The Roswell Report: Case Closed

standard procedure \vas to preposition military recovery crc~vsnear the prqjected poim of
payload impact. The crews consisted primat-ily of .L\irForce mcmbets in unifotm and fhey
operated militaty vchieles. I ofien directed these crews to wandby” along the shoulder of
Highh\cay285. both notlh and south 01‘RosweUuntil the balloon was in position. ‘I’he
recover crews received detailed instructions from tracking aircrali that led them IO the
exact location of the payload. The recovery vehicles included. dcpendiig on the mission. a
crane. weapons carriers. communications van, and occasionally tat&r trucks to refuel the
aircraft that would sometimes land on nearhv roads.
During the time of’ the year when haUoon trajectories were to the west. I attempted to drop
the payloads in the Rio Grandc \-alley. I also aimed for another valley. the flat area north
oi Truth or Consequencesthat includes the Plains of San .4ugustin. In addition. man)
remote balloon launch sites were located throughout the Rio Grande Valley west of the
White Sands Proking <;rounds. Launch crews were also mostly military and used much of.
the same equipment as the recovety crews.
I had extensive involvement with Project 7218 that later became Project 7222. This
prqiect studied the free-fall characteristics of’ anthropomorphic dummies dropped from
balloons horn altitudes up to 100.00~1feet. The missions usually consisted of’ two
dummies attached to a suspensionrack that I directed to bc relcascd at altitude. Depending
on the wind conditions and time ofvear. the dummies. on many occasions, landed in the
Roswcll area. 1 recaUsome difficulhes in the releasemechanisms of the dummies that
resulted in some ofthem free-falling to the ground while they were still attached to the
rack. Someone without a good vantage point or not associatedw~iththe prqiect might
mistake these dummies for ‘Aiens” due to their odd flesh tones and abstract human
features.
I also recall an accident irwohing a manned balloon Right. I remember this event clearh
becauseI am also a halloon pilot and had an accident approximately &vo years belorc. ‘l.he
accident oc~urrcd on a flight that Capt Joe Kittenger was ‘-checking out” two back up pilots
for his high altitude missions. The baUoonwas launched around midnight from behind the
Balloon Rranch at HoUoman .U;H. I remember that some of the steel balIast used bv the
balloon caused a “fireworks‘ display when it contacted some nearby powr lines duting the
launch. I was operating the control center for this flight and I received notification from
the communications vehicle that was following the balloon that there had been an accident
north ofRosrvel1. I later learned that the gondola had rolled over during a practke towh
and go landing and one otthe pilots had been struck in the head and injured. I recall
speaking to (‘apt Kittinger about the accident and I saw the injured pilot. .-\lthough his
injut~ was not serious, his head had considerable swAling and he looked very odd.
I also worked with Capt Kittinger on Project Stargazer. I also had met several times the
cidian scientific a&isor Dr. .I. Allen IIynek. Dr IIytek was thoroughly familiar nith the
balloon operations at Holloman and kwted the Balloon Branch numerous times. ‘This
project expetienced some difkulties and only one manned flight was conducted.
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