Leonard Stringfield, “Retrievals of the Third Kind” (1978) — the Roswell (“Major J.M.”) account
Verbatim text of Leonard H. Stringfield’s Roswell crash/retrieval account from “Retrieval of the Third Kind — Part 2,” MUFON UFO Journal #129, pp. 10–11, August 1978 — drawn from his Ninth Annual MUFON Symposium paper “Retrievals of the Third Kind: A Case Study of Alleged UFOs and Occupants in Military Custody” (Dayton, Ohio, July 1978). Reproduced from ufologie.patrickgross.org/rw/d/muj1978stringfield.htm (Patrick Gross), captured 2026-06-01.
Provenance note (well-established, per Gross and the later record): the anonymous “Major J.M.” here is Maj. Jesse Marcel, who dropped anonymity in 1979 — so this is the earliest published version of Marcel’s Roswell testimony, given anonymously through Stringfield, before the Friedman/In Search Of/The Roswell Incident (1979–80) revival. It also shows Stringfield’s signature method (anonymous, source-protected, secondhand-or-firsthand testimony). For analysis see stringfield-crash-retrieval; cf. marcel-roswell-witness, roswell-incident-1947.
On April 7, 1978, Steve Tom, NBC radio newsman, Chicago, and I were linked up by phone for an interview with a former Air Force Intelligence Officer, Major J.M. residing in Houma, Louisiana. Major J.M., I learned, shared some common grounds with me. He had also served in the 5th Air Force in the Pacific Theatre during World War [II], and had been in several combat areas such as Leyte, Philippine Island, where I had been assigned. The purpose of our call was to obtain first hand, the major’s role in the retrieval of an alleged crashed UFO northwest of Roswell, New Mexico, in the summer of 1947. The debris of an apparent metallic aerial device, or craft, that had exploded in the air or crashed, was first made known by a sheep rancher who found fragments of metal and other material on his 8,000 acre property. When he informed the Air Force base in Roswell of his discovery, Major J.M. and aides were dispatched to the area for investigation. There he found many metal fragments and what appeared to be “parchment” strewn in a 1 square mile area.
“The metal fragments,” said the Major, “varied in size up to 6 inches in length, but were of the thickness of tinfoil. The fragments were unusual,” he continued, “because they were of great strength. They could not be bent or broken, no matter what pressure we applied by hand.”
The area was thoroughly checked, he said, but no fresh impact depressions in the sand were found. The area was not radioactive. The fragments, he added, were transported by a military carry-all to the air base in Roswell and from that point he was instructed by General Ramey to deliver the “hardware” to Ft. Worth, to be forwarded to Wright-Patterson Field for analysis. When the press learned of this retrieval operation, and wanted a story, Major J.M. stated, “To get them off my back I told them we were recovering a downed weather balloon.” When the major was asked for his opinion as to the identification of the fragments he was certain they were not from a balloon, aircraft, or rocket. He said because of his technical background he was certain that the metal and “parchment” were not a part of any military aerial device known at that time.
Comment: The retrieval of “unusual” fragments in secrecy suggests they were a part of an unknown aerial device or craft. Manned, or not, the major did not know. If there were entities aboard no evidence was found. Had there been any bodies aboard they would have been destroyed in what appeared to be an aerial explosion. It is significant to note in this instance, the year 1947 — the year of the first great wave of UFO reports. Also the area of this retrieval was in the path of some of the green fireball phenomena observed from 1947 to 1948.