Editing Roswell incident (section)

===Roswell as modern myth and folklore===
The mythology of Roswell involving increasingly elaborate accounts of alien crash landings and government cover-ups has been analyzed and documented by [[Social anthropology|social anthropologists]] and skeptics.<ref name="Frazier-2017b"/> [[Anthropologist]]s Susan Harding and Kathleen Stewart highlight the Roswell Story was a prime example of how a discourse moved from the fringes to the mainstream, aligning with the 1980s ''[[zeitgeist]] of'' public fascination with "conspiracy, cover-up and repression".<ref name="Harding-p273" /> Skeptics [[Joe Nickell]] and James McGaha proposed that Roswell's time spent away from public attention allowed the development of a mythology drawing from later UFO folklore, and that the early debunking of the incident created space for ufologists to intentionally distort accounts towards sensationalism.<ref>{{harvnb|Nickell|McGaha|2012|pp=31–33}}</ref>

Charles Ziegler argues that the Roswell story exhibits characteristics typical of traditional folk narratives.<ref>{{harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|p=34}}</ref> He identifies six distinct narratives<ref>Zeigler's six narratives, summarized in the table below, are identified as: ''Roswell Incident'' (1980), the Majestic 12 hoax, ''UFO Crash at Roswell'' (1991), ''Crash at Corona'' (1992), ''Roswell in Perspective'' (1994), and ''The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell'' (1994), with the "prototypical Aztec story" influencing all of the narratives.</ref>  and a process of transmission through storytellers, wherein a core story was formed from various witness accounts and then shaped and altered by those involved in the UFO community.<ref>{{harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|pp=34, 36}}</ref> Additional "witnesses" were sought to expand upon the core narrative, while accounts that did not align with the prevailing beliefs were discredited or excluded by the "gatekeepers".<ref>{{harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|pp=1, 34–37}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Roswell Incident timeline
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" |Debris
! scope="col" |Site
! scope="col" |Bodies
|-
! scope="row" |Documented historical events<ref>{{harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|pp=4–6}}</ref>
|
* Foil
* Sticks
* Durable paper
* Rubber strips
|Found near Corona, New Mexico on Brazel's ranch
|None
|-
!Aztec hoax<ref name="Saler-p13"/>
|
* Super-strong metal
* Alien writing
* Crashed spaceship
|Crashed near Aztec, New Mexico
|16 small humanoid alien corpses in crashed saucer
|-
!''Roswell Incident'' (1980)<ref>{{harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|pp=16–17}}</ref>
|
* Super-strong lightweight metal sheets
* Alien writing
|
* Craft struck by lightning near Alamagordo, New Mexico
* Crashed on the Plains of San Agustin
|Small humanoid alien corpses near San Agustin
|-
!MJ-12 hoax<ref>{{harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|pp=18–19}}</ref>
|
* Pieces of a "short-range reconnaissance craft"
* Alien writing
|
* Exploded north-west of Roswell
* Scattered debris over a large area
|4 badly decomposed humanoid corpses near Roswell
|-
!''UFO Crash at Roswell'' (1991)<ref>{{harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|pp=20–21}}</ref>
|
* Super-strong lightweight metal sheets
* Alien writing
|
* Crashed once near Corona, New Mexico on Brazel's ranch
* Crashed completely 2 miles southeast of Brazel's ranch
|4 decomposed and partially eaten humanoid corpses near Roswell
|-
!''Crash at Corona'' (1992)<ref>{{harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|pp=22–24}}</ref>
|
* Super-strong lightweight metal sheets
* Alien writing
|
* Landed once near Corona, New Mexico on Brazel's ranch
* Exploded near Corona, New Mexico
|
* 4 humanoid corpses in escape pods near Roswell
* 3 humanoid corpses near San Agustin
* 1 surviving extraterrestrial humanoid near San Agustin
|-
!''Roswell in Perspective'' (1994)<ref>{{Harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|pages=25-26}}</ref>	
|
* Fragments with symbols	
* Super-strong lightweight metal sheets
* A narrow craft with "bat-like wings" north of Roswell
|	
* Landed once near Corona, New Mexico, on Brazel's ranch	
* Struck a cliff 35 miles north of Roswell
|
* 3 humanoid corpses north of Roswell	
* 1 living humanoid pilot north of Roswell
|-
!''The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell''  (1994)<ref>{{harvnb|Saler|Ziegler|Moore|1997|pp=24–26}}</ref>
|
* Super-strong lightweight metal sheets
* An intact craft with "bat-like wings"
|
* Landed once near Corona, New Mexico on Brazel's ranch
* Crashed once near Brazel's ranch
* Crashed completely into cliff north of Roswell
|
* 3 humanoid corpses in the craft
* 1 surviving extraterrestrial in the craft
|}