Documents / Official release
This is a 28 July 1995 report from the US General Accounting Office to Representative Steven H. Schiff about government records on the July 1947 crash near Roswell, New Mexico. It is filed with a Clinton Library NSC routing record. GAO found only two 1947 records: a 509th Bomb Group and RAAF history and an FBI teletype. Both describe the object as a radar-tracking or weather balloon. The report also notes that some RAAF administrative records and outgoing messages were destroyed without any stated authority.
8-262046 To follow up on the July 8th message, we reviewed microfIlm abstracts of the FBI Dallas and Cincinnati office activities for July 1947. An abstract prepared by the FBI Dallas office on July 12, 1947, summarized the particulars of the July 8th message. There was no mention in the Cincinnati office abstracts of the crash or recovery of an airborne object near Roswell. Because the FBI message reported that debris from the Roswell crash was being transported to Wright Field for examination, we attempted to determine whether military regulations existed for handling such debris. We were unable to locate any applicable regulation. As a final step, we reviewed Air Materiel Command (Wright Field) records from 1947 to 1950 for evidence of command personnel involvement in this matter. We found no records mentioning the Roswell crash or the examination by Air Materiel Command personnel of any debris recovered from the crash. Queries to Federal Agencies Regarding Records on the Crash We sent letters to several federal agencies asking for any government records they might have concerning the Roswell crash. In this regard, we contacted DOD, the National Security Council, the White House OffIce of Science and Technology Policy, the CIA, the FBI, and the Department of Energy.· The National Security Council, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Department of Energy responded that they had no government records relating to the Roswell crash. (Copies of their responses appear in app. III, IV, and V.) The FBI, DOD, and the CIA provided the following information. Federal Bureau of Investigation The FBI informed us that all FBI data regarding the crash near Roswell had been processed under Freedom ofInformation Act (FOIA) requests previously received by the Bureau. We reviewed the FBI'S FOIA material and identified the July 8, 1947, FBI teletype message discussing the recovery near Roswell of a high-altitude weather balloon with a radar reflector. (A copy ofthe FBI'S response appears in app. VI.) Department of Defense DOD informed us that the U.S. Air Force report of July 1994, entitled Report of Air Force Research Regarding the Roswell Incident, represents the extent of DOD records or information concerning the Roswell crash. The Air Force report concluded that there was no dispute that something Page 5 GAO/NSIAD-95-1S7 Government Records
Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 26 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.