1418 lines
77 KiB
Plaintext
1418 lines
77 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: AIR FORCE ON THE GAO INVESTIGATION FILE: UFO2383
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* Forwarded from "ParaNet UFO Echo"
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* Originally by Michael Corbin
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* Originally to All
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* Originally dated 21 Sep 1994, 12:38
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The following postings represent the 25-page report recently released by the
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Air Force on the GAO investigation initiated by Congressman Steven Schiff.
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ParaNet is attempting to get a copy of the 1000+-page report.
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SAF/PAM
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1690 AF Pentagon
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Washington, DC 20330-1690
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MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS
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No. 235-M
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Sept. 8, 1994
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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
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explain an alleged 1947 UFO incident. Pro-UFO researchers claim
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an extraterrestrial spacecraft and its alien occupants were
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recovered near Roswell, N.M., in July 1947 and the fact was kept
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from the public.
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At the request of Congressman Steven H. Schiff (R-NM), the
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General Accounting Office in February 1994 initiated an audit to
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locate all records related to the Roswell incident and to
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determine if such records were properly handled. The GAO audit
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entitled "Records Management Procedures Dealing With Weather
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Balloon, Unknown Aircraft, and Similar Crash Incidents" is not
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yet complete.
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The GAO audit involved a number of government agencies but
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focused on the Air Force. In support of the GAO effort, the Air
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Force initiated a systematic search of current Air Force offices
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as well as numerous archives and records centers that might help
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explain the incident. Air Force officials also interviewed a
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number of persons who might have had knowledge of the events.
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Prior to the interviews, Secretary Widnall released those persons
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from any previous security obligations that might have restricted
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their statements.
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The Air Force research did not locate or develop any information
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that the "Roswell Incident" was a UFO event nor was there any
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indication of a "cover-up" by the Air Force. Information
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obtained through exhaustive records searches and interviews
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indicated the material recovered near Roswell was consistent with
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a balloon device of the type used in a then-classified project.
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No records indicated or even hinted at the recovery of "alien"
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bodies or extraterrestrial materials.
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All documentation related to this case is now declassified and
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the information is in the public domain. All documentation has
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been turned over to the Air Force Historian. The Air Force
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report without attachments may be obtained by contacting Major
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Thurston, Air Force Public Affairs, (703) 695-0640. The report
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with all 33 attachments is available for review in the Pentagon
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Library in Room 1A518.
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-END-
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REPORT OF AIR FORCE RESEARCH REGARDING THE "ROSWELL INCIDENT"
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Department of the Air Force
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United States of America
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July 1994
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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The "Roswell Incident" refers to an event that supposedly
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happened in July, 1947, wherein the Army Air Forces (AAF)
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allegedly recovered remains of a crashed "flying disc" near
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Roswell, New Mexico. In February, 1994, the General Accounting
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Office (GAO), acting on the request of a New Mexico Congressman,
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initiated an audit to attempt to locate records of such an
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incident and to determine if records regarding it were properly
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handled. Although the GAO effort was to look at a number of
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government agencies, the apparent focus was the Air Force.
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SAF/AAZ, as the Central Point of Contact for the GAO in this
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matter, initiated a systematic search of current Air Force
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offices as well as numerous archives and records centers that
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might help explain this matter. Research revealed that the
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"Roswell Incident" was not even considered a UFO event until the
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1978-1980 time frame. Prior to that, the incident was dismissed
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because the AAF originally identified the debris recovered as
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being that of a weather balloon. Subsequently, various authors
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wrote a number of books claiming that, not only was debris from
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an alien spacecraft recovered, but also the bodies of the craft's
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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
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this supposed event.
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The research located no records at existing Air Force offices
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that indicated any "cover-up" by the USAF or any indication of
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such a recovery. Consequently, efforts were intensified by Air
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Force researchers at numerous locations where records for the
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period in question were stored. The records reviewed did not
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reveal any increase in operations, security, or any other
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activity in July, 1947, that indicated any such unusual event may
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have occurred. Records were located and thoroughly explored
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concerning a then-TOP SECRET balloon project, designed to attempt
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to monitor Soviet nuclear tests, known as Project Mogul.
