Documents / Report

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

USAF / The Black Vault · 1995 · 882 pages · text by GLM-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. 704 …Saw Bob Foster 731, also on way to NYC April 8 Mon. Arrived NYC 730 am…
  • p. 705 …I caught 550 train out of Penn Station to Red Bank, NJ April 29 Mon. Up…
  • p. 706 …1130 pm Owl to NYC May 6 Mon. Caught 625 train out of Penn Station to…
  • p. 707 Dec 2 Mon. Cakhurst. Cold wave hit about midnight - temperature down to $ 1 5^{\circ} $ - strong…
  • p. 708 …Dec 23 Mon. Oakhurst. Worked on Alamogordo and Flight 13. Had flight # 14 this pm. - 24…
  • p. 709 …Jan 13 Mon. Oakhurst. Working on sky wave curves. Made plans for Alamogordo this Thursday Jan…
  • p. 710 …Arrived AP about 1230 Feb 3 Mon Oakhurst. Peoples in Washington regarding balloon ascention in June…
  • p. 711 …Feb 24 Mon. Alamogordo. Waited for air transportation today but none available and may not be…
  • p. 712 …In Asbury Park 3 pm March 10 Mon Oakhurst. Vivian and I worked on Flight 25…
  • p. 713 …Cleaned out hanger and emptied trash out at East White Sands April 7 Mon Talked to…
  • p. 714 …April 21 Mon. Alamogordo Air Base. Bill Edmonston and I went out to Tularosa Range and…
  • p. 715 …May 19 Mon Reynolds and I left about 0946. May 19 Mon Reynolds and I left…
  • p. 716 …May 26 Mon. Worked on Tests 1 and 2 records today. No signals from Roswell - some…
  • p. 717 …Took Ireland, Mears, Winton, Olsen to Alamogordo to catch train this pm June 9 Mon. Bill…
  • p. 718 …July 7 (Mon) Alamogordo. Balloon Flight 11 A off at 0503. Big plastic with small auxiliary…
  • p. 719 …Aug 4 Mon. Up to Oakhurst. Hunt Aug 4 Mon. Up to Oakhurst. Went over developments…

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

radar station was not troubled by this phenomenon due to its antenna directivity and elevation orientation of 60 degrees. It is believed that the intermediate loss of signal by the radar station is normal because of elevation pattern lobing produced by groundreflection interference which is initiated by secondary antenna lobe transmission. Since this condition exists in the transmitting pattern, it affects both the radar station and its remote receiving station. Current effort is concentrated on improvement of photography and antenna orientation in preparation for additional tests.

## b. Tracking Projects:

(1) Radar Tracking Set AN/MPS-6 - A letter was received from Watson Laboratories authorizing changes and modifications of the range circuits necessary for conditions as encountered at this location. The fore part of July was spent in achieving these betterments, and in the installation and orientation of an M-2 optical tracker to be used in conjunction with the MPS-6 and as a tracking aid.

Experimental tracking of three balloons furnished and flown by the Atmospheric Group was performed for the dual purpose of checking the signal return of the radar with various reflecting targets, and for precise position data of the balloon equipment for use by the Atmospheric Group. On 19 July, a 130 foot balloon carrying no radar reflector was tracked. Radar contact was made at a range of about 3K yards with signal return being above saturation on the scopes of the MPS-6. Tracking was automatic in Azimuth and Elevation and aided in range. Signal return remained above saturation until a range of 7K yards was read, at which point grass appeared on the scopes and signal to noise averaged about 4 to 1 out to a range of 23K yards where too frequent radar losses necessitated that automatic tracking be abandoned. This balloon was then tracked manually to a maximum range of 27K yards.

On 20 July 1948, a weather balloon carrying one kite type reflector was flown and tracked. Contact was made at a range of 3K yards, and signal return was above saturation at all times until a range of 10K was exceeded and grass showed only occasionally out to 24,360 yards. This balloon was obscured by clouds at a range of 33K yards, but tracking was continuous in automatic Azimuth and Elevation throughout its flight, and the maximum range read was 34K yards.

On 21 July, a 130 foot balloon, identical with the one flown on 19 July except for three kite reflectors being carried, was flown and tracked. Radar contact was made at a range of 1,510 yards. Grass first appeared on scopes at a range of 24.5K yards, and signal was above saturation to 30K yards. Tracking was continuous and automatic throughout the flight, and a maximum range of 121K yards was reached.

Cited by

Cases discussed

About this file

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.