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. 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…
The effect of this cooling is evidenced in the lifting power of the gas. When a rapidly filled balloon is launched immediately after inflation, it has less lift than desired and may even be "heavy" rather than buoyant. $ 2 0^{\circ} \mathrm{C} $ cooling will make balloon $ 1 \% $ heavier. This may be $ 25 \% $ of free lift. In the inflation of the 70-foot balloons where more gas is used, and the cooling effect is more often harmful, a heating unit is added to the inflation equipment. The gas passes from the manifold through a coil which is centrally warmed by a blow torch and on into the inflation tube. The gas should arrive in balloon no more than $ 2 0^{\circ} \mathrm{C} $ cooler than the air.

## VI. BALLOON LAUNCHING

When the balloon inflation is complete, the inflation tube is removed from the balloon as gently as possible. There is apt to be constriction at the point where the bubble is formed by the launching arms or the shot bags. If the tube does stick at this point, great care must be given to freeing without ripping the balloon.

Should the balloon be torn in this or any other manner, it may be possible to patch the fabric and salvage the flight. The acetate-fiber scotch tape, used to attach the batten is used for patching. Transverse tapes are laid across the tear and the entire region is covered with a matting of tape.

When the inflation tube is freed and the restrained bubble is ready for launching, the lower portion of it is laid out down wind, as is all of the gear on the load line. The inflation is generally done in the lee of the hangar or "Y"-shaped wind screen (see Figures 28 and 29) with the bubble as close to the wall as possible. It is imperative that the wind direction be noted prior to launching and that the equipment be directly downwind from the head of the bubble. It is strongly recommended that a standard meteorological rubber balloon be inflated and tethered on a 150-foot line near the point of release to serve as a wind indicator. This balloon is much more effective than a standard wind vane.

All pieces of equipment and all on-lookers must be removed from the immediate vicinity to prevent accidental entanglement of the load line when the balloon begins to rise. Each piece of delicate gear to be carried aloft should be cradled by one man. As a signal given by the flight director (after checking to see everyone is ready and that the balloon will go in the desired direction), the bubble is released (see Figure 30). If "launching arms" are used, this is not

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.