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Additionally, several surviving project personnel were located
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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
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officer who initially identified the wreckage as a balloon.
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Comparison of all information developed or obtained indicated
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that the material recovered near Roswell was consistent with a
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balloon device and most likely from one of the Mogul balloons
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that had not been previously recovered. Air Force research
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efforts did not disclose any records of the recovery of any
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"alien" bodies or extraterrestrial materials.
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INTRODUCTION
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Air Force involvement in the alleged UFO-related incident
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popularly known as the "Roswell Incident" began as the result of
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a January 14, 1994, WASHINGTON POST article (Atch 1) which
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announced Congressman Steven Schiff's intent to initiate a
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General Accounting Office (GAO) effort to resolve this
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controversial matter. Having previously been involved in
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numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Congressional
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requests on "unusual aircraft," to include Unidentified Flying
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Objects (UFOs), The Director, Security and Special Program
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Oversight, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, (SAF/AAZ)
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believed the Air Force would become involved in any GAO effort
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involving this subject.
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Thus, in late January, 1994, SAF/AAZ directed its
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research/declassification team, SAF/AAZD, to attempt to locate
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any official records relative to this matter. These initial
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research efforts focused on records at the Air Force Historical
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Research Agency (AFHRA), Maxwell AFB, AL, the Air Force Safety
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Agency (AFSA) at Kirtland AFB, NM and the National Archives and
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Records Administration (NARA).
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On February 15, 1994, the GAO officially notified Secretary of
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Defense William J. Perry that, it was initiating an audit of the
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Department of Defense (DoD) policies and procedures for
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acquiring, classifying, retaining, and disposing of official
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government documents dealing with weather balloon, aircraft, and
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similar crash incidents (Atch 2). This notification was
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subsequently passed to the Department of Defense Inspector
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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
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23, 1994, memo (Atch 3). This memorandum indicated that the "GAO
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is anxious to respond to Representative Schiff's request and to
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dispel any concerns that the DoD is being unresponsive." These
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were the first official US Government documents that indicated
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that the purpose of the GAO was to review "crash incidents
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involving weather balloons and unknown aircraft, such as UFOs and
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foreign aircraft, and (2) the facts involving the reported crash
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of an UFO in 1949 (sic, 1947) at Roswell, New Mexico...(and an)
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alleged DoD cover-up."
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An entrance meeting of potentially concerned parties was held in
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the offices of the DoD Inspector General on February 28, 1994.
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During this meeting it was learned that, while the audit would
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officially be reviewing the records of a number of DoD (and
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possibly other Executive Branch entities), the bulk of the effort
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would be focused on Air Force records and systems. The audit was
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officially given the GAO code 701034, and entitled "Records
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Management Procedures Dealing With Weather Balloon, Unknown
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Aircraft, and Similar Crash Incidents." Although this official
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title appeared rather broad, there was no misunderstanding that
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the real purpose was to attempt to locate records and/or
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information on the "Roswell Incident." This incident, explained
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later in more detail, generally dealt with the claim that in July
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of 1947, the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) recovered a flying saucer
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and/or its alien occupants which supposedly crashed near Roswell,
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New Mexico. When the USAAF ultimately became the United States
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Air Force (USAF) in September, 1947, the USAF inherited
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equipment, personnel, records, policies, and procedures from the
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AAF. In this particular case, the Air Force also inherited the
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allegation that it had "covered up" the "Roswell Incident" and
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has continued to do so for the next 47 years.
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Within the Air Force, the Office of the Administrative Assistant
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to the Secretary of the Air Force (SAF/AA) is responsible both
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for information management procedures (SAF/AAI) and security
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policy and oversight (SAF/AAZ). Because of this organization,
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SAF/AAZ was the logical entity to assist the GAO in its audit and
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SAF/AAZ was officially named as the Central Point of Contact for
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this endeavor (Atch 4). Subsequently, the then-Administrative
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Assistant, Mr. Robert J. McCormick, issued a tasking memorandum
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dated March 1, 1994 (Atch 5), to a number of current Air Staff
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and Secretariat offices that might possibly have records related
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to such an incident if, indeed, something had actually occurred.
