Documents / Report

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…
Temperature effects were discussed previously in this report. Those discussions on superheat and adiabatic temperature change will apply to the general equation. In general, temperature of the free air and lifting gas can be measured to a fair degree of accuracy.

Balloon volume at any time is a function of original full balloon volume plus the summation of all the changes in volume due to pressure and temperature changes and loss of lifting gas. It will also be affected by loss or gain of air by the balloon through diffusion and intake of air through the appendix. The nonextensible balloon will have a maximum volume and thus any changes tending to increase the gas volume to a value greater than the balloon volume will result in a valving of the excess lifting gas into the air, or (in the case of a balloon which will carry internal pressure) a pressure increase of the lifting gas.

It is for this reason that a non-extensible balloon is said to be in a state of stable equilibrium in a direction of greater altitude when it is full. However, in a direction of lesser altitude, and with the case of a partially full floating balloon, the system is in a state of neutral equilibrium.

Composition of the lifting gas will change due to contamination of the lifting gas by the entry of air into the balloon, either by the flow of air through the appendix opening or by diffusion of air into the balloon. We may then modify our term for density of the lifting gas to include a term for the pure gas and a term for the contaminating air. Using the method of partial volumes, we may equate the density of the lifting gas at any time by:

where:

$$
\rho_ {g} = \frac {P _ {g}}{V _ {b} T _ {g}} \left(\frac {V _ {p}}{R _ {p}} + \frac {V _ {a}}{R _ {a}}\right)
$$

$ P_{g} $ pressure of the lifting gas

$ V_{b} $ = total lifting gas volume

$ V_{\mathbf{p}} $ volume of pure lifting gas in balloon

$ V_{\sigma} $ volume of air in balloon

$ R_{g}= $ specific gas constant of pure lifting gas

$ R_{a} $ specific gas constant of air

Then, calling $ \frac{V_{p}}{V_{b}}=x_{p} $ and $ \frac{V_{a}}{V_{b}}=x_{a} $ (here we see that since

$ V_{p}+V_{a}=V_{b}, $ $ x_{p}+x_{a}=1 $ we may equate:

$$
P _ {g} = \frac {P _ {g}}{T g} \left(\frac {x _ {p}}{R _ {p}} + \frac {x _ {a}}{R _ {a}}\right)
$$

Cited by

Cases discussed

About this file

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.