1336 lines
79 KiB
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1336 lines
79 KiB
Plaintext
Early this year, the GAO was asked by Congressman Steven Shiff (R-NM) to
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look into "Records Management Procedures Dealing With Weather Balloon,
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Unknown Aircraft, and Similar Crash Incidents.". Although unstated, of
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primary interest was the ÿRoswell Incidentÿ in which the US Army Air
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Force, in 1947, allegedly recovered a crashed flying saucer and covered
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it up. The GAO notified the Air Force (and other agencies) that it
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intended to comply with Schiffÿs request and look into the matter.
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Although the GAO is currently looking into the records of various
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agencies, the Air Force, on its own, launched a parallel investigation,
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and released this report. The GAO will still continue with its own
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investigation and will release its own report at some (uncertain) future
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date.
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This report refers to attachments which are (reportedly) multiple large
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three-ring binders of related information. The attachments are publicly
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viewable in Washington (in the Pentagon library, I think) but have not
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been publically distributed. However, there is talk that the information
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will be duplicated and released to the public in the near future.
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The report included below was received on 9/19 and scanned. I tried to
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catch all the typos resulting from the scanning process, but some may
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have slipped through. Spelling / punctuation errors are probably the
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result of the scanning process and incomplete checking (my fault).
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Having done some work with/for Kevin Randle and Don Schmitt, I have
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personal opinions about the information in this report, but rather than
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comment / editorialize, the report is being posted without change,
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editing or comment EXCEPT in three instances, where the AF underlined
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words for emphasis, I substituted capital letters to preserve the
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emphasis. There were no figures in the official document, so what you
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see is what was released.
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Enjoy.... John Kirby, Portland, Oregon
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==============================================================
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Cover Letter
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==============================================================
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No. 235-M
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Sept. 8, 1994
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MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS
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Secretary of the Air Force Sheila E. Widnall today announced the
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completion of an Air Force study to locate records that would explain an
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alleged 1947 UFO incident. Pro-UFO researchers claim an
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extraterrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants were recovered near
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Roswell, N.M., in July 1947 and the fact was kept from the public.
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At the request of Congressman Steven H. Schiff (R-NM), the General
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Accounting Office in February 1994 initiated an audit to locate all
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records related to the Roswell incident and to determine if such records
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were properly handled. The GAO audit entitled "Records Management
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Procedures Dealing With Weather Balloon, Unknown Aircraft, and Similar
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Crash Incidentsÿ is not yet complete.
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The GAO audit involved a number of government agencies but focused on
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the Air Force. In support of the GAO effort, the Air Force initiated a
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systematic search of current Air Force offices as well as numerous
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archives and records centers that might help explain the incident. Air
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Force officials also interviewed a number of persons who might have had
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knowledge of the events. Prior to the interviews, Secretary Widnall
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released those persons from any previous security obligations that might
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have restricted their statements.
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The Air Force research did not locate or develop any information that
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the "Roswell Incident" was a UFO event nor was there any indication of a
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"cover-up" by the Air Force. Information obtained through exhaustive
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records searches and interviews indicated the material recovered near
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Roswell was consistent with a balloon device of the type used in a then
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classified project. No records indicated or even hinted at the recovery
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of "alien" bodies or extraterrestrial materials.
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All documentation related to this case is now declassified and the
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information is in the public domain. All documentation has been turned
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over to the Air Force Historian. The Air Force report without
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attachments may be obtained by contacting Major Thurston, Air Force
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Public Affairs, (703) 695-0640. The report with all 33 attachments is
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available for review in the Pentagon Library in Room lA518.
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-END-
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===============================================================
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( Start Main Document)
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[DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE SEAL ]
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REPORT OF AIR FORCE RESEARCH REGARDING THE "ROSWELL INCIDENTÿ
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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The "Roswell Incident" refers to an event that supposedly happened in
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July, 1947, wherein the Army Air Forces (AAF) allegedly recovered
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remains of a crashed "flying disc" near Roswell, New Mexico. In
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February, 1994, the General Accounting Office (GAO), acting on the
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request of a New Mexico Congressman, initiated an audit to attempt to
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locate records of such an incident and to determine if records regarding
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it were properly handled. Although the GAO effort was to look at a
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number of government agencies, the apparent focus was on the Air Force.
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SAF/AAZ , as the Central Point of Contact for the GAO in this matter,
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initiated a systematic search of current Air Force offices as well as
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numerous archives and records centers that might help explain this
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matter. Research revealed that the "Roswell Incident" was not even
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considered a UFO event until the 1978-1980 time frame. Prior to that,
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the incident was dismissed because the AAF originally identified the
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debris recovered as being that of a weather balloon. Subsequently,
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various authors wrote a number of books claiming that, not only was
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debris from an alien spacecraft recovered, but also the bodies of the
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craft's alien occupants. These claims continue to evolve today and the
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Air Force is now routinely accused of engaging in a "cover-up" of this
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supposed event.
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The research located no records at existing Air Force offices that
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indicated any "coverup" by the USAF or any indication of such a
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recovery. Consequently, efforts were intensified by Air Force
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researchers at numerous locations where records for the period in
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question were stored. The records reviewed did not reveal any increase
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in operations, security, or any other activity in July, 1947, that
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indicated any such unusual event may have occurred. Records were
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located and thoroughly explored concerning a then-TOP SECRET balloon
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project, designed to attempt to monitor Soviet nuclear tests, known as
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Project Mogul. Additionally, several surviving project personnel were
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located and interviewed, as was the only surviving person who recovered
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debris from the original Roswell site in 1947, and the former officer
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who initially identified the wreckage as a balloon. Comparison of all
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information developed or obtained indicated that the material recovered
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near Roswell was consistent with a balloon device and most likely from
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one of the Mogul balloons that had not been previously recovered. Air
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Force research efforts did not disclose any records of the recovery of
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any "alien" bodies or extraterrestrial materials.
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INTRODUCTION
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Air Force involvement in the alleged UFO-related incident popularly
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known as the "Roswell Incident" began as the result of a January 14,
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1994, Washington Post article (Atch 1) which announced Congressman
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Steven Schiffÿs intent to initiate a General Accounting Office (GAO)
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effort to resolve this controversial matter. Having previously been
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involved in numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Congressional
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requests on ÿunusual aircraft," to include Unidentified Flying Objects
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(UFOs), The Director, Security and Special Program Oversight, Office of
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the Secretary of the Air Force, (SAF/AAZ) believed the Air Force would
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become involved in any GAO effort involving this subject.
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Thus, in late January, 1994, SAF/AAZ directed its research/
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declassification to SAF/AAZD, to attempt to locate any official records
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relative to this matter. These initial research efforts focused on
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records at the Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA), Maxwell
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AFB, AL, the Air Force Safety Agency (AFSA) at IGrtiand AFB, NM and the
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National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
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On February 15, 1994, the GAO officially notified Secretary of Defense
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William J. Perry that, it was initiating an audit of the Department of
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Defense (DoD) policies and procedures for acquiring, classifying,
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retaining, and disposing of official government documents dealing with
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weather balloon, aircraft, and similar crash incidents (Atch 2). This
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notification was subsequently passed to the Department of Defense
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Inspector General who in turn officially notified the Secretaries of the
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Services and other affected parties of the audit in a February 23, 1994,
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memo (Atch 3). This memorandum indicated that the "GAO is anxious to
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respond to Representative Schiffÿs request and to dispel any concerns
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that the DoD is being unresponsive." These were the first official US
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Government documents that indicated that the purpose of the GAO was to
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review "crash incidents involving weather balloons and unknown aircraft,
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such as UFOs and foreign aircraft, and (2) the facts involving the
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reported crash of an UFO in 1949 (sic, 1947) at Roswell, New Mexico ...
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(and an) alleged DoD cover-up."
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An entrance meeting of potentially concerned parties was held in the
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offices of the DoD Inspector General on February 28, 1994. During this
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meeting it was learned that, while the audit officially would be
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reviewing the records of a number of DoD (and possibly other Executive
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Branch entities), the bulk of the effort would be focused on Air Force
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records and systems. The audit was officially given the GAO code
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701034, and entitled "Records Management Procedures Dealing With Weather
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Balloon, Unknown Aircraft, and Similar Crash Incidents." Although this
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official title appeared rather broad, there was no misunderstanding that
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the real purpose was to attempt to locate records and/or information on
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the "Roswell Incident." This incident, explained later in more detail,
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generally dealt with the claim that in July of 1947, the US Army Air
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Forces (USAAF) recovered a flying saucer and /or its alien occupants
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which supposedly crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. When the USAAF
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ultimately became the United States Air Force (USAF) in September, 1947,
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the USAF inherited equipment, personnel, records, policies, and
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procedures from the AAF. In this particular case, the Air Force also
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inherited the allegation that it had "covered up" the "Roswell Incident"
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and has continued to do so for the next 47 years.
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Within the Air Force, the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the
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Secretary of the Air Force (SAF/AA) is responsible both for information
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management procedures (SAF/AAI) and security policy and oversight
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(SAF/AAZ). Because of this organization, SAF/AA was the logical entity
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to assist the GAO in its audit and SAF/AAZ was officially named as the
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Central Point of Contact for this endeavor (Atch 4). Subsequently, the
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then Administrative Assistant, W. Robert J. McCormick, issued a tasking
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memorandum dated March 1, 1994 (Atch 5), to a number of current Air
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Staff and Secretariat offices that might possibly have records related
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to such an incident it indeed, something had actually occurred. This
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search for records was purposely limited to Air Force records and
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systems since:
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(a) The Air Force had no authority to compel other agencies to review
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their records;
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(b) The Air Force would have no way to monitor the completeness of
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their efforts if they
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did; and
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(c) the overall effort was the task and responsibility of the GAO-not
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the Air Force.
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During the in-briefing process with GAO, it was learned that this audit
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was, indeed, generated at the specific request of Congressman Steven
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Schiff of New Mexico. Earlier, Congressman Schiff had written to the
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Department of Defense Legislative Liaison Office for information on the
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"Roswell Incident" and had been advised that it was part of the former
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UFO "Project Bluebook" that had previously been turned over to NARA by
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the Air Force. Congressman Schiff subsequently learned from NARA that,
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although they did, indeed, have the "Bluebook" materials, the "Roswell
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Incident" was not part of that report. Congressman Schiff, apparently
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perceiving that he had been "Stonewalled" by the DoD, then generated the
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request for the aforementioned audit.
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It is within this context that the following research and assistance
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efforts were conducted in support of the GAO. This report is intended
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to stand as the final official Air Force response regarding this matter.
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THE "ROSWELL INCIDENTÿ - WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY REPORTED IN 1947
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The modem preoccupation with what ultimately came to be called
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Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) actually began in June, 1947.
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Although some pro-UFO researchers argue that sightings of UFOs go back
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to Biblical times, most researchers will not dispute that anything in
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UFO history can compare with the phenomenon that began in 1947. What
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was later characterized as "the UFO Wave of 194T' began with 16 alleged
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sightings that occurred between May 17 and July 12, 1947, (although some
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researchers claim there were as many as 800 sightings during that
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period). Interestingly, the "Roswell Incident" was not considered one
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of these 1947 events until the 1978-1980 time frame. There is no
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dispute, however, that something happened near Roswell in July, 1947,
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since it was reported in a number of contemporary newspaper articles;
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the most famous of which were the July 8 and July 9 editions of the
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Roswell Daily Record. The July 8 edition reported "RAAF Captures Flying
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Saucer On Ranch In Roswell Region," while the next day's edition
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reported, "Ramey Empties Roswell Saucer" and "Harassed Rancher Who
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Located 'Saucer' Sorry He Told About It."
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The first story reported that the Intelligence Officer of the 509th Bomb
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Group, stationed at Roswell AAF, Major Jesse A- Marcel, had recovered a
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"flying disc" from the range 4 lands of an unidentified rancher in the
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vicinity of Roswell and that the disc had been "flown to higher
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headquarters." That same story also reported that a Roswell couple
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claimed to have seen a large unidentified object fly by their home on
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July 2, 1947.
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The July 9 edition of the paper noted that Brigadier General Roger
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Ramey, Commander of the Eighth Air Force at Forth Worth, Texas, stated
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that upon examination the debris recovered by Marcel was determined to
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be a weather balloon. The wreckage was described as a ÿ...bundle of
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tinfoil, broken wood beams, and rubber remnants of a balloon...." The
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additional story of the "harassed rancher' identified him as W.W. Brazel
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of Lincoln County, New Mexico. He claimed that he and his son, Vernon,
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found the material on June 14, 1947, when they "came upon a large area
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of bright wreckage made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough
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paper, and sticks." He picked up some of the debris on July 4 and
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."..the next day he first heard about the flying discs and wondered if
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what he had found might have been the remnants of one of these." Brazel
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subsequently went to Roswell on July 7 and contacted the Sheriff, who
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apparently notified Major Marcel. Major Marcel and "a man in plain
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clothes" then accompanied Brazel home to pick up the rest of the pieces.
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The article further related that Brazel thought that the material:
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."..might have been as large as a table top. The balloon which held it
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up, if that is how it worked, must have been about 12 feet long, he
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felt, measuring the distance by the size of the room in which he sat.
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The rubber was smoky gray in color and scattered over an area about 200
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yards in diameter. When the debris was gathered up the tinfoil, paper,
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tape, and sticks made a bundle about three feet long and 7 or 8 inches
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thick, while the rubber made a bundle about 18 or 20 inches long and
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about 8 inches thick. In all, he estimated, the entire lot would have
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weighed maybe five pounds. There was no sign of any metal in the area
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which might have been used for an engine and no sign of any propellers
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of any kind. Although at least one paper fin had been glued onto some
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of the tinfoil. There were no words to be found anywhere on the
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instrument although there were letters on some of the parts.
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Considerable scotch tape and some tape with flowers printed upon it had
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been used in the construction. No string or wire were to be found but
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there were some eyelets in the paper to indicate that some sort of
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attachment may have been used. Brazel said that he had previously found
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two weather balloons on the ranch, but that what he found this time did
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not in any way resemble either of these."
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EVOLUTION OF THE EVENT FROM 1947 TO THE PRESENT
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General Ramey's press conference and rancher Brazel's statement
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effectively ended this as a UFO-related matter until 1978, although some
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UFO researchers argue that there were several obtuse references to it in
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1950's em literature. Roswell, for example, is not referred to in the
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official USAF investigation of UFOs reported in Project Bluebook or its
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predecessors, Project Sign and Project Grudge, which ran from 1948-1969
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(which Congressman Schiff subsequently learned when he made his original
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inquiry).
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In 1978, an article appeared in a tabloid newspaper, the National
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Inquirer, which reported the former intelligence officer, Marcel,
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claimed that he had recovered UFO debris near Roswell in 1947. Also in
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1978, a UFO researcher, Stanton Friedman, met with Marcel and began
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investigating the claims that the material Marcel handled was from a
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crashed UFO. Similarly, two authors, William L. Moore and Charles
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Berlitz, also engaged in research which led them to publish a book, The
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Roswell Incident, in 1980. In this book they reported they interviewed
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a number of persons who claimed to have been present at Roswell in 1947
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and professed to be either first or second hand witnesses to strange
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events that supposedly occurred. Since 1978-1980, other UFO
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researchers, most notably Donald Schmitt and Kevin Randle, claim to have
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located and interviewed even more persons with supposed knowledge of
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unusual happenings at Roswell. These included both civilian and former
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military persons.
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Additionally, the Robert Stack-hosted television show "Unsolved
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Mysteries' devoted a large portion of one show to a "re-creation" of the
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supposed Roswell events. Numerous other television shows have done
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likewise, particularly during the last several years and a made-for-TV
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movie on the subject is due to be released this summer. The overall
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thrust of these articles, books and shows is that the "Roswell Incident"
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was actually the crash of a craft from another world, the US Government
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recovered it, and has been "covering up" this fact from the American
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public since 1947, using a combination of disinformation, ridicule, and
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threats of bodily harm to do so. Generally, the US Air Force bears the
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brunt of these accusations.
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From the rather benign description of the "event" and the recovery of
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some material as described in the original newspaper accounts, the
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"Roswell Incident" has since grown to mythical (if not mystical)
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proportions in the eyes and minds of some researchers, portions of the
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media and at least part of the American public. There are also now
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several major variations of the "Roswell story." For example, it was
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originally reported that there was only recovery of debris from one
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site. This has since grown from a minimal amount of debris recovered
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from a small area to airplane loads of debris from multiple huge "debris
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fields." Likewise, the relatively simple description of sticks, paper,
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tape and tinfoil has since grown to exotic metals with hieroglyphics and
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fiber optic-like materials. Most versions now claim that there were two
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crash sites where debris was recovered; and at the second site, alleged
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bodies of extraterrestrial aliens were supposedly retrieved. The number
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of these "alien bodies' recovered also varied. These claims are further
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complicated by the fact that UFO researchers are not in agreement among
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themselves as to exactly where these recovery sites were located or even
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the dates of the alleged crash(es).
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Consistently, however, the AAF was accused of securing these Sites,
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recovering all the material therefrom, keeping locals away, and
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g the recovered wreckage (and bodies) to Roswell under extremely tight
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security for further processing and later exploitation.
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Once back at Roswell AAF, it is generally alleged that special measures
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were taken to notify higher headquarters and arrangements made to have
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recovered materials shipped to other locations for analysis. These
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locations include Ft. Worth, Texas, the home of the Eighth Air Force
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Headquarters; possibly Sandia Base (now Kirtland AFB), New Mexico;
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possibly Andrews AAF, Maryland, and always to Wright Field, now known as
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Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. The latter location was the home of "T-2"
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which later became known as the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC)
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and the Air Materiel Command (AMC), and would, in fact, be a logical
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location to study unknown materials from whatever origin. Most of the
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Roswell stories that contain the recovery of alien bodies also show them
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being shipped to Wright Field. Once the material and bodies were
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dispersed for further analysis and/or exploitation, the government in
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general, and the Army Air Forces in particular, then engaged in covering
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up all information relating to the alleged crash and recovery, including
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the use of security oaths to military persons and the use of coercion
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(including alleged death threats) to others. This, as theorized by some
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UFO researchers, has allowed the government to keep the fact that there
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is intelligent extraterrestrial life from the American public for 47
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years. It also supposedly allowed the US Government to exploit
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recovered extraterrestrial materials by reverse engineering them,
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ultimately providing such things as fiber optic and stealth technology.
