In 1997, on June 24th, the U.S. Air Force released a massive 231-page report dismissing an unidentified flying object (UFO) and possible alien ship spotted above Roswell, New Mexico. The release took place almost 50 years after it's initial writing. The 1940s ushered in a new age of interest in the skies as the US began missions into outer space.
Roswell, New Mexico became a hot spot for UFO believers due July 1947, when a series of strange events took place. Ranch foreman W.W. Brazel discovered an odd, glowing material all over his property. He asked the sheriff what it could be, and the sheriff passed it on to the Air Force base that sat just nearby. The air force described it as a "flying disk" and thus, the initial idea of the UFO was born.
The Air Force later regretted this and retracted their statement. It was most likely a destroyed weather balloon, but the public idea had already caught on. People said this was merely a cover-up, and the conspiracy theory was born. It was said that aliens were captured and now sat inside the elusive Area 51 in Nevada. The Air Force issued a report of 1,000-pages in 1994 that denied this.
Their final voice on the issue came on June 24th, 1997. The report was titled "The Roswell Report, Case Closed,” and summed up that the material had been from a balloon, there were no hidden aliens, and it was all out in the open. Despite these denials, Roswell remains a huge tourist spot for ufologists and conspiracy theorists alike.