Retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel / Author
U.S. Army / National Security Council Staff
Philip Corso was a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and former member of President Eisenhower's National Security Council staff who, in 1997, published "The Day After Roswell" — a memoir in which he claimed to have overseen the reverse-engineering of technology recovered from the 1947 Roswell crash for seeding into private industry.
Corso had a genuine and distinguished military career, including service in Korea and a position on the NSC staff. In his 1997 book, co-authored with journalist William J. Birnes, he claimed that as head of the Foreign Technology desk at Army R&D in the early 1960s, he was given a filing cabinet of material from the Roswell recovery and tasked with quietly seeding it into private industry.
The technologies he claimed were derived from the Roswell materials include: integrated circuits, fibre optics, night vision, Kevlar, and the steerable missile. Technology historians have universally rejected these claims — all of these technologies have well-documented independent development histories that predate or are unconnected to any Roswell-related programme.
Corso's book sold widely and remains influential in UFO culture, but it is not regarded as credible by most serious researchers. His genuine military credentials lend a superficial plausibility that has sustained its influence. He died of a heart attack in July 1998, before more than a year of scrutiny could be applied to his claims.
Claims to have seen alien bodies at Fort Riley shortly after the Roswell incident (unverified)
Claims to lead the Foreign Technology desk at Army R&D, overseeing Roswell material seeding
Publishes "The Day After Roswell" with co-author William J. Birnes
Dies of a heart attack, aged 83
Corso's military career was real and distinguished. However, his claims in "The Day After Roswell" cannot be independently verified and have been disputed by other researchers. He died in 1998, shortly after publication, before extended scrutiny could be applied.
Editorial note: All profiles are compiled from public record, testimony, and published sources. Unverified claims are noted. Project Strange does not assert the truth or falsity of any individual's claims.