Title: The Roswell Report: Case Closed
Author: McAndrew, James
Language: English
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The Cover

A solarized image taken from a U.S. Air Force motion picture of
experiments conducted for Project HIGH DIVE. This image,
unsolarized, appears on page 34 (Figure 37).



                          The Roswell Report
                              CASE CLOSED

                 Headquarters United States Air Force



  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  McAndrew, James, 1963—
  The Roswell report: case closed/James McAndrew
  p. cm.
  Includes index.
  1. Unidentified flying objects—Sightings and encounters—New
  Mexico—Roswell. I. Title
  TL789.5.N6M33 1997
  001.942’09789’43—dc21        97-11361
                                   CIP

  For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
                            Washington, D.C. 20402

            For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office
Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328
                          ISBN 0-16-049018-9



                               Foreword


The “Roswell Incident” has assumed a central place in American folklore
since the events of the 1940s in a remote area of New Mexico. Because
the Air Force was a major player in those events, we have played a key
role in executing the General Accounting Office’s tasking to uncover
all records regarding that incident.

Our objective throughout this inquiry has been simple and consistent:
to find all the facts and bring them to light. If documents were
classified, declassify them; where they were dispersed, bring them into
a single source for public review.

In July 1994, we completed the first step in that effort and later
published _The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico
Desert_. This volume represents the necessary follow-on to that first
publication and contains additional material and analysis. I think that
with this publication we have reached our goal of a complete and open
explanation of the events that occurred in the Southwest many years ago.

Beyond that achievement, this inquiry has shed fascinating light into
the Air Force of that era and revitalized our appreciation for the
dedication and accomplishments of the men and women of that time. As we
celebrate the Air Force’s 50th Anniversary, it is appropriate to once
again reflect on the sacrifices made by so many to make ours the finest
air and space force in history.

                                        SHEILA E. WIDNALL
                                        Secretary of the Air Force



                           Guide For Readers


This publication contains the complete report as submitted to the
Secretary of the Air Force. The exceptions are the statements found
in Appendix B. Due to Privacy Act restrictions and by request, the
addresses of the individuals making these statements have been deleted.

This volume is divided into two sections, eight subsections, eleven
sidebar discussions, and three appendices. Section One examines alleged
events at two locations in rural New Mexico. Section Two examines the
alleged activities at the Roswell Army Airfield Hospital.

Appendix A is a table listing the launch and landing locations of test
equipment for U.S. Air Force scientific research projects HIGH DIVE and
EXCELSIOR. Appendix B is a collection of signed sworn statements based
on in-person interviews conducted for this report by U.S. Air Force
researchers. The exception is the statement of Lt. Col. William C.
Kaufman, which was not sworn due to equipment failures at the time of
interview.

Appendix C contains transcripts of interviews of alleged witnesses
presented by UFO theorists. The interviews of Gerald Anderson, Alice
Knight, and Vern Maltais were excerpted in their entirety from unedited
interviews used to prepare the video, _Recollections of Roswell, Part
II_ (1993), and appear courtesy of the Fund for UFO Research. The
interview of Mr. W. Glenn Dennis was provided by the interviewer, Karl
T. Pflock. The transcript of the interview of Mr. James Ragsdale was
provided by Kevin Randle, the coauthor of the _Truth About the UFO
Crash at Roswell_ (Avon Books, 1994), in which direct quotes from this
transcript appear.

A selected bibliography of technical reports and how to obtain them
are found on page 221. For additional information on this subject, see
Headquarters United States Air Force, _The Roswell Report: Fact vs.
Fiction in the New Mexico Desert_ (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government
Printing Office, 1995).



                              The Author


Captain James McAndrew serves as an Intelligence Applications Officer
assigned to the Secretary of the Air Force Declassification and
Review Team, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.. Captain McAndrew was the
coauthor, with Col. Richard L. Weaver, of _The Roswell Report: Fact vs.
Fiction in the New Mexico Desert_ (1995), the first Air Force work on
the alleged “Roswell Incident.” He participated in the declassification
of the _Gulf War Air Power Survey_ (1993) and has served special tours
of duty with the Drug Enforcement Administration and High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force. He holds a BS degree with
honors, from Metropolitan State College, Denver, Colo. and is a native
of Washington, D.C.



                               Contents


                                                                  _Page_

  =Foreword=                                                         iii

  =Guide for Readers=                                                  v

  =Introduction=                                                       1


  SECTION ONE
  =Flying Saucer Crashes
  and Alien Bodies=                                                    5

  1.1 The “Crash Sites,” Scenarios, and Research Methods              11

  1.2 High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops                               23

  1.3 High Altitude Balloon Operations                                37

  1.4 Comparison of Witnesses Accounts to U.S. Air Force Activities   55


  SECTION TWO
  =Reports of Bodies at Roswell
  Army Air Field Hospital=                                            75

  2.1 The “Missing” Nurse and the Pediatrician                        81

  2.2 Aircraft Accidents                                              93

  2.3 High Altitude Research Projects                                101

  2.4 Comparison of the Hospital Account to the Balloon Mishap       109


  =Conclusion=                                                       123


  Notes

  Section One                                                        127

  Section Two                                                        139

  APPENDIX A
  =Anthropomorphic Dummy Launch
  and Landing Locations=                                             155


  APPENDIX B
  =Witness Statements=

  Charles E. Clouthier                                               160

  Charles A. Coltman, Jr., Col., USAF, MC (Ret)                      162

  Dan D. Fulgham, Col., USAF (Ret)                                   164

  Bernard D. Gildenberg, GS-14 (Ret)                                 166

  Ole Jorgeson, MSgt., USAF (Ret)                                    169

  William C. Kaufman, Lt. Col., USAF (Ret)                           171

  Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., Col., USAF (Ret)                         174

  Roland H. Lutz, CMSgt., USAF (Ret)                                 178

  Raymond A. Madson, Lt. Col. USAF (Ret)                             180

  Frank B. Nordstrom, M.D.                                           182


  APPENDIX C
  =Interviews=

  Gerald Anderson                                                    187

  Glenn Dennis                                                       197

  Alice Knight                                                       213

  Vern Maltais                                                       214

  James Ragsdale                                                     215


  =Selected Bibliography of
  Technical Reports=                                                 221


  =Index=                                                            225


  Tables

  SECTION ONE
  1.1 Comparison of Testimony to Actual Air Force Equipment
      and Procedures Used to Launch and Recover
      Anthropomorphic Dummies                                         69

  SECTION TWO
  2.1 Persons Described and Periods of Service at
      Roswell AAF/Walker AFB                                          91

  2.2 Fatal Air Force Aircraft Accidents by Year
      in the Vicinity of Walker AFB-1947–1960                         93

  2.3 Analysis of Air Force Aircraft Accidents
      by Year in the Vicinity of Walker AFB-1947–1960                 94


  Figures

  SECTION ONE

   1. _The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction In The New Mexico Desert._

   2. The International UFO Museum and Research Center, Roswell, N.M.

   3. Drawing of Project MOGUL Balloon Train.

   4. Maj. Jesse Marcel With “Flying Disc” Debris.

   5. ML-307B/AP Radar Target on Ground.

   6. ML-307B/AP Radar Target in Flight.

   7. “Harassed Rancher Who Located ‘Saucer’ Sorry He Told About It,”
      _Roswell Daily Record_, July 9, 1947.

   8. Announcement from November 4, 1992 _Socorro_ (N.M.) _Defensor
      Chieftain_.

   9. B.D. “Duke” Gildenberg.

  10. Charles B. Moore.

  11. Map of New Mexico Depicting “Crash Sites” and “Debris Field.”

  12. Missile Recovery Scene.

  13. Drone Recovery Scene.

  14. “Sierra Sam” Type Anthropomorphic Dummy.

  15. National Transportation Highway Safety Administration
      Advertisement Featuring “Vince and Larry.”

  16. “Dummy Joe” with J.J. Higgins and Guy Ball, McCook Field, Ohio,
      1920.

  17. Rope and Sandbag Parachute Drop Dummy on Ground.

  18. Rope and Sandbag Parachute Drop Dummy Descending at Wright
  Field, Ohio.

  19. Ted Smith Model Anthropomorphic Dummy in Ejection Seat.

  20. Anthropomorphic Dummy “Oscar Eightball” at Muroc AAF, Calif.

  21. “Sierra Sam” Anthropomorphic Dummy in Ejection Seat.

  22. Alderson Laboratories Anthropomorphic Dummies Hanging in
      Laboratory.

  23. Project HIGH DIVE Dummy Launch.

  24. Map of New Mexico Depicting Dummy Landing Locations.

  25. Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.’s Record Parachute Jump.

  26. Article In December 1960 National Geographic Featuring Project
      EXCELSIOR.

  27. Magazine Covers Depicting U.S. Air Force Aero-Medical
      Experiments.

  28. M-342 Five-Ton Wrecker.

  29. Project HIGH DIVE Gondola and “Sierra Sam” Type Anthropomorphic
      Dummy.

  30. 1st Lts. Raymond A. Madson and Eugene M. Schwartz with “Sierra
      Sam” Type Anthropomorphic Dummy.

  31. M-35 Two-Ton Cargo Truck.

  32. M-37 ¾-Ton Cargo Truck.

  33. Lt. Col. John P. Stapp Preparing for Rocket Sled Test.

  34. Cover of September 12, 1955 _Time_ Magazine Depicting
  Lt. Col. John P. Stapp.

  35. Anthropomorphic Dummy with Missing Fingers.

  36–38. Anthropomorphic Dummy Falling from Balloon Gondola.

  39. Memo from Project HIGH DIVE Files.

  40. Hanging Anthropomorphic Dummies and Hospital Gurney.

  41. Anthropomorphic Dummy in Insulation Bag.

  42–43. High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops Report Covers.

  44. Inflation of High Altitude Balloon for Project VIKING.

  45. Lobby Card from _On The Threshold of Space_.

  46. Promotional Photo From _On The Threshold of Space_.

  47. Promotional Photo From _On The Threshold of Space_.

  48. Relative Sizes of High Altitude Balloon, Airliner, and Hot Air
      Balloon.

  49. Target Balloon Launch Near Holloman AFB, N.M.

  50. DISCOVERER Nosecone Rigged for High Altitude Balloon Flight.

  51. DISCOVERER Capsule Aboard the _USS Haiti Victory_.

  52. VIKING Spaceprobe at Martin Marietta Corp., Denver, Colo.

  53. Balloon Launch Of VOYAGER-MARS Space Probe.

  54. VIKING Space Probe at Roswell Industrial Airport, Roswell, N.M.

  55. VIKING Space Probe Awaiting Recovery at White Sands Missile
      Range.

  56. Drawing of Alleged UFO.

  57. “Vee” Balloon at Holloman AFB, N.M.

  58. Current Members of the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch.

  59. B.D. Gildenberg, Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., and Lt. Col.
      David G. Simons (MC).

  60. Ranch Family with Panel from Project STARGAZER.

  61. Balloon Recovery Personnel and “The Hermit.”

  62. Mule Borrowed for Balloon Payload Recovery.

  63. Bulldozer Used for Balloon Payload Recovery.

  64. M-43 Ambulance.

  65–66. Unusual Balloon Payloads.

  67. U.S. Army Communications Payload.

  68. Scientific Balloon Payload Flown for The Johns Hopkins University.

  69. Balloon Payload Flown from Holloman AFB, N.M.

  70. Project HIGH DIVE Anthropomorphic Dummy Launch.

  71. Vehicles Present at High Altitude Balloon Launch and Recovery
      Sites.

  72. Alderson Laboratories Anthropomorphic Dummies.

  73. Anthropomorphic Dummies Attached to Rack.

  74. Anthropomorphic Dummy with “Bandaged” Head.

  75. Anthropomorphic Dummy with Torn Uniform.

  76. Promotional Photo From _On The Threshold of Space_.

  77. L-20 Observation Aircraft.

  78. C-47 Transport Aircraft.

  79. Balloon Crew Preparing Balloon for Launch.

  80. Anthropomorphic Dummy Launch Scene.

  81. Typical High Altitude Balloon Launch Scene.

  82. Map of New Mexico.

  SECTION TWO

   1. The International UFO Museum and Research Center.

   2. Capt. Eileen M. Fanton.

   3. “Flying Saucer Swindlers,” _True_ Magazine, August 1956.

   4. “The Flying Saucers and the Mysterious Little Green Men,” _True_
      Magazine, September 1952.

   5. Col. Lee F. Ferrell and U.S. Senator Dennis Chavez.

   6. Lt. Col. Lucille C. Slattery.

   7. KC-97 Aircraft.

   8. 4036th USAF Hospital, Walker AFB, N.M., 1956.

   9. Ballard Funeral Home, Roswell, N.M.

  10. Maj. David G. Simons (MC), Otto C. Winzen, and Capt. Joseph W.
      Kittinger, Jr.

  11. Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. in MAN HIGH Capsule.

  12. Lt. Col. David G. Simons.

  13. Bernard D. “Duke” Gildenberg and 1st Lt. Clifton McClure.

  14. Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. and the EXCELSIOR High Altitude
      Balloon Gondola.

  15. Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. and William C. White with
      STARGAZER Gondola.

  16. Capt. Grover Schock and Otto C. Winzen.

  17. Capt. Dan D. Fulgham and Capt. William C. Kaufman.

  18. Thirty-foot Polyethylene Training Balloon.

  19. Maj. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. in Vietnam.

  20. A2C Ole Jorgeson and M-43 Ambulance Converted to a Communications
      Vehicle.

  21. Stenciled Letters Described as “Hieroglyphics.”

  22. A2C Ole Jorgeson in Rear of M-43 Ambulance.

  23. Polyethylene Balloon on Ground After High Altitude Flight.

  24. Hospital Dispensary, Building 317, Walker AFB, N.M., 1954.

  25. Main Gate at Walker AFB, N.M., 1954.

  26. Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. and Dr. J. Allen Hynek.

  27. Clinical Record Cover Sheet of Capt. Dan D. Fulgham.

  28. Capt. Dan D. Fulgham at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

  29. Maj. Dan D. Fulgham, James Lovell, Hilary Ray, and Alan Bean.

  30. Maj. Dan D. Fulgham at Ubon AB, Thailand.

  31. Memorial Plaque at Holloman AFB, N.M.

  32. Nenninger Balloon Launch Facility at Holloman AFB, N.M.

  33. Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. Following EXCELSIOR I.



                             Introduction


In July 1994, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force concluded
an exhaustive search for records in response to a General Accounting
Office (GAO) inquiry of an event popularly known as the “Roswell
Incident.” The focus of the GAO probe, initiated at the request of New
Mexico Congressman Steven Schiff, was to determine if the U.S. Air
Force, or any other U.S. government agency, possessed information on
the alleged crash and recovery of an extraterrestrial vehicle and its
alien occupants near Roswell, N.M. in July 1947.

Reports of flying saucers and alien bodies allegedly sighted in the
Roswell area in 1947, have been the subject of intense domestic
and international media attention. This attention has resulted in
countless newspaper and magazine articles, books, a television series,
a full-length motion picture, and even a film purported to be a U.S.
government “alien autopsy.”

The July 1994 Air Force report concluded that the predecessor to the
U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army Air Forces, did indeed recover material
near Roswell in July 1947. This 1,000-page report methodically explains
that what was recovered by the Army Air Forces was not the remnants of
an extraterrestrial spacecraft and its alien crew, but debris from an
Army Air Forces balloon-borne research project code named MOGUL.[1]
Records located describing research carried out under the MOGUL
project, most of which were never classified (and publicly available)
were collected, provided to GAO, and published in one volume for ease
of access for the general public.[*]

[*] MOGUL records which ultimately lead to the identification of the
origin of the 1947 claims of “flying saucer” debris, described balloon
research that was never classified. Other MOGUL records, describing
military applications of balloon-borne acoustical sensors, were
declassified, along with millions of pages of other unrelated executive
branch documents by Executive Order 11652, issued on March 6, 1972 by
President Richard M. Nixon.

Although MOGUL components clearly accounted for the claims of “flying
saucer” debris recovered in 1947, lingering questions remained
concerning anecdotal accounts that included descriptions of “alien”
bodies. The issue of “bodies” was not discussed extensively in the 1994
report because there were not any bodies connected with events that
occurred in 1947. The extensive Secretary of the Air Force-directed
search of Army Air Forces and U.S. Air Force records from 1947 did not
yield information that even suggested the 1947 “Roswell” events were
anything other than the retrieval of the MOGUL equipment.[2]

  [Illustration: Fig. 1. _The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction
  in the New Mexico Desert_ contains, in its entirety, the report
  submitted to the Secretary of the Air Force in July 1994. It is
  available for sale from the U.S. Government Printing Office,
  Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C., 20402-9328. Stock
  No. 008-070-00697-9, ISBN 0-16-048023-X.]

Subsequent to the 1994 report, Air Force researchers discovered
information that provided a rational explanation for the alleged
observations of alien bodies associated with the “Roswell Incident.”
Pursuant to the discovery, research efforts compared documented Air
Force activities to the incredible claims of “flying saucers,” “aliens”
and seemingly unusual Air Force involvement. This in-depth examination
revealed that these accounts, in most instances, were of actual Air
Force activities but were seriously flawed in several major areas, most
notably: the Air Force operations that inspired reports of “bodies” (in
addition to being earthly in origin) did not occur in 1947. It appears
that UFO proponents have failed to establish the accurate dates for
these “alien” observations (in some instances by more than a decade)
and then erroneously linked them to the actual Project MOGUL debris
recovery.

This report discusses the results of this further research and
identifies the likely sources of the claims of “alien” bodies.
Contrary to allegations that the Air Force has engaged in a cover-up
and possesses dark secrets involving the Roswell claims, some of
the accounts appear to be descriptions of unclassified and widely
publicized Air Force scientific achievements. Other descriptions of
bodies appear to be descriptions of actual incidents in which Air Force
members were killed or injured in the line of duty.

The conclusions of the additional research are:

  • Air Force activities which occurred over a period of many years
  have been consolidated and are now represented to have occurred in
  two or three days in July 1947.

  • “Aliens” observed in the New Mexico desert were probably
  anthropomorphic test dummies that were carried aloft by U.S. Air
  Force high altitude balloons for scientific research.

  • The “unusual” military activities in the New Mexico desert were
  high altitude research balloon launch and recovery operations. The
  reports of military units that always seemed to arrive shortly
  after the crash of a flying saucer to retrieve the saucer and
  “crew,” were actually accurate descriptions of Air Force personnel
  engaged in anthropomorphic dummy recovery operations.

  • Claims of bodies at the Roswell Army Air Field hospital were most
  likely a combination of two separate incidents:

    1) a 1956 KC-97 aircraft accident in which 11 Air Force members
    lost their lives; and,

    2) a 1959 manned balloon mishap in which two Air Force pilots were
    injured.

This report is based on thoroughly documented research supported by
official records, technical reports, film footage, photographs, and
interviews with individuals who were involved in these events.

  [Illustration: Fig. 2. Roswell, N.M. (pop. 37,000), boasts
  competing “museums” focusing on the Roswell Incident, including
  this one, The International UFO Museum and Research Center.]



                              SECTION ONE

                Flying Saucer Crashes and Alien Bodies


The most puzzling and intriguing element of the complex series of
events now known as the Roswell Incident, are the alleged sightings of
alien bodies. The bodies turned what, for many years, was just another
flying saucer story, into what many UFO proponents claim is the best
case for extraterrestrial visitation of Earth. The importance of bodies
and the assumptions made as to their origin is illustrated in a passage
from a popular Roswell book:

  _Crashed saucers are one thing, and could well turn out to be
  futuristic American or even foreign aircraft or missiles. But
  alien bodies are another matter entirely, and hardly subject to
  misinterpretation._[3]

The 1994 Air Force report determined that project MOGUL was responsible
for the 1947 events. MOGUL was an experimental attempt to acoustically
detect suspected Soviet nuclear weapon explosions and ballistic missile
launches.[4] MOGUL utilized acoustical sensors, radar reflecting
targets and other devices attached to a train of weather balloons over
600 feet long. Claims that the U.S. Army Air Forces recovered a “flying
disc” in 1947, were based primarily on the lack of identification of
the radar targets, an element of weather equipment used on the long
MOGUL balloon train. The oddly constructed radar targets were found by
a New Mexico rancher during the height of the first U.S. flying saucer
wave in 1947.[5] The rancher brought the remnants of the balloons and
radar targets to the local sheriff after he allegedly learned of the
broadcasted reports of flying discs. However, following some initial
confusion at Roswell Army Air Field, the “flying disc” was soon
identified by Army Air Forces officials as a standard radar target.[6]

From 1947 until the late 1970s, the Roswell Incident was essentially
a non-story. The reports that existed contain only descriptions of
mundane materials that originated from the Project MOGUL balloon
train—“tinfoil, paper, tape, rubber, and sticks.”[7] The first claim
of “bodies” appeared in the late 1970s, with additional claims made
during the 1980s and 1990s. These claims were usually based on
anecdotal accounts of second- and third-hand witnesses collected by UFO
proponents as much as 40 years after the alleged incident. The same
anecdotal accounts that referred to bodies also described massive field
operations conducted by the U.S. military to recover crash debris from
a supposed extraterrestrial spaceship.

  [Illustration: Fig. 3. An illustration of a Project MOGUL balloon
  train similar to one found on a ranch 75 miles northwest of
  Roswell, N.M. in June 1947, which contains all of the “strange”
  materials described as part of a “flying disc.” Initial confusion
  at Roswell AAF and delayed identification of this equipment was the
  first in a series of unrelated events now known as the “Roswell
  Incident.”]

A technique used by some UFO authors to collect anecdotal corroboration
for their theories was to solicit cooperating witnesses through
newspaper announcements. For example, one such solicitation appeared in
the _Socorro_ (N.M.) _Defensor Chieftain_ on November 4, 1992, on behalf
of Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, the authors of the book _Crash
at Corona_. This request solicited persons to provide information about
the supposed crashes of alien spacecraft in the Socorro area.[8][*]

  [*] Socorro, N.M. is situated at the northwest boundary of White
  Sands Missile Range, the largest military test range in the United
  States. Since the 1940s, White Sands and the surrounding areas of
  New Mexico have been the site of a high volume of military test
  and evaluation activity, including the launch and recovery of
  anthropomorphic dummies carried aloft by high altitude balloons.

  [Illustration: Fig. 4. (_Right_) Maj. Jesse Marcel, an intelligence
  officer from Roswell Army Air Field, with the debris found 75 miles
  northwest of Roswell in June 1947. When compared to a standard
  radar target used by project MOGUL, it is clear that they are
  the same object. (_Courtesy, Special Collections Division, the
  University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Arlington, Tex._)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 5 & 6. (_Below, left and right_) Constructed
  of aluminized paper glued and taped to a balsa wood frame, several
  ML-307B/AP radar targets were used on the MOGUL balloon train to
  make it visible to radar. (_U.S. Air Force photos_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 7. This account from the July 9, 1947 _Roswell
  Daily Record_, described the materials “tinfoil, paper, rubber,
  tape, and sticks” found on the ranch 75 miles northwest of Roswell,
  in June 1947.

  _Harassed Rancher who Located ‘Saucer’ Sorry He Told About It_

  W. W. Brazel, 48, Lincoln county rancher living 30 miles south east
  of Corona, today told his story of finding what the army at first
  described as a flying disk, but the publicity which attended his
  find caused him to add that if he ever found anything else short of
  a bomb he sure wasn’t going to say anything about it.

  Brazel was brought here late yesterday by W. E. Whitmore, of radio
  station KGFL, had his picture taken and gave an interview to the
  Record and Jason Kellahin, sent here from the Albuquerque bureau
  of the Associated Press to cover the story. The picture he posed
  for was sent out over AP telephoto wire sending machine specially
  set up in the Record office by R. D. Adair, AP wire chief sent here
  from Albuquerque for the sole purpose of getting out his picture
  and that of sheriff George Wilcox, to whom Brazel originally gave
  the information of his find.

  Brazel related that on June 14 he and an 8-year old son, Vernon
  were about 7 or 8 miles from the ranch house of the J. B. Foster
  ranch, which he operates, when they came upon a large area of
  bright wreckage made up on rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough
  paper and sticks.

  At the time Brazel was in a hurry to get his round made and he did
  not pay much attention to it. But he did remark about what he had
  seen and on July 4 he, his wife, Vernon and a daughter Betty, age
  14, went back to the spot and gathered up quite a bit of the debris.

  The next day he first heard about the flying disks, and he wondered
  if what he had found might be the remnants of one of these.

  Monday he came to town to sell some wool and while here he went to
  see sheriff George Wilcox and “whispered kinda confidential like”
  that he might have found a flying disk.

  Wilcox got in touch with the Roswell Army Air Field and Maj. Jesse
  A. Marcel and a man in plain clothes accompanied him home, where
  they picked up the rest of the pieces of the “disk” and went to his
  home to try to reconstruct it.

  According to Brazel they simply could not reconstruct it at all.
  They tried to make a kite, out of it, but could not do that and
  could not find any way to put it back together so that it would fit.

  Then Major Marcel brought it to Roswell and that was the last he
  heard of it until the story broke that he had found a flying disk.

  Brazel said that he did not see it fall from the sky and did not
  see it before it was torn up, so he did not know the size or shape
  it might have been, but he thought it might have been about as
  large as a table top. The balloon which held it up, if that was how
  it worked, must have been about 12 feet long, he felt, measuring
  the distance by the size of the room in which he sat. The rubber
  was smoky gray in color and scattered over an area about 200 yards
  in diameter.

  When the debris was gathered up the tinfoil, paper, tape, and
  sticks made a bundle about three feet long and 7 or 8 inches thick,
  while the rubber made a bundle about 18 or 20 inches long and about
  8 inches thick. In all, he estimated, the entire lot would have
  weighed maybe five pounds.

  There was no sign of any metal in the area which might have been
  used for an engine and no sign of any propellers of any kind,
  although at least one paper fin had been glued onto some of the
  tinfoil.

  There were no words to be found anywhere on the instrument,
  although there were letters on some of the parts. Considerable
  scotch tape and some tape with flowers printed upon it had been
  used in the construction.

  No strings or wire were to be found but there were some eyelets in
  the paper to indicate that some sort of attachment may have been
  used.

  Brazel said that he had previously found two weather observation
  balloons on the ranch, but that what he found this time did not in
  any way resemble either of these.

  “I am sure what I found was not any weather observation balloon.”
  he said. “But if I find anything else, besides a bomb they are
  going to have a hard time getting me to say anything about it.”]

In response to the newspaper announcement, two scientists central to
the actual explanation of the “Roswell” events, Professor Charles
B. Moore, a former U.S. Army Air Forces contract engineer, and
Bernard D. Gildenberg, retired Holloman AFB Balloon Branch Physical
Science Administrator and Meteorologist, came forward with pertinent
information.[9] According to Moore and Gildenberg, when they met with
the authors their explanations that some of the Air Force projects they
participated in were most likely responsible for the incident, they
were summarily dismissed. The authors even went so far as to suggest
that these distinguished scientists were participants in a multifaceted
government cover-up to conceal the truth about the Roswell Incident.

  [Illustration: Fig. 8. Announcement from the November 4, 1992
  _Socorro_ (N.M.) _Defensor Chieftain_ soliciting witnesses of flying
  saucer crashes in New Mexico. When former Air Force scientists
  responded to advise the authors that Air Force projects were most
  probably responsible for the UFO accounts, they were summarily
  dismissed by the authors who placed the announcement, and then were
  accused of participating in a cover-up.

  _Authors seek UFO witnesses_

  Co-authors of a major book on the 1947 crash of at least one
  alien spacecraft in the New Mexico desert will be at the Golden
  Manor Motel in Socorro on Monday, Nov. 16 to seek out additional
  witnesses to these events.

  Nuclear physicist Stanton T. Friedman and aviation/science writer
  Don Berliner, whose “Crash at Corona” is now in its second
  printing, want to meet with people having knowledge of the 1947
  crashes.

  Their book, being published in August by Paragon House of New York,
  is being prepared for a made-for-TV movie. It is the story of the
  discovery, retrieval, shipping and cover-up of what the authors
  call the most important scientific discovery of the past thousand
  years.

  It is based on dozens of interviews with first- and second-hand
  civilian and ex-military witnesses to various parts of what is
  referred to as a very complex series of events.

  In order to strengthen their case for government knowledge of what
  they call “the truth behind almost 50 years of UFO sightings,” the
  authors are seeking out additional, reliable witnesses. It remains
  their policy to honor requests to keep the names of witnesses
  private.

  For more information, contact Don Berliner, 1202 S. Washington St.,
  Alexandria. VA., 22314 (703-548-0405); or Stanton T. Friedman, 79
  Pembroke Crescent, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 2V1, Canada (506
  457-0232).

  Witnesses are invited to call either author collect or to make
  arrangements to meet them at any of their stops in New Mexico,
  which include the cities of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces,
  Alamogordo and Roswell.]

  [Illustration: Fig. 9. (_Left_) B.D. “Duke” Gildenberg served
  as the civilian meteorologist, engineer, and physical science
  administrator for the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch from
  1951–1981. Gildenberg actively participated in thousands of
  high altitude balloon operations, including the flights that
  dropped anthropomorphic dummies at off-range locations throughout
  New Mexico. Gildenberg, the “father” of Air Force scientific
  ballooning, was instrumental in identifying the many actual Air
  Force activities now known as the “Roswell Incident.”]

  [Illustration: Fig. 10. (_Right_) Charles B. Moore, Professor
  Emeritus of Atmospheric Physics at the New Mexico Institute of
  Mining and Technology, was the project engineer for New York
  University under contract to the U.S. Army Air Forces to develop
  high altitude balloon technology for Project MOGUL. Moore launched
  the balloon train on June 4, 1947, that when combined with other
  events, are now known as the “Roswell Incident.”]

Since many of the Roswell accounts and allegations were collected by
irregular methods and are not specifically documented, the series
of events as alleged by UFO theorists has become very complex and
requires clarification. Therefore, the following section will briefly
examine some of the more confusing elements of the Roswell stories,
specifically, the multiple crash sites and complex scenarios, in order
to facilitate an objective analysis of actual events.



                                  1.1
          The “Crash Sites,” Scenarios, and Research Methods


The “Crash Sites”

From 1947 until the late 1970s, the Roswell Incident was confined
to one alleged crash site. This site, located on the Foster Ranch
approximately 75 miles northwest of the city of Roswell, was the actual
landing site of a Project MOGUL balloon train in June 1947.[10] The
MOGUL landing site is referred to in popular Roswell literature as the
“debris field.”

In the 1970s, the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, additional witnesses
came forward with claims and descriptions of two other alleged crash
sites. One of these sites was supposedly north of Roswell, the other
site was alleged to have been approximately 175 miles northwest of
Roswell in an area of New Mexico known as the San Agustin Plains.[11]
What distinguished the two new crash sites from the original debris
field were accounts of alien bodies.

  [Illustration: Fig. 11. Map of New Mexico depicting the “crash
  sites” and “debris field.” ]


The Scenarios

  [Sidenote: “_It must be emphasized that the claims of bodies only
  became part of the Roswell Incident after 1978, when they were
  erroneously linked to the July 1947 retrieval of Project MOGUL
  components._”]

UFO enthusiasts have attempted to explain the obvious contradiction
of multiple impact sites involving only one alien craft through the
introduction of complicated scenarios. These scenarios have become
increasingly convoluted since the proponents of each crash site must
make allowances to have “their” flying saucer at the correct time
and place—the actual MOGUL balloon train landing site in early July,
1947—in order to “fit” with the rest of the story. The actual Project
MOGUL landing site, 75 miles northwest of Roswell, lends credibility,
and more importantly establishes a _time frame_, for the other accounts
that include reports of bodies. Flying saucer enthusiasts use the
documented presence of U.S. Army Air Forces personnel at the MOGUL
site in July 1947, who were there to retrieve the MOGUL balloon train,
to provide the nucleus of unrelated and much later accounts that
include reports of “bodies.” It must be emphasized that the claims of
“bodies” only became part of the Roswell Incident after 1978, when they
were erroneously linked to the July 1947 retrieval of Project MOGUL
components.

In general, “Roswell Incident” scenarios claim that a disabled alien
craft momentarily touched down at the site 75 miles northwest of
Roswell, leaving behind parts of the spaceship (material that has been
subsequently identified as components of a MOGUL balloon train) to
create the original “debris field.” The scenarios further contend that
the damaged craft again became airborne and flew to its final crash
site, at either the location north of Roswell or 175 miles northwest of
Roswell on the San Agustin Plains.

Regardless of the dispute over the location, an element common to
most scenarios was that, once recovered, the bodies were supposedly
transported to the hospital at Roswell Army Air Field for autopsy. Also
common to these theories is that the bodies were later shipped from
Roswell AAF to another facility, usually Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (or
a host of other facilities—this is another area of further disagreement
among UFO theorists) for further evaluation and ultimate deep-freeze
storage.


Research Methods

In an attempt to untangle this collection of complicated assertions and
determine if there was any validity to the reports of bodies, Air Force
researchers faced the task of sorting through and examining anecdotal
testimony of hundreds of witnesses. However, a large number of the
accounts were eliminated by applying previously established facts to
the testimonies. The July 1994 report to the Secretary of the Air Force
clearly presented and documented these facts:

  _a._ The U.S. Army Air Forces did not recover an extraterrestrial
  vehicle and alien crew. This conclusion was based on extensive
  research that included a thorough review of both classified
  and unclassified materials at record depositories, archives,
  libraries and research facilities throughout the nation. Of the
  millions of pages of material reviewed, there was no mention of
  any activities that even tangentially suggested such an event.
  Additionally, former and retired Air Force members and civilian
  contract scientists were located and released from any possible
  nondisclosure agreements they may have entered into regarding
  past classified activities. This release allowed them to freely
  discuss with Air Force researchers, or any other persons,
  information related to this issue. These releases were issued at
  the express written direction of the Secretary of the Air Force.
  Interviews with these persons yielded no information supporting
  extraterrestrial claims or any other unusual activities.

  _b._ The reports of bodies were not associated with Project MOGUL.
  The MOGUL balloon train did not, was not designed to, nor could it
  carry passengers. Neither did it carry hazardous materials that
  would have caused injury, death, or mutilation to persons who may
  have come in contact with any of its components.

  _c._ Actual events, if any, that inspired reports of bodies did
  not occur in 1947. Based on extensive examinations of U.S. Army
  Air Forces activities in 1947, no evidence was found to support
  allegations that the Army Air Forces was involved in any uncommon
  operations other than the retrieval of the MOGUL balloon train
  in the Roswell area in July 1947. Examination of research and
  development projects, aircraft crashes, errant missiles and
  possible nuclear accidents yielded no information to support a 1947
  claim.

In light of these documented facts, the hundreds of anecdotal accounts
were reduced to a few. Eliminated were accounts that were likely
descriptions of materials known to be part of the Project MOGUL balloon
train and accounts describing transportation of these materials.

From the remaining testimony, Air Force researchers developed the
following set of working hypotheses to assist in identifying the actual
events, if any, matching those described by the witnesses.

  _a._ Due to the number and great detail provided in some of the
  accounts, it was likely that some event(s) actually did occur.

  _b._ Due to the many similarities of the two crash site
  descriptions and the considerable distance between them, it was
  likely that more than one event with similar characteristics was
  the basis for these accounts.

  _c._ Since the account of bodies at the Roswell Army Air Field
  hospital did not contain elements similar to reports of the two
  crash sites, it was likely that this account was unrelated to
  the crash site accounts. (The hospital account will be addressed
  separately in Section Two of this report.)

The remaining testimony was examined with regard both to the facts and
to working hypotheses to determine if there were common threads or
links connecting any of the accounts. If similarities were found, the
next step was to determine if they were related to an actual event.
Finally, if there were actual event(s), were they part of U.S. Air
Force or U.S. Government activities?


Common Threads

Careful examination of the testimony revealed that primary witnesses
of the two “crashed saucer” locations contained descriptions common to
both. These areas of commonality contained both general and detailed
characteristics. However, before continuing, the accounts were
carefully examined to determine if the testimony related by individual
witnesses were of their own experiences and not a recitation of
information given by other persons. While many aspects of the remaining
accounts were judged to be similar, other aspects were found to be
significantly different. The accounts on which the analysis is based
were determined, in all likelihood, to have been independently obtained
or observed by the witnesses.

=General Similarities.= The testimony presented for both crash sites
generally followed the same sequence of events. The witnesses were
in a rural and isolated area of New Mexico. In the course of their
travels in this area, they came upon a crashed aerial vehicle. The
witnesses then proceeded to the area of the crash to investigate and at
some distance they observed strange looking “beings” that appeared to
be crewmembers of the vehicle. Soon thereafter, a convoy of military
vehicles and soldiers arrived at the site. Military personnel allegedly
instructed the civilians to leave the area and forget what they had
seen. As the witnesses left the area, the military personnel commenced
with a recovery operation of the crashed aerial vehicle and “crew.”

=Detailed Similarities.= Along with general similarities in the
testimonies, there also existed a substantial amount of similar
detailed descriptions of the “aliens,” and the military vehicles and
procedures allegedly used to recover them.

The first obvious similarity was the descriptions of the aliens.
Mr. Gerald Anderson, an alleged witness of events at the site 175
miles northwest of Roswell, recalled, “I thought they were plastic
dolls.”[12] Mr. James Ragsdale, an alleged witness of the site north of
Roswell, stated, “They were using dummies in those damned things.”[13]
Another alleged witness to a “crash” north of Roswell, Frank J.
Kaufman, recalled that there was “talk” that perhaps an “experimental
plane with dummies in it” was the source of the claims.[14]

Additional similarities were also noted. Mr. Vern Maltais, a secondhand
witness of the site 175 miles northwest of Roswell, described the
hands of the “aliens” as, “They had four fingers.”[15] Anderson
characterized the hands as, “They didn’t have a little finger.”[16]
He also described the heads of the aliens as “completely bald”[17]
while Maltais described them as “hairless.”[18] The uniforms of the
aliens were independently described by Anderson as “one-piece suits
... a shiny silverish-gray color”[19] and by Maltais as “one-piece
and gray in color.”[20] The date of this event was also not precisely
known. Maltais recalled that it may have occurred “around 1950”[21] and
another secondhand witness, Alice Knight stated, “I don’t recall the
date.”[22]

Witnesses of different sites also used the terms “wrecker”[23] and
“six-by-six”[24] when they described the military vehicles present at
the different recovery sites. One witness described seeing a “medium
sized Jeep/truck”[25] and another witness described seeing a “weapons
carrier”[26] (a weapons carrier is a mid-sized Jeep-type truck).


The Research Profile

When the general and specific similarities were combined, a profile
emerged describing the event or activity that might have been observed.
The profile, which contains elements common to at least two, and in
some cases, all of the accounts, established a set of criteria used
to determine what the witnesses may have observed. The profile is as
follows:

  _a._ An activity that, if viewed from a distance, would appear
  unusual.

  _b._ An activity of which the exact date is not known.

  _c._ An activity that took place in two rural areas of New Mexico.

  _d._ An activity that involved a type of aerial vehicle with dolls
  or dummies that had four fingers, were bald, and wore one-piece
  gray suits.

  _e._ An activity that required recovery by numerous military
  personnel and an assortment of vehicles that included a wrecker, a
  six-by-six, and a weapons carrier.

Based on this profile, research was begun to identify events or
activities with these characteristics. Due to the location of the
sites, attention was focused on Roswell AAF (renamed Walker AFB in
1948), White Sands Missile Range and Holloman AFB, N.M. The aerial
vehicles assigned or under development at these facilities were
aircraft, missiles, remotely-piloted drones, and high altitude
balloons. The operational characteristics and areas where these
vehicles flew were researched to determine if they played a role in the
events described by the witnesses.

=Missiles and Drones.= Missiles and drones were determined not to have
been responsible for the accounts.[*] The areas where the alleged
crashes took place were, in all likelihood, too far from the White
Sands Missile Range. Missiles were equipped with a self-destruct
mechanism that was activated if it strayed off-course or out of the
White Sands Missile Range. There was never a program that required
a dummy or doll to be placed inside a missile or a drone. However,
missiles were launched from White Sands carrying monkeys and other
small animals aloft for scientific research.[27] These projects were
well documented, and none of these missiles landed near either of the
two crash sites.

  [*] From September 1961 until March 1965 12 Atlas F
  intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were deployed by the
  579^{th} Strategic Missile Squadron in areas surrounding Walker
  AFB, N.M. These missiles were determined not to have been involved
  in the Roswell Incident.

=Aircraft.= Aircraft seemed just as unlikely as missiles to have been
responsible for the extraterrestrial claims as outlined in the profile.
Although additional research revealed the significant role dummies
played in the test and evaluation of aircraft emergency escape systems,
these dummies were used on board aircraft and on the high-speed test
track at Holloman AFB. However, aircraft test flights demanded strict
adherence to established flight profiles over the instrumented portions
of the White Sands Missile Range, many miles from the alleged crash
sites. Dummies used on the high-speed track remained in the immediate
vicinity of the track facilities at Holloman AFB. This geographical
impossibility ruled out dummies that were ejected from aircraft
and those used on the high-speed track as a cause of alleged alien
sightings. (Aircraft accidents will be discussed extensively in Section
Two of this report.)

  [Illustration: Figs. 12 & 13. Missiles (_left_) and drones
  (_right_) under development at Holloman AFB, N.M. were determined
  not to have been involved in the “Roswell Incident.” (_U.S. Air
  Force photos_)]

=High Altitude Research Balloons.= The only vehicles not yet evaluated
as a possible source of the accounts were high altitude research
balloons. Previous reviews of early research balloon flight records
revealed that trajectories of high altitude balloons were, at times,
unpredictable and did not usually remain over Holloman AFB or White
Sands Missile Range.[28] Many of the scientific payloads required
recovery so the data collected during flight could be returned to the
laboratory for analysis.

These characteristics seemed to fit at least some of the research
profile. Atmospheric sampling apparatus or weather instruments, the
typical payload of many high altitude balloons, could hardly have been
mistaken for space aliens. A careful examination of the instruments
carried aloft by the high altitude balloons revealed that one unique
project used a device that very likely could be mistaken for an
alien—an anthropomorphic dummy.

An anthropomorphic dummy is a human substitute equipped with a variety
of instrumentation to measure effects of environments and situations
deemed too hazardous for a human. These abstractly human dummies
were first used in New Mexico in May 1950, and have been used on a
continuous basis since that time.[29]

In the 1950s, anthropomorphic dummies were not widely exposed outside
of scientific research circles and easily could have been mistaken for
something they were not. Today, anthropomorphic dummies, better known
as crash test dummies, are easily identifiable and are even the “stars”
of their own automotive safety advertising campaign. During the 1950s
when the U.S. Air Force dropped the odd-looking test devices from high
altitude balloons in its program to study high altitude human free-fall
characteristics, public awareness and stardom were decades away. It
seems likely that someone who unexpectedly observed these dummies at a
distance would believe they had seen something unusual. In retrospect,
when interviewed over 40 years later, they could accurately report that
they had seen something _very unusual_.

With the introduction of anthropomorphic dummies as a possible
explanation for the reports of bodies, another element of the research
profile appeared to be satisfied. Specific information that described
the locations, methods, and procedures used to employ the dummies was
required before any definitive conclusions could be drawn. To gather
this detailed information, research efforts were concentrated on high
altitude balloon operations and the specific projects that utilized
balloon-borne anthropomorphic dummies.

  [Illustration: Fig. 14. (_Left_) Example of an anthropomorphic
  dummy carried aloft by U.S. Air Force high altitude balloons. These
  dummies landed at numerous locations throughout New Mexico during
  the 1950s. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 15. (_Right_) Newspaper advertisement depicting
  anthropomorphic dummies “Vince and Larry” “stars” of the successful
  advertising campaign by the National Highway Traffic Safety
  Administration to encourage use of safety belts. (_Courtesy of
  NHTSA_)

  “I’LL JUST BRACE
  MYSELF WITH THE
  STEERING WHEEL”

  Who are you trying to fool? There’s no way a steering wheel
  can stop you from slamming into a dashboard. Only a safety belt can.
  Stop making excuses and start buckling your safety belt.

  YOU COULD LEARN A LOT FROM A DUMMY.
  BUCKLE YOUR SAFETY BELT.

  A Public Service Message
  US Department
  of Transportation
]


                Test Dummies Used by the U.S. Air Force

Since the beginning of manned flight, designers have sought a
substitute for the human body to test hazardous new equipment. Early
devices used by the predecessors of the U.S. Air Force were simply
constructed parachute drop test dummies with little similarity to the
human form. Following World War II, aircraft emergency escape systems
became increasingly sophisticated and engineers required a dummy with
more humanlike characteristics.


Parachute Drop Dummies

During World War I research and development of the first U.S. military
parachute was underway at McCook Field, Ohio. To test the parachute,
engineers experimented with several types of dummies, settling on
a model constructed of three-inch hemp rope and sandbags with the
approximate proportions of a medium-sized man.[30] The new invention
was soon known by the nickname “Dummy Joe.” Dummy Joe is said to have
made more than five thousand “jumps” between 1918 and 1924.[31]

By 1924, parachutes were required on military aircraft with their
serviceability tested by dummies dropped from aircraft.[32] For this
routine testing, several types of dummies were used. The most common
type is shown in figures 17 and 18. Parachutes were individually
drop-tested from aircraft until the early stages of World War II, when,
due both to increased reliability and large numbers of parachutes in
service, this routine practice was discontinued. Nonetheless, test
dummies were still used frequently by the Parachute Branch of Air
Materiel Command (AMC) at Wright Field, Ohio, to test new parachute
designs.

  [Illustration: Fig. 16. “‘Dummy Joe,’ the hero of five thousand
  jumps” is shown here with engineers J.J. Higgins (_left_) and Guy
  Ball at McCook Field, Ohio in 1920. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 17. (_Left_) Early rope and sandbag dummy used
  to test parachutes. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 18. (_Right_) Parachute drop dummies in use at
  Wright Field, Ohio. The historic Flight Test hangars, Hangars 1 and
  9, can be seen in the background. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]


Anthropomorphic Dummies

The ejection seat had been developed and used successfully by the
German Luftwaffe during the latter stages of World War II. The utility
of this invention was realized when the U.S. Army Air Forces obtained
an ejection seat in 1944.[33] To properly test the ejection seat, the
Army Air Forces required a dummy that had the same center of gravity
and weight distribution as a human, characteristics that parachute
drop dummies did not possess. In 1944, the USAAF Air Materiel Command
contracted with the Ted Smith Company of Upper Darby, Pa. to design
and manufacture the first dummy intended to accurately represent a
human.[34] The dummy had the same basic shape as a human, but with only
abstract human features, and “skin” made of canvas.

  [Illustration: Figs. 19 & 20. (_Left & Right_) These early
  anthropomorphic dummies, manufactured by the Ted Smith Co., of
  Upper Darby, Pa., were used by the Army Air Forces beginning in
  1944. They were replaced by a more realistic dummy in 1949.

  (_Right_) “Oscar Eightball,” the name given to this early model
  anthropomorphic dummy by Col. John P. Stapp, is shown following a
  run of the high-speed track at Muroc AAF (now Edwards AFB), Calif.,
  in 1947. (_U.S. Air Force photos_)]

In 1949, the U.S. Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory submitted a
proposal for an improved model of the anthropomorphic dummy.[35]
This request was originated by the renowned Air Force scientist and
physician John P. Stapp, now a retired Colonel, who conducted a series
of landmark experiments at Muroc (now Edwards) AFB, Calif., to measure
the effects of acceleration and deceleration during high-speed aircraft
ejections.[36] Stapp required a dummy that had the same center of
gravity and articulation as a human, but, unlike the Ted Smith dummy,
was more human in appearance. A more accurate external appearance was
required to provide for the proper fit of helmets, oxygen masks, and
other equipment used during the tests. Stapp requested the Anthropology
Branch of the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright Field to review
anthropological, orthopedic, and engineering literature to prepare
specifications for the new dummy.[37] Plaster casts of the torso, legs,
and arms of an Air Force pilot were also taken to assure accuracy.[38]
The result was a proposed dummy that stood 72 inches tall, weighed
200 pounds, had provisions for mounting instrumentation, and could
withstand up to 100 times the force of gravity or 100Gs.

In 1949, a contract was awarded to Sierra Engineering Company of Sierra
Madre, Calif., and deliveries began in 1950.[39] This dummy quickly
became known as “Sierra Sam.”

In 1952, a contract for anthropomorphic dummies was awarded to Alderson
Research Laboratories, Inc., of New York City.[40] Dummies constructed
by both companies possessed the same basic characteristics: a skeleton
of aluminum or steel, latex or plastic skin, a cast aluminum skull, and
an instrument cavity in the torso and head for the mounting of strain
gauges, accelerometers, transducers, and rate gyros.[41] Models used by
the Air Force were primarily parachute drop and ejection seat versions
with center of gravity tolerances within one quarter inch.

Over the next several years the two companies improved and redesigned
internal structures and instrumentation, but the basic external
appearance of the dummies remained relatively constant from the mid
1950s to the late 1960s. Dummies of these types were most likely the
“aliens” associated with the “Roswell Incident.”

  [Illustration: Figs. 21 & 22. Examples of a “Sierra Sam” (_left_)
  and Alderson Laboratories anthropomorphic dummies (_right_) of the
  type dropped from balloons at off-range locations throughout New
  Mexico during the 1950s. (_U.S. Air Force photos_)]



                                  1.2
                   High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops


From 1953 to 1959, anthropomorphic dummies were used by the U.S. Air
Force Aero Medical Laboratory as part of the high altitude aircraft
escape projects HIGH DIVE and EXCELSIOR.[42] The object of these
studies was to devise a method to return a pilot or astronaut to earth
by parachute, if forced to escape at extreme altitudes.[43]

  [Illustration: Fig. 23. Project HIGH DIVE anthropomorphic dummy
  launch, White Sands Proving Ground, N.M., June 11, 1957. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]

Anthropomorphic dummies were transported to altitudes up to 98,000 feet
by high altitude balloons. The dummies were then released for a period
of free-fall while body movements and escape equipment performance were
recorded by a variety of instruments. Forty-three high altitude balloon
flights carrying 67 anthropomorphic dummies were launched and recovered
throughout New Mexico between June 1954 and February 1959.[44] Due
to prevailing wind conditions, operational factors and ruggedness of
the terrain, the majority of dummies impacted outside the confines
of military reservations in eastern New Mexico, near Roswell, and in
areas surrounding the Tularosa Valley in south central New Mexico.[45]
Additionally, 30 dummies were dropped by aircraft over White Sands
Proving Ground, N.M. in 1953. In 1959, 150 dummies were dropped by
aircraft over Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (possibly accounting for
alleged alien “sightings” at that location).[46]

  [Illustration: Anthropomorphic Dummy Launch and Landing Locations]

A number of these launch and recovery locations were in the areas where
the “crashed saucer” and “space aliens” were allegedly observed.