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This search for records was purposely limited to Air Force
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records and systems since:
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(a) The Air Force had no authority to compel other agencies to
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review their records;
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(b) The Air Force would have no way to monitor the completeness
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of their efforts if they did; and
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(c) the overall effort was the task and responsibility of the GAO
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-- not the Air Force.
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During the in-briefing process with GAO, it was learned that this
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audit was, indeed, generated at the specific request of
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Congressman Steven Schiff of New Mexico. Earlier, Congressman
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Schiff had written to the Department of Defense Legislative
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Liaison Office for information on the "Roswell Incident" and had
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been advised that it was part of the former UFO "Project
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Bluebook" that had previously been turned over to NARA by the Air
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Force. Congressman Schiff subsequently learned from NARA that,
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although they did, indeed, have the "Bluebook" materials, the
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"Roswell Incident" was not part of that report. Congressman
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Schiff, apparently perceiving that he had been "stonewalled" by
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the DoD, then generated the request for the aforementioned audit.
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It is within this context that the following research and
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assistance efforts were conducted in support of the GAO. This
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report is intended to stand as the final official Air Force
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response regarding this matter.
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THE "ROSWELL INCIDENT" -- WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY REPORTED IN 1947
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The modern 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
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back to Biblical times, most researchers will not dispute that
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anything in UFO history can compare with the phenomenon that
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began in 1947. What was later characterized as "the UFO WAve of
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1947" began with 16 alleged sightings that occurred between May
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17 and July 12, 1947, (although some researchers claim there were
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as many as 800 sightings during that period). Interestingly, the
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"Roswell Incident" was not considered one of these 1947 events
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until the 1978-80 time frame. There is no dispute, however, that
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something happened near Roswell in July, 1947, since it was
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reported in a number of contemporary newspaper articles; the most
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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
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Flying Saucer On Ranch In Roswell Region," while the next day's
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edition reported, "Ramey Empties Roswell Saucer" and "Harassed
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Rancher Who Located 'Saucer' Sorry He Told About It."
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The first story reported that the Intelligence Officer of the
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509th Bomb Group, stationed at Roswell AAF, Major Jesse A.
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Marcel, had recovered a "flying disc" from the range lands of an
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unidentified rancher in the vicinity of Roswell and that the disc
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had been "flown to higher headquarters." That same story also
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reported that a Roswell couple claimed to have seen a large
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unidentified object fly by their home on July 2, 1947.
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The July 9 edition of the paper noted that Brigadier General
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Roger Ramey, Commander of the Eighth Air Force at Forth Worth,
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Texas, stated that upon examination the debris recovered by
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Marcel was determined to be a weather balloon. The wreckage was
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described as a "...bundle of tinfoil, broken wood beams, and
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rubber remnants of a balloon...." The additional story of the
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"harassed rancher" identified him as W.W. Brazel of Lincoln
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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
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area of bright wreckage made up of rubber strips, tinfoil, a
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rather tough paper, and sticks." He picked up some of the debris
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on July 4 and "...the next day he first heard about the flying
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discs and wondered if what he had found might have been the
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remnants of one of these." Brazel subsequently went to Roswell
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on July 7 and contacted the Sheriff, who apparently notified
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Major Marcel. Major Marcel and "a man in plain clothes" then
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accompanied Brazel home to pick up the rest of the pieces. The
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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
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held it up, if that is how it worked, must have been about 12
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feet long, he felt, measuring the distance by the size of the
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room in which he sat. The rubber was smoky gray in color and
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scattered over an area about 200 yards in diameter. When the
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debris was gathered up the tinfoil, paper, tape, and sticks made
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a bundle about three feet long and 7 or 8 inches thick, while the
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rubber made a bundle about 18 or 20 inches long and about 8
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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
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area which might have been used for an engine and no sign of any
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propellers of any kind. Although at least one paper fin had been
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glued onto some of the tinfoil. There were no words to be found
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anywhere on the instrument although there were letters on some of
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the parts. Considerable scotch tape and some tape with flowers
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printed upon it had been used in the construction. No string or
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wire were to be found but there were some eyelets in the paper to
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indicate that some sort of attachment may have been used. Brazel
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said that he had previously found two weather balloons on the
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ranch, but that what he found this time did not in any way
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resemble either of these."
