Documents / Report
The Roswell Report: Fact versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert was published by Headquarters United States Air Force in 1995. The Black Vault distributes this copy. It reproduces the report by Col. Richard L. Weaver and the synopsis by 1st Lt. James McAndrew, both written after a General Accounting Office inquiry requested by Representative Steven Schiff. The Air Force search found no evidence of an extraterrestrial craft or crew. It concluded that the Roswell debris most likely came from NYU Flight No. 4, a Project MOGUL balloon train.
“Nevers”53 pages
S U L M A N Y O N Y U C O N S T A N T - L A V A L B A L L U O N F L I U G H T S PLATFORM NUMBER DATE AND BALLOON SIZE BALLOON BALLOON BALLOON BALLOON MAGNIFICATION OF BALLOON TOTAL WEIGHT OF BALLOON INCLUDING BALLOON DESCRIPTION OF ALTITUDE CONTROL BALLOON HEIGHT FREELIFT MALLOON LIFT MADIUSOND RECEPTION% TRACKING% ALIANCE OBSERVATION% FLIGHT DURATION OPTIMUM CONSTANCY MAXIMUM CONSTANT LEVELS MSL Recovery & LAND IMG SITE CRITICUM 11 7 July 1947 0508 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 7-General Mills 1-15'.008" polyethylene 6-7'.001" polyethylene in balloon cluster below 15' balloon 17.1kg 74.5mc Radiosonde Ballast assembly 15.9kg Dribbler Compass fluid Fixed leak 300 gm/hr 3kg 11.3kg 27.2kg 97% with recorder Theodo-lite 38% 100% G-54 550 min. 423 min.1500' Max.10000' Const.16000' 0% Balloons used in cluster to obtain higher altitude. In high wind at launching 3 small balloons deflated. Therefore cluster did not rise high enough to activate altitude control. Dribbler leak and balloon diffusion both 300 gm/hr. Therefore balloon remained at ceiling until balloon was expanded. 12 5 Aug.1947 0714 LST Lakehurst New Jersey 1-General Mills 20'.001 Polyethylene 4.1kg 3mc transmitters 39.7mc Radiosonde 72.2mc Radiosonde Ballast assembly 26.0kg Automatic and manual ballast valves and minimum pressure switch 5kg 3.8kg 31.8kg 100% Hillman Theodo-lite 15% SCR-658 80% 85% 407 min. 60 min.400' Max.14100' 95% Smyrna, Delta-ware 85ml. First flight with large this balloon. Open appendix caused helium dilution with air cover over appendix thought to have caused balloon rupture, terminating flight early and low. Flight not successful as balloon test or altitude control test. 13 5 Sept.1947 0647 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 2 General Mills 20'.001" Polyethylene.10 appendix inside shroud lines 8.4kg 397mc Radiosonde Data Gear Ballast release 24.2kg Automatic Ballast release assembly 10.0kg 3.8kg 28.0kg 100% Theodo-lite 100% SCR-658 100% Not required Burst over desert 58 min. None (burst) Max.4760' 0% White Sands. N.M. Appendices twisted around shroud lines, preventing valving of gas at pressure altitude. Both balloons burst within 2 minutes and gear fall free to desert. Recovery not attempted. 14 6 Sept.1947 0613 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 1 General Mills 20'.001" Polyethylene.10 appendix outside shroud lines 4.0kg 397mc Radiosonde Banner Ballast release 15.1kg Automatic Ballast release assembly 5.0kg 2.2kg 17.3kg 100% Theodo-lite 100% SCR-658 100% Last 10%(L=5) 55 min. None (burst) Max.49000' 100% 6 mi. north of Alamogordo AAF Appendix again twisted around shroud lines, preventing valving of gas at pressure altitude, where balloon burst. Desert retarded by banner. 15 6 Sept.1947 1153 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 1 General Mills 20'.001" Polyethylene.1 appendix outside shroud lines 4.0kg 397mc Radiosonde Banner Ballast release 15.1kg Manual ballast valve. Fixed rate of leak 1000 gm/hr 5.0kg 2.6kg 17.7kg 364 min. Theodo-lite 175 min. SCR-658 364 min. Not required Accurate data not required More than 364 min. 71 min.900' Max.45800' Const.34000' 0% First flight with large G.M. balloon which did not burst due to appendix. Believe holes in balloons due to high wind at launching caused slow descent after pressure height was reached. Shows need of short appendix and automatic ballast valve. 16 6 Sept.1947 0828 LST Alamogordo New Mexico 1 General Mills 20'.001 Polyethylene.2 appendix outside shroud lines 4.4kg 397mc Radiosonde Data gear Banner Ballast release 16.1kg Automatic Ballast Release assembly 3.2kg 2.4kg 18.5kg 100% Theodo-lite 100% SCR-658 100% Not required A/c used to secure for gear 30 min. None (burst) Max.31700' 0% 6 miles MS Alamogordo AAF Heavily loaded balloon with too much free lift (inflated by volume estimate in wind). High oscillations observed after release. Balloon burst due to blowing off top wall below pressure altitude. Balloon cause down with free falling gear but was not round. 17 9 Sept.1947 1647 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 1 H.A. Smith 15'.004" Polyethylene with 18 load points 6.4kg 397mc Radiosonde Banner Ballast release 11.3kg Automatic Ballast release assembly 100 gm/hr fixed leak 4.0kg 2.1kg 13.4kg 281 min. 281 min. Not required night flight estimated 10 hrs. 181 min.1500' Max.29700' Const.29200' Croft, Kansas 555 miles Successful controlled altitude flight demonstrating altitude controls maintain height through a sunset. Balloon descended near Croft, Kansas long after passing out of Rewell's reception range. Need for a barograph shown.
Report, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 882 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.