Stanton Friedman and Roswell -- Complete Timeline

Stanton Friedman and Roswell -- Complete Timeline

Date	Event	Category
July 29, 1934	Stanton Terry Friedman born in Elizabeth, New Jersey; raised in Linden, NJ	Friedman biography
1951	Friedman graduates from Linden High School; enrolls at Rutgers University before transferring to University of Chicago	Friedman education
1955	Friedman earns B.S. in Physics, University of Chicago	Friedman education
1956	Friedman earns M.S. in Nuclear Physics, University of Chicago; begins nuclear physics career at General Electric	Friedman career
1956-1970	Friedman works as nuclear physicist for GE (1956-1959), Aerojet General Nucleonics (1959-1963), GM (1963-1966), Westinghouse (1966-1968), TRW Systems (1969-1970), and McDonnell Douglas; works on classified nuclear aircraft, rockets, and space powerplants	Nuclear career
1958	Friedman becomes interested in UFOs while working as a nuclear physicist	UFO interest begins
July 2-3, 1947	Dan and Ethel Wilmot observe an oval-shaped object over Roswell at approximately 9:50 PM on July 2; Mac Brazel and others hear an explosion during a thunderstorm	Roswell incident
July 3-4, 1947	Mac Brazel discovers extensive debris field on the Foster Ranch near Corona, New Mexico; the debris is unlike anything he has seen	Roswell incident
July 5, 1947	Brazel travels to Corona and hears about the $3,000 reward for flying disc debris	Roswell incident
July 6, 1947	Brazel reports to Sheriff George Wilcox in Roswell; Wilcox telephones Roswell AAF; Major Jesse Marcel responds; Marcel reports to Col. Blanchard who orders recovery	Roswell incident
July 7, 1947	Marcel and CIC agent Lt. Col. Sheridan Cavitt travel to the Foster Ranch; examine debris field; Marcel fills his vehicle; in early morning hours shows debris to wife and son Jesse Jr.	Roswell incident
July 8, 1947 (morning)	Col. Blanchard orders Lt. Walter Haut to issue press release; at approximately 4:26 PM the AP distributes the press release announcing recovery of a "flying disc" -- the only official U.S. government acknowledgment of a recovered flying disc in history	Roswell press release
July 8, 1947 (afternoon)	Marcel ordered to fly debris to Fort Worth, Texas, to Gen. Roger Ramey; Marcel later claims actual debris was substituted with weather balloon material before photographs	Roswell cover story
July 9, 1947	Gen. Ramey holds press conference; announces "flying disc" was a weather balloon and radar reflector; Brazel gives revised statement to Roswell Daily Record; story effectively disappears from public attention	Cover story
July-September 1947	Military conducts classified recovery and analysis operations; President Truman allegedly signs executive order establishing Majestic 12 committee on September 24, 1947 (document surfaced 1984; authenticity disputed)	Cover-up alleged
1947-1977	Roswell story largely dormant; the 1947 events are known only to a small UFO research community; Jesse Marcel maintains silence	Dormant period
1967	Friedman gives his first public UFO lecture; begins building a career as a public speaker on flying saucers while still working as a nuclear physicist	Friedman ufology begins
1970	Friedman leaves his nuclear physics career to become a full-time professional ufologist -- a decision that had almost no precedent among credentialed scientists	Full-time ufology
1978	Friedman, while in Louisiana on a lecture tour, interviews retired Major Jesse Marcel in Houma, Louisiana -- the interview that "rediscovered" the Roswell Incident for the modern era	Roswell rediscovery
1980	"The Roswell Incident" published by Charles Berlitz and William Moore -- the first book-length treatment of Roswell, drawing substantially on Friedman's initial research with Marcel	First Roswell book
December 1984	Film researcher Jaime Shandera receives anonymous film package containing alleged Majestic 12 briefing document; shares with Friedman and Moore	MJ-12 documents emerge
1986	Jesse Marcel Sr. dies in Louisiana; Friedman's primary Roswell source is gone	Marcel dies
1990s	Extensive wave of Roswell witness interviews by Friedman, Kevin Randle, Donald Schmitt, and others; more than 200 individuals eventually interviewed; the modern Roswell mythology crystallizes	Witness research
1992	"Crash at Corona: The Definitive Study of the Roswell Incident" published by Friedman and Don Berliner -- Friedman's primary Roswell book	Publication
1993-1994	Congressman Steven Schiff requests GAO investigation of Roswell records; Air Force publishes "The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction" identifying debris as Project Mogul balloon	Government investigation
1994	GAO reports that Roswell AAF outgoing messages from July 1947 were destroyed without proper authorization -- a significant archival gap	Records destruction found
1996	Friedman publishes "Top Secret/Majic" -- his comprehensive treatment of Majestic 12	MJ-12 book
1997	Air Force publishes "The Roswell Report: Case Closed" -- attributes alien body reports to crash test dummies from 1953-56 programs; 50th anniversary of Roswell generates massive media coverage	Second government report
2002	Friedman receives Lifetime UFO Achievement Award from UFO Magazine (UK) in Leeds, England	Recognition
2007	"Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience" published by Friedman and Kathleen Marden; City of Fredericton declares August 27, 2007 Stanton Friedman Day; Walter Haut's posthumous affidavit released	Key year
2008	"Flying Saucers and Science" published by Friedman; Jesse Marcel Jr. publishes "The Roswell Legacy"	Publications
May 13, 2019	Stanton Friedman dies in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, while travelling, age 84	Death
2019-2023	In the years after Friedman's death, the U.S. government dramatically shifts its public position on UAP: Navy officially releases three UAP videos; DoD establishes AARO; 2023 Congressional hearings feature military whistleblowers testifying under oath about alleged non-human craft	UAP disclosure era
Present	The Roswell Incident remains the most investigated UFO case in history; the debate between ET explanation and Project Mogul explanation continues; Friedman's archives are held at the Fredericton Region Museum; the question he spent 41 years investigating remains officially unresolved	Current status