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This July 28, 1995 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office to Representative Steven H. Schiff sets out the results of a search for government records on the 1947 crash near Roswell, New Mexico. GAO found that some Roswell Army Air Field records had been destroyed without a stated authority. Only two 1947 records turned up: a 509th Bomb Group history and an FBI teletype, and both describe a radar-tracking or weather balloon. The report also notes the Air Force conclusion that the wreckage most likely came from Project MOGUL.
GAO United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 National Security and International Affairs Division B-262046 July 28, 1995 The Honorable Steven H. Schiff House of Representatives Dear Mr. Schiff: On July 8, 1947, the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) public information office in Roswell, New Mexico, reported the crash and recovery of a “flying disc.” Army Air Forces personnel from the RAAF’s 509th Bomb Group were credited with the recovery. The following day, the press reported that the Commanding General of the U.S. Eighth Air Force, Fort Worth, Texas, announced that RAAF personnel had recovered a crashed radar-tracking (weather) balloon, not a “flying disc.” After nearly 50 years, speculation continues on what crashed at Roswell. Some observers believe that the object was of extraterrestrial origin. In the July 1994 Report of Air Force Research Regarding the Roswell Incident, the Air Force did not dispute that something happened near Roswell, but reported that the most likely source of the wreckage was from a balloon-launched classified government project designed to determine the state of Soviet nuclear weapons research. The debate on what crashed at Roswell continues. Concerned that the Department of Defense (DOD) may not have provided you with all available information on the crash, you asked us to determine the requirements for reporting air accidents similar to the crash near Roswell and identify any government records concerning the Roswell crash. We conducted an extensive search for government records related to the crash near Roswell. We examined a wide range of classified and unclassified documents dating from July 1947 through the 1950s. These records came from numerous organizations in New Mexico and elsewhere throughout DOD as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the National Security Council. The full scope and methodology of our work are detailed at the end of this report. GAO/NSIAD-95-187 Government RecordsPage 1
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