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The "death threats," oaths, and other forms of coercion alleged to have
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been meted out by the Army Air Forces personnel to keep people from
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talking have apparently not been very effective, as several hundred
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people are claimed to have come forward (without harm) with some
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knowledge of the "Roswell Incident" during interviews with non-
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government researchers and the media.
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Adding some measure of credibility to the claims that have arisen since
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1978 is the apparent depth of research of some of the authors and the
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extent of their efforts. Their claims are lessened somewhat, however,
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by the fact that almost all their information came from verbal reports
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many years after the alleged incident occurred. Many of the persons
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interviewed were, in fact, stationed at, or lived near Roswell during
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the time in question, and a number of them claim military service.
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Most, however, related their stories in their older years, well after
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the fact. In other cases, the information provided is second or third-
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hand, having been passed through a friend or relative after the
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principal had died. What is uniquely lacking in the entire exploration
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and exploitation of the "Roswell Incident" is official positive
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documentary or physical evidence of any kind that supports the claims of
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those who allege that something unusual happened. Conversely, there has
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never been any previous documentary evidence produced by those who would
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debunk the incident to show that something did not happen; although
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logic dictates that bureaucracies do not spend time documenting non-
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events.
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SEARCH STRATEGY AND METHODOLOGY
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To insure senior Air Force leadership that there were no hidden or
|
|
overlooked files that night relate to the "Roswell Incident;" and to
|
|
provide the GAO with the best and most complete information available,
|
|
SAF/AAZ constructed a strategy based on direct tasking from the Office
|
|
of the Secretary, to elicit information from those functional offices
|
|
and organizations where such information might logically be contained.
|
|
This included directing searches at current offices where special or
|
|
unusual projects night be carried out, as well as historical
|
|
organizations, archives, and records centers over which the Air Force
|
|
exerted some degree of control. Researchers did not, however, go to the
|
|
US Army to review historical records in areas such as missile launches
|
|
from White Sands, or to the Department of Energy to determine if its
|
|
forerunner, the Atomic Energy Commission, had any records of nuclear-
|
|
related incidents that might have occurred at or near Roswell in 1947.
|
|
To do so would have encroached on GAO's charter in this matter. What
|
|
Air Force researchers did do, however, was to search for records still
|
|
under Air Force control pertaining to these subject areas.
|
|
|
|
In order to determine parameters for the most productive search of
|
|
records, a review was first conducted of the major works regarding the
|
|
"Roswell Incident" available in the popular literature. These works
|
|
included: The Roswell Incident, (1980) by William Moore and Charles
|
|
Berlitz; "Crashed Saucers: Evidence in Search of Proof," (1985) by
|
|
Moore; ÿThe UFO Crash at Roswellÿ, (1991) by Kevin Randle and Donald
|
|
Schmitt; ÿThe Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswellÿ, (1994) also by
|
|
Randle and Schmitt; ÿThe Roswell Report: A Historical Perspectiveÿ,
|
|
(1991), George M. Eberhart, Editor; "The Roswell Events," (1993)
|
|
compiled by Fred Whiting; Crash at Corona (1992) by Stanton T. Friedman
|
|
and Don Berliner, as well as numerous other articles written by a
|
|
combination of the above and other researchers. Collectively, the above
|
|
represent the "pro" UFO writers who allege that the government is
|
|
engaged in a conspiracy. There are no specific books written entirely
|
|
on the theme that nothing happened at Roswell. However, Curtis Peebles
|
|
in Watch the Skies! (1994) discussed the development of the UFO story
|
|
and growth of subsequent claims as a phenomenon. There has also been
|
|
serious research as well as a number of detailed articles written by so-
|
|
called "debunkers" of Roswell and other incidents, most notably Philip
|
|
J. Klass who writes ÿThe Skeptical Inquirerÿ newsletter, and Robert
|
|
Todd, a private researcher. The concerns and claims of all the above
|
|
authors and others were considered in conducting the USAF records
|
|
search.
|
|
|
|
It was also decided, particularly after a review of the above popular
|
|
literature, that no specific attempt would be made to try to refute,
|
|
point by point, the numerous claims made in the various publications.
|
|
Many of these claims appear to be hearsay, undocumented, taken out of
|
|
context, self-serving, or otherwise dubious. Additionally, many of the
|
|
above authors are not even in agreement over various claims. Most
|
|
notable of the confusing and now ever-changing claims is the controversy
|
|
over the date(s) of the alleged incident, the exact location(s) of the
|
|
purported debris and the extent of the wreckage. Such discrepancies in
|
|
claims made the search much more difficult by greatly expanding the
|
|
volume of records that had to be searched.
|
|
|
|
An example of trying to deal with questionable claims is illustrated by
|
|
the following example: One of the popular books mentioned that was
|
|
reviewed claimed that the writers had submitted the names and serial
|
|
numbers of "over two dozen" personnel stationed at Roswell in July,
|
|
1947, to the Veterans Administration and the Defense Department to
|
|
confirm their military service. They then listed eleven of these
|
|
persons by name and asked the question: "Why does neither the Defense
|
|
Department nor the Veteran's Administration have records of any of these
|
|
men when we can document that each served at Roswell Army Air Field."
|
|
That claim sounded serious so SAF/AAZD was tasked to check these eleven
|
|
names in the Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. Using only the
|
|
names (since the authors did not list the serial numbers) the researcher
|
|
quickly found records readily identifiable with eight of these persons.
|
|
The other three had such common names that there could have been
|
|
multiple possibilities. Interestingly, one of the listed "missing"
|
|
persons had a casualty report in his records reflecting that he died in
|
|
195 1, while the writers claimed to have interviewed him (or a person of
|
|
the exact same name) in 1990.
|
|
|
|
While the historical document search was in progress, it was decided to
|
|
attempt to locate and interview several persons identified as still
|
|
living who could possibly answer questions generated by the research.
|
|
This had never been officially done before, although most of the persons
|
|
contacted reported that they had also been contacted in the past by some
|
|
of the listed authors or other private researchers. In order to counter
|
|
possible future arguments that the persons interviewed were still
|
|
"covering up" material because of prior security oaths, the interviewees
|
|
were provided with authorization from either the Secretary of the Air
|
|
Force or the Senior Security Official of the Air Force that would
|
|
officially allow discussion of classified information, if applicable, or
|
|
free them from any prior restriction in discussing the matter, if such
|
|
existed. Again, the focus was on interviewing persons that could
|
|
address specific issues, raised by research and no consideration was
|
|
given to try and locate every alleged witness claimed to have been
|
|
contacted by the various authors. For example, one of the interviewees
|
|
thought vital to obtain an official signed, sworn statement from was
|
|
Sheridan Cavitt, Lt. Col, USAF (Retired) who is the last living member
|
|
of the three persons universally acknowledged to have recovered material
|
|
from the Foster Ranch. Others were also interviewed as information
|
|
developed (discussed in detail later). Additionally, in some cases
|
|
survivors of deceased persons were also contacted in an attempt to
|
|
locate various records thought to have been in the custody of the
|
|
deceased.
|
|
|
|
Even though Air Force research originally started in January, 1994, the
|
|
first official Air Force-wide tasking was directed by the March 1, 1994,
|
|
memorandum from SAF/AA, (Atch 5) and was addressed to those current Air
|
|
Staff elements that would be the likely repository for any records,
|
|
particularly if there was anything of an extraordinary nature involved.
|
|
This meant that the search was not limited to unclassified materials,
|
|
but also would include records of the highest classification and
|
|
compartmentation.
|
|
|
|
The specific Air Staff/Secretariat offices queried included the
|
|
following:
|
|
(a) SAF/AAI, Directorate of Information Management
|
|
(b) SAF/AQL, Directorate of Electronics and Special Programs
|
|
(c) AF/SE, Air Force Safety
|
|
(d) AF/HO, Air Force Historian
|
|
(e) AF/IN, Air Force Intelligence (including Air Force Intelligence
|
|
Agency-AFIA, and the National Air Intelligence Center, NAIC)
|
|
(f) AF/XOW, Directorate of Weather
|
|
(g) (added later) The Air Force Office of Special Investigations
|
|
(AFOSI)
|
|
|
|
In addition to the above Air Staff and Secretariat offices, SAF/AAZ also
|
|
reviewed appropriate classified records for any tie-in to this matter.
|
|
With regards to highly classified records, it should be noted that any
|
|
program that employ enhanced security measures or controls are known as
|
|
a Special Access Programs (SAPs). The authority for- such programs
|
|
comes from Executive Order 12356 and flows from the Department of
|
|
Defense to the Services via DoD Directive 5205.7. These programs are
|
|
implemented in the Air Force by Policy Directive 16-7, and Air Force
|
|
Instruction 16-701. These directives contain detailed requirements for
|
|
controlling and reporting, in a very strict manner, all SAPs. This
|
|
includes a report from the Secretary of the Air Force to the Secretary
|
|
of Defense (and ultimately to Congress) on all SAPs submitted for
|
|
approval, and a certification that there are no "SAP-like' programs
|
|
being operated. These reporting requirements are stipulated in public
|
|
law.
