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.
“The Advance”9 pages
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SUMMARY OF NYU CONSTANT - LEV4L BALLOON FLIGHTS FLIGHT NUMBER DATE AND RELEASE TIME LAUNCHING SITE BALLOON WEIGHT DESCRIPTION OF EQUIPMENT TOTAL WEIGHT ON BALLOON INCLUDING BALLOON DESCRIPTION OF ALTITUDE CONTROL BALLOON WEIGHT FREE LIFT BALLOON LIFT RADIOSONDE RECEPTION % TRACKING % AIRCRAFT OBSERVATION % FLIGHT DURATION OPTIMUM CONSTRUCT MAXIMUM CONSTANT LAYLERS MSL RECOVERY LANDING SITE CRITIQUE 19 10 Sept. 1947 0659 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 6.3kg Data gear Ballast release 13.2kg Automatic Ballast release assembly 2.4kg 2.3kg 15.5kg 100% Theodolite 100% SCR-658 100% Used on search for grounded gear 20min. None -- 100% Alamogordo Premature activation of burnoff baroswitch, caused by jerking in high surface wind. Hole blown in balloon after ascent of 200 feet. Balloon descended slowly, landing 2 miles away. Excellent demonstration of blowout patch and that only two hour delay switch needed in burnout circuit. 20 10 Sept. 1947 1306 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 4.1kg 397 mc Radiosonde Banner Ballast assembly 9.0kg Manual ballast valve Fixed rate of leak 1000 gm/hr 4.7kg 1.5kg 10.5kg 235min. Theodolite 145min. SCR-658 235min. Not required date not essential Over 235min. 30min. +1000' Max. 56400' Const. 56000' 0% Successful upwind release (GM type). Successful appendix design shown. Need of automatic ballast valve demonstrated as high fixed rate of ballast leak did not keep ball on floating after reaching ceiling. 21 12 Sept. 1947 0716 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 4.1kg Data gear Banner Ballast assembly 12.8kg Automatic Ballast release assembly 5.0kg 0.2kg 13.0kg Not provided for Theodolite 57min. Not available About 600min. No data Max. 58000' Estimated 100% Mari-esta, Okle, 535mi. Flight for Watson. No pressure reporting gear due to weight limitations. Very successful flight due to improved low leakage. General Mills balloon, in spite of complete disabling of ballast release on launching. Low initial ascent observed. Descent observed by finder. 22 12 Sept. 1947 0538 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 4.1kg Data gear Banner Ballast assembly 12.8kg Automatic Ballast release assembly 4.8kg 1.1kg 13.9kg Not provided for Theodolite 37min. 10% 1 hour Balloon climbed above range of planes About 382min. No data Max. 54000' Estimated 100% Carlsbad, N.M. 105mi. Flight for Watson. No pressure reporting gear due to weight limitations. Successful flight. Old style balloon had high leakage but was kept in air due to automatic ballast release. Descent observed by finder. 23 12 Sept. 1947 0918 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 6.0kg 397 mc Radiosonde Banner, ballast assembly 9.8kg Automatic Ballast release assembly 3.1kg 0.97kg 10.8kg 125min. Theodolite 125min. SCR-658 125min. Not required Only L-5 available Over 125min. 20min. +1000' Max. 50700' Const. 50000' 0% Foot ropes of shrouded balloon believed to have tangled, pulling out balloon valve. Uncertain performance. Perhaps the nooprene balloon burst inside of shroud due to friction. 24 13 Sept. 1947 0551 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 4.1kg 3 mc transmitter, banner, ballast assembly 12.7kg Automatic Ballast release assembly 3.2kg 1.1kg 13.8kg 394min. Theodolite 230min. Middle 2 hours Over 394min. 122min. +1000' Max. Unknown Const. 43000' Graham, Texas 440mi. Radiosonde modulator defective. Good balloon climbed to its rising ceiling and remained there until transmitter failed. 25 15 Sept. 1947 0607 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 3.9kg Data gear Banner 7.3kg None None 1.8kg 9.3kg 210min. Theodolite 73min. SCR-658 210min. Not required Over 210min. 20min. +1000' Max. Unknown Const. 27000' 0% Cluster of meteorological balloons for Watson. No altitude control or radiosonde provided. 26 15 Sept. 1947 1002 MST Alamogordo New Mexico 4.2kg 3 mc transmitter, banner, ballast assembly 13.6kg Automatic Ballast release assembly 5.0kg 0.2kg 13.8kg 508min. Theodolite 94min. 2 hours Over 508min. Unknown Ozone, Texas 325mi. Operational flight for NTU transmitter test. Pressure data which was received proved to be incorrect when gear was recovered.
Report, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 882 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.