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The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert

USAF / The Black Vault · 1995 · 882 pages · text by OCR

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.

  • p. 118 …Robert Gross and Mr. Maher of Lockheed 11:55 A.M. Gen. Sam Anderson 12:00…
  • p. 393 …in the form of an altitude vs. gross load chart with helium as the lifting gas…
  • p. 394 …4}{\text {Gross Load}} = \frac {K}{W} $$ In turn, $ \frac{K}{W}=a e^{-0. 4…
  • p. 395 …free lift in pounds and G is gross lift in pounds. Although this equation was derived…
  • p. 400 …By equation (10), with a gross load of 52 kg., the unbalance caused by loss of…
  • p. 412 …or a gross buoyancy of 450 lb., the maximum allowable inflation of a 30' diameter, .001…
  • p. 479 …accelerating force equal to 5% of the gross load (52 kg) was acting to bring the…
  • p. 552 …000 feet. In one step, this becomes: Gross Lift/Balloon = (Balloon Volume) x (Difference in molecular…
  • p. 555 …of rise in feet per minute G = gross lift in grams For our purposes, we wish…
  • p. 559 …G) ^ {\frac {2}{3}} $$ (Approximate) where G = gross load A chart, Figure 24, has beendrawn up…
  • p. 561 …where $ \triangle G= $ loss of lift G = gross load (balloon weight plus equipment load) $ \triangle T…
  • p. 562 …not including balloon or its integral parts. Gross load: Load on the gas at release (Balloon…
  • p. 635 …Serial No. ___ description ___ ___ Line length ___ Banner description ___ ___ Ballast assembly - description ___ ___ Eallast. ___ Total Equipment Weight. ___ Gross Load ___
  • p. 636 …Gross Load . . . ___ Assumed Gross Lift (Gross Load + 10%) G ___ G 2/3 ___ Free Lift - F = $ (\frac…
  • p. 649 …theoretical altitude determined by the displacement and gross load. ## 7. Control systems Two systems of control…
  • p. 681 …By adjusting the gross load to be supported by the gas to equal the total lift…
  • p. 691 …A chart showing the relation between altitude, gross lift, and balloon size has been found necessary…
  • p. 775 …The gross load reported should be accurate to the nearest 200 grams. The amount of lifting…
  • p. 777 500 gm DRAG CHUTES 300 " BANNER 2000 " PAYLOAD 4500 " BALLOON 7300 " GROSS LOAD ## NOTE: Use low…
  • p. 779 …bubble length and resultant inflated volume, using gross lift as an expression of volume. It will…
  • p. 781 …in Appendix II summarizes the relationship between gross load and floating level for balloons of several…
  • p. 817 …A can of sand is made to weigh the same amount as the required gross lift…
  • p. 825 …the balloon with the equipment load attached. Gross Lift: Lift of all of the gas in…
  • p. 830 …Serial No. ___ description ___ Drag chute ___ ___ Banner description ___ ___ Ballast assembly - description ___ ___ Ballast ___ Total Equipment Weight . ___ Gross Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ___
  • p. 831 …waiting___ grams Actual balloon lift . . . . . . . . . . . ___ " AActual gross lift (Balloon lift & balloon wt.) . . . . . ___ " Number Helium tanks required…
  • p. 835 …Gross Lift vs. Bubble Length . . . . . . . 107 Graph 3: Buoyancy vs. Altitude . . . . . . . . . . 108 Graph 4: Gross Load…
  • p. 847 …Estimated Gross Load Limit kg. Altitude Range ft. 7 200 0.6 1.5 to 5…
In order to provide a more detailed discussion of the specifics of Project MOGUL and how it appeared to be directly responsible for the "Roswell Incident," a SAF/AAZD researcher prepared a more detailed discussion on the balloon project which is appended to this report as Atch 32.

## Other Research

In the attempt to develop additional information that could help explain this matter, a number of other steps were taken. First, assistance was requested from various museums and other archives (Atch 28) to obtain information and/or examples of the actual balloons and radar targets used in connection with Project MOGUL and to correlate them with the various descriptions of wreckage and materials recovered. The blueprints for the "Pilot Balloon Target ML307C/AP Assembly" (generically, the radar target assembly) were located at the Army Signal Corps Museum at Fort Monmouth and were obtained. A copy is appended as Atch 29. This blueprint provides the specification for the foil material, tape, wood, eyelets, and string used and the assembly instructions thereto. An actual device was also obtained for study with the assistance of Professor Moore. (The example actually procured was a 1953-manufactured model "C" as compared to the Model B which was in use in 1947. Professor Moore related the differences were minor.) An examination of this device revealed it to be simply made of aluminum-colored foil-like material over a stronger paper-like material, attached to balsa wood sticks, affixed with tape, glue, and twine. When opened, the device appears as depicted in Atch 31 (contemporary photo) and Atch 25 (1947 photo, in a "balloon train"). When folded, the device is in a series of triangles, the largest being 4 feet by 2 feet 10 inches. The smallest triangle section measures 2 feet by 2 feet 10 inches. (Compare with descriptions provided by Lt Col Cavitt and others, as well as photos of wreckage.)

Additionally, the researchers obtained from the Archives of the University of Texas-Arlington (UTA), a set of original (i.e., first generation) prints of the photographs taken at the time by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that depicted Ramey and Marcel with the wreckage. A close review of these photos (and a set of first-generation negatives also subsequently obtained from UTA) revealed several interesting observations. First, although in some of the literature cited above, Marcel allegedly stated that he had his photo taken with the "real" UFO wreckage and then it was subsequently removed and the weather balloon wreckage substituted for it, a comparison shows that the same wreckage appeared in the photos of Marcel and Ramey. The photos also depicted that this material was lying on what appeared to be some sort of wrapping paper (consistent with affidavit excerpt of crew chief Porter, above). It was also noted that in the two photos of Ramey he had a piece of paper in his hand. In one, it was folded over so nothing could be seen. In the second, however, there appears to be text printed on the paper. In an attempt to read this text to determine if it could shed any further light on locating documents relating to this matter, the photo was sent to a national-level organization for digitizing and subsequent photo interpretation and analysis. This organization was also asked to scrutinize the digitized photos for any indication of the flowered tape (or "hieroglyphics," depending on the

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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.