The Roswell Report: Case Closed

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

## Anthropomorphic Dummies

The ejection seat had been developed and used successfully by the German Luftwaffe during the latter stages of World War II. The utility of this invention was realized when the U.S. Army Air Forces obtained an ejection seat in 1944. $ ^{33} $ To properly test the ejection seat, the Army Air Forces required a dummy that had the same center of gravity and weight distribution as a human, characteristics that parachute drop dummies did not possess. In 1944, the USAAF Air Materiel Command contracted with the Ted Smith Company of Upper Darby, Pa. to design and manufacture the first dummy intended to accurately represent a human. $ ^{34} $ The dummy had the same basic shape as a human, but with only abstract human features, and "skin" made of canvas.

In 1949, the U.S. Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory submitted a proposal for an improved model of the anthropomorphic dummy. $ ^{35} $ This request was originated by the renowned Air Force scientist and physician John P. Stapp, now a retired Colonel, who conducted a series of landmark

Fig. 17. (Left) Early rope and sandbag dummy used to test parachutes. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Fig. 18. (Right) Parachute drop dummies in use at Wright Field, Ohio. The historic Flight Test hangars, Hangars 1 and 9, can be seen in the background. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Figs. 19 & 20. (Left & Right) These early anthropomorphic dummies, manufactured by the Ted Smith Co., of Upper Darby, Pa., were used by the Army Air Forces beginning in 1944. They were replaced by a more realistic dummy in 1949.

(Right) "Oscar Eightball," the name given to this early model anthropomorphic dummy by Col. John P. Stapp, is shown following a run of the highspeed track at Muroc AAF (now Edwards AFB), Calif., in 1947. (U.S. Air Force photos)