The Saucer That Crashed at Aztec
A best-selling book of 1950 said a flying saucer had crashed in New Mexico with small beings on board. It was a con.
What was reported
In 1950, the journalist Frank Scully published Behind the Flying Saucers, which said that a saucer had come down near Aztec, New Mexico, in 1948. The US government had recovered it, the book said, along with the bodies of 16 small humanoid beings.
Scully's sources were two men who said they knew scientists working on the craft. The book was a sensation, and the story of a hidden crashed saucer became one of the foundations of modern UFO lore.
Explanations offered
In 1952 a reporter for True magazine showed that the sources were con men who had been selling a fake oil-detecting device said to use saucer technology. They were later charged with fraud over the device. Aztec now holds a UFO festival.
- When
- Claimed for 1948
- Where
- Aztec, New Mexico, USA
- Witnesses
- None; two men who claimed to know
- Status
- Hoax
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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