A Second Inferno Has Hit Roswell Air Center
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It has recently come to my attention that buildings at Roswell International Air Center can’t seem to stop burning down. In fact, I could copy and paste a great deal of the essay I wrote about the first fire because so many of the details are the same. Both fires began on a Thursday evening after employees had left for the day and so thankfully had no injuries. Both warehouses and all their contents were a total loss. Both warehouses were owned by AerSale Inc., a company with deep ties to the space-industrial complex, emerging infrared technology, and historical UFO events.
A quick recap: the first fire occurred on the night of April 25, 2024, and destroyed most of a large AerSale warehouse on 56 G. Street. What caught my eye wasn’t just the fire’s historical location at Roswell, but that it happened in the middle of two months of historical movement on the UFO/UAP issue including congressional hearings, document declassifications, and the release of the AARO report. What I found out about the AerSale Corporation added far more intrigue than I ever planned to find. And now we have a second possible arson to add to this mystery.
The second fire started on December 4, 2025 at the warehouse near 103 Challenger Street. According to officials, the fire began on the roof and quickly spread throughout the rest of the building. Someone referred to only as a “passerby” reported the fire just before 8pm, and the fire department declared it under control by 9:45pm. In that time, the building was destroyed. As mentioned in the previous essay, arson fires are typically set when the targeted building is empty; most arsonists are not looking to escalate to murder.
Reports indicate there were multiple explosions, which authorities have said were caused by propane tanks and/or were misidentified noises of warping steel in the heat of the fire, but there is no word on what caused the fire itself. AerSale has not discussed what materials or supplies were lost in either building. ATF is again involved in the investigation as is procedure in large commercial fires. The warehouse at Challenger Street is about 0.2 miles from the previous fire. Unlike the last fire, there was no wide blackout, no evacuation orders were issued, and no air traffic to the center was disrupted.
There seem to be conflicting views on whether this fire was “at” or “near” Hanger 84, alleged storage place for alien materials that crashed at Roswell in 1947. I have been unable to find any direct historical address for Hanger 84. From my research, the burning warehouse matches photos of Hanger 84 as promoted by tour guide groups in the area. A 2014 PR page from Stewart Industries announced their (former) ownership of Hanger 84, and the video screenshot on the page matches the fire photos, but when opened on YouTube, the video is about a completely different structure based in Oklahoma, for which I have no explanation. The Roswell city website page about Hanger 84 appears to show the building next door in its header. And in this video about the fire from Paul Tiberius on MSN, the speaker refers to the building next door as Hanger 84. Both of these hangers were built in 1942 and are the oldest in the Air Center. This might be a case of property boundary confusion in which the historical “Hanger 84” now encompasses a large area of space with multiple warehouses, so technically, both views could be correct. At this point it may be splitting hairs.
There is no mentioned of the fire on the AerSale Instagram account or website. Several finance-based sites posted a short PR statement discussing the fire and its impact on the company’s finances, but I was unable to find who originally wrote or distributed it. (There were no similar statements after the first fire). Only one article I found mentioned that this was the second fire at a Roswell AerSale facility in the past two years, which, in my opinion, is pretty lackluster journalism.
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The Airport Advisory Commission at the Air Center has no mention of the newest fire in any of its subsequent meetings (though they did take time to talk about participating in the Roswell Christmas Parade). However, during the February 10, 2026 meeting, there were updates on the first fire at Building 66 on 56 G. Street. It appears that, almost two years later, ATF has still not determined its cause:
Ms. Thompson provided an update on building demolition activities. She reported that a meeting is scheduled for Friday, January 9, 2026, regarding Building 115 with the insurance company to address the current hold on demolition. Due to this hold, the land is currently unavailable for use. Ms. Thompson also reported that the ATF is continuing its investigation into the fire at Building 66 to determine the cause before the building can be released for demolition. The site for Building 66 is currently secured.
Michelle Sanchez provided an update regarding revenue loss associated with Building 66. Ms. Sanchez reported that the current revenue loss for Building 66 is $14,369.25 per month, totaling approximately $172,000 annually. Building 66 remains under a hold pending demolition. Ms. Sanchez noted that once site is cleared. The land is expected to be leased at a rate of $0.25 per square foot, totaling approximately 9,775 square feet.
For what it’s worth, I was told from a former veteran fire captain (not himself an investigator) that in his experience, when the cause of the fire can’t be determined, it’s “almost always” arson by a professional.
Statistically, this series of events is pretty astounding. Commercial buildings typically have the most robust fire codes and suppression systems. Both fires began after-hours (on the same day of the week!) when no employees were present using equipment that could potentially malfunction. Of all the companies that lease space at the Air Center, both fires occurred on AerSale property. And all evidence currently available for both fires supports the theory of arson.
Whatever the motivations, whatever may have been covered up or destroyed by these fires, it’s difficult to deny that someone appears to be purposefully responsible for the destruction.
I invite you to check out my essay on the first fire for a deep dive on AerSale and its eye-opening ties to the UFO issue and space-military complex:
I believe in open-source research and my work will always remain free. If you would like to support me as an independent researcher and ufology archivist, you can donate here.
Originally published at https://marsishaunted.substack.com.
