The Roswell Report: Case Closed

The statements attributed to the redheaded captain, "You did not see anything. There was no crash here. You don't go into town making any rumors that you saw anything or that there was any crash," $ ^{200} $ were consistent with Kittinger's desire to avoid an accident investigation. However, when interviewed for this report, neither Kittinger nor any of the other persons documented as having been present in the hospital that day recalled encountering Dennis. $ ^{201} $

What may have led an uninformed person, such as Dennis, to believe they were witnessing, or were told of, an unusual or classified event, was that when the injured balloon pilots arrived at the Walker AFB hospital, even though Project EXCELSIOR was unclassified, Kittinger sought to limit disclosure of negative information and publicity. $ ^{202} $

By 1959, having been the subject of intense media scrutiny following his June 1957 MAN HIGH I high altitude balloon flight, Kittinger was aware of both the positive and negative aspects of publicity. In his 1961 book, The Long, Lonely Leap, Kittinger described this self-imposed secrecy regarding Project EXCELSIOR, "The secrecy imposed upon EXCELSIOR was of our own choosing. We believed...that any unnecessary conversation about our activities...would simply be premature." $ ^{203} $ When interviewed for this report, Kittinger further explained of Project EXCELSIOR and the visit to the hospital at Walker AFB: "We didn't want publicity... about anything we were doing. So it would have appeared to someone not conversant with the project that we were 'hush-hush,' that we were secretive... it might look like we were trying to cover up a classified mission." $ ^{204} $

The allegations that the redheaded captain, an apparent reference to Kittinger, threatened anyone while he was at the Walker AFB hospital are untrue. When interviewed for this report and in signed statements obtained from Kittinger, the two other balloon pilots, the doctor who treated them, the medic aboard the helicopter, and the Balloon Branch communications technician who were present at the hospital that day (see Appendix B), none of them recalled that Kittinger was involved in an altercation or made threatening remarks to anyone. $ ^{205} $ Involvement in an altercation with a civilian would have highlighted the presence of the balloon crew and possibly brought the type of negative publicity Kittinger sought to avoid. This would not only have violated Kittinger's policy of maintaining a low profile in regard to EXCELSIOR, but would be completely out of character for the seasoned test pilot.

Throughout his career, Kittinger was renowned for his ability to maintain his composure in difficult, often life threatening, situations. He faced these situations as a test pilot, as a combat pilot and squadron commander in Southeast Asia, and as a Prisoner of War while subjected to severe torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese. In The Pre Astronauts, which chronicles many of Kittinger's accomplishments in the field of aeronautics, including Project EXCELSIOR and STARGAZER, the author offered the following description of him: