In 1947, an unidentified flying object crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, leading to widespread speculation about extraterrestrial life. The US government initially reported that a "flying disc" had been recovered, but later changed their story to say that it was a weather balloon. This has led many to believe that the government is covering up the truth about what really happened at Roswell, and that the crash was indeed an alien spacecraft. However, skeptics argue that the evidence for this theory is flimsy at best, and that the government's changing story can be attributed to Cold War-era secrecy and misinformation.