509th Bomb Group
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏢 Organization
Contents 5
| Type | Organization |
|---|---|
| Also known as | 509th |
| On the Timeline | 5 events, 1947–2020 |
The 509th Bomb Group, originally the 509th Composite Group, was the U.S. Army Air Forces unit that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Based at Roswell Army Air Field in New Mexico from November 1945, it was the unit whose officers announced the recovery of a "flying disc" in July 1947.[1][2]
Formation and the atomic missions
The group was activated on 17 December 1944 at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, under Lieutenant Colonel Paul Tibbets, with a squadron of specially modified B-29 bombers and a transport squadron. It moved to North Field on Tinian in the Pacific in May 1945. On 6 August 1945 the B-29 Enola Gay, flown by Tibbets, dropped the "Little Boy" bomb on Hiroshima, and on 9 August Bockscar, commanded by Major Charles Sweeney, dropped the "Fat Man" bomb on Nagasaki.[1]
Roswell
The group returned to the United States and was stationed at Roswell Army Air Field from 6 November 1945. Colonel William Blanchard replaced Tibbets as commander on 22 January 1946. On 21 March 1946 it became one of the original groups of the new Strategic Air Command, and on 10 July 1946 it was redesignated the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy.[1]
In July 1947, after rancher Mac Brazel reported debris near Corona, the group's intelligence officer, Major Jesse Marcel, collected it and the base announced the recovery of a "flying disc". The group's own history for July 1947 recorded that the public information office was kept busy answering enquiries about the disc, which turned out to be a radar-tracking balloon. In 1995 the U.S. General Accounting Office found that this history was one of only two surviving 1947 government records about the event.[2][3]
Later history
The group converted to B-50 bombers in 1950 and was inactivated on 16 June 1952; its lineage continues in the 509th Operations Group, activated in 1993.[1]
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.
- Robert Shirkey affidavit on the Roswell debris flights (8 July 1947) — Lt. Robert Shirkey's affidavit says he saw debris loaded for flights from Roswell to Fort Worth and Wright Field.
- Jesse Marcel Jr.'s account of the Roswell debris (6 March 1991) — Jesse Marcel Jr. says his father showed him strange Roswell debris in 1947.
- Oliver Henderson and the Roswell flight (9 July 1991) — Oliver Henderson's widow swears he told her he flew Roswell crash debris and bodies.
- Marcel family Roswell debris (12 December 2020) — Jesse Marcel's grandson says his family held unusual Roswell debris.
References
- 509th Composite Group — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Roswell incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Government Records: Results of a Search for Records Concerning the 1947 Crash Near Roswell, New Mexico", GAO/NSIAD-95-187 (28 Jul 1995) · govinfo.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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