Roswell Researcher Stanton Friedman Suffers Heart Attack

One of the coolest parts about my job as a journalist, host and professional nerd is that I routinely get to meet with living legends and geek out for an hour or so. That joy extends to the Roswell UFO Festival, which is taking place this week in New Mexico and for which I am currently preparing. Unfortunately, one of those legends will be unable to attend this year.

Stanton Friedman -- a legend of Ufology who has spent more than four decades researching "flying saucers" and the Roswell Incident -- suffered a mild heart attack last Friday night, June 27. Stan is doing OK, but won't be up to attending the festival on doctor's orders (only the second time he's missed it). Fellow noted UFO researcher Kathleen Marden issued this statement via Stan today:

"Stanton Friedman suffered a mild heart attack on Friday night. I spoke with him this morning and am very pleased to report that he is feeling strong and chipper. His heart enzymes have declined, so he has turned the corner. He is awaiting a dye test and an echo cardiogram. This will probably occur today or Wednesday, as July 1 is a national holiday in Canada. 

He does not presently have access to a public phone or computer, but will reply to email messages when he returns home in a few days. Please do not call his home. Well wishers can send cards to Stan at P.O. Box 958, Houlton, ME 04730. He appreciates everyone's thoughts and prayers."

Now this is definitely a bummer as hearing Stan talk is really something else (and moderating a panel last year at the festival with him, Jesse Marcel, Jr., Don Schmitt and Tom Carey was a highlight) but the 80-year-old nuclear physicist is a tough cookie. Stay tuned for updates on Stan, and go ahead and send those well wishes.

And if you'll be at the Roswell UFO Festival, you can still pick up Stan's book at Marden's table.

Get well soon, Stan!

-Aaron Sagers

Roswell UFO Festival highlights

The town of Roswell, N.M., was overrun with some interesting characters this past weekend when the town hosted its annual UFO Festival. It’s pretty common knowledge that in 1947, a UFO supposedly crashed in the town located in the Nevada desert and today is the 66th anniversary of the crash.

One of the highlights of the event, and there were several, was the Alien Pet Parade. Adorable little green pups all decked out in their finest alien ware paraded proudly in the famous town.

Of course, there was some cool cosplay by the humans present and they got to partake in an alien costume contest. Obviously the festival boasted some noted speakers, such as UFO researchers Stanton Friedman, Don Schmitt and Tom Carey, Fire In The Sky purported abductee Travis Walton -- and our own Aaron Sagers.

-Larissa Mrykalo

Google doodles with Roswell

To commemorate the July 7 66th Anniversary of the UFO incident at Roswell, New Mexico, Google has a really cool Doodle for us. It takes us back to 1947 and enlists our help to get a little alien back to it’s downed ship.

You direct the ET around the ranch landscape and help it find objects that will help put its ship back together. It takes some skill so don’t get discouraged. Kidding! It’s fairly easy but fun enough to keep you interested.

You’ll need to find objects that assist little gray, including; a gasoline can with a “radioactive” symbol on it that gives you extra power, a feather, and a rope. Once you’ve attained all the objects, the ET goes home and a newspaper appears depicting the Roswell incident. Click on it to learn more about that history-changing event in the desert.

Despite happening in 1947, it really didn’t receive major attention until 1978 when Canadian ufologist Stanton Friedman started doing research and interviews with witnesses.

-Larissa Mrykalo

Significance of Roswell 63 years later

This week marks the 63rd anniversary of one of the most famous conspiracies, and most well-known UFO incident, of all time. After nearly a century since the incident, official answers about Roswell seem thin, and the site of a purported alien crash landing site continues to attract tourists and paranormal enthusiasts - so much so that the town of 50,000 residents hosts an annual celebration as UFO Central this time every year for 13 years now.

It's pretty well accepted that something crashed in the New Mexico desert July 7, 1947 - only a few days, really, after pilot Kenneth Arnold said he saw a flying saucers near Mt. Ranier on June 24, which was the first widely reported sighting. Then, on July 8, the Roswell Daily Record reported the press release by the Army stating that a flying saucer had crashed in the area. The next day, the military changed the story to suggest that it was a crashed weather balloon, and not an alien craft. The story died down until, a little more than 30 years later, physicist Stanton T. Friedman interviewed Major Jesse Marcel, who was involved in the original debris cleanup and claimed the crash was no balloon.

Although it wasn't the beginning of the UFO fascination in the States (that probably has a lot to do with Arnold, and Edward R. Murrow's CBS program, "The Case for the Flying Saucers"). But Roswell is the UFO incident most people withing the mainstream know about, and it did solidify the government cover-up conspiracy theories.

To learn more about the Roswell story, check out Lee Speigel's excellent two-part story on the crash and the festival at AOL News.