Art McQuiddy and the Roswell press release
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 9
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| Date | 8 July 1947 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Crashes & retrievals (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic) |
| People | Art McQuiddy, Walter Haut, William Blanchard |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 38 |
| Year | 1947 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1947 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
Arthur R. "Art" McQuiddy was the editor of the Roswell Morning Dispatch, one of the town's two newspapers, in July 1947. In a 1993 affidavit he described receiving the Roswell Army Air Field's press release announcing a recovered "flying disc", the base's swift correction, and a later private admission by the base commander.[1][2]
The press release
In his affidavit, signed on 19 October 1993, McQuiddy said that shortly before noon one day in early July 1947 the base's public information officer, Walter Haut, brought him a press release saying a crashed flying saucer had been recovered and flown on to another base. Haut had already been to the town's two radio stations, KGFL and KSWS; when McQuiddy complained that his morning paper had been scooped, Haut said base policy was to rotate who received releases first. By then George Walsh of KSWS had put the story on the Associated Press wire.[1]
The correction
McQuiddy said that soon afterwards someone from the base called to say the release was wrong and the object was really a weather balloon or radiosonde. He spent the rest of the afternoon fielding long-distance calls from editors abroad. In the affidavit he listed London, Rome, Paris and Hong Kong; in a 1995 television documentary he named Tokyo rather than Hong Kong. A NICAP chronology adds that he said a military officer collected copies of Haut's release, a detail not in the affidavit.[1]
Blanchard's remark
McQuiddy was a friend of Colonel William Blanchard, commander of the base and the 509th Bomb Group. He said Blanchard at first refused to discuss the matter but, three or four months later, admitted authorising the release and said that he had never seen material like it anywhere else in his life, though he would say nothing more.[1]
Later life
McQuiddy left the paper in 1948 to become public relations director of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, then worked in media relations for U.S. Steel and retired as a senior vice president of International Harvester before returning to Roswell. He stated that he had not been paid for his affidavit.[1]
Assessment
His account is useful because it describes the flying-disc announcement and the quick reversal from the newsroom's side. The timeline headline's suggestion that the base "asked him to call it a weather balloon" is a simplification: McQuiddy described a phone call correcting the story, not a request to rewrite it. Like other Roswell affidavits, it was given more than 45 years after the events.[1][2][3]
People and topics
- Roswell — The New Mexico town at the center of the 1947 crash story.
- Art McQuiddy — Editor of the Roswell Morning Dispatch in July 1947 who later described receiving the base's "flying disc" press release.
- Walter Haut — Public information officer at Roswell Army Air Field who wrote the July 1947 "flying disc" press release and left a disputed sealed affidavit.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- William Blanchard — Roswell base commander in 1947 who later became Air Force vice chief of staff.
On the Timeline
- Walter Haut sealed affidavit (8 July 1947) — Roswell press officer Walter Haut's affidavit says his commander told him the base had recovered crash debris from a disc.
- Thomas DuBose affidavit on the Roswell debris (8 July 1947) — Col. Thomas DuBose's affidavit says the Roswell debris went via Fort Worth to Wright Field and the balloon photos were a cover story.
See every 1947 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Patrick Gross, "Arthur R. McQuiddy", Roswell witness page, UFOs at close sight · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- Kevin Randle, "The Roswell time line: July 8, 1947", A Different Perspective (Jan 2013) · kevinrandle.blogspot.com · archived copy
- Roswell incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- James Carrion: the Roswell deception and the press release · olic1.blogspot.com · archived copy
- The Roswell incident — Legends of America · legendsofamerica.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Roswell incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- UFOs and the Air Force: records — National Archives · archives.gov · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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