THE ROSWELL TELETYPE

Federal Bureau of Investigation
July 8, 1947

NOTE

On July 8, 1947, the discovery of a balloon carrying a payload that had crashed in a field outside of Roswell made headlines. The FBI teletype below was the first official communication confirming the crash. Despite the later legends that grew up around Roswell following the claim that the balloon was a flying saucer carrying space aliens, the initial report made plain that it was in fact a balloon. A redacted form of the memo has been publicly available since 1976, and the names hidden by redaction were long-published. But in May 2026, the Department of Defense released a high-quality scan of the unredacted version of the memo, which I give below. The "Major Curtan" referenced was Maj. Edwin Kirton, who went on to earn the Legion of Merit and to have the Soviets accuse him of setting up a spy ring in Moscow in the 1960s.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
COMMUNICATION SECTION
JUL 8 1947
 
TELETYPE

FBI DALLAS ​

 7-8-47 ​

 6-17 PM

DIRECTOR AND SAC, CINCINNATI ​

 URGENT

FLYING DISC, INFORMATION CONCERNING.

 MAJOR CURTAN, HEADQUARTERS

EIGHTH AIR FORCE, TELEPHONICALLY ADVISED THIS OFFICE THAT AN OBJECT PURPORTING TO BE A FLYING DISC WAS RE COVERED NEAR ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO, THIS DATE. THE DISC IS HEXAGONAL IN SHAPE AND WAS SUSPENDED FROM A BALLON BY CABLE, WHICH BALLON WAS APPROXIMATELY TWENTY FEET IN DIAMETER. MAJOR CURTAN FURTHER ADVISED THAT THE OBJECT FOUND RESEMBLES A HIGH ALTITUDE WEATHER BALLOON WITH A RADAR REFLECTOR, BUT THAT TELEPHONIC CONVERSATION BETWEEN THEIR OFFICE AND WRIGHT FIELD HAD NOT BORNE OUT THIS BELIEF. DISC AND BALLOON BEING TRANSFERRED TO WRIGHT FIELD BY SPECIAL PLANE FOR EXAMINATION. INFORMATION PROVIDED THIS OFFICE BECAUSE C7 NATIONAL INTEREST IN CASE AND FACT THAT NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY, ASSOCIATED PRESS, AND OTHERS ATTEMPTING TO BREAK STORY OF LOCATION OF DISC TODAY. [REDACTED] ADVISED WOULD REQUEST WRIGHT FIELD TO ADVISE CINCINNATI OFFICE RESULTS OF EXAMINATION. NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION BEING CONDUCTED.
 
WYLY
RECORDED
 
END
 
CXXXX ACK IN ORDER
WA 92 FBI CI MJW
BPI H8
8-38 PM O
8-22 PM OK FBI WASH DC    VH
OK [MISSING TEXT]


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