The Incredible Louisiana Connection to the Roswell UFO Incident

For over the past 70 years, the Roswell UFO Incident has been a hot topic of debate. However, there's an incredible, close Louisiana connection that you might not know.

The Roswell UFO Incident

In 1947, United States Army Air Forces officers from Roswell Army Air Field recovered debris from what was reported as a downed weather balloon.

However, shortly after the crash happened, the Roswell Army Air Field sent a press release to local media stating they had recovered a "flying disc".

That press release was quickly retracted.

As a result of the press release retraction, conspiracy theories and talk of a massive coverup began to spread.

Eventually, the chatter about the Roswell UFO Incident calmed down and was only discussed amongst what was considered to be the "lunatic fringe".

In the 1970s, the conspiracy fires began to heat up again when a retired lieutenant colonel who was involved in the debris retrieval at Roswell said in an interview that "he believed the debris he retrieved was extraterrestrial"

That retired lieutenant colonel was born and raised in Terrebonne Parish.

Lieutenant Colonel Jesse Marcel Sr.

Jesse Marcel was born in Houma, La in 1907. After graduating from Terrebonne High School, Marcel attended LSU.

After graduating from LSU, Marcel worked in various positions for "the Louisiana Highway Department, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Shell Oil Company" according to wikipedia.com.

In 1924, Marcel began a three-year enlistment in Louisiana National Guard followed by a second three-year-enlistment in the Texas National Guard.

Marcel would go on to attend the Army Air Force Intelligence School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, eventually serving in WWII as a Squadron and Group Intelligence Officer.

He would be awarded two Air Medals and the Bronze Star for his outstanding service, eventually being promoted to captain, then to Major, then to the rank of Lt. Colonel in 1947.

Marcel's high-ranking position and exemplary military service would lead to him playing a major, key role in the 1947 Roswell UFO Incident

From wikipedia.com -

"Marcel was a key figure in the discovery and initial analysis of the Roswell UFO incident. 'We spent a couple of hours Monday afternoon [July 7] looking for any more parts of the weather device', said Marcel. 'We found a few more patches of tinfoil and rubber.'

In the late 1970s Marcel, by then a retired lieutenant colonel said he believed the debris he retrieved was extraterrestrial, in an interview with ufologist Stanton Friedman."

If you've seen or read anything about the Roswell UFO Incident, you've most certainly seen the now-famous photo below.

What you may not have known is the guy in this famous Roswell UFO Incident is in fact Louisiana's own Jesse Marcel.