A US major hid pieces from the infamous Roswell UFO crash in his hot water heater at home - after the government tried to cover it up, it has been claimed.

 

Major Jesse Marcel, who was the first officer on the scene after a "flying disk" crash landed in New Mexico, took material home from the crash site in July 1947 and kept it in his house, according to British investigator Philip Mantle.

A young Major Jesse Marcel pictures in the Roswell Army Air ForceCredit: Philip Mantle

Marcel was dispatched by Roswell Army Air Field, where he worked as an intelligence officer for the 509th Bomb Group, to investigate the crash and recovered pieces of the strange material from the desert.

Specialist teams were brought in to clear the wreckage and, it is claimed by some, several dead alien bodies who were flown to Wright Patterson Airforce Base, Ohio, for further study.

The US Air Force said later the object was a downed high-altitude spy balloon from a top secret operation called Project Mogul, which listened out for Soviet atomic bomb tests.

However, before his death in 1986, Major Marcel admitted there had been a cover-up - and that he was forced to hold pieces of a weather balloon at a press conference to debunk the UFO crash story.

Major Jesse Marcel was forced to hold fragments of weather balloon wreckage in 1947Credit: Philip Mantle

This is the UFO crash site near Roswell, New MexicoCredit: Philip Mantle

Until now it was not known what happened to the strange material he found at the site - a kind of metal which would spring back into shape after being crumpled - and which he said he took home to show his son, Jesse Jr.

But a witness has told UFO investigator Philip Mantle that the major confided in him that he kept three pieces of the UFO in a hot water heater at his home in Houma, Louisiana.

Calvin Parker, 64, met Jesse Marcel, three times in the early 1980s after Calvin had his own close encounter with a UFO in Pascagoula, Mississippi, in October 1973.

Calvin, then aged 19, was fishing on the banks of the Pascagoula River with his pal Charlie Hickson when they claim a UFO landed nearby and they were grabbed by strange creatures with lobster-like claws, who dragged them onboard.

He said a mutual friend organized a meeting with Major Marcel, who was very sick at the time, and he confessed about where he kept the UFO debris.

This is the hut where Major Marcel stored some of the UFO debrisCredit: Philip Mantle

Artist's impressions of the material Jesse Marcel took home - it apparently would spring back into shape after crumpling like "memory metal"Credit: Philip Mantle

Press article from 1940sCredit: Philip Mantle

Calvin said: "He told me straight up that a UFO had crashed and the US government had tried to cover it up.

"He claimed that the government gave out fake information of where the UFO crash site was so that no one would know where it actually happened.

"He then went on to tell me that some kind of special military troops were moved into the area to pick up all of the debris from the crashed UFO.

"Mr. Marcel, to my amazement, was part of the military at Roswell and was the first military man on site.

"At first he said he was allowed to talk about what had happened but later was told not to say a word in fear that the Russian’s might find out.

Calvin Parker says Marcel told him he kept Roswell debrisCredit: Philip Mantle

Dr Jesse Marcel jr, left, with researcher Philip MantleCredit: Philip Mantle

"He told me that he was ordered to say that it was just a weather balloon that had crashed and being a good soldier he carried out those orders."

In a later conversation, he told Calvin how he had recovered three strange pieces of metal from the crash site.

Calvin said: "He said that it wasn’t anything of this world.

"They were hidden in the top of his hot water heater in his house. All you had to do was to undo the top two screws on the water heater and remove the lid."

Unfortunately the major had an unexpected guest and Calvin had to leave.

He then passed away before Calvin had chance to see him again or check the water heater.
Philip Mantle, who has published Calvin's two books, Pascagoula - The Closest Encounter and Pascagoula – The Story Continues - said: "I met Dr Jesse Marcel Jr several times and although he handled the UFO debris in 1947, when his father showed him some, he stated that he had never seen the material again after that night.