In 1947, during the early years of the cold war, a field in Roswell, New Mexico, was disturbed by a strange crash and smattering of debris. Some say the bodies of extraterrestrial beings were strewn across the ground, that a UFO had crashed there, and that the government was covering up the evidence in a massive conspiracy.

But what really happened in Roswell?

The infamous “crash from outer space” has become a fixture in our culture, inspiring a surge of UFO sightings and conspiracy theories. But at its heart is the story of military scientists, a city on the brink of the cold war, and a debris field scattered with mystery. What was it that actually crashed in Roswell? Were alien bodies found? Was it Russian spies? Secret military technology? And did the government try to hide what it found?