FBI 'Vault' Stirs Alien Debate

The FBI's new Web-based document stash is generating quite a bit of buzz.

This morning, the digital collection of roughly 2,000 FBI files known as the "Vault" refocused public attention on the infamous "Hottel Memo," a March 22, 1950 note sent by bureau special agent Guy Hottel to J. Edgar Hoover concerning flying saucers in Roswell, New Mexico.

The memo states that "three so-called flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico" and alien life forms were found inside the UFOs.

News organizations across the Internet have jumped at the spacey story but, according to the International Business Times, the questionable tale "has been making the rounds for several years," and the vault has simply made accessing it easier.

According to the International Business Times:

Several news outlets have reported the memo as "proof" that the government knew about crashes of alien spacecraft in Roswell. But not only does the memo say no such thing, it isn't even connected to the town of Roswell.

The Vault also recently broke new details regarding the murder of Notorious B.I.G.

Comments

[BannedInBoston]

09:38 PM on 06/06/2011

Far and away the best account of the whole Roswell business is Nick Redfern's "Body Snatchers in the Desert"....

[riverhead]

03:52 PM on 06/01/2011

Obvious proof of the alien existence ... thanks for holding out on us for 60 years US gov't.

[scorpioman]

07:38 PM on 04/12/2011

finally, some REAL EVIDENCE!

[gurukalehuru]

03:52 PM on 04/12/2011

What does this have to do with the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's flight? Nothing at all, really, but I conflate the two to give you my opinion of space exploration (short version: I'm for it) at www.gurukalehuru.com

[FaisalNahian]

11:52 PM on 04/11/2011

UFO is only about tale, nothing more than that.

[phapnui]

05:56 PM on 04/11/2011

And I drove all the way over from the piece about Cabbagehead to hear some interesting stuff about UFO. Still no beef...

[Andrew Gumperz]

05:00 PM on 04/11/2011

http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/132868/20110411/fbi-hottel-memo-reveals-ufo-hoax.htm

Old hoaxes never die...

[UncleSquinky]

04:32 AM on 04/17/2011

It would have been swell if the author of this article had cited some of his sources for his contention. As is, his article is just hearsay too. Not saying this means the FBI Vault memo is not based on a hoax, but it does seem to be a case of he said/she said.

[BannedInBoston]

09:37 PM on 06/06/2011

It's obvious the FBI agent was just reporting something he'd heard third-hand, not giving an eyewitness account....

[Bob Alberti]

01:29 PM on 04/11/2011

Here's how plausible the current alien stories seem:

"Captain Columbus, what do you plan to do with this New World you've discovered? Establish communications? Conquer it? Explore it?"

"Your Highness, my plan is to sail very nearby, and then send oarsmen rowing just off shore, to tantalize the natives."

"Tantalize?"

"Yes Your Highness. We shall tantalize them with our mysterious, superior water craft. And occasionally we'll kidnap a native and probe it."

"In the butt?"

"Of course, your Highness."

"I see."

"Also we shall sneak ashore under cover of darkness and stamp abstract patterns into their croplands."

"And what if they have no crops, Captain?"

"Why, then we shall mutilate their livestock."

"I approve of your plan, Captain Columbus. The New World is distant, and reaching it shall be expensive and difficult, but the benefits of your plan are obvious. I shall see that it is supported out of the treasury of Portugal."

"Thank you, Highness."

[kjohney]

01:03 PM on 04/12/2011

Here's about how plausible the alternative to your alien story might seem:

"Captain Jacques Cousteau, now that you've developed the aqualung and can visit new worlds under the sea, what do you plan to do?"

"Well I'm not sure, maybe I'll ask the lobsters to take me to their leader".

"Or, I'll land on the dolphins' "White House" lawn and start catching them up on our technological advantage"