Last year's movie offerings have refueled discussions about extraterrestrials. Phenomenon raised the question and Independence Day rocked the world with the massive annihilation of peoples and cities all around the globe. After seeing Independence Day, I wanted to find out more about the Roswell, NM sighting. After surfing the Web, I came across a galaxy of information about the alleged capture of a UFO along with its alien navigators.

It was Tuesday, July 8, 1947, when the 509th Bombardment group at Roswell announced that they had captured a flying saucer. Major Marcel reported that an unidentified local rancher discovered the UFO. Sheriff Wilcox was called in to investigate the sighting. The only Roswellians that saw the saucer were Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot. They described the flying saucer for the Roswell Daily Record." In appearance it looked oval in shape like two inverted saucers, faced mouth to mouth, or like two old type washbowls placed, together in the same fashion. The entire body glowed as though light were showing through from inside, though not like it would inside, though not like it would be in a light were merely underneath." Now there is a descriptive eyewitness account.

By the time I scanned the material from the Internet, the hour was late and my eyes begged for bed. However, I went out on the deck and stared into the skies. The stars twinkled among themselves seemingly signaling each other that they knew something that I didn't. I knew that they have seen it all but weren't going to reveal it to me. It would be up to me to search the night skies for a sister spaceship like the one at Roswell. Perhaps, there were two UFOs, and one was fifty years late in arriving. But alas, I made no sighting that night or any subsequent night. Then Hale Bopp arrived this past spring. My hopes again soared heavenward. Perhaps, the spaceship shadowing Hale Bopp might have been related to the Roswell spacecraft. Imagine how a firsthand report by me in The Telegraph could increase readership of the paper. I stood out on my deck searching for some astronomical answers when I became painfully aware of small flying objects--mosquitoes. They had landed en masse on my neck and arms. It was time for me to return to the safety of my office.

Exchanging the soft twinkle of the stars for the harsh glow of my computer monitor, I read the pros and cons about whether there was a governmental cover-up at Roswell. It is obvious that something occurred there in the desert a half-century ago. Why won't the government open their files and let us know? The Cold War has long been over for years. The Soviet Union exists only on old maps, and Russia is so short of funds that their cosmonauts often have had to wait in space while additional funding is found so that they can bring them back to earth. What could be the national security issue now?

If the Roswell sighting was an actual UFO, it wasn't flown by human beings. Therefore, those aliens are obviously far more advanced than are we in space exploration. Either they will help us or do us in, either way it is out of our hands. If the Roswell cover-up is about one of our military experiments, the world has long surpassed the technology that has been kept under bureaucratic wraps for all these years. While downloading a long file about Roswell, I made myself a cappuccino and wondered.

What actually happened outside of Roswell fifty years ago, and why won't our government open up all of the files for all to see? One of the casualties of the Roswell sighting was more than a possible alien or two. Our government's credibility also suffered. Last week's belated attempt to lay to rest the Roswell controversy only created more questions. For example, the explanation for the aliens being test dummies doesn't explain how the dummies were seen at Roswell in 1947--the military didn't start using them until the early 50s.

Take some time on this coming Tuesday evening to look into the summer skies. Perhaps, some of those aliens will return for the fiftieth anniversary of the Roswell sighting.

In the meantime, have a happy and safe Independence Day--without or without sighting aliens.

This article first appeared in the Dixon Telegraph