Page Content (OCR)
The Military Takes Over on the scene well in advance of anyone from the govern- ment. Had they not seen enough to convince themselves that something extremely unusual had happened, it is doubt- ful that anyone would ever have heard this story. Luck, in the form of those who were on the spot for other reasons, thus played a vital role in one of history's great stories. A large quantity of debris from a "flying saucer" lay in a field outside Corona, New Mexico, for several days before anyone connected with the U.S. government had a clue that it was there. Apparently it was deposited on the sheep ranch on the night of Wednesday, July 2, and was found the next morning by Foster Ranch foreman William "Mac" Brazel when he rode out to check on possible damage to fences or windmills from the previous evening's severe electrical storm. The government's first indication of a strange occurrence came a little after noon on Sunday, July 6, when Brazel paid a visit to Chaves County Sheriff George Wilcox to show him a few samples of the odd material he had found. Wilcox looked it over and was sufficiently impressed to call the Roswell Army Air Field intelligence officer, Maj. Jesse Marcel. Marcel drove A T BOTH primary New Mexico crash sites, civilians were