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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. 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…
temperature recording is confined to the lower 2 inches of the drum so as to interfere as little as possible with the pressure record when the balloon floats above 30,000 feet.

Recording is accomplished by three pens which scratch carbon from a smoked aluminum foil. This method eliminates the need for liquid ink and applies a minimum of pressure to the recording drum.

The recording drum rotates once in twelve hours. Therefore, if a flight lasts over twelve hours, the trace will overlap. Such a record is shown in Figure 36. The clock runs for 36 to 40 hours on one winding.

Preparation of the barograph for use on a balloon ascension requires the following:

(a) Place an aluminum foil about 10 inches long by 3 3/4", .002" thick on the drum. Care should be taken to have the overlapping edge of the foil face in the direction of rotation of the drum so that the stylus slides off the edge instead of catching and tearing the foil. A few drops of rubber cement along each edge of the foil are sufficient to fasten the foil to the drum and will not interfere with removal of the foil after recovery of the barograph.

(b) Wind the clock. The clock should not be wound tightly since at the low temperatures encountered in the upper atmosphere the clock spring may snap. However, if the clock is wound an hour or so before release, it will be sufficiently relaxed by the time the low temperatures are reached.

(c) Check pressure of the marking pens. Too much pressure of the pens on the drum will introduce an error due to the frictional lag. When the drum is removed from the clock mechanism, and the pen lifter released, the stylus points should touch the clock housing lightly.

(d) Smoke the drum. A very thin, fine-grained carbon film should be deposited on the aluminum foil. The best result will be obtained by use of a bright yellow gas flame, although a kerosene flame gives a satisfactory coating. Solid or liquid

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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.