Jesse Marcel

Lieutenant colonel Jesse Marcel Sr.
Marcel in 1947
Born	May 27, 1907 Bayou Blue, Louisiana
Died	June 23, 1986 (aged 79) Houma, Louisiana
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force
Years of service	1924–1958
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War

Jesse Antoine Marcel Sr. (May 27, 1907 – June 24, 1986) was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force who helped administer Operation Crossroads, the 1946 atom bomb tests at the Bikini atoll.

Marcel was the first military officer tasked with investigating the 1947 Roswell incident, where supposed "flying disc" debris was later identified as pieces of a weather balloon. The incident was largely forgotten until 1978, when Marcel, now a retired lieutenant colonel, told ufologist Stanton Friedman that he believed the Roswell debris was extraterrestrial.

Early life

Jesse Marcel Sr. was born on May 27, 1907 in Bayou Blue, Louisiana. He was the youngest of seven children born to Theodule and Adelaide Marcel. Jesse harbored an early interest in amateur radio and graduated from Terrebonne High School.

After Marcel graduated from high school, he worked at a general store and attended a few graphic design classes at Louisiana State University. Marcel began working as a draftsman and cartographer for the Louisiana Highway Department, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Shell Oil Company.

Military career

In 1924, Marcel began a three-year enlistment in Louisiana National Guard. In June 1935, Marcel married Viaud Aleen Abrams. The following year she gave birth to their only child, Jesse A. Marcel.

World War II

In March 1942, Marcel was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the US Army Air Force, and in the summer of 1942, Marcel attended the Army Air Force Intelligence School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for training as Combat Photo Interpreter/ Intelligence Officer. Upon graduation from the program, Marcel was promoted to the role of instructor.

In October 1943, 1st Lt. Marcel was assigned to the 5th Bomber Command in the Southwest Pacific, serving as Squadron Intelligence Officer and later Group Intelligence Officer. Marcel received two Air Medals and the Bronze Star. After a promotion to captain, in May 1945, Marcel was promoted to the rank of Major.

509th and role in Operation Crossroads

Aerial view of an Operation Crossroads mushroom cloud rising from the lagoon with the Bikini Island visible in the background

Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity in July 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships. There were only seven nuclear bombs in existence in July 1946.

Both tests, called Able and Baker, used Fat Man plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapons of the kind dropped on Nagasaki. The Able bomb was stenciled with the name Gilda and decorated with an Esquire magazine photograph of Rita Hayworth, star of the 1946 movie, Gilda. The Baker bomb was nicknamed Helen of Bikini.

In mid-1946, Marcel was attached to the 509th Composite Group to prepare for and participate in Operation Crossroads. On July 26, 1946, Brig. General Roger M. Ramey authored a letter of commendation complimenting Marcel's performance during Operation Crossroads. The following month, Marcel received an additional letter of commendation from Maj. Gen. W. E. Kepner for his performance in the operation.

Roswell UFO Incident

Major Jesse A. Marcel posing with weather balloon debris during the July 8 press conference at Fort Worth Army Air Field

Marcel was the first military officer tasked with investigating the Roswell UFO incident, which occurred amid the flying saucer craze of 1947. On June 26, media nationwide had reported civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold's story of seeing what became known as "Flying Saucers". Historians would later chronicle over 800 "copycat" sightings that were reported after the Arnold story was published.

On July 7, Marcel was named in a Roswell Army Air Field press release announcing the recovery of a 'flying disc'.

The following day, July 8, Marcel participated in a press conference in Texas where the debris was identified as pieces of a weather balloon kite. Marcel was quoted: "'[We] spent a couple of hours Monday afternoon [July 7] looking for any more parts of the weather device', said Marcel. 'We found a few more patches of tinfoil and rubber.'"

The Roswell incident was largely forgotten until February 1978, when Marcel, now a retired lieutenant colonel, was interviewed by ufologist Stanton Friedman. In that interview, Marcel said he believed the Roswell debris was extraterrestrial.

In November 1979, Marcel's first filmed interview was featured in a documentary titled "UFO's Are Real", co-written by Friedman. The film had a limited release but was later syndicated for broadcasting. On February 28, 1980, the sensationalist tabloid National Enquirer brought large-scale attention to the Marcel story. On September 20, 1980, the TV series In Search of... aired an interview where Marcel described his participation in the 1947 press conference:

They wanted some comments from me, but I wasn't at liberty to do that. So, all I could do is keep my mouth shut. And General Ramey is the one who discussed – told the newspapers, I mean the newsman, what it was, and to forget about it. It is nothing more than a weather observation balloon. Of course, we both knew differently.

Marcel gave a final interview to HBO's America Undercover which aired in August 1985.

Marcel's son Jesse A. Marcel Jr. M.D. spent 35 years stating that in 1947, when he was 10 years old, his father had shown him alien debris recovered from the Roswell crash site, including, "a small beam with purple-hued hieroglyphics on it".

In 1994, the Air Force issued a report in response to a Congressional inquiry into the Roswell Incident. They concluded that the material recovered by Marcel was likely debris from Project Mogul, a "then-sensitive, classified project, whose purpose was to determine the state of Soviet nuclear weapons research" using high-altitude balloons. During June and July 1947, MOGUL balloons had been test-launched at Alamogordo Army Air Field (now Holloman AFB) and White Sands Missile Range. Air Force declassification officer Lieutenant James McAndrew concluded:

When the civilians and personnel from Roswell AAF [...] 'stumbled' upon the highly classified project and collected the debris, no one at Roswell had a 'need to know' about information concerning MOGUL. This fact, along with the initial mis-identification and subsequent rumors that the 'capture' of a 'flying disc' occurred, ultimately left many people with unanswered questions that have endured to this day.

Strategic Air Command

In late 1947, Marcel received a promotion to the rank of Lt. Colonel. Marcel remained with the 509th at Walker AFB until August 16, 1948, when he was transferred to Strategic Air Command at Andrews AFB. When SAC HQ transferred to Offutt AFB in Nebraska on November 9, 1948, Marcel transferred with it.

Final years and death

After requesting a hardship discharge to care for an elderly mother, in July 1950 Marcel returned to Houma, Louisiana. In September 1950, Marcel was released from active duty and transferred to the Air Force reserves. He received his final discharge in 1958.

In his final years, Marcel was a self-employed television repairman. Jesse Marcel Sr. died on June 23, 1986 in Houma, Louisiana at the age of 79. He was survived by his wife Viaud Abrams Marcel and his son Jesse.

References

General references

• Weisgall, Jonathan (1994). Operation Crossroads: The Atomic Tests at Bikini Atoll. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-919-2.

External links

• Korff, Kal K. (November 9, 2000). The Roswell UFO Crash: What They Don't Want You to Know. Dell. ISBN 9780440236139 – via Google Books.