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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. 190 …Well, Boford was Navy, that was the Navy... Q: Like taking a Pi Ball reading now…
  • p. 191 …fabricate balloons for us. During that period we heard of the Navy project that was going…
  • p. 207 …But were any of those used as precursors to Mogul or... A: None whatsoever. That was…
  • p. 270 …Ewing had conducted considerable research for the Navy during World War II, studying, among other things…
  • p. 323 …f) Measurements of actual sound channel transmission using a small stratosphere balloon carrying sound receivers and…
  • p. 657 …At the present time this company cannot supply us with balloons until Navy clearance is obtained…
  • p. 693 …for six hours using a non-extensible envelope with the addition of a ballast valve to…
  • p. 704 …Met Gifford who has 90' sea rescue boat this project is planning to use. Stayed at…
  • p. 705 …Wyckoff, Hungerfield, Vaux and myself regarding Navy participation with us in Crossroads. Captain Kellogg of Weather…
  • p. 718 …Schneider up with O'Day to check use as NYU station. Alamoggrdo crew helped get helium…
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.