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The Government and UFOs in New Mexico is a recent phenomenon; at the time, almost no attention was paid the events. News reports about the recovery of one crashed disc, then the official announcement that it was nothing more exciting than the radar reflector from a weather balloon, were accepted as part of the dizzy, confusing swirl of flying-saucer stories. None of these reports, from the very first by Kenneth Amold on June 24 through the end of the 1947 sighting wave a few weeks later, made a bit of sense to the great majority of Americans. They lacked the technical sophistication of their children and grandchildren, and also their descendants’ broad suspicion of the government. As a result, they were unable to see the reports as more than harmless foolishness. High-performance airplanes—jets, in particular—were just beginning to proliferate, and as yet were seen mainly near mili- tary airfields and at air shows. The day of the huge jet airliner packed with casually dressed vacationers was not merely far in the future but also considered only in magazine articles about the wonders of science to come. As for spaceships from other planets? They were the stuff of comic books, no more. Tin MULTITUDE of vital questions surrounding the crashes 20