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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. 193 …overhead and followed the balloons out to sea. I have no idea about the results that…
  • p. 200 …the regular 334 that we had at sea level. From that they could deduce the temperature…
  • p. 243 …actually located on the jurisdictional lines between Sea Girt and Springlake, New Jersey. It was an…
  • p. 244 …The Sea Girt Inn? A: Exactly. That's where John had his office, and I was…
  • p. 320 …alone is about 24,000 miles at sea level, and about 4500 miles at 45,000…
  • p. 325 …twenty-five (25) feet at their largest sea-level diameter. The sonic unit was a combination…
  • p. 378 …per hour when one-fifth inflated at sea level). One other type of balloon which has…
  • p. 402 …Let us, then, compare the rate of leakage at any given altitude with leakage at sea…
  • p. 404 …The leakage at any altitude may be expressed as a function of leakage at sea level…
  • p. 405 Comparing rate of leakage at 40,000 feet with leakage at sea level: $$ \frac {L _ {4…
  • p. 407 …If a 20-foot diameter balloon $ \frac{1}{1 0} $ full were tested at sea level…
  • p. 408 …At sea level this is equivalent to 5.32 gm/hr. for a 20-foot diameter…
  • p. 414 …Using the rules of subsonic aerodynamics, Picard suggests that air at sea level escaping at 1333…
  • p. 415 …air at sea level (lb./ft. $ ^{3} $ ) 14.7 = pressure of air at sea level (psi…
  • p. 432 …to about 20 millibars and increased to sea-level pressure at different temperatures. The most comprehensive…
  • p. 563 …The height above mean sea level as determined from pressure measurements used in this work with…
  • p. 644 …point at which the radiosonde reaches the sea surface. ## 2. Earlier attempts There have been numerous…
  • p. 645 …The balloons floated between the surface and 30,000 ft above sea level; those which reached…
  • p. 704 …Met Gifford who has 90' sea rescue boat this project is planning to use. Stayed at…
  • p. 719 …Worzel working on gravity at sea. Saw Geo Woollard and the Ryders. Woollard after Guggenheim fellowship…
  • p. 779 …the launching site is markedly different from sea level, a shift in this curve is needed…
  • p. 817 …balloon at all times with respect to sea level. On this curve also it is customary…
  • p. 825 …The height above mean sea level as determined from pressure measurements used in this work with…
TAB VII

SUMMARY OF NYU CONSTANT-LEVEL BALLoon FLIGHTS

FLIGHT NUMBER	DATE AND RELAISAGE TIME	LAUNCHING SITE	DESCRIPTION OF BALLOONS	BALLOON WEIGHT	DESCRIPTION OF EQUIPMENT	TOTAL WEIGHT ON BALLOON INCLUDING BALLOON	DESCRIPTION OF ALTITUDE CONTROL	BALLOAST WEIGHT	FREES LIFT	BALLOON LIFT	RADIOSONDS RECEPTION %	TRACKING %	AIRCRAFT OBSERVATION %	FLIGHT DURATION %	OPTIMUM CONSTANCY	MAXIMUM CONSTANT LEVELS MSL	RECOVERY + LAND-ING SITE	CRITIQUE
27	16 Sept. 1947 0521 MST	Alamogordo New Mexico	1 H. A. Smith 15'.004" Poly-ethylene with 18 load points	12.5 kg	3 mo transmitter, banner, ballast assembly	12.1 kg	Manual ballast valve. Fixed rate of leak 200 gm/hr	4.1 kg	2.5 kg	14.6 kg	392 min.	None	None required	Over 392 min. Max. 32900'	0%	Another flight showing necessity of automatic ballast valve. Balloon went to pressure height, descended to ground where some gear was dropped. Balloon then oscillated between ground and successively higher ceilings. Radiosonde modulator believed defective.
28	16 Sept. 1947 0542 MST	Alamogordo New Mexico	11 meteorological balloons 350 gm each	3.9 kg	Data gear banner	7.1 kg	None	None	2.0 kg	9.1 kg	Not provided	Theodolite Alamogordo 52 min. Tularosa Peak 229 min.	None required	Over 223 min.	No data	No data	0%	Cluster of meteorological balloons for Watson Labs. No altitude control or radiosonde provided.
29	21 Nov. 1947 1709 MST	Alamogordo New Mexico	1 GM 2' appendix with battens	4.1 kg	T-69, burn-out baroswitch banner, ballast assembly	13.1 kg	2 1/2 gal. can purerator filter. Manual ballast valve	5.5 kg	857 g	14.4 kg	69 min.	658 - 8% Theodolite 12 min. 1%	None	14 hours 21 min.	Rising when lost	51,000' est.	M. Albert, Ontario	Excellent flight pressured from duration and distance. Manual ballast valve kept flight in air. Observed landing 9:30 M. Nov. 22, 1947. Hawin stations downwind not in operation. Tracking only by Alamogordo receiver. Average wind loss than 100 mph. Flight shows need of barograph.
30	25 Nov. 1947 1536 MST	Alamogordo New Mexico	1 GM, no appendix	3.7 kg	T-69, burn-out baroswitch ballast assembly. banner	13.1 kg	2 1/2 gal. can purerator filter. Manual ballast valve	5.5 kg	2900 g	16.1 kg	148 min.	658-148 min. theodolite 26 min.	Not found by tracking plane L-5	0 over 3 hours.	Over 70 min. at 1000 ft.	45,000' const.	Chinipes Chihuahua Mexico	Good flight presumed though data not available. Maximum altitude 6000 feet lower than commuted due to lack of appendix.
31	26 Nov. 1947 1025 MST	Alamogordo New Mexico	1 GM	4.1 kg	T-69, burn-out baroswitch ballast assembly. banner	12.6 kg	2 1/2 gal. can purerator filter. Manual ballast valve	5.0 kg	1480 g	14.1 kg 658 theodolite 200 min.	Not found by tracking plane L-5	Unknown	Rising when lost	Unknown	Prescidie Texas	Transmitter failed shortly after release.
32	28 Nov. 1947 0905 MST	Alamogordo New Mexico	1 GM 2' appendix / battens	4.0 kg	T-69 burn-out baroswitch ballast assembly. banner	12.7 kg	2 1/2 gal. can purerator filter. Manual ballast valve	5.0 kg	1480 g	14.3 kg	148 min.	658-148 min. theodolite 146 min. Roswell 155 min	None	Unknown	Rising when lost	Unknown	Blanco, Texas	658 tracking 93 miles from Alamogordo, about 70 miles from Roswell. Transmitter apparently failed after 155 min. 92.2 flight. 400 miles from Alamogordo
33	29 Nov. 1947 0934 MST	Alamogordo New Mexico	1 GM 2' appendix	4.0 kg	T-69 Watson batteries, Ferguson meteorograph, burnout baroswitch, ballast assembly. banner	14.2 kg'	Hasservoir F100, automatic ballast valve F109, no manual valve	5.0 kg	2160 g	16.5 kg	38 min.	658-38 min. theodolite 115 min	None	Unknown	Rising when lost	Unknown	Not recovered	Transmitter failure. Elevation angle 13 when lost. Distance about 15 miles.

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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.