Following the series of dummy tests, a human subject, test pilot Capt.
Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., now a retired Colonel, made three parachute
jumps from high altitude balloons. Since free-fall tests from these
unprecedented altitudes were extremely hazardous, they could not
be accomplished by a human until a rigorous testing program using
anthropomorphic dummies was completed.

  [Illustration: Fig. 25. “Lord, take care of me now,” were Capt.
  Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.’s words as he exited the EXCELSIOR III
  balloon gondola at 102,800 feet on August 16, 1960, over White
  Sands Proving Ground, N.M. Kittinger’s courageous scientific
  achievement remains, to this day, the highest parachute jump ever
  accomplished. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]


                              A Cover-Up?

Countering claims of a cover-up, Air Force projects that used
anthropomorphic dummies and human subjects were unclassified and
widely publicized in numerous newspaper and magazine stories, books,
and television reports. These included a book written by test pilot
Kittinger, _The Long, Lonely Leap_, another book, _Man High_, by MAN
HIGH Project Scientist, Lt. Col. David G. Simons (MC), a feature
article in _National Geographic_, and cover stories in _Life_,
_Collier’s_, _Popular Mechanics_, and _Time_.[47] A characterization
of Kittinger’s record parachute jump even appeared in the adolescent
magazine, _MAD_.[48] The intense public interest in HIGH DIVE,
EXCELSIOR and other aero medical projects conducted at Holloman AFB
also resulted in a 1956 Twentieth Century Fox full-length motion
picture, _On the Threshold of Space_ (see page 38).

  [Illustration: Fig. 26. This photo of Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger,
  Jr. taken by a remotely operated camera on the EXCELSIOR III
  gondola, was featured in the December 1960 _National Geographic_.

  The Long, Lonely Leap

  _World’s highest jump tests a new type of parachute for
  high-altitude flyers and scientists returning from the threshold of
  space_

  By CAPT. JOSEPH W. KITTINGER. JR., USAF

  _Illustrations by National Geographic photographer VOLKMAR WENTZEL_

  OVERHEAD my onion-shaped balloon spread its 200-foot diameter
  against a black daytime sky. More than 18½ miles below lay the
  cloud-hidden New Mexico desert to which I shortly would parachute.

  Sitting in my gondola, which gently twisted with the balloon’s slow
  turnings, I had begun to sweat lightly, though the temperature read
  36° below zero Fahrenheit. Sunlight burned in on me under the edge
  of an aluminized antiglare curtain and through the gondola’s open
  door.

  In my earphones crackled the voice of Capt. Marvin Feldstein, one
  of our project’s two doctors, from ground control at Holloman Air
  Force Base:

  “Three minutes till jump, Joe.”

  I was ready to go, for more reasons than one. For about an hour—as
  the balloon rose from 50,000 to 102,800 feet above sea level—I
  had been exposed to an environment requiring the protection of a
  pressure suit and helmet, and the fear of their failure had always
  been present. If either should break, unconsciousness would come in
  10 or 12 seconds, and death within two minutes.

  In our altitude-chamber flights at the laboratory, I always

  “=Lord, take care of me now=,” I pray, then take the big step-off
  that begins my return from the edge of space, a 13-minute,
  45-second plunge to an earth wrapped in clouds. The lanyard
  attached to my parachute pack is my last link with the gondola.
  It starts a timer on a small stabilization chute that will
  open 16 seconds later and prevent horizontal spinning. Without
  stabilization, man could not survive a jump from these high
  altitudes.

  A National Geographic camera mounted above the gondola took this
  remarkable photograph at 102,800 feet.

  MS Ektachrome National Geographic Society
]

  [Illustration: Fig. 27. Contemporary magazines that featured
  experiments at Holloman AFB, N.M. _Clockwise from top left_,
  _Time_, September 12, 1955; _Life_, August 29, 1960; _Popular
  Mechanics Magazine_, (_center_) January 1951; _Collier’s_, June 25,
  1954; and _Life_, September 2, 1957.]


Dummy Drop Procedures

For the majority of the tests, dummies were flown to altitudes between
30,000 and 98,000 feet attached to a specially designed rack suspended
below a high altitude balloon.[49] On several flights the dummies
were mounted in the door of an experimental high altitude balloon
gondola.[50] Upon reaching the desired altitude, the dummies were
released and free-fell for several minutes before deployment of the
main parachute.

  [Illustration: Fig. 28. (_Left_) Witnesses at both flying saucer
  “crash” sites stated that a “wrecker” was used in the recovery
  of the “alien” craft. This was a likely reference to the M-342
  five-ton wrecker, used to launch and recover anthropomorphic
  dummies.]

  [Illustration: Fig. 29. (_Right_) Three tests utilized
  anthropomorphic dummies mounted in the door of an experimental
  Project HIGH DIVE gondola. This launch took place on October 8,
  1957, in front of curious onlookers at the public picnic area of
  White Sands National Monument, N.M. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

The dummies used for the balloon drops were outfitted with standard
equipment of an Air Force aircrew member. This equipment consisted
of a one-piece flightsuit, olive drab, gray (witnesses had described
seeing aliens in gray one-piece suits) or fuchsia in color, boots,
and a parachute pack.[51] The dummies were also fitted with an
instrumentation kit that contained accelerometers, pressure
transducers, an oscillograph, and a camera to record movements of the
dummy during free-fall.[52]

  [Illustration: Fig. 30. A “Sierra Sam” with HIGH DIVE Project
  Officers 1st Lts. Eugene M. Schwartz (_left_) and Raymond A. Madson
  (_right_). This dummy is outfitted in a “sage green” colored
  flightsuit (a shade of gray) with red tape sealing its neck,
  wrists, and ankles. (_U.S. Air Force_)]

Recoveries of the test dummies were accomplished by personnel from
the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch.[53] Typically, eight to twelve
civilian and military recovery personnel arrived at the site of an
anthropomorphic dummy landing as soon as possible following impact.
The recovery crews operated a variety of aircraft and vehicles.
These included a wrecker, a six-by-six, a weapons carrier, and L-20
observation and C-47 transport aircraft—the exact vehicles and aircraft
described by the witnesses as having been present at the crashed saucer
locations.[54] On one occasion, just southwest of Roswell, a HIGH DIVE
project officer, 1st Lt. Raymond A. Madson, even conducted a search for
dummies on horseback[55] (see statement in Appendix B).

  [Illustration: Fig. 31. An M-35 2½-ton cargo truck, commonly
  referred to as a “six-by-six,” were used by the Holloman Balloon
  Branch to launch and recover anthropomorphic dummies and suspension
  racks at numerous locations throughout New Mexico. (_U.S. Air Force
  photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 32. M-37 ¾-ton utility trucks, known as
  “weapons carriers,” were used for high altitude balloon recoveries
  by the Holloman Balloon Branch during the 1950s. Here, recovery
  technicians use an M-37 to retrieve an Aero Medical gondola from a
  location on Holloman AFB, N.M. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

To expedite the recoveries, crews were prepositioned with their
vehicles along a paved highway in the area where impact was
expected.[56] On a typical flight the dummies were separated from
the balloon by radio command and descended by parachute.[57] Prompt
recovery of the dummies and their suspension racks, which usually
did not land in the same location resulting in extensive ground and
air searches, was essential for researchers to evaluate information
collected by the instrumentation and cameras. To assist the recovery
personnel, a variety of methods were used to enhance the visibility
of the dummies: smoke grenades, pigment powder, and brightly colored
parachute canopies.[58] Also, recovery notices promising a $25 reward
were taped to an exposed portion of a dummy.[59] Local newspapers and
radio stations were contacted when equipment was lost.[60]


                            The Bravest Man

  America was introduced to Col. John Paul Stapp on December 10,
  1954, when he became known as both the “the bravest” and “the
  fastest” man on earth. Stapp earned these titles following a
  rocket sled test that accelerated him to 632 miles per hour. He
  reached this speed in just five seconds—faster than a .45 caliber
  bullet—and was decelerated to a stop in 1.4 seconds, subjecting
  his body to more than 42 times the force of gravity! While this
  was America’s introduction to Col. Stapp, the 1954 rocket sled
  test that examined aircraft restraint devices and human responses
  to accelerative/decelerative forces and windblast, was just one of
  many achievements of this legendary Air Force physician.

  [Illustration: Fig. 33. The first “space doctor,” Lt. Col. John
  P. Stapp (now a retired Colonel) being strapped into the rocket
  sled Sonic Wind Nᵒ 1, on December 10, 1954, at Holloman AFB, N.M.
  Courageously, Stapp was his own volunteer subject on 29 rocket sled
  tests and earned two awards of the Legion of Merit and the Cheney
  Award for valor and self-sacrifice. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  Born in Bahia, Brazil to American missionary parents, Stapp sold
  pots and pans door to door during the Depression while he earned
  both undergraduate and graduate degrees in zoology and chemistry
  at Baylor University. He went on to earn a doctorate in biophysics
  from the University of Texas, and a doctorate in medicine from the
  University of Minnesota.

  In 1944 Stapp entered the U.S. Army Air Forces and became
  a flight surgeon. From 1946 to 1963, due to his unique
  qualifications in biophysics and medicine, he conducted a series
  of acceleration/deceleration experiments on the high-speed track
  at Muroc (now Edwards AFB), Calif.,[61] and later at Holloman
  AFB, N.M. Developments from these and other studies resulted in
  innovations which have saved many lives. These included improved
  safety belt restraint systems and design specifications for
  aircraft and automobiles, aircraft ejection and emergency escape
  systems, refinement of automobile airbag systems, and development
  of the modern anthropomorphic test dummy.

  As commander of the U.S. Air Force Aeromedical Field Laboratory
  at Holloman AFB, N.M. and later the Aero Medical Laboratory at
  Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, Stapp won support for the Air Force
  manned high altitude balloons projects—MAN HIGH and EXCELSIOR. As
  a testament to his thorough safety preparations, these and other
  extremely hazardous projects administered by Stapp, did not result
  in a single debilitating injury to a test subject. These projects
  helped pave the way for future flights of both high altitude
  aircraft such as the X-15, and of spacecraft for the MERCURY,
  GEMINI, and APOLLO programs. In fact, Stapp’s expertise was called
  upon to assist in the selection of the initial cadre of astronauts,
  the “MERCURY Seven.”

  He retired from the Air Force in 1970, but not before amassing a
  collection of awards and honors. These included two awards of the
  Legion of Merit for rocket sled experiments, the Cheney Award for
  1954, and membership in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

  In association with the Society of Automotive Engineers, Stapp
  continues to participate in annual conferences in which industry
  experts assemble to discuss vehicle safety issues. The conferences,
  now in their 40th year bear his name: the Stapp Car Crash
  Conferences.

  In 1991, in recognition of a lifetime of unselfish dedication
  to scientific research, Stapp was awarded the National Medal of
  Technology, bestowed upon him at the White House by President
  George Bush.

  He is married to the former Lillian Lanese, a former soloist with
  the Ballet Theater of New York, and resides in Alamogordo, N.M. At
  87 years old he continues to maintain a dizzying pace of travel and
  lectures.

  It is not an exaggeration that virtually every person who has
  safely operated, or ridden in, an automobile, aircraft, or
  spacecraft, has benefited from the genius of Col. John Paul Stapp,
  and owes this brave scientist, physician, and visionary, a great
  deal of thanks.

  [Illustration: Fig. 34. September 12, 1955 edition of _Time_
  featuring Col. John P. Stapp and his rocket sled experiments at
  Holloman AFB, N.M.]

Despite these efforts, the dummies were not always recovered
immediately; one was not found for nearly three years and several
were not recovered at all.[62] When they were found, the dummies and
instrumentation were often damaged from impact.[63] Damage to the
dummies included loss of heads, arms, legs and fingers.[64] This
detail, dummies with missing fingers, appears to satisfy another
element of the research profile—aliens with only four fingers.

  [Illustration: Fig. 35. Rough treatment and parachute failures
  during balloon drops often caused damage to the hands of the
  dummies. This detail, “beings” with “four fingers,” was related by
  two witnesses as a distinguishing feature of the Roswell aliens.
  (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Figs. 36–38. Actual photographs of an Alderson
  Laboratories type anthropomorphic dummy falling away from its
  suspension rack at high altitude over New Mexico. Fig. 37
  (_center_) appears on the cover of this publication. (_U.S. Air
  Force photos_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 39. Memo taken from Project HIGH DIVE files
  explaining the loss of a dummy near Roswell, N.M. in November 1955.

  Loss of MR Equipment
  WCUSS-22        WCRDB-4       19 Jan 56
  ATTN: Mr. R.L. Mason            Lt. Nielsen/1bc
                                  Ext. 2-4194/B.33

  1. On 17 November 1955, an anthropomorphic dummy, B-15 jacket and
  a stop watch were lost during a high altitude dummy drop from a
  balloon at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

  2. The drop was performed to determine the effectiveness of a
  two stage personnel parachute in lowering a man-like dummy from
  85,000 feet. The test was part of a continuing task “High Altitude
  Escape Studies”, 7218-71719. The point at which the dummy reached
  the ground was not known to the recovery crews at the time and an
  extensive search lasting through the first week of December 1955
  failed to discover the lost items.

  3. Lost are:

    a. 1 ea., dummy, anthropomorphic, Sierra Engineering Co. model 120,
       stock no. 3500-NL-30010,

    b. 1 ea., jacket, B-15, spec. 3220, size 36, stock no.
       8415-269-0512,

    c. 1 ea., stop watch, Fisher Scientific Co. P/N 14-646, stock no.
       8TAA 98545.

  4. Because of the loss of these items as a result of a test,
  it is requested that Lt. Henry P. Nielsen be relieved of the
  responsibility for these items.

                                      HARVEY E. SAVELY
                                      Chief, Biophysics Branch
                                      Aero. Medical Laboratory
                                      Directorate of Research

                                      CONCURRENCE
]

What may have contributed to a misunderstanding if the dummies were
viewed by persons unfamiliar with their intended use, were the methods
used by Holloman AFB personnel to transport them. The dummies were
sometimes transported to and from off-range locations in wooden
shipping containers, similar to caskets, to prevent damage to fragile
instruments mounted in and on the dummy.[65] Also, canvas military
stretchers and hospital gurneys were used (a procedure recommended by a
dummy manufacturer) to move the dummies in the laboratory or retrieve
dummies in the field after a test.[66] The first 10 dummy drops also
utilized black or silver insulation bags, similar to “body bags” in
which the dummies were placed for flight to guard against equipment
failure at low ambient temperatures of the upper atmosphere.[67]

  [Illustration: Fig. 40. Air Force personnel used stretchers and
  gurneys to pick up 200-pound dummies in the field and to move them
  in the laboratory. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 41. For the first 10 balloon flights, dummies
  were placed in insulation bags to protect temperature-sensitive
  equipment. These bags may have been described by at least one
  witness as “body bags” used to recover alien victims from the crash
  of a flying saucer. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

On one occasion northwest of Roswell, a local woman unfamiliar with the
test activities arrived at a dummy landing site prior to the arrival of
the recovery personnel.[68] The woman saw what appeared to be a human
embedded head first in a snowbank and became hysterical. The woman
screamed, “He’s dead!, he’s dead!”[69]

It now appeared that anthropomorphic dummies dropped by high altitude
balloons satisfied the requirements of the research profile. However,
the review of high altitude balloon operations revealed what appeared
to be explanations for some other sightings of odd objects in the
deserts and skies of New Mexico.

  [Illustration: Figs. 42 & 43. These reports detailed the methods
  and procedures used for the dummy tests. They may be obtained from
  the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, Va.

  WADC TECHNICAL REPORT 57-477
  PART I.
  ASTLA DOCUMENT No. AD 130965

  HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON DUMMY DROPS
  PART I. THE UNSTABILIZED DUMMY DROPS

  _RAYMOND A. MADSON, 1ST LT., USAF_

  _AERO MEDICAL LABORATORY_

  OCTOBER 1957

  WRIGHT AIR DEVELOPMENT CENTER

  WADC TECHNICAL REPORT 57-477 (II)

  HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON DUMMY DROPS
  II: THE STABILIZED DUMMY DROPS

  _RAYMOND A. MADSON, 1ST/LT, USAF_

  _LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS LABORATORY
  AEROSPACE MEDICAL LABORATORY_

  AUGUST 1961

  AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS DIVISION
  AIR FORCE SYSTEMS COMMAND
  UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
  WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OHIO
  ]



                                  1.3
                   High Altitude Balloon Operations


Research has shown that many high altitude balloons launched
from Holloman AFB, N.M., were recovered in locations, and under
circumstances, that strongly resemble those described by UFO proponents
as the recovery of a “flying saucer” and “alien” crew. When these
descriptions were carefully examined, it was clear that they bore more
than just a resemblance to Air Force activities. It appears that some
were actually distorted references to Air Force personnel and equipment
engaged in scientific study through the use of high altitude balloons.

Since 1947, U.S. Air Force research organizations at Holloman AFB,
N.M., have launched and recovered approximately 2,500 high altitude
balloons. The Air Force organization that conducted most of these
activities, the Holloman Balloon Branch, launched a wide range of
sophisticated, and from most perspectives, odd looking equipment into
the stratosphere above New Mexico. In fact, the =_very first_= high
altitude data gathering balloon flight launched from Alamogordo Army
Airfield (now Holloman AFB), N.M., on June 4, 1947, was found by the
rancher and was the first of many unrelated events now collectively
known as the “Roswell Incident.”

  [Illustration: Fig. 44. Inflation of a U.S. Air Force 626 ft. long,
  34.6 million cu. ft. research balloon on August 13, 1972. This
  balloon was launched from Roswell Industrial Air Center (formerly
  Roswell AAF), Roswell, N.M., to test components of the NASA VIKING
  space probe. (_photo by Ole Jorgeson_) ]


                       On the Threshold of Space

  In 1956, Twentieth Century Fox released _On the Threshold of
  Space_, a full-length motion picture based on Air Force aero
  medical projects conducted at Holloman AFB, N.M. Starring Guy
  Madison, John Hodiak, and Dean Jagger, this drama chronicled the
  high altitude balloon experiments of projects HIGH DIVE/EXCELSIOR
  and the high-speed track studies conducted by Col. John P. Stapp.
  Filmed on location at Holloman AFB, Air Force personnel, high
  altitude balloons, aircraft, vehicles, and other equipment,
  including the actual anthropomorphic dummies responsible for
  sightings of aliens, were used in the making of this film.

  In an ironic twist, in 1990 the television program _Unsolved
  Mysteries_, featured a segment on the Roswell Incident. The
  program, hosted by actor Robert Stack, depicted a dramatized
  version of the claims of “aliens,” space ships and mysterious
  government recovery crews. Interestingly, a review of newspapers
  from 1956 announcing the Hollywood premiere of _On the Threshold
  of Space_, listed Stack among the persons scheduled to attend this
  star-studded event.[70]

  [Illustration: Fig. 45. Lobby card of the 1956 Twentieth Century
  Fox release, _On the Threshold of Space_ starring Guy Madison
  (_seated_) and Martin Milner (_right_).]

  [Illustration: Fig. 46. Publicity photograph from _On the Threshold
  of Space_ with (_from left_) Cameron Mitchell, Guy Madison and
  Dean Jagger. Scenes from the movie clearly depict the actual
  anthropomorphic dummies described nearly 40 years later as
  extraterrestrial “aliens.”]

  [Illustration: Fig. 47. Col. J. P. Stapp’s historic 1954 rocket
  sled test was re-created for _On the Threshold of Space_ (_see
  figure 33, page 31_).]


High Altitude Polyethylene Research Balloons

In 1946, as a result of research conducted for project MOGUL,
Charles B. Moore, a New York University graduate student working
under contract for the U.S. Army Air Forces, made a significant
technological discovery: the use of polyethylene for high altitude
balloon construction.[71] Polyethylene is a lightweight plastic that
can withstand stresses of a high altitude environment that differed
drastically from, and greatly exceeded, the capabilities of standard
rubber weather balloons used previously. Moore’s discovery was a
breakthrough in technology. For the first time, scientists were able to
make detailed, sustained studies of the upper atmosphere. Polyethylene
balloons, first produced in 1947 for Project MOGUL, are still widely
used today for a host of scientific applications.

High altitude polyethylene balloons and standard rubber weather
balloons differ greatly in size, construction, and utility. The
difference between these two types of balloons historically has been
the subject of misunderstandings in that the term “weather balloon” is
often used to describe both types of balloons.

High altitude polyethylene balloons are used to transport scientific
payloads of several pounds to several tons to altitudes of nearly
200,000 feet. Polyethylene balloons do not increase in size and burst
with increases in volume as they rise, as do standard rubber weather
balloons. They are launched with excess capacity to accommodate the
increase in volume. This characteristic of polyethylene balloons makes
them substantially more stable than rubber weather balloons and capable
of sustained constant level flight, a requirement for most scientific
applications.

  [Illustration: Fig. 48. Relative sizes of a modern high altitude
  polyethylene research balloon, an airliner, and a hot-air balloon.
  Inaccurate characterizations of the giant high altitude research
  balloons as “weather balloons” (which are typically 15 feet in
  diameter) has historically been the source of confusion. (_courtesy
  of Mike Smith, Raven Industries_)

  Raven Industries 40 million cubic foot balloon. 450 ft in diameter
  at 130,000 feet

  Hot-air balloon. 50 ft in diameter

  DC-9 airliner 104 ft long]

The initial polyethylene balloons had diameters of only seven feet and
carried payloads of five pounds or less.[72] As balloon technology
advanced, payload capacities and sizes of balloons increased. Modern
polyethylene balloons, some as long as several football fields when
on the ground, expand at altitude to volumes large enough to contain
many jet airliners. Polyethylene balloons flown by the U.S. Air Force
have reached altitudes of 170,000 feet and lifted payloads of 15,000
pounds.[73]

During the late 1940’s and 1950’s, a characteristic associated
with the large, newly invented, polyethylene balloons, was that
they were often misidentified as flying saucers.[74] During this
period, polyethylene balloons launched from Holloman AFB, generated
flying saucer reports on nearly every flight.[75] There were so many
reports that police, broadcast radio, and newspaper accounts of these
sightings were used by Holloman technicians to supplement early balloon
tracking techniques.[76] Balloons launched at Holloman AFB generated
an especially high number of reports due to the excellent visibility
in the New Mexico region. Also, the balloons, flown at altitudes
of approximately 100,000 feet, were illuminated before the earth
during the periods just after sunset and just before sunrise. In this
instance, receiving sunlight before the earth, the plastic balloons
appeared as large bright objects against a dark sky. Also, with the
refractive and translucent qualities of polyethylene, the balloons
appeared to change color, size, and shape.

The large balloons generated UFO reports based on their radar
tracks.[77] This was due to large metallic payloads that weighed
up to several tons and echoed radar returns not usually associated
with balloons. In later years, balloons were equipped with altitude
and position reporting transponders and strobe lights that greatly
diminished the numbers of both visual and radar UFO sightings.

One classic misidentification of a Holloman balloon that was mistaken
for a UFO, was launched on October 27, 1953.[78] According to the
following account published in a widely distributed 1958 history of
Air Force balloon operations, _Contributions of Balloon Operations to
Research and Development at the Air Force Missile Development Center
Holloman Air Force Base, N. Mex. 1947–1958_, a suspected Holloman
balloon was tracked both visually and by radar over London, England on
November 3, 1953.

“English accounts of the incident contained such statements as
‘tremendous speed,’ ‘practically motionless,’ ‘circular or spherical
and white in color,’ ‘emitting or reflecting a fierce light.’ Altitude
was reported as 61,000 feet—and as no research balloon had recently
been sent up from Britain, there was ample room for local saucer
enthusiasts to claim the ‘unidentified flying object’ as proof of their
theories. A much likelier explanation, however, is that this was really
the balloon launched from Holloman on 27 October.”[79]


High Altitude Balloon Payloads

Over the years, payloads transported by high altitude polyethylene
balloons ranged from simple radio transmitters to anthropomorphic
dummies to sophisticated satellite components and NASA interplanetary
space probes. Many of these payloads, some of which weighed many tons,
were not what someone would typically envision as being associated with
a balloon. Examples of payloads flown in New Mexico by Air Force high
altitude balloons can be found on pages 52 and 53 at the end of this
section.

Research projects of the late 1940’s and 1950’s conducted at Holloman
AFB which began with the Project MOGUL flights in June 1947, covered
a wide spectrum of scientific research. One important experiment
in space biology measured the effects of exposure to cosmic ray
particles on living tissues.[80] Other projects gathered meteorological
data and collected air samples to determine the composition of the
atmosphere.[81] The first high altitude photographic reconnaissance
project, a forerunner to today’s reconnaissance satellites, Project
119L, also used high altitude balloons launched at Holloman AFB.[82]

As early as May 1948, polyethylene balloons coated or laminated with
aluminum were flown from Holloman AFB and the surrounding area.[83]
Beginning in August 1955, large numbers of these balloons were flown
as targets in the development of radar guided air to air missiles.[84]
Various accounts of the “Roswell Incident” often described thin,
metal-like materials that when wadded into a ball, returned to their
original shape. These accounts are consistent with the properties of
polyethylene balloons laminated with aluminum. These balloons were
typically launched from points west of the White Sands Proving Ground,
floated over the range as targets, and descended in the areas northeast
of White Sands Proving Ground where the “strange” materials were
allegedly found.

In 1958 the first manned stratospheric balloon flights were made from
Holloman AFB (see page 102). In 1960, balloon tests of components of
the first U. S. reconnaissance satellite were also flown at Holloman
AFB. In the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s high altitude balloons were used
in support of Air Force, and other U.S. Government and university
sponsored research projects. Instrument testing of atmospheric entry
vehicles for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
space probes is one prominent example.

  [Illustration: Fig. 49. Holloman Balloon Branch personnel prepare a
  polyethylene balloon laminated with aluminum to serve as a target
  for radar guided missiles over White Sands Proving Ground, N.M.
  (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]


High Altitude Balloons and America’s First Satellite

  An illustration of the important contributions of the Holloman AFB
  Balloon Branch, and the necessity for a rapid recovery of a high
  altitude balloon payload, were evaluations of components of the
  first U.S. satellite-based reconnaissance system, code named CORONA.

  The Soviet Union had already beaten the U.S. into space with
  the launch and orbit of SPUTNIK I on October 4, 1957. The next
  achievement in the quest for space superiority were the physical
  recovery of a payload that had been in orbit.[85] The DISCOVERER
  satellite, the sensor used in the CORONA program, was to be
  propelled into orbit and then eject a capsule containing an
  American flag to enable the U.S. to claim this honor.[86]

  The DISCOVERER program had been plagued by failure with 10
  unsuccessful missions in 1959 and 1960. With the eyes of the nation
  watching, and the Soviets testing a similar system, more failures
  could not be tolerated. To test the faulty components of the
  DISCOVERER, U.S. Air Force high altitude balloons at Holloman AFB
  were determined to be the most expedient method of conducting the
  evaluations.

  In April 1960, DISCOVERER XI, on the launch pad at Vandenberg
  AFB, Calif., was put into a hold pending results of the balloon
  tests.[87] The first test at Holloman AFB on April 5th was
  unsatisfactory due to a parachute failure.[88] On April 8th, with
  pressure mounting, the Balloon Branch launched another balloon
  with the DISCOVERER capsule. This test, in which the capsule was
  dropped over White Sands Missile Range and recovered immediately,
  was a total success.[89] The results were relayed by telephone
  from the Balloon Control Center at Holloman AFB to the launch pad
  at Vandenberg AFB where the countdown resumed.[90] Despite the
  successful balloon drop, DISCOVERER XI and DISCOVERER XII were
  failures.[91] Therefore, balloon testing continued throughout the
  summer of 1960.

  Finally, on August 11, 1960, DISCOVERER XIII successfully ejected
  a capsule and, amid much fanfare, the first recovery of a manmade
  object that had orbited the earth was accomplished.[92] This first
  successful mission of an American satellite, made possible in part
  by Holloman AFB high altitude balloons, enabled the U.S. to beat
  the Soviets and claim the honor of the first space recovery by only
  nine days.[93]

  [Illustration: Fig. 50. (_Left_). A Holloman Balloon Branch launch
  crew prepares a nosecone of the DISCOVERER satellite for a high
  altitude balloon flight at Holloman AFB, N.M. in April 1960. (_U.S.
  Air Force photo_) ]

  [Illustration: Fig. 51. (_Right_). A U.S. Navy helicopter aboard
  the _USS Haiti Victory_ is shown here with the capsule from the
  DISCOVERER XIII satellite. It was recovered from the Pacific Ocean
  330 miles northwest of Hawaii on August 11, 1960. (_U.S. Air Force
  photo_) ]

The SURVEYOR (Moon), VOYAGER-MARS (Mars), VIKING (Mars), PIONEER
(Venus), and GALILEO (Jupiter) spacecraft were tested by Air Force high
altitude balloons before they were launched into space.

=VIKING and VOYAGER-MARS Space Probes.= Examples of unusual payloads,
not likely to be associated with balloons, were qualification trials of
NASA’s VOYAGER-MARS and VIKING space probes. Both of these spacecraft
looked remarkably similar to the classic dome-shaped “flying saucer.”

In 1966–67 and 1972, eight of the UFO lookalikes were launched by the
Balloon Branch from the former Roswell Army Air Field (now Roswell
Industrial Air Center), N.M.[94] The spacecraft were transported by
Air Force balloons to altitudes above 100,000 feet and released for a
period of self-propelled, supersonic, free-flight prior to landing on
the White Sands Missile Range.[95] While the origins of the “Roswell”
scenarios cannot be specifically traced to these vehicles, their
flying saucer-like appearance, and the fact that they were launched
exclusively from the original “Roswell Incident” location, leaves an
impression that perhaps these odd balloon payloads may have played
some role in the unclear and distorted stories of at least some of the
“Roswell” witnesses.

  [Illustration: Fig. 52. A NASA VIKING space probe is rolled out of
  its assembly building at Martin Marietta Corporation in Denver,
  Colo. (_NASA_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 53. (_Above Left_) The aeroshell of a NASA
  VOYAGER-MARS space probe just prior to launch at Walker AFB, N.M.
  (formerly Roswell AAF). (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 54. (_Above Right_) This NASA VIKING flying
  saucer-like space probe was test flown by U. S. Air Force high
  altitude balloons in 1972 at the former Roswell Army Air Field.
  (_NASA_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 55. (_Right_) Following a supersonic test
  flight in 1972, a VIKING space probe awaits recovery at White Sands
  Missile Range, N.M. (_NASA_)]

=Tethered Balloons.= The Holloman Balloon Branch, in addition to high
altitude research activities, also conducted low altitude tethered
balloon flights. It appears that descriptions of these balloons may
have become part of the “Roswell Incident.”

Most standard shaped tethered balloons are readily identified when near
the ground or when the tether is visible. Other experimental tethered
balloons are not so easily identified. During the 1960s, Balloon Branch
personnel flew experimentally shaped tethered balloons from deep
canyons of central New Mexico. To a distant observer, from a vantage
point above the canyon rim, where the tether and ground anchors are
not visible, an experimental tethered balloon might lead some persons
to speculate as to the oddly shaped balloon’s origin and purpose. One
design of a low altitude tethered balloon may have inspired at least
one account of an “alien” craft. In _The Truth About the UFO Crash at
Roswell_, the authors published a drawing of a crashed alien spaceship
allegedly based on a drawing given to them by an anonymous witness.[96]
When this drawing is compared to a photograph of an experimental
tethered balloon flown at Holloman AFB in March 1965, the similarities
are undeniable.[97] The tethered balloon and the NASA space probes are
just two examples of the uncommon technologies that were flown in New
Mexico by the Holloman Balloon Branch.

  [Illustration: Fig. 56. (_Left_) A drawing from a popular UFO
  book, _The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell_, depicts an alien
  spacecraft allegedly drawn by an anonymous witness. (_The Truth
  About the UFO Crash at Roswell_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 57. (_Right_) A tethered “Vee” balloon shown
  here at Holloman AFB, N.M. in March 1965. This experimental
  balloon, is strikingly similar to the “alien” craft. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]

Today, the Air Force maintains a reduced but still highly capable
high altitude balloon program at Holloman AFB. The Space and Missile
Command, Test and Evaluation Unit (SMC/TE, OL-AC) represents the sole
Department of Defense high altitude research balloon capability. The
ability of a U.S. Air Force high altitude balloon to lift a scientific
payload to more than 100,000 feet, above 99 per cent of the earth’s
atmosphere, for days at a time, presents a profoundly useful scientific
tool at a fraction of the cost of a space research platform. Recent
tests that utilized Holloman balloons included atmospheric sampling
and gravity measurement experiments, high altitude astronomic studies,
weapons systems evaluations, and gamma ray detection experiments. While
most tests continue to be launched from the permanent balloon launch
facility at Holloman AFB, U.S. Air Force balloon crews have recently
launched balloons from numerous field locations in the U.S. (including
two sites in Roswell), as well as Alaska, Panama, and Antarctica.

  [Illustration: Fig. 58. Present members of the Holloman Balloon
  Branch in front of the Balloon Operations Center, Building 850, at
  Holloman AFB, N.M., (_from left_) TSgt. Roger J. Welch, Mr. Joseph
  Fumerola, Mr. Alvin W. Hodges, Mr. Joseph Longshore, MSgt. Ray A.
  Pitts, Sr., Amn. John Witkop, and Mr. Harvey L. Harris. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]


Balloon and Payload Recoveries

UFO theorists support their claims of an extraordinary occurrence in
the New Mexico desert by describing mysterious U.S. military personnel,
operating a variety of vehicles and aircraft that always seem to
arrive shortly after the crash of a “flying saucer.” When carefully
scrutinized, the descriptions of the mystery crews, their equipment,
methods, and the areas where the recoveries allegedly occurred—in
targeted high altitude balloon recovery areas—indicates that Holloman
Balloon Branch activities were most likely responsible for the claims.

To successfully recover high altitude balloons, balloon recovery
technicians regularly ventured far from Holloman AFB. In most instances
the balloons and their scientific payloads were recovered from
predetermined recovery areas. These regularly targeted areas, located
in Arizona, West Texas, and New Mexico, included the area surrounding
Roswell.[98] From 1947 to the present, the Roswell area has been the
site of hundreds of balloon and payload recoveries (including those
that carried anthropomorphic dummies).[99]

The regularly targeted areas were the result of the evolution of high
altitude balloon control techniques developed at Holloman AFB. These
techniques were based on meteorological, geographical, and operational
conditions that exist in New Mexico. These factors, combined with ample
amounts of skill and experience of balloon controllers at Holloman AFB,
determined the impact points of Holloman high altitude balloons.

Many of the procedures used to position Air Force balloons are
described in _General Philosophy and Techniques of Balloon Control_,
and _Meteorological Aspects of Constant-Level Balloon Operations in
the Southwestern United States_, both by Bernard D. Gildenberg (see
statement in Appendix B).[100] Gildenberg served as the Holloman
Balloon Branch Meteorologist, Engineer, and Physical Science
Administrator from 1951 until 1981. During this period, Gildenberg, a
recognized world expert in upper atmospheric wind patterns, pioneered
methods to launch, control, track, and recover high altitude balloons.
Many of these methods are still used today by the U.S. Air Force and by
research organizations throughout the world.


Interaction with Civilians

  [Illustration: Fig. 59. Bernard D. “Duke” Gildenberg (_center_)
  Balloon Branch Meteorologist, is shown here in May 1957 in front
  of the MAN HIGH I gondola. With Gildenberg are MAN HIGH I pilot
  Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. (_left_), and MAN HIGH project
  scientist/pilot, Lt. Col. David G. Simons (MC). When Gildenberg
  attempted to inform UFO theorists that high altitude balloon
  projects were likely responsible for some of the UFO claims, his
  explanations were rejected, _see also_ pages 8 & 9. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]

In several accounts, unsubstantiated allegations have been made
that military personnel who retrieved equipment from rural areas of
New Mexico intimidated and threatened civilians. Contrary to these
charges, Balloon Branch personnel enjoyed good relations with the
local community and often solicited their assistance in the area of a
balloon or payload landing. In the flat, featureless desert areas of
southeastern New Mexico near Roswell, the parachutes, payloads, the
balloons themselves, and circling chase aircraft often drew crowds of
curious onlookers from the local community. In fact, so many civilians
were often present at balloon or payload landing sites, the scene was
described by longtime civilian Balloon Branch recovery supervisor,
Robert Blankenship, as being like the “circus coming to town.”[101]

Allegations that civilians were threatened or told to “forget what they
saw” are profoundly inaccurate. Threats, intimidation, or other types
of misconduct by Balloon Branch personnel would have served no purpose
since without the cooperation of local persons, many recoveries would
not have been possible.[102]

  [Illustration: Fig. 60. (_Right_) This ranch family assisted in the
  recovery of a Project STARGAZER high altitude balloon payload and
  is shown here with a panel from the unmanned gondola. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]

Most balloon recoveries were coordinated in advance with local
law enforcement agencies.[103] If a balloon or payload landed on
private property and the owner could not be located, Balloon Branch
operating instructions dictated that the local sheriff or police
must be contacted.[104] In situations where local persons arrived at
balloon landing sites before the recovery crews, they were simply
asked to “step back” to allow recovery personnel to secure the
balloon equipment.[105] If these persons inquired as to the purpose
of a balloon flight, they were informed by technicians that it was a
U.S. Air Force scientific study and were given a telephone number at
Holloman AFB if they required additional information. At Holloman AFB,
individuals qualified to answer detailed questions responded to these
inquiries. There was never a reason to mislead or threaten individuals
who observed balloon operations. Relations with local citizens were
good, and Balloon Branch personnel and equipment were a common sight to
residents in areas with high incidences of balloon operations.

In a few instances, situations arose when persons not familiar with the
procedures and equipment used by the Balloon Branch misunderstood their
activities. Such misunderstandings occurred several times during the
1970s and 1980s when recovery crews not only attracted the attention of
local citizens while coordinating balloon recoveries, but also drew the
attention of federal law enforcement agencies.[106]

Checks with the local sheriff revealed that the trucks and circling
aircraft in the desert near Roswell were part of a balloon recovery
mission, and not a drug smuggling operation. Apparently, balloon
recoveries appeared to be something suspicious even to federal agents.

  [Illustration: Fig. 61. A typical Holloman Balloon Branch recovery
  crew is shown here with a man known as “The hermit” who assisted
  them in a balloon recovery northwest of Silver City, N.M. in the
  1960s. (_photo collection of Robert Blankenship_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 62. A mule (named Ida) was borrowed from a
  local rancher when a balloon payload landed in difficult terrain 20
  miles north of Wickenburg, Ariz. in October 1966. (_U.S. Air Force
  photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 63. On occasion, Air Force balloon recovery
  crews rented or borrowed equipment from local residents. This
  bulldozer was rented for one recovery in the Sacramento mountains
  west of Roswell. (_photo collection of Robert Blankenship_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 64. Balloon Branch vehicle at roadside café.
  This M-43 ¾-ton field ambulance, converted by the Holloman Balloon
  Branch into a communications vehicle, was a common sight in the
  areas surrounding Roswell during the 1950s and early 1960s. (_photo
  collection of Ole Jorgeson_)]

  [Illustration: Figs. 65 & 66. Examples of unusual payloads flown by
  Air Force high altitude balloons at Holloman AFB, N.M. (_U.S. Air
  Force photos_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 67. (_Left_) This U.S. Army communications
  payload was flown at Holloman AFB, N.M. on September 30, 1976.
  (_U.S. Army photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 68. (_Right_) Payload launched by an Air Force
  high altitude balloon from Holloman AFB, N. M. on March 20, 1965.
  This payload was a scientific experiment for The Johns Hopkins
  University Astrophysics Laboratory. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 69. High altitude balloon payload launched from
  Holloman AFB on September 14, 1976. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]



                                  1.4
     Comparison of Witnesses Accounts to U.S. Air Force Activities


Were they aliens or dummies? This question can be answered by comparing
witness testimony and the Air Force projects of the 1950s, HIGH
DIVE and EXCELSIOR. Both of these projects employed anthropomorphic
dummies flown by high altitude balloons and appeared to satisfy the
requirements of the previously established research profile:

  _a._ An activity that if viewed from a distance would appear
  unusual.

  _b._ An activity for which the exact date was not likely to have
  been known because many dummies were dropped over a six-year period
  (1953–1959).

  _c._ An activity that took place in many areas of rural New Mexico.

  _d._ An activity that involved a type of aerial vehicle with
  dummies that had four fingers, were bald and wore one-piece gray
  suits.

  _e._ An activity that required recovery by numerous military
  personnel and an assortment of vehicles that included a wrecker, a
  six-by-six, and a weapons carrier.

The testimony used in the following comparison, an undocumented mixture
of firsthand and secondhand re-countings, are the actual statements,
not the interpretations of UFO proponents, that are presented to
“prove” the Earth was visited by extraterrestrial beings and the U.S.
Air Force has covered up this fact since 1947. This comparison is
augmented by references to photographs whenever possible to illustrate
the undeniable similarities between the descriptions provided by the
witnesses and the equipment and methods employed by the Air Force
projects.

  [Illustration: Fig. 70. Project HIGH DIVE anthropomorphic dummy
  launch. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]



                            “Crash” Site 1
                     (Allegedly North of Roswell)


This summarized account is the basis for the alleged “flying saucer”
crash site north of Roswell.[*] The exact location is not known since
the witness, Mr. James Ragsdale, in two separate sworn statements, has
described two different sites, many miles apart.[107] This account was
excerpted from an interview with Mr. Ragsdale by author Donald Schmitt.
A transcript of the complete interview is included in Appendix C.

[*] In _The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell_ (Avon Books, 1994, p.
131), the authors provided a corroborating account for this testimony
from a 96-year-old man who was in ill health, whose interview was not
tape recorded, and has since died. According to the book, the man’s
“wife and daughter said that he was easily confused” and “memories of
his life were jumbled and reordered.”


The Account
James Ragsdale

“_They was using dummies in those damned things_”[108]

Testimony attributed to Ragsdale, who is deceased, states that he and
a friend were camping one evening and saw something fall from the sky.
The next morning, when they went to investigate, they saw a crash site:

“One part [of the craft] was kind of buried in the ground and one part
of it was sticking our [out] of the ground.” “I’m sure that [there] was
bodies ... either bodies or dummies.” “The federal government could
have been doing something they didn’t want anyone to know what this
was. They was using dummies in those damned things ... they could use
remote control ... but it was either dummies or bodies or something
laying there. They looked like bodies. They were not very long ...
[not] over four or five foot long at the most.” “We didn’t see their
faces or nothing like that ... we had just gotten to the site and the
Army ... and all [was] coming and we got into a damned jeep and took
off.”

This testimony then describes an assortment of military vehicles used
to recover the “bodies”: “It was two or three six-by-six Army trucks a
wrecker and everything. Leading the pack was a '47 Ford car with guys
in it.... It was six or eight big trucks besides the pickup, weapons
carriers and stuff like that.” Ragsdale also said that before he left
the area he observed the military personnel “gathering stuff up” and
“they cleaned everything all up.”


Assessment

In his testimony, Ragsdale made numerous references to equipment,
vehicles, and procedures consistent with documented anthropomorphic
dummy recoveries for projects HIGH DIVE and EXCELSIOR. The repeated
use of the term “dummy” and the witness’ own admission that “they was
using dummies in those damned things” and “I’m sure that was bodies ...
either bodies or dummies” leaves little doubt that what he described
was an anthropomorphic dummy recovery.

Based on testimony attributed to this witness, the confusion could
have resulted from the fact that he observed these activities from a
distance. If the witness was even a short distance from the odd looking
anthropomorphic dummies, it would be logical for him to believe, when
interviewed 35 to 40 years after the event, that he “thought they were
dummies or bodies or something.” Also, for some of the high altitude
drops, the dummies did not separate from the suspension rack and
“rode the rack” to the ground without deployment of a parachute.[109]
If the parachutes of the dummies or parachutes of the rack assembly
did not deploy (a common occurrence during the early dummy drops),
then they free-fell from up to 98,000 feet.[110] As a result of these
malfunctions, the arms and legs of the dummies were often separated
from the body on impact.[111] This may account for the witness’
description of bodies [not] “over four or five foot” tall.

Another portion of his testimony suggesting that the witness observed
an Air Force high altitude balloon and dummy recovery was the
statement: “The federal government could have been doing something
because they didn’t want anyone to know what this was ... they was
using dummies in those damned things ... they could use remote
control.” Balloon controllers used remote control to relay commands to
the balloon control package to valve gas and drop ballast.[112] The
dummies themselves were also dropped from the suspension rack by remote
control.[113]

[Illustration: Fig. 71. Numerous vehicles and various types
of equipment, were often present at high altitude balloon and
anthropomorphic dummy launch and recovery locations. (photo collection
of Ole Jorgeson) ]

The witness also described a Balloon Branch procedure that required the
area of a balloon or payload landing to be restored to its original
condition. It was evident in the statements “They cleaned everything
all up” and “They began gathering the stuff up.” Thoroughly cleaning
a balloon or dummy landing site and removing any debris deposited
there was a standard procedure to maintain good community relations and
avoid legal claims that could arise over property damages or livestock
losses.[114] Cattle were known to ingest scraps of polyethylene balloon
material that sometimes littered entire fields following a balloon
failure or flight termination.[115]

The military vehicles described were also consistent with recovery
and communications vehicles used during the 1950s to retrieve
anthropomorphic dummies and suspension racks.[116] The witness stated
he saw a “wrecker,” a “six-by-six,” a “weapons carrier,” a “'47 Ford
car,” and a “pickup.” The “wrecker” was most likely a M-342 5-ton
wrecker that was assigned to the Balloon Branch for launch and recovery
operations.[117] Other vehicles described were also the type used to
launch and recover anthropomorphic dummies. The “six-by-six” is a
likely reference to a M-35 2½-ton cargo truck; “weapons carriers” were
the common name of a Dodge M-37 ¾-ton utility truck. References to
“the pickup” and a “'47 Ford car,” were likely descriptions of other
civilian and military vehicles often present at high altitude balloon
launch and recovery locations.



                            “Crash” Site 2
              (Allegedly 175 miles Northwest of Roswell)


This purported flying saucer “crash” site is allegedly 175 miles
northwest of Roswell in an area of New Mexico known as the San Agustin
Plains.[118] The contention that a flying saucer crashed at this
location and was recovered by the U.S. military is supported by three
principal testimonies, two secondhand and one firsthand.


The Secondhand Accounts

These accounts were related by Mr. Vern Maltais and Ms. Alice Knight,
who were acquainted with the alleged original eyewitness, Mr. Grady
L. Barnett, who is deceased. Unless otherwise noted, the following
statements appeared on footage used to prepare a video, _Recollections
of Roswell Part II_, by The Fund for UFO Research (see Appendix C).


Alice Knight

“_I don’t recall the date_”[119]

“I don’t remember whether it was before my husband and I were married
or after, I don’t recall the date. But he [the eyewitness] saw a UFO
fall ... and he got nearly to the site ... but they got nearly up to
the UFO but it was close enough that you could see some creatures.
He said they didn’t look like human beings out there. And along came
government cars and trucks. I guess it was government. You know it was
a long time ago ... and they told him to go on back and forget that
they ever saw anything, and that’s all I recall.”


Assessment

This brief testimony suggests that the witness did not know the date
of this event. It also appears that the “creatures” were seen from a
distance, as evidenced by the statement, “They got nearly up to the
UFO but it was close enough that you could see some creatures.” The
testimony also seems consistent with a description of anthropomorphic
dummies as the witness stated they “didn’t look like human beings.”


Vern Maltais

“_Their heads were hairless ... no eyebrows, no eyelashes, no
hair_”[120]

This secondhand witness alleged that the eyewitness told him he
observed “beings” from a “flying saucer that had burst open” that were
“about three and a half to four feet tall, very slim ... their heads
were hairless, with no eyebrows, no eyelashes, no hair” with “sort of
a pear-shaped head.” He also related that “the beings were ... not
exactly like human beings ... similar but not exactly.” He described
that the hands of the beings “were not covered” ... and [they] only had
“four fingers.” He also related that the clothing of the beings was
“one-piece and gray in color”.[121] The witness concluded that “As they
[the witnesses] were just starting to look things over really closely,
the military moved in and gave them a briefing to not say anything
about it.”

  [Illustration: Fig. 72. “Their heads were hairless ... no
  eyebrows, no eyelashes, no hair,” a likely description of Alderson
  Laboratories type anthropomorphic dummy. These Alderson dummies, of
  the same type used for Projects HIGH DIVE/EXCELSIOR, were used to
  test NASA’s APOLLO spacecraft three-man couch at Holloman AFB, N.M.
  in 1965. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]


Assessment

This description of events also indicates that the eyewitness
apparently did not closely examine the scene and was “just starting
to look things over” when the military arrived. As with the previous
testimony, from a distance the dummies were likely to look, as
described by the witness, “not exactly like humans ... similar but not
exactly.” The description of the flying saucer that had “burst open”
is a likely description of the dummy suspension rack that was open on
the sides (see figures 74, 75, 76). The detailed descriptions of the
“beings” as “about three and a half to four feet tall, very slim in
stature ... their heads were hairless, with no eyebrows, no eyelashes,
no hair,” with “hands that were not covered” and “had only four
fingers,” is a likely description of an Alderson Research Laboratories
model anthropomorphic dummy. The head of the Alderson dummy was “bald”
and the area of the eyebrows protruded but had no “hair” (see figure
72). Also, a distinguishing feature of the Alderson dummy, unlike the
Sierra dummy, was that it had individual fingers not covered by gloves
that were often damaged during the tests resulting in the loss of
fingers (see figures 35, 73, 75).

Due to the secondhand nature of these accounts, even UFO theorists were
not convinced that this “incident” actually occurred. Corroborating
testimony of a firsthand witness was necessary to verify these claims.
The firsthand testimony is examined next.


