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78 It isn't known if this happened before Lieutenant Haut dis- tributed his explosive news release about the army recovering the remains of a flying disc or about the same time. But once the news got out, the reaction of the nation's and even the world's press was rapid. For two weeks, it had been full of tales of "routine" flyovers of vaguely described shiny discs and sil- very balls. And so this offbeat story of the recovery of actual pieces of one of the things was played for all it was worth. Suddenly, Roswell, New Mexico, was on the map. The sleepy little Western town, whose main claim to fame as the home of the A-bomb-carrying 509th Bomb Group had long been stifled by military security, was instantly transformed into the world center of ... something. Phone calls from reporters as far away as London poured into the sheriff's office, the radio stations, newspapers, and of course Roswell Army Air Field. The city fathers reveled in all the attention, while the military shud- dered. Everyone wanted to know more about this earthshaking event: Exactly what was found at the ranch? What was it like? What had been done with it? Could we see it? And especially, was it really the remains of one of those mysterious flying discs? The afternoon edition of the July 9 Roswell Daily Record, which was written well after the mystery had supposedly been solved by the Eighth Air Force, expressed a popular feeling about the episode with this editorial: AND NOW WHAT IS IT? With telephones ringing, excited voices shouting into news- room personnel ears, pouring out eager questions which were unanswerable, it was discovered shortly after publication time of the Record yesterday afternoon that curiosity over the reports from 44 states of the union that silver discs had crystallized into belief. The Record had no more than "hit the streets" until the tele- phone barrage began, with questioners checking up on what they had just read, doubtful of their own eyes. But the story stood, just as all amazing things stand in these days of wonderful feats and curious performances. CRASH AT CORONA