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

Flights 29 through 39: They were made from Alamogordo, New Mexico during November and December, 1947 to test ballast controls and to develop a launching technique satisfactory for high winds. The period of data reception by radio was too short in all of these flights to permit much evaluation of the altitude controls. On three flights (33, 35 and 39) a Ferguson meteorograph was added to the train to record flight pressure; of 11 balloons released, only these three were not recovered.

On seven flights the pressure signals received by radiosonde were lost while the balloon was still rising; Flight 38 was a shrouded neoprene balloon which burst as it became full; and Flight 39 was a polyethylene balloon which burst at or near its ceiling following a very rapid rise. (This was the first balloon to burst using a short external appendix with stiffeners.)

On the other two flights (30 and 35) a very short period of level flight was recorded before the balloon-borne radio transmitter passed out of range.

Besides these two, several other .001" polyethylene balloons probably were maintained at constant or near-constant levels for several hours, as can be seen from their points of recovery (Figure 13). One balloon was seen descending 18 hours after release.

Figure 13

On Flights 29 through 33 only a fixed ballast leak was used, set for flows of from 300 to 600 grams per hour. Other flights used automatic ballast controls. Although these fixed leaks seemed to be sufficient to keep the balloons aloft, there was no clear evidence as to what amount would be needed for most efficient operation. The need for a system of ballast metering was indicated in this series of flights.