There had been strange lights in the sky before 1947, but never like this. In June of that year, an experienced civilian pilot reported 'saucer-like discs ½ over Mount Rainier. By July the papers were running stories about a rancher who discovered strange wreckage in the desert near Roswell. Accounts of mystery 'aircraft ½ and other unknown aerial phenomena were gaining public notice. Something strange was going on and the people in charge wanted answers.