MOMENTS IN TIME

. On June 24, 1997, U.S. Air Force officials release a 231-page report dismissing long-standing claims of an alien spacecraft crash in Roswell, N.M., 50 years earlier. Titled "The Roswell Report, Case Closed," the document stated that there was no evidence that any kind of life form was found in the area in connection with the reported UFO sightings.

. On June 25, 1956, the last Packard automobile is produced, marking the end of production at Packard's Connor Avenue plant in Detroit. Packard continued to manufacture cars in South Bend, Ind., until 1958, but for those familiar with Packard, the last 1956 is considered the last true Packard.

. On June 26, 1807, lightning hits a gunpowder factory in the small European country of Luxembourg, killing more than 300 people. When lightning struck the underground fortress, the ammunition housed within ignited on contact, causing a massive explosion.

. On June 27, 1829, in Genoa, Italy, English scientist James Smithson dies, leaving a will that decreed the whole of his estate should be used to fund the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The amount was more than $500,000, a fortune at the time.