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EVOLUTION OF THE EVENT FROM 1947 TO THE PRESENT
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General Rarney's press conference and rancher Brazel's statement
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effectively ended this as a UFO-related matter until 1978,
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although some UFO researchers argue that there were several
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obtuse references to it in 1950's era literature. Roswell, for
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example, is not referred to in the official USAF investigation of
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UFOs reported in Project Bluebook or its predecessors, Project
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Sign and Project Grudge, which ran from 1948-1969 (which
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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.
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Also in 1978, a UFO researcher, Stanton Friedman, met with Marcel
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and began investigating the claims that the material Marcel
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handled was from a crashed UFO. Similarly, two authors, William
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L. Moore and Charles Berlitz, also engaged in research which led
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them to publish a book, THE ROSWELL INCIDENT, in 1980. In this
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book they reported they interviewed a number of persons who
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claimed to have been present at Roswell in 1947 and professed to
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be either first or second hand witnesses to strange events that
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supposedly occurred. Since 1978-1980, other UFO researchers,
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most notably Donald Schmitt and Kevin Randle, claim to have
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located and interviewed even more persons with supposed knowledge
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of unusual happenings at Roswell. These included both civilian
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and former 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"
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of the supposed Roswell events. Numerous other television shows
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have done likewise, particularly during the last several years
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and a made-for-TV movie on the subject is due to be released this
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summer. The overall thrust of these articles, books and shows is
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that the "Roswell Incident" was actually the crash of a craft
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from another world, the US Government recovered it, and has been
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"covering up" this fact from the Arnerican public since 1947,
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using a combination of disinformation, ridicule, and threats of
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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
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recovery of some material as described in the original newspaper
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accounts, the "Roswell Incident" has since grown to mythical (if
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not mystical) proportions in the eyes and minds of some
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researchers, portions of the media and at least part of the
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American public. There are also now several major variations of
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the "Roswell story." For exarnple, it was originally reported
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that there was only recovery of debris from one site. This has
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since grown from a minimal amount of debris recovered from a
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small area to airplane loads of debris from multiple huge "debris
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fields." Likewise, the relatively simple description of sticks,
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paper, tape and tinfoil has since grown to exotic metals with
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hieroglyphics and fiber optic-like materials. Most versions now
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claim that there were two crash sites where debris was recovered;
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and at the second site, alleged bodies of extraterrestrial aliens
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were supposedly retrieved. The number of these "alien bodies"
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recovered also varied. These claims are further complicated by
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the fact that UFO researchers are not in agreement among
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themselves as to exactly where these recovery sites were located
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or even the dates of the alleged crash(es).
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Consistently, however, the AAF was accused of securing these
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sites, recovering all the material therefrom, keeping locals
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away, and returning the recovered wreckage (and bodies) to
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Roswell under extremely tight security for further processing and
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later exploitation.
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Once back at Roswell AAF, it is generally alleged that special
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measures were taken to notify higher headquarters and
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arrangements made to have recovered materials shipped to other
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locations for analysis. These locations include Ft. Worth,
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Texas, the home of the Eighth Air Force Headquarters; possibly
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Sandia Base (now Kirtland AFB), New Mexico; possibly Andrews AAF,
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Maryland, and always to Wright Field, now known as Wright-
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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
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(ATIC) and the Air Materiel Command (AMC), and would, in fact, be
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a logical location to study unknown materials from whatever
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origin. Most of the Roswell stories that contain the recovery of
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alien bodies also show them being shipped to Wright Field. Once
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the material and bodies were dispersed for further analysis
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and/or exploitation, the government in general, and the Army Air
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Forces in particular, then engaged in covering up all information
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relating to the alleged crash and recovery, including the use of
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security oaths to military persons and the use of coercion
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(including alleged death threats) to others. This, as theorized
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by some UFO researchers, has allowed the government to keep the
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fact that there is intelligent extraterrestrial life from the
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American public for 47 years. It also supposedly allowed the US
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Government to exploit recovered extraterrestrial materials by
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reverse engineering them, ultimately providing such things as
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fiber optic and stealth technology. The "death threats," oaths,
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and other forms of coercion alleged to have been meted out by the
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Army Air Forces personnel to keep people from talking have
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apparently not been very effective, as several hundred people are
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claimed to have come forward (without harm) with some knowledge
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of the "Roswell Incident" during interviews with non-government
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researchers and the media.
