An opinion I held for years as I devoured book after book about UFOs, extraterrestrials, and Roswell. Eventually, the sheer weight of the evidence overcame my innate desire to believe, and I now feel that it was indeed some kind of balloon.

Many of the pro-UFO parties involved have serious credibility problems, and the strongest piece of pro-UFO evidence remains that famous newspaper headline. With regards to that headline, it is quite likely that the specific military personnel sent to pick up the debris wouldn't know a spy balloon if it hit them in the back of the head. And back in those days, perhaps the government would have been more likely to claim contact with aliens than divulge nuclear and spy secrets.