Sorry, Roswell

Perhaps to nobody's surprise, there weren't really aliens discovered in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. Contemporaneous reports talk of 5 pounds of debris, foil mostly and entirely consistent with a ballon, being discovered. Most of what we "know" about aliens at Roswell are based on the memories of one Glenn Dennis, who first came forward with same in 1991, 44 years after the events in question.

At the link, one can see all the errors of Mr. Dennis's memory. There is a reasonable explanation for everything he remembers, even the small and blackened bodies. (They were victims of an air tanker crash and fire.)

This is actually a common occurrence, noted in places such as the Bermuda Triangle. Years after a boat sank, people, working from memory, fail to remember such key factors as "it was stormy." Other people, either cynically wanting to sell books or fervently wanting to believe, don't do the research, and wham-bam-thank-you-Ma'am we've got a mystery and conspiracy.

Skeptical thinking is not just for breakfast.