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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…
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

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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.