The Firsthand Account

This testimony became part of the Roswell Incident in 1990 following an
episode of the television program _Unsolved Mysteries_.[122] Following
a dramatized re-creation on the program, persons with information
concerning this event were encouraged to call a special toll free
telephone number.

From the outset, some UFO theorists were skeptical of this testimony
due to the amount of detail provided from the witness who was only five
years old in 1947. In fact, UFO organizations sponsored a conference
in February 1992 to evaluate the testimony for authenticity.[123]
The witness was asked to take a polygraph examination, which he
passed.[124] Many UFO enthusiasts remained skeptical of the claims and
denounced this testimony as “no more than a fabrication.”[125]

Unless otherwise noted, two sources of testimony attributed to the
witness have been used in this examination; interviews used to prepare
the video _Recollections of Roswell Part II_ by the Fund for UFO
Research (see Appendix C) and _Crash at Corona_ by Don Berliner and
Stanton Friedman (passages from this book were used only when exact
quotations of the witness were indicated).


Gerald Anderson

“_I thought they were plastic dolls ... I didn’t think they were
real_”[126]

Anderson related that as a five-year-old boy on an outing with his
family in west central New Mexico, they stumbled upon the crash of
some type of aerial vehicle.[127] When he first saw the craft he
thought it was a “blimp.”[128] According to Anderson he “didn’t really
get very close,”[129] but thought he saw four bandaged crewmembers
and at first he “thought they were plastic dolls.”[130] He also
described attempts by persons in his party to communicate with one
of the “crewmembers.”[131] Soon after, other civilians arrived (some
wearing pith helmets) followed by military personnel in an assortment
of vehicles and aircraft commanded by a “redheaded captain.”[132] The
military personnel, after “screaming and hollering” at the civilians
“this is a military secret,” started a recovery operation of the alien
craft and crew.[133] Anderson also recalled that the military personnel
threatened some of the civilians with imprisonment or death before
escorting them out of the area.[134]


Assessment

Anderson’s choice of the terms “blimp” to describe the crashed vehicle,
and “dolls” to describe the “crew,” strongly suggests that a balloon
with an anthropomorphic dummy payload was the foundation for this
testimony. He also provided an abundance of supporting details that
accurately described vehicles, aircraft, equipment, and procedures
used by the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch to launch and recover
anthropomorphic dummies.

An aspect of this testimony that is not accurate is the alleged threats
and intimidation of civilians by military personnel. The use of such
heavy-handedness was not a tactic used by the Air Force. A careful
review of official records and interviews with numerous persons
who actively participated in and were responsible for the conduct
of Air Force members on high altitude balloon recovery operations
revealed that these allegations are untrue.[135] Additionally, the
witness alleges that the military personnel were “screaming and
hollering” “this is a military secret.”[136] This statement might lead
uninitiated persons to believe that the witness observed something
highly classified and that by telling everyone present that it was a
“military secret” would somehow help it to remain so. However, logic
dictates that if something was classified “screaming and hollering”
it was “secret,” would compromise it and not serve to protect its
classification. This application of logic, combined with the fact that
the launch and recovery of anthropomorphic dummies was unclassified,
widely publicized, and often observed by local civilians, indicates
that the witness’ recollections are in error. There was never a reason
to disrespect, “scream,” “holler,” or forbid any person from talking
about the launch or recovery of anthropomorphic dummies.

=The “Crewmembers.”= The statement “I thought they were plastic
dolls” seems an odd choice of words to describe an extraterrestrial
being and is a likely reference to an anthropomorphic dummy whose
skin was made of plastic.[137] This description is similar to that
of the sole witness of the other crash site, north of Roswell, who
described the “aliens” as “dummies.”[138] Other references provided
by this witness further indicate that anthropomorphic dummies were
the basis for these descriptions. The heads of the “crewmembers” were
described as “completely bald” with “no visible ears ... just a rise
... and then a hole.”[139] This is an accurate description of Alderson
Research Laboratories model dummies that did not have “hair” and had
either plastic “ears” molded to the head or a circular opening where
a “demountable ear” or additional instrumentation was attached (see
figure 22).[140] The statement “they didn’t have a little finger,”[141]
a detail very similar to one provided by another witness, also appears
to be a description of dummies manufactured by Alderson Laboratories
that were often damaged during the balloon tests resulting in the loss
of fingers.

  [Illustration: Fig. 73. “Some kind of container, a metal box,” was
  described as laying on the ground near the alleged aliens. This
  appears to be a reference to boxes containing electrical components
  of the remote controlled systems positioned on the top of the dummy
  suspension rack. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 74. “They looked like they had some sort of
  bandages on ’em ... over his ... arm ... around his midsection and
  partially over his shoulder”—witness description of tape and nylon
  webbing used to prevent arms and legs from flailing, and parachute
  harness that had chest and shoulder straps. Tape was also used to
  secure the removable back plate of the head (_also see figs. 29,
  30, 73, 75_). (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

The assertion that “they were all wearing one-piece suits ... a shiny
silverish-gray color,” “trimmed in ... maroon-like cording”[142] is
a likely reference to a standard issue, gray, Air Force flightsuit
used to outfit the dummies and red duct-type tape used in the tests
that prevented air from filling the flightsuit (see fig. 30).[143] The
recollection that “crewmembers” had “bandages”[144] on their bodies
were likely references to tape and nylon webbing used to prevent
flailing of a dummy’s arms and legs during tests.[145] A reference to
a bandage “around his [the crewmember’s] midsection and partially over
his shoulder”[146] is a likely reference to the standard B-4 or B-5
parachute with chest and shoulder straps worn by the dummies.[147]

  [Illustration: Fig. 75. “Its uniform was torn in a couple spots ...
  their uniforms were in pretty sad shape”—witnesses description of
  secondhand flightsuits that were used repeatedly on tests; tears
  and other damage were common. In this photo, 1st Lt. Raymond A.
  Madson “rigs” a dummy to its suspension rack for project HIGH DIVE
  at Holloman AFB, N.M. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 76. A witness described at least one person
  at a “crash” site wearing a pith helmet. In the 1950s, the pith
  helmet was part of the Air Force uniform and was often worn on
  balloon launches and recoveries. In this publicity photo from _On
  the Threshold of Space_, Air Force members at Holloman AFB who were
  extras in the film can be seen wearing pith helmets. (_also see
  figure 49_)]

=The “Craft.”= In what appears to be a clear reference to a balloon,
was that when he saw the crashed vehicle he “thought it was a
blimp.”[148] Additional descriptions of cables that “went from one
kind of a package of components to another kind of package” and a
“metal box” were likely references to the balloon control package that
was positioned on top of the dummy suspension rack.[149] A further
reference to a balloon payload is the statement that on a hot New
Mexico day the crashed vehicle was “ice cold, it felt like it just
came out of the freezer.”[150] This accurately describes a physical
condition known as “cold soaking” common to high altitude payloads
that had recently been exposed to sub-zero temperatures of the upper
atmosphere.

  [Illustration: Fig. 77. “An observation aircraft ... a high-winged
  aircraft”—a witness’s probable reference to a U.S. Air Force L-20
  aircraft used extensively by Holloman AFB crews to track and
  recover anthropomorphic dummies. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 78. Described as present at a flying saucer
  “crash” site was a C-47 aircraft. This is a probable reference to
  a U.S. Air Force C-47 transport aircraft used to move equipment to
  launch sites distant from Holloman AFB. These aircraft were also
  used for aerial tracking of high altitude balloon flights including
  those that flew anthropomorphic dummies. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

=Military Aircraft.= The witness also described two aircraft of the
same type used for anthropomorphic dummy recoveries as having been
involved in the activity he witnessed. One aircraft was described as
a “C-47” and another as an “observation aircraft ... a high-winged
aircraft.”[151] These were a C-47 and a L-20 aircraft used extensively
by the Balloon Branch during the mid 1950s for tracking and recovering
anthropomorphic dummy balloon flights.[152] This testimony also
described aircraft that were typically overhead during a recovery and
an established procedure of landing on a rural road or in a field to
reach isolated balloon launch or recovery locations.[153]

=Military Vehicles.= Numerous military vehicles, several of which
were described by other witnesses as having been at the other crash
site north of Roswell, were also described. Witnesses at the two
different sites described a “wrecker” and a “six-by-six,” both of the
type used for anthropomorphic dummy recoveries.[154] The account also
described two vehicles unique to the Balloon Branch that were used for
the majority of high altitude balloon recoveries during the mid- to
late-1950s.

The witness described a “jeep-like truck that had a bunch of radios
in it”.... There was a guy sittin’ in there wearin’ earphones and he
was talking on the radio.“[155] This is a likely description of a
Dodge M-37 ¾-ton utility truck, known as a weapons carrier, that had
been specially modified to carry radio equipment for balloon recovery
operations. The Holloman AFB Balloon Branch modified these vehicles
in 1953, ruling out the possibility that the witness observed them in
1947, when such vehicles were not available to organizations performing
balloon operations.[156] The other vehicle described and used by the
Balloon Branch were “military ambulances.”[157] During the mid-1950s,
the Balloon Branch modified three M-43 ¾-ton ambulances for use as
balloon recovery and communications vehicles.[158] These vehicles were
used for anthropomorphic dummy launch and recovery missions to relay
messages to circling recovery aircraft and the balloon operations
center at Holloman AFB.[159] The witness also described “a trailer with
a motor on it, like a generator.”[160] This@ is a likely description
of a 1½-ton cargo trailer with an MB-19 15 Kilowatt diesel generator.
These generators were used primarily on balloon launch sites during the
1950s and 1960s (see fig. 71).

  [Illustration: Fig. 79. “Stretching stuff out on the ground,
  dragging stuff out of trucks”—a likely witness reference to high
  altitude balloon inflation procedure that required the balloon to
  be stretched out on a protective ground cloth prior to inflation.
  (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

=Balloon Branch Procedures.= Descriptions of military personnel
“stretching stuff out on the ground, dragging stuff out of trucks”[161]
is a likely description of a balloon launch procedure that required
the fragile polyethylene balloon and its protective ground cloth to
be removed from a launch vehicle and laid out on the ground prior to
inflation. Another procedure described by the witness was an apparent
reference to a balloon recovery practice of recording the names of
civilians who observed high altitude balloon recoveries.[162] The
witness stated that military personnel “took everybody’s name and
everything,”[163] which was a procedure to ensure payment of a $25
dollar reward to persons who assisted in the recovery. This procedure
was also necessary to settle future claims of property damage caused by
the balloon, payload, or recovery vehicles.[164]

  [Illustration: Fig. 80. Witnesses described a “tanker,” “military
  ambulances,” a “6 × 6,” and a “wrecker”—probable references to
  (_from left_) a helium tank trailer, a M-43 ambulance (converted to
  a communications vehicle), a M-35 cargo truck (partially obscured),
  and a M-342 wrecker. These vehicles were used for off-range launch
  and recovery operations of anthropomorphic dummies for Project HIGH
  DIVE/EXCELSIOR. Shown here is a May 29, 1957 dummy launch near
  Hatch, N.M. (_also see figs. 23, 28, 64, 71, 81_). (_U.S. Air Force
  photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 81. Scene typical of a mid- to late 1950s
  off-range high altitude balloon launch. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]


                                Summary

When the claims offered by UFO theorists to prove that an
extraterrestrial spaceship and crew crashed and were recovered by the
U.S. Air Force are compared to documented Air Force activities, it is
reasonable to conclude, with a high degree of certainty, that the two
“crashes” were actually descriptions of a launch or recovery of a high
altitude balloon and anthropomorphic dummies. This conclusion was based
on the remarkable similarities and independent corroboration between
the witnesses who described _both_ of the “crash sites.” Statements
such as “they was using dummies in those damned things” and a
characterization of the crashed vehicle as, “I thought it was a blimp”
are two of the many similarities. The extensive detailed descriptions
provided by the witnesses, too numerous to be coincidental, were of
the equipment, vehicles, procedures, and personnel of the Air Force
research organizations who conducted the scientific experiments HIGH
DIVE and EXCELSIOR.

Though it is clear anthropomorphic dummies were responsible for these
accounts, the specific locations of the events described was difficult,
if not impossible, to determine since the witnesses were not specific.
A witness to the “crash site” north of Roswell, Mr. James Ragsdale,
was not certain of the actual location as evidenced by a change in
his sworn testimony that moved the site many miles from its original
location.[165]

However, since Ragsdale reportedly lived or worked in the Roswell,
Artesia, and Carlsbad, N.M. areas during the period when the dummies
were used, it is likely he described one or more of the nine documented
dummy recoveries in areas near there.

Reports of the other crash site, allegedly 175 miles northwest of
Roswell on the San Agustin Plains, is likely based on descriptions of
more than one launch and recovery of anthropomorphic dummies. Since
one witness, Gerald Anderson, described procedures consistent with the
launch _and_ recovery of high altitude balloons, it is likely that he
witnessed both of these activities, with at least one that included an
anthropomorphic dummy payload.

The two secondhand witnesses to this “crash,” Vern Maltais and Alice
Knight, could have related descriptions from any of the dummy launch
or landing sites. However, Maltais and Knight repeatedly described the
impact location of the flying saucer as on the San Agustin Plains.
One possible explanation is that the witnesses, in the 30 or more
years since they were told the story by the original eyewitness, Mr.
Barney Barnett, a soil conservation engineer who reportedly traveled
extensively throughout New Mexico, may have confused San Agustin
Plains with San Agustin Pass or San Agustin Peak, an area in the San
Agustin Mountains of New Mexico. These areas are just outside the
boundary of the White Sands Missile Range and the adjacent Jornada
Test Range. Numerous anthropomorphic dummy balloon flights terminated
and were recovered in this area. Furthermore, if the civilians
witnessed dummy landings on either the White Sands Missile Range or the
Jornada Test Range, both test areas and restricted U.S. Government
reservations, then this explains why they may have been told to leave
the landing site. In the popular Roswell scenarios, witnesses were
allegedly instructed by military personnel to leave the area because
they witnessed something of a highly classified nature. This would
be unlikely since the witnesses described projects that utilized
anthropomorphic dummies which were unclassified. It is likely, however,
that if the witnesses ventured onto one of these ranges they were
instructed to leave, not because of classified activities, but for
their own safety.

These conclusions are supported by official files, technical reports,
extensive photographic documentation, and the recollections of numerous
former and retired Air Force members and civilian employees who
conducted Projects HIGH DIVE and EXCELSIOR. The descriptions examined
here, provided by UFO theorists themselves, were so remarkably—and
redundantly—similar to these Air Force projects that the only
reasonable conclusion can be that the witnesses described these
activities. These many similarities are summarized in Table 1.1.

The next section will examine the accounts of “aliens” at the hospital
at Roswell Army Air Field. As previously stated, due to the lack of
general or detailed similarities with testimony of the two rural “crash
sites,” the hospital account was determined not to be associated with
these reports.

[Illustration: Fig. 82.]


                               Table 1.1

 Comparison of Testimony to Actual Air Force Equipment, Vehicles, and
     Procedures Used to Launch and Recover Anthropomorphic Dummies

  Notes:

  “Crash Site” 1—Site North of Roswell

  “Crash Site” 2—Site 175 miles Northwest of Roswell

  Shaded areas indicates corroboration between witnesses.

  Boxed shaded areas indicates corroboration between witnesses at
  different “crash” sites.

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Air Force
     Witness Description        Equipment/Procedure         “Crash Site”
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  =The “Aliens”=
                                 +--------------------------+
  1. “They was using dummies in  |Reference to              |   Site 1
  those damned things.”[166]     |anthropomorphic dummies   |
                      _Ragsdale_ |(figs. 11, 14, 21–22, 29, |
                                 |30–33, 35, 40, 72–75, 45).|
                                 +--------------------------+

                                 +--------------------------+
  2. “I thought they were        |Reference to              |   Site 2
  plastic dolls”[167]            |anthropomorphic dummies   |
                      _Anderson_ |that had plastic skin.    |
                                 +--------------------------+

                                 +--------------------------+
  3. “an experimental plane with |Reference to              |   Site 1
  dummies in it”[168]            |anthropomorphic dummies.  |
                       _Kaufman_ +--------------------------+


                                 +--------------------------+
  4. “I’m sure that was bodies   |Reference to              |   Site 1
  ... either bodies or           |anthropomorphic dummies.  |
  dummies.”[169]                 +--------------------------+
                      _Ragsdale_

                                 +--------------------------+
  5. “it was either dummies or   |Reference to              |   Site 1
  bodies or something laying     |anthropomorphic dummies.  |
  there.”[170]                   +--------------------------+
                      _Ragsdale_

                                 +--------------------------+
  6. “his eyes was open, staring |Reference to              |   Site 2
  blankly”[171]                  |anthropomorphic dummy.    |
                      _Anderson_ +--------------------------+

                                 +--------------------------+
  7. “not exactly like human     |Reference to              |   Site 2
  beings ... similar, but not    |anthropomorphic dummies.  |
  exactly.”[172]                 +--------------------------+
                       _Maltais_

                                 +--------------------------+
  8. “didn’t look like human     |Reference to              |   Site 2
  beings”[173]                   |anthropomorphic dummies.  |
                       _Knight_  +--------------------------+

  9. “they didn’t have a little   Reference to Alderson         Site 2
  finger”[174]                    Laboratories dummy that
                      _Anderson_  were reused many times and
                                  were often damaged but
                                  remained in service.
                                  (figs. 35, 73, 75).

  10. “they had four              Corroboration of              Site 2
  fingers”[175]                   description #9. See above.
                       _Maltais_

                                 +--------------------------+
  11. [the beings were] “three   |Likely description of     |   Site 2
  and a half to four feet        |anthropomorphic dummy     |
  tall”[176]                     |missing legs after fall   |
                       _Maltais_ |from altitude.            |
                                 +--------------------------+

                                 +--------------------------+
  12. [the beings were] “four    |Corroboration of          |   Site 2
  foot tall, four and a half     |description #11. See      |
  feet tall.”[177]               |above.                    |
                      _Anderson_ +--------------------------+

                                 +--------------------------+
  13. “they weren’t over four or |Corroboration of          |   Site 1
  five foot long at the          |description #11. See      |
  most.”[178]                    |above.                    |
                      _Ragsdale_ +--------------------------+

  14. “Their skin coloration ...  Probable description of a     Site 2
  [was] a bluish tinted milky     “Sierra Sam” dummy with
  white”[179]                     pale white “skin” (fig. 21).
                      _Anderson_

  15. “their heads were           Anthropomorphic dummies       Site 2
  hairless ... no eyebrows,       did not have “hair” (figs.
  no eyelashes, no hair”[180]     21, 22, 36–38, 40).
                       _Maltais_

  16. “no hair ... completely     Corroboration of              Site 2
  bald”[181]                      description #15. See above.
                      _Anderson_

  17. “no visible ears ... just   Dummies had ears that were    Site 2
  a rise there and then a         molded to their heads with
  hole”[182]                      openings for placement of
                      _Anderson_  instruments (fig. 22).

  18. “The hands were not         Reference to Alderson dummy   Site 2
  covered”[183]                   which did not have gloves on
                       _Maltais_  hands (figs. 35, 73–75).

  19. “they were all wearing one  Reference to gray flight      Site 2
  piece suits ... a shiny         suits worn by the dummies
  silverish gray color”[184]      for some of the tests (figs.
                      _Anderson_  14, 29, 30).

  20. “Their clothing seemed to   Corroboration of description  Site 2
  be one piece and gray in        #19. See above.
  color.”[185]
                       _Maltais_

  21. “It’s uniform was torn in   Dummy uniforms were often     Site 2
  a couple spots ... their        secondhand, rips and other
  uniforms were in pretty sad     defects were common but
  shape.”[186]                    they remained in service
                      _Anderson_  (fig. 75).

  22. “Around the collar it [the  Reference to red duct tape    Site 2
  suit] was trimmed in ...        used to prevent air from
  maroon-like cording”[187]       filling the dummy’s
                      _Anderson_  flightsuit (figs. 29, 30).

  23. “They looked like they      Reference to tape and nylon   Site 2
  had some sort of bandages       webbing used to prevent
  on ’em ... over his [the        arms and legs of dummy
  crewmember’s] arm.”[188]        from flailing. Tape was also
                      _Anderson_  used to secure the removable
                                  back plate of head (figs. 29,
                                  30, 35, 72–75).

  24. [bandages] “around his      Reference to parachute        Site 2
  midsection and partially over   harness that had chest and
  his shoulder”[189]              shoulder straps.
                      _Anderson_

  =The “Craft”=

  25. “It [the crewmember] felt   Description of a high         Site 2
  dead when I touched it, it was  altitude balloon payload that
  very cold.”[190]                was cold soaked at sub zero
                      _Anderson_  temperatures of the upper
                                  atmosphere.

  26. “it was a dirigible, a      Reference to a partially      Site 2
  that had crashed”[191]          inflated or deflated high
  blimp                           altitude balloon (figs. 23,
                      _Anderson_  70).

  27. “a flying saucer that had   Reference to the dummy        Site 2
  burst open”[192]                suspension rack that did not
                       _Maltais_  have sides (figs. 35, 73–75).

  28. “clusters of thread-like    Numerous cables and wires     Site 2
  material in the form of a       were used in the dummy
  cable”[193]                     instrumentation kits and
                      _Anderson_  balloon control package.

  29. “others of those [cables]   Both balloon control package  Site 2
  went from one kind of package   and dummy instrumentation
  of components to another kind   kits were connected by cables
  of package”[194]                (fig. 73).
                       _Anderson_

  30. “some kind of container,    Reference to balloon control  Site 2
  a metal box”[195]               package or dummy
                      _Anderson_  instrumentation kit (fig. 73).

  31. “it was ice cold, it felt   Condition of a balloon        Site 2
  like it just came out of a      payload after it has been
  freezer”[196]                   “cold soaked” in the upper
                      _Anderson_  atmosphere at temperatures
                                  far below zero.

  =Vehicles=

                                  +--------------------------+
  32. a “jeep-like truck that had |Reference to a modified   |   Site 2
  a bunch of radios in it and two |M-37 ¾-ton utility        |
  big antennas.... There was a    |truck commonly referred to|
  guy sittin’ in there wearin’    |as a weapons carrier,     |
  earphones and he was talking    |unique to the Balloon     |
  on the radio.”[197]             |Branch. One of the primary|
                       _Anderson_ |vehicles used by recovery |
                                  |crews. Balloons were      |
                                  |tracked by direction      |
                                  |finding gear and required |
                                  |a radio operator to wear  |
                                  |headphones (fig. 32).     |
                                  +--------------------------+

                                  +--------------------------+
  33. “weapons carriers”[198]     |Corroboration of          |   Site 1
                       _Ragsdale_ |description #32. See      |
                                  |above.                    |
                                  +--------------------------+

                                  +--------------------------+
  34. “six by six Army            |Reference to M-35         |   Site 1
  trucks”[199]                    |2½-ton cargo truck used   |
                       _Ragsdale_ |to transport dummies and  |
                                  |suspension racks for      |
                                  |launch and recoveries     |
                                  |(fig. 31).                |
                                  +--------------------------+

                                  +--------------------------+
  35. “six by [six] ... military  |Corroboration of          |   Site 2
  truck with canvas ... wagon     |description #34. See      |
  type ... thing over it”[200]    |above.                    |
                       _Anderson_ +--------------------------+

                                  +--------------------------+
  36. “wreckers [with] cranes     |Reference to M-246 wrecker|   Site 2
  on ’em”[201]                    |used to launch and recover|
                       _Anderson_ |anthropomorphic dummy     |
                                  |payloads (figs. 23, 28,   |
                                  |70).                      |
                                  +--------------------------+

                                  +--------------------------+
  37. “a wrecker”[202]            |Corroboration of          |   Site 1
                       _Ragsdale_ |description #36. See      |
                                  |above.                    |
                                  +--------------------------+

  38. “there was military          Reference to a converted      Site 2
  ambulances”[203]                 M-43 ambulances used as
                       _Anderson_  balloon recovery
                                   communications vehicles
                                   (figs. 64, 71, 80).

  39. “the pick-up”[204]           Pick-up trucks were often     Site 2
                       _Anderson_  used to recover
                                   anthropomorphic dummies
                                   (figs. 71, 79).

  40. “tankers, like, maybe had    Reference to M-49 fuel        Site 2
  fuel or water in ’em”[205]       trucks used to refuel
                       _Anderson_  aircraft or helium trailer
                                   used to inflate balloon
                                   (figs. 23, 70, 80, 81).

                                  +--------------------------+
  41. “a military car”[206]       |A variety of military and |   Site 2
                       _Anderson_ |civilian cars were often  |
                                  |used for balloon          |
                                  |recoveries and launches   |
                                  |(fig. 71).                |
                                  +--------------------------+

                                  +--------------------------+
  42. “’47 Ford car”[207]         |Corroboration of          |   Site 1
                       _Ragsdale_ |description #41. See      |
                                  |above.                    |
                                  +--------------------------+

  43. “there was a jeep that was   Reference to 1-ton trailer    Site 2
  pulling a trailer with a motor   and MB-19 15 Kilowatt
  on it, like a generator.”[208]   diesel generator that were
                       _Anderson_  used at balloon launch and
                                   recovery locations (fig.
                                   71).

  =Aircraft=

  44. “observation aircraft ...    Reference to an L-20          Site 2
  high winged aircraft”[209]       aircraft, primary “chase”
                       _Anderson_  aircraft used for balloon
                                   recovery in the mid 1950s
                                   (fig. 77).

  45. “C-47 sittin’ there” [on     C-47 aircraft were often      Site 2
  the road][210]                   used on dummy launch and
                       _Anderson_  recovery operations (fig.
                                   78).

  =Procedures=

  46. “The federal government      Reference to balloon borne    Site 1
  could have been doing            anthropomorphic dummies
  something because they didn’t    that were dropped by remote
  want anyone to know what this    control by balloon
  was ... they was using dummies   controllers at Holloman AFB
  in those damned things ... they
  could use remote control”[211]
                       _Ragsdale_

  47. “they took everybody’s       Procedure used by Balloon     Site 2
  name and everything”[212]        Branch to ensure payment
                       _Anderson_  of $25 reward and to settle
                                   claims of property damage.

  48. “they cleaned everything all Balloon Branch personnel      Site 1
  up ... I mean they cleaned       were required to remove as
  everything”[213]                 much debris as possible from
                       _Ragsdale_  balloon and payload landing
                                   areas to avoid complaints
                                   and legal actions.

                                  +--------------------------+
  49. “they had the road          |Procedure used for        |   Site 2
  barricaded off”[214]            |aircraft operations.      |
                       _Anderson_ +--------------------------+

                                  +--------------------------+
  50. “they had the road          |Corroboration of          |   Site 1
  sealed off”[215]                |description #49. See      |
                       _Ragsdale_ |above.                    |
                                  +--------------------------+

  51. “airplanes sitting there     Established procedure to      Site 2
  they had landed on the           refuel an aircraft, launch
  highway”[216]                    a balloon from an isolated
                      _Anderson_   location or recover a
                                   small payload near a rural
                                   road.

  52. “there was airplanes in      Reference to balloon          Site 2
  the sky” [over the crash         “chase” aircraft used to
  site].[217]                      direct ground recovery crews
                      _Anderson_   to balloon impact site.

  53. “stretching out cables of    Reference to balloon          Site 2
  some kind ... they were          inflation procedure that
  stretching stuff out on the      required the balloon and
  ground, dragging stuff out of    ground cloth to be removed
  trucks”[218]                     from a vehicle and laid on
                       _Anderson_  the ground (fig. 79).
*/



                              SECTION TWO

             Reports of Bodies at the Roswell AAF Hospital


This section examines the remaining portion of the Roswell Incident
claims--the reports of “bodies” at the Roswell AAF hospital.
Examinations of the various “crashed saucer” scenarios revealed
references to the Roswell AAF hospital appeared in virtually all of
them. Most of these were based on the account of one individual, W.
Glenn Dennis. His undocumented and uncorroborated recollections,
reportedly first related in 1989, over 42 years after the alleged
Roswell Incident, are based on activities he allegedly encountered as
a mortician providing contract services to the Roswell AAF hospital.
Dennis’ recollections have, in turn, been interpreted by UFO theorists
as evidence that the U.S. Army Air Forces recovered “alien” bodies and
autopsied them at the Roswell AAF hospital in July 1947.

Dennis has been described as the “star witness” and his claims as the
most credible of the Roswell Incident.[1] This, even though his most
sensational assertions were not based on his own experiences but on
information allegedly related to him by unidentified mystery witnesses.

  [Illustration: Fig. 1. The International UFO Museum and Research
  Center in Roswell, N.M. ]

The mystery witnesses were allegedly an Army Air Forces nurse and a
pediatrician both assigned to the Roswell AAF hospital in 1947.[2] To
casual observers, this account, which contains references to actual
U.S. Army Air Forces and U.S. Air Force personnel and activities,
appears to have a ring of authenticity. However, when examined closely
by Air Force researchers, the dates of events, the events themselves,
and the people described as having participated in them, were found to
be grossly inaccurate and totally unrelated to activities of July 1947.


The Account

The following is a summary of information provided by W. Glenn Dennis,
who claimed he was a 22-year-old mortician at the Ballard Funeral Home
in Roswell in July 1947, when he alleged these events occurred.[*]

  [*] Excerpts of interviews contained in this summary were taken
  from audio or video recordings made by persons referenced in the
  appropriate endnote. The sole exception is the interview conducted
  by Stanton T. Friedman on August 5, 1989. Quotations from this
  interview were taken from a transcript which is reportedly an
  accurate representation of the interview. Friedman has not honored
  repeated requests for an audio recording.

On July 7, 1947, Dennis alleged he received a series of phone calls at
the Ballard Funeral Home, where he worked, from the Mortuary Affairs
officer at Roswell Army Air Field. He recalled that the mortuary
officer inquired as to the availability of child sized caskets and
procedures for preserving bodies that had been “laying out in the
elements.”[3] Later that day he received an emergency ambulance call
(the civilian mortuary for which he worked also provided an ambulance
service) to respond to the site of a minor traffic accident in
Roswell.[4] The accident victim was an “airman” stationed at Roswell
AAF, and Dennis transported the airman to the hospital at the base.[5]

As Dennis walked into the hospital he noticed three military box-type
ambulances, one or more of which contained what appeared to be
“wreckage.”[6] He described the wreckage as being inscribed with odd
markings or symbols and bluish-purplish in color.[7] He recalled that
some of this wreckage was resting against the inside wall of the rear
compartment of the ambulance and two pieces of it “looked kind of like
the bottom of a canoe.”[8] He described other wreckage on the floor of
the ambulance as being “all sharp” and as best he could tell “was like
broken glass.”[9] He also recalled observing Military Policemen (MPs)
standing at the back of two of these ambulances.[10]

When he went inside the hospital, he encountered a military nurse who
was assigned there and with whom he was previously acquainted.[11] The
nurse, who looked upset, was covering her mouth with a cloth and told
him that “you’re going to get in a lot of trouble” and that he should
“just get out of here.”[12] Dennis also stated that he encountered
a military doctor who was assigned to the hospital, a pediatrician,
with whom he was “pretty good friends” but did not speak with at that
time.[13]

Having seen the wreckage in the rear of the ambulance and believing
there had been an accident, he asked another officer in the hospital if
there had been a plane crash. The officer, whom Dennis had never seen
before, asked him: “Who in the hell are you?” When he responded he was
“from the funeral home,” the officer summoned two MPs to escort him
from the hospital.[14]

However, before Dennis and the two MPs had left the hospital, he
heard someone say, “We’re not through with that SOB, bring him back
here.”[15] When Dennis turned around, he observed a redheaded captain
(in one version of these events Dennis is quoted as describing this
person as a “big redheaded colonel”[16]) who said, “You did not see
anything. There was no crash here. You don’t go into town making any
rumors that you saw anything or that there was any crash ... you could
get in a lot of trouble.”[17]

Angry about being called an SOB, Dennis informed the redheaded officer
that he was a civilian, not under his authority, and that he, the
redheaded officer, “can’t do a damn thing to me.”[18] The redheaded
officer was alleged to have threatened Dennis by responding “Oh yes we
can”.... “Somebody will be picking your bones out of the sand”.... “We
can do anything to you ... that we want to.”[19] A black sergeant, whom
Dennis recalled had accompanied the redheaded officer, allegedly stated
he would “make real good dog food.”[20] Following this exchange, Dennis
claimed he was “picked up ... arm and arm” and escorted back to his
place of business by two MPs.[21]

The following day, July 8, 1947, Dennis attempted to telephone the
nurse he had seen in the hall at the hospital to find out “what was
going on.”[22] He stated that he was unable to reach the nurse but did
reach another nurse, a “Captain Wilson,” who explained to him that the
nurse he was trying to contact was not on duty, but “Wilson” would give
her a message to call him.[23] The nurse called Dennis later that same
day at the funeral home where he worked and agreed to meet with him at
the officers’ club at Roswell AAF that afternoon.[24]

When the two met, the nurse appeared disturbed and ill.[25] Dennis
asked her to explain what was going on when they met in the hospital
the day before. The nurse explained that, in the course of her normal
duties, she entered an examining room to get some supplies and
encountered two doctors whom she did not recognize that “supposedly
were doing a preliminary autopsy” on “three,” “very mangled,” “black,”
“little bodies.”[26] The doctors requested the nurse remain in the
room because they needed her assistance.[27] She allegedly explained
that there was a terrible odor in the room that made both her and the
doctors ill.[28] Due to this terrible odor and inadequate ventilation,
the nurse allegedly told Dennis that the autopsies were moved to
another facility on the base and then “everything” was taken to “Wright
Field” (now Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio).[29]

The nurse described the little bodies in detail and even provided a
diagram.[30] She described “little bodies” three to four feet in length
that had large, “flexible,” heads, and concave eyes and noses.[31]

After this meeting Dennis claimed he never saw the nurse again, and he
was told she had been shipped out the same afternoon (July 8, 1947)
or the next day (July 9, 1947).[32] However, some time later Dennis
received a letter from the nurse that indicated she was in London,
England.[33] Dennis stated that he tried to respond to the nurse, but
his letter was returned stamped “return to sender” and “deceased.”[34]
After receiving this letter, he inquired at the base about the nurse
and was told by “Captain Wilson” that she didn’t know where the nurse
was, but there was a rumor that she and several other nurses had been
killed in a plane crash while on a training mission.[35]

Some years later, Dennis stated that he visited the unidentified
military pediatrician he had seen at the hospital.[36] The pediatrician
had since left the military and set up practice in Farmington, N.M.[37]
Dennis said he and the pediatrician discussed the incident of years
past but was stopped short when the pediatrician told him that he was
consulted regarding this incident, but that “it was completely out of
[his] field of medicine,” then ended the discussion.[38]

Based on this account, UFO theorists have presented the following
assertions:

  =a.= Dennis, the “missing” nurse, and the unidentified pediatrician
  inadvertently stumbled onto the highly classified autopsies of
  alien bodies at Roswell AAF hospital in July 1947.

  =b.= The two mysterious doctors at the hospital were sent
  to Roswell AAF from a higher headquarters to conduct the
  autopsies after which the bodies were transported to what is now
  Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

  =c.= The bluish-purplish wreckage that looked like the bottom of
  a canoe in the rear of the ambulance, were “escape pods” from a
  flying saucer flown by the aliens that crashed in the Roswell area.

  =d.= Dennis was forcibly removed from the hospital and threatened
  with death by the redheaded officer because he had witnessed some
  of these activities.

  =e.= The nurse was kidnapped, possibly murdered, and all records
  that she ever existed were systematically destroyed by government
  agents, also because she witnessed these activities.

As in other accounts examined in this report, the episodes described
here became part of the Roswell Incident only because the witness
claimed they occurred at a very specific time, July 7–9, 1947. These
dates coincide with an actual event: the retrieval of experimental
Project MOGUL research equipment that was erroneously reported as
a flying disc (see Section One).[39] If the events described here
occurred at any other time—years, months, weeks, or even days before or
after July 7–9, 1947—they might be considered unusual to an uninformed
person, but certainly not part of the Roswell Incident.

Air Force research revealed that the witness made serious errors
in his recollections of events. When his account was compared with
official records of the actual events he is believed to have described,
extensive inaccuracies were indicated including a likely error in the
date by as much as 12 years.



                                  2.1

               The “Missing” Nurse and the Pediatrician


To illustrate the errors in this account and to identify actual events,
the following section will examine the accounts of the missing nurse
and the unidentified pediatrician. Both of these persons were allegedly
present at the Roswell AAF hospital when the events described by the
witness occurred.


The “Missing” Nurse

Dennis recalled that the nurse was quickly and suspiciously shipped out
either the same day or the day after he met with her in the Roswell
AAF Officers’ Club. If this allegation was true, it certainly seemed
unusual—and verifiable. Therefore, the morning reports, the certified
daily personnel accounting records required to be kept by all Army Air
Forces units at that time, were obtained and reviewed. These reports
did not indicate that a nurse or any other person was reassigned on
the days alleged, July 8 or July 9, 1947.[40] The morning reports of
the 427th Army Air Forces Base Unit (AAFBU) Squadron “M,” the unit
that all the medical personnel at Roswell AAF were assigned in July
1947, did not indicate a sudden or overseas transfer of a nurse or
any other person. Records indicated that one nurse was reassigned on
July 23, 1947, over two weeks after the purported events described by
Dennis.[41] That nurse was transferred by normal personnel rotation
procedures to Ft. Worth AAF (now Carswell AFB), Texas, where she
remained on active duty until March 1949.[42] In fact, the Squadron “M”
morning reports revealed the strength of the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) at
Roswell AAF for July 1947 was only five nurses. Of these five nurses
none were transferred overseas or killed in a plane crash—the “rumored”
fate of the missing nurse.[43]

This review of the hospital morning reports also indicated that the
name of the missing nurse provided by the witness was inaccurate. The
witness stated in several interviews that he believed the nurse’s name
was Naomi Maria Selff.[44] A comprehensive search of morning reports
and rosters from the Roswell AAF Station Hospital indicated that no
person by this name, or a similar name, had ever served there. This
finding was supported by a search of personnel records at the National
Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Mo., a part of the
National Archives and Record Administration. NPRC is the depository for
all U.S. military personnel records. The search at NPRC also did not
find a record that a person named Naomi Maria Selff had ever served in
any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.

These findings were consistent with previous efforts of several
pro-UFO researchers who have also attempted to locate this nurse or
members of her family. They, likewise, were also unable to confirm
her existence.[45] While some UFO theorists continue to allege that
this absence of records regarding a nurse by this name is part of a
conspiracy to withhold information, the most likely reason for the lack
of records is that this name is inaccurate.[*]

  [*] Interestingly, an article published in the Fall 1995 edition
  of _Omni_ magazine, a publication that in the past has published
  sensational “Roswell” claims, also independently accounted for all
  five of the nurses and expressed a decidedly skeptical opinion of
  the account of the “missing nurse.”

Even though the name of the nurse is incorrect, it appears that a nurse
assigned to the Roswell AAF Station Hospital in 1947 may have been the
basis for the claims. Eileen Mae Fanton was the only nurse of the five
assigned to Roswell AAF in July 1947, whose personal circumstances and
physical attributes not only resembled those of the missing nurse, but
appeared to be nearly an exact match.


The “Missing Nurse?”

  [Illustration: Fig. 2. Eileen M. Fanton (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  1st Lt. Eileen M. Fanton was assigned to the Roswell Army Air
  Field Station Hospital from December 26, 1946 until September 4,
  1947.[46] Fanton, who is deceased, was retired from the U.S. Air
  Force at the rank of Captain on April 30, 1955, for a physical
  disability.[47]

  In this account, the missing nurse is described as single, “real
  cute, like a small Audrey Hepburn, with short black hair, dark
  eyes and olive skin.”[48] Lieutenant Fanton was single in 1947,
  5′1″ tall, weighed 100 pounds, had black hair, dark eyes, and was
  of Italian descent.[49] Dennis also stated that the nurse was of
  the Catholic faith, and had been “strictly raised” according to
  Catholic beliefs.[50] Fanton’s personnel record listed her as Roman
  Catholic, a graduate of St. Catherine’s Academy in Springfield,
  Ky. and as having received her nursing certification from St. Mary
  Elizabeth’s Hospital in Louisville, Ky.[51]

  The witness also recalled that the “missing nurse” was a
  lieutenant, was a general nurse at the hospital, and had sent him
  correspondence at a later date which stated she was in London,
  England with a New York, N.Y. APO number (military overseas mailing
  address) as the return address.[52] Records revealed that Fanton
  was a First Lieutenant (promoted from Second Lieutenant to First
  Lieutenant in June 1947), and she was classified as a “nurse,
  general duty.”[53] Records also indicated that of the five nurses
  assigned to the Roswell AAF Station Hospital in July 1947, she
  was the only one that later served a tour of duty in England.
  Furthermore, she was assigned to the 7510th USAF Hospital, APO
  240, New York, N.Y., where she served from June 1952 until April
  1955.[54]  The 7510th USAF Hospital was located approximately 45
  miles north of London at Wimpole Park, Cambridge, England.

  An additional similarity between Fanton and the “missing nurse”
  is that her personnel record indicated that she quickly departed
  Roswell AAF and it is probable that the hospital staff would not
  have provided information concerning her departure. Fanton’s
  unannounced departure from Roswell AAF, on September 4, 1947 was
  to be admitted to Brooke General Hospital, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas,
  for a medical condition.[55] This condition was first diagnosed
  in January 1946 and ultimately led to her medical retirement
  in 1955.[56] Therefore, if someone other than a family member
  contacted the Station Hospital at Roswell AAF and inquired about
  Fanton, as Dennis stated he did, the staff was simply protecting
  her privacy as a patient. The staff was not participating in a
  sinister “cover-up” of information as alleged by UFO theorists.


The Pediatrician

In at least two interviews, the witness stated that a pediatrician
stationed at the hospital was involved in the events he described.[57]
When asked by an interviewer how he knew the pediatrician was
involved, Dennis was quoted as replying, “I know he was involved
because I saw him there.”[58] Dennis is also quoted as saying that
he and the pediatrician were “pretty good friends,” and after the
pediatrician left the military he [the pediatrician] set up a practice
in Farmington, N.M. “I used to go fishing all the time up north and
I visited him several times up there and he was involved,” Dennis
said. “I don’t remember his name, I think he is still practicing in
Farmington.”[59]

A review of personnel files and interviews with former members of the
Roswell AAF/Walker AFB hospital staff, revealed that only one physician
ever relocated to Farmington, N.M. following his military service. The
former Capt. Frank B. Nordstrom served at Walker AFB from June 1951
until June 1953.[60] Records also revealed that Nordstrom was indeed a
pediatrician and while at Walker AFB, served as the Chief of Pediatric
Services.[61] When Nordstrom, a resident of the small town of Aztec,
N.M., was interviewed for this report, he stated that he did not recall
ever meeting Dennis and could not recall any events that supported any
of his claims (see signed sworn statement in Appendix B).[62]

Farmington (population 8,000 in 1954) is located in the primarily
rural Four Corners region of New Mexico approximately 300 miles
northwest of Roswell. According to Nordstrom, Farmington did not have a
pediatrician before his arrival in 1954. From 1954 until approximately
1970, Nordstrom believes he was the only pediatrician in the area. His
recollections were confirmed by a local Farmington pharmacist, Charles
E. Clouthier.[63] Clouthier also served at the Walker AFB hospital,
from 1955 to 1957, and following his military service returned to
Farmington, his hometown, where he had lived since 1934. Clouthier has
been employed by and co-owned a business, Farmington Drug, since 1957.
He is familiar with most, if not all, of the doctors who practice
in Farmington and the Four Corners region of New Mexico. Clouthier’s
confirmation that Nordstrom was the first pediatrician to practice
in the Farmington area, was based on both his frequent professional
contacts with local physicians and his experiences as a longtime
Farmington resident.[64]

Although Nordstrom believed that he was the pediatrician described, he
was at a loss to explain how Dennis gained information concerning his
military and civilian employment history. In a signed sworn statement,
Nordstrom stated that he did not recall ever meeting Dennis and had
certainly never been visited by Dennis as he has claimed. One possible
source of the information is that from approximately 1958 until
approximately 1961 Dennis operated a drugstore in Aztec, N.M., a small
town near Farmington where Nordstrom resides (interestingly Aztec is
the location of the original “crashed flying saucer” story, see below).
However, Nordstrom also did not recall any contact with Dennis in his
capacity as a drugstore operator.


                     Behind the Roswell Incident?

  [Illustration: Fig. 3. Story by J.P. Cahn, that appeared in the
  August 1956, _True_ magazine.]

  The “Roswell Incident” story is hardly original. In 1948, a work
  of fiction reportedly appeared in the _Aztec_ (N.M.) _Independent
  Review_ describing the crash of a flying saucer with “little
  men” near Aztec, N.M. In 1950, Frank Scully, a columnist for
  the theatrical publication _Variety_, published a book, _Behind
  the Flying Saucers_, which proclaimed the story to be true.[65]
  Based on the Aztec story, _Behind the Flying Saucers_ bears many
  similarities to the Roswell Incident, most notably, descriptions
  of covert “flying saucer” and “little men” recoveries interspersed
  with doses of unsubstantiated accusations directed at the U.S. Air
  Force.[66]

  In his book, Scully claimed he had information from two scientists,
  Silas M. Newton and a mysterious “Dr. Gee,” who he claimed
  investigated the crash for the government.[67] In reality,
  Newton and Gee were con-men who convinced Scully of the story’s
  authenticity.[68]

  Intrigued by the sensational claims made in _Behind the Flying
  Saucers_, a reporter for the _San Francisco Chronicle_, J. P. Cahn,
  decided to look into the matter. What resulted from Cahn’s research
  were articles in the September 1952 and August 1956 edition of
  _True_ magazine which determined that the story was as “phony as a
  headwaiters bow and smile.”[69]

  Cahn, with the assistance of a magician, devised a plan to “sting”
  the two con-men.[70] To execute the sting, he used sleight of
  hand switching an “indestructible” metal disk, claimed to be
  from a flying saucer, with a slug of his own manufacture. After
  the switch, Cahn submitted the disk to a laboratory for analysis
  revealing that they were of earthly origin, in particular, a grade
  of aluminum used to manufacture pots and pans![71]

  Even with the exposure of this obvious fraud, the Aztec story is
  still revered by UFO theorists. Elements of this story occasionally
  reemerge and are thought to be the catalyst for other crashed
  flying saucer stories, including the Roswell Incident.

  [Illustration: Fig. 4. September 1952 _True_ magazine story that
  exposed the Aztec, N.M. hoax.]


Descriptions of Other Air Force Members

Since official records proved that none of the nurses at Roswell AAF
in July 1947 were missing, and the nurse and pediatrician described
in this account had been identified, major discrepancies between
Dennis’ recollections and official records were apparent. In an effort
to provide for the fullest possible accounting of these claims, even
though key aspects had already been proven false, Air Force researchers
sought additional information to determine if there was validity to
_any_ portion of the account. Since the witness has never provided
documentation to support his claims, the only source of additional
information was the numerous interviews he had previously provided to
private researchers and the media. His many statements, which have
appeared in newspapers, videos, magazines, movies, books, lectures,
journals and television programs, were reviewed for information that
might further explain his testimony.

Examination of this large body of publicly available information
immediately provided clues that the witness may have recalled
incidents from a period other than July 1947. The first clue was that
he repeatedly, in all of the interviews, referred to the injured
military person he allegedly transported to the Roswell AAF hospital
as an airman. The rank of airman was not in existence in 1947. It
was implemented on April 1, 1952.[72] Prior to that date an airman
in the Air Force was referred to by the U.S. Army equivalent, a
private. Another possible indication that he recalled events from a
different time was the description of an alleged “black sergeant” that
accompanied the redheaded officer at the hospital. The pairing of a
white officer with a black NCO seemed unlikely since in 1947 the U.S.
Army Air Forces was racially segregated, as were all branches of the
armed forces. The U.S. Air Force did not begin racial integration until
the May 11, 1949 issuance of Air Force Letter 35-3 that formally ended
segregation.[73] Though it was not impossible in 1947 for a black NCO
to accompany and seem to be working with a white officer, it would be
unlikely. These two discrepancies did not provide a firm time frame of
actual events, if any occurred at all.

To approximate a time frame for actual events, the specific details
of the information provided were examined. This examination was to
determine if any military members were identified by name or by a
combination of any other distinguishing characteristics such as rank,
position, age, or physical attributes. If the testimony identified
a military member as having been present for an event, then their
personnel record could be used to affix an approximate date. Affixing
a date of an event by referencing personnel records was possible since
each military member’s personnel file contains a physical description
and chronological listing of duty stations, units of assignment, and
work assignments for his/her entire military career.

This detailed examination revealed several likely references to
specific individuals, which through their personnel files, were
documented as having been assigned to the hospital at Roswell AAF or
Walker AFB (Roswell AAF was renamed Walker AFB in January 1948).

=The “Big Redheaded Colonel.”= An indication that Dennis might have
mistaken the date of actual events was that he was quoted in at least
one book as having said that the officer who threatened him in the
hospital was a big redheaded colonel.[74] Research revealed that only
one tall colonel with red hair was known to have been assigned to the
Walker AFB hospital. Colonel Lee F. Ferrell was the hospital commander
from October 1954 until June 1960.[75] Ferrell was 6′1″ tall and had
red hair.[76]

  [Illustration: Fig. 5. Col. Lee F. Ferrell (_left_), was commander
  of the Walker AFB hospital from 1954–1960. In this photo Ferrell
  escorts U.S. Senator Dennis Chavez (N.M.) on a tour of the new
  Walker AFB hospital in June 1960, which was named in honor of the
  senator. (_U.S. Air Force photo_) ]

“=Captain ‘Slatts’ Wilson.=” In at least two interviews Dennis
repeatedly made reference to a nurse named “Captain Wilson.”[77] He
recalled that “Captain Wilson”, who he believed was the head nurse, was
another nurse stationed at the Roswell AAF hospital in July 1947.[78]
Dennis claims he spoke to “Captain Wilson” several times in reference
to the alleged missing nurse.[79]

He claims that on the day after he met with the missing nurse at the
Roswell AAF Officers’ Club, he attempted to contact her by telephone
at the hospital but was told that she wasn’t on duty.[80] Instead, he
spoke with “Captain Wilson.” “I called the station I knew she [the
missing nurse] always worked at,” Dennis said, “She was a general
nurse.... I was informed that she wasn’t working that day. [Dennis
then telephoned] An old girl by the name of Wilson, Captain Wilson,
and I asked her ‘what happened’? She said, ‘Glenn, I don’t know what
happened, she’s not on duty.’ She said she’d try to get word to her
[the missing nurse] that you [Dennis] want to talk to her.”[81] Later
in the same interview Dennis further described Wilson. “We called
her ‘Slatts’ Wilson who was a big tall nurse about six foot two or
three—big tall skinny gal—and we called her ‘Slatts’—everybody called
her ‘Slatts.’ She’s the one who told me she heard there was a plane
crash and the nurses went down on a training mission.”[82]

The testimony appeared to clearly identify by name, rank, position,
physical attributes and by a distinctive nickname, “Slatts,” another
nurse present at the hospital in July 1947. But a review of the morning
reports of the Roswell AAF hospital for July 1947 did not contain the
name of a nurse, or anyone else, named Wilson.[83] The only female
captain assigned to the Roswell AAF Hospital in July 1947 was the
Chief Nurse Capt. Joyce Goddard.[84] Goddard, who was 5′6″ tall, was
transferred from Roswell AAF to Korea on August 21, 1947.[85]

Therefore, according to Dennis’ recollection of events, this review of
the morning reports indicated that there were two missing nurses, not
one—“Lieutenant Naomi Selff” and “Captain ‘Slatts’ Wilson.” Further
scrutiny of personnel records of individuals assigned to the Roswell
AAF/Walker AFB hospital indicated that Dennis’ recollections of events
were apparently inaccurate.

Examination of the August 1947 morning reports did not list a nurse
named Wilson, but they _did_ list a nurse named Slattery.[86] Captain
Lucille C. Slattery, who retired as a Lieutenant Colonel and is now
deceased, was reassigned from Ft. George Wright, Wash. to Roswell AAF
on August 7, 1947.[87]

  [Illustration: Fig. 6. Lt. Col. Lucille C. Slattery, the only Air
  Force nurse ever known as “Slatts,” served as a captain at the
  Roswell AAF/Walker AFB hospital from August 1947 to September 1950.
  Records indicate that Slattery did not arrive at Roswell AAF until
  one month _after_ the “Roswell Incident,” in direct contradiction
  to statements made by the sole witness to this account. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]

Slattery replaced Goddard as the Chief Nurse and was the only female
captain assigned to the Roswell AAF hospital. Interviews of persons
with longtime professional and personal associations with Slattery,
revealed that she was known by the unusual nickname of Slatts.[88]
Additionally, former associates of Slattery interviewed for this
report, recalled that she was the only Air Force nurse that had ever
been known as Slatts.[89] Persons interviewed were Air Force nurses
who retired in the 1960s, each with more than 20 years of service,
including retired Air Force Col. Ethel Kovatch-Scott, who served as
Chief Nurse of the Air Force from 1963 to 1965.

Upon review of Slattery’s personnel file it was learned that she was
only 5′3″ tall and therefore was most likely not the 6′2″ or 6′3″ “tall
skinny” nurse described.[90] This discrepancy in physical description
and the fact that she did not arrive at Roswell AAF until nearly one
month _after_ Dennis claims he spoke to her, led to the conclusion that
perhaps he confused Slattery with some other tall thin nurse, possibly
named Wilson, who was stationed at the Roswell AAF or Walker AFB
hospital at some other time.

Consequently, a comprehensive review of the morning reports and
rosters of the Roswell AAF/Walker AFB hospital revealed that only one
nurse named Wilson had ever served there and she did not arrive until
February 1956.[91][*] Capt. Idabelle Miller, who became Maj. Idabelle
Wilson in 1958 due to marriage and a promotion, was assigned to the
Walker AFB hospital from February 1956 until May 1960.[92]

[*] Records were also searched for names similar to Wilson. Three
nurses stationed at Roswell AAF/Walker AFB were identified: Martha
Wasem, Carol Williams, and Chalma Walker. None of these nurses physical
descriptions or personal/professional circumstances were similar to the
descriptions of “Captain Wilson” described by the witness.

Upon review of Maj. Wilson’s personnel file, it was learned that she
was 5′9″ tall and thin. Also, she served as the Head Nurse of the
surgical ward at the Walker AFB hospital.[93] Therefore, Wilson’s
physical attributes, tall and thin, and position as Head Nurse matched
Dennis’ recollections of “Captain Wilson.” When contacted by Air Force
researchers, Wilson stated she had no recollection of Dennis, of ever
having conversations with him, any of the events he described, or of
a nurse that was missing.[94] She also made it abundantly clear that
as an Air Force officer and medical professional she would not spread
a rumor of a plane crash, as Dennis alleged “Captain Wilson” did in
conversations with him.[95]



          Results of Missing Nurse and Pediatrician Research

Examination of the missing nurse and the pediatrician stories, and
other facts established by research, provide a foundation for further
analysis to determine what actual event(s), if any, were responsible
for these claims. Based on information developed, it appears this
witness may be mistaken in some of his statements, especially regarding
the time frame of these events.

The following facts have been established:

  =a.= The only physician who ever relocated to Farmington, N.M.,
  following his military service at Roswell AAF/Walker AFB was the
  former Chief of Pediatric Services at the Walker AFB hospital,
  the former Capt. Frank B. Nordstrom. Further, he did not arrive
  at Walker AFB until June 1951, four years _after_ the purported
  Roswell Incident, has no recollection of Dennis, the statements
  Dennis attributes to him, or of any actual events that explain his
  account.

  =b.= The only nurse ever assigned to the Roswell AAF hospital
  (subsequently renamed Walker AFB) named Wilson, was Idabelle
  Wilson. She served at the Walker AFB hospital from 1956 until 1960
  and had no recollection of ever meeting or speaking with Dennis or
  any of the activities he described.

  =c.= Captain Lucille C. Slattery, the only Air Force nurse ever
  known by the distinctive nickname “Slatts,” _was_ stationed at the
  Roswell AAF hospital. However, she did not arrive until August 7,
  1947. This was one month _after_ the Roswell Incident, making it
  improbable that Dennis spoke with her in early July 1947.

  =d.= There is no record that a nurse named Naomi Maria Selff, was
  ever assigned to Roswell AAF, Walker AFB, or was ever a member of
  the U.S. military.

  =e.= All nurses assigned to the Roswell AAF hospital in July 1947,
  have been accounted for, thereby eliminating any possibility that
  there was ever a missing nurse.

Since actual Air Force members who served at Roswell AAF/Walker AFB
hospital were described in this account, the next step was to determine
if actual events that occurred at the hospital were possibly the source
of this story. As stated earlier in this report, a thorough examination
of both classified and unclassified records from 1947 revealed no Army
Air Forces or U.S. Air Force activities that explained the alleged
events. Therefore records were reviewed from other time periods, based
on personnel records of individuals believed to have been identified.
These persons and the periods when they were assigned to Roswell
AAF/Walker AFB are listed in Table 2.1.


                               Table 2.1
               Persons Described and Periods of Service
                       at Roswell AAF/Walker AFB

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
        Witness            Actual Individual       Period of Service at
      Description             Described           Roswell AAF/Walker AFB
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

  the “missing” nurse     1st Lt. Eileen M. Fanton  Dec. 1946-Sept. 1947

  “Capt. ‘Slatts’ Wilson” Capt. Lucille C. Slattery Aug. 1947-Sept. 1950
  (composite of two                    and
  individuals)            Maj. Idabelle M. Wilson   Feb. 1956-May 1960

  “the pediatrician”      Capt. Frank B. Nordstrom  June 1951-June 1953

  “big redheaded colonel” Col. Lee F. Ferrell       Oct. 1954-June 1960


The Research Profile

With the establishment of a possible time frame, research efforts
paralleled the previous examination in Section One of this report that
determined high altitude balloons with anthropomorphic dummy payloads
were responsible for the reports of aliens at the two rural New Mexico
“crashed saucer” locations. A further review of Air Force activities
was then made to determine if any were significantly similar to the
information provided. Based on the time period established by personnel
records and statements contained in the witness’ own account, the
following profile of possible events was established:

An event involving the Walker AFB hospital that took place between 1947
and 1960;

  =a.= that may have resulted in “very mangled,” “black,” “little
  bodies,” that had a strong “odor” being placed in “body bags”;

  =b.= that may have resulted in two persons not normally assigned to
  the hospital, believed to be doctors, that were “supposedly doing
  preliminary autopsies” on the “little bodies”;

  =c.= that may have involved a body with a head that was much larger
  than normal which was transported to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio;

  =d.= that may have involved a redheaded captain or a big redheaded
  colonel;

  =e.= that may have resulted in an ambulance parked in the rear
  of the hospital containing wreckage with inscriptions, that were
  bluish-purplish which looked kind of like the bottom of a canoe;
  and,

  =f.= that may have required a heightened state of security.



                                  2.2

                          Aircraft Accidents


The examination of events that involved the Walker AFB hospital that
may explain reports of bodies was begun by reviewing the most prominent
possible source, which were aircraft accident(s).[*] A review of
aircraft accidents from 1947 to 1960 revealed eight fatal accidents
that involved Walker AFB.

  [*] Other possible explanations such as automobile accidents,
  house fires, etc., were also examined. However, none of these were
  determined to be responsible for this account of bodies.


                               Table 2.2
    Fatal Aircraft Accidents by Year in the Vicinity of Walker AFB
                               1947–1960
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Year       Aircraft         Location of Accident           Number of
                 Type     (distance from Walker AFB, N.M.)    Fatalities
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

  =1947=
  None

  =1948=
  8/12/48         B-29           4 miles South                    13

  =1949=
  5/16/49         C-47           6 miles Northeast                 6
  12/15/49        B-29           2 miles Northwest                 7

  =1950=
  6/1/50          KB-29          12 miles East/Southeast           3

  =1951=
  None

  =1952=
  None

  =1953=
  None

  =1954=
  None

  =1955=
  6/16/55         T-33           On runway                         2
  10/3/55         B-47           34 miles West                     2

  =1956=
  6/26/56         KC-97          8.8 miles South                  11

  =1957=
  None

  =1958=
  None

  =1959=
  None

  =1960=
  2/3/60          KC-135         On runway and ramp               13

The following three basic criteria were used to narrow research efforts
to specific accidents for more detailed examinations: were the victims
burned, resulting in possible descriptions of “black” “little bodies”?;
were the victims transported to the Walker AFB hospital?; and, were
the victims autopsied? To facilitate this examination, researchers
reviewed official accident reports, organizational and base histories,
individual personnel records of victims, and contemporary newspaper
accounts of the accidents. Interviews of persons who participated in
the aftermath of these accidents were also conducted. As a result, only
one accident met the three criteria, the June 1956 KC-97 accident.


                               Table 2.3
               Analysis of Air Force Aircraft Accidents
                 by Year in the Vicinity of Walker AFB
                               1947–1960
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   Date of     Aircraft                   Fatalities
   Accident      Type
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Burned?       Taken to WAFB       Autopsied?
                                            Hospital?

  8/12/48        B-29        Yes[96]          No[97]            No[98]

  5/16/49        C-47        Yes[99]          No[100]           No[101]

  12/15/49       B-29        No[102]          Yes[103]          Yes[104]

  6/1/50         KB-29       No[105]          No[106]           No[107]

  6/16/55        T-33        Yes[108]         No[109]           Yes[110]

  10/3/55        B-47        Yes[111]         No[112]           No[113]

  6/26/56        KC-97       Yes[114]         Yes[115]          Yes[116]

  2/3/60         KC-135      Yes[117]         No[118]           No[119]

Upon detailed review of records of the 1956 accident and interviews
with persons who participated in the recovery and identification of the
victims, extensive similarities to the description the witness provided
were apparent.


Fatal KC-97 Aircraft Mishap

In 1956, Walker AFB, N.M. was the home of Strategic Air Command’s 6th
and 509th Bombardment Wings.[120] Additionally, Walker was home of the
509th Aerial Refueling Squadron (509th ARS) equipped with the KC-97G
aircraft.

  [Illustration: Fig. 7. A KC-97 similar to this of the 509th Aerial
  Refueling Squadron crashed 8.8 miles south of Walker AFB on June
  26, 1956 with the loss of 11 lives. Descriptions of the aftermath
  of this tragedy are believed to be the basis for some of the
  reports of “bodies” at the Walker AFB hospital. (_U.S. Air Force
  photo_)]

The accident occurred on June 26, 1956, 8.8 statute miles south of
Walker AFB.[121] A KC-97G aircraft with 11 crewmen on board, while on
a refueling training mission, experienced a propeller failure four
and one half minutes after takeoff.[122] As a result of the propeller
failure, a propeller blade was believed to have punctured the deck fuel
tank of the fully loaded tanker causing an intense cabin fire.[123] The
aircraft was quickly engulfed in flames, spun out of control, and was
completely destroyed. All 11 Air Force members were killed instantly by
the fire and impact explosion.[124] Due to the isolated rural impact
location on property owned by the state of New Mexico, there was
minimal collateral damage and no fatalities or injuries to persons on
the ground.[125]

The remains of the crewmen were recovered from the crash site and
transported by members of the 4036th USAF Hospital (numerical
designation of the hospital at Walker AFB) to the hospital facility at
Walker AFB for identification.[126]

On the day following the crash, an identification specialist from
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio arrived at the hospital to assist in
identifying the remains.[127] Part way through the identification
process, conducted by both the identification specialist and Air
Force members assigned to the Walker AFB hospital, the identification
activities were moved to a refrigerated compartment at the Walker AFB
commissary.[128] This was due to an overpowering odor emitted by the
burned and fuel-soaked bodies and the lack of proper storage facilities
at the small base hospital.[129] Also on the day following the crash,
June 27, 1956, autopsies of three of the victims were accomplished by
a local Roswell pathologist.[130] These examinations were performed
at a local funeral home.[131] Upon completion of the identification
procedures and the postmortem examinations, the remains were shipped to
the next of kin for burial.

  [Illustration: Fig. 8. Main entrance of the 4036th USAF hospital
  at Walker AFB, 1956. Initial identification procedures of the
  11 aircrewmen killed in the June 26, 1956 KC-97 accident were
  conducted here before being transferred to another facility on the
  base with refrigeration capability. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]


Comparison of the Account to the KC-97 Mishap

This series of actual events contains extensive similarities to the
account provided by Dennis. The numerous and extensive similarities
indicate that some elements of this actual event were most probably
included in Dennis’ account. This aircraft accident provides an
explanation for the following elements of the research profile—the very
mangled, black, little bodies in body bags, the odor, the two strange
doctors, and the report of a redheaded colonel.


                       Aircraft Crashes and UFOs

  Since the first flying saucer story in June 1947, persons have
  attempted to exploit actual military aircraft accidents to support
  UFO theories and propagate the flying saucer phenomenon.

  One of the first exploitation attempts involved a fatal August 1,
  1947 Army Air Forces B-25 accident near Kelso, Wash. Descriptions
  of this accident, which UFO theorists contend was caused because
  the aircraft carried parts of a flying saucer, were included in
  a poorly executed hoax. Nonetheless, it received a considerable
  amount of attention.

  Another incidence was photographs of an “alien,” supposedly from
  a 1948 crash of a flying saucer in Mexico. However, when the
  photographs were examined by Air Force officials, they noticed
  a pair of government issue, aviator style, sunglasses lying
  underneath the “alien” body.

  Perhaps the most famous attempt to exploit an actual aircraft
  accident involved the fatal January 1948 crash of a Kentucky Air
  National Guard F-51 fighter near Franklin, Ky. Theorists contend
  the fighter was shot down by a UFO. However, it was determined
  that this aircraft most probably crashed while observing a newly
  invented high altitude research balloon thought to be a UFO. The
  large balloon, which matched eyewitnesses’ descriptions at the
  time, was released the previous day, and its ground track placed
  it precisely in the area where the unidentified object was sighted
  the next day. Regardless, shameless attempts to exploit this
  event continued as recently as 1995, when the tabloid TV program,
  _Sightings_, aired and published (_Sightings_, Simon & Schuster,
  1996, 170–176) a distorted interpretation of this tragedy.


=The “Black” “Little Bodies.”= Review of the autopsy protocols of
the victims of this accident revealed extensive similarities to the
descriptions of the bodies allegedly described by the missing nurse.
Dennis related in various interviews that the missing nurse described,
“... three; very mangled; black; little bodies in body bags.”[132]
Records of this mishap confirmed that the victims suffered “injuries,
extreme, multiple.”[133] According to persons who assisted in the
identification of the remains from this crash, and in compliance with
Air Force directives in effect at that time, human remains pouches,
commonly called body bags, were used to recover and transport victims’
bodies.[134]

Statements made by Dennis described bodies that were “three-and-a-half
to four feet tall,” and “black” in color.[135] The autopsy protocols
of two victims described extensive third degree burns and loss of the
lower extremities.[136] Dennis also described a head of one of the
bodies that was not rigid but “flexible” and tissues of a body in
“strings” that looked as if they were “pulled” by predatory animals
after the crash.[137] An autopsy protocol of a victim described
“multiple fractures of all bones of the skull” and “partially cooked
strands of bowel ... over the abdomen and in the chest.”[138]
Additional similarities between the autopsy protocols and Dennis’
statements were a detached hand and descriptions of the fingers and
arms of the crash victims.[139]

The autopsy protocol of one victim also described remains with a “face
completely missing.”[140] This description corresponds with Dennis’
recollections of a body with eyes and nose that were concave. Also,
the drawing of the head of one of the “little bodies” Dennis claims
is representative of a drawing given to him by the missing nurse is
a reasonably accurate representation of a human body with its face
completely missing.[141]

Another similarity to Dennis’ account is that of the 11 victims of this
accident, only three were autopsied—the same number of bodies that
were allegedly autopsied in the missing nurse’s account.[142] Finally,
records revealed that due to limited facilities at the Walker AFB
hospital, the autopsies were performed at the Ballard Funeral Home in
Roswell.[143] This is the same funeral home where Dennis claimed to be
employed in 1947 until 1962.[144][*]

  [*] It is unclear when Dennis worked at this funeral home since
  city and phone directories listed him as co-owning a different
  funeral home in Roswell, as vice-president of another funeral home
  in Roswell, and as having been employed as a drug store supervisor
  and oil field worker during the periods when he claims he worked at
  the Ballard Funeral Home.

=The Odor.= Transportation of remains to a small base hospital was
unusual since the hospital did not have the necessary facilities—a
preparation room, refrigeration equipment or a morgue, to accommodate
multiple deceased persons. Records of other crashes involving Walker
AFB showed that the remains of crash victims were transported either to
another facility on Walker AFB or directly to a local funeral home.[145]

  [Illustration: Fig. 9. Three of the 11 Air Force members killed
  in the June 26, 1956 KC-97 accident were autopsied at the Ballard
  Funeral Home in Roswell. The actual descriptions of the remains
  (only three were autopsied), closely corresponds with Dennis’
  descriptions regarding the “little bodies.” Additionally, this is
  the same funeral home where Dennis claimed to be employed from 1947
  until 1962.]

In fact, the Air Force manual that prescribed the policies, standards
and procedures relating to the care and disposition of deceased Air
Force personnel in effect in 1956, Air Force Manual 143-1, _Mortuary
Affairs_, did not direct that remains be brought to a hospital. It
encouraged the local commander to “improvise facilities” and make
use of “garages, warehouses, large tents, or other facilities for
processing groups of remains.”[146] Nonetheless, records of the June
1956 crash and interviews with the persons who processed the remains
indicated that the victims were brought from the crash site to the
Walker AFB hospital.[147] During the identification procedures, the
odor became too strong and the bodies and the identification activities
were moved to a refrigerated compartment at the base commissary.[148]

Interviewed for this report were the registrar of the hospital, 1st
Lt. Jack Whenry (now a retired Major) and a medical administration
specialist assigned to the registrar, SSgt. John Walter (now a
retired Master Sergeant), both of whom assisted in the processing and
identification of the deceased aircrewmen. Whenry and Walter both
recalled the strong odor, that some persons became ill during the
procedures (as did the alleged missing nurse), and the unusual transfer
of the remains to the Walker AFB commissary (the nurse also allegedly
described the transfer of remains to another building on the base).
However, neither recalled that a nurse was missing or any of the other
activities as described by Dennis.[149]

=The “Big Redheaded Colonel.”= The big redheaded colonel is a likely
reference to the hospital commander, Col. Lee F. Ferrell, who was
6′1″ tall and had red hair. Ferrell served at the Walker AFB hospital
from 1954 until 1960.[150] It would not be unusual for the hospital
commander to be present at the hospital following a major aircraft
accident.

=The Two Mysterious “Doctors.”= The two doctors not assigned to the
Walker AFB hospital who were allegedly observed at the hospital
performing preliminary autopsies have been identified as an Air Force
civilian identification specialist and a local Roswell pathologist.

=_Identification Specialist._= In an aircraft mishap involving multiple
fatalities, identification of victims can go beyond the capabilities
of a small Air Force hospital such as the one at Walker AFB. Beginning
in July 1951, the Air Force Memorial Affairs Branch, now called Air
Force Mortuary Services, employed full-time civilian morticians and
funeral directors, known as identification specialists, to assist Air
Force installations in the identification of deceased persons.[151]
When requested by the local commander, the identification specialists,
on a 24-hour standby basis, responded from Wright-Patterson AFB to the
location of an incident.[152] Records confirm that Walker AFB only
requested an identification specialist on two occasions, in October
1955 and to identity the victims of the June 1956 crash.[153] For this
accident the identification specialist arrived at Walker AFB on June
27, 1956 and made positive identifications of the 11 crewmen on June
28, 1956.[154]

When contacted for this report, the retired identification specialist
who responded to this accident, Mr. George Schwaderer, did not have
any recollections of Dennis, the nurse, the pediatrician, or any of
the other unusual activities as alleged.[155] Schwaderer did recall
that on identifications of group remains such as this, it was typical
to wear standard hospital surgical gowns and masks and that he was
often mistaken for a pathologist.[156]

Due to restrictions on the release of information concerning the
identification process, uninformed individuals who may, by chance, have
witnessed some portions of the identification, were often the source
of a considerable amount of speculation. The identification procedures
employed by the identification specialists were not classified, but
AFM-143-1, _Mortuary Affairs_, directed that “no information will be
divulged concerning identification or shipment of any remains until a
final determination of identity has been resolved for all remains.”[157]

For this accident, identification took approximately two days and any
releases of information were restricted to individuals with an official
requirement. These restrictions extended, not only to the general
public, but also to Air Force members.

A possible reference to the identification specialist is found in one
of Dennis’ recitations of the account. Dennis, a mortician who might
possess limited knowledge of Air Force mortuary procedures, stated that
he was told the “doctors” might be pathologists from “Walter Reed Army
Hospital.”[158] Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. is
a likely location that an unknown pathologist performing an autopsy on
military personnel might have been based. Co-located at Walter Reed is
the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) and beginning in 1955,
AFIP sent pathologists into the field to examine aircraft accidents. A
review of records at AFIP and interviews with persons involved with the
identification procedures at Walker AFB do not indicate AFIP sent any
personnel to assist in this accident.[159]

=_Pathology Consultant._= In June 1956, the Walker AFB hospital did
not have a pathologist on staff.[160] All autopsies and examinations
of pathological specimens were conducted by a civilian consultant from
Roswell.[161] The autopsy protocols of the deceased crewmen from the
June 1956 crash indicated that Dr. Alfred S. Blauw of Roswell performed
the three autopsies.[162] Obviously, neither the pathologist nor the
identification specialist were normally assigned to the Walker AFB
hospital and would not be expected to be present at the hospital,
especially to an observer with limited knowledge of these activities.


                          Continuing Research

The focus of research was now shifted to other activities that might
explain the remaining portions of the profile. The unexplained portions
were:

  =a.= the presence of a redheaded captain;

  =b.= the wreckage in the rear of the ambulance outside the Walker
  AFB hospital;

  =c.= the heightened state of security at the Walker AFB hospital;
  and,

  =d.= the shipment of a body with a large head to Wright-Patterson
  AFB.

Based on previous research, this effort began by examining records of
the other Air Force aerial vehicle known to have operated extensively
in the Roswell area since the late 1940s—high altitude research
balloons.



                                  2.3

                    High Altitude Research Projects


By 1960, hundreds of high altitude research balloons, some that
carried anthropomorphic dummies, descended and were recovered in areas
surrounding Walker AFB and Roswell. But based on the descriptions of
the bodies and the involvement of a hospital and medical personnel,
it did not seem likely that high altitude research balloons with
scientific instruments or anthropomorphic dummies could possibly
account for this testimony. Therefore, the focal point of the research
shifted to manned high altitude balloon flights conducted by the Air
Force during the mid to late 1950s and early 1960s.


Manned Balloon Flights

Two manned balloon projects, MAN HIGH and EXCELSIOR, were conducted
within the time period targeted for research: MAN HIGH from 1957 to
1958[163] and the manned portion of EXCELSIOR in 1959 and 1960. The
only other manned high altitude balloon project in Air Force history,
STARGAZER, did not fly until 1962.

It was discovered that only six manned flights were made for MAN
HIGH and EXCELSIOR. These flights were determined unlikely as the
source of the testimony since there were no injuries or deaths, all
six flights had been the subject of intense media coverage, and none
were flown in the vicinity of Roswell. Despite the apparent dead end
these flights presented to explain this account, records were obtained
and persons involved in MAN HIGH and EXCELSIOR were contacted and
interviewed. These records and interviews confirmed that there were,
in fact, only six USAF manned high altitude balloon flights, none
with characteristics similar to the testimony. However, detailed
examinations of the records revealed that, in addition to the six
high altitude balloon flights, there were also numerous low altitude
balloon flights made to train and qualify the high altitude balloon
pilots.[164] Records of the training flights indicated that some
of these were conducted at Holloman AFB, N.M., and several mishaps
occurred resulting in injuries to the pilots.[165]

  [Illustration: Fig. 10. Maj. David G. Simons (MC) (_left_), balloon
  designer Otto C. Winzen (_center_) and Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger,
  Jr., examine a scale model of a low altitude balloon gondola used
  to train pilots for high altitude missions. (_photo courtesy of
  Mike Smith, Raven Industries_)]

Further research revealed that one accident had taken place just
northwest of Roswell.[166] The accident occurred on May 21, 1959, 10
miles northwest of Walker AFB, on a pilot training mission for the
upcoming Project EXCELSIOR and STARGAZER flights scheduled to begin
that fall. Analysis of the accident revealed actual events that closely
resembled the remaining portions of the established profile.


         U.S. Air Force Manned High Altitude Balloon Projects

  In addition to unmanned high altitude balloon research flights,
  from 1957 to 1962 the U.S. Air Force conducted a series of seven
  manned high altitude flights. These forward-looking projects
  investigated the upper reaches of the earth’s atmosphere and
  laid the foundation for manned spaceflight. Most flights were
  conducted before rocket booster technology was available to propel
  a spacecraft into earth’s orbit. In this interim period, to “bridge
  the gap” while awaiting developments in rocket technology, high
  altitude balloons were the only vehicles capable of reaching the
  altitudes required. All three of the USAF manned high altitude
  balloon projects, MAN HIGH, EXCELSIOR, and STARGAZER utilized
  Holloman AFB balloons to transport men to the very edge of space,
  above approximately 99 per cent of the earth’s atmosphere, a region
  known as “near space.”

  =Project MAN HIGH.= In 1955, a combined effort by the U.S. Air
  Force Aeromedical Field Laboratory, Winzen Research International,
  and the Holloman Balloon Branch resulted in the first Air Force
  manned balloon program. Project MAN HIGH, officially known as the
  Biodynamics of Space Flight, directed by Lt. Col. David Simons
  (MC), was the first of the three widely publicized manned high
  altitude balloon programs. The objective of Project MAN HIGH was
  to measure the physiological and psychological capabilities of a
  human in a space equivalent environment. Many developments of this
  successful project were later incorporated into the first phase
  of the U.S. Air Force Man in Space Program nicknamed MAN IN SPACE
  SOONEST (MISS). Technology developed for MISS was transferred to
  NASA in 1959 and became part of Project MERCURY, the initial series
  of U.S. space missions.[167]

  [Illustration: Fig. 11. (_Left_) Test pilot Capt. Joseph W.
  Kittinger, Jr. just before launch of MAN HIGH I at New Brighton,
  Minn. on June 2, 1957. Kittinger flew in all three USAF high
  altitude balloon projects and has accumulated more high altitude
  balloon flying hours than anyone else in the world. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 12. (_Center_) Lt. Col. David G. Simons (MC),
  a physician and pilot of the MAN HIGH II high altitude balloon
  mission, is shown here boarding the recovery helicopter near
  Frederick, S.D. following the successful flight on August 19,
  1957. This flight lasted 33 hours and 10 minutes attaining a peak
  altitude of 101,500 feet. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 13. (_Right_) Holloman AFB Balloon Branch
  Meteorologist and Engineer, Bernard D. Gildenberg, instructs high
  altitude balloon pilot 1st Lt. Clifton McClure, pilot of MAN HIGH
  III, in the operation of a low altitude training balloon on May 12,
  1959 at Holloman AFB, N.M. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 14. Project officer and pilot, Capt. Joseph W.
  Kittinger, Jr., standing beside the EXCELSIOR gondola at Holloman
  AFB, N.M. On his third and final high altitude parachute jump, from
  102,800 feet, he established world records for highest parachute
  jump and length of free-fall which still stand today. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]

  =Project EXCELSIOR.= In 1959 and 1960 the U.S. Air Force Aero
  Medical Laboratory collaborated with the Holloman Balloon Branch
  for Project EXCELSIOR, the second Air Force manned high altitude
  balloon program. EXCELSIOR was the dramatic climax of the high
  altitude free-fall studies that began as Project HIGH DIVE in 1953
  using anthropomorphic dummies. As the test director for Project
  Excelsior, Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. made three parachute
  jumps from balloons, EXCELSIOR I, II, and III, from 76,000,
  75,000, and a still standing record altitude of 102,800 feet.
  EXCELSIOR’S scientific objective was to develop a parachute system
  and techniques required to return a pilot or astronaut to earth
  following an emergency high altitude escape.

  =Project STARGAZER.= Project STARGAZER was the third Air Force
  manned high altitude balloon program. Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger.
  Jr., the veteran high altitude balloon pilot of MAN HIGH and
  EXCELSIOR, was both the pilot and project engineer. On December
  13, 1962, Kittinger and U.S. Navy civilian astronomer William C.
  White rose to 86,000 feet to make astronomical observations with
  a gyro-stabilized telescope. A joint U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy,
  Smithsonian Institution, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  program, STARGAZER made only one of a scheduled four flights due to
  budget shortfalls and equipment difficulties.

  [Illustration: Fig. 15. Project STARGAZER pilot and project
  engineer, Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. (_left_), after landing
  near Lordsburg, N.M. on December 13, 1962 with U.S. Navy civilian
  astronomer William C. White. Kittinger and White ascended to 86,000
  feet to make astronomical observations in the seventh, and final,
  U.S. Air Force manned high altitude balloon flight. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]


                               Table 2.4
          U.S. Air Force Manned High Altitude Balloon Flights
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Date    Project/Flight   Altitude (feet)            Pilot
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  6/2/57    MAN HIGH I        96,200      Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.

  8/19/57   MAN HIGH II      101,500      Lt. Col. David G. Simons (MC)

  10/8/58   MAN HIGH III      99,700      1st Lt. Clifton McClure

  11/16/59  EXCELSIOR I       76,400      Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.

  12/11/59  EXCELSIOR II      74,700      Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger. Jr.

  8/16/60   EXCELSIOR III    102,800      Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.

  12/13/62  STARGAZER         86,000      Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.

With the completion of Project STARGAZER and the success of NASA’s
Project MERCURY space flights, future investigations were accomplished
by space vehicles. This signaled the end of an era of manned high
altitude balloon flight; however, these projects had indeed “bridged
the gap,” and manned space flight was now safely possible.


Low Altitude Balloon Training Missions

=Background.= In April 1958, Col. John P. Stapp, commander of the U.S.
Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, appointed a
new project officer for Project EXCELSIOR, Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger,
Jr. EXCELSIOR was part of an ongoing program to examine high altitude
aircraft escape procedures and equipment.[168] Kittinger was an
experienced fighter test pilot who was the pilot of the first Air Force
manned high altitude balloon project, MAN HIGH I, in June 1957.[169]
In addition to being the EXCELSIOR project officer, Kittinger was
the pilot and project engineer of STARGAZER which also utilized high
altitude balloons.

By 1959, Kittinger was an integral part of both EXCELSIOR and STARGAZER
and one of only three individuals in the Air Force with high altitude
balloon pilot experience. Due to the hazardous nature of these
important projects, Stapp was concerned that an injury to Kittinger
might result in the cancellation of one or both of them. Therefore,
Stapp determined there was a need for backup pilots. Selected as backup
pilots were Captains Dan D. Fulgham and William C. Kaufman. Both men
were rated aircraft pilots, parachutists, and research and development
officers assigned to the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright-Patterson
AFB.

During the third week of May 1959, a series of low altitude manned
balloon flights were flown to train Fulgham and Kaufman.[170] These
flights were launched by the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch. To satisfy
safety requirements, the flights were closely monitored by medical
personnel at all times. A helicopter with medical personnel followed
the flights during daylight hours, a C-131 aircraft followed during
hours of darkness, and at all times medical personnel followed in an
ambulance.[171] Balloon recovery and communications technicians also
followed the missions on the ground in a communications vehicle and a
balloon recovery vehicle.[172] The safety requirements were a result of
several recent balloon mishaps that resulted in serious injuries to the
pilots.

To meet the training schedule, Kittinger, Kaufman and Fulgham were
assigned temporary duty (TDY) from the Aero Medical Laboratory at
Wright-Patterson AFB to the Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB, N.M.

  [Illustration: Fig. 16. In 1958 while training for the upcoming
  U.S. Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory high altitude MAN HIGH III
  balloon flight, balloon designer Otto C. Winzen (_right_) and
  space physiologist Capt. Grover Schock (_left_), were seriously
  injured in a balloon accident near Ashland, Wisc. Additionally,
  two training flights at Holloman AFB also resulted in injuries to
  pilots. These injuries prompted Air Force officials to require
  close medical supervision during future training flights. (_photo
  courtesy of Mike Smith, Raven Industries_)]

The three pilots, Kittinger, Kaufman and Fulgham, flew training
missions together. Kaufman and Fulgham alternately flew the balloon
while Kittinger instructed. The missions were flown at night to take
advantage of light winds and avoid the effects of diurnal heating on
the helium (the lifting gas that filled the balloon). Used for these
missions were 30-foot diameter polyethylene balloons and an aluminum
gondola especially designed for low altitude training.

The first training mission scheduled for May 19, 1959 was canceled due
to equipment problems.[173] Problems overcome, the next day at 1:30
a.m. the mission launched from White Sands Proving Ground.[174] The
objective of this flight was to practice gas valving and ballasting
techniques necessary for balloon control and to practice landings.
After a five-hour flight, the balloon landed without incident just
after sunrise northwest of El Paso, Texas.[175]

The second training flight, launched at 2:41 a.m. on May 21, 1959, from
behind the Balloon Branch building, Bldg. 850 at Holloman AFB.[176]
Near the end of another successful training mission with the same
objectives as the previous flight, a mishap occurred resulting in
injuries to two of the pilots, Fulgham and Kittinger.[177]

  [Illustration: Fig. 17. In May 1959, Capt. Dan D. Fulgham (_left_)
  and Capt. William C. Kaufman, pilots and Aero Medical Research
  officers from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio were assigned temporary
  duty to Holloman AFB, N.M. to train as high altitude balloon
  pilots. Fulgham and Kaufman were trained by Capt. Joseph W.
  Kittinger, Jr. (_photo collection of Dan D. Fulgham_)]

=The Mishap.= Just after sunrise on May 21, 1959, following a
successful low level training flight east of Holloman AFB over the
Sacramento Mountains, Kittinger, the instructor pilot, determined
the balloon should be landed in a small field approximately 10 miles
northwest of Roswell.[178] This was necessary because of approaching
bad weather and the field was the last suitable landing site before
overflying the city of Roswell.[179] When the balloon touched down,
a higher than normal forward velocity for landing caused the gondola
to overturn.[180] The three pilots, Kittinger, Fulgham, and Kaufman,
were spilled from the gondola pinning Fulgham’s head between the edge
of the gondola and the ground.[181] The impact shattered his helmet
and he sustained a head injury.[182] When the three pilots climbed out
from under the gondola, Fulgham noticed that his “head seemed to be
protruding outward from underneath [his] helmet.”[183] Kittinger also
received an injury, a minor facial laceration. The crew of the nearby
chase helicopter and personnel in the ground tracking vehicles rushed
to the scene.[184] For medical treatment, the pilots were transported
by the helicopter to nearby Walker AFB.[185]

When the helicopter landed at Walker AFB, it was met by armed security
personnel who sought to verify the purpose of the unannounced
arrival.[186] The security personnel escorted the balloon pilots to
the hospital.[187] The balloon recovery and communications crew, after
retrieving the gondola and balloon, drove to Walker AFB to check on the
injured crew and to inform the Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB of the
accident.[188]

At the Walker AFB hospital, Fulgham and Kittinger received treatment
for their injuries and neither required admission. Meanwhile, the
Walker AFB security officials continued to escort the unannounced
visitors while verifying their identities.[189] The pilot’s identities
and purpose for their visit were confirmed via phone by Colonel Stapp,
Aero Medical Laboratory commander at Wright-Patterson AFB (the pilots
and Project EXCELSIOR were assigned to this organization).[190]

Kittinger, the EXCELSIOR project officer, wanted to leave the
hospital as quickly as possible after he and Fulgham received medical
attention.[191] The quick departure was to avoid unwanted scrutiny by
Walker AFB flying safety officials.[192] When released by the flight
surgeon, the three pilots boarded the chase helicopter and returned to
Holloman AFB approximately 100 miles to the west.

  [Illustration: Fig. 18. The balloon training missions flown from
  Holloman AFB, N.M. in May 1959, were made in an open gondola
  suspended beneath a 30-foot diameter polyethylene balloon. This
  photo was taken on May 21, 1959 by Balloon Branch communications
  technician, A2C Ole Jorgeson just prior to the mishap which
  resulted in injuries to two of the pilots. (_photo collection of
  Ole Jorgeson_)]



                                  2.4

       Comparison of the Hospital Account to the Balloon Mishap


The balloon mishap near Roswell on May 21, 1959 provides the probable
explanation for some of the remaining elements of the incident
profile—the redheaded captain, the unusual security at the hospital,
the wreckage in the rear of an ambulance, and one portion of the
accounts of “aliens” at the Roswell AAF hospital.


The “Redheaded Captain”

It is highly probable that the descriptions of a redheaded captain
are those of Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., now a retired Colonel.
Kittinger, who has red hair, was present at the Walker AFB hospital the
entire time the events involving the balloon mishap took place. This
is the second Roswell account that describes a captain with red hair.
As related in Section One of this report (see page 77 and Appendix
C, page 194), a redheaded captain was also allegedly present at the
“crashed saucer” site on the San Agustin Plains.[193] That account
was consistent with Kittinger’s responsibilities as the EXCELSIOR and
STARGAZER pilot and project officer. As project officer of two research
programs that utilized high altitude balloons and as a chase pilot on
many other high altitude balloon missions, Kittinger often accompanied
balloon launch and recovery crews. He was present both on the ground
and in the air at balloon launch and recovery locations throughout
New Mexico and the Southwest United States to launch and retrieve
anthropomorphic dummies used for Project EXCELSIOR and unmanned test
gondolas used for Project STARGAZER.[194]

Following the accident, when the balloon pilots were transported to
the Walker AFB hospital for medical treatment, Kittinger wanted to
leave as soon as possible.[195] He recalled in a recent interview that
his desire to quickly leave Walker AFB was to avoid the initiation
of a formal accident investigation. He believed that an accident
investigation might bring unwanted scrutiny to Project EXCELSIOR and
delay or even cancel the controversial project.[196] The controversy
surrounding Project EXCELSIOR was due principally to the hazardous
nature of the high altitude escape research. Some senior research
and development officials within the Air Force were reluctant to
support a project that required a human subject to parachute from
a balloon gondola at over 100,000 feet. An accident investigation
at this juncture would most likely delay the human high altitude
free-fall tests scheduled for the fall of 1959 and may have resulted in
cancellation of the project.[197]

While at the hospital, Kittinger consulted by phone with his commander,
Colonel Stapp.[198] Stapp agreed with Kittinger’s assessment that
a quick departure from the Walker AFB hospital, after receiving
appropriate medical attention, was in the best interest of the
project.[199]

The statements attributed to the redheaded captain, “You did not see
anything. There was no crash here. You don’t go into town making any
rumors that you saw anything or that there was any crash,”[200] were
consistent with Kittinger’s desire to avoid an accident investigation.
However, when interviewed for this report, neither Kittinger nor any
of the other persons documented as having been present in the hospital
that day recalled encountering Dennis.[201]

What may have led an uninformed person, such as Dennis, to believe
they were witnessing, or were told of, an unusual or classified event,
was that when the injured balloon pilots arrived at the Walker AFB
hospital, even though Project EXCELSIOR was unclassified, Kittinger
sought to limit disclosure of negative information and publicity.[202]

By 1959, having been the subject of intense media scrutiny following
his June 1957 MAN HIGH I high altitude balloon flight, Kittinger
was aware of both the positive and negative aspects of publicity.
In his 1961 book, _The Long, Lonely Leap_, Kittinger described this
self-imposed secrecy regarding Project EXCELSIOR, “The secrecy imposed
upon EXCELSIOR was of our own choosing. We believed ... that any
unnecessary conversation about our activities ... would simply be
premature.”[203] When interviewed for this report, Kittinger further
explained of Project EXCELSIOR and the visit to the hospital at Walker
AFB: “We didn’t want publicity ... about anything we were doing. So it
would have appeared to someone not conversant with the project that we
were ‘hush-hush,’ that we were secretive ... it might look like we were
trying to cover up a classified mission.”[204]

The allegations that the redheaded captain, an apparent reference to
Kittinger, threatened anyone while he was at the Walker AFB hospital
are untrue. When interviewed for this report and in signed statements
obtained from Kittinger, the two other balloon pilots, the doctor who
treated them, the medic aboard the helicopter, and the Balloon Branch
communications technician who were present at the hospital that day
(see Appendix B), none of them recalled that Kittinger was involved in
an altercation or made threatening remarks to anyone.[205] Involvement
in an altercation with a civilian would have highlighted the presence
of the balloon crew and possibly brought the type of negative
publicity Kittinger sought to avoid. This would not only have violated
Kittinger’s policy of maintaining a low profile in regard to EXCELSIOR,
but would be completely out of character for the seasoned test pilot.

Throughout his career, Kittinger was renowned for his ability
to maintain his composure in difficult, often life threatening,
situations. He faced these situations as a test pilot, as a combat
pilot and squadron commander in Southeast Asia, and as a Prisoner
of War while subjected to severe torture at the hands of the North
Vietnamese. In _The Pre-Astronauts_, which chronicles many of
Kittinger’s accomplishments in the field of aeronautics, including
Project EXCELSIOR and STARGAZER, the author offered the following
description of him:

  _Kittinger was not Buck Rogers, nor was he a daredevil or
  thrill-seeker. He was a modern day test pilot: intense, focused,
  usually quiet, and always polite with firm religious convictions
  and a powerful sense of loyalty. If he was often stubborn,
  uncompromising, and demanding he also dealt fairly and respectfully
  with those who came into contact with him. He was a straight arrow
  and a straight shooter._[206]


  [Illustration: Fig. 19. Maj. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. in 1963 as a
  member of the 1st Air Commando Wing, Ben Hoa, Republic of Vietnam.
  (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]


             Colonel Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., USAF (Ret)

  Colonel Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.’s career in the U.S. Air Force
  and in aviation has spanned the spectrum of experiences: test
  pilot, balloon pilot, test parachutist, combat fighter pilot, MiG
  killer, combat squadron commander, and prisoner of war. He has
  demonstrated, during a nearly 30-year military career and beyond,
  that he is among the very best in the U.S. Air Force and the field
  of aeronautics.

  Kittinger began his career in 1949 as a U.S. Air Force aviation
  cadet. After earning his wings at Las Vegas AFB, Nev. in March
  1950, he was assigned to fighter squadrons in Germany and then as
  a test pilot for NATO. In 1953, Kittinger received an assignment
  as a test pilot to Holloman AFB, N.M. While at Holloman, he began
  a many year collaboration with the legendary Air Force scientist
  and physician, Col. John P. Stapp. In association with Stapp on
  numerous aero medical projects, Kittinger became the first pilot
  to fly zero-gravity experiments, now commonly used for astronaut
  training. For project MAN HIGH on June 2, 1957, Kittinger piloted a
  high altitude balloon to 96,000 feet to examine the physiological
  and psychological effects on man in a space equivalent environment.
  This flight marked the origins of the manned U.S. space program
  with the experience gained from MAN HIGH being incorporated in
  NASA’s Project MERCURY.

  After MAN HIGH, and again in association with Stapp, Kittinger
  directed Project EXCELSIOR, a study of human free-fall
  characteristics following aircraft escape at extremely high
  altitudes. After extensive testing with anthropomorphic dummies,
  Kittinger made three parachute jumps from high altitude balloons:
  76,400 feet on November 16, 1959; 74,700 feet on December 11,
  1959; and 102,800 feet on August 16, 1960. For these courageous
  scientific achievements Kittinger was awarded the Distinguished
  Flying Cross, the Harmon Trophy by President Eisenhower, the
  still-standing world records for highest parachute jump and length
  of a free-fall—and the distinction of being the only living person
  to exceed the speed of sound without an aircraft or spacecraft!

  With the completion of EXCELSIOR, Kittinger became the pilot,
  project officer, and project engineer for STARGAZER, an
  astronomical observation experiment. This was the third and final
  Air Force manned high altitude balloon project, Kittinger had flown
  in all three.

  In 1963, he was assigned to the Air Commandos (now Special
  Operations) and flew two combat tours in Southeast Asia in B-26
  and A-26 aircraft. After a tour in Germany as a liaison officer
  with the U.S. Army Special Forces, Kittinger returned to Southeast
  Asia in 1971, flying F-4 aircraft and commanding the famous 555th
  “Triple Nickel” Tactical Fighter Squadron at Udorn AB, Thailand. On
  March 1, 1972 Kittinger engaged and destroyed a MiG-21 over North
  Vietnam and is credited with an aerial victory. On May 11, 1972,
  after 483 combat missions and more than 1,000 combat flying hours,
  Kittinger was shot down over Hanoi and spent 11 months as a POW in
  the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” When placed with other POWs following
  solitary confinement and severe torture, Kittinger was moved
  repeatedly by his North Vietnamese captors due to his effectiveness
  in motivating other prisoners to maintain strong resistance
  postures.

  Kittinger retired from the Air Force in 1978 and became involved
  in both sport aircraft flying and gas ballooning. He operated
  Rosie O’Grady’s Flying Circus in his hometown of Orlando, Fla.,
  performing skywriting, banner towing, and hot air and helium
  balloon demonstrations at nearby Walt Disney World. He also
  captured the coveted Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Championship an
  unprecedented four times (three consecutive), entitling him to
  retire the trophy.

  In September 1984, Kittinger made history again, when, in the
  tradition of Lindbergh, he became the first person to make a solo
  crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by balloon.

  Kittinger’s military decorations include the Silver Star with
  one oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster,
  Distinguished Flying Cross with five oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star
  Medal with “V” device and two oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with
  23 oak leaf clusters, Purple Heart with one oak leaf cluster, POW
  medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm.

  Kittinger’s indomitable spirit, personal courage and dedication to
  duty are legendary. His ability to achieve seemingly unattainable
  objectives while earning the respect and absolute loyalty of those
  who served with him defines this rare breed of warrior-leader.

  In October 1995, he received yet another honor and was named a
  recipient of the prestigious “Elder Statesman of Aviation” award by
  the National Aeronautics Association. This honor is bestowed upon
  an individual who over a period of years, has made “significant
  contributions to aeronautics” and for “reflecting credit upon
  himself and America.” Without a doubt, there are few that exemplify
  these virtues more than this truly distinctive American, Joseph W.
  Kittinger, Jr.


The “Wreckage” in the Rear of the Ambulance

The various types of wreckage described in the rear of an ambulance at
the Walker AFB hospital also appear to be related to the 1959 balloon
accident. Some of this wreckage allegedly had odd inscriptions, touted
by UFO theorists as “alien” hieroglyphics.

A requirement of balloon pilot training missions were that they be
closely monitored by balloon recovery and medical personnel.[207]
Ground crews from Holloman AFB followed the balloon flight from
its launch site there to its landing site 10 miles northwest of
Roswell.[208] Two of the vehicles that followed the balloon were Dodge
M-43 ¾-ton field ambulances and a third was an M-37 ¾-ton utility
vehicle or “weapons carrier.”[209] One ambulance was assigned to this
mission for its standard use—a medical response vehicle. The other
ambulance had been converted by the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch and
served as a communications vehicle on balloon recovery missions.[210]
The additional communications equipment, mounted in the rear
compartment of the ambulance, drastically altered what someone expected
to see in an ambulance of this type.

Dennis related that he was walking fast when he observed what he
thought was wreckage in the rear of an ambulance.[211] This quick
glance apparently resulted in descriptions of two pieces of wreckage
leaning against the interior of the rear compartment of the ambulance
that “was kind of like the bottom of a canoe ... like stainless steel
... with kind of a bluish-purplish tinge to it.”[212] UFO theorists
have suggested that these objects were alien spaceship “escape pods”
recovered by the Army Air Forces. However, this appears to be a
remarkably accurate description of two steel panels painted Air Force
blue on a converted ambulance used by the Balloon Branch for this
mission.

  [Illustration: Fig. 20. Balloon Branch Communications Technician,
  A2C Ole Jorgeson, now a retired Master Sergeant, in the rear
  compartment of an M-43 ambulance. Ambulances of this type were
  converted by the Balloon Branch to communications vehicles in
  the late 1950s. It appears the witness described the two panels
  painted Air Force blue (_lower right and left of ambulance_)
  as “bluish-purplish” “wreckage” that looked “kinda like the
  bottom of a canoe” and the stenciled writing above them as
  “hieroglyphics”—See figs. 21 and 22 on next page. (_photo
  collection of Ole Jorgeson_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 21. (_Above_) Enlargement of stenciled writing
  from photograph below. This lettering was apparently later
  described as “hieroglyphics.”]

  [Illustration: Fig. 22. (_Below_) Steel panels painted Air Force
  blue (_lower right and left_) described as “bluish-purplish”
  “wreckage” that looked “kinda like the bottom of a canoe.” (_U.S.
  Air Force photo_)]

The “inscription or something,”[213] the so called “hieroglyphics,”
were a probable reference to the lettering painted on the equipment
support rack above the panels. The lettering on the rack would be
visible, but probably not readable, to an observer that quickly walked
past the ambulance. Other wreckage “all over the floor” that was “like
broken glass,”[214] was a probable reference to the clear plastic
30-foot polyethylene balloon that was recovered following the balloon
training mission and placed in the back of the converted ambulance or
the weapons carrier for later disposal.

Dennis also recalled that he parked the vehicle he was driving
near three field ambulances and then walked up the ramp into the
hospital.[215] The description of ambulances near a “ramp” is
consistent with the recollections of the Balloon Branch Communication
Technician who drove the converted ambulance to the Walker AFB hospital
following the balloon accident. While waiting for the injured pilots,
A2C Ole Jorgeson, now a retired Master Sergeant, recalled in a recent
interview that he parked the converted ambulance near a ramp at the
hospital.[216] A review of Walker AFB hospital records revealed
that there was only one ramp. The ramp was attached to the hospital
dispensary, Walker AFB Bldg. 317.[217] The other ambulances described
by the witness were either the other ambulance from Holloman AFB that
provided medical support of the balloon flight or the two “standby”
ambulances, that in May 1959, were routinely positioned adjacent to the
ramp behind the dispensary at Walker AFB.[218]

  [Illustration: Fig. 23. “It was all sharp ... like broken glass,”
  a witness’ description of debris in the rear of an ambulance at
  Walker AFB. The debris described was most probably the remnants
  of the polyethylene balloon, similar to the one in this photo,
  recovered by Balloon Branch personnel following the mishap in May
  1959. (_U.S. Air Force photo_) ]


Additional Security at the Walker AFB Hospital

The witness described what appeared to be a heightened state of
security at the hospital when he allegedly took the injured airman
there for treatment. UFO theorists contend the heightened security at
the hospital was because alien remains were being autopsied. However,
it appears that the witness described the security measures taken by
Walker AFB personnel due to the unusual circumstances of the arrival of
the balloon crew.

In 1959, Walker AFB was a part of the 47th Air Division of Strategic
Air Command (SAC). It was home of the 6th Bombardment Wing (6th BW),
equipped with the nuclear capable B-52 Stratofortress bomber (the
509th BW was reassigned to Pease AFB, NH on July 1, 1958).[219] The
mission of the 6th BW, to strike the enemy with nuclear weapons
anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice, demanded a heightened state
of security at all times. One of the methods instituted during this
period to maintain the high standards of security and effectiveness
of SAC units, was unannounced “surprise” visits of Headquarters SAC
inspection teams. A favored method of transportation for these surprise
visits was a helicopter. When a SAC inspection team landed at a base,
often the first evaluation they made was of the security response to
their unannounced arrival. Failure of security personnel to properly
challenge unidentified visitors, regardless of their method of arrival,
was considered a serious breach of security.

When transported to Walker AFB for medical treatment, unexpected and at
an early hour, the balloon crew, not surprisingly, was met by armed
security personnel.[220] The security personnel escorted them to the
hospital and remained with them until their identities and purpose of
their visit were verified. Kaufman, one of the balloon pilots, recalled
that their presence at Walker AFB was initially met with skepticism.

“The [helicopter] pilot called the tower and said ... having come from
an experimental base, it was nothing unusual for him to have a balloon
accident. ‘We’ve got an injured pilot on board. There’s been a balloon
accident and we would like the flight surgeon and an ambulance to meet
us at the tower.’ The tower established the fact that yes, we were an
Air Force chopper and that we seemed to have somebody injured and what
had we been doing? We had been shooting touch and go landings in a
balloon?... We got clearance to land ... right in front of the tower,
and we were met by an ambulance and several MPs with machine guns.”[221]

  [Illustration: Fig. 24. Walker AFB Building 317, hospital
  dispensary with attached ramp, as it appeared in June 1954. It is
  in this building that UFO theorists allege that “alien autopsies”
  were accomplished in July 1947. However, this was the same building
  that Capt. Fulgham received treatment following the balloon
  accident on May 21, 1959. Persons apparently observed him and later
  related the unusual circumstances surrounding the balloon mishap as
  part of the “Roswell Incident.” (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 25. Main gate at Walker AFB, N.M., formerly
  Roswell AAF, as it appeared in 1954. During the 1950s, the highly
  secure base was the home of the nuclear capable 509th and 6th
  Bombardment Wings of Strategic Air Command. (_U.S. Air Force
  photo_)]

According to the medical technician who arrived on the helicopter
with the pilots, he had difficulty persuading a flight surgeon to
attend to the injured pilots. SSgt. Roland H. “Hap” Lutz, now a
retired Chief Master Sergeant, recalled when he first contacted the
Walker AFB hospital explaining that he had three persons injured in a
“gondola accident,” the flight surgeon told him to “Go home and sleep
it off.”[222] Fulgham, the injured pilot, recalled that when they got
to the hospital, “there was this controversy going on in the hospital
about who in the hell we were ... we weren’t supposed to be there and
nobody knew anything about Air Force officers flying balloons ... we
could have been ... [trying] to penetrate the security.”[223] Walker
AFB security officials were satisfied of the pilots’ identities when
they spoke to Colonel Stapp, commander of the Aero Medical Laboratory
at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

  [Illustration: Fig. 26. Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. (_right_),
  is shown here in 1962 with Dr. J. Allen Hynek while preparing for
  the project STARGAZER high altitude balloon flight. (_U.S. Air
  Force photo_)]


            The “Red-headed Captain” and Dr. J. Allen Hynek

  Captain Kittinger, the STARGAZER high altitude balloon pilot and
  project engineer, had extensive professional contact with Dr.
  J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer and STARGAZER project scientist.
  Additionally, Hynek was also one of the scientific consultants in
  the Air Force study of UFOs, Project BLUEBOOK. Hynek is best known,
  however, for his apparent endorsement of extraterrestrial theories
  concerning UFOs after concluding his associations with the Air
  Force.

  When asked about his recollections of Hynek, Kittinger stated
  that when they were associated, from 1958 to 1963, they discussed
  UFOs at length.[224] At that time, Hynek was steadfast in his
  opinion that most, if not all, UFO sightings could be resolved by
  applying known scientific analysis.[225] Kittinger said he was
  “flabbergasted” when, years later, Hynek appeared to reverse his
  opinion and endorse extraterrestrial explanations.[226] Hynek’s
  reversal in philosophies led to numerous commercial endeavors, most
  notably as a technical advisor for the science-fiction film _Close
  Encounters of the Third Kind_.

  Also, based on his experience with project STARGAZER, Hynek was
  familiar with balloon operations at Holloman AFB, visiting the
  Holloman Balloon Branch several times.[227] Interestingly, there
  is no record that Hynek, who died in 1986, ever endorsed what is
  now presented as the “best evidence” of UFOs, the so-called Roswell
  Incident, which was actually a conglomeration of numerous events,
  some with origins in Holloman AFB launched balloons.


The Alien at the Hospital

In at least one account of the Roswell Incident, a witness claimed he
observed a “creature” walk under its own power into the hospital.[228]
While the specifics of this particular sighting cannot be verified,
the injury that caused Fulgham’s head to swell, resembling the classic
science-fiction alien head, makes this account (and some others) that
at first appeared to be the work of over-active imaginations, seem
possible.

  [Illustration: Fig. 27. Clinical Record Cover Sheet from medical
  records of Capt. Dan D. Fulgham describing injuries he received in
  the balloon accident on May 21, 1959.

   CLINICAL RECORD COVER SHEET      8511

   1. ADMISSION NOTES
   1045 hrs
   A or N: No

   2. WARD 1

   3. TYPE OF CASE
  IRJ

   4. LAST NAME—FIRST NAME—MIDDLE INITIAL
  FULGHAM Dan D

   5. SEX
  M

   6. Religion
  P

   7. PREV. ADM.
  NO

   8. REGISTER NO.
  16059

   9. SERVICE NO.
  44734A

   10. GRADE
  Capt

   11. RATING OR DESIG.
  Sr Pilot

   12. DEPARTMENT
  Air Force

   13. ORGANIZATION AND BRANCH OF SERVICE
  ARDC Wright Patterson(a)

   14. FLYING STATUS
  Yes

   15. NAME AND ADDRESS OF EMERGENCY ADDRESSEE
  Joyce Fulgham (W)
   5540 Gross Drive Dayton Ohio

   16. AGE
  31

   17. RACE
  Cau

   18. LENGTH OF SERVICE
  12 yrs

   19. DATE OF ADMISSION
  12 May 59

   20. SOURCE OF ADMISSION
  From duty

   21. ADMITTING OFFICER
  L. E. Eason Capt USAF MC

   22. CONTINUATION OF ITEMS 12 AND 20.
  (a) AFB, Ohio

   23. DIAGNOSES
  8715 Hematoma, traumatic, n.e.c. forehead LD: Pending AF Form 348

   AI: Approximately 0600 hours, 21 May 1959, North of Roswell, New
   Mexico, patient states he was taking part in a military project
   involving balloon testing. When he and two others landed in the
   balloon the “gondola” upset, and hit him in the head causing injury.

   24. OPERATIONS AND SPECIAL THERAPEUTIC PROCEDURES
  None

   25. SELECTED ADMINISTRATIVE DATA
  None

   26. PHYSICAL PROFILE

   27. DATE DURATION THIS FACILITY

   ALL 3 IN HOSPITAL OR INFIRMARY 3

   28. NATURE OF DISPOSITION
  Duty

   29. DATE OF DISPOSITION
  24 May 59

   30. SIGNATURE OF ATTENDING PHYSICIAN
  LESLIE E EASON CAPT USAF HC

   31. SIGNATURE OF REGISTRAR OR RECORDS OFFICER
  ROLAND E DOZOIS CWD W-3 USAF

   32. NAME AND LOCATION OF MEDICAL TREATMENT FACILITY
  6580TH USAF HOSPITAL HOLLOMAN AFB NM

   33. REGISTER NUMBER
  16059
]

When the balloon gondola struck Fulgham’s head, he received, according
to his clinical record from May 21, 1959, an “Extensive hematoma
forehead and ant [anterior] scalp.”[229] A hematoma is a localized
blood-filled swelling, that in this instance was on the forehead. The
hematoma resulted in immediate facial swelling, two black eyes and
later caused his skin to turn yellow.[230]

The rapid onset of the swelling caused both of Fulgham’s eyes to
close. As it progressed, according to Kittinger who accompanied
Fulgham at the hospital, “His whole face had swollen up and his
nose barely protruded.”[231] This appearance lead Kittinger to
characterize Fulgham’s appearance at the time as “just a big blob” and
“grotesque.”[232]

When interviewed, Fulgham remembered that even though he didn’t feel
bad, “I didn’t know how bad I looked.” There was no attempt to hide
or limit Fulgham’s exposure to persons in the hospital that day. In
fact, when he arrived at the hospital Fulgham recalled that he stopped
outside the building to smoke a cigarette. Kaufman also recalled that
the injured pilots, Fulgham and Kittinger, waited for treatment on a
bench in the hallway of the hospital. Kaufman added that a number of
military wives were present in the hospital that day for prenatal care,
and there was no effort to keep Fulgham from their view.[233]

  [Illustration: Fig 28. Capt. Dan D. Fulgham at Wright-Patterson
  AFB, Ohio several days after the balloon accident with a “traumatic
  hematoma” on his forehead. This photo shows Fulgham after blood
  had been aspirated from under his scalp and a substantial amount
  of swelling had dissipated. Concerns that Fulgham’s odd appearance
  might startle uninformed persons was why he was returned to
  Wright-Patterson AFB aboard a specially arranged flight from
  Holloman AFB, N.M. (_photo collection of Dan D. Fulgham_)]


=“Bodies” with Large Heads and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio=

UFO theorists contend that the U.S. Army Air Forces secretly shipped
the alien bodies with large heads to Wright-Patterson AFB for further
processing and deep-freeze storage. However, it is likely that, in this
account, this is a reference to Fulgham’s return to Wright-Patterson
AFB following the balloon mishap.

Although Fulgham did not require hospitalization at Walker AFB, upon
his return to Holloman AFB he was admitted to the base hospital for
observation. Three days later on May 24, 1959, the balloon pilots were
flown from Holloman to Wright-Patterson AFB on a specially arranged
flight aboard a C-131 hospital aircraft.[234]

The return to Wright-Patterson AFB was directed by Stapp and
coordinated by Kittinger.[235] The preliminary arrangements for this
flight were made by Kittinger while at the Walker AFB hospital.[236]
Kittinger recalled that conversations with Stapp regarding their
return to Wright-Patterson AFB were made by phone in busy areas of the
hospital and these conversations could have been overheard by nearly
anyone present.[237]

Upon their arrival at Wright-Patterson, Fulgham, who Kittinger did not
want to transport on a commercial flight due to his odd appearance,
still could not open his eyes and had to be led down the steps of the
aircraft. Kittinger recalled that Fulgham’s wife was waiting at the
bottom of the aircraft steps when they arrived.

“They dropped the ramp and I looked down at the bottom and there was
Dan Fulgham’s wife,” Kittinger said. “Dan couldn’t see ... so I grabbed
him by the arm ... Dan’s wife sees me leading this blob down the
staircase ... and she looks right at me and says, ‘Where’s my husband?’
I said, ‘Ma’am, this is your husband’. I presented her this blob that I
was leading down the ramp. And she let out this scream you could hear a
mile away. He was such a horrendous looking thing that she had no idea
that the thing I was leading down that ramp was her husband.”[238]

  [Illustration: Fig. 29. As a physiologist for the space program,
  Fulgham (_third from left_) discusses Project GEMINI emergency
  escape systems at the U.S. Navy Aerospace Recovery facility at
  El Centro, Calif. on January 28, 1965. Shown with Fulgham (_from
  left_) are NASA astronaut Jim Lovell, NASA project engineer Hilary
  Ray, and NASA astronaut Alan Bean. (_U.S. Navy photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 30. A veteran of 100 combat missions during the
  Korean conflict, Fulgham flew 133 combat missions in F-4 aircraft
  (shown here) in 1966–67 as a member of the 555th “Triple Nickel”
  Tactical Fighter Squadron at Ubon Air Base, Thailand. (_photo
  collection of Dan D. Fulgham_)]

Fulgham recalled that upon his return to work at the Aero Medical
Laboratory he received reactions of “immediate compassionate sympathy”
from persons he encountered, including his secretary, who cried when
she saw him.[239] Within several weeks, Fulgham returned to flying
status with no permanent effects. Fulgham went on to complete a
distinguished career in the Air Force and retired as a colonel in 1978.
Fulgham’s assignments included combat tours in fighter aircraft in
both Korea and Vietnam, as well as an assignment as an experimental
parachutist and physiologist for the space program.


                                Summary

In this section, documented research revealed that the reports of
“bodies” at the Roswell AAF hospital were grossly inaccurate and most
probably had origins in actual Air Force mishaps. Examinations of
official records of the alleged primary witnesses revealed that the
“missing nurse” was never missing, and the pediatrician did not arrive
at the Walker AFB hospital until 1951—four years _after_ the alleged
incident. The many fundamental errors in the story, combined with the
substantial similarities to the actual mishaps, show that the most
credible account associated with the “Roswell Incident” is certainly
not extraterrestrial and is unrelated to any events that occurred in
July 1947.



                              Conclusion


When critically examined, the claims that the U.S. Army Air Forces
recovered a flying saucer and alien crew in 1947, were found to be
a compilation of many verifiable events. For the most part, the
descriptions collected by UFO theorists were of actual operations and
tests carried out by the U.S. Air Force in the 1950s. Despite the
usual unsavory accusations by UFO proponents of cover-up, conspiracy,
intimidation, etc., documented research revealed that many of the
activities were actually historic scientific achievements of which the
Air Force is very proud. However, other descriptions are believed to be
distorted references to Air Force members who were killed or injured in
the line of duty. The incomplete and inaccurate intermingling of these
actual events were grounded in just enough fact to weave a sensational
story, but cannot withstand close scrutiny when compared to official
records.

To analyze reports of alien bodies that at first appeared to be so
offbeat as to not be remotely based in fact, it was necessary to
evaluate a wide range of books, interviews, videos, etc., that a
less objective review might have rejected out of hand. Only through
an inclusive evaluation of these sources were Air Force researchers
able to understand the interconnectivity of the widely separated
events believed responsible for this “incident.” And, in opposition
to critics who believe Air Force research involving this subject is
anything but objective, this research relied almost exclusively on
the descriptions _=provided by the UFO proponents themselves=_. When
collected and examined, the actual statements of the witnesses—not
the extraterrestrial interpretations of UFO proponents—indicated that
something was very wrong. When these descriptions were compared to
documented Air Force activities, they were much too similar to be a
coincidence. Soon, it became apparent that the witnesses or the UFO
proponents who liberally interpreted their statements were either 1)
confused, or 2) attempting to perpetrate a hoax, believing that no
serious efforts would ever be taken to verify their stories.

In preparing this report, attempts were made not to only explain
_what_ conclusions were reached, but _how_ they were reached. This
undertaking was to try to de-mystify the research process by outlining
the simple and logical research techniques that identified the
underlying actual events. In regard to statements of witnesses that
were clearly descriptions of Air Force activities, such as those
that described anthropomorphic dummies, these could be generously
viewed as situational misunderstandings or even honest mistakes.
Other descriptions, particularly those believed to be thinly veiled
references to deceased or injured Air Force members, are difficult
to view as naive misunderstandings. Any attempt to misrepresent or
capitalize on tragic incidents in which Air Force members died or were
injured in service to their country significantly alters what would
otherwise be viewed as simple misinterpretations or honest mistakes.

  [Illustration: Fig. 31. Plaque placed at Holloman AFB honoring
  three Balloon Branch members killed during a high altitude balloon
  recovery when their L-20 balloon chase plane crashed in the rugged
  Gila Mountains near Stafford, Ariz. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)

  IN MEMORIAM

  WIRED P. CHAMPLAIN, 1ST LT. U.S.A.F. RONALD J. NIELSEN, AIRMAN 1/C

  U.S.A.F.

  ROBERT W. MITCHELL

  WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE RECOVERY OF INSTRUMENTS FROM THE
  STRATOSPHERE 25 AUGUST 1955]

  [Illustration: Fig. 32. (_Left_) The balloon launch facility at
  Holloman AFB, N.M. was named in honor of Maj. Richard L. Nenninger
  who died of injuries received in an aircraft crash during a balloon
  recovery mission on April 7, 1970 in the Sacramento Mountains near
  Ruidoso, N.M. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

  [Illustration: Fig. 33. (_Right_) A semiconscious Capt. Joseph
  W. Kittinger, Jr., following the EXCELSIOR I parachute jump from
  76,000 feet. With his parachute wrapped around his neck and body
  and hopelessly out of control, his life was saved by an ingeniously
  designed reserve parachute system that opened just moments before
  contacting the desert floor; White Sands Proving Ground, November
  16, 1959. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]

Finally, after reviewing this report, some persons may legitimately ask
why the Air Force expended time and effort to respond to mythical, if
not comedic, allegations of recoveries of “flying saucers” and “space
aliens.” The answer to those persons is:

  • Initially the Air Force was required to respond to an official
  request from the General Accounting Office.

  • High altitude balloon research, aircraft escape systems, and
  other technologies that were misrepresented as part of the Roswell
  Incident, accounted for significant contributions to the knowledge
  of the atmosphere, to the quest for space flight, and to the
  defense of this nation. The U.S. Air Force is exceedingly proud of
  these accomplishments. Distorted and incomplete descriptions of
  these activities do not pay tribute to these important exploits
  or to the individuals who, often at great personal risk, boldly
  carried them out.

  • A sobering reality of the mission of the U.S. Air Force, as
  evidenced by the aircraft mishaps described in this report, is
  that defending this nation is a dangerous profession. On a daily
  basis, members of the U.S. Air Force perform hazardous missions in
  many locations throughout the world. Unfortunately, these missions
  sometimes result in injuries or deaths. It is the right—and indeed
  the duty—of the Air Force to challenge those who attempt to exploit
  these human tragedies wherever, and whenever, they are discovered.

  • The misrepresentations of Air Force activities as an
  extraterrestrial “incident” is misleading to the public and is
  simply an affront to the truth.

This comprehensive further examination of the so-called “Roswell
Incident” found no evidence whatsoever of flying saucers, space aliens,
or sinister government cover-ups. But, even if unintentionally, it did
serve to highlight a series of events that embody the proud history of
the finest air force in the world—the U.S. Air Force. The actual events
examined here, rich in human and scientific triumph, tempered by the
stark realities of the dangers of the Air Force mission, are but one
small portion of that history. The many Air Force activities cobbled
together in the ever changing collage that has become the “Roswell
Incident,” when examined in the clear light of historical research,
revealed a remarkable chapter of the Air Force story. In the final
analysis, this examination simply illustrates once again, that fact is
indeed stranger, and often much more fascinating, than fiction.



                          Notes - Section One


[1] Headquarters United States Air Force, _The Roswell Report: Fact vs.
Fiction in the New Mexico Desert_ (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government
Printing Office, 1995), 20–22.

[2] ibid.

[3] Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, _Crash at Corona_ (New York:
Paragon House, 1992), 14.

[4] Headquarters United States Air Force, _The Roswell Report: Fact vs.
Fiction in the New Mexico Desert_ (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government
Printing Office, 1995), 20–22.

[5] Ted Bloecher, _Report of the UFO Wave of 1947_ (Washington D.C.:
author, 1967), I-13-14.

[6] Combined History, 509th Bomb Group and Roswell Army Airfield, 1
July-31 July 1947, 39, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell
AFB, AL.

[7] _Roswell Daily Record_, July 9, 1947, 1.

[8] _Socorro_ (N.M.) _Defensor Chieftain_, November 4, 1992.

[9] Don Berliner, _A Rebuttal of the Air Force Project Mogul
Explanation for the 1947 Roswell, New Mexico, UFO Crash_ (Mount Ranier,
Md.: The Fund for UFO Research, 1995), 2.

[10] Headquarters United States Air Force, _The Roswell Report: Fact
vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert_ (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government
Printing Office, 1995), Attachment 32, _Synopsis of Balloon Research
Findings_, by 1st Lt. James McAndrew, 9.

[11] Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, _Crash at Corona_ (New York:
Paragon House, 1992), 14.

[12] Video, _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Gerald Anderson
interview (Washington, D.C.: Fund for UFO Research, 1993) (hereafter
_Recollections of Roswell, Part II_).

[13] James Ragsdale, transcript of interview with Donald R. Schmitt,
January 26, 1994.

[14] Frank J. Kaufman, interview with Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt,
January 27, 1990.

[15] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Maltais interview.

[16] ibid., Anderson interview.

[17] ibid.

[18] ibid., Maltais interview.

[19] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[20] Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore, _The Roswell Incident_ (New
York: Berkley, 1980), 61.

[21] ibid.

[22] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Alice Knight interview.

[23] Ragsdale and _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson
interview.

[24] ibid.

[25] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[26] Ragsdale.

[27] James M. Grimwood, _Project Mercury: A Chronology_, Report No.
SP4001 (Wash. D.C.: NASA, 1963) 2–3, and Lloyd Mallan, _Men, Rockets
and Space Rats_, (New York: Julian Messier Inc., 1955) 84–98.

[28] Research Division, College of Engineering, New York University,
_Technical Report No. 93.02, Constant Level Balloons_, Section 3,
_Summary of Flights_, July 15, 1949.

[29] Capt. Vincent Mazza and Capt. Richard V. Wheeler, _High Altitude
Bailouts_, MCREXD-695-66M (Wright-Patterson AFB, OH: USAF Air Materiel
Command, September 18, 1950), 10–11.

[30] A. M. Jacobs, “The Flier’s SOS,” _St. Nicholas Magazine_, Vol.
LII, No. 10 (August 1925), 1034–1039.

[31] ibid.

[32] Memo, Major H.H. Arnold, Chief Field Service Section, to
Commanding Officer, San Antonio Air Depot, subj: Drop Testing of
Parachutes, November 2, 1929. National Air and Space Museum Archives,
Paul E. Garber Facility, Silver Hill, Md., file no. 452.031,
Parachutes-(Dummies) 1927–1929.

[33] J. Allen Neal, _History: Development of Methods for Escape from
High Speed Aircraft, Vol. 1_, (Wright-Patterson AFB, OH: Air Research
and Development Command, 1958), U.S. Air Force Museum Archives,
Wright-Patterson AFB, OH.

[34] Memo, Ted Smith, to W.A. Daler, subj: Bid for Purchase Request
No. 301200, September 17, 1954, National Archives and Records
Administration, Accession No. 342-67E-2954, box 5/15, file 28.

[35] H.T.E. Hertzberg, _Anthropology of Anthropomorphic Dummies_, Air
Force Medical Research Laboratory, AMRL-TR-69-61, February 1970, 3.

[36] Maj. John P. Stapp, _Human Tolerance to Linear Deceleration,
Part I. Preliminary Survey of the Aft Facing Seated Position_, Air
Force Technical Report 5915, (Wright Patterson AFB, OH: Wright Air
Development Center, 1949) and Maj. John P. Stapp, _Part II. The Aft
Facing Position and the Development of a Crash Harness_, Air Force
Technical Report 5915 (Wright Patterson AFB, OH: Wright Air Development
Center, 1951).

[37] H.T.E. Hertzberg, _Anthropology of Anthropomorphic Dummies_, Air
Force Medical Research Laboratory, AMRL-TR-69-61, February 1970, 3.

[38] ibid.

[39] ltr., H.L. Daulton, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer,
Sierra Engineering Company, to W.A. Daler, Headquarters Air Materiel
Command, subject: Proposal, Purchase Request No. 301200, September
16, 1954, National Archives and Records Administration, Accession No.
342-67E-2954, box 5/15, file 28.

[40] Joseph Smreka, Senior Design Engineer, First Technology Safety
Systems, “Dummies—Past and Present,” 2 (unpublished manuscript).

[41] Sierra Engineering Co., “Sierra Sam,” 1955, National Archives and
Records Administration, Accession No. 342-67E-2954, box 5/15, file 28.

[42] 1st Lt. Raymond A. Madson, _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops,
Part I. The Unstabilized Dummy Drops_, WADC Technical Report 57-477,
(Wright Patterson AFB, OH: Wright Air Development Center, Oct 1957)
(hereafter _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops Part I_), 27, and 1st
Lt. Raymond A. Madson, _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, II. The
Stabilized Dummy Drops_, WADC Technical Report 57-477 (II) (Wright
Patterson AFB, OH: Aeronautical Systems Division, Air Force Systems
Command, August 1961) (hereafter _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops
Part II_), 18.

[43] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops Part I_, 1.

[44] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops Part I_, and _High Altitude
Balloon Dummy Drops Part II_, and Holloman Air Development Center,
Weekly Test Status Reports, Project MX-1450B (Manned Balloon), National
Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center,
St. Louis, MO, Accession No. 342-62A-A-641, box 115/248, folder;
R-695-61D, “High Altitude Escape Studies, Gen B-1, Manned Balloon
Flights.”

[45] ibid.

[46] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops Part I_, 1, and _High Altitude
Balloon Dummy Drops Part II_, 18.

[47] Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., _The Long, Lonely Leap_,
(New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1961), and Lt. Col. David G.
Simons, _Man High_, (New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1960), and
Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., “The Long, Lonely Leap,” _National
Geographic_ 118, no. 6 (December 1960): 854-873, “Fantastic Catch
in the Sky, Record Leap towards Earth,” _Life_ 49, no. 9 (August
29, 1960): 20–25, _Popular Mechanics Magazine_, January 1951: 118,
_Collier’s_, June 25, 1954, _Time_, September 12, 1955, “The Fastest
Man on Earth”.

[48] Don Reilly, “MAD Salutes an Unsung Hero,” _MAD_, no. 61, (March
1961), 46.

[49] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops Part I_, and _High Altitude
Balloon Dummy Drops Part II_.

[50] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops Part II_, 11–12.

[51] Signed, sworn statement of Raymond A. Madson, Lt. Col., USAF (Ret)
and _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part I_, 16.

[52] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part I_, 5.

[53] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part I_, 17.

[54] ibid., and Memorandum, subj: Balloon Tracking and Recovery
Equipment, n.d., National Archives and Records Administration,
Accession No. 342-67B-2133, box 65/249, file 2, “Biophysics
Branch-Escape Section, High Altitude Escape Studies, 7218-71719,”
and Robert Blankenship, retired Balloon Branch Recovery Supervisor,
telephone interview with 1st Lt. James McAndrew, July 14, 1995.

[55] Signed, sworn statement of Raymond A. Madson, Lt. Col., USAF (Ret).

[56] Blankenship, and Balloon Tracking and Recovery Equipment, n.d.,
and Bernard D. Gildenberg, _Meteorological Aspects of Constant-Level
Balloon Operations in the Southwestern United States_ (hereafter
_Meteorological Aspects of Constant-Level Balloon Operations in the
Southwestern United States_), AFCRL-66-706 (L.G. Hanscom Field,
Bedford, MA: Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, October 1966),
27.

[57] Historical Branch, Office of Information Services, Air Force
Missile Development Center, _Contributions of Balloon Operations to
Research and Development at the Air Force Missile Development Center
Holloman AFB, N. Mex. 1947–1958_ (Holloman AFB, NM: Air Research
and Development Command, 1958) (hereafter _Contributions of Balloon
Operations to Research and Development at the Air Force Missile
Development Center, 1947–1958_), 90.

[58] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part I_, 16.

[59] ibid., 17.

[60] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part I_, 17.

[61] Maj. John P. Stapp, _Human Tolerance to Linear Deceleration,
Part I. Preliminary Survey of the Aft Facing Seated Position_, Air
Force Technical Report 5915, (Wright Patterson AFB, OH: Wright Air
Development Center, 1949) and Maj. John P. Stapp, _Part II. The Aft
Facing Position and the Development of a Crash Harness_, Air Force
Technical Report 5915 (Wright Patterson AFB, OH: Wright Air Development
Center, 1951).

[62] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part II_, 6.

[63] Signed, sworn statement of Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., Col., USAF
(Ret).

[64] ibid.

[65] Alderson Research Laboratories, Inc., “Instructions for Operation
and Maintenance, Model F-95 Anthropomorphic Test Dummies,” May 3,
1956, 1, and Glenn Richards, retired Balloon Branch Instrumentation
Specialist, telephone interview with Capt. James McAndrew, September 5,
1995.

[66] Alderson Research Laboratories, Inc., “Instructions for Operation
and Maintenance, Model F-95 Anthropomorphic Test Dummies,” May 3,
1956, 1, and Ronald G. Hansen, Lt. Col. USAR, (Ret), Balloon Recovery
Helicopter Pilot, telephone interview with 1st Lt. James McAndrew, May
1, 1995.

[67] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part I_, 7–8.

[68] Blankenship.

[69] ibid.

[70] _The Beverly Hills Citizen_, March 12, 1956, 7.

[71] Research Division, College of Engineering, New York University,
_Special Report No. 1, Constant Level Balloon_, May 1947, 20–22.

[72] Research Division, College of Engineering, New York University,
Technical Report No. 93.03, _Constant Level Balloons, Operations_,
March 1, 1951, 105.

[73] U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory, “Phillips Laboratory Space
Experiments Directorate, Balloon, Rocket, and Satellite Capabilities,”
n.d., 33.

[74] Bernard D. Gildenberg, Balloon Branch Meteorologist and Engineer,
interviewed by 1st Lt. James McAndrew, May 28, 1995, and _Contributions
of Balloon Operations 1947–1958_, 73.

[75] ibid.

[76] ibid.

[77] _Contributions of Balloon Operations 1947–1958_, 73.

[78] “Flight Summary, Non-Extensible Balloon Operations, 6580th Test
Squadron (Special), June 1950 to October 1954,” 22–24.

[79] _Contributions of Balloon Operations 1947–1958_, 73–74.

[80] Lt. Col. David G. Simons (MC), _Stratosphere Balloon Techniques
for Exposing Living Specimens to Primary Cosmic Ray Particles_,
Holloman Air Development Center TR 54-16, November 1954, 10–11.

[81] “Flight Summary Non-Extensible Balloon Operations 6580th
Test Squadron (Special), June 1950 to October 1954,” 1–31, and
_Contributions of Balloon Operations 1947–1958_, 24.

[82] “Flight Summary Non-Extensible Balloon Operations 6580th Test
Squadron (Special), June 1950 to October 1954,” 4.

[83] Research Division, College of Engineering, New York University,
_Technical Report No. 93.02, Constant Level Balloons_, Section 3,
_Summary of Flights_, July 15, 1949, 32, in Headquarters United States
Air Force, _The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico
Desert_ (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995),
Appendix 12.

[84] Holloman Air Development Center, “Test Report on Radar Target
Balloons”, October 31, 1955, Air Force Historical Research Agency,
Maxwell, AFB, AL, Reel # 31811, Frame 1139, and _Contributions of
Balloon Operations 1947–1958_, 40–45.

[85] Kevin C. Ruffner, ed., _Corona: America’s First Satellite Program_
(Washington, D.C.: Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central
Intelligence Agency, 1995), 22.

[86] ibid., 21–22.

[87] Air Force Missile Development Center, “Chronology of Events,”
Sept. 1, 1957-Aug 10, 1962, Air Force Historical Research Agency,
Maxwell, AFB, AL, Reel # 31731, Frame 561, and Flight Records of
Bernard D. Gildenberg, Meteorologist, Holloman AFB Balloon Branch,
October 12, 1956-March 14, 1961.

[88] Flight Summary, DISCOVERER Balloon Flights, March 31, 1960-April
22, 1960, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell, AFB, AL, Reel#
31811, frame 569.

[89] ibid.

[90] ibid.

[91] Kevin C. Ruffner, ed., _Corona: America’s First Satellite Program_
(Washington, D.C.: Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central
Intelligence Agency, 1995), 21–22.

[92] ibid.

[93] ibid.

[94] Martin Marietta Corporation, “Viking '75, Balloon Launched
Decelerator Test Program Post Flight Report, BLDT Vehicle AV-3,” TR
3720293, 1972, IV-I and Edward J. Kirschner, _Aerospace Balloons; From
Montgolfiere to Space_ (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Aero Publishers, 1985),
64–66.

[95] Martin Marietta Corporation, “Viking '75, Balloon Launched
Decelerator Test Program Post Flight Report, BLDT Vehicle AV-3,” TR
3720293, 1972, IV-I.

[96] Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt, _The Truth About the UFO
Crash at Roswell_ (New York: Avon Books, 1994), photograph section.

[97] Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, “Report on Research,
for the Period July 1965-June 1967”, AFCRL TR-68-0039, November 1967,
150–151.

[98] Gildenberg.

[99] Database of high altitude balloon operations on file at SAF/AAZD
compiled from the following sources: Research Division, College of
Engineering, New York University, _Technical Report No. 93.02, Constant
Level Balloons_, Section 3, _Summary of Flights_, July 15, 1949;
“Flight Summary Non-Extensible Balloon Operations 6580th Test Squadron
(Special), June 1950 to October 1954,” National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.,
Accession No. 342-62A-181, box 14/18; Flight Records of Bernard D.
Gildenberg, Meteorologist, Holloman AFB Balloon Branch, October 12,
1956-March 14, 1961; “Summary of Balloon Flights Launched from Holloman
AFB, N.M., 1962 thru 1987”, Space and Missile Command, Test and
Evaluation Unit (SMC/TE, OL-AC) files, Holloman AFB, N.M. Additional
flight data on file (microfilm), U.S. Air Force Phillips Laboratory,
Geophysics Directorate, Hanscom AFB, Mass.

[100] Bernard D. Gildenberg, _Meteorological Aspects of Constant-Level
Balloon Operations in the Southwestern United States_, AFCRL-66-706
(L.G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, MA: Air Force Cambridge Research
Laboratories, October 1966), and Bernard D. Gildenberg, _General
Philosophy and Techniques of Balloon Control_, in Lewis A. Grass, ed.,
_Proceedings, Sixth AFCRL Scientific Balloon Symposium_, AFCRL-70-0543,
(L.G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Mass.: Air Force Cambridge Research
Laboratories, October 1970).

[101] Blankenship.

[102] ibid.

[103] ibid.

[104] ibid.

[105] ibid.

[106] Joseph Longshore, Balloon Branch Supervisor, telephone interview
with Capt. James McAndrew, August 16, 1995.

[107] Signed sworn statement of James Ragsdale in Ragsdale Productions
Inc., _The Jim Ragsdale Story: A Closer Look at the Roswell Incident_
(Hall Poorbough Press, Inc., 1996), 10–11, and signed sworn statement
of James Ragsdale in Karl T. Pflock, _Roswell in Perspective_
(Washington, D.C.: Fund for UFO Research, 1994), 167.

[108] James Ragsdale, interview with Donald R. Schmitt, January 26,
1993.

[109] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part II_, 17.

[110] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops Part I_, 27–30 and _High
Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part II_, 6, 10–12, 17.

[111] Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., Col., USAF (Ret), interview with 1st
Lt. James McAndrew, June 23, 1995.

[112] _Contributions of Balloon Operations to Research and Development
at the Air Force Missile Development Center, 1947–1958_, 90, and
_Meteorological Aspects of Constant-Level Balloon Operations in the
Southwestern United States_, 1.

[113] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops Part I_, 24.

[114] Blankenship and Kittinger.

[115] ibid.

[116] Memorandum, subj: Balloon Tracking and Recovery Equipment, n.d.,
National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel
Records Center, St. Louis, Mo., Accession No. 342-67B-2133, box 65/249,
file 2, “Biophysics Branch-Escape Section, High Altitude Escape
Studies, 7218-71719.”

[117] ibid., and Blankenship.

[118] Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore, _The Roswell Incident_ (New
York: Berkley, 1980), 64, and Don Berliner and Stanton Friedman, _Crash
at Corona_ (New York: Paragon House, 1992), 88.

[119] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Knight interview.

[120] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Maltais interview.

[121] Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore, _The Roswell Incident_ (New
York: Berkley, 1980), 64, and Don Berliner and Stanton Friedman, _Crash
at Corona_ (New York: Paragon House, 1992), 88.

[122] Berliner and Friedman, 89.

[123] Mark Rodeghier and Fred Whiting, _The Plains of San Agustin
Controversy, July, 1947: Gerald Anderson, Barney Barnett, and the
Archaeologists_, Introduction (Chicago, IL, Washington, D.C.: J. Allen
Hynek Center for UFO Studies and The Fund for UFO Research, June 1992),
2.

[124] ibid.

[125] Kevin D. Randle, Donald R. Schmitt, and Thomas J. Carey, _Gerald
Anderson and the Plains of San Agustin, in The Plains of San Agustin
Controversy, July, 1947: Gerald Anderson, Barney Barnett, and the
Archaeologists_ (Chicago, IL, Washington, D.C.: J. Allen Hynek Center
for UFO Studies, and The Fund for UFO Research, June 1992), 19.

[126] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[127] Berliner and Friedman, 90.

[128] ibid., 91.

[129] Gerald F. Anderson, interview with Kevin D. Randle, February 4,
1990, in _The Plains of San Agustin Controversy, July, 1947: Gerald
Anderson, Barney Barnett, and the Archaeologists_ (Chicago, IL,
Washington, D.C.: J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies and The Fund
for UFO Research, June 1992), 59.

[130] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[131] ibid.

[132] ibid.

[133] ibid.

[134] ibid.

[135] Blankenship and Kittinger.

[136] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[137] “Sierra Sam: Scientific Whipping Boy,” _Machine Design_, December
22, 1960 and “Dummy Takes a Beating for Science’s Sake,” _Aviation
Week_, January 12, 1953.

[138] Ragsdale.

[139] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[140] Alderson Research Laboratories Inc., “Modular Series
Anthropomorphic Test Dummies,” Alderson Research Laboratories Inc.,
June 1955), 5.

[141] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[142] ibid.

[143] Signed, sworn statement of Raymond A. Madson, Lt. Col., USAF
(Ret).

[144] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[145] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part I_, 22.

[146] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[147] _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part I_, 9, and _High
Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part II_, 8.

[148] Berliner and Friedman, 91.

[149] ibid., 92–94.

[150] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[151] ibid.

[152] Memorandum, subject: Balloon Tracking and Recovery Equipment,
n.d., National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel
Records Center, St. Louis, Mo., Accession No. 342-67B-2133, box 65/249,
file 2, “Biophysics Branch-Escape Section, High Altitude Escape
Studies, 7218-71719,” and _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops, Part I_,
17, and “Weekly Test Status Report on Project 7218, Manned Balloon
Flights, (MX-1450B)”, for Week Ending 28 February 1955, National
Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center,
St. Louis, Mo., Accession No. 342-66A-181, Box 14/18.

[153] Kittinger and Historical Branch, Office of Information Services,
Air Research and Development Command, _History of Flight Support
Holloman Air Development Center 1946–1957_ (Holloman AFB, N.M.:
Holloman Air Development Center, 1957), 101.

[154] Blankenship.

[155] Berliner and Friedman, 106.

[156] Bernard D. Gildenberg, _Techniques Developed for Heavy Load
Non-Extensible Balloon Flights_, Report No. HADC-TN-54-3 (Holloman AFB,
NM: Holloman Air Development Center, March 1954), 7.

[157] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[158] Blankenship and Ole Jorgeson, MSgt., USAF, (Ret), Balloon Branch
Communications Supervisor, interview with 1st Lt. James McAndrew, May
28, 1995.

[159] ibid.

[160] Berliner and Friedman, 107.

[161] ibid.

[162] Blankenship.

[163] Berliner and Friedman, 106.

[164] Blankenship.

[165] Signed sworn statement of James Ragsdale in, Ragsdale Productions
Inc., _The Jim Ragsdale Story: A Closer Look at the Roswell Incident_
(Hall Poorbough Press, Inc., 1996), 10–11, and signed sworn statement
of James Ragsdale in Karl T. Pflock, _Roswell in Perspective_
(Washington, D.C.: Fund for UFO Research, 1994), 167.

[166] Ragsdale.

[167] Frank J. Kaufman, interview with Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt,
January 27, 1990.

[168] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[169] Ragsdale.

[170] ibid.

[171] Berliner and Friedman, 92.

[172] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Maltais interview.

[173] ibid., Knight interview.

[174] ibid., Anderson interview.

[175] ibid., Maltais interview.

[176] ibid.

[177] ibid., Anderson interview.

[178] Ragsdale.

[179] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[180] ibid., Maltais interview.

[181] ibid., Anderson interview.

[182] ibid.

[183] ibid., Maltais interview.

[184] ibid., Anderson interview.

[185] Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore, _The Roswell Incident_ (New
York: Berkley, 1980), 61.

[186] Berliner and Friedman, 92.

[187] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[188] Berliner and Friedman, 91.

[189] ibid.

[190] ibid., 92.

[191] ibid., 91.

[192] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Maltais interview.

[193] Berliner and Friedman, 93.

[194] ibid., 93–94.

[195] ibid., 92.

[196] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[197] Berliner and Friedman, 106.

[198] Ragsdale.

[199] ibid.

[200] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[201] ibid.

[202] Ragsdale.

[203] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[204] ibid.

[205] ibid.

[206] Berliner and Friedman, 106.

[207] Ragsdale.

[208] Berliner and Friedman, 107.

[209] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[210] ibid.

[211] Ragsdale.

[212] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[213] Ragsdale.

[214] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[215] Ragsdale.

[216] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Anderson interview.

[217] ibid.

[218] Berliner and Friedman, 107.



                          Notes - Section Two


[1] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks His
Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 103.

[2] Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, _Crash at Corona_ (New York:
Paragon House, 1992), 117, 120, and W. Glenn Dennis, interview with
Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992, 18–19.

[3] Video, _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis
interview (Washington, D.C.: Fund for UFO Research, 1993) (hereafter
_Recollections of Roswell, Part II_).

[4] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[5] ibid.

[6] ibid.

[7] ibid.

[8] ibid., and W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Karl T. Pflock, November
2, 1992, and Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell
Breaks His Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 103.

[9] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks His
Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 103.

[10] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[11] ibid.

[12] ibid.

[13] Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, _Crash at Corona_ (New York:
Paragon House, 1992), 120, and W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Karl T.
Pflock, November 2, 1992.

[14] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks His
Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 103.

[15] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[16] Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, _Crash at Corona_ (New York:
Paragon House, 1992), 117.

[17] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[18] ibid.

[19] ibid.

[20] ibid.

[21] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Stanton T. Friedman, August 5,
1989.

[22] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[23] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992.

[24] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[25] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992.

[26] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[27] ibid.

[28] ibid.

[29] Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, _Crash at Corona_ (New York:
Paragon House, 1992), 119, and Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The
Mortician of Roswell Breaks His Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995,
105.

[30] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[31] ibid.

[32] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992.

[33] ibid.

[34] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks
His Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 105, and W. Glenn Dennis,
interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992.

[35] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks His
Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 105.

[36] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Stanton T. Friedman, August 5,
1989.

[37] ibid.

[38] Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, _Crash at Corona_ (New York:
Paragon House, 1992), 119.

[39] Headquarters United States Air Force, _The Roswell Report:
Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert_ (Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1995), Attachment 32, “Synopsis of Balloon
Research Findings by 1st Lt. James McAndrew”.

[40] 427th AAFBU Sq “M” Morning Reports, July 8–9, 1947, National
Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center,
St. Louis, Mo.

[41] Personnel record of 1st Lt. Angele A. (LaRue) Thessing, National
Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center,
St. Louis, Mo.

[42] ibid.

[43] Personnel records of Capt. Joyce Goddard, 1st Lt. Rosemary J.
Brown, 1st Lt. Eileen M. Fanton, 1st Lt. Angele A. LaRue, 1st Lt.
Claudia Uebele, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[44] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks
His Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 132, and W. Glenn Dennis,
interview with Stanton T. Friedman, August 5, 1989.

[45] Paul McCarthy, “The Case of the Vanishing Nurses,” _Omni_, Fall
1995, 107–114.

[46] WD AGO FORM 66, “Officer’s Qualification Record,” Personnel
Record of Capt. Eileen M. Fanton, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[47] DD Form 214, “Armed Forces of the United States Report of
Transfer or Discharge”, April 30, 1958, Personnel file of Capt. Eileen
M. Fanton, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[48] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks His
Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 132.

[49] WD AGO FORM 66, “Officer’s Qualification Record,” and WD AGO FORM
66-3, “AAF Medical Dep’t Officer’s Qualification Record,” Personnel
Record of Capt. Eileen M. Fanton, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[50] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992.

[51] WD AGO FORM 66-3, “AAF Medical Dep’t Officer’s Qualification
Record,” Personnel Record of Capt. Eileen M. Fanton, National Archives
and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St.
Louis, Mo.

[52] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks His
Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 104 and W. Glenn Dennis, interview
with Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992, 11, 15.

[53] WD AGO FORM 66, “Officer’s Qualification Record,” Personnel
Record of Capt. Eileen M. Fanton, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[54] ibid.

[55] WD MD FORM 55A, “Clinical Record Brief,” September 5, 1947, and WD
AGO FORM 8-38, “Special Examination or Additional Data,” September 11,
1947, Personnel Record of Capt. Eileen M. Fanton, National Archives and
Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis,
Mo.

[56] ibid, and Physical Examination Board Proceedings, Capt. Eileen M.
Fanton, August 24, 1955, Personnel Record of Capt. Eileen M. Fanton,
National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel
Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[57] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Stanton T. Friedman, August 5,
1989, and W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2,
1992.

[58] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Stanton T. Friedman, August 5,
1989.

[59] ibid.

[60] Roster of Officers, 6th Bomb Wing, Walker AFB, N.M., December
30, 1952, “History of the 6th Bomb Wing, December 1952,” Air Force
Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, AL.

[61] ibid.

[62] Dr. Frank B. Nordstrom, interview with Capt. James McAndrew, April
25, 1996, and Dr. Frank B. Nordstrom, Signed Sworn Statement, April 25,
1996.

[63] Charles E. Clouthier, Signed Sworn Statement, April 26, 1996.

[64] ibid.

[65] J.P. Cahn, “Flying Saucers and the Mysterious Little Green Men,”
_True_ 31, No. 184, (September 1952), 19.

[66] ibid., 103.

[67] ibid., 19.

[68] J.P. Cahn, “Flying Saucer Swindlers,” _True_ 36, No. 231, (August
1956), 36.

[69] ibid., 36.

[70] J.P. Cahn, “Flying Saucers and the Mysterious Little Green Men,”
_True_ 31, No. 184, (September 1952), 110.

[71] ibid.

[72] “4 Rank Titles Change,” _Air Force Times_, March 29, 1952, 1, 22.

[73] Alan L. Gropman, _The Air Force Integrates, 1945–1964_
(Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History, 1985), 243.

[74] Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, _Crash at Corona_ (New York:
Paragon House, 1992), 117.

[75] WD AGO FORM 66, “Officer’s Qualification Record,” and AF FORM 11,
“Officer Military Record,” Personnel Record of Col. Lee F. Ferrell,
National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel
Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[76] ibid.

[77] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks
His Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 105, and W. Glenn Dennis,
interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992.

[78] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks His
Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 105.

[79] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks
His Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 105, and W. Glenn Dennis,
interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992.

[80] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2, 1992.

[81] ibid.

[82] ibid.

[83] 427th AAFBU Sq. “M” Morning Reports, July 1–31, 1947, National
Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center,
St. Louis, Mo.

[84] WD AGO FORM 1, “Morning Report,” 427th AAFBU Sq. “M,” April
1, 1947 through October 1, 1947, and WD AGO FORM 66, “Officer’s
Qualification Record,” Personnel Record of Capt. Joyce Goddard,
National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel
Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[85] WD AGO FORM 66, “Officer’s Qualification Record,” Personnel Record
of Capt. Joyce Goddard, National Archives and Records Administration,
National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[86] WD AGO FORM 1, “Morning Report,” 427th AAFBU, Sq. “M,” August 7,
1947, National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel
Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[87] ibid., and WD AGO FORM 66, “Officer’s Qualification Record,”
Personnel Record of Capt. Lucille C. Slattery, National Archives and
Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis,
Mo.

[88] Ethel Kovatch-Scott, Col., USAF (Ret), telephone interview with
Capt. James McAndrew, May 5, 1995 and July 3, 1996, and Mary Hoadley,
Lt. Col., USAF (Ret), telephone interview with 1st Lt. James McAndrew,
May 5, 1995, and Mary L. Wiggins, Maj., USAF (Ret), telephone interview
with 1st Lt. James McAndrew, May 5, 1995.

[89] ibid.

[90] WD AGO FORM 66, “Officer’s Qualification Record,” Personnel
Record of Capt. Lucille C. Slattery, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[91] WD AGO FORM 1, “Morning Report,” 427th AAFBU, Sq. “M,” 509th
Station Medical Group, 509th Medical Group, 509th Medical Squadron,
January 1947 through February 1952, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.
and Rosters of Officers, 509th Bomb Wing- February 1952 through July
1958, 6th Bomb Wing- February 1952 through March 1967, and AF FORM 11,
“Officer Military Record,” Personnel Record of Maj. Idabelle M. Wilson,
National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel
Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[92] AF FORM 11, “Officer Military Record,” Personnel Record of Maj.
Idabelle M. Wilson, National Archives and Records Administration,
National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[93] ibid.

[94] Idabelle M. Wilson, Maj., USAF, (Ret), telephone interview with
1st Lt. James McAndrew, April 28, 1995.

[95] ibid.

[96] Memo: Jack A. Comstock, Maj. (MC), Surgeon, 509th Station Medical
Group, to Major Robert W. Schick, Investigating Officer, Headquarters,
USAF, subj: Investigation of B-29 Crash, 18 August 1948, Aircraft
Accident No. 48-8-12, Aircraft #44-86383, Air Force Historical Research
Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL. and WD AGO Form 8-33, “Clinical Record Brief,”
12 August 1948, Personnel records of Air Force members, service
numbers AF 18041408 and AF 16191866, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[97] ibid.

[98] ibid.

[99] WD AGO Form 8-33, “Clinical Record Brief,” 16 May 1949, Personnel
records of Air Force members, service numbers AO 827137 and AF
42050093, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[100] WD AGO Form 5-4, “Individual Crash Fire Report,” 20 May 1949,
Aircraft Accident No. 49-5-16, Aircraft #43-48401, Air Force Historical
Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL.

[101] WD AGO Form 8-33, “Clinical Record Brief,” 16 May 1949,
Personnel records of Air Force members, service numbers AO 827137 and
AF 42050093, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[102] WD AGO Form 5-4, “Individual Crash Fire Report,” 19 December
1949, Aircraft Accident No. 49-12-15-2, Air Force Historical Research
Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL.

[103] WD AGO Form 8-33, “Clinical Record Brief,” 19 December 1949,
and “Autopsy Report,” Personnel records of Air Force members, service
numbers 17343A, AF 11101085, and 15239923, National Archives and
Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis,
Mo.

[104] ibid.

[105] WD AGO Form 8-33, “Clinical Record Brief,” 1 June 1950,
Personnel records of Air Force members, service numbers AO 685565 and
AF 32668639, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[106] ibid.

[107] ibid.

[108] Standard form 503, “Autopsy Protocol,” June 16, 1955 of Air Force
members, service numbers AO 3006516 and AO 3004607, Aircraft Accident
No. 55-6-16-6, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL.

[109] DD Form 481-3, “Clinical Record Cover Sheet,” June 16, 1955,
Personnel Records of Air Force members, service numbers AO 3006516 and
AO 3004607, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[110] Standard form 503, “Autopsy Protocol,” June 16, 1955, of Air
Force members, service numbers AO 3006516 and AO 3004607, Aircraft
Accident No. 55-6-16-6, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell
AFB, AL.

[111] Air Force Form 14b, “Medical Report of an Individual Involved in
AF Aircraft Accident,” 3 October 1955, Aircraft Accident No. 55-10-3-6,
Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL.

[112] Official Trip Report Walker AFB, N.M. October 4, thru October
7, 1955, George Schwaderer, Identification Specialist to MCTSG,
October 12, 1955, Accession No. 342-65A-6025, Box 25/28, folder Trip
Rpts., Search & Ident: Mar 56 to Dec 56. Trip #198 to 234, National
Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records
Center, St. Louis, Mo., and AF Form 715, “Preparation Room History,”
4 October 1955, Personnel Record of Air Force member, service number
1521B/2009467, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[113] Air Force Form 14b, “Medical Report of an Individual Involved in
AF Aircraft Accident,” 3 October 1955, Aircraft Accident No. 55-10-3-6,
Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL.

[114] Standard form 503, “Autopsy Protocol,” June 27, 1956, Personnel
Record of Air Force members, service numbers AO 2223861 and AF
37578524, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[115] Official Trip Report Walker AFB, N.M. 27 June through 30 June
1956, George Schwaderer, Identification Specialist to Thomas W. Toy,
Chief Memorial Affairs Branch, Air Force Services Division, Accession
No. 342-65A-6025, Box 25/28, folder Trip Rpts., Search & Ident:
Mar 56 to Dec 56. Trip #198 to 234, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[116] Standard form 503, “Autopsy Protocol,” June 27, 1956, Personnel
Record of Air Force members, service numbers AO 2223861 and AF
37578524, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo., and Air Force Form 14b,
“Medical Report of an Individual Involved in AF Aircraft Accident,”
June 26, 1956, Headquarters Air Force Safety Agency, Kirtland AFB, N.M.

[117] AF Form 697, “Identification Findings and Conclusions,” 3 Feb
1960, Personnel Records of Air Force members, service numbers AO 794152
and 1046844, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[118] ibid.

[119] ibid.

[120] Charles A. Ravenstein, _Air Force Combat Wings; Lineage and
Honors Histories, 1947–1977_ (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1984), 16, 275–276.

[121] Air Force Form 14, “Report of Air Force Aircraft Accident,” June
26, 1956, Headquarters Air Force Safety Agency, Kirtland AFB, N.M.

[122] ibid.

[123] ibid.

[124] ibid.

[125] ibid.

[126] Official Trip Report Walker AFB, N.M. 27 June through 30 June
1956, George Schwaderer, Identification Specialist to Thomas W. Toy,
Chief Memorial Affairs Branch, Air Force Services Division, Accession
No. 342-65A-6025, Box 25/28, folder Trip Rpts., Search & Ident:
Mar 56 to Dec 56. Trip #198 to 234, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[127] ibid.

[128] Jack L. Whenry, Maj., USAF, (Ret), telephone interview with 1st
Lt. James McAndrew, January 26, 1995, and John C. Walter, MSgt., USAF
(Ret), telephone interview with Capt. James McAndrew, June 29, 1995 and
July 12, 1996.

[129] ibid.

[130] Official Trip Report Walker AFB, N.M. 27 June through 30 June
1956, George Schwaderer, Identification Specialist to Thomas W. Toy,
Chief Memorial Affairs Branch, Air Force Services Division, Accession
No. 342-65A-6025, Box 25/28, folder Trip Rpts., Search & Ident:
Mar 56 to Dec 56. Trip #198 to 234, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[131] ibid.

[132] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview,
and Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks His
Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 104.

[133] DD Form 481-3, “Clinical Record Cover Sheet,” June 26, 1956,
Personnel Record of AF 37578524, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[134] Whenry, Walters, and Air Force Manual 143-1, 1 November 1953,
“Mortuary Affairs,” 28, Record Group 341, Entry 36, Box 13, Microfilm
Reel 167, National Archives and Record Administration, College Park, Md.

[135] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[136] Standard form 503, “Autopsy Protocol,” June 27, 1956, Personnel
Record of Air Force members, service numbers AO 2223861 and AF
37578524, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[137] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[138] Standard form 503, “Autopsy Protocol,” June 27, 1956, Personnel
Record of Air Force member, service number AF 37578524, National
Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center,
St. Louis, Mo.

[139] ibid.

[140] ibid.

[141] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[142] Standard form 503, “Autopsy Protocol,” June 27, 1956, Personnel
Record of Air Force members, service numbers AO 2223861 and AF
37578524, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo., and Air Force Form 14b,
“Medical Report of an Individual Involved in AF Aircraft Accident,”
June 26, 1956, Headquarters Air Force Safety Agency, Kirtland AFB, N.M.

[143] DD Form 481-3, “Clinical Record Cover Sheet,” June 26, 1956,
Personnel Record of Air Force members, service numbers AO 2223861 and
AF 37578524, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[144] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks
His Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 108.

[145] Official Trip Report Walker AFB, N.M. October 4, thru October 7,
1955, George Schwaderer, Identification Specialist to MCTSG, October
12, 1955, Accession No. 342-65A-6025, Box 25/28, folder Trip Rpts.,
Search & Ident: Mar 56 to Dec 56. Trip #198 to 234, National Archives
and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St.
Louis, Mo., and AF Form 697, “Identification Findings and Conclusions,”
3 Feb 1960, Personnel Records of Air Force members, service numbers
AO 794152 and 1046844, National Archives and Records Administration,
National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[146] Air Force Manual 143-1, 1 November 1953, “Mortuary Affairs,”
28–29, Accession No. 341, Entry 36, Box 13, Microfilm Reel 167,
National Archives and Record Administration, College Park, Md.

[147] Official Trip Report—Walker AFB, N.M. 27 June through 30 June
1956, George J. Schwaderer, Identification Specialist, to Thomas
W. Toy, Chief Memorial Affairs Branch, July 5, 1956, Accession No.
342-65A-6025, Box 25/28, folder Trip Rpts., Search & Ident: Mar 56 to
Dec 56. Trip #198 to 234, National Archives and Records Administration,
National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo., and Jack L. Whenry,
Maj., USAF, (Ret), telephone interview with 1st Lt. James McAndrew,
January 26, 1995, and John C. Walter, MSgt., USAF (Ret), telephone
interview with Capt. James McAndrew, June 29, 1995 and July 12, 1996.

[148] Walter and Whenry.

[149] ibid.

[150] WD AGO FORM 66, “Officer’s Qualification Record,” and AF FORM 11,
“Officer Military Record,” Personnel Record of Col. Lee F. Ferrell,
National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel
Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[151] “Air Force Care of Deceased Personnel (1951–1959), Volume
1: Text”, Historical Study No. 236, Call No. K 201-326, Air Force
Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL.

[152] Air Force Manual 143-1, 1 November 1953, “Mortuary Affairs,”
27, Accession No. 341, Entry 36, Box 13, Microfilm Reel 167, National
Archives and Record Administration, College Park, Md.

[153] Official Trip Report Walker AFB, N.M. 27 June through 30 June
1956, George Schwaderer, Identification Specialist to Thomas W. Toy,
Chief Memorial Affairs Branch, Air Force Services Division, July 5,
1956 and Official Trip Report Walker AFB, N.M. October 4, thru October
7, 1955, George Schwaderer, Identification Specialist to MCTSG, October
12, 1955, Accession No. 342-65A-6025, Box 25/28, folder Trip Rpts.,
Search & Ident: Mar 56 to Dec 56. Trip #198 to 234, National Archives
and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St.
Louis, Mo.

[154] Official Trip Report Walker AFB, N.M. 27 June through 30 June
1956, George Schwaderer, Identification Specialist to Thomas W. Toy,
Chief Memorial Affairs Branch, Air Force Services Division, July 5,
1956, Accession No. 342-65A-6025, Box 25/28, folder Trip Rpts., Search
& Ident: Mar 56 to Dec 56. Trip #198 to 234, National Archives and
Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis,
Mo.

[155] George J. Schwaderer, telephone interview with Capt. James
McAndrew, June 28, 1996.

[156] ibid.

[157] Air Force Manual 143-1, 1 November 1953, “Mortuary Affairs,”
27, Accession No. 341, Entry 36, Box 13, Microfilm Reel 167, National
Archives and Record Administration, College Park, Md.

[158] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks
His Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 104.

[159] Memo, Charles J. Stahl, M.D., Armed Forces Medical Examiner,
to Capt. James McAndrew, SAF/AAZD, subj: Request for Information on
Aircraft Crash Fatalities, October 13, 1995.

[160] Unit history, 4036 USAF Hospital, Walker AFB, N.M., June 1956, 6,
Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL.

[161] ibid.

[162] Standard form 503, “Autopsy Protocol,” June 27, 1956, Personnel
Record of of Air Force members, service numbers AO 2223861 and AF
37578524, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[163] Air Force Missile Development Center, _MAN-HIGH I_, MDC-TR-59-24,
1959, and Lt. Col. David G. Simons, _MAN HIGH II_, Air Force Missile
Development Center, Holloman AFB, N.M., AFMDC-TR-59-28, June 1959, 1,
and Air Force Missile Development Center, _MAN HIGH III_, MDC-TR-60-16,
1961.

[164] Historical Branch, Office of Information Services, Air Force
Missile Development Center, Air Research and Development Command,
Holloman AFB, N.M., _Contributions of Balloon Operations to Research
and Development at the Air Force Missile Development Center Holloman
Air Force Base, N. Mex. 1947–1958_ (hereafter _Contributions of Balloon
Operations 1947–1958_), 11.

[165] ibid., and Air Force Missile Development Center FORM 597,
Schedule Request- Project 7222/4.2- “Manned Gondola Flight,” May 19,
20, 22, 1959, Accession No. 342-65B-3185, Box 4/22, National Archives
and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St.
Louis, Mo.

[166] DD FORM 481-3, “Clinical Record Cover Sheet,” May 21, 1959,
Personnel Record of Capt. Dan D. Fulgham, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.,
and Air Force Missile Development Center FORM 597, Schedule Request-
Project 7222/4.2- “Manned Gondola Flight,” May 20, 1959, Accession No.
342-65B-3185, Box 4/22, National Archives and Records Administration,
National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[167] DD Form 613, R&D Progress Card, Project 7164, “Physiology of
Flight,” Task 71840, “Life Supporting Systems for Advanced Vehicles,”
February 24, 1959, 30–31, National Archives and Record Administration
Accession No. 342-75-095, Box 93/100, folder 1, and Technical “R&D”
Record Book, Aeromedical Laboratory, Physiology Branch, “Life Support
System for Orbital Flight,” Project 7164, Task 71840, 13–16, National
Archives and Record Administration, National Personnel Records Center,
St. Louis, Mo. Accession No. 342-75-095, Box 93/100, folder 2.

[168] Air Force Form 77, “USAF Officer Effectiveness Report, 1 Feb
58 to 31 Jan 59, Personnel Record of Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.,
National Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel
Records Center, St. Louis, Mo., and Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.,
_The Long, Lonely Leap_, (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1961) 131.

[169] Air Force Missile Development Center, _Man-High I_, MDC-TR-59-24,
1959.

[170] Schedule Request- Project 7222/4.2- “Manned Gondola Flight,”
May 19, 20, 22, 1959, Accession No. 342-65B-3185, Box 4/22, National
Archives and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center,
St. Louis, Mo.

[171] ibid.

[172] Ole Jorgeson, MSgt., USAF, (Ret), interview with 1st Lt. James
McAndrew, May 28, 1995.

[173] Air Force Missile Development Center FORM 597, Schedule
Request- Project 7222/4.2- “Manned Gondola Flight,” May 19, 1959,
Accession No. 342-65B-3185, Box 4/22, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[174] Air Force Missile Development Center FORM 597, Schedule
Request- Project 7222/4.2- “Manned Gondola Flight,” May 20, 1959,
Accession No. 342-65B-3185, Box 4/22.

[175] ibid.

[176] ibid.

[177] ibid., and Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., Col., USAF (Ret), interview
with 1st Lt. James McAndrew, June 23, 1995.

[178] Kittinger.

[179] ibid.

[180] ibid.

[181] Dan D. Fulgham, Col., USAF, (Ret), interview with 1st Lt. James
McAndrew, May 26, 1995.

[182] ibid. and Standard Form 539, “Abbreviated Clinical Record,” May
21, 1959, Personnel Record of Col. Dan D. Fulgham, National Archives
and Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St.
Louis, Mo.

[183] ibid.

[184] Jorgeson and Roland H. Lutz, CMSgt., USAF (Ret), interview with
1st Lt. James McAndrew, May 31, 1995.

[185] ibid.

[186] Fulgham and William C. Kaufman, Lt. Col., USAF, (Ret), interview
with 1st Lt. James McAndrew, May 24, 1995.

[187] ibid.

[188] Jorgeson.

[189] Kaufman.

[190] Signed, sworn statement of Dan D. Fulgham, Col., USAF, (Ret), May
25, 1995.

[191] Kittinger.

[192] ibid.

[193] Video, _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, Gerald Anderson
interview, (Washington, D.C.: Fund for UFO Research, 1993).

[194] Kittinger and Air Force Form 77, “USAF Officer Effectiveness
Report,” 1 Feb 58 to 31 Jan 59, Personnel Record of Col. Joseph W.
Kittinger, Jr., National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[195] Kittinger.

[196] ibid., and Kaufman.

[197] Kittinger.

[198] ibid.

[199] ibid.

[200] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[201] Signed, sworn statements of Charles A. Coltman, Col. (MC), USAF,
(Ret), Dan D. Fulgham, Col., USAF, (Ret), Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.,
Col., USAF, (Ret), Roland H. Lutz, CMSgt., USAF, (Ret), Ole Jorgeson,
MSgt., USAF, (Ret), and statement of William C. Kaufman, Lt. Col.,
USAF, (Ret).

[202] Kittinger.

[203] Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., _The Long, Lonely Leap_, (New
York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1961) 130.

[204] Kittinger.

[205] Signed, sworn statements of Charles A. Coltman, Col. (MC), USAF,
(Ret), Dan D. Fulgham, Col., USAF, (Ret), Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.,
Col., USAF, (Ret), Roland H. Lutz, CMSgt., USAF, (Ret), Ole Jorgeson,
MSgt., USAF, (Ret), and statement of William C. Kaufman, Lt. Col.,
USAF, (Ret).

[206] Craig D. Ryan, _The Pre-Astronauts_, (Annapolis: Naval Institute
Press, 1995), 200.

[207] Air Force Missile Development Center FORM 597, Schedule
Request- Project 7222/4.2- “Manned Gondola Flight,” May 19, 1959,
Accession No. 342-65B-3185, Box 4/22, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo., and
Memo: Maj. Lawrence M. Bogard, Chief, Balloon Branch, to MDWXB, subj:
Project 7222, 8 May 1959.

[208] ibid., and Jorgeson.

[209] Jorgeson.

[210] ibid.

[211] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[212] ibid.

[213] ibid.

[214] Karl T. Pflock, “Star Witness: The Mortician of Roswell Breaks
His Code of Silence,” _Omni_, Fall 1995, 103.

[215] _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, W. Glenn Dennis interview.

[216] Jorgeson.

[217] Unit History, 47th Air Division, June 1954, photo section, Air
Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL.

[218] Unit History, 6th Bomb Wing, June 1959, Annex “N,” “Base Support
Plan, Medical,” June 1, 1959.

[219] Charles A. Ravenstein, _Air Force Combat Wings; Lineage and
Honors Histories, 1947–1977_ (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1984), 16.

[220] Kaufman.

[221] ibid.

[222] Roland H. Lutz, CMSgt., USAF, (Ret), interview with 1st Lt. James
McAndrew, May 31, 1995.

[223] Fulgham.

[224] Kittinger.

[225] ibid.

[226] ibid.

[227] ibid., and ltr., Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Director, Dearborn
Observatory, Northwestern University, to Maj. Hector Quintanilla, Chief
Aerial Phenomena Branch, December 6, 1965, National Air Intelligence
Center historical files, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH.

[228] Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt, _The Truth About the UFO
Crash at Roswell_ (New York: Avon Books, 1994), 22.

[229] Standard Form 539, “Abbreviated Clinical Record,” May 21, 1959,
Personnel Record of Col. Dan D. Fulgham, National Archives and Records
Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[230] Fulgham.

[231] Kittinger.

[232] ibid.

[233] Kaufman.

[234] DD Form 640, “Nursing Notes,” May 24, 1959, and DD Form 728,
“Doctor’s Orders,” May 22, 1959, Personnel Record of Col. Dan D.
Fulgham, National Archives and Records Administration, National
Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.

[235] Kittinger, Kaufman, and DD Form 728 “Doctor’s Orders,” May 22,
1959, Personnel Record of Col. Dan D. Fulgham, National Archives and
Records Administration, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis,
Mo.

[236] ibid.

[237] Kittinger.

[238] ibid.

[239] Fulgham.



                              Appendix A

  [Illustration: Anthropomorphic Dummy Launch and Landing Locations

  Source: Test records of U.S. Air Force aeromedical project no.
  7218, task 71719 (HIGH DIVE) and project no. 7222, task 71748
  (EXCELSIOR).]


                   High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Number  Date       Launch Site            Landing Site
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   1    6/23/54   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Holloman AFB, N.M.

   2    6/28/54   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Dunkin, N.M.

   3    6/30/54   Holloman AFB, N.M.   10 miles Southwest of
                                       Holloman AFB, N.M.

   4    12/1/54   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Holloman AFB, N.M.

   5    12/2/54   Holloman AFB, N.M.   12 miles South of Artesia, N.M.

   6    12/6/54   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Near Twin Buttes, N.M.

   7    12/9/54   Holloman AFB, N.M.   3 miles West of Twin
                                       Buttes, N.M.

   8    2/23/55   Holloman AFB, N.M.   28 miles East of Roswell, N.M.

   9    3/1/55    Holloman AFB, N.M.   25 miles South of Caprock, N.M.

  10    3/3/55    Holloman AFB, N.M.   25 miles East/Northeast of
                                       Roswell, N.M.

  11    6/15/55   Holloman AFB, N.M.   5 miles Northwest of
                                       Dunkin, N.M.

  12    6/23/55   Holloman AFB, N.M.   35 miles Southwest of
                                       Holloman AFB, N.M.

  13    6/29/55   Holloman AFB, N.M.   25 miles West of Three
                                       Rivers, N.M.

  14    7/7/55    Holloman AFB, N.M.   13 miles West of Tularosa
                                       Peak, N.M.

  15    7/15/55   Holloman AFB, N.M.   15 miles Northeast of
                                       Hatch, N.M.

  16    11/17/55  Holloman AFB, N.M.   8 miles Northwest
                                       of Roswell, N.M.

  17    11/21/55  Holloman AFB, N.M.   Holloman AFB, N.M.

  18    1/25/56   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Holloman AFB, N.M.

  19    2/8/56    Holloman AFB, N.M.   20 miles South of
                                       Roswell, N.M.

  20    2/21/56   Holloman AFB, N.M.   20 miles East of Dunkin, N.M.

  21    2/21/56   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Holloman AFB, N.M.

  22    5/18/56   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Data Not Available

  23    5/22/56   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Data Not Available

  24    8/21/56   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Holloman AFB, N.M.

  25    5/16/57   Truth or             White Sands Proving

                  Consequences, N.M.   Ground, N.M.

  26    5/29/57   Hatch, N.M.          25 miles Northwest of
                                       Las Cruces, N.M.

  27    6/4/57    Holloman AFB, N.M.   11 miles North of
                                       Las Cruces, N.M.

  28    6/6/57    Holloman AFB, N.M.   17 miles South of
                                       Holloman AFB, N.M.

  29    6/7/57    Holloman AFB, N.M.   Holloman AFB, N.M.

  30    6/11/57   Hatch, N.M.          West of San Agustin Pass, N.M.

  31    6/13/57   Holloman AFB, N.M.   Holloman AFB, N.M.

  32    9/27/57   White Sands Natl
                  Monument
                  Picnic Area          Orogrande, N.M.

  33    10/8/57   White Sands Proving  10 miles East of Picacho, N.M.
                  Ground

  34    1/29/58   Data Not Available   20 miles South of
                                       Alamogordo, N.M.

  35    1/9/59    Holloman AFB, N.M.   White Sands Proving
                                       Ground, N.M.

  36    1/14/59   Las Palomas, N.M.    30 miles East/Southeast of
                                       Roswell, N.M.

  37    1/30/59   Nutt, N.M.           White Sands Proving
                                       Ground, N.M.

  38    2/4/59    Holloman AFB, N.M.   1 mile North of Bent, N.M.

  39    2/6/59    Lake Valley, N.M.    Data Not Available

  40    2/10/59   Caballo Dam, N.M.    White Sands Proving
                                       Ground, N.M.

  41    2/11/59   Hatch, N.M.          Data Not Available

  42    2/14/59   Data Not Available   30 miles West of
                                       Holloman AFB, N.M.

  43    2/16/59   Ft. Craig, N.M.      Mescalero Apache Reservation
                                       (N.M.)



                              Appendix B


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Date: 26 April 1996                     Place: Farmington, NM

  I Charles E. Clouthier, hereby state that James McAndrew, was
  identified as a Captain, USAFR on this date at my place of
  employment do hereby, voluntarily and of my own free will, make the
  following statement. This was done without having been subjected to
  any coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful inducement.

  I was on active duty in the US Air Force and stationed at Walker
  AFB, Roswell, NM, from February 1955 until October 1956. During that
  time I was a pharmacist assigned to the base hospital. Following
  my tour of duty with the Air Force, I returned to my hometown,
  Farmington, NM, where I became an employee and eventually a
  co-owner of Farmington Drug.

  With the exception of the two years in the US Air Force, I have
  been a resident of Farmington, NM since 1934. It is my recollection
  that Dr Frank B. Nordstrom was the first pediatrician to practice
  in the Farmington area and he remained the only pediatrician in
  Farmington until approximately 1970. I base these recollections on
  extensive professional and personal contacts with physicians in the
  Farmington area and as a father of two children who were patients
  of Dr Nordstrom’s.

  Also based on nearly 40 years of contact with physicians in the
  Farmington area, I believe that Dr Nordstrom is the only physician
  who served a tour of duty at Walker AFB. During the 1960s, I
  became aware that Dr Nordstrom had also served at the Walker AFB
  hospital. At various times in the ensuing years. Dr Nordstrom
  and I reminisced about our service at Walker AFB. During these
  conversations Dr Nordstrom never mentioned any activities during
  his tour of duty I considered unusual or that might explain reports
  of bodies or aliens. During the time I was stationed at Walker AFB,
  I did not witness, nor did I hear rumors, of anything that involved
  flying saucers, aliens, or anything else of an extraterrestrial
  nature.

  I am not part of a conspiracy to withhold information from either
  the US government or the American public. There is no classified
  information that I am withholding related to this inquiry, and I
  have not been threatened by US government persons concerning not
  talking about this matter.

  SIGNED:                       Subscribed and sworn before a
                                person authorized to administer oaths
                                this 26th day of April 1996 at
                                Farmington, NM

  [Signature]                   [Signature]
  Charles E. Clouthier          James McAndrew, Capt, USAFR

  WITNESS:
  [Signature]


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Place                                             Date: 25 May 95

  I, Charles A. Coltman, Jr., Col, USAF, MC (Ret), hereby state that
  James McAndrew was identified as a Lieutenant, USAFR, on this date
  at my place of employment and do hereby, voluntarily and of my own
  free will, make the following statement. This was done without
  having been subjected to any coercion, unlawful influence or
  unlawful inducement.

  I entered the U.S. Air Force in 1957 as a flight surgeon and was
  assigned to Walker AFB, NM, in 1958. Following a residency at Ohio
  State University from 1959 to 1963, I was assigned to Wilford Hall
  USAF Medical Center, Lackland AFB, TX, where I eventually became
  the Chairman of the Department of Medicine. I retired from the Air
  Force in 1977. I am presently a Professor at The University of
  Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and Chief Executive
  Officer of the Cancer Therapy and Research Foundation of South
  Texas.

  I remember a balloon crash that happened north of Roswell, NM, in
  May, 1959. I received a phone call from the NCOIC of the Flight
  Surgeon’s office, who informed me of the crash. The NCOIC, Earl
  Wormwood, came to my quarters and we drove, in an old blue Air
  Force “crackerbox” ambulance, to the crash site. I remember the
  gondola laying on its side and the deflated balloon on the ground.
  The crew members were sitting next to the gondola. I examined the
  pilots and determined they were not seriously injured. They told me
  they were practicing touch-and-go’s and a gust of wind had dumped
  them on the ground, and the gondola had struck one of the pilots
  in the head. Also present were Air Force technicians in trucks who
  tracked the balloon. The injured pilots were transported to the
  Flight Surgeon’s office at the hospital at Walker AFB.

  The injury sustained by the crew member was a head
  abrasion/contusion and a hemotoma. The hemotoma caused the
  patient’s head to swell, however, it was not serious enough for
  him to be admitted. I remember receiving a call from Col (Dr.)
  John Stapp. He was in charge of the balloon project and was quite
  famous. Dr Stapp inquired about the injuries to the pilots and he
  wanted them returned to Holloman AFB as quickly as possible.

  The hospital was an old World War II cantonment-type building with
  long corridors and a capacity of fifty beds. I do not recall a
  nurse assisting me in the treatment of the patient, although a
  nurse may have been on duty and observed the patient. I was the
  only doctor in the hospital that morning. There were no visiting
  doctors from other bases or facilities. I do not remember any
  altercations or arguments that day. During my time at Walker, I do
  not recall that any autopsies were performed at the hospital, since
  we did not have a pathologist on staff. I do not recall any remains
  brought to the hospital in body bags, or wreckage transported in
  the back of an ambulance. There may have been remains brought to
  the hospital in body bags after a KC-97 crash, but that was before
  I arrived at Walker. Dr Ed Bradley was involved in the recovery of
  the remains.

  At no time was there ever any involvement of the Walker hospital
  with UFO’s or “space aliens” I know this to be true because the
  hospital was very small and had a small staff. If any activity,
  other than normal hospital functions, had occurred, I would have
  known about it.

  I am not part of any conspiracy to withhold or provide misleading
  information to the United States Government or the American public.
  There is no classified information that I am withholding related to
  this inquiry and I have never been threatened by U.S. Government
  persons concerning refraining from talking about this matter.

  SIGNED:                       Sworn to and subscribed before me,
                                an individual authorized to administer
                                oaths, this 25th day of May, 1995,
                                at

  [Signature]                     [Signature]
  Charles A. Coltman, Jr., M.D.   James McAndrew, 1st Lt, USAFR

  WITNESS(s):
  [Signature]


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Place                                             Date: 25 May 95

  I, Dan D. Fulgham, Col, USAF (Ret), hereby state that James
  McAndrew was identified as a Lieutenant, USAFR on this date at my
  place of employment and do hereby, voluntarily and of my own free
  will, make the following statement. This was done without having
  been subjected to any coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful
  inducement.

  I entered the U.S. Air Force in 1952 as an aviation cadet. I flew
  F-84s on 100 combat missions during the Korean war. After a tour as
  a flight instructor I was assigned to the Aero Medical Laboratory
  at Wright Patterson. I participated in both the Air Force Man in
  Space program and Project Mercury. I also participated in the X-15
  and X-20 programs and worked as a bioastronautics officer with NASA
  on Gemini. During my Air Force career, I earned both a Master’s and
  Doctorate degree from Purdue University. I flew a combat tour in
  Southeast Asia in F-4s as a member of the 555th Tactical Fighter
  Squadron and flew 133 combat missions. I retired from the Air Force
  in 1978 as the Commander of the Human Resources Laboratory at
  Brooks AFB, TX. I am presently the Director Of Biosciences for a
  research organization in San Antonio, TX.

  In 1959 I volunteered for training to become a back up pilot for
  Capt Joe Kittenger in his high altitude balloon projects. I flew
  two missions for training purposes with Capt Kittenger and Capt
  Bill Kaufman from Holloman AFB, NM in May, 1959. On the second
  flight we were practicing touch and go landings north of Roswell,
  NM when we “crashed” on one of the landings. The gondola flipped
  over and my head was pinned to the ground by the lip of the
  gondola. We managed to lift the gondola off of my head and looked
  it over for damage. Capt Kittenger was bleeding from a cut on his
  face and I noticed that my head seemed to be protruding outward
  from underneath my helmet. Realizing I was injured, I sat down and
  feared I might go into shock. I was not in pain but my entire head
  was throbbing and began to swell.

  I then remember boarding the “chase” helicopter that was following
  us and flying a short distance to Walker AFB for medical treatment.
  I recall walking into the hospital and also stopping on the
  front step to smoke a cigarette. I remember security personnel
  escorting and questioning us to determine who we were. Security
  was very tight at Strategic Air Command bases such as Walker. On
  occasion surprise inspection teams from SAC headquarters arrived
  in helicopters just as we did. In addition, a story of three Air
  Force officers crashing in a balloon was somewhat far fetched. The
  security people were convinced of our identities when they spoke
  with Col John P. Stapp, the Aero Medical Laboratory Commander.

  While I was at Walker my head had swelled considerably and both
  eyes were turning black. Later the skin on my face turned yellow.
  I remember being seen by one doctor and I do not believe any other
  doctors participated in my treatment. I do not recall any nurses
  attending to me. I also do not recall that a black NCO was present
  nor do I recall any civilian men in the hospital. I do not recall
  that Capt Kittenger was involved in an altercation of any kind
  while we were there. After I was treated and released we all flew
  back to Holloman on the helicopter.

  At Holloman I was admitted to the hospital and had blood aspirated
  from under my scalp. I remember my forehead drooping down, I had
  to use my fingers to open my eyelids, and I had to sleep sitting
  up. Several days later I returned to Wright Patterson with Capt
  Kittenger and Capt Kaufman. My wife met the airplane and when she
  saw me, she burst into tears due to the swelling of my head, the
  two black eyes, and the yellow color of my skin. When I returned to
  my office at Wright Patterson, my secretary also began to cry when
  she saw me. After some weeks my head returned to normal size and I
  was returned to flying status.

  During my Air Force career I was involved in many different
  scientific research projects including the space program. I can
  state with certainty that none of them, including the incident
  described here, had anything to do with UFOs or “space aliens”.

  I am not part of any conspiracy to withhold or provide misleading
  information to the United States Government or the American public.
  There is no classified information that I am withholding related to
  this inquiry and I have never been threatened by U.S. Government
  persons concerning refraining from talking about this matter.

  SIGNED:                       Subscribed and sworn before me, an
                                individual authorized to administer
                                oaths, this 25th day of May, 1995,
                                at

  [Signature]                     [Signature]
  Dan D. Fulgham, Col, USAF (Ret) James McAndrew, 1st Lt, USAFR

  WITNESS(s):
  [Signature]


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Place                                             Date: 28 May 95

  I, Bernard D. Gildenberg, GS-14, (Ret), hereby state that James
  McAndrew was identified as a Lieutenant, USAFR on this date at my
  home and do hereby, voluntarily and of my own free will, make the
  following statement. This was done without having been subjected to
  any coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful inducement.

  I became involved in high altitude balloon development while an
  undergraduate student at New York University (NYU). Following
  graduation I was hired by the Air Force at Holloman AFB and worked
  continuously as both a meteorologist and aerospace engineer at
  the Balloon Branch from 1951 until my retirement in 1981. My job
  responsibilities were to forecast the weather and fly by remote
  control, high altitude balloons for many different scientific
  projects. During this time. I became internationally recognized as
  an authority on high altitude balloon trajectory forecasting. I
  have published numerous technical reports and articles.

  The first project in which I was involved, while still an
  undergraduate student at NYU, was the acoustical detection of
  nuclear explosions. The name of the project, Mogul, was classified
  and I didn’t know this name until several years ago. Based on
  my experience with this project I am certain project Mogul was
  responsible for some portions of what has become to be known as the
  “Roswell Incident”.

  Following project Mogul I was involved in perfecting high
  altitude balloon technology and made many test flights with large
  polyethylene balloons from Holloman AFB. I worked extensively on
  atmospheric sampling projects and biological flights in which
  the balloons lifted small animals to altitude for cosmic ray
  experiments. I also worked on the Moby Dick Project that collected
  meteorological data and the classified Gopher (119L) reconnaissance
  project.

  I was relied upon to forecast the weather, conduct climatological
  studies, predict balloon trajectories, and to hit with precision,
  ground targets both on and off the White Sands Missile Range.
  Balloon trajectories in New Mexico below the tropopause, are
  predominantly towards the east-northeast, when launched from
  Holloman AFB with the exception of July and August when balloons
  remained over the Holloman area. At high altitude, above the
  tropopause, trajectories are generally westerly during the summer
  and easterly during the spring, fall, and winter. As a result
  these winds, the Holloman balloon branch recovered many, probably
  hundreds, of balloons and scientific payloads from the Roswell, NM
  area over the years.

  During the time of the year when trajectories were to the east I
  attempted to drop the equipment near accessible non mountainous
  areas and paved roads. The main target area was the first large
  north-south road on the other side of the Sacramento Mountains
  from Holloman AFB, Highway 285. This road goes north and south
  through Roswell. The standard procedure was to preposition military
  recovery crews near the projected point of payload impact. The
  crews consisted primarily of Air Force members in uniform and
  they operated military vehicles. I often directed these crews to
  “standby” along the shoulder of Highway 285, both north and south
  of Roswell until the balloon was in position. The recovery crews
  received detailed instructions from the tracking aircraft that led
  them to the exact location of the payload. The recovery vehicle
  included, depending on the mission, a crane, weapons carriers,
  communications van, and occasionally tanker trucks to refuel the
  aircraft that would sometimes land on nearby roads.

  During the time of the year when balloon trajectories were to the
  west, I attempted to drop the payloads in the Rio Grande Valley.
  I also aimed for another valley, the flat area north of Truth or
  Consequences that includes the Plains of San Augustin. In addition,
  many remote balloon launch sites were located throughout the Rio
  Grande Valley west of the White Sands Proving Grounds. Launch crews
  were also mostly military and used much of the same equipment as
  the recovery crews.

  I had extensive involvement with Project 7218 that later became
  Project 7222. This project studied the free-fall characteristics
  of anthropomorphic dummies dropped from balloons from altitudes
  up to 100,000 feet. The missions usually consisted of two dummies
  attached to a suspension rack that I directed to be released at
  altitude. Depending on the wind conditions and time of year, the
  dummies, on many occasions, landed in the Roswell area. I recall
  some difficulties in the release mechanisms of the dummies that
  resulted in some of them free-falling to the ground while they were
  still attached to the rack. Someone without a good vantage point
  or not associated with the project might mistake these dummies for
  “aliens” due to their odd flesh tones and abstract human features.

  I also recall an accident involving a manned balloon flight. I
  remember this event clearly because I am also a balloon pilot
  and had an accident approximately two years before. The accident
  occurred on a flight that Capt Joe Kittenger was “checking out”
  two back up pilots for his high altitude missions. The balloon was
  launched around midnight from behind the Balloon Branch at Holloman
  AFB. I remember that some of the steel ballast used by the balloon
  caused a “fireworks” display when it contacted some nearby power
  lines during the launch. I was operating the control center for
  this flight and I received notification from the communications
  vehicle that was following the balloon that there had been an
  accident north of Roswell. I later learned that the gondola had
  rolled over during a practice touch and go landing and one of the
  pilots had been struck in the head and injured. I recall speaking
  to Capt Kittinger about the accident and I saw the injured pilot.
  Although his injury was not serious, his head had considerable
  swelling and he looked very odd.

  I also worked with Capt Kittinger on Project Stargazer. I also had
  met several times the civilian scientific advisor Dr. J. Allen
  Hynek. Dr Hynek was thoroughly familiar with the balloon operations
  at Holloman and visited the Balloon Branch numerous times. This
  project experienced some difficulties and only one manned flight
  was conducted.

  Another project I was involved with was the Air Force
  investigations of UFOs. Project Bluebook. Since I was a
  meteorologist and amateur astronomer I evaluated, starting in 1951,
  local sightings of UFOs. New Mexico had alot of sightings because
  of the good visibility and the many experimental projects of the
  White Sands Proving Grounds. During my time on Project Bluebook
  there wasn’t any sightings that we could not explain. Nevertheless
  popular literature still refers to some of these sightings as
  unexplained.

  Another project with which I was involved, was the NASA Voyager
  and Viking Projects. These space vehicles were tested by launching
  them from our balloons at extremely high altitude to simulate the
  atmosphere of Venus and Mars. To utilize the instrumentation on
  the White Sands Missile Range I elected to launch the balloons and
  attached space vehicles from the Roswell Industrial Air Center,
  formerly the Roswell Army Airfield. The Holloman Balloon Branch
  made approximately eight launches of these two vehicles from
  Roswell. In appearance the Viking and Voyager probes could be
  mistaken for a flying saucer. They were both unclassified highly
  publicized projects and I do not recall getting any UFO reports for
  these flights. I believe one of these probes is on display at White
  Sands Missile Range and its known as the “flying saucer”.

  I am not part of any conspiracy to withhold or provide misleading
  information to the United States Government or the American public.
  There is no classified information that I am withholding related to
  this inquiry and I have never been threatened by U.S. Government
  persons concerning refraining from talking about this matter.

  SIGNED:                       Subscribed and sworn before me, an
                                individual authorized to administer
                                oaths, this 25th day of May, 1995,
                                at

  [Signature]                         [Signature]
  Bernard D. Gildenberg, GS-14 (Ret)  James McAndrew, 1st Lt. USAFR

  WITNESS(s):


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Place                                             Date: 28 May 95

  I, Ole Jorgeson, MSgt. USAF, (Ret), hereby state that James
  McAndrew was identified as a Lieutenant, USAFR on this date at my
  home and do hereby, voluntarily and of my own free will, make the
  following statement. This was done without having been subjected to
  any coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful inducement.

  I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1957 and became a Ground
  Communications and Electronic Repairman. I remained in this career
  field throughout my career. I completed three tours at the Balloon
  Branch at Holloman AFB, NM. I retired from the Air Force in 1977 as
  the NCOIC of the Communication and Instrumentation Section of the
  Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB.

  I recall an overnight balloon training mission that was conducted
  in May, 1959. Capt Joe Kittinger was training back up pilots
  for one of his upcoming projects. I was an airman assigned to
  coordinate communications and to assist in the recovery of the
  balloon upon completion of the mission. I followed the balloon in
  an old Korean War vintage “crackerbox” ambulance that had been
  converted into a communications van. Another airman and I followed
  the balloon throughout the night on an easterly trajectory over the
  Sacramento Mountains to an area north of Roswell. Also following
  the balloon were recovery technicians in a weapons carrier. We
  stayed in contact with the balloon crew by radio and also observed
  flares the crew would light at various intervals so we could
  visually track them. Just after sunrise I recall the balloon
  landing north of Roswell and Capt Kittinger offered me some coffee
  and told me he was going to make one more touch and go landing to
  complete the mission. I remember that I took some photographs of
  the balloon and waited for the last landing. Several minutes later
  I remember hearing a “bang”, this was the squib that fired to
  release the gondola from the balloon. We immediately went to where
  the gondola landed and saw the gondola laying on its side and saw
  two of the pilots standing and one lying down. Lying on the ground
  was a shattered helmet that was worn by one of the pilots. Capt
  Kittinger told me they were attempting to land to avoid some power
  lines and a row of trees.

  Soon after I arrived at the crash site, a helicopter that was also
  following the flight landed and transported the three aircrew
  members to Walker AFB for medical attention. I recall I assisted
  the recovery technicians load the balloon and the gondola on the
  weapons carrier and then drove 15 to 20 minutes to the hospital
  at Walker AFB. When I arrived at Walker, we parked the converted
  ambulance near the hospital and either the other airman with me
  or the recovery technicians called the balloon control center to
  notify them of the accident. I recall waiting near the hospital
  for a short period of time and then returning to Holloman AFB.
  During the time I was waiting at the hospital I did not observe
  any arguments or altercations. I did not observe Capt Kittinger
  speaking disrespectfully to anyone. I also do not recall any male
  civilians or any vehicles that belonged to a mortuary.

  I participated in many, probably more than 100, balloon recoveries.
  I often recovered payloads and balloons from the area surrounding
  Roswell, NM. It was routine to be directed by the balloon control
  center to an area near Roswell to wait to recover a balloon. We
  would wait along the side of the road, at small airports, or at
  the armory in Roswell. It would not be uncommon for our recovery
  vehicles to be seen waiting to recover balloons throughout New
  Mexico, Arizona, and West Texas. When we recovered the balloons
  and payloads sometimes civilians would be in the area and make
  inquires. We would tell them what we were doing and provide them
  with a telephone number at Holloman AFB if they wanted to report
  any damages. We were required to clean up the area and remove all
  debris before we left. In addition to the recoveries, I recall
  making balloon launches from sites up and down the Rio Grande
  Valley. I remember that some of these launches were made from an
  area west of Soccoro, NM.

  Another project I participated in was the testing of the Viking
  space probe in 1972. These four launches were all made from the
  Roswell Industrial Air Center, the former Roswell Army Airfield.
  Approximately twenty Air Force personnel were on temporary duty to
  Roswell throughout the summer of 1972 to support this project. NASA
  personnel prepared the spacecraft for launch from the old hangers
  of the former Air Force base. This project was not classified and
  was covered by the news media.

  I am not part of any conspiracy to withhold or provide misleading
  information to the United States Government or the American public.
  There is no classified information that I am withholding related to
  this inquiry and I have never been threatened by U.S. Government
  persons concerning refraining from talking about this matter.

  SIGNED:                       Subscribed and sworn before me, an
                                individual authorized to administer
                                oaths, this 25th day of May, 1995,
                                at

  [Signature]                        [Signature]
  Ole Jorgesen, MSgt, USAF, (Ret)    James McAndrew, 1st Lt, USAFR

  WITNESS(s):


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Place                                      Date: 28 October 1996

  I, William C. Kaufman, Lt. Col., USAF (Ret), hereby voluntarily and
  of my own free will, make the following statement. This was done
  without coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful inducement.

  I was drafted into the Army of the United States in 1943,
  transferred to the Army Air Forces, and was commissioned as a pilot
  in 1944. From 1950 until 1967, with a break for training for a
  combat tour in Korea and for educational assignments to AFIT, I was
  assigned to the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB,
  OH. During that time I was a physiological training officer and
  worked in the development of early pressure suits. I tested many
  high altitude pilots and also the first group of astronauts. Later
  during my Air Force career, in 1961, I earned a Ph.D. in Physiology
  and Biophysics. I was assigned to the Aero Medical Laboratory for
  three tours and retired in 1968 as the Chief of the Biodynamics
  Branch of the Aero Medical Field Laboratory at Holloman AFB, NM.

  During my third assignment at Wright Patterson, I volunteered,
  along with Capt Dan Fulgham, to be a backup pilot for Capt Joe
  Kittinger for his high altitude balloon project, Project Excelsior.
  Capt Kittinger instructed Capt Fulgham and me in ballooning in May
  1959. At the end of an overnight training flight, on the morning
  of May 21, 1959, northwest of Roswell, NM, we (Kittinger, Fulgham
  and I) had an accident with the balloon. We were practicing touch
  and go landings when a severe gust of wind overturned the gondola,
  dumping all of us to the ground with the gondola on top of us.
  The accident occurred in a small pasture where a pony was grazing
  next to a small cottage. For safety, we were followed during hours
  of darkness by a C-131 aircraft and during the day by a H-21
  helicopter. We were followed the entire time by technicians in a
  truck for communications and for the recovery of the balloon and
  gondola. Seeing the accident, the crews of the helicopter and the
  recovery trucks came to our assistance, much to the dismay of the
  farmer who owned the pony, which had run away when the truck broke
  down the fence to reach the crash site. I recall that a member of
  the helicopter crew attempted to calm the farmer.

  Capt Fulgham sustained an injury to the forehead when the lip of
  the gondola struck him. Capt Fulgham thought he had fractured
  his skull but the experimental helmet he was wearing apparently
  protected him. Capt Kittinger was bleeding from a cut on the face.
  I was beneath Fulgham and Kittinger and unhurt. Fulgham was loaded
  into the helicopter and we were taken to the nearest hospital,
  at Walker AFB, in Roswell. I recall the helicopter pilot called
  the air traffic control tower at Walker and informed them we were
  inbound with an injured pilot from a balloon accident. This was
  quite unusual and I believe the tower personnel might have thought
  we were a surprise Strategic Air Command inspection team that at
  the direction of the SAC Commander, Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, sometimes
  made unannounced visits by helicopter. We landed in front of the
  tower and were met by an ambulance along with a detail of military
  police with machine guns. The military police escorted us to the
  hospital for treatment and to verify our story of the balloon crash.

  While Capt Fulgham and Capt Kittinger were being treated I was
  asked to explain to the Walker AFB Base Commander what had
  happened. After Capt Kittinger was treated he called Col Stapp from
  a phone adjacent to the waiting room were numerous military wives
  were waiting for pre-natal care. Capt Kittinger, as the project
  officer, was concerned what effect this accident might have on the
  future of his program. As we waited for Fulgham, Kittinger paced up
  and down the hall concerned about Fulgham and getting out of the
  hospital before Walker AFB officials might complicate matters. I
  do not recall any male civilians in the hospital, nor do I recall
  Capt Kittinger being involved in an altercation of any kind. Capt
  Kittinger did not shout or use obscene language, he was simply
  interested in getting medical attention for Fulgham and leaving as
  soon as possible. I do recall that one or two nurses were present.
  I do not recall a black NCO accompanying Kittinger while we were in
  the hospital.

  When the medical personnel were finished treating Fulgham, all
  three of us returned to Holloman AFB by helicopter about noon the
  same day. The following day I took my FAA exam and was awarded a
  balloon pilot license. Three days later, on Sunday, Kittinger,
  Fulgham and I returned to Wright Patterson via a special C-131
  flight. Fulgham looked very odd with two black eyes and protruding
  forehead; his head was so swollen he could not wear his uniform hat
  for some time. I later worked with Capt Kittinger on the Stargazer
  project and and occasionally flew aircraft with him.

  During my entire time at the Aero Medical Laboratory I neither
  saw nor heard anything that would lead me to believe that the Air
  Force was keeping “aliens” at Wright Patterson. I knew there was a
  project on UFOs called Bluebook, at the base, but to my knowledge
  the Aero Medical Laboratory was not involved. Many scientific
  accomplishments came out of the various laboratories at Wright
  Patterson but I am unaware of any that might have involved aliens
  or UFOs.

