Contact: William Doleman, 277-5853 Michael Padilla, 277-1816

November 4, 2002 UNM Office of Contract Archeology completes Roswell Excavation for SCI FI Channel Documentary on Roswell UFO crash to air Nov. 22 University of New Mexico’s Office of Contract Archeology (OCA) recently completed a SCI FI Channel-funded archeological project at the suspected Roswell UFO crash site. The project is the first-ever attempt to find physical evidence of a purported event and alleged cover-up that to date are supported only by hearsay evidence, some newspaper articles and retractions, and a few archival documents, says OCA Senior Archeologist William Doleman, Ph.D. The work done by OCA will be featured in the SCI FI Documentary “The Roswell Crash: Startling New Evidence” hosted By Bryant Gumbel on the SCI FI Channel on Nov. 22 at 6 and 9 p.m. Doleman, who served as principal investigator and project director, said the two-hour documentary includes background information and interviews of key people in addition to the “dig.” Doleman said the project entailed both geophysical prospecting and archeological testing of “anomalies,” plus backhoe trenching of the ostensible location of the “furrow” created by the craft that is thought to have “skipped,” created “a debris field,” and gone another 17-25 miles to the final crash site. The projected utilized state-of-the-art testing and remote sensing technologies. Doleman and his team worked under top secret conditions over a period of ten days in September “Our job was to look for any buried debris and evidence of a now-buried furrow,” Doleman said. “Our confidentiality agreement with SCI FI does not allow me to reveal project results, but I can say that OCA’s project yielded some very intriguing and surprising results. “I have been told that the show will reveal some real smoking gun evidence for the first time, however, I haven’t been told what that evidence is,” Doleman said. “Throughout the project, I took care to maintain my and OCA’s role in the project as impassionate researchers providing archeological expertise. At the same time I remained open-minded and supportive of the first attempt that I know of to bring scientific methodology to the search for physical proof of this historically significant if controversial event. Although I have yet to see the documentary, I have been assured that it presents a balanced view and avoids sensationalism.” “The whole thing has been a very interesting experience,” Doleman said. Considered by many as the “Holy Grail” of all UFO stories, the “Roswell Incident” has captured the imagination of the public for years. Out of those Americans who know of the “Roswell Incident” in July 1947, only 28 percent believe the “official” government story of a weather balloon crash at that site, according to a 2002 national Roper poll commissioned by SCI FI. ###

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