|
|
|
|
It followed then, that if the Air Force had recovered some type of
|
|
extraterrestrial spacecraft and/or bodies and was exploiting this for
|
|
scientific and technology purposes, then such a program would be
|
|
operated as a SAP. SAF/AAZ, the Central Office for all Air Force SAPs,
|
|
has knowledge of, and security oversight over, all SAPs. SAF/AAZ
|
|
categorically stated that no such Special Access Program(s) exists that
|
|
pertain to extraterrestrial spacecraft/aliens.
|
|
|
|
Likewise, the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff, who
|
|
head the Special Program Oversight Committee which oversees all
|
|
sensitive programs in the Air Force, had no knowledge of the existence
|
|
of any such program involving, or relating to the events at Roswell or
|
|
the alleged technology that supposedly resulted therefrom. Besides the
|
|
obvious irregularity and illegality of keeping such information from the
|
|
most senior Air Force officials, it would also be illogical, since these
|
|
officials are responsible for obtaining funding for operations,
|
|
research, development, and security. Without funding such a program,
|
|
operation, or organization could not exist. Even to keep such a fact
|
|
"covered up" in some sort of passive "caretaker status" would involve
|
|
money. More importantly, it would involve people and create paperwork.
|
|
|
|
The aforementioned March 1, 1994, SAF/AA tasking generated negative
|
|
responses (Atch 6-12) from all recipients; i.e. all offices reported
|
|
that they had no information that would explain the incident.
|
|
Consequently, these negative responses led to an increase in the
|
|
already on-going historical research at records centers and archives.
|
|
|
|
The extensive archival and records center search was systematically
|
|
carried out at by the SAF/AAZD Declassification Review Team. This team
|
|
is composed entirely of Air Force Reserve personnel who have extensive
|
|
training and experience in large scale review of records. (Previous
|
|
efforts include the Southeast Asia Declassification Review,
|
|
declassification of POW/MIA records, and the review of the Gulf War Air
|
|
Power Survey records). The team members all had the requisite security
|
|
clearances for classified information and had the authority of the
|
|
Secretary of the Air Force to declassify any classified record they
|
|
found that might be related to Roswell. SAF/AAZD conducted reviews at a
|
|
number of locations, including: the National Archives in Washington, DC;
|
|
the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, MO; the National
|
|
Archives, Suitland MD; the National Records Center, Suitland, MD; Naval
|
|
Research Laboratory, Washington, DC; Federal Records Center, Ft Worth,
|
|
TX; the INSCOM Archives, Ft. Meade, MD; National Air and Space Museum,
|
|
Washington, DC; Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL;
|
|
Center for Air Force History, Bolling AFB, DC; Phillips Laboratory,
|
|
Hanscom AFB, MA and Kirtland AFB, NM; Rome Laboratory, Griffiss AFB, NY;
|
|
and the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
|
|
|
|
A listing of the specific record areas searched is appended as Atch 13.
|
|
The areas included all those subject areas logically believed to
|
|
possibly contain any reference to activities at Roswell AAF during the
|
|
period of time in question. It is anticipated that detractors from this
|
|
effort will complain that "they did not search record group x, box y, or
|
|
reel Z, etc.; that's where the real records are!" Such complaints are
|
|
unavoidable and there is no possible way that the millions of records
|
|
under Air Force control could be searched page by page. The team
|
|
endeavored to make logical searches in those places where records would
|
|
likely be found. They were assisted in this task by archivists,
|
|
historians, and records management specialists, including experienced
|
|
persons who have continually worked in Army and Air Force records
|
|
systems since 1943. The team also searched some record areas that were
|
|
recommended by serious private researchers such as Robert Todd, who had
|
|
independently obtained almost encyclopedic knowledge of the complexities
|
|
of Air Force records systems, particularly as related to this subject
|
|
area.
|
|
|
|
Not surprisingly, the research team found the usual number of problems
|
|
in many of the records centers (particularly St. Louis) with misfiling,
|
|
lost or misplaced documents, mismarking of documents, or the breaking up
|
|
of record groups over the years and refiling in different systems. This
|
|
included, for example, a small amount of missing "decimal files' from
|
|
the 509th Bomb Group at Roswell that covered the years 1945-1949, that
|
|
were marked on the index as "destroyed." The researchers noted that
|
|
there was no pattern to any anomalies found and that most discrepancies
|
|
were minor and consistent with what they had found in the past on
|
|
similar projects.
|
|
|
|
WHAT THE ROSWELL INCIDENT WAS NOT
|
|
|
|
Before discussing specific positive results that these efforts revealed,
|
|
it is first appropriate to discuss those things, as indicated by
|
|
information available to the Air Force, that the "Roswell incident" WAS
|
|
NOT:
|
|
|
|
An Airplane Crash
|
|
|
|
Of all the things that are documented and tracked within the Air Force,
|
|
among the most detailed and scrupulous are airplane crashes. In fact,
|
|
records of air crashes go back to the first years of military flight.
|
|
Safety records and reports are available for all crashes that involved
|
|
serious damage, injury, death, or a combination of these factors. These
|
|
records also include incidents involving experimental or classified
|
|
aircraft. USAF records showed that between June 24, 1947, and July 28,
|
|
1947, there were five crashes in New Mexico alone, involving A-26C, P-5
|
|
IN, C-82A, P-BOA and PQ-14B aircraft; however, none of these were on the
|
|
date(s) in question nor in the area(s) in question.
|
|
|
|
One of the additional areas specifically set forth by GAO in its efforts
|
|
was to deal with how the Air Force (and others) specifically documented
|
|
."..weather balloon .. and other crash incidents." In this area, the
|
|
search efforts revealed that there are no AIR safety records pertaining
|
|
to weather balloon crashes (all weather balloons "crashÿ sooner or
|
|
later); however, there are provisions for generating reports of
|
|
"crashes" as ground safety incidents in the unlikely chance that a
|
|
balloon injures someone or causes damage. However, such records are
|
|
only maintained for five years.
|
|
|
|
A Missile Crash
|
|
|
|
A crashed or en-ant missile, usually described as a captured German V-2
|
|
or one of its variants, is sometimes set forth as a possible explanation
|
|
for the debris recovered near Roswell. Since much of this testing done
|
|
at nearby White Sands was secret at the time, it would be logical to
|
|
assume that the government would handle any missile mishap under tight
|
|
security, particularly if the mishap occurred on private land. From the
|
|
records reviewed by the Air Force, however, there was nothing located to
|
|
suggest that this was the case. Although the bulk of remaining testing
|
|
records are under the control of the US Army, the subject has also been
|
|
very well documented over the years within Air Force records. There
|
|
would be no reason to keep such information classified today. The USAF
|
|
found no indicators or even hints that a missile was involved in this
|
|
matter.
|
|
|
|
A Nuclear Accident
|
|
|
|
One of the areas considered was that whatever happened near Roswell may
|
|
have involved nuclear weapons. This was a logical area of concern since
|
|
the 509th Bomb Group was the only military unit in the world at the time
|
|
that had access to nuclear weapons. Again, reviews of available records
|
|
gave no indication that this was the case. A number of records still
|
|
classified TOP SECRET and SECRET-RESTRICTED DATA having to do with
|
|
nuclear weapons were located in the Federal Records Center in St. Louis,
|
|
MO. These records, which pertained to the 509th, had nothing to do with
|
|
any activities that could have been misinterpreted as the "Roswell
|
|
Incident." Also, any records of a nuclear related incident would have
|
|
been inherited by the Department of Energy (DOE), and, had one occurred,
|
|
it is likely DOE would have publicly reported it as part of its recent
|
|
declassification and public release efforts. There were no ancillary
|
|
records in Air Force files to indicate the potential existence of such
|
|
records within DOE channels, however.
|
|
|
|
An Extraterrestrial Craft
|
|
|
|
The Air Force research found absolutely no indication that what happened
|
|
near Roswell in 1947, involved any type of extraterrestrial spacecraft.
|
|
This, of course, is the crux of this entire matter. "Pro-UFOÿ persons
|
|
who obtain a copy of this report, at this point, most probably begin the
|
|
"cover-up is still on" claims. Nevertheless, the research indicated
|
|
absolutely no evidence OF ANY KIND that a spaceship crashed near Roswell
|
|
or that any alien occupants were recovered therefrom, in some secret
|
|
military operation or otherwise. This does not mean, however, that the
|
|
early Air Force was not concerned about UFOs. However, in the early
|
|
days, "UFO" meant Unidentified Flying Object, which literally translated
|
|
as some object in the air that was not readily identifiable. It did not
|
|
mean, as the term has evolved in today's language, to equate to alien
|
|
spaceships. Records from the period reviewed by Air Force researchers
|
|
as well as those cited by the authors mentioned before, do indicate that
|
|
the USAF MM seriously concerned about the inability to adequately
|
|
identify unknown flying objects reported in American airspace. All the
|
|
records, however, indicated that the focus of concern was not on aliens,
|
|
hostile or otherwise, but on the Soviet Union. Many documents from that
|
|
period speak to the possibility of developmental secret Soviet aircraft
|
|
overlying US airspace. This, of course, was of major concern to the
|
|
fledgling USAF, whose job it was to protect these same skies.
|
|
|
|
The research revealed only one official AAF document that indicated that
|
|
there was any activity of any type that pertained to UFOs and Roswell in
|
|
July, 1947. This was a small section of the July Historical Report for
|
|
the 509th Bomb Group and Roswell AAF that stated: "The Office of Public
|
|
Information was quite busy during the month answering inquiries on the
|
|
'flying disc,' which was reported to be in possession of the 509th Bomb
|
|
Group. The object turned out to be a radar tracking balloon" (included
|
|
with Atch I 1). Additionally, this history showed that the 509th
|
|
Commander, Colonel Blanchard, went on leave on July 8, 1947, which would
|
|
be a somewhat unusual maneuver for a person involved in the supposed
|
|
first ever recovery of extraterrestrial materials. (Detractors claim
|
|
Blanchard did this as a ploy to elude the press and go to the scene to
|
|
direct the recovery operations). The history and the morning reports
|
|
also showed that the subsequent activities at Roswell during the month
|
|
were mostly mundane and not indicative of any unusual high level
|
|
activity, expenditure of manpower, resources or security.
|
|
|
|
Likewise, the researchers found no indication of heightened activity
|
|
anywhere else in the military hierarchy in the July, 1947, message
|
|
traffic or orders (to include classified traffic). There were no
|
|
indications and warnings, notice of alerts, or a higher tempo of
|
|
operational activity reported that would be logically generated if an
|
|
alien craft, whose intentions were unknown, entered US territory. To
|
|
believe that such operational and high-level security activity could be
|
|
conducted solely by relying on unsecured telecommunications or personal
|
|
contact without creating any records of such activity certainly
|
|
stretches the imagination of those who have served in the military who
|
|
know that paperwork of some kind is necessary to accomplish even
|
|
emergency, highly classified, or sensitive tasks.
|
|
|
|
An example of activity sometimes cited by pro-UFO writers to illustrate
|
|
the point that something unusual was going on was the travel of Lt.
|
|
General Nathan Twining, Commander of the Air Materiel Command, to New
|
|
Mexico in July, 1947. Actually, records were located indicating that
|
|
Twining went to the Bomb Commanders' Course on July 8, along with a
|
|
number of other general officers, and requested orders to do so a month
|
|
before, on June 5, 1947 (Atch 14).
|
|
|
|
Similarly, it has also been alleged that General Hoyt Vandenberg, Deputy
|
|
Chief of Staff at the time, had been involved directing activity
|
|
regarding events at Roswell. Activity reports (Atch 15), located in
|
|
General Vandenberg's personal papers stored in the Library of Congress,
|
|
did indicate that on July 7, he was busy with a "flying disc" incident;
|
|
however this particular incident involved Ellington Field, Texas and the
|
|
Spokane (Washington) Depot. After much discussion and information
|
|
gathering on this incident, it was learned to be a hoax. There is no
|
|
similar mention of his personal interest or involvement in Roswell
|
|
events except in the newspapers.
|
|
|
|
The above are but two small examples that indicate that if some event
|
|
happened that was one of the "watershed happenings" in human history,
|
|
the US military certainly reacted in an unconcerned and cavalier manner.
|
|
In an actual case, the military would have had to order thousands of
|
|
soldiers and airman, not only at Roswell but throughout the US, to act
|
|
nonchalantly, pretend to conduct and report business as usual, and
|
|
generate absolutely no paperwork of a suspicious nature, while
|
|
simultaneously anticipating that twenty years or more into the future
|
|
people would have available a comprehensive Freedom of Information Act
|
|
that would give them great leeway to review and explore government
|
|
documents. The records indicate that none of this happened (or if it
|
|
did, it was controlled by a security system so efficient and tight that
|
|
no one, US or otherwise, has been able to duplicate it since. If such a
|
|
system had been in effect at the time, it would have also been used to
|
|
protect our atomic secrets from the Soviets, which history has showed
|
|
obviously was not the case). The records reviewed confirmed that no
|
|
such sophisticated and efficient security system existed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
WHAT THE "ROSWELL INCIDENTÿ WAS
|
|
|
|
As previously discussed, what was originally reported to have been
|
|
recovered was a balloon of some sort, usually described as a "weather
|
|
balloon," although the majority of the wreckage that was ultimately
|
|
displayed by General Ramey and Major Marcel in the famous photos (Atch
|
|
16) in Ft. Worth, was that of a radar target normally suspended from
|
|
balloons. This radar target, discussed in more detail later, was
|
|
certainly consistent with the description of July 9 newspaper article
|
|
which discussed "tinfoil, paper, tape, and sticks." Additionally, the
|
|
description of the "flying disc" was consistent with a document
|
|
routinely used by most pro-UFO writers to indicate a conspiracy in
|
|
progress-the telegram from the Dallas FBI office of July 8, 1947. This
|
|
document quoted in part states: ."...The disc is hexagonal in shape and
|
|
was suspended from a balloon by a cable, which balloon was approximately
|
|
twenty feet in diameter. ...the object found resembles a high altitude
|
|
weather balloon with a radar reflector. ...disc and balloon being
|
|
transported..."
|
|
|
|
Similarly, while conducting the popular literature review, one of the
|
|
documents reviewed was a paper entitled "The Roswell Events" edited by
|
|
Fred Whiting, and sponsored by the Fund for UFO Research (FUFOR).
|
|
Although it was not the original intention to comment on what commercial
|
|
authors interpreted or claimed that other persons supposedly said, this
|
|
particular document was different because it contained actual copies of
|
|
apparently authentic sworn affidavits received from a number of persons
|
|
who claimed to have some knowledge of the Roswell event. Although many
|
|
of the persons who provided these affidavits to the FUFOR researchers
|
|
also expressed opinions that they thought there was something
|
|
extraterrestrial about this incident, a number of them actually
|
|
described materials that sounded suspiciously like wreckage from
|
|
balloons. These included the following:
|
|
|
|
Jesse A. Marcel, MD (son of the late Major Jesse Marcel; 11 years old at
|
|
the time of the incident). Affidavit dated May 6, 199 1. " ... There
|
|
were three categories of debris: a thick, foil like metallic gray
|
|
substance; a brittle, brownish-black plastic-like material, like
|
|
Bakelite; and there were fragments of what appeared to be 1-beams. On
|
|
the inner surface of the I-beam, there appeared to be a type of writing.
|
|
This writing was a purple-violet hue, and it had an embossed appearance.
|
|
The figures were composed of curved, geometric shapes. It had no
|
|
resemblance to Russian, Japanese or any other foreign language. It
|
|
resembled hieroglyphics, but it had no animal-Eke characters...ÿ
|
|
|
|
Loretta Proctor (former neighbor of rancher W. W. Brazel). Affidavit
|
|
dated May 5, 1991. ."..Brazel came to my ranch and showed my husband and
|
|
me a piece of material he said came from a large pile of debris on the
|
|
property he managed. The piece he brought was brown in color, similar
|
|
to plastic...'Mac' said the other material on the property looked like
|
|
aluminum foil. It was very flexible and wouldn't crush or bum. There
|
|
was also something he described as tape which had printing on it. The
|
|
color of the printing was a kind of purple..."
|
|
|
|
Bessie Brazel Schreiber (daughter of W.W. Brazel; 14 years old at the
|
|
time of the incident). Affidavit dated September 22, 1993. ."..The
|
|
debris looked like pieces of a large balloon which had burst. The
|
|
pieces were small, the largest I remember measuring about the same as
|
|
the diameter of a basketball. Most of it was a kind of double-sided
|
|
material, foil-like on one side and rubber-like on the other. Both
|
|
sides were grayish silver in color, the foil more silvery than the
|
|
rubber. Sticks, like kite sticks, were attached to some of the pieces
|
|
with a whitish tape. The tape was about two or three inches wide and
|
|
had flower-like designs on it. The 'flowers' were faint, a variety of
|
|
pastel colors, and reminded me of Japanese paintings in which the
|
|
flowers are not all connected. I do not recall any other types of
|
|
material or markings, nor do I remember seeing gouges in the ground or
|
|
any other signs that anything may have hit the ground hard. The foil-
|
|
rubber material could not be tom like ordinary aluminum foil can be
|
|
torm..."
|
|
|
|
Sally Strickland Tadolini (neighbor of WW Brazel; nine years old in
|
|
1947). Affidavit dated September 27, 1993. ."..What Bill showed us was
|
|
a piece of what I still think as fabric. It was something like aluminum
|
|
foil, something like satin, something like well-tanned leather in its
|
|
toughness, yet was not precisely like any one of those materials. ...It
|
|
was about the thickness of very fine kidskin glove leather and a dull
|
|
metallic grayish silver, one side slightly darker than the other. I do
|
|
not remember it having any design or embossing on it..."
|
|
|
|
Robert R. Porter (B-29 flight Engineer stationed at Roswell in 1947).
|
|
Affidavit dated June 7, 1991. ."..On this occasion, I was a member of
|
|
the crew which flew parts of what we were told was a flying saucer to
|
|
Fort Worth. The people on board included ... and Maj Jesse Marcel.
|
|
Capt. William E. Anderson said it was from a flying saucer. After we
|
|
arrived, the material was transferred to a B-25. I was told they were
|
|
going to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. I was involved in loading the B-
|
|
29 with the material, which was wrapped in packages with wrapping paper.
