On July 2, 1947, I was only six months old, born into a world that instantly became one of controversy, conspiracy, and cover-up. It has taken nearly eighty years for two Presidents to come clean about the presence of aliens, with caveats and political wrangling, of course. But we now have a “New Normal” in which politicians run toward the alien controversy rather than away from it.
The Roswell Incident
It would be difficult to believe that anyone in a developed country with even a modicum of access to communication is unaware of the Rowsell, New Mexico, spaceship incident. But just in case, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Wilmot were the only eyewitnesses to a flying disk seen at about ten p.m. They described it as a glowing disk and estimated its speed at 400 to 500 miles per hour. We have the Wilmots to thank for the term “flying saucer,” since they described what they saw as “two inverted saucers placed mouth to mouth.” Wilmot was described as “one of the most respected and reliable citizens in town,” so his retelling of the incident carried an air of authenticity, and the story was born.
Later, a local rancher, W. W. Brazel, claimed to have found debris from the object in one of his fields. He loaded the wreckage into his truck and drove it to the Army Air Force Base in Roswell. Major Jesse Marcel received the debris and later issued a press release saying they were in possession of a flying saucer. Major Marcel remained silent for 30 years until he spoke on the television show “In Search Of” about the incident.
“I knew that I had never seen anything like that before, and as of now, I don’t know what it was. It was not anything of this Earth. That I’m quite sure of. You couldn’t even bend it. You couldn’t dent it. Even a sledgehammer would bounce off of it.”
According to an intelligence officer, Major J. A. Marcel, the Army Air Force had the disk, but it had already been sent to a “higher authority” for further inspection. The Army Air Force later claimed that the Wilmots were mistaken and that the sighting was nothing more than a weather balloon. The limited eyewitnesses, the improbability of a weather balloon traveling at 400 to 500 miles per hour, and the object’s quick removal gave rise to a legend that persists to this day.
The Roswell Incident also gave rise to the terms UFO and Ufologist, as well as a tourist attraction and businesses in Roswell that have taken on a life of their own over the years.
Roswell Annual Gatherings
Now we have the annual UFO Festival in Roswell. If you want to attend this year’s event, it will be on the weekend of July 4, coinciding with the nation’s 250th anniversary. What could be more American than that?
Roswell is now famous for opportunistic and interstellar capitalism. The festival features fine dining, tours, food trucks, and local shopping. The city issues business licenses and permits for the event. Perhaps they will even host a showing of the “Alien Autopsy” hoax films from the mid-1990s.
To get decked out for the event, you can shop online for mugs, hats, and T-shirts. Show your support and maybe pick up a bumper sticker while you are shopping. Nothing says “conspiracy advocate” more than a Roswell bumper sticker.
I actually like all this because nothing signals American capitalism more than taking advantage of a strange and unusual event for profit. At least the vendors are making a living rather than living off the state.
Area 51 at Groom Lake
Some believe that Area 51 and Roswell are side by side, but they are in different states. Their connection lies in conspiracy theories and curiosity about the unknown and unknowable.
“Just because you don’t know what it is doesn’t mean it’s aliens.”
During the Cold War, Area 51 gained prominence because of the need for secrecy in military research and development. New and unusual aircraft, such as stealth fighters and bombers, the U-2 Spy Plane, and the SR-71 Blackbird, passed through Area 51 during development. These programs often led to sightings of aircraft that did not fit known profiles and were believed by some to be of alien origin.
Roswell and the Great Pyramid
The only things that may have produced more conspiracy theories than the Roswell Incident and Area 51 are the pyramids of Gaza. I must confess that I spend some of my free time watching the History Channel and shows about Egyptology. The Egyptian civilization spanned such a long time that we may never know all there is to know, and there is a never-ending stream of discoveries.
Somewhere along the way, I heard someone debunk the aliens-built-the-pyramids theories in a logical statement:
“Just because you do not know how it was done or do not understand it does not mean space aliens did it.”
True, and unfortunately for alien enthusiasts, there is no evidence of alien involvement in the construction of the Great Pyramid. The closest aliens have come to the Great Pyramid was the movie Stargate. In the movie, the aliens were really nasty creatures who enslaved Egyptians for some unidentified objective, and used the pyramids as landing pads for their spaceships.
Congressional Hearings
Not to be left out of the conversation, Congress has weighed in on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena on numerous occasions. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, they held several hearings to assess the risk posed by UAPs. These resulted in versions of the UAP Disclosure Act in 2024, 2025, and 2026. The Act requires the government to do the same things that have been discussed for decades.
- Centralized Recordkeeping
- Public Disclosure
- An Independent Review Board
- Forced Record Retention
- Disclosure of Legacy Studies
- Provides for Common Definitions and UAP Language
In other words, the government is doing what it does best, discussing and documenting the problem while accomplishing nothing.
“For too long, Americans have been left in the dark about UAP. This amendment ensures these records are preserved, reviewed, and responsibly released to the public. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and the American people deserve the truth.”
So, the National Archives must store all records, the President can order agencies to declassify records, and Congress has new oversight authority. Unless I am mistaken, nothing has really changed.
Recent Presidential Comments and Connections
There was a time when no Presidential candidate would touch the Roswell event or Area 51. They dismissed it with casual or joking comments meant to disarm the questioner, nothing more. The Roswell Incident and Area 51 have become mainstream. They are like Mom and apple pie. They are as American as NASCAR, guns, guts, and moonshine.
But now we have the real shift in focus. On February 14, 2026, in an interview with podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, President Obama apparently said that aliens were real.
“But I haven’t seen them. They’re not being kept at Area 51. There’s no underground facility — unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States.”
This created a firestorm of online conversation and even reached Air Force One, where President Trump was asked about Obama’s statement. His response was politically astute.
“Well, I don’t know if they’re real or not. I can tell you (Obama) gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information.”
With one slip of the tongue, President Obama opened the door to the disclosure of classified information and absolved all other Presidents of their political sins.
The New Normal
Over the years, I have watched this story evolve from conspiracy to folklore to political talking point. After all this time, the only constant is our appetite for spectacle and political theatre. The new normal with UAPs is not extraterrestrial; it is how we fold mystery into our culture until it becomes another commodity, another argument, another campaign promise. If aliens ever land, they may be surprised to find they are late to their own party. We have been rehearsing for them for decades.
Resources and Further Reading
Alien Zone: Area 51, by the Team at RoadsideAmerica.com, roadsideamerica.com, Last accessed February 22, 2026.
CONGRESSIONAL UAP HEARINGS, UAP Discovery, uapdiscovery.org, Last accessed February 20, 2026.
In 1947, A High-Altitude Balloon Crash Landed in Roswell. The Aliens Never Left, by Donovan Webster, Smithsonian Magazine, smithsonianmag.com, July 17, 2017.
In Context: What Obama said about aliens that sparked Trump to order file release, POLITIFACT, politifact.com, February 20, 2026.
Latest theory says Roswell UFO was Russian craft, by AJJC, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, May 23, 2011.
No Details of Flying Disk Are Revealed, Roswell Daily Record, wikipedia.org, Last accessed February 20, 2026.
RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region, Roswell Daily Record, wikipedia.org, Last accessed February 20, 2026.
Read the Full UAP Disclosure Act 2026 Proposed Language, by NPI, New Paradigm Institute, newparadigminstitute.org, July 15, 2025.
Roswell Area 51: Unveiling the Mysteries of America’s UFO Capital, by SuchScience Staff, SuchScience, suchscience.net, August 16, 2023.
Roswell incident, by Britannica Editors, Britannica, britannica.com, November 17, 2025.
Roswell Incident, Wikipedia, wikipedia.org, Last accessed February 21, 2026.
Roswell UFO Festival, ufofestival.com, Last accessed February 21, 2026.
Roswell UFO incident facts and history, by Nick Pope, BBC Sky at Night Magazine, skyatmightmagazine.com, June 26, 2025.
Unsolved Mysteries: The True Story of the Roswell UFO Incident — and What Experts Are Still Trying to Debunk, by Samantha Stutsman, People, people.com, October 6, 2024.
