Walter Haut
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 👤 Person
Contents 7
| Type | Person |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Haut |
| On the Timeline | 2 events, 1947 |
Walter G. Haut (3 June 1922 – 15 December 2005) was the public information officer at Roswell Army Air Field who, in July 1947, issued the press release announcing that the base had recovered a "flying disc". He later co-founded Roswell's International UFO Museum, and an affidavit published after his death claimed he had seen a craft and bodies — a document whose reliability is disputed.[1][2]
Military career
Haut was born in Chicago. In World War II he served as a bombardier, flying 35 missions against Japan. In the summer of 1946 he took part in Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll, dropping instrument packages to record data from the atomic tests. He then became public information officer for the 509th Bomb Group at Roswell, where base commander Col. William Blanchard was a close friend.[1]
The press release
In July 1947 Haut wrote and released the statement that the 509th had come into possession of a "flying disc" recovered from a ranch near Roswell; the Roswell Daily Record ran the story on 8 July. The Eighth Air Force soon identified the debris as a weather balloon.[1][3]
Changing accounts
Haut's descriptions of his role changed over time: - In a 1979 interview he said Blanchard asked him to write the release and that his request to see the object was refused.[1] - In 1989 he said he knew "nothing" about what had been recovered, though Jesse Marcel told him it was something he had never seen.[1] - He later said he believed there had been a giant cover-up, and in a May 1993 affidavit stated his belief that Blanchard had seen the material, without mentioning bodies.[1]
The International UFO Museum
In 1991 Haut co-founded the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, with Glenn Dennis and Max Littell, and served as its president until 1996.[1]
The sealed affidavit
In 2002 Haut signed an affidavit at the museum, witnessed by his daughter Julie Shuster and a notary, which was sealed until his death. Published in 2007 by researchers Donald Schmitt and Tom Carey in Witness to Roswell, it states that Haut attended a staff meeting about the recovery, saw an egg-shaped craft and small bodies in a hangar, and that the weather balloon story was a cover.[1][4]
Critics note that Schmitt prepared the text from Haut's earlier conversations rather than Haut writing it himself, that Haut was in his eighties, and that it contradicts his earlier statements. His daughter said she had not known of the 1993 affidavit. British historian David Clarke called the affidavit "just another dead end".[1][5]
On the UAP 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.
- Art McQuiddy and the Roswell press release (8 July 1947) — Roswell newspaper editor Art McQuiddy says the base announced a recovered disc, then asked him to call it a weather balloon.
References
- Walter Haut — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Lt. Walter Haut, spokesman who announced wreckage of flying saucer in Roswell, dies at 83", Santa Fe New Mexican (2005) · web.archive.org · archived copy
- Roswell incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Those Roswell Aliens Dropped In Everywhere", Forbes (2007) · forbes.com · archived copy
- "Roswell update: fading star?", Skeptical Inquirer (2009) · skepticalinquirer.org · 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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