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Adding some measure of credibility to the claims that have arisen
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since 1978 is the apparent depth of research of some of the
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authors and the extent of their efforts. Their claims are
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lessened somewhat, however, by the fact that almost all their
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information came from verbal reports many years after the alleged
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incident occurred. Many of the persons interviewed were, in
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fact, stationed at, or lived near Roswell during the time in
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question, and a number of them claim military service. Most,
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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
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third-hand, having been passed through a friend or relative after
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the principal had died. What is uniquely lacking in the entire
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exploration and exploitation of the "Roswell Incident" is
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official positive documentary or physical evidence of any kind
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that supports the claims of those who allege that something
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unusual happened. Conversely, there has never been any previous
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documentary evidence produced by those who would debunk the
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incident to show that something did not happen; although logic
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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
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or overlooked files that might relate to the "Roswell Incident;"
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and to provide the GAO with the best and most complete
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information available, SAF/AAZ constructed a strategy based on
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direct tasking from the Office of the Secretary, to elicit
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information from those functional offices and organizations where
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such information might logically be contained. This included
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directing searches at current offices where special or unusual
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projects might be carried out, as well as historical
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organizations, archives, and records centers over which the Air
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Force exerted some degree of control. Researchers did not,
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however, go to the US Army to review historical records in areas
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such as missile launches from White Sands, or to the Department
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of Energy to determine if its forerunner, the Atomic Energy
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Commission, had any records of nuclear-related incidents that
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might have occurred at or near Roswell in 1947. To do so would
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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; THE UFO CRASH AT ROSWELL,
|
|
(1991) by Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt; THE TRUTH ABOUT THE
|
|
UFO CRASH AT ROSWELL, (1994) also by Randle and Schmitt; THE
|
|
ROSWELL REPORT: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, (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 ofthe 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 THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER 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 1951, 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 programs 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 ofthe 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-51N, C-82A, P-80A 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 "crash" 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 errant 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-UFO" 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
|
|
WAS 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 overflying 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 11). 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 INCIDENT" 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 comrnercial 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, 1991.
|
|
"...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 I-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-like
|
|
characters...."
|
|
|
|
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 burn. 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 ofthe 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 torn like ordinary
|
|
aluminum foil can be torn..."
|
|
|
|
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 "black box" 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 Iying 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 ofthe 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 NYU
|
|
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 1A. 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 these
|
|
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 strand
|
|
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 ofthe 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 light,
|
|
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 his 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 II 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 leamed 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 ofthe 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 interesting 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 Iying 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
|
|
flowered tape (or "hieroglyphics," depending on the point of
|
|
view) that were reputed to be visible to some of the persons who
|
|
observed the wreckage prior to it getting to Fort Worth. This
|
|
organization reported 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 "sticks" visible in the
|
|
debris after it was ascertained by an interview 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
|
|
and the photo from which the measurements were made. All these
|
|
measurements are compatible with the wooden materials used in the
|
|
radar target previously described.
|
|
|
|
CONCLUSION
|
|
|
|
The Air Force research did not locate or develop any information
|
|
that the "Roswell Incident" was a UFO event. All available
|
|
official 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 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 it had only been in use
|
|
for a couple of weeks.
|
|
|
|
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 minimize 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 claims 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.
|
|
|
|
RICHARD L. WEAVER
|
|
DlRECTOR, 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
|
|
8. SAF/AQL Memo, March 22, 1994
|
|
9. AF/XOWP Memo, March 9, 1994
|
|
10. SAF/AAI Memo, March 10, 1994
|
|
11. 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, ML-307C/AP
|
|
Assembly"
|
|
30. Signed Sworn Statement of Newton, July 21, 1994
|
|
31. Photos of ML-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
|
|
|
|
|
|
END
|
|
**********************************************
|
|
* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
|
|
********************************************** |