In July 1947 debris from a high-altitude balloon — part of the classified Project Mogul, which monitored Soviet nuclear tests — landed near Roswell, NM. Initial military confusion led to a brief 'flying disc' press release before the balloon explanation was issued. A 1994 US Air Force report confirmed the Mogul explanation. The 'alien bodies' in later accounts derive from test dummies used in separate 1950s experiments.