Source: Monsters and Critics.com - Glasgow,UK
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northam...O._release_dies



ROSWELL, NM, United States (UPI) -- Walter Haut, who as a young Army officer issued the press release about a flying saucer in Roswell, N.M., has died. He was 83.

Haut believed for the rest of his life the area had been visited by something 'not of this earth,' his daughter Julie Shuster told the Roswell Record. He went on to become one of the founders of the International UFO Museum.

A native of Chicago, Haut decided to settle in Roswell in 1946 after two tours of duty there.

On July 8, 1947, Haut, on instructions from the base commander, put out a press release about the finding of a flying saucer on a ranch near the base. Later the same day, the Army retracted the story, saying that what had been found was part of a weather balloon.

Later news stories have said that the find was part of a balloon involved in a project to spy on the Soviet Union.

Haut, an insurance agent, became a leading citizen of his adopted home and member of many local organizations. His daughter said he did not talk much about UFO`s until interest in them revived in the 1980s.

He helped found the museum in 1991 and served as its first president.