|
|
One of the pieces was triangle-shaped, about 2 1/2 feet across the
|
|
bottom. The rest were in small packages, about the size of a shoe box.
|
|
The brown paper was held with tape. The material was extremely
|
|
lightweight. When I picked it up, it was just like picking up an empty
|
|
package. We loaded the triangle shaped package and three shoe box-sized
|
|
packages into the plane. All of the packages could have fit into the
|
|
trunk of a car. ...When we came back from lunch, they told us they had
|
|
transferred the material to a B-25. They told us the material was a
|
|
weather balloon, but I'm certain it wasn't a weather balloon..."
|
|
|
|
In addition to those persons above still living who claim to have seen
|
|
or examined the original material found on the Brazel Ranch, there is
|
|
one additional person who was universally acknowledged to have been
|
|
involved in its recovery, Sheridan Cavitt, Lt. Col, USAF, (Ret) . Cavitt
|
|
is credited in all claims of having accompanied Major Marcel to the
|
|
ranch to recover the debris, sometimes along with his Counter
|
|
Intelligence Corps (CIC) subordinate, William Rickett, who, like Marcel,
|
|
is deceased. Although there does not appear to be much dispute that
|
|
Cavitt was involved in the material recovery, other claims about him
|
|
prevail in the popular literature. He is sometimes portrayed as a
|
|
closed-mouth (or sometimes even sinister) conspirator who was one of the
|
|
early individuals who kept the "secret of Roswell" from getting out.
|
|
Other things about him have been alleged, including the claim that he
|
|
wrote a report of the incident at the time that has never surfaced.
|
|
|
|
Since Lt. Col Cavitt, who had first-hand knowledge, was still alive, a
|
|
decision was made to interview him and get a signed sworn statement from
|
|
him about his version of the events. Prior to the interview, the
|
|
Secretary of the Air Force provided him with a written authorization and
|
|
waiver to discuss classified information with the interviewer and
|
|
release him from any security oath he may have taken. Subsequently,
|
|
Cavitt was interviewed on May 24, 1994, at his home. Cavitt provided a
|
|
signed, sworn statement (Atch 17 ) of his recollections in this matter.
|
|
He also consented to having the interview tape-recorded. A transcript
|
|
of that recording is at Atch 18. In this interview, Cavitt related that
|
|
he had been contacted on numerous occasions by UFO researchers and had
|
|
willingly talked with many of them; however, he felt that he had
|
|
oftentimes been misrepresented or had his comments taken out of context
|
|
so that their true meaning was changed. He stated unequivocally,
|
|
however, that the material he recovered consisted of a reflective sort
|
|
of material like aluminum foil, and some thin, bamboo-like sticks. He
|
|
thought at the time, and continued to do so today, that what he found
|
|
was a weather balloon and has told other private researchers that. He
|
|
also remembered finding a small ÿblack boxÿ type of instrument, which he
|
|
thought at the time was probably a radiosonde. Lt. Col Cavitt also
|
|
reviewed the famous Ramey/Marcel photographs (Atch 16) of the wreckage
|
|
taken to Ft. Worth (often claimed by UFO researchers to have been
|
|
switched and the remnants of a balloon substituted for it) and he
|
|
identified the materials depicted in those photos as consistent with the
|
|
materials that he recovered from the ranch. Lt. Col Cavitt also stated
|
|
that he had never taken any oath or signed any agreement not to talk
|
|
about this incident and had never been threatened by anyone in the
|
|
government because of it. He did not even know the "incident" was
|
|
claimed to be anything unusual until he was interviewed in the early
|
|
1980's.
|
|
|
|
Similarly, Irving Newton, Major, USAF, (Ret) was located and
|
|
interviewed. Newton was a weather officer assigned to Fort Worth, who
|
|
was on duty when the Roswell debris was sent, there in July, 1947. He
|
|
was told that he was to report to General Ramey's office to view the
|
|
material. In a signed, sworn statement (Atch 30) Newton related that
|
|
."..I walked into the General's office where this supposed flying saucer
|
|
was lying all over the floor. As soon as I saw it, I giggled and asked
|
|
if that was the flying saucer ... I told them that this was a balloon
|
|
and a RAWIN target..." Newton also stated that ."..while I was examining
|
|
the debris, Major Marcel was picking up pieces of the target sticks and
|
|
trying to convince me that some notations on the sticks were alien
|
|
writings. there were figures on the sticks, lavender or pink in color,
|
|
appeared to be weather faded markings, with no rhyme or reason (sic).
|
|
He did not convince me that these were alien writings." Newton concluded
|
|
his statement by relating that ."..During the ensuing years I have been
|
|
interviewed by many authors, I have been quoted and misquoted. The
|
|
facts remain as indicated above. I was not influenced during the
|
|
original interview, nor today, to provide anything but what I know to be
|
|
true, that is, the material I saw in General Ramey's office was the
|
|
remains of a balloon and a RAWIN target."
|
|
|
|
Balloon Research
|
|
|
|
The original tasking from GAO noted that the search for information
|
|
included "weather balloons." Comments about balloons and safety reports
|
|
have already been made, however the SAF/AAZ research efforts also
|
|
focused on reviewing historical records involving balloons, since, among
|
|
other reasons, that was what was officially claimed by the AAF to have
|
|
been found and recovered in 1947.
|
|
|
|
As early as February 28, 1994, the AAZD research team found references
|
|
to balloon tests taking place at Alamogordo AAF (now Holloman AFB) and
|
|
White Sands during June and July 1947, testing "constant level balloons"
|
|
and a New York University (NYU)/Watson Labs effort that used
|
|
"...meteorological devices ... suspected for detecting shock waves
|
|
generated by Soviet nuclear explosions-a possible indication of a cover
|
|
story associated with the @ balloon project. Subsequently, a 1946 HQ
|
|
AMC memorandum was surfaced, describing the constant altitude balloon
|
|
project and specified that the scientific data be classified TOP SECRET
|
|
Priority IA. Its name was Project Mogul (Atch 19).
|
|
|
|
Project Mogul was a then-sensitive, classified project, whose purpose
|
|
was to determine the state of Soviet nuclear weapons research. This was
|
|
the early Cold War period and there was serious concern within the US
|
|
government about the Soviets developing a weaponized atomic device.
|
|
Because the Soviet Union's borders were closed, the US Government sought
|
|
to develop a long range nuclear explosion detection capability. Long
|
|
range, balloon-borne, low frequency acoustic detection was posed to
|
|
General Spaatz in 1945 by Dr. Maurice Ewing of Columbia University as a
|
|
potential solution (atmospheric ducting of low frequency pressure waves
|
|
had been studied as early as 1900).
|
|
|
|
As part of the research into this matter, AAZD personnel located and
|
|
obtained the original study papers and reports of the New York
|
|
University project. Their- efforts also revealed that some of the
|
|
individuals involved in Project Mogul were still living. These persons
|
|
included the NYU constant altitude balloon Director of Research, Dr.
|
|
Athelstan F. Spilhaus; the Project Engineer, Professor Charles B. Moore;
|
|
and the military Project Officer, Colonel Albert C. Trakowski.
|
|
|
|
All of these persons were subsequently interviewed and signed sworn
|
|
statements about their activities. A copy of theses statements are
|
|
appended at Atch 20-22. Additionally, transcripts of the interview with
|
|
Moore and Trakowski are also included (equipment malfunctioned during
|
|
the interview of Spilhaus) (Atch 23-24). These interviews confirmed
|
|
that Project Mogul was a compartmented, sensitive effort. The NYU group
|
|
was responsible for developing constant level balloons and telemetering
|
|
equipment that would remain at specified altitudes (within the acoustic
|
|
duct) while a group from Columbia was to develop acoustic sensors.
|
|
Doctor Spilhaus, Professor Moore, and certain others of the group were
|
|
aware of the actual purpose of the project, but they did not know of the
|
|
project nickname at the time. They handled casual inquiries and/or
|
|
scientific inquiries/papers in terms of "unclassified meteorological or
|
|
balloon research." Newly hired employees were not made aware that there
|
|
was anything special or classified about their work; they were told only
|
|
that their work dealt with meteorological equipment.
|
|
|
|
An advance ground team, led by Albert P. Crary, preceded the NYU group
|
|
to Alamogordo AAF, New Mexico, setting up ground sensors and obtaining
|
|
facilities for the NYU group. Upon their arrival, Professor Moore and
|
|
his team experimented with various configurations of neoprene balloons;
|
|
development of balloon "trains" (see illustration, Atch 25); automatic
|
|
ballast systems; and use of Naval sonobuoys (as the Watson Lab
|
|
acoustical sensors had not yet arrived). They also launched what they
|
|
called "service flights." These "service flights" were not logged nor
|
|
fully accounted for in the published Technical Reports generated as a
|
|
result of the contract between NYU and Watson Labs. According to
|
|
Professor Moore, the "service flights' were composed of balloons, radar
|
|
reflectors and payloads specifically designed to test acoustic sensors
|
|
(both early sonobuoys and the later Watson Labs devices). The "payload
|
|
equipment" was expendable and some carried no "REWARD" or "RETURN TO..."
|
|
tags because there was to be no association between these flights and
|
|
the logged constant altitude flights which were fully acknowledged. The
|
|
NYU balloon flights were listed sequentially in their reports (i.e.,
|
|
A,B, 1,5,6,7,8,10 ... ) yet gaps existed for Flights 2-4 and Flight 9.
|
|
The interview with Professor Moore indicated that these gaps were the
|
|
unlogged "service flights."
|
|
|
|
Professor Moore, the on-scene Project Engineer, gave detailed
|
|
information concerning his team's efforts. He recalled that radar
|
|
targets were used for tracking balloons because they did not have all
|
|
the necessary equipment when they first arrived in New Mexico. Some of
|
|
the early developmental radar targets were manufactured by a toy or
|
|
novelty company. These targets were made up of aluminum "foil" or foil-
|
|
backed paper, balsa wood beams that were coated in an "Elmer's-type"
|
|
glue to enhance their durability, acetate and/or cloth reinforcing tape,
|
|
single stand and braided nylon twine, brass eyelets and swivels to form
|
|
a multi-faced reflector somewhat similar in construction to a box kite
|
|
(see photographs, Atch 26). Some of these targets were also assembled
|
|
with purplish-pink tape with symbols on it (see drawing by Moore with
|
|
Atch 21).
|
|
|
|
According to the log summary (Atch 27) of the NYU group, Flight A
|
|
through Flight 7 (November 20, 1946-July 2, 1947) were made with
|
|
neoprene meteorological balloons (as opposed to the later flights made
|
|
with polyethylene balloons). Professor Moore stated that the neoprene
|
|
balloons were susceptible to degradation in the sunlight, turning from a
|
|
milky white to a dark brown. He described finding remains of balloon
|
|
trains with reflectors and payloads that had landed in the desert: the
|
|
ruptured and shredded neoprene would "almost look like dark gray or
|
|
black flakes or ashes after exposure to the sun for only a few days.
|
|
The plasticizers and antioxidants in the neoprene would emit a peculiar
|
|
acrid odor and the balloon material and radar target material would be
|
|
scattered after returning to earth depending on the surface winds." Upon
|
|
review of the local newspaper photographs from General Ramey's press
|
|
conference in 1947 and descriptions in popular books by individuals who
|
|
supposedly handled the debris recovered on the ranch, Professor Moore
|
|
opined that the material was most likely the shredded remains of a
|
|
multi-neoprene balloon train with multiple radar reflectors. The
|
|
material and a "black box," described by Cavitt, was, in Moore's
|
|
scientific opinion, most probably from Flight 4, a "service flight" that
|
|
included a cylindrical metal sonobuoy and portions of a weather
|
|
instrument housed in a box, which was unlike typical weather radiosondes
|
|
which were made of cardboard. Additionally, a copy of a professional
|
|
journal maintained at the time by A.P. Crary, provided to the Air Force
|
|
by his widow, showed that Flight 4 was launched on June 4, 1947, but was
|
|
not recovered by the NYU group. It is very probable that this TOP
|
|
SECRET project balloon train (Flight 4), made up of unclassified
|
|
components; came to rest some miles northwest of Roswell, NM, became
|
|
shredded in the surface winds and was ultimately found by the rancher,
|
|
Brazel, ten days later. This possibility was supported by the
|
|
observations of Lt. Col Cavitt (Atch 17-18), the only living eyewitness
|
|
to the actual debris field and the material found. Lt. Col Cavitt
|
|
described a small area of debris which appeared, "to resemble bamboo
|
|
type square sticks one quarter to one half inch square, that were very
|
|
fight, as well as some sort of metallic reflecting material that was
|
|
also very light ... I remember recognizing this material as being
|
|
consistent with a weather balloon."
|
|
|
|
Concerning the initial announcement, "RAAF Captures Flying Disc,"
|
|
research failed to locate any documented evidence as to why that
|
|
statement was made. However, on July 10, 1947, following the Ramey
|
|
press conference, the Alamogordo News published an article with
|
|
photographs demonstrating multiple balloons and targets at the same
|
|
location as the NYU group operated from at Alamogordo AAF. Professor
|
|
Moore expressed surprise at seeing this since his, was the only balloon
|
|
test group in the area. He stated, "It appears that there was some type
|
|
of umbrella cover story to protect our work with Mogul." Although the
|
|
Air Force did not find documented evidence that Gen. Ramey was directed
|
|
to espouse a weather balloon in Ws press conference, he may have done so
|
|
because he was either aware of Project Mogul and was trying to deflect
|
|
interest from it, or he readily perceived the material to be a weather
|
|
balloon based on the identification from his weather officer, Irving
|
|
Newton. In either case, the materials recovered by the AAF in July,
|
|
1947, were not readily recognizable as anything special (only the
|
|
purpose was special) and the recovered debris itself was unclassified.
|
|
Additionally, the press dropped its interest in the matter as quickly as
|
|
they had jumped on it. Hence, there would be no particular reason to
|
|
further document what quickly became a "non-event."
|
|
|
|
The interview with Colonel Trakowski (Atch 23-24) also proved valuable
|
|
information. Trakowski provided specific details on Project Mogul and
|
|
described how the security for the program was set up, as he was
|
|
formerly the TOP SECRET Control Officer for the program. He further
|
|
related that many of the original radar targets that were produced
|
|
around the end of World War H were fabricated by toy or novelty
|
|
companies using a purplish-pink tape with flower and heart symbols on
|
|
it. Trakowski also recounted a conversation that he had with his
|
|
friend, and superior military officer in his chain of command, Colonel
|
|
Marcellus Duffy, in July, 1947. Duffy, formerly had Trakowski's
|
|
position on Mogul, but had subsequently been transferred to Wright
|
|
Field. He stated: ."..Colonel Duffy called me on the telephone from
|
|
Wright Field and gave me a story about a fellow that had come in from
|
|
New Mexico, woke him up in the middle of the night or some such thing
|
|
with a handful of debris, and wanted him, Colonel Duffy, to identify it.
|
|
... He just said 'it sure looks like some of the stuff you've been
|
|
launching at Alamogordo' and he described it, and I said 'yes, I think
|
|
it is.' Certainly Colonel Duffy knew enough about radar targets,
|
|
radiosondes, balloon-borne weather devices. He was intimately familiar
|
|
with all that apparatus."
|
|
|
|
Attempts were made to locate Colonel Duffy but it was ascertained that
|
|
he had died. His widow explained that, although he had amassed a large
|
|
amount of personal papers relating to his Air Force activities, she had
|
|
recently disposed of these items. Likewise, it was learned that A.P.
|
|
Crary was also deceased; however his surviving spouse had a number of
|
|
his papers from his balloon testing days, including his professional
|
|
journal from the period in question. She provided the Air Force
|
|
researchers with this material. It is discussed in more detail within
|
|
Atch 32. Overall, it helps fill in gaps of the Mogul story.
|
|
|
|
During the period the Air Force conducted this research, it was
|
|
discovered that several others had also discovered the possibility that
|
|
the "Roswell Incident" may have been generated by the recovery of a
|
|
Project Mogul balloon device. These persons included Professor Charles
|
|
B. Moore, Robert Todd, and coincidentally, Karl Pflock, a researcher who
|
|
is married to a staffer who works for Congressman Schiff. Some of these
|
|
persons provided suggestions as to where documentation might be located
|
|
in various archives, histories and libraries. A review of Freedom of
|
|
Information Act (FOIA) requests revealed that Robert Todd, particularly,
|
|
had become aware of Project Mogul several years ago and had doggedly
|
|
obtained from the Air Force, through the FOIA, a large amount of
|
|
material pertaining to it; long before the AAZD researchers
|
|
independently seized on the same possibility.
|
|
|
|
Most interestingly, as this report was being written, Pflock published
|
|
his own report of this matter under the auspices of FUFOR, entitled
|
|
"Roswell in Perspective" (1994). Pflock concluded from his research
|
|
that the Brazel Ranch debris originally reported as a "flying disc!' was
|
|
probably debris from a Mogul balloon; however, there was a simultaneous
|
|
incident that occurred not far away, that caused an alien craft to crash
|
|
and that the AAF subsequently recovered three alien bodies therefrom.
|
|
Air Force research did not locate any information to corroborate that
|
|
this incredible coincidence occurred, however.
|
|
|
|
In order to provide a more detailed discussion of the specifics of
|
|
Project Mogul and how it appeared to be directly responsible for the
|
|
"Roswell Incident," a SAF/AAZD researcher prepared a more detailed
|
|
discussion on the balloon project which is appended to this report as
|
|
Atch 32.
|
|
|
|
Other Research
|
|
|
|
In the attempt to develop additional information that could help explain
|
|
this matter, a number of other steps were taken. First, assistance was
|
|
requested from various museums and other archives (Atch 28) to obtain
|
|
information and/or examples of the actual balloons and radar targets
|
|
used in connection with Project Mogul and to correlate them with the
|
|
various descriptions of wreckage and materials recovered. The
|
|
blueprints for the "Pilot Balloon Target ML307C/AP Assembly"
|
|
(generically, the radar target assembly) were located at the Army Signal
|
|
Corps Museum at Fort Monmouth and obtained. A copy is appended as Atch
|
|
29. This blueprint provides the specification for the foil material,
|
|
tape, wood, eyelets, and string used and the assembly instructions
|
|
thereto. An actual device was also obtained for study with the
|
|
assistance of Professor Moore. (The example actually procured was a
|
|
1953-manufactured model "C" as compared to the Model B which was in use
|
|
in 1947. Professor Moore related the differences were minor). An
|
|
examination of this device revealed it to be simply made of aluminum-
|
|
colored foil-like material over a stronger paper-like material, attached
|
|
to balsa wood sticks, affixed with tape, glue, and twine. When opened,
|
|
the device appears as depicted in Atch 31 (contemporary photo) and Atch
|
|
25 (1947 photo, in a "balloon train"). When folded, the device is in a
|
|
series of triangles, the largest being four feet by two feet ten inches.
|
|
The smallest triangle section measures two feet by two feet ten inches.
|
|
(Compare with descriptions provided by Lt. Col Cavitt and others, as
|
|
well as photos of wreckage).
|
|
|
|
Additionally, the researchers obtained from the Archives of the
|
|
University of Texas-Arlington (UTA), a set of original (i.e. first
|
|
generation) prints of the photographs taken at the time by the Fort
|
|
Worth Star-Telegram, that depicted Ramey and Marcel with the wreckage.
|
|
A close review of these photos (and a set of first generation negatives
|
|
also subsequently obtained from UTA) revealed several infesting
|
|
observations. First, although in some of the literature cited above,
|
|
Marcel allegedly stated that he had his photo taken with the "real" UFO
|
|
wreckage and then it was subsequently removed and the weather balloon
|
|
wreckage substituted for it, a comparison shows that the same wreckage
|
|
appeared in the photos of Marcel and Ramey. The photos also depicted
|
|
that this material was lying on what appeared to be some sort of
|
|
wrapping paper (consistent with affidavit excerpt of crew chief Porter,
|
|
above). It was also noted that in the two photos of Ramey he had a
|
|
piece of paper in his hand. In one, it was folded over so nothing could
|
|
be seen. In the second, however, there appears to be text printed on
|
|
the paper. In an attempt to read this text to determine if it could
|
|
shed any further light on locating documents relating to this matter,
|
|
the photo was sent to a national level organization for digitizing and
|
|
subsequent photo interpretation and analysis. This organization was
|
|
also asked to scrutinize the digitized photos for any indication of the
|
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flowered tape (or "hieroglyphics, depending on the point of view) that
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were reputed to be visible to some of the persons who observed the
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|
wreckage prior to it getting to Fort Worth. This organization reported
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|
on July 20, 1994, that even after digitizing, the photos were of
|
|
insufficient quality to visualize either of the details sought for
|
|
analysis. This organization was able to obtain measurements from the
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"sticksÿ' visible in the debris after it was ascertained by an interview
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|
of the original photographer what kind of camera he used. The results
|
|
of this process are provided in Atch 33, along with a reference diagram
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|
and the photo from which the measurements were made. All these
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|
measurements are compatible with the wooden materials used in the radar
|
|
target previously described.
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CONCLUSION
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The Air Force research did not locate or develop any information that
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the "Roswell Incident" was a UFO event. All available official
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|
materials, although they do not directly address Roswell per se,
|
|
indicate that the most likely source of the wreckage recovered from the
|
|
Brazel Ranch was from one of the Project Mogul balloon trains. Although
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|
that project was TOP SECRET at the time, there was also no specific
|
|
indication found to indicate an official pre-planned cover story was in
|
|
place to explain an event such as that which ultimately happened. It
|
|
appears that the identification of the wreckage as being part of a
|
|
weather balloon device, as reported in the newspapers at the time, was
|
|
based on the fact that there was no physical difference in the radar
|
|
targets and the neoprene balloons (other than the numbers and
|
|
configuration) between Mogul balloons and normal weather balloons.
|
|
Additionally, it seems that there was over-reaction by Colonel Blanchard
|
|
and Major Marcel, in originally reporting that a "flying disc" had been
|
|
recovered when, at that time, nobody for sure knew what that term even
|
|
meant since the it had only been in use for a couple of weeks.
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|
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|
Likewise, there was no indication in official records from the period
|
|
that there was heightened military operational or security activity
|
|
which should have been generated if this was, in fact, the first
|
|
recovery of materials and/or persons from another world. The post-War
|
|
US Military (or today's for that matter) did not have the capability to
|
|
rapidly identify, recover, coordinate, cover-up, and quickly public
|
|
scrutiny of such an event. The claim that they did so without leaving
|
|
even a little bit of a suspicious paper trail for 47 years is
|
|
incredible.
|
|
|
|
It should also be noted here that there was little mentioned in this
|
|
report about the recovery of the so-called "alien bodies." This is for
|
|
several reasons: First, the recovered wreckage was from a Project Mogul
|
|
balloon. There were no "alien" passengers therein. Secondly, the pro-
|
|
UFO groups who espouse the alien bodies theories cannot even agree among
|
|
themselves as to what, how many, and where, such bodies were supposedly
|
|
recovered. Additionally, some of these claims have been shown to be
|
|
hoaxes, even by other UFO researchers. Thirdly, when such claim are
|
|
made, they are often attributed to people using pseudonyms or who
|
|
otherwise do not want to be publicly identified, presumably so that some
|
|
sort of retribution cannot be taken against them (notwithstanding that
|
|
nobody has been shown to have died, disappeared or otherwise suffered at
|
|
the hands of the government during the last 47 years). Fourth, many of
|
|
the persons making the biggest claims of "alien bodies" make their
|
|
living from the "Roswell Incident." While having a commercial interest
|
|
in something does not automatically make it suspect, it does raise
|
|
interesting questions related to authenticity. Such persons should be
|
|
encouraged to present their evidence (not speculation) directly to the
|
|
government and provide all pertinent details and evidence to support
|
|
their claims if honest fact-finding is what is wanted. Lastly, persons
|
|
who have come forward and provided their names and made claims, may
|
|
have, in good faith but in the "fog of time," misinterpreted past
|
|
events. The review of Air Force records did not locate even one piece
|
|
of evidence to indicate that the Air Force has had any part in an
|
|
"alien" body recovery operation or continuing cover-up.
|
|
|
|
During the course of this effort, the Air Force has kept in close touch
|
|
with the GAO and responded to their various queries and requests for
|
|
assistance. This report was generated as an official response to the
|
|
GAO, and to document the considerable effort expended by the Air Force
|
|
on their behalf It is anticipated that that they will request a copy of
|
|
this report to help formulate the formal report of their efforts. It is
|
|
recommended that this document serve as the final Air Force report
|
|
related to the Roswell matter, for the GAO, or any other inquiries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
/s/ RICHARD L. WEAVER, COL, USAF
|
|
DIRECTOR, SECURITY AND SPECIAL
|
|
PROGRAM OVERSIGHT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Attachments
|
|
1. Washington Post Article, "GAO Turns to Alien Turf in New Probe,"
|
|
January 14, 1994
|
|
2. GAO Memo, February 15, 1994
|
|
3. DoD/IG Memo, February 23, 1994
|
|
4. SAF/FM Memo, February 24, 1994, w/Indorsement
|
|
|
|
5. SAF/AA Memo, March 1, 1994, w/ March 16, 1994 Addendum
|
|
6. AF/IN Memo, March 14, 1994
|
|
7. AF/SE Memo, March 14, 1994
|
|
S. SAF/AQL Memo, March 22,1994
|
|
9. AF/XOWP Memo, March 9,1994
|
|
10. SAF/AAI Memo, March 10, 1994
|
|
1 1. AFHRA/CC Memo, March 8, 1994
|
|
12. AFOSI/HO Memo, May 11, 1994
|
|
13. List of Locations and Records Searched
|
|
14. HQ AAF "Issuance of Orders," June 5, 1947
|
|
15. Copy of Vandenberg's Appointment Book and Diary, July 7-9, 1947
|
|
16. July 9, 1947 Photos of Balloon Wreckage, Ft Worth Star Telegram
|
|
17. Signed Sworn Statement of Cavitt, May 24, 1994
|
|
18. Transcript of Cavitt Interview, May 24, 1994
|
|
19. Letter, July 8, 1946, Project Mogul
|
|
20. Signed Sworn Statement of Spilhaus, June 3, 1994
|
|
21. Signed Sworn Statement of Moore, June 8, 1994
|
|
22. Signed Sworn Statement of Trakowski, June 29, 1994
|
|
23. Transcript of Interview with Moore, June 8, 1994
|
|
24. Transcript of Interview with Trakowski, June 29, 1994
|
|
25. Illustration of Project Mogul "Balloon Trains"
|
|
26. Two Photos of Project Mogul "Balloon Trains"
|
|
27. Log Summary, NYU Constant Level Balloon Flights
|
|
28. List of Museums Contacted
|
|
29. Copy of Blueprint for "Pilot Balloon Target, NIL-307C/AP Assembly"
|
|
30. Signed Sworn Statement of Newton, July 21, 1994
|
|
31. Photos of UL-307C/AP Device, With Vintage Neoprene Balloon and
|
|
Debris
|
|
32. Synopsis of Balloon Research Findings by 1LT James McAndrew
|
|
33. "Mensuration Working Paper," With Drawing and Photo
|
|
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