with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper. This is evidenced by several letters in which Ramey thanked the newspaper for their collaboration on special events.
Roger Maxwell Ramey was born in Emblem, Texas, on September 9, 1903. He attended North Texas Teachers College and later entered the United States Military Academy in 1924, graduating as a second lieutenant in 1928. Ramey completed the Air Corps Primary and Advanced Flying Schools in Texas by 1929 and served in various roles, including operations officer and commanding officer of several squadrons. In 1939, he was assigned to Wheeler Field, Hawaii, and held multiple positions including intelligence officer and commanding officer of the 19th Pursuit Squadron. During World War II, Ramey transferred to the Fifth Air Force and led the 43rd Bomb Group in the Southwest Pacific. He later commanded the 314th Bomb Wing and served as Chief of Staff of the XXI Bomber Command. Post-war, he led the 58th Bomb Wing in India, the Marianas, and Fort Worth Army Air Base, and played a role in the Bikini Atoll operations. He became Chief of Staff of the Eighth Air Force and later its commander in 1947. In 1950, he was appointed Director of Operations at Air Force headquarters in Washington, D.C. Ramey commanded the Fifth Air Force in Korea from 1954. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, and Distinguished Flying Cross. He was also rated as a command pilot.
2. JESSE ANTOINE MARCEL
He gained public recognition through the press conference on July 8, 1947, where he was photographed with the debris of a weather balloon. Ramey was also present at this press conference, holding the enigmatic memo.
Marcel was the first military officer assigned to investigate the 1947 Roswell incident, initially involving supposed “flying disc” debris that was later identified as parts of a weather balloon. This incident faded from public memory until 1978, when Marcel, by then a retired lieutenant colonel, revealed to ufologist Stanton Friedman his belief that the Roswell debris was of extraterrestrial origin.
In 1946, Marcel joined the 509th Composite Group in preparation for his role in Operation Crossroads. On July 26 of that year, Brigadier General Roger M. Ramey acknowledged Marcel’s exceptional performance with a commendation letter. A month later, Major General W. E. Kepner also recognized Marcel’s contributions to the operation by sending him another letter of commendation.
On Monday, July 7, Sheriff George Wilcox notified Roswell Army Air Field that a local rancher had discovered a crashed “flying disc.” Marcel and Lieutenant Colonel Sheridan Cavitt and Sgt. Lewis Rickett then met with the rancher, Mac Brazel, and followed him back to his ranch near Corona. Marcel drove a jeep while Brazel and Cavitt rode horses. They reached the debris field and loaded the material into the vehicle.
Upon returning to the base, Marcel reported the recovery to base commander William H. Blanchard. Subsequently, Roswell Army Air Field issued a press release announcing the recovery of a ‘flying disc‘ and identified Marcel as the responsible officer. The debris was then loaded onto a plane, with Marcel accompanying it from Roswell to Fort Worth. Upon arrival, Marcel took part in a press conference in Texas, where the debris was identified as parts of a weather balloon kite.
3. RANCHER MAC BRAZEL
On June 14, 1947, rancher William Mac Brazel discovered debris on the Foster Ranch near Corona, approximately 75 miles north of Roswell, New Mexico. It was only after various stories about unusual incidents were circulating that Mac Brazel informed the sheriff. On July 7, 1947 Brazel informed the local sheriff’s office, which then notified the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF).
4. COLONEL THOMAS JEFFERSON DuBOSE
He is well known to many for appearing alongside Ramey in the photos from the press conference on July 8, 1947. In these photos, he is seated to the right of Ramey.
From August to October 1946, he commanded the advance headquarters echelon of the Strategic Air Command in Colorado Springs. He then served as assistant chief of staff for personnel, chief of staff, and deputy commander of the 8th Air Force in Fort Worth.
When the US Air Force became a separate branch of the military in 1947, DuBose became one of its members.
5. 1st LT. WALTER HAUT
1st Lt. Walter Haut served as the public information officer for the 509th Bomb Group stationed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. Haut is known for issuing the initial press release about the “flying disc” during the Roswell incident.
In interviews in 1979, he said that the base commander, Colonel William Blanchard, asked him to write and distribute the press release. However, when Haut requested to see the object in question, he was told that “his request was impossible.”
In UFO Crash at Roswell, Haut appears as a witness, though not to the actual debris field. In a March 1989 interview, he said he knew “nothing” about what was recovered. He described being asked by Blanchard to write the press release: “I didn’t hear about it until, I guess, Jess was on his way to the flight line.” However, he did describe what Marcel told him: “It was something he had never seen and didn’t believe it was of this planet. I trusted him on his knowledge.” He further stated: “I think there was a giant cover-up on this thing.”
Public information officer Walter Haut issued this press release:
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.
6. SHERIFF GEORGE WILCOX
Mac Brazel was initially unaware of the flying disc hysteria until he visited his uncle in Corona, New Mexico, on July 5. The next day, he reported the debris he had found to Sheriff George Wilcox. Wilcox then reached out to Roswell Army Air Field, which hosted the 509th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, the only unit capable of deploying nuclear weapons at that time. The base sent Major Jesse Marcel and Captain Sheridan Cavitt to accompany Brazel and retrieve the material from the ranch. Colonel William Blanchard, the RAAF base commander, subsequently informed Roger M. Ramey, the commanding officer of the Eighth Air Force, about the findings.
7. WEATHER OFFICER IRVING NEWTON
Historical Newspaper Article: Irving N. Newton, warrant officer. Democrat and Chronicle Newspaper 1947 July 9.
General Roger Ramey, along with his chief of staff Colonel Thomas Dubose and weather officer Irving Newton, identified the material as fragments of a weather balloon. Newton informed reporters that similar radar targets were employed at approximately 80 weather stations nationwide.
8. GENERAL WILLIAM HUGH BLANCHARD
On July 8, 1947, Colonel Blanchard released an official statement from the Army Air Force, revealing that the base intelligence office had recovered a so-called “flying disc” from a ranch. The announcement indicated that the object had been found “sometime last week” and was being sent to “higher headquarters.” Brigadier General Roger Ramey, head of the Army Air Force in Fort Worth, Texas, swiftly identified the object as a misidentified weather balloon. The press release was issued by Walter Haut, Blanchard’s public information officer.
9. GENERAL HOYT SANFORD VANDENBERG
Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg was a U.S. Air Force general. He served as an air commander in Europe during World War II, was Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from June 1946 to April 1947, and held the position of Chief of Staff of the Air Force from 1948 to 1953. He was appointed assistant chief of air staff at Air Corps headquarters in July 1945. In January of the following year, he became director of Intelligence on the War Department general staff, where he served until his appointment as director of Central Intelligence in June 1946. Vandenberg returned to duty with the Air Corps in April 1947, and on June 15, 1947, he assumed the role of deputy commander and chief of air staff. On October 1, 1947, he was named vice chief of staff of the Air Force and promoted to the rank of general. On April 30, 1948, General Vandenberg succeeded General Carl Spaatz as chief of staff of the Air Force.
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10. CAPTAIN SHERIDAN CAVITT
Captain Sheridan Cavitt and Sgt. Lewis “Bill” Rickett, both Counter Intelligence Corps agents, were reportedly present with Jesse Marcel on the farm where Mac Brazel had found the debris to collect the parts. In various interviews, Cavitt initially denied being there but later confirmed in other interviews that he was indeed present. He was uncertain whether Jesse Marcel was in the field with him but acknowledged that he did hand over the parts to Marcel later. Rickett passed away in October 1993.