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The Roswell Report: Case Closed

The Black Vault · 246 pages · text from the file's own layer

The Roswell Report: Case Closed was published by Headquarters United States Air Force and written by Capt. James McAndrew. It follows up the July 1994 report, which traced the 1947 debris to Project MOGUL balloon trains. The report says the reported alien bodies were probably anthropomorphic test dummies dropped from high altitude balloons. It also says the accounts of bodies at the Roswell Army Air Field hospital probably merged two separate events: a 1956 KC-97 crash and a 1959 manned balloon mishap.

  • p. 58 …to claim this honor.“h The DISCOVERERprogram had been plagued by failure with IO unsuccessful missions…
  • p. 110 …on board, while on a refueling training mission, experienced a propeller failure four and one half…
  • p. 121 The three pilots, Kittinger, Kaufman and Fulgham, flew training missions together. Kaufman and Fulgham alternately flew…
  • p. 139 …Nenninger who died of injuries received in an aircraft crash during a balloon recovery mission on…
  • p. 182 …dcpendiig on the mission. a crane. weapons carriers. communications van, and occasionally tat&r trucks to…
  • p. 237 …Ciildenberg, Bernard G. “General Philosophy and Techniques of Balloon Control”, in Lewis A. Grass, ed., Proceedings…
Fig. 8. Main entrance of the
4036th USAF hospital at
W’alker AFB, 1956. Initial
identification procedures of
the 1 I aircrewmen killed in
the June 26, 1956 KC-97
accident were conducted here
before being transferred to
another facility on the base
with refrigeration capability.
(US. Air Forccphoroj
The accident occurred on June 26, 1956, 8.8 statute miles south
of Walker AFB.12’ A KC-97G aircraft with 1 I crewmen on board, while
on a refueling training mission, experienced a propeller failure four and
one half minutes after takeoff.‘22 As a result of the propeller failure,
a propeller blade was believed to have punctured the deck fuel tank of
the fully loaded tanker causing an intense cabin fire.lzi The aircraft
was quickly engulfed in flames, spun out of control, and was completely
destroyed. All 11 Air Force, members were killed instantly by the fire and
impact explosion.‘2J Due to the isolated rural impact location on property
owned by the state of New Mexico, there was minimal collateral damage
and no fatalities or injuries to persons on the ground.“’
The remains of the crewmen were recovered from the crash
site and transported by members of the 4036th USAF Hospital (numerical
designation of the hospital at Walker AFB) to the hospital facility at Walker
AFB for identification.“”
On the day following the crash, an identification specialist from
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio arrived at the hospital to assist in identifying the
remains.12’ Part way through the identification process, conducted by both
the identification specialist and Air Force members assigned to the Walker
AFB hospital, the identification activities were moved to a refrigerated
compartment at the Walker AFB commissary.12” This was due to an
overpoweringodor emitted by the burned and fuel-soaked bodies and the lack of
proper storage facilities at the small base hospital.‘29 Also on the day following
the crash,June 27, 1956,autopsiesof three of the victims were accomplished by
a local Roswell pathologist. ‘XI These examinations were performed at a local
funeral home.“’ Upon completion of the identification proceduresand the post-
mortem examinations, the remains were shipped to the next of kin for burial.

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Report, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 246 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.