Documents / FOIA release

roswell

Office of the Secretary of Defense · 993 pages · text from the file's own layer

The Roswell Report: Fact versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert was published in 1995 by Headquarters United States Air Force. It was written in response to Representative Steven H. Schiff's request and a General Accounting Office audit, and it contains Col. Richard L. Weaver's report and 1st Lt. James McAndrew's synopsis, along with attachments, appendices and photographs. The report says researchers found no evidence of an extraterrestrial craft or crew. It concludes that the 1947 debris came from a Project MOGUL balloon train.

  • p. 143 …Robert Gross ar.d 't!r. Jlaher of Lockheed 11~ 55 A.'.!. Gen. Sam Anderson 12…
  • p. 481 …Balloon Volume x Gas Lift Gross Load · It may be noted from this equation that a…
  • p. 482 …Balloon Volume x 24.4 Gross Load K =-w K _ 08.o475Z In turn, w-in…
  • p. 483 …free lift in pounds and G is gross lift in pounds. Although this equation was derived…
  • p. 488 …By equation {10), with a gross load of 52 kg., the unbalance caused by loss of…
  • p. 500 …or a gross buoyancy of 450 lb. • the maximum allowable infle.tion of a 30' diameter…
  • p. 569 …accelerating force equal to 5% of the gross load (52 kg) was acting to bring the…
  • p. 643 …000 feet. In one step, this becomes: Gross Lift/Balloon = (Balloon Volume) x (Difference in molecular…
  • p. 650 (Approximate) where G • gross load A chart, Figure 24, has beendrawn up, based on this equation…
  • p. 652 …G = loss of lift G =gross load (balloon weight plus equipment load) AT : mean temperature difference…
  • p. 653 …not including balloon or its integral parts. Gross load: Load on the gas at release (Balloon…
  • p. 726 …Ballast • • .. • • '" • Total Equipment l~eight. • • • • ' Gross Load • • ' • • • • {56)
  • p. 727 …Balloon volwne x gas litt/mol gross load cu. ft. -----------------NAximum Altitude • • • ft, m.s.l…
  • p. 741 …altitude deter- mined by the displacement and gross load. 7. Control systems Two systems of control…
  • p. 777 …By adjusting th~ gross load to be supported by the gas to equal the total lift…
  • p. 787 …Computations A chart showi~ the relation between altitude, gross lift, and balloon size has been found…
  • p. 883 …The gross load reported should be accurate to the nearest 200 grams. The amount of lifting…
  • p. 885 …A L L 0 0 N 7300 ,, GRoss LoAD Fl G. 17 NYU BALLOON pROJECT I…
  • p. 887 …bubble length and resultant inflated volume, using gross lift as an expression of volume. It will…
  • p. 889 …in Appendix II summarizes the relationship between gross load and floating level for balloons of several…
  • p. 925 …A can of sand is made to weigh the same amount as the required gross lift…
  • p. 933 …the balloon with the equipment load attached. Gross Lift: Lift of all of the gas in…
  • p. 938 …description.______________ Drag chute ---------------------------- Banner description --------------- ---------- Ballast assembly - description -----------~-- Ballast • • • • • • Total Equipment i'ieight • • ' • • • • • • Gross Load • • • • • • • • • • • -86-
  • p. 939 …wnitin_,g________ grams Actual balloon lift • • • • • • • • ". . .• II AActunl gross lift (Balloon lift & balloon wt.) • Number Helium…
  • p. 943 …Gross Lift vs. Bubble Length • • • • • • .107 Graph 3: Buoyancy vs. Altitude • • • • • • • • • .108 Graph 4: Gross Load…
  • p. 955 …BALLOOO DA 'fA General Mills Actual Balloon Estimated Gross Altitude ~ominal Diiameter Volwne Weight Load Limit…
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 rlo 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 Gen 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
21

Cases discussed

About this file

FOIA release, from the osd collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 993 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.