  I am not part of any conspiracy to withhold or provide misleading
  information to the United States Government or the American public.
  There is no classified information that I am withholding related to
  this inquiry and I have never been threatened by U.S. Government
  persons concerning refraining from talking about this matter.

  This is as I recollect those events.

  SIGNED:

  [Signature]
  William C. Kaufman, LtCol. USAFC (Ret)

  WITNESS(s):
  [Signature: Patricia A. Kaufman]


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Place                                             Date: 24 June 95

  I, Joseph W. Kittinger. Jr., Col. USAF (Ret), hereby state that
  James McAndrew was identified as a Lieutenant, USAFR on this
  date at my home and do hereby, voluntarily and of my own free
  will, make the following statement. This was done without having
  been subjected to any coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful
  inducement.

  I entered the U.S. Air Force in 1949 as an Aviation Cadet. From
  1950 to 1953 I flew fighters in Europe before being assigned to the
  Fighter Test Section at Holloman AFB, NM in July, 1953. During my
  tour as a test pilot I conducted the first zero gravity tests and
  was the balloon pilot of the first Project Man High high altitude
  research mission. In 1958 I was assigned to the Escape Section of
  the Aero Medical laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB, OH. During
  this tour I was the Project Officer of Project Excelsior and made
  three high altitude parachute jumps, the highest from 102,800 feet,
  which today remains a world record. For these jumps I was awarded
  the Hannon Trophy for 1960 by President Eisenhower. Following
  Excelsior, I was the Project Officer of Stargazer, a project that
  made astronomical observations from a high altitude balloon. I
  flew two combat tours in Southeast Asia with the Air Commandos. I
  later flew a tour in F-4s and was the Squadron Commander of the 555
  Tactical Fighter Squadron. I accumulated over 1,000 combat flying
  hours and I am credited with one aerial victory. I spent ten months
  as a POW in Hanoi. Upon my return I attended Air War College, flew
  F-4s and retired from the Air Force in 1978. In 1984 I became the
  first person to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic by balloon.

  In 1958 I was made the Project Officer of Excelsior by Col John
  Paul Stapp, the Aero Medical Laboratory Commander. I supervised
  and was actively involved in the dropping and recovery of
  anthropomorphic dummies from high altitude balloons at Holloman
  AFB, NM for this project. We also dropped dummies, from aircraft
  only, at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. The object of the Holloman tests
  were to study the free fall characteristics of dummies dropped from
  balloons at altitudes of 50,000 to 100,000 feet. Based on this data
  we designed a parachute that stabilized the dummies and I later
  used this parachute on my three high altitude jumps.

  The balloons carrying the dummies were launched from various
  locations in New Mexico and often impacted off of the White Sands
  Proving Ground depending on the wind conditions. The dummies were
  outfitted with clothing and equipment of an Air Force pilot. The
  facial features of the dummies were not as pronounced as a human.
  The ears and noses did not protrude. I do not recall any dummies
  with ears or noses. Some of the dummies were not complete; they
  sometimes did not have arms or legs. To someone not associated with
  the project or who viewed the dummies from a distance, they could
  appear to be human or with some imagination a space “alien.” In
  fact, I recall one incident at Wright-Patterson where one of our
  dummies landed near the backyard of Gen. Rawlings, Commander of
  the Air Research and Development Command. Gen. Rawling’s wife was
  entertaining officer’s wives that afternoon when one of our dummy’s
  parachute failed to deploy and impacted the ground in full view of
  the ladies at Gen. Rawling’s home. I acted quickly to retrieve the
  dummy and went to the impact site and recovered it by throwing it
  in the back of a pickup truck and quickly driving away. Later that
  day I received a call from Col Stapp who informed me that some of
  the women at the party believed that the dummy was a human and they
  were appalled to see the careless nature in which the obviously
  dead or injured “parachutist” was hauled away.

  At Holloman AFB recoveries of the dummies were handled by the
  Balloon Branch but members of my project team, including myself,
  often assisted. The standard procedure was to track the dummy
  both from the ground and air to attempt to recover the dummies
  in a timely manner. On the ground we used an assortment of Air
  Force vehicles to track and recover not only the dummies but also
  other scientific balloon payloads. We used trucks, communications
  vans, converted field ambulances, cranes, and trailers. In the
  air we used helicopters, C-47s transports, and L-19 and L-20
  light observation aircraft. On occasion civilians would observe
  our recovery operations. We often attracted a crowd due to the
  odd appearance of the balloon payloads and dummies and also the
  aircraft that circled overhead or landed on nearby roads. We also
  used many of the same procedures and equipment to launch from off
  range locations. During the recoveries weapons were not carried
  because there was no classified information or equipment. I do not
  recall any altercations of any kind. At no time did I or any of the
  personnel makes threats against civilians. We always attempted to
  maintain good relations with the local civilians and explained the
  purpose of the project to them if they asked. We were directed to
  remove as much of the material dropped by the balloon as possible.
  Sometimes this was difficult because the balloon and pay load would
  break apart and cover a large area. We collected the debris in
  these cases by “fanning out” across a field until we had collected
  even very small portions of the payload and balloon. We were
  particularly careful to recover the large plastic balloons because
  cattle would ingest the material and the ranchers would file claims
  against the government. Additionally, there were reward notices
  that offered twenty five dollars for the return of the equipment
  attached to each of the balloons. I wrote a book, _The Long, Lonely
  Leap_ (E. P. Dutton & Co., 1961), that completely describes Project
  Excelsior and my participation.

  Also as a part of the high altitude balloon projects, I trained
  balloon pilots in May 1959 at the request of Col Stapp. Col Stapp
  was concerned that I might be injured as a result of the hazardous
  nature of the projects and he wanted backup pilots to be trained.
  The backup pilots, Capt Dan Fulgham and Capt Bill Kaufman were
  volunteers from the Aero Medical Laboratory and they were sent to
  Holloman from Wright-Patterson for training on a temporary duty
  basis. On our second training flight, Fulgham, Kaufman and I, flew
  an overnight mission that was launched at Holloman and ended with
  a crash northwest of Roswell, NM. We were followed on this mission
  by an aircraft at night, a helicopter during the day, and a ground
  crew in trucks at all times.

  I recall that just after sunrise the weather had deteriorated and I
  directed Fulgham to land the balloon in a small field. This was the
  last suitable field before we would overfly the City of Roswell. I
  remember approaching the field just over the trees and I recall our
  forward velocity was about 10–12 knots, a little fast for landing.
  When we touched down Fulgham cut the balloon away and due to the
  forward velocity the gondola flipped over spilling all three of us
  on the ground. While lying on the ground I realized that Fulgham
  was injured and Kaufman and I raised the gondola. Fulgham had been
  struck in the head by the edge of the gondola and I could see the
  blood rapidly accumulating under his scalp in the forehead area. We
  treated him for shock and soon the recovery vehicles and the chase
  helicopter arrived. I decided to transport Fulgham by helicopter to
  the hospital at nearby Walker AFB.

  When we arrived at Walker I remember that security was tight, as
  it was at all Strategic Air Command bases, and we were closely
  scrutinized by security personnel due to the unusual circumstances
  and early hour of our arrival. I had two concerns once we arrived
  at the hospital, first to get treatment for Fulgham and second
  to leave as soon as possible. After I was assured that Fulgham’s
  injuries were not serious I wanted to quickly leave the base before
  the Walker AFB Flying Safety Officer arrived to fill out an
  accident report. I didn’t want a report filed because an accident
  investigation would bring unwanted scrutiny to the project. Even
  though the project was unclassified I did not want any publicity or
  premature releases of information.

  Although Fulgham’s injuries were not serious, his head had swollen
  considerably—both eyes were black and his face had swollen so
  much you could barely see his nose. I believe that if someone saw
  him while we were at Walker they would have been startled. When
  his treatment was completed we all three returned to Holloman on
  the helicopter. At Holloman, Fulgham was admitted to the hospital
  and I made preparations for him to return to his duty station at
  Wright-Patterson AFB. Due to his grotesque appearance, I did not
  want Fulgham to fly on a commercial airline. I made arrangements
  for all of us to fly to Wright-Patterson on a C-131 a few days
  later. When we arrived at Wright-Patterson, I assisted Fulgham down
  the steps of the aircraft because his eyes were swollen shut and
  he could not see. His wife was waiting at the bottom of the steps
  of the aircraft and she asked me where her husband was. I replied
  “this is your husband” and she screamed and began to cry.

  While I was at the Walker AFB hospital, I do not recall any contact
  with a male civilian. I certainly did not call anyone an “SOB”
  or speak to anyone in a disrespectful manner. I did not make any
  threats or instruct anyone else to make threats. I recall nurses
  in the hospital but I am not certain if they participated in the
  treatment of Capt Fulgham. I was not accompanied by a black NCO at
  the hospital, but there may have been a black NCO on the balloon
  recovery team. I recall no body bags in the hospital and I am sure
  there were no “aliens” at the hospital, just Dan Fulgham with a
  very odd looking head injury.

  I was also involved in the joint Air Force, Navy, and Massachusetts
  Institute of Technology astronomical observation project, Project
  Stargazer. The object of this project was to make observations via
  a stabilized telescope mounted atop of a gondola suspended from
  a high altitude balloon. I was the USAF project officer and Dr
  J. Allen Hynek was the scientific advisor. I worked very closely
  with Dr Hynek over a period of five years from 1958 to 1963. Dr
  Hynek would typically spend a half day working on Stargazer and
  then the rest of the day participating as one of the consultants
  on the UFO study, Project Bluebook, that was also conducted at
  Wright-Patterson AFB. Dr Hynek, as the scientific advisor to
  Stargazer, was very familiar with the techniques and capabilities
  of the Air Force high altitude balloon program. Dr Hynek once
  approached me and we discussed at length, the possibility that
  Air Force high altitude balloons were responsible for many UFO
  sightings. We ended the conversation in agreement that the
  balloons probably accounted for many of the UFO sightings. In
  other conversations Dr Hynek always gave me the impression that
  there were very few UFO sightings that could not be explained by
  good scientific investigation. At no time did Dr Hynek mention
  or discuss the alleged “Roswell Incident”. I was therefore
  “flabbergasted” when Dr Hynek appeared to believe that some of
  these sightings were of an extraterrestrial origin.

  I am not part of any conspiracy to withhold or provide misleading
  information to the United States Government or the American public.
  There is no classified information that I am withholding related to
  this inquiry and I have never been threatened by U.S. Government
  persons concerning refraining from talking about this matter.

  SIGNED:                       Sworn to and subscribed before me,
                                an individual authorized to administer
                                oaths, this 25th day of May, 1995,
                                at

  [Signature]                                  [Signature]
  Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., Col, USAF (Ret)    James McAndrew, 1st Lt. USAFR

  WITNESS(s):

  [Signature: Sherry Kittinger]


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Place                                             Date: 31 May 95

  I, Roland H. Lutz, CMSgt, USAF, (Ret), hereby state that James
  McAndrew was identified as a Lieutenant, USAFR on this date at my
  home and do hereby, voluntarily and of my own free will, make the
  following statement. This was done without having been subjected to
  any coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful inducement.

  I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1947 and transferred to the U.S. Air
  Force in 1958. In June, 1958 I was assigned to the flight surgeon’s
  office at Holloman AFB, NM as an Aero Medical Technician. I served
  several tours in Southeast Asia and retired from the Air Force in
  1974 as an Aero Medical Superintendent.

  On May 20–21, 1959 I was assigned to provide medical coverage for a
  balloon training mission that took off from Holloman AFB and ended
  with a crash near Roswell, NM. Capt Joe Kittinger was training
  two other pilots, Capt Fulgham and Capt Kaufman. I followed the
  balloon in an ambulance during the night and at daybreak I followed
  the balloon in an H-21 helicopter. Just after daybreak I saw the
  balloon crash and the three pilots were dumped form the gondola.
  I immediately informed the helicopter pilot and we landed in a
  field on which cattle were grazing. I recall the rancher was upset
  because the helicopter was frightening his cattle and some cattle
  had gotten out of the field.

  I assesed the injuries to the pilots and recommended they be taken
  immediately to the closest hospital which was at Walker AFB,
  apprximately 5 to 10 minutes away by helicopter. Capt Fulgham’s
  head was swelling due to a hemotoma he received when the gondola
  struck him. Capt Kittinger was cut on the face and was bleeding.
  Capt Kaufman was uninjured. At Walker I remember a telephone
  conversation with a flight surgeon who told me to “go home and
  sleep it off”. He apparently did not believe my story of three
  Air Force pilots that were victims of a balloon crash. However,
  I was able to convince him and he treated Capt Fulgham and Capt
  Kittinger. While at the hospital Capt Fulgham’s head had swelled
  enormously and his eyes were beginning to turn black.

  I do not recall that anything unusual occurred at the hospital
  at Walker. I remember the three pilots sitting on a bench in
  the hallway waiting to be treated. I do not remember that Capt
  Kittinger was involved in an altercation with anyone while at the
  hospital, if he had, I would have known about it. Capt Kittinger
  was concerned with getting medical treatment for his injured crew
  member, Capt Fulgham, and returning to Holloman. I also do not
  recall a black NCO accompanying Capt Kittinger while we were at
  the hospital. I do not remember a nurse assisting in the treatment
  of Capt Fulgham or Capt Kittinger. I also do not remember a male
  civilian or any personnel or vehicles from a mortuary, and I do not
  recall any remains in body bags in the hospital.

  I was present the entire time when the events described here took
  place. I am certain that this event had nothing to do with “space
  aliens” or any other irregular activity that would require a cover
  up. It was a balloon crash and nothing else.

  I am not part of any conspiracy to withhold or provide misleading
  information to the United States Government or the American public.
  There is no classified information that I am withholding related to
  this inquiry and I have never been threatened by U.S. Government
  persons concerning refraining from talking about this matter.

  SIGNED:                       Subscribed and sworn before me, an
                                individual authorized to administer
                                oaths, this 25th day of May, 1995,
                                at

  [Signature]                   [Signature]
  Roland H. Lutz, CMSgt, USAF,  James McAndrew, 1st Lt, USAFR
  (Ret)

  WITNESS(s):

  [Signature]
  Harry C. Aderholt, Brig. Gen., USAF (Ret)


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Place                                             Date: 20 June 95

  I, Raymond A. Madson, Lt Col, USAF (Ret), hereby state that James
  McAndrew was identified as a Lieutenant, USAFR on this date at my
  place of employment and do hereby, voluntarily and of my own free
  will, make the following statement. This was done without having
  been subjected to any coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful
  inducement.

  I was born, raised, and presently reside in New Mexico. I graduated
  from New Mexico A&M College in 1954. I entered the Air Force in
  1955 and was assigned a short time later to the Aero Medical
  Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB, OH. At the Aero Medical
  Laboratory I was assigned to the Escape Section as a project
  officer and test parachutist. During this time I also had extensive
  participation in various aspects of the space program and worked
  on the highly classified U-2 project. I served a tour of duty in
  Alaska and at the School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks AFB,
  TX, before being reassigned to the Aero Medical Laboratory at
  Wright Patterson. I retired in from the Air Force in 1979 and I am
  currently and Environmental Specialist for the State of New Mexico.

  The first project that I was assigned at Wright Patterson was
  Project 7218, later changed to Project 7222. This project was first
  known by the name High Dive and then was known as Excelsior. The
  object of this project was to study the free fall characteristics
  of anthropomorphic dummies from balloons at altitudes of 50,000
  to 100,000 feet. Following satisfactory dummy drops, Capt Joe
  Kittinger made a series of high altitude parachute jumps that
  culminated with a jump from 102,800 feet.

  I assumed the duties of Project Officer for the dummy drops in the
  spring of 1956. I made numerous trips to Holloman AFB, NM, the
  site of the drops, from 1956 until the end of the project in 1959
  (dummies were also dropped for this project at Wright Patterson
  AFB by personnel from the Parachute Branch). I wrote two technical
  reports that described the project in considerable detail. The
  type of anthropomorphic dummy used primarily was manufactured by
  Alderson Laboratories but we also used Sierra Manufacturing type
  dummies. Both of these dummies are shown in the technical reports.
  The Alderson dummy had facial features that were not life-like
  and ears that were not well defined. The dummies were outfitted
  with flight suits of various colors, fuchsia, olive drab, and sage
  green (a shade of gray). We chose the Alderson dummy because it was
  relatively inexpensive as compared to the Sierra dummy.

  We encountered considerable difficulty dropping the dummies from
  the balloons. I designed the rack that suspended the dummies, two
  at a time, from the balloon. On numerous occasions the dummies were
  fouled during the release sequence and the dummy rode a “streamer”
  all the way to the ground. Other times malfunctions occurred that
  caused the two dummies and the entire rack assembly to descend to
  the ground as one package. Both of these instances are described in
  the technical reports.

  I participated in at least two dummy recoveries. The meteorologist
  from the Balloon Branch, Duke Gildenberg, would determine the best
  place to launch the balloons depending on the prevailing weather
  conditions. Duke also predicted, with considerable accuracy,
  where the dummies would impact. I specifically recall a dummy I
  recovered near the Jornada test range, between Leasburg and Organ,
  NM. During this recovery I drove a weapons carrier and I was only
  able to locate one of the dummies. I never found out what happened
  to the other one. The next recovery I remember was on a ranch just
  southwest of Roswell. We were given directions to the area by the
  balloon branch personnel who had been contacted by a rancher. The
  equipment had reward notices taped to them to aid in recovery. We
  went to the Smith ranch. I remember the name because I went to New
  Mexico A&M with the rancher. I knew him as Smitty. We searched that
  day from horseback and could not find the dummies. The following
  day we resumed our search from horseback and again could not
  find the dummies. I also recall that Smitty asked us for some of
  the parachute material so he could make a shirt. We dropped many
  dummies from the balloons and I know many were not immediately
  recovered, but most were.

  I served for twenty five years in the Air Force and most of those
  years were in the aero medical field. I participated in the space
  program and the highly classified early stages of U-2 program.
  Never during this time were “aliens” or “flying saucers” a part of
  any project. There were, however, countless achievements by the
  Air Force in aerospace medicine that were the result of dedicated
  scientific research. It seems likely to me that someone could have
  mistaken our anthropomorphic dummies for something that they were
  not.

  I am not part of any conspiracy to withhold or provide misleading
  information to the United States Government or the American public.
  There is no classified information that I am withholding related to
  this inquiry and I have never been threatened by U.S. Government
  persons concerning refraining from talking about this matter.

  SIGNED:                       Sworn to and subscribed before me,
                                an individual authorized to administer
                                oaths, this 25th day of May, 1995,
                                at

  [Signature]                   [Signature]
  Raymond A. Madson, Lt Col,    James McAndrew, 1st Lt, USAFR
  USAF (Ret)

  WITNESS(s):


                         STATEMENT OF WITNESS

  Date: 25 April 1996                             Place: Aztec, NM

  I Frank B. Nordstrom, M. D., hereby state that James McAndrew,
  was identified as a Captain, USAFR on this date at my home and do
  hereby, voluntarily and of my own free will, make the following
  statement. This was done without having been subjected to any
  coercion, unlawful influence or unlawful inducement.

  I was on active duty in the US Air Force and stationed at Walker
  AFB, Roswell, NM from July 1951 until June 1953. During that time I
  was a pediatrician assigned to the base hospital. Following my tour
  of duty with the Air Force I attended the University of Colorado as
  a resident in pediatrics. In July 1954 I relocated to Farmington,
  NM and began a private pediatric practice. I retired from private
  practice in 1987 and became the Medical Director of the San Juan
  Regional Medical Center, which is also located in Farmington, NM.
  In 1989 I retired from that position and presently reside in Aztec,
  NM.

  I have been shown two transcripts of interviews where an individual
  named Glenn Dennis described conversations and visits he claims
  he had with a pediatrician in the late 1940s or early 1950s in
  Farmington, NM. According to these interviews, Mr Dennis also
  claims that this pediatrician had previously served at the hospital
  at Walker AFB/Roswell AAF. Since I am the only physician in
  Farmington, NM who previously served at the Walker AFB/Roswell
  AAF hospital, I believe I am the person he is referring to in
  these interviews. I am confident of this because I know I was the
  first pediatrician to practice in Farmington, which when I arrived
  in 1954, was a small community of approximately 8,000 people. I
  remained the sole pediatrician there for approximately 20 years and
  I know most, if not all, of the physicians in the area.

  Even though I believe I am the person Mr Dennis referred to in the
  interviews, I do not remember him. I can state with reasonable
  certainty that I cannot recall any conversations with him, and he,
  to my knowledge, never visited me in Farmington, NM, in Colorado,
  or anyplace else. I have been told, however, that a person named
  Glenn Dennis operated a drugstore in the late 1950s-early 1960s,
  just outside Farmington, in Aztec, NM. But I do not recall any
  contact with him there either.

  While I was stationed at Walker AFB, I do not recall any incidents
  that may explain the information Mr Dennis provided in the
  interviews. To my knowledge there was only one fatal aircraft
  accident during my tour of duty and that accident involved a Walker
  AFB based aircraft in the United Kingdom. I was not involved in any
  aspect of that accident. I also do not recall any other incidents
  such as automobile accidents or house fires that may be the source
  of this information. Nor do I recall a nurse named Lt Naiomi Selff
  or a nurse named Capt “Slats” Wilson. While at Walker AFB I did not
  witness or hear rumors of anything that involved flying saucers,
  aliens, or anything else of an extraterrestrial nature.

  I am not part of a conspiracy to withhold information from either
  the US government or the American public, there is no classified
  information that I am withholding related to this inquiry and I
  have not been threatened by US government persons concerning not
  talking about this matter.

  SIGNED:                       Sworn to and subscribed before me,
                                an individual authorized to administer
                                oaths, this 25th day of April 1996 at
                                Aztec, NM

  [Signature]                   [Signature]
  Frank B. Nordstrom, M.D.      James McAndrew, Capt, USAFR

  WITNESS:



                              Appendix C


                     Transcript of Interview with
                          Gerald Anderson[*]
                     Alleged firsthand witness to
                           “Crash Site” Two
              (allegedly 175 miles northwest of Roswell)

  [*] Excerpted from raw footage used to prepare the video,
  _Recollections of Roswell Part II_, (Washington, D.C.: Fund for UFO
  Research, 1993).

A: We drove down to the Plains of San Agustin which is west of Socorro,
New Mexico in the Magdalena, Datil, area. We were down there looking
for banded and moss agate, which according to my uncle Ted and my
cousin Victor was prevalent in the area. My brother being an amateur
rock hound had wanted to get some of this. That was a way of showing us
around the area. They had relatives down in Magdalena that they wanted
to introduce us to.

So we had gone down there and we got down in the Horse Springs area and
had driven off onto the plains down an old rutted road for, oh, a mile
or so and it seemed like a long ways. We parked the car, got out of the
car and walked down a hillside.

There’s a semi-forest, I guess you could say. It had pinon trees and
scrub oak and stuff like that on it and we walked—well, not scrub oak,
but cedar—and walked down the hillside into an arroyo, a dry wash, and
then walked south down a dry wash toward where the agates were supposed
to be at.

As we came around a bend in the arroyo that had pinon and cedar
trees growing, we were able to see farther ahead down the arroyo and
on the next ridge line there was a large silver disc shaped object
was embedded in this side of the ridge line ... there was debris
and wreckage strewn about the area mainly this thing was intact. I
would estimate its size from an adult perspective to something like
35 feet in diameter. I’ve heard other people who were there say they
thought it was like 50 feet. But as an adult, I would say about 35
feet in diameter, quite large. When we got up to it there were four
bodies there ... not human, there was two of them that were obviously
dead, one of them was obviously very badly injured, and one of them
apparently suffered no ill effects ... or it didn’t appear to be
injured and was ambulatory, was mobile. It was just setting there next
to the one...

Q: Were they right next to the vehicle?

A: Right next to it. Right under the edge of it. And this craft had
apparently come in from the east and bounced off one ridge line,
plowing through this arroyo area and then crashed into the ridge line
and embedded itself. They were sitting back under the edge, it was kind
of tilted up like this and they were sitting back under the edge here.
And I’m assuming that this one creature that was all right had laid
this material on the ground but it looked like unrolled tinfoil that
these other three creatures were laying on. Like it was trying—like
you do a person in shock, you know, a put him on a blanket, that kind
of thing. And apparently it had some boxes there around it and had
apparently been trying to give first aid or help these other creatures
when we first got there.

As we approached, the creature drew back like this, like it was in
fear, like we were going to hurt it. And it wasn’t very long, you know,
we were trying to communicate with it, the adults were. It seemed
to calm down and just sat there and kind of looked back and forth,
watching them, apparently trying to figure out what was going on...

Q: What did it look like, a little bit more.

A: These creatures, all of them, were, oh, about four foot tall, four
and a half feet tall. They had very large heads that were shaped larger
on the top and they kind of tapered down, not to a real sharp point
but just tapered down where they were thin. And they had very large,
very large, oval shaped or almond shaped, I guess you could say, black
eyes. The head... They were so shiny, they had almost a bluish tint to
them when the light reflected off of them. Their skin coloration, the
best way that I could describe that is it was kind of a bluish tinted
milky-white. It looked like someone in shock. And the ones that were
laying on the ground were really—really looked more that way, more blue
in the light, you know...

Q: How about ears, nose, mouth?

A: No, there were no visible ears on the creatures except like—if you
was just to cover your ear like this to where there was just a rise
there and then a hole without, you know, your ear lobe and the rest of
the area...

Q: How about nose?

A: It was—the nose was very, very small, almost imperceptible. It’s
like two holes, straight in; and the lips were just a straight line. It
was like a cut and you couldn’t see, just the lips like we have, it was
just a slit. And...

Q: What hair color? Sound?

A: Pardon?

Q: What hair color?

A: There was no hair. They were completely bald.

Q: And no sounds?

A: I never heard a sound one, not out of any of the creatures including
the one that was...

Q: Did you see fingers?

A: Yes, they had fingers like this. They didn’t have a little finger.
They just had the thumb and three extra digits except the center digit
was longer and the other two were about the same size. They were very
long and slender and looked very delicate and I made the statement
before and I’ll make it again, I think he would have made an excellent
violinist because of the structure of their hands.

They were wearing one piece suits. All of them were dressed exactly the
same. It was sort of a real shiny silverish gray color.

Q: No zippers, buttons?

A: No, I saw no zippers, no buttons.

Q: Insignias?

A: No, no insignias. The only thing that was different, you know, and
they all had this, but the only that was different from the silvery
gray thing, the suit, was that down like a seam line, like there was
a seam on his shoulder and around the collar it was trimmed in what
appeared to be maroon, like cording.

Then the suits were continuous with their footwear. We could see right
this area down, it seemed to be less pliable then it was up here, like
this was a stiffer area, like they were boots or shoes or something.
But they were all dressed exactly the same.

Q: Okay. So you and your family are talking back and forth, wondering
what was going on, what did your family say? I mean...

A: Well...

Q: ...did they say anything?

A: Yes, my brother, one of his first remarks I heard him say him say,
“That’s a god damn spaceship.” You know there were bodies up there and,
you know, I was told not to go up there, which I didn’t. And...

Q: How old was your brother at the time?

A: He was in his early twenties, I think, 20, 21, something like that.

Q: He was a lot older than you were?

A: Oh, yes, considerably.

When we got up there I kind of meandered off to one side. This thing
was cocked up and I was standing here, the bodies were here, and
everybody else was kind of down here except my cousin Victor was over
here playing and looking in this gaping hole on the side of this disk.
And it was shaped just like a discus except for a round dome was up on
top and there was this big gaping gash in there. We could see inside
and it looked like a double hull.

Q: How big—explain it? The gash.

A: The dome?

Q: No, the gash.

A: Well, it covered the greater majority from the center of the craft
out. It was just like a gaping hole in there. I mean I’m thinking, you
know, it’s like about 32, 35 feet in diameter so we’re talking about 17
feet maybe. Most of that one side was ripped open like that. You could
see inside and you could see another double hull, like—in there. And
there were just rows of components that was on there.

And there were lights that flashed on and off. Some of them were steady
and some were flashing. There was a lot of debris and stuff hanging out
of the hole. There was evidence that there apparently had been fire. It
looked like it had been burned along the edge there. The gash...

Q: Now this wasn’t a gash that could have been caused by the thing
coming in for the ground? It wasn’t at the leading edge of the vehicle?

A: No, no. This was in the side like—it almost appeared it was
elliptical. It almost appeared as if something the same shape as the
disk we were looking at had hit that same—you know, like it hit the
disk and left an imprint that pretty closely approximated the outside
diameter of the disk itself. And it appeared to be caved in looking,
kind of like it hit them like this and it just crumpled and caved in
and ripped it open.

Q: Okay, so you’re there, you take all this in, everybody is mystified.
What were the circumstances outside? Hot, cold?

A: Very, very hot. Incredible to me, being the first time in New Mexico
and coming from back east. I had dry heaves. It was like the inside of
an oven. It was unbelievable to me. You know, the odd part about this
was that the closer you got to it, the cooler it was. And standing
under it in the shade there next to these creatures’ bodies, it was
like refrigerated air conditioning. And...

Q: Did you feel air coming out of this thing?

A: No, it was just like it was (inaudible).

And I remember reaching up and putting my hand on the side of it but I
think I was afraid I was going to hit my head because there was enough
room for me as small child, you know, I was approximately the same size
as these creatures, to walk up under there and stand there but I kind
of did like that, put my hand up against this thing.

Q: What did it feel like?

A: It was ice cold. It felt like it just came out of a freezer.

Q: Was it smooth? Was it rough?

A: It was very smooth. It had a very smooth texture to it. It was
obviously made out of metal. It was very solid and it was very cold,
ice cold.

And there was a smell in the area. It smelled volatile, acrid, like
acetone. And that seemed to be coming out of that gash, that smell. But
the closer you got to this thing, the cooler it was so, you know, I
kind of remained there.

And I guess that while they were over here, my father and my uncle Ted
and my brother. Uncle Ted was trying to talk to this thing in Spanish
and of course it didn’t understand a word he said. And dad tried to
talk to it and then they tried, you know, sign language and that didn’t
work.

And I don’t know, for some reason, I just—I reached down and touched
it, this one that was laying next to me. When I touched it I realized
and I jumped back. It scared me. It startled me because I suddenly
realized that these weren’t dolls. I thought they were plastic dolls.
And I—you know, it was still in my mind that these were dolls until I
touched it and then I realized, you know, this was a dead thing.

I’d seen dead relatives before and unfortunately made a mistake one
time in touching a relative that was in a casket and I just knew this
was a dead thing and it scared me, and I ran around behind my father
and my uncle and this thing was sitting there on the ground and it kept
looking back and forth. And it just had its hands like this in its lap,
and just kept looking back and forth between the three of them and—like
it was trying to understand.

And all of a sudden it just turned and looked right straight at me
between my uncle Ted and myself. And this is when—it was just like an
explosion of things in my head, things... I started, you know, feeling,
just terrible depression and loneliness and fear and just, you know,
awful, awful feelings that just suddenly burst in to my mind there. I
don’t know if that meant that it was communicating with me and I was
the only one there that it could communicate with because I was a kid.
I don’t know.

I turned and ran and I ran across the arroyo and up on the area that it
had bounced off of during the crash. I was just standing there looking
down at this scene, you know, at my family, and off in the distance I
could see cattle grazing. I could see a windmill and could see dust
trails out on the plains out there.

And, oh, I was there for a while and then I came back down. I guess we
were there—Victor was, when I got back down there Victor was up in the
craft and Ted yelled at him to get out of there and Glen went over and
grabbed him by the belt and jerked him around...

Q: That’s your brother?

A: Yes.

And jerked him off, says, “Get out because this thing may explode and
kill us all,” you know, and then of course he went prowling around in
there.

I was kind of standing off to one side looking. That’s why I knew that
there was—I can look off these rocks that I was standing on and look
right into this thing. That’s why I knew, you know, about the lights
and the components and stuff.

And then I heard other people talking. I turned and there was a group
of people coming up the arroyo from out on the plains from the south.
They had come up there and of course they walked up and was talking.

Q: How many?

A: There was an older man and five younger students.

Q: Boys, girls?

A: Three boys and two girls. And they were all, you know, introducing,
talking to my father and my uncle and my brother...

Q: What did the older one look like?

A: He was a very tall man, a very big man. He was wearing a pith helmet
when he first came up, one of those kind of explorer helmets. And he
was bald and I know that because he had taken it off and he had, you
know, wiped it with a handkerchief and put it back on. He was a balding
man. And he had a round face. He was very ruddy complected. A big man,
and he apparently was a doctor because they kept calling him doctor and
it was my understanding that it was an archeological group that was out
there on some kind of summer thing. And they talked and he apparently
was able to speak several foreign languages and he tried to talk to
this creature several times in different languages, again to no avail.

Q: How did they happen to be there? Had he seen the thing...

A: Well, they claim that they saw—they said they saw this thing come
down the night before in flight, you know, and they thought it was a
meteorite and they had talked about well, early in the morning, you
know, we’ll go over and see this, where this meteor came down, because
that’s what they thought it was.

And when the sun came up the next morning, you know, and they got
about their business, got up and somebody looked over and said, you
know, they saw this shiny metal and stuff across the plains there and
they realized it wasn’t a meteorite, it may have been an airplane that
had crashed so they all decided to go over there and see if there was
anybody left alive, you know, that was hurt that needed help.

Q: They had driven over?

A: No, they walked over apparently, the way I understand it. And it’s
quite a ways across that plain so it had to take a very long time
to do this or they may have had a vehicle, I don’t know. That’s an
assumption, I think, on my part, where they walked.

Q: Okay. So they’re around...

A: But they came across...

Q: ...with the family...

A: ...the plains. I don’t know why I said that. I’m not sure if they
drove or not. I didn’t hear any cars.

Q: And then somebody else shows up?

A: Yes, they were down just, oh, 15 maybe 20 minutes tops, you know.
And they were picking up things, some of the students. And this Dr.
Buskirk, that they called him, this one girl went up and said, “Look,
doctor, wouldn’t this make a beautiful ring?” And she was holding what
looked like a red rod, a red tube that was some kind of silvery-red.

And he kind of snapped at her, you know, “Put that down because you
don’t know what that thing is. That thing could hurt you. Don’t pick
this stuff up.”

And she kind of said, “Well, yes, okay, doctor.” And then he went back
to what he was doing and she walked away and put it in her pocket.

And a lot of them were doing this, sort of picking up things and
feeling things. I was picking up things and feeling things. It was all
kinds of material and metal, stuff like that. I heard it, well, we all
heard it, the sound of a motor coming, like a truck. And I went back up
the incline area to the ridge line and I could see out there, there was
a truck coming up. It was an old pick-up truck. It was sort of a beige
color, a tan colored van with an antenna on it. And it stopped and this
guy got out and he’s wearing brown clothes. He’s got boots on and he’s
wearing a straw hat, just like the kind that Harry Truman always wore,
and he had wire rimmed glasses. He was a big man and he looked exactly
like Harry Truman to me. You know, I’d seen him in the Movietone News...

Q: He was president then.

A: Yes, I was well aware who Harry Truman was. Everybody was. He was
kind of a hero, you know, and he just kind of looked like him except
bigger, bigger. You know, I don’t think he—and he didn’t look as old
either. His hair was kind of light gray.

And he walked over there and they got to talking, you know, with
everybody and he told them that he worked out on the plains out there
and that he made maps and that he had seen the wreckage from out there
on the plains and he saw the people and he thought it was a plane wreck
and, you know, that something was going on and he came over to see.

And he hadn’t been there but just a very, very few minutes when we
heard all kinds of motors and engines straining and stuff. And here
comes a military car with a big white star on the side of it followed
by a six-by which is a military truck with a kind of canvas wagon, kind
of a canvas thing over it and it’s full of soldiers. They’ve got guns.
And right behind them is what we call a four-by which is like a medium
sized jeep/truck situation and it had two big high whip antennas, all
kinds of radio gear in the back and a guy back there with ear phones
and stuff on and he’s, you know, working these radios. And they all
pulled up and stopped.

Q: Which direction did they come from, do you know?

A: They came from the north, from the Horse Springs area, right...

Q: So they could have come off the highway there...

A: Oh, yes. I’m sure that’s exactly how they got there. They come off
the highway, the same way we did. Well, in the meantime, when they
stopped, this black soldier, this sergeant, the reason I know he was
a sergeant, my brother told me he was, and he got out of this car and
then a guy got out on the other side and he was a, Glen said he was a
captain, he told me later he was a captain and this guy had orange and
red hair. So all the soldiers and them came running over there pointing
guns at people, telling them, “Get away, get away, get away,” you know?
And when this creature saw these people, the military, he went nuts. He
went into an absolute panic, worse than what he did when he saw us.

Q: Did he move around or just his eyes or...

A: He just, he just...

Q: Oh, okay.

A: ...went crazy. And it was like...

Q: Like he was scared?

A: Yes, like he was looking for a place to run and hide.

Q: But he never got up?

A: He never got up. He never left the beings that were next to him.

And this red headed officer, this guy was a real butt hole. He made all
the threats. He threatened to have people shot.

Q: Everybody?

A: He went, “Get away, get away,” you know, “We’ll shoot. Get away
from there. This is a military secret.” You know, just screaming and
hollering. He told my uncle and my father that if they didn’t want to
spend the rest of their life in prison they would never say anything
about what they saw there, if they ever wanted to see us kids again,
they’d take the kids away. They’d never see the kids, you know, meaning
me and Victor. That we’d better keep our mouths shut because if we did
not, this is what was going to happen. They were threatening people and
pushing people...

Q: The students as well and Dr. Buskirk?

A: Oh, yes. They were hustling everybody. And one of the soldiers
pushed my uncle. He had a rifle like this and he shoved him back like
that. Well, that was something you didn’t do to my uncle Ted. Ted had
a violent temper. And he grabbed the rifle and reached over top and
smacked this guy and dropped him right there. And Ted would go out and
fight, heck, this guy’s a cowboy. He’ll hit you in a minute.

And of course when he did that there was bolts opened and I guess
cocking, they were cocking their rifles. They were pointing guns at
people and everybody Buskirk and Glen and dad grabbed him, you know,
pulled him back and got him away. “No, don’t, Ted, they’re going to
shoot. Don’t do that.” You know, trying to stop this. And I think we
came very close to having someone shot.

Then they really started threatening, you know, and they...

Q: Did the redhead do all the talking, pretty much?

A: Pretty much. Except once in a while the sergeant would, you know,
chime in and make statements like that to other people in response to
the redhead. But mainly it was the redhead...

Q: Was there a name tag?

A: Yes, sir, there was. His name was Armstrong. And I’m not sure if I
know that from having read it or know that from remembering it and now
being able to read it in my memory, or if someone said that to me. But
his name was Armstrong, it was right here on his uniform.

Q: But he chased you guys away pretty quick?

A: Yes, yes, he did.

And they herded us up like cattle and we were just up the arroyo, back
in the direction we came from, over the protest of this Dr. Buskirk who
said, “No, no, we’ve got to go the other way. We came from over there.”

“I don’t care where you came from, get your ass up the arroyo.”

And they ran us up the arroyo and...

Q: So you get to your car again?

A: Oh, right.

Now they took us up the arroyo and just over the hill we came down,
they broke us off and moved us up the hill.

Now this whole time, no one has ever frisked us down, no one has ever
checked our pockets to see if we picked up any of this material and
this girl, Agnes, still had that stuff in her pocket and some of the
other students had stuff. To my knowledge, up to that point, they had
not been searched. Whether they did so afterward, I don’t know. They
never searched us, ever. They ran us back up the hill and when we got
to where the car was parked, where dad had parked the car up there,
there’s a jeep with a guy sitting in the back and there is a mounted
machine gun in the back of this jeep and all of these soldiers.

The jeep pulls out, we’re told to get in the car, we follow the jeep,
and the soldiers go with us all the way back out to the highway. When
we get back out to the highway, they set us right there. They wouldn’t
let us out of the car. They wouldn’t let us move forward. I don’t know
whether they were making a decision or what.

When we got out to the highway, this place was absolutely full of
military personnel, military equipment. There was airplanes sitting out
there that they had landed on the highway.

Q: Did you see any airplanes when you were back at the site?

A: Yes, there was airplanes in the sky but nobody thought much about.
You know, I didn’t think anything about it. I was used to airplanes
being in the sky, having been raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, the home
of the Norden bombsight, you know, the sky was always full of military
aircraft at night.

And when we get back on to the highway, there’s observation aircraft,
you know, high winged aircraft, and there’s one, of what I know now to
be a C-47 setting there. And how we didn’t hear that land is beyond me
and how he landed—well, of course, I guess you could land it if you’re
a good pilot out there as there were no poles or anything.

And it was—they had torn the fence down on the north side of the highway
and all this equipment was setting back up there. The plane was up
there and they were taking stuff out of the plane. There was military
ambulances and there were trucks with—like wreckers, cranes on them.
And there was tankers, like maybe had fuel or water in them. There was
just—everywhere you looked there was military.

Q: A major recovery operation?

A: Yes, it looked like an invasion force. It really did.

And they were all wearing these light khaki uniforms. They didn’t look
like, you know, olive drabs. They were light khaki and they all had the
same patch over their—that kind of blue funny patch with the circles on
it, was on his shoulder.

And a lot...

Q: Do you have a clue as to where they came from? Did your brother or
your uncle?

A: No. I don’t know where they came from. No, I don’t think anybody
ever ascertained that.

There were a lot of MP patches and some of them were wearing
nightsticks off of these webbed utility belts. They had night sticks
and they had .45’s in holsters, you know, the automatics, full
holsters. And these were the people that were giving most of the orders.

They had the road barricaded off out there and we sat there for a very
long time and, you know, we were getting thirsty and everything and we
asked if we could go back to Horse Springs to get some water.

“Oh, no, no. You can’t through there.”

And right after that, they said, “Now you just turn around and you head
out of here now and you go to Socorro,” and this is the redhead again,
“Keep your mouths shut. Just keep going and don’t look back.”

Well, as we drove away, you know, dad, “The hell with it, we’ll go to
Magdalena. We’ll get water in Magdalena.” You know, because that’s
where John Trujillo lived, a relative of Ted’s.

And so as we drove away, I was looking out the back window and I could
see Dr. Buskirk and these kids and that guy, the guy in the pick-up was
standing there and this Dr. Buskirk was doing just like this in this
redheaded officer’s face and he kept pointing back behind him and I
guess that meant, you know, we’ve got to go back that way and he was
fed up with this guy or something and he was shaking his finger in his
face when they were yelling at each other and that’s pretty much the
last I saw of the whole situation. I don’t know what happened after
that because we just kept going.

                                 (END)


                     Transcript of Interview with
                          W. Glenn Dennis[*]
                     (Alleged firsthand witness to
                  events at the Roswell AAF hospital)

  [*] W. Glenn Dennis, interview with Karl T. Pflock, November 2,
  1992.

Q: You started getting calls from the base mortuary officer is that
right, some time in the afternoon on some day in July [1947].

A: Right after noon, yeah.

Q: Do you recall, was that before the story appeared in the [Roswell
Daily] Record?

A: I don’t know. I’m sure it was. I can’t honestly say, but I don’t
think the paper came out until the next day, I don’t think. I’m just
assuming that.

Q: I understand. When things like that happen to me way after the fact
I try to remember, and I wasn’t sure if you had any recollection or
not. It was the base mortuary officer who called you, not any of the
MDs out there.

A: No.

Q: He was just, the mortuary officer was just the guy...

A: We used to have a standing joke. What did you do that was so bad
they made you the mortuary officer.

Q: Exactly.

A: He wasn’t a doctor or anything, but he was an officer and he was
probably some old boy they was trying to figure out something to do
with.

We used to all have them come in, even the officer himself, say, “God,
I didn’t know I screwed up that bad.”

Q: Was this a guy you’d worked with before? Somebody you knew real well?

A: No. Those guys come and go.

Q: I realize that. You don’t remember what his name was or anything
like that?

A: No. I’m like Bob [Shirkey]. I think if I would see it or heard it
or something I might. Those guys, they were in and out. The mortuary
officer, usually they would appoint some sergeant or somebody. The
only time the doctors were involved is when you’d have an embalming
inspection or dress inspection where the doctors came in and examined
the body to make sure everything was right. You had another inspection
to make sure their dog tags, make sure all the medals and everything...

They always had two crews of inspectors. The doctors were only involved
in the cause of death or the autopsies or identification process,
dental charts and all that. After they did their work, then a doctor
would always come in and make sure the body was embalmed because [they]
know more about it than the other people. But they were involved
before. You know.

Q: The reason they contacted you was because Burt Ballard’s funeral
home up here had a contract with the base, right?

A: Yeah.

Q: You worked for Burt for a lot of years, didn’t you?

A: Yeah, a long time.

Q: When did you first go to work for him?

A: I went to work for him, I was hanging around the funeral home when
I was like a freshman in high school. I’d want to make some extra
money. “I’ll give you 50 cents to wash the hearse.” I knew his daughter
real well. We were all in school together. That’s where I really got
involved in the funeral home. I just kind of worked my way in it.

Q: He basically taught you the trade and all that.

A: Oh, yeah. My folks weren’t in the funeral business.

Q: The reason I was curious about it was because when I went back...
I’m one of these guys that goes to Washington and then gets fed up
and leaves and swears I’m never going to go back, and then I go
back anyway. But the last time I went back and did that, I shared a
townhouse with a guy for awhile who was a mortician from Michigan. But
he had to go through all this formal training and all this rigmarole...

A: No. That started in (inaudible). Maybe you don’t want to hear
this, but I was in the 9th grade, and this teacher was going around
and wanted us to write a composition on what we wanted to be when we
graduated from school. What were our future plans. I was kind of a wise
guy, I guess I must have been, but I said undertaker, and I don’t even
know why. All the girls squealed, so I got a little attention. Then
she said okay, if that’s what you want to do then you’ve got a week,
you bring me your composition. I want to know why you want to be an
undertaker.

So I went to the funeral home. They didn’t have any books in those days
or anything, but that’s where I went. That’s why I got involved in it,
started.

Q: How long were you in that business before you... I know you ran the
Wortley Hotel up in Lincoln [N.M.].

A: Oh, that was after I retired.

Q: Oh, I see, you retired from the mortuary business...

A: Oh, yeah. I was in the funeral business 33 years.

Q: All the time with Ballard?

A: Oh no, I had my own funeral home over in Las Cruces [N.M.], and one
in Socorro [N.M.].

Q: Oh, okay.

Speaking of that, do you know Norman Todd or his family?

A: His dad and I took the state board together. He was at Clovis
[N.M.]. Norman’s his son isn’t it?

Q: Yeah. He’s a lawyer over in Las Cruces [N.M.]. His...

A: Wasn’t his dad the funeral director in Clovis [N.M.]?

Q: I think so. The reason I know him is because Mike Cook, who is Steve
Schiff’s press secretary, and he have been friends ever since they were
in kindergarten together. It turns out that Iris Todd, I guess his
stepmother, is the niece of Loretta Proctor. So talk about small world.

You got these calls from the mortuary officer who was asking you all
these questions. We don’t have to go back through all of this. Then at
some point you decided to go out to the base. What took you to the base?

A: At some point I didn’t decide, that’s not correct. Somebody wrote
that, but I don’t think it’s right. The way I ended up out at the base
later, we had the ambulance service. The way I got it, the ambulance
service, I got a call, was an airman that was hurt. I took him to the
base. The best I remember, he wasn’t on a stretcher or anything because
we walked up the ramp and he sat up in the front seat with me. So he
weren’t real bad and weren’t dying. Anyway... This guy walked in, I
walked him in. Where I usually park the ambulance, there was a field
ambulance there. I had to go back up to the front. The airman and I
walked up the ramps. That’s why I went to the base.

Q: The hospital in those days was apparently a complex of buildings,
right?

A: Yeah. Kind of like Bob [Shirkey] said, like the officer’s club.
They’re all wooden barrack types.

Q: So the building that’s out there now, the rehab center is a
completely new building and had nothing to do with that.

A2 [Bob Shirkey]: No. Think of a long walkway, like a tunnel, attached
to the front of a series of...

Q: I know just what you’re talking about.

A: ...with a little of breezeway between each building, the best I
remember it. Isn’t that right. Bob?

A2 [Bob Shirkey]: Yeah. Here was the building and you came out the
front door and you went down this walkway, which I just said, like a
tunnel. You could see from one end to the other, but all these separate
buildings which were different wings of the hospital.

Q: This was the infirmary where you took the airman, right?

A: There were some ramps there, I think the old ramp’s still there. It
was. Anyway, that’s the kind of buildings they were. You don’t see it
today, no.

Q: I knew that the building, most of it, was new, but I wasn’t sure if
they’d built onto it...

A: That had been worked over two or three times.

Q: When you look at it looks like it’s been one of these things where
they’ve added things to it.

So you pulled around behind the infirmary, basically.

A: It was a pretty tight squeeze in there. You couldn’t get very many
cars in there.

Q: How many of those ambulances were back there?

A: There were three old box ambulances. I call them box ambulance. I
guess you call them... I wasn’t in the military so I don’t know what
all the terms were.

Q: Like these old field ambulances.

A: They’ve got the old square field ambulances, you know.

Q: The airman walked up that ramp with you. Both of you guys went
into...

A: The airman and I both went in.

Q: Did he see that stuff in...

A: He wasn’t paying any attention because he had, I had a tourniquet
and towel over his busted nose, and he went right on in.

Q: Got himself into a little trouble in town, did he?

A: Rode an old motorcycle. The reason I remember it is because he had
an old Indian motorcycle, and I’d just bought one. I paid $40 for one
and he [rode] one, and I didn’t have any fenders, and I was thinking of
maybe of...

Q: So you took him in there, and then basically after you got him taken
care of you figured you’d go look up your friend, the nurse.

Let’s get that straight.

A: Stan Friedman, I think, somebody thought that I was having a
relationship with this nurse. I was not. This girl wouldn’t even think
about going with me, and she was going strictly, when she got her
time paid back to the service she was going into an order of the nuns,
sisters, and she was going to be in education and later on she changed
to the nursing deal. The only reason she was in it, because her folks
were in debt and she went in the service to get her education. She got
her education and then she was going to pay back the church what they
owed her. Her whole thing in life was, from the day she was born, her
life was planned that she was going to be in an order.

Q: Did she ever tell you which order that was?

A: It was in St. Paul, Minnesota. That’s all I know.

Q: That’s where she was from.

A: That’s where she was born and raised. She never went out of the city
until she went to... My understanding was she never went anywhere and
she never lived anywhere. She was raised up from the time... Strictly
raised by the church. That was the only life she ever planned. She
wouldn’t date a man if her life depended on it. She’d get around and
talk and everything, but there was no way. But everybody said I was
going to marry her and... That’s bull shit.

Q: The implication was that she was cute and...

A: She was cute. I could have been interested. If I wouldn’t have
played second fiddle to the Catholic church, because that’s what she
would have been.

Q: How did you get to know her, just being out there on the base?

A: The ambulance service. You go out there, and you’ve got your splints
on a guy, you’ve got first aid, whatever, you can’t just throw them off
of your stretcher. You maybe help them... Sometimes you’re out there
two hours or three. Then while you’re waiting to get your equipment
back you sit in the coat room with the doctors and with the nurse’s
quarters. That’s where we always had our cokes and stuff.

Q: So you’d just shoot the breeze with whoever’s around.

A: You get to know these people. That’s the only way. See, she’d only
been there less than three months. Of course, I’m a crazy son of a
gun... Nearly everybody remembered her. She was a good looking little
thing, a beautiful little girl. We thought she was kind of lonely.

Q: As you well know, there’s been a major effort to try to find her.

[Skip in tape]

A: She was out here less than three months.

Q: So you went back there. Tell me what happened.

A: I started back there, and that’s when I got in trouble. I saw this
officer standing there, and I saw this debris in the back of the
ambulance. Two of them was full of debris. Like Bob [Shirkey] saw a
bunch little stuff, and there was a couple of pretty good sized.

Q: Two of the three ambulances had stuff...

A: One of them’s door was closed, but the other two... There was two
MPs standing right out, kind of just leaning up against the back of
those. I remember.

Q: Did they challenge you when you tried to go in?

A: No... Evidently because I drove up with that airman, and they just
figured whatever.

Another thing, when I was there, all the people that was there, that
nurse was the only person I saw that was permanent station. Everybody
else was all new in that whole hospital operation. Even in the coke
room, there wasn’t anybody in there that I knew. I started back and got
to the door, and I saw this...

(Pause)

We’ve been friends for years, but I don’t want to talk with him around.

Q: So the stuff you saw, you said it was not aluminum...

A: ...looked like hot stainless steel when it got hot. When you put
flame on stainless, see, I do sculpture work and all that, and I know
what the stuff looks like.

Q: Oh, you’re a sculpture? I didn’t know that?

A: Yeah, I’ve been doing it for years. I had my own foundry... I did. I
don’t do it any more. I have my stuff done. But anyway, this stuff was
a blue purplish, it looked like hot stainless steel, is what it looked
like. Steel that got hot. It didn’t look like aluminum, it wasn’t even
melted like aluminum. I don’t even think it was melted, just like a
bunch of fragments.

Q: But there were some bigger things in there besides the fragments,
right?

A: Yeah. There were was two pieces.

Anyway, do you want to go back to the nurse?

Q: Yes, please.

A: I started back, see, and this captain was standing there, and
naturally, I just thought we had a plane crash. When we had that,
we used to fill up the ambulances and everything else. It would
(inaudible) for you to have a hand here or an arm or a foot or
something. You know what I’m talking about. Then you’ve got to get
in and take all that stuff and separate it and put those bodies back
together with identification. That’s what you’ve got to do. I thought
we had a crash.

I saw this guy, I didn’t know him. He was standing there at the door.

Q: Just inside?

A: Just kind of standing like in between the door of this room up
there. I was going down the hall. I said, “Sir, it looks like we had a
plane crash. Do I need to go in and get ready for it?”

Q: This was an officer?

A: Yeah, he was a captain. I remember the bars on his [inaudible]. He
said, “Who are you?” I told him I was from the funeral home, and he
said, “Wait right there, don’t move.”

Then he came back, that’s when the two MPs came up. When the nurse came
out, we started down the hall and that’s when somebody in the back of
us said, “Bring that son of a bitch back.” That’s when the redheaded
captain asked where the sergeant came in right there. Then they took me
on out. As I was going down the hall, she came out of, like Bob said,
out of this room, and there was two guys in back of her, and they all
had towels over their face.

She saw me and she said, “Glenn, what are you doing here? Get out of
here, you’re going to get in a lot of trouble. How did you get in
here?” She said that two or three times. She was sick.

Q: This is when you were talking to that first officer?

A: Yeah. He just told the MPs to take me back to the funeral home.

Q: He had just told them that, and then she appeared at that point?

A: He told them to take me to the funeral home, and we started down the
hall, back out the hall, and that’s when she came out of another room
with these other two guys. What happened, she told me the next day,
they were all sick because those little bodies were in those sacks, and
two of them were very mangled and the smell was horrible and one was
whole and two of them were very badly mangled.

Q: Did you get a whiff of that stuff yourself?

A: No, evidently not. If I would have, I would have known what it was.
I worked on a hell of a lot of stuff.

Q: In that tape you talked about working on floaters and all that kind
of stuff.

A: You know.

Q: I haven’t had professional experience in it, but I’ve been involved
in it.

A: In New Mexico you’ve got this hot 100 degree stuff, and you’ve got
bodies out there two or three days, and (inaudible).

Q: This red headed guy, what was his rank, do you remember?

A: I think he was a captain. It seemed to me like he had on some bars.

Q: When he first appeared and started getting, essentially, pretty
rough, was the sergeant around at that time, or did he show up...

A: He was kind of beside of him. I think they were standing there....
Yeah, they were definitely standing there together. I don’t know if
they walked in together, because I didn’t see them until they turned me
around.

Q: Was there a lot of activity at that time? Were there people...

A: People were [fastened] everywhere. And the odd part of it was, there
wasn’t anybody, wasn’t any of our regular people. These were all people
that I’d never seen before. That’s why I got in so much trouble. I’d
never seen these guys.

Q: These were not any of the guys that would ordinarily recognize you
as somebody who would...

A: And they sure as hell didn’t want me there, you know that.

Q: When he says, “Get him out of there,” the redhead, did he make any
threats to you himself? Did he say, “Don’t say anything about this,
forget it...”

A: He said, just like that. He says, “Now listen, Mister, you don’t
go back into town starting a bunch of damn rumors.” This guy swore as
much as I do. Anyway, he said, “Don’t start a bunch of damn rumors,
because nothing happened out here. There’s no plane crashes. Nothing’s
happened. You don’t go in and start.” Then he told the MPs, “Get the
son of a bitch out of here.”

That’s when I said, right then, I said, “Look, Mister, I’m a civilian,
and you can’t do a damn thing to me, you go to hell.” That’s when he
said, “Listen, Mister, somebody will be picking your bones out of the
sand.”

Then the black sergeant said, “Sir, he would make good dog food,” or
something like that. I remember the dog food.

The next morning at 6:00 o’clock the sheriff was out at my dad’s house
and told my dad, “Glenn may be in a lot of trouble with the base, and
tell him to keep his mouth shut.”

I never told my story to anybody, but my dad came up, I was living in a
room at the funeral home. He came up and got me out of bed and wanted
to know what I’d done. He was a very patriotic old man, and he said,
“If you done anything against our government, I’ll take care of it.”

Q: When was this?

A: The next morning.

Q: You were saying what the heck? What’s going on?

A: Yeah. I said, well hey... He said, George Wilcox—the sheriff and my
dad were real good friends, and he said George tells me you’re in a lot
of trouble out there. He wasn’t going to leave, and I told my dad the
story. He got all upset because they threatened me and all this kind of
stuff.

I didn’t see the nurse, then, until the next day. After I saw her, then
I kept calling. When I got back to the funeral home I started calling,
because she was in trouble and so was I.

Q: It was the next morning after you’d been hustled out of there that
your dad came by to see you.

A: Yeah, 6:00 o’clock in the morning.

Q: He’d been called by the sheriff...

A: The sheriff went to my mother and dad’s house, and at 6:00
o’clock... My dad always got up early, sat and had coffee. He was an
old carpenter and building contractor. He and George were old friends
because he used to go hunting, and dad was making gun stocks, so they
were good friends. They used to play some kind of domino games or 42,
whatever you call it. They were good friends.

Q: So the sheriff went by to see your dad...

A: Dad said he was there at 6:00 o’clock.

Q: The sheriff came by early in the morning and then your dad
immediately came from home and came to see you.

A: After George Wilcox left, my dad came up to the funeral home and
wanted to know what I did.

Q: Did your dad say why the sheriff... Had the sheriff been contacted
by the base, or...

A: No, he just said, he was concerned about what I’d done, how I’d got
in trouble.

Q: Do you remember what he told you about what Wilcox told him?

A: He just said George said I was in trouble at the base, and what did
I do.

Q: Then after having this rude awakening, you then... Did you call the
nurse?

A: Well, yeah, this was in mid-morning. I remember I finally, I waited
until kind of, well, it must have been 9:00 o’clock or so, and I
called. I knew the work station that she always worked at. She was a
general nurse. They didn’t specialize. Just orderlies and everybody was
on general duty in those days. I was informed that she wasn’t there,
she wasn’t working. She wasn’t working that day.

Q: It was one of the other nurses that you talked to?

A: Yeah, it was an old girl by the name of Wilson, Captain Wilson. I
asked her, I said “what happened?” She said, “Glenn, I don’t know what
happened, but she’s not on duty. I’ll try to get the word to her that
you want to talk to her.” She was wanting to talk to me, but she was
sick. She was in total shock.

Q: Did she tell you that later, that she was sick?

A: I knew she was sick. She came out with that towel. She said, she and
the two doctors were sick. Then at the Officers’ Club, she said I want
to know what happened to you, and I’ll tell you what happened to me.
The only way we ever got to the Officers’ Club, the old regular group
said you don’t go anywhere, you keep your mouth shut, [inaudible] said
that. The old group, they would have known us. It probably wouldn’t
have mattered. But these people, hell, these people didn’t know us.
And of course I had a pass, and I had an associate membership to the
Officers’ Club, the funeral home did, so I could go as I pleased. I had
free access to the base.

Q: Did you meet her at the club?

A: She said she’d meet me over there. She was sick. She said I’ll meet
you there.

Q: When you got there, she was at the club?

A: She was walking up when I drove up. She walked over. It wasn’t very
far from the hospital.

Q: She walked from the hospital or...

A: From the nurse’s quarters.

Q: Let me back up to the event with the MPs. They physically hustled
you out of the hospital...

A: Well, they didn’t carry me out, they said, “Come on, we’re taking
you back,” one on each side. They didn’t have their hands on me or
forcing me.

Q: I’ve forgotten which one of the accounts has them lifting you right
off your feet and all that kind of stuff.

A: No. They may have got me by the elbow, but that was that. They were
nice guys. They were doing what they were told to do.

Q: They got you to the ambulance. Did they follow you back to the
funeral home?

A: One followed me in a pickup and the other one sat in the seat with
me.

Q: Oh, I see, he actually rode with you in the ambulance.

A: He rode with me, and the other one drove a pickup and picked him up.
They had a pickup.

Q: Did the guy riding with you say anything about what was going on?

A: He said he didn’t know what was going on. That was the first thing I
said, “What in the hell’s going on?” You know. He said, “You know more
about it than we do,” something similar to that. I don’t know the exact
words, but he didn’t know anything.

Q: Now we’re back to the Officers’ Club and you met her there. When you
saw her, how did she look?

A: Like a nervous wreck. Her hair wasn’t combed or nothing. She said
she’d been sick all night crying and everything else, and she was still
crying. She was hysterical. She put her hands over her face and said
I can’t believe it. The most horrible thing she’d ever seen. She was
really in bad shape.

Q: You called her and wanted to get in touch with her to talk with her
about what happened.

A: I was curious.

Q: Did she seem reluctant at first to talk to you about it?

A: No, she said I’ve got to talk to you. I want to know what happened
to you. She said I’ve got to talk to somebody, and that was it. You
know, I’d see her a lot. I knew all those old girls out there, you know.

Q: Did she give you any indication or any reason to believe that she
had been told to keep her mouth shut about it, or...

A: Well, yeah, because I’ll tell you what. She had this drawing on the
back of a prescription pad, these little bodies, it was on the back,
a little small thing on the back of a prescription pad. She said,
“I’m going to show you something, and you have to give me your sacred
oath that you won’t tell anybody when you got this and you won’t ever
mention my name, because I will get in a lot of trouble.” That’s what
she said. “I will get in a lot of trouble.”

Q: She didn’t say specifically that somebody had...

A: No, she just said, “I will get in a lot of trouble.” She said, “Will
you do that?” I said, “Sure.”

She showed me that. And she had it written on the back like I had it on
the back of that, you have my drawing, where I said note, and all that.
That’s what she said.

Q: She let you keep that, she gave it to you?

A: Yeah, she said you look at it and you throw it away. I never did. I
went and took it back and put it in my personal file.

Q: Which subsequently got tossed, apparently.

A: Well, all the files got tossed.

Q: What happened?

A: Well, the funeral home, I hired some guys, the manager up there
now [was there] before I left, and Raymond said that he doesn’t know,
because when he was working up there was another manager, and he
said he thought Joe [Lucas] told (inaudible). Of course Joe and I
weren’t very good friends and we’d had some problems over the funeral
business, and he said Joe found my files. He said I know he went
through everything you had.

He and I had a partnership in a business, and I put up all the money
and it went sour and so we had problems.

Q: You and Stan Friedman actually made an effort to try and find that,
didn’t you?

A: We went down there. The old file was right where I said it was, it
was still there. But it was, Stan will tell you, we went down in this
old basement, and I knew exactly... See, I kept files on every case
that I was involved in, murders, anything that I went to court on, that
I was a witness on, I kept all that. I called those my personal files.
If I ever had to go back with the insurance companies or anything, I
had it all right there. That’s why I had those.

Q: You found the filing cabinet but there was nothing in it?

A: No. We went through it. There wasn’t a thing in it. Stan and I both.

Q: They’d stripped it out, or was there other stuff in there...

A: There wasn’t anything in there.

Q: After all of that excitement, then what? Did it just kind of
evaporate?

A: It just kind of evaporated. Then of course two or three days later,
I was concerned about her because she was sick. I took her back to the
nurse’s quarters and let her out. I called back the next day and they
said she wasn’t on duty, and I called the next day and they said she
wasn’t on duty. Then I went out there, for some reason, I don’t recall.
I went out there and I asked about the lieutenant, and they said she’d
been transferred out. They said, “She was transferred out yesterday.”
Well, that was the day after I saw her. They got her out the next day.

Q: Who told you she’d been transferred out?

A: I don’t know. Some nurses...

Q: It wasn’t anybody that you remember?

A: No.

Q: Did they tell you where she’d been shipped to?

A: They didn’t know. They said she had been transferred, and that’s all
they knew.

Q: But then you heard from her subsequently.

A: About three or four weeks later. I got a card addressed to Ballard
Funeral Home. It was from her, and inside it just said, just a short
note, she said we will correspond later to see what happened to each
other, something similar to those words. She said the only way you can
contact me is through this APO number, and there was an APO number. It
was a New York APO number.

Q: So she’d gone to Europe or some place.

A: Then right on the bottom she says, “I’m in London.” That was it. I
wrote a note, just a note, that said if you feel like it and you get
time, then I would love to know and we’ll correspond. Mine came back.
That was about three or four weeks later. Mine came back.

Q: That was the one that was marked deceased?

A: Yes. It said return to sender, [addressee] deceased.

Q: Then what did you do?

A: (inaudible)

Q: You didn’t try to follow up or see if there was any possible...

A: No. I asked (inaudible), at the time we called her Slatts Wilson,
a big tall nurse, 6′2″, 6′3″, big tall skinny girl. We called her
Slatts. Everybody called her Slatts. She’s the one that told me she’d
heard that there was a plane crash and she was the nurse that went down
on a training mission. She said that’s strictly rumor, I don’t know
anything about it. That’s what I...

Q: No one’s been able to turn that one up at all.

A: I guess maybe I should never even mention this. I know no one
believes this damn story. Nobody believes this story.

Q: I don’t know if that’s true.

A: Anyway, it was a hell of a story. I told (inaudible). I said I told
the woman, I don’t want to give you her name, because I told the lady
I’d give a sacred oath and I didn’t want to get involved. Well, it’s
been 45 years, almost 40 years, and I haven’t heard anything. He said
I will do it confidentially and nobody else will have this name. Well,
that’s where he broke his promise after that. I got all over him about
it. I called him and I was madder than hell. He said well, Bob Shirkey
was the one that told everybody, that he was sitting in the back of
us. Bob brought Stan [Friedman] up there when he interviewed me. He
said, Bob Shirkey was the one that let out her name. To this day, Stan
Friedman (inaudible) still says he did not put her name out. I’ve been
on several shows, not several, but two or three interviews, and I’m not
going to mention her name. If somebody says is this her name? I’m not
going to say it is or it isn’t. I told Stan ... I was madder than hell
about it, because I did give my word.

Q: There’s another side to that, too, from the standpoint of those
who are trying to get some answers. By not having her name around,
it makes it easier to cross-check the stories that you get from
people. You have... It’s a question of honor, and that’s very sound. I
applaud you for that. There’s not too many people around these days
that are concerned about that kind of thing. And it’s also, from an
investigator’s point of view, an advantage, too.

A: I’ve never read this stuff, I’ve never watched the videos, I’ve
never read any books, I haven’t even read Stan’s books, I haven’t even
read [Kevin] Randle’s only what they say about me. Friedman is a lot
more accurate, but see...

Q: You mean about...

A: About me. I’ve read that. That’s the only thing I’ve read. I’m
not a UFO guy. I’ve got another life besides UFOs. But anyway, Stan
Friedman’s story is pretty well right. But Randle and them was always
said I got curious. I didn’t get curious. I went out there on a call,
just like I told you.

Q: The section of their book that refers to you is really kind of
cryptic, anyway.

A: They said the book was already published. Now they had a copy...
Friedman sent them a copy of my tape. They had the (inaudible). Hell,
they had my tape. They just made that up. Somebody did.

Q: I was puzzled by it when I read their book. That whole section where
they refer to you, and it’s all very mysterious, and your name is not
referred to in the table of contents, but you’re in the list of people
that’s been interviewed, but you’re not one of the key people lists...

A: They never did interview me.

Q: They never talk to you at all?

A: Not personally. They didn’t interview me until a long time later, a
year or so later. They only had Stan’s tape.

Q: So when they were actually writing their book...

A: The book was already published.

Q: When they were doing the writing, they were working from Stan’s tape.

A: Evidently.

Q: Who was actually the first UFO investigator to get in touch with you?

A: Stan Friedman. When they had Unsolved Mysteries here and different
ones. There was a lot of people... I’d get different ones. I had
different people come and say we want to talk to you about the UFOs,
and I said I don’t have anything to say, I don’t want to talk about it,
and I never did. I’ve talked to very few people since.

Q: How did Stan come to find you?

A: One of the guys that I went to school with, high school, and Captain
Harry Blake, he’s a general now, (inaudible).

Q: Is he still on active duty?

A: No, he’s retired. He was just a general in the military school,
National Guard, I don’t know. He never was really a good friend of
mine. We lived across the street from each other when we were kids.

Q: So that’s how Stan found you. He was the first guy to talk to you.

A: Bob Shirkey brought him up there to see me.

(Pause)

Q: There’s a reference in here to you having some years later, I think,
talked to a pediatrician that you knew? A guy that was stationed...

A: I can’t find his picture, and I don’t remember his name. I ran into
him when I was fishing up in Colorado and we ran into each other.

Q: This was a guy who was at that time stationed here?

A: He was here, and they called him in. He said that was out of his
field and he didn’t want anything to do with it.

Q: They actually called him in and asked him to take a look at what had
been retrieved or...

A: He said they called him in. I don’t know. He said, “But I said that
was out of my field and I didn’t want anything to do with it.” That’s
what he told me, now.

Q: Did you get the sense that he knew more than he was telling?

A: I would say so, yeah. I’m sure they did. A lot of those guys out
there did.

Q: You don’t remember his name?

A: I don’t remember it. But I did run into him. Somewhere I’ve got his
name.

Q: Have you talked with anyone else? Had you during that time before
you got into all this...

A: No, I wouldn’t have even talked to him about it. He brought it up
and wanted to know whatever happened on the UFO business.

Q: It was at his initiative.

A: I didn’t bring it up. I told him I didn’t know any more about it
than he did. He said well that was strictly out of my field, and I
didn’t want to get involved in it. That was about it. But he brought it
up. I didn’t ask him.

Q: He was just curious about what happened.

A: Wanted to know whatever happened to it.

Q: That’s about all I’ve got.

                                 (END)


             Transcript of Interview with Alice Knight[*]
                    (Alleged secondhand witness to
                             “crash site”
                    175 miles northwest of Roswell)

  [*] Excerpted from raw footage used to prepare the video,
  _Recollections of Roswell Part II_, (Washington, D.C.: Fund for UFO
  Research, 1993).

A: I remember that he saw—one time I went to visit—and I don’t remember
whether it was before my husband and I married or after, I don’t recall
the date. But he said that he saw a UFO fall. He was out working in the
field and I understood that he was out on the St. Agustin Plains and he
went over that way and it fell and he got nearly to the site and there
was a group of people on a geological—archeological hunt and they were
over there. I don’t remember how many people he said.

But they got nearly up to the UFO but it was close enough that you
could see some creatures. He said they didn’t look like human beings
out there.

And along came government cars and trucks...

Q: Now, by government you mean...

A: I guess it was government. You know, as I said it was a long time
ago. And someone came along and I understood it, I don’t know whether
it was army or what. I think he just termed it government trucks and
they told him to go on back and forget they ever saw anything, and
that’s all I recall.

                                 (END)


             Transcript of Interview with Vern Maltais[*]
                    (Alleged secondhand witness to
                             “crash site”
                    175 miles northwest of Roswell)

  [*] Excerpted from raw footage used to prepare the video.
  _Recollections of Roswell Part II_, (Washington, D.C.: Fund for UFO
  Research, 1993).

A: ...he [the eyewitness] had been coming back from one of his field
trips, he’d run onto a flying saucer that had burst open and there
were four beings on the ground and that he was surveying the site,
archeological group from the University of Pennsylvania, telling us
that there were about four or five people with this group.

As they were just starting to look things over really closely, the
military moved in and gave them a briefing not to say anything about it
and keep quiet and it was in the national interest to get out of there.

Q: What was his feeling about what it was that he had experienced?

A: He had no qualms about what it was. He said it was a vehicle from
outer space. There wasn’t any question. The beings on there were
nothing like, not exactly like human beings....

Q: How did you...

A: ...similar but not exactly.

Q: How did he describe them?

A: He described them being about three and a half to four feet tall,
very slim in stature, and with—their heads were hairless, with no
eyebrows, no eyelashes, no hair. Sort of a pear-shaped head with the
top of the head being smaller—larger, I mean.

Q: Any other characteristics about their appearance?

A: Only one thing that he mentioned. The hands were not covered, they
had four fingers.

                                 (END)


                     Transcript of Interview with
                           James Ragsdale[*]
                     (Alleged firsthand witness to
                    “crash site” north of Roswell)

  [*] James Ragsdale, interview with Donald R. Schmitt, January 26,
  1993.

  RAGSDALE, JAMES   EYEWITNESS Transcript
  26 JANUARY 1993

DS: So you were actually out there.

JR: Yeah.

DS: Do you remember the name of the ranch it was on?”

JR: It was on ... Fisher?

DS: Was it north of here.

JR: Yes ... back out here.

DS: Northwest ... Just take your time.

JR: It was Foster. (Some discussion with his wife about who owned the
ranch) ... Let me see what you’ve got (referring to the photographs).
That’s the place right there (identifying the location from the
pictures).

DS: What area?

JR: It seemed to me that that place belonged to ... Fisher, but it sold
to somebody else ... somebody else bought that... That’s how come I was
out in that area. And we was out there and she’s dead and all the guys
I showed the stuff are all dead. It’s amazing what all went on...

Discuss our book and the Museum.

DS: showing one of the pictures ... so you think this looks like

JR: That looks like the place.

DS: As far as the ranches go, driving around at that time, it could
have been most any ranch, right? This would have been in '47 ... You
were with this woman?

JR: Yeah. We were camped out out there.

DS: You were camping?

JR: Yeah... I would say half of it ... I would say that only about
half of it ... just half of a ... you really couldn’t tell what it
was ... what you could still see, where it hit ... I think it was two
spaceships flying together and one them came down and the other one
picked up what they could and got out of there.

DS: Is it possible that because it was hit by lightning that it broke
up and part of it went down ... (discussion of the Mac Brazel sighting)

JR: ... but it was either dummies or bodies or something laying there.
They looked like bodies. They weren’t very long ... over four or five
foot long at the most. We didn’t see their faces or nothing like that
but we had just got to the site and heard the army, the sirens, all
coming and we got into a damned jeep to take off. We had to hold a
fence up to go onto another ranch to come out from there.

DS: How far would you say this from town here?

JR: Thirty miles ... forty miles.

DS: In a northwesterly direction?

JR: Right up here. (Discuss the pictures again.)

DS: Were there any buildings?

JR: No. You couldn’t see nothing. You go up on top of the hill. It was
a hill ... (referring to the pictures) you could see the stuff right
here.

DS: The object ... the craft ... what was left of it ... in these
photos ... where was the object?

JR: Along this right here ... It looked to be about half of around (?)
because around the edges ... I had two great big pieces. That’s what
they got when they stole the car ... you could take that stuff and wad
it up and it would straighten itself out. I never seen anything like
it. Looked like something between a plastic ... looked like carbon
paper...

DS: That was the color of it?

JR: Yeah. Carbons. That was the color of it. Sure was ... between
plastic and ... hell I don’t know ... let’s see how to describe. One
piece we had you could take it and put it in any form you wanted and it
would stay there ... you could bend it in any form and it would stay
... it wouldn’t straighten back out.

DS: You picked those up from the ground?

JR: Yeah.

DS: You threw them in the jeep ... stuffed them in your clothes...?

JR: Yeah and then we heard all of them coming...

DS: How many vehicles ... how much commotion did you hear as they came
in?

JR: Oh my God it must have been ... it was two or three six by six
army trucks, a wrecker and everything ... and leading the pack was a
'47 Ford car with guys in it ... MPs and stuff in it ... we had the
windshield down on the jeep and we stayed in the weeds and stuff ...
and we came on back down to where we was camped at.

DS: So you watched for a while?

JR: Yeah. Sure did.

DS: What was their...

JR: They cleaned everything all up. I mean cleaned it. They raked the
ground and everything. I mean they cleaned everything.

DS: You didn’t stay there that long?

JR: No, but they had a truck. I would say it was six or eight big
trucks besides the pick up, weapons carriers and stuff like that.

DS: What kind of guard did they have. Did they surround certain areas...

JR: They had MPs all ... they got way out in the field. They had people
all along this ridge ... they drove up in here. We was back over here.
This grass here...

DS: So if you were back here, could you see the activity down here?

JR: You couldn’t see too much of what they ... you could tell ... As
soon as they got there they began gathering the stuff up ... we were
hidden in what you call buffalo grass...

DS: Did you see any behavior around the bodies.

JR: Huh-uh.

DS: You couldn’t see down to that level?

JR: Yeah.

DS: Did you see any activity near the craft?

JR: No.

DS: The angle of the craft ... was it flat was tipped...

JR: One part was kind of buried in the ground ... and part of it was
sticking out of the ground ... about like that (DS: about a 30 degree
angle?) Yeah ... and I’m sure that was bodies ... either bodies or
dummies...

DS: Why do you say “dummies?”

JR: The federal government could have been doing something because they
didn’t want anyone to know what this was ... they was using dummies in
those damned things ... they could use remote control.

DS: So you thought that it could have been an experimental craft?

JR: After I came to town showed Frank Willis and his son (he’s dead)
... the Blue Moon beer joint over on the old Dexter highway. We was
there until two o’clock in the morning ... I had the jeep behind my car.

DS: Did you still have the scrap in the jeep?

JR: Yeah. I showed it to him. He said I would just keep my mouth shut
... he said hell there is no telling where that come from.

DS: So you didn’t think it was from outer space?

JR: No. We didn’t even think about outer space back then...

DS: When was the first time that you thought that maybe this was
something more?

JR: It was about three weeks ... it came out that a spaceship had
crashed at Roswell ... about three weeks. But it could have been out
longer than that there but see I worked in Carlsbad...

DS: But you first saw there had been a newspaper article about three
weeks after...

JR: Oh hell it was two or three weeks before I caught up on it ... a
spaceship ... what I hear is they guarded that place for a long time
out there ... because me and another fellow went out there and you
couldn’t get ... they had the roads sealed off ... it was a month or so
after...

DS: And they still had it cordoned off.

JR: The MPs and stuff were still on the road. They wouldn’t let nobody
go out there...

DS: If a person were to drive out there today ... going north out of
town ... are we talking 285?

JR: No. Highway 48. You go out 48. You go out here to the truck route,
hit 48 and ... and it’s about forty some miles out in there ... (And no
talks about the car being stolen in 1951 when the car with the debris
was stolen...) ...I would say 18 inches and 30 inches long ... strips
off the edge of it ... it was a heavy material but it didn’t have no
ridges ... it was put together with some kind of solder like stuff ...
no bumps, no nothing in it ... it wasn’t ... it was about as heavy as
duraluminum ... it wasn’t as brittle ... you could take a small piece
and it was flexible ... (then discuss the stealing of the car with a
wrecker and the material was locked in the trunk of the car. And then
discuss the break in of the house where the last of the pieces were
stolen about eight years ago ... 1985).

DS: Was there a storm that night?”

JR: Yeah. There sure was. It was a whale of a storm.

DS: Did you hear anything unusual? Did you hear ... between the cracks
of thunder...

JR: Well, it lit up the sky when it came down. It lit up the damned ...
we thought at first that it was falling star or something. And electric
lightning ... man it was something.

DS: You heard something and you saw something...

JR: Yeah, sure did ... because we were laying there in the back of the
pick up ... the whole sky lit up ... we thought it was a star falling.

DS: Did you then go to check it out...

JR: Sure did. The next day, sure did. We drove right up on it. She
picked up a piece of it and we had the jeep parked a little ways away
from there and throwed a piece of it up there somewhere and I have
tried and tried to find where she had throwed that piece ... she had a
piece but when she saw the army coming she throwed it out ... she saw
them a coming and she throwed it out ... I doubt that I could even go
back to the place it’s been so long. (Now begin to talk about the car
wreck that nearly killed him.)

Remainder of the tape is discussion about the car wreck, the ranchers
in the area, and the murder of Mrs. Ragsdale’s brother.

                                 (END)



              Selected Bibliography of Technical Reports


The technical reports listed below are available for sale by contacting:
    National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
    5285 Port Royal Rd
    Springfield, VA 22161
    (703) 487-4650
    http://www.orders@ntis.fedworld.gov

         Publication                                  NTIS Report Number

  Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories.
    “Report on Research, for the Period July
    1965-June 1967”, AFCRL TR-68-0039, 1968.               AD 666484

  Air Force Missile Development Center.
    _MAN HIGH III_, MDC-TR-60-16, 1960.                    AD 259635

  ——. _MAN-HIGH I_, MDC-TR-59-24, 1959.                    ADA 215867

  Air Research and Development Command.
    _History of Flight Support Holloman Air
    Development Center, 1946–1957_, 1957.                  ADA 323526

  Bartol, Aileen M., et al.. _Advanced Dynamic
    Anthropomorphic Manikin (ADAM) Final
    Design Report_, AAMRL TR-90-023, 1990.                 AD 234761

  Bushnell, David. _Contributions of Balloon
    Operations to Research and Development
    at the Air Force Missile Development Center
    Holloman AFB, N. Mex. 1947–1958_, 1958.                ADA 323109

  ——. _History of Research in Space Biology
    and Biodynamics at the Air Force Missile
    Development Center, Holloman AFB,
    New Mexico, 1946–1958_, 1958.                          ADA 323170

  ——. _History of Research in Subgravity and
    Zero-G at the Air Force Missile Development
    Center, Holloman AFB, New Mexico,
    1948–1958_, 1958.                                      ADA 323144

  ——. _Major Achievements in Biodynamics:
    Escape Physiology at the Air Force Missile
    Development Center, Holloman AFB,
    New Mexico, 1953–1958_, 1958.                          ADA 323127

  ——. _Origin and Operation of the First
    Holloman Track, 1949–1956_, 1956.                      ADA 323573

  ——. _Research Accomplishments in Biodynamics:
    Deceleration and Impact at the Air Force
    Missile Development Center, Holloman AFB,
    New Mexico, 1955–1958_, 1958.                          ADA 323097

  ——. _The Aeromedical Field Laboratory: Mission,
    Organization, and Track Test Programs,
    1958–1960_, 1960.                                      ADA 323166

  ——. _The Beginnings of Research in Space Biology
    at the Air Force Missile Development Center,
    Holloman AFB, New Mexico, 1946–1952_, 1958.            ADA 323167

  Cobb, D. B. and Waters, M.H.L. Royal Aircraft
    Establishment Farnborough. _The Behavior
    of Dummy Men During Long Free Falls_,
    Mechanical Engineering Note 179, 1954.                 AD 060052

  Firestone, James R. and Patterson, Jack H.
    _Recovery of Parachute-Borne Packages
    by Helicopter_, TDR 62-6, 1962.                        AD 276477

  Flight Summary, Non-Extensible Balloon
    Operations, 6580th Test Squadron (Special),
    June 1950 to October 1954.                             ADA 323108

  Gildenberg, Bernard G. “General Philosophy and
    Techniques of Balloon Control”, in Lewis A.
    Grass, ed., _Proceedings, Sixth AFCRL Scientific
    Balloon Symposium_, AFCRL-70-0543, 1970.               AD 717149

  ——. _Capacity and Fatigue Tests on Three Mil
    Polyethylene Balloons_, HADC TN-55-4, 1955.            AD 066092

  ——. _Crane Launch Techniques for Polyethylene
    Balloons_, HADC TN 57-3, 1957.                         AD 123732

  ——. _Development of Shroud Inflation Techniques
    for Plastic Balloons_, HADC TN-54-4, 1954.             AD 039440

  ——. _Investigation of Inflation Techniques for
    Nonextensible Balloons_, HADC TN 54-7, 1954.           AD 067595

  ——. _Meteorological Aspects of Constant-Level
    Balloon Operations in the Southwestern
    United States_, AFCRL-66-706, 1966.                    AD 644895

  ——. _Summary Report Project Moby Dick: Covered
    Wagon Balloon Launcher Development and Test
    Results_, HDT-21, 1952.                                AD 001124

  ——. _Techniques Developed for Heavy Load
    Non-Extensible Balloon Flights_, Report No.
    HADC-TN-54-3, 1954.                                    ADA 030902

  Greer, R.J., et al. _Development of a Balloon-Borne
    Manned Vehicle_, WADC TR-59-226, 1959.                 AD 227244

  Hertzberg, H.T.E. _The Anthropology of
    Anthropomorphic Dummies_,
    AMRL TR-69-61, 1969.                                   AD 706411

  Hess, Joseph. _Determination of Parachute Descent
    Times and Impact Locations for High Altitude
    Balloon Payloads_, AFCRL 63-885, 1963.                 AD 421021

  Holloman Air Development Center, Weekly Test
    Status Reports, Project MX-1450B/7218
    (HIGH DIVE), June 1954 to January 1956.                ADA 323823

  Madson, Raymond A., 1st Lt. _High Altitude Balloon
    Dummy Drops, II. The Stabilized Dummy
    Drops_, WADC TR 57-477 (II), 1961.                     AD 270880

  ——. _High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops,
    Part I. The Unstabilized Dummy Drops_,
    WADC TR 57-477, 1957.                                  AD 130965

  Mazza, Vincent and Wheeler, R.V. _High Altitude
    Bailouts_, MCREXD-695-66M, 1950.                       ADA 323449

  Nolan, George F. _Balloon Ascent Trajectory
    Dispersion Over the United States at 60,000
    and 100,000 ft_, AFCRL-66-98, 1966.                    AD 631502

  Redmond, Kent C. _Integration of the Holloman-White
    Sands Ranges, 1947–1952_, 1957.                        ADA 323574

  Ruffner, Kevin C. (ed). _Corona: America’s First
    Satellite Program_, 1995.                              PB 95928007

  Simons, David G., Lt. Col., (MC) _Stratosphere
    Balloon Techniques for Exposing Living
    Specimens to Primary Cosmic Ray Particles_,
    MDC TR 54-16, 1954.                                    AD 075812

  ——. MAN HIGH II, MDC TR 59-28, 1959.                     ADA 230805

  Stapp, John P., Maj., (MC) _Human Tolerance to Linear
    Deceleration, Part I. Preliminary Survey of
    the Aft Facing Seated Position_, Air Force
    Technical Report 5915, 1949.                           PB 100871[*]

  ——. _Part II. The Aft Facing Position and the
    Development of a Crash Harness_, Air Force
    Technical Report 5915, 1951.                           PB 106572[*]

  [*] Available from:
      Library of Congress
      Photoduplicating Service
      Washington, D.C. 20540
      (202) 707-5640



                                 Index


  A

  accelerometers, 21, 30

  Aero Medical Laboratory, USAF 20–21, 23, 32, 104–105, 107, 117, 121

  Aeromedical Field Laboratory, USAF 32

  AFM-143-1, _Mortuary Affairs_, 99

  agents, federal, 50

  agents, government, 78

  Air Force, 1–3, 5, 8–10, 13, 21, 26, 28, 31, 35, 37–38, 41–42, 44,
    46, 48, 51–53, 55, 57, 61–62, 68, 75–76, 79, 86, 89–91, 95–101,
    103, 105, 109, 111–113, 116–117, 121, 123, 125.
    _See also_ U.S. Air Force

  Air Force Letter 35-3, 86

  Air Force, Secretary of the 1–2, 13

  Air Materiel Command (AMC), 19–20

  air samples, 42

  aircraft
    A-26, 112
    B-25, 96
    B-26, 112
    B-29, 93–94
    B-47, 93–94
    B-52, 115
    C-131, 105, 120
    C-47, 30, 64, 93–94
    F-4, 112, 121
    F-51, 96
    KB-29, 93–94
    KC-97, 3, 93–97
    KC-135, 93–94
    L-20, 30, 64, 124
    T-33, 93–94
    X-15, 32

  airman, 76, 86

  Alamogordo Army Airfield, N.M., 37

  Alamogordo, N.M., 32

  Alaska, 47

  Alderson Research Laboratories, Inc., 21, 34, 59–61

  alien(s), 1–3, 5, 11–12, 15, 17, 21, 23, 25, 28–29, 33, 36–39, 46–47,
    55, 61, 75, 78, 96, 109, 113, 118, 123, 125

  ambulance, 76–78, 99, 105, 109, 113–116

  Anderson, Gerald, 14, 60–61, 67.
    _See also_ interview in Appendix C

  Antarctica, 47

  APO (Air Post Office), 82

  APOLLO, 32, 59

  Arizona, 47

  Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), 99

  arms, 62, 97

  Army Air Forces, 1, 13, 76, 81, 90, 96, 113.
    _See also_ U.S. Army Air Forces

  Army Nurse Corps (ANC), 81

  Artesia, N.M., 67

  Ashland, Wisc., 105

  Atlantic Ocean, 112

  autopsies, preliminary, 77, 91, 98

  autopsy, alien, 1

  autopsy protocol, 96–97, 99

  autopsy; ies; ied, 1, 12, 77–78, 94–95, 97, 99

  _Aztec_ (N.M.) _Independent Review_, 84

  Aztec, N.M., 83–85


  B

  Ball, Guy, 19

  Ballard Funeral Home, 76, 97

  ballast, 57

  Balloon Branch, 30, 37, 43–51, 57–58, 61, 65, 102–103, 105–107, 110,
    113–115, 124

  balloon control package, 57, 64

  balloon controllers, 47, 57

  balloon drops, 28

  balloon failure, 58

  balloon, high altitude, 3, 9, 15, 17, 19, 23, 25, 28, 32, 36–38, 43,
    45–49, 52–53, 55, 57–58, 61, 64, 66–67, 91, 96, 100–104, 109, 117, 125, 157

  balloon, polyethylene, 40–42, 58, 66, 106–107, 114–115

  balloon, tethered, 45–46

  balloon train, 5–6, 11–13

  balloon, “Vee”, 47

  balloon, weather, 5, 40

  balsa wood, 6

  bandages, 62, 64

  Barnett, Grady L. “Barney”, 58, 67

  base histories, 94

  Baylor University, 31

  Bean, Alan, 120

  _Behind the Flying Saucers_, 84

  Berliner, Don 8, 60

  Biodynamics of Space Flight, 102.
    _See_ MAN HIGH

  “black sergeant”, 86

  Blankenship, Robert, 49

  Blauw, Alfred S., M.D., 99

  blimp, 60–61, 64, 67

  body bags, 35–36, 91, 96

  Bravest Man, The. _See_ Stapp, John P., Col. (MC), USAF (Ret)

  Britain, 41

  Brooke General Hospital, Ft. Sam Houston, Tex., 83

  Buck Rogers, 111

  Bush, George H. W., President, 32


  C

  Cahn, J. P., 85

  Cambridge, England, 83

  camera(s), 30–31

  canoe, 76, 78, 91, 113, 115

  cargo trailer, 1½-ton, 65

  Carlsbad, N.M., 67

  Carswell AFB, Tex., 81

  caskets, 35, 76

  Chavez, Dennis, Sen. (N.M.), 87

  Cheney Award, 31–32

  _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_, 118

  Clouthier, Charles E., 83.
    _See also_ Signed sworn statement in Appendix B

  cold soaking, 64

  _Collier’s_, 26–27

  Coltman, Charles A., Jr., Col. (MC), USAF (Ret). _See_ Signed sworn
    statement in Appendix B

  commissary, 95, 98

  community relations, 58

  con-men, 85

  _Contributions of Balloon Operations to Research and Development at
    the Air Force Missile Development Center, Holloman AFB, N.Mex., 1947–1958_, 41

  cooperating witnesses, 6

  CORONA, 43

  cosmic ray particles, 42

  cover-up, 8–9, 26, 83, 110, 123, 125

  _Crash at Corona_, 8


  D

  debris, 1, 6, 57

  debris field, 11–12

  Dennis, W. Glenn, 75–78, 81–86, 88–90, 96–97, 99, 110, 114, 197

  Denver, Colo., 44

  Department of Defense, 46

  DISCOVERER XI, 43

  DISCOVERER XII, 43

  DISCOVERER XIII, 43–44

  dispensary, 114–116

  doctor(s), 76–78, 91, 96, 98–99, 110

  dog food, 77

  doll(s), 16, 61

  dolls, plastic, 14, 60–61

  “Dr. Gee”, 85

  drones, remotely-piloted, 15

  drug smuggling, 50

  drug store supervisor, 97

  dummies, anthropomorphic, 3, 9, 14, 16–17, 19–21, 23–26, 28, 32,
    34–36, 38–39, 41, 47, 55–62, 64–65, 67–68, 91, 101, 103, 109, 112,
    123, 156

  dummies, crash test, 17

  dummies, parachute drop, 19–20

  dummy drop, 23, 28, 35, 57, 157

  “Dummy Joe”, 19


  E

  ear, 61

  Earth, 5, 41, 44, 46, 102

  Edwards AFB, Calif., 21, 31

  Eisenhower, Dwight D., President, 112

  ejection, 32

  ejection seat, 20, 21

  El Centro, Calif., 120

  El Paso, Texas, 106

  Elder Statesman of Aviation, 112

  England, 82

  entry vehicles, atmospheric, 42

  escape pods, 78, 113

  EXCELSIOR, 23, 25–26, 32, 38, 55–56, 59, 67–68, 101–105, 107,
    109–110, 112, 124

  Executive Order 11652, 1

  eyes, 77


  F

  Fanton, Eileen M., 1st Lt., USAF, 82–83, 91

  Farmington Drug, 83

  Farmington, N.M., 78, 83–84, 90

  Ferrell, Lee F., Col., USAF, 87, 91, 98

  finger(s), 15, 33, 55, 59–61, 97

  flight surgeon, 31, 107, 116

  flightsuit, 28–29, 63

  flying disc, 5–6, 78.
    _See also_ flying saucer

  flying saucer, 1–3, 5, 29, 36–37, 41, 44, 47, 56, 58–59, 64, 67, 78,
    85, 96, 123, 125

  flying saucer wave [of 1947], 5

  Foster Ranch, 11

  Four Corners [region], 83

  Franklin, Ky., 96

  Frederick, S.D., 102

  Friedman, Stanton T., 8, 60, 76

  Ft. George Wright, Wash., 88

  Ft. Worth AAF, Tex., 81

  Fulgham, Dan D., Col., USAF (Ret), 106–107, 116, 121.
    _See also_ Signed sworn statement in Appendix B

  Fund for UFO Research, The, 58, 60, 186, 213, 215

  funeral home, 77, 95, 97.
    _See also_ Ballard Funeral Home


  G

  GALILEO, 44

  gamma rays, 46

  GAO, 1.
    _See also_ General Accounting Office

  gauges, strain, 21

  GEMINI, 32

  General Accounting Office (GAO), 1, 125

  _General Philosophy and Techniques of Balloon Control_, 48

  generator, MB-19, 65

  Gila Mountains, 124

  Gildenberg, Bernard D. “Duke”, 8–9, 48, 102.
    _See also_ Signed sworn statement in Appendix B

  glass, broken, 76, 114

  Goddard, Joyce, Capt., USAF, 88–89

  Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Championship, 112

  gowns, surgical, 99

  gurneys, hospital, 35

  gyros, rate, 21


  H

  hands, 15, 33, 59–60, 97

  Harmon Trophy, 112

  Hawaii, 43

  head(s), 15, 59, 61, 77, 97, 100, 107, 118–120

  helicopter, 107, 110, 116–117

  helmet, 107

  helmets, pith, 60, 63

  hematoma, 119

  Hepburn, Audrey, 82

  hieroglyphics, 113–114

  Higgins, J.J., 19

  HIGH DIVE, 23, 26, 29–30, 34, 38, 55–56, 59, 63, 67–68, 103

  high-speed track, 17, 21, 38

  hoax, 96, 123

  Hodiak, John, 38

  Holloman AFB, N.M., 8–10, 16–17, 26–27, 30–32, 35, 37–38, 41, 43–44,
    46–47, 49, 52–53, 59, 63–65, 102–103, 105–107, 111, 113–114, 118–120, 124

  Hollywood, 38

  horseback, 30

  human remains pouches, 96.
    _See also_ body bags

  Hynek, J. Allan, 117–118


  I

  identification specialist, 95, 98–99

  instrumentation kit, 30

  insulation bags, 35–36

  intimidation, 61

  irregular [research] methods, 8


  J

  Jagger, Dean, 38–39

  jeep, 15, 56, 65

  Johns Hopkins University, The, 53

  Jorgeson, Ole, A2C, USAF, 107, 113–114.
    _See also_ Signed sworn statement in Appendix B

  Jornada Test Range, 67

  Jupiter, 44


  K

  Kaufman, William C., Capt., USAF, 105–107, 116, 119.
    _See also_ statement in Appendix B

  Kelso, Wash., 96

  Kentucky Air National Guard, 96

  Kittinger, Joseph W., Jr., Capt., USAF, 25–26, 48, 101–107, 109–112,
    117–120, 124.
    _See also_ Signed sworn statement in Appendix B

  Knight, Alice, 15, 58, 67, 213.
    _See also_ interview in Appendix C

  Korea, 88, 121

  Kovatch-Scott, Ethel, Col., USAF (Ret), 89


  L

  Las Vegas AFB, Nev., 111

  legal claims, 58

  _Life_ magazine, 26–27

  lights, strobe, 41

  “little men”, 84–85

  livestock, 58

  London, England, 41, 78, 82

  _Long, Lonely Leap, The_, 26, 110

  Lordsburg, N.M., 104

  Lovell, Jim, 120

  Luftwaffe, 20

  Lutz, Roland H. “Hap”, SSgt., USAF, 117.
    _See also_ Signed sworn statement in Appendix B


  M

  M-342 5-ton wrecker, 29, 58.
    _See also_ wrecker

  M-35 2½-ton cargo truck, 30, 58.
    _See also_ six by six

  M-37 ¾-ton utility truck, 30, 58, 65, 113.
    _See also_ weapons carrier

  M-43 ¾-ton ambulance, 65, 113.
    _See also_ ambulance

  _MAD_ [magazine], 26

  Madison, Guy, 38–39

  Madson, Raymond A., 1st Lt., USAF, 29–30, 63.
    _See also_ Signed sworn statement in Appendix B

  Maltais, Vern, 15, 58–59, 67, 214.
    _See also_ interview in Appendix C

  MAN HIGH, 26, 32, 48, 101–104, 110–112

  MAN IN SPACE SOONEST (MISS), 103

  Marcel, Jesse, Maj., USAF, 6

  Mars, 44

  Martin Marietta Corporation, 44

  masks, surgical, 99

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 103

  McClure, Clifton. 1st Lt., USAF, 102, 104

  McCook Field, Ohio, 19

  MERCURY, 32, 103–104

  “MERCURY Seven”, 32

  meteorological data, 42

  Mexico, 96

  MiG-21, 112

  Military Police, 76

  Milner, Martin, 38

  Minnesota, University of, 31

  missile, ballistic, 5

  missile, intercontinental ballistic (ICBM), Atlas F, 17

  missiles, 5, 13, 16

  missing nurse, 78, 81–83, 87–90, 96–98, 121.
    _See also_ Fanton, Eileen M., 1st Lt., USAF

  Mitchell, Cameron, 39

  ML-307B/AP. _See_ radar targets

  MOGUL, 1–2, 5–6, 9, 11–13, 40, 42, 78

  monkeys, 16

  Moon, 44

  Moore, Charles B., 8–9, 40

  morgue, 97

  morning reports, 81, 88, 89

  mortician, 76, 98–99

  mortuary, 76

  MPs, 77, 116.
    _See also_ Military Police

  Muroc AAF, Calif., 21, 31.
    _See also_ Edwards AFB, Calif.

  museum, 3, 75

  mystery witness, 75


  N

  NASA, 37, 41, 44–46, 59, 103, 111, 120

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 19

  National Aeronautics Association, 112

  National Archives and Record Administration, 81

  National Aviation Hall of Fame, 32

  _National