In anticipation of next year's 70th anniversary of the infamous incident which put its city on the proverbial map, the Roswell Daily Record is hoping its readers may unknowingly hold a clue to the mystery.
Working with former British Ministry of Defense UFO investigator Nick Pope, the newspaper is calling on longtime Roswell residents to scour their homes for anything that may be related to the 1947 event.
The thinking behind the appeal is that many of the people stationed at the Roswell Air Force Base at the time of the alleged UFO crash eventually settled in the city.
And, were those Roswellian transplants part of the crash clean up crew, it's possible that they snuck a piece of the debris from the scene as a souvenir that subsequently got lost in the shuffle of possessions passed down from one generation to the next.
With that in mind, Pope says in a blog post on the newspaper's website, "we believe there could still be pieces of this wreckage somewhere out there in the local community."
Although an actual piece of metal from the crash would be an incredible find, Pope also advises readers to "keep an eye out for anything else that might be connected with the events of 1947, such as documents, photographs or diaries."
While it may be wishful thinking that there is tangible evidence somewhere in the city still waiting to be found, it's not entirely impossible and certainly worth pursuing.
Considering the countless books, films, and TV specials centered around the Roswell story, there would be a certain poetic irony if the 'smoking gun' were sitting in someone's attic all this time.
Coast Insiders looking to start early on the Roswell anniversary celebration should check out the 7/6/2007 edition of the program which was broadcast from the Roswell UFO Festival and featuring a cavalcade of guests.
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Source: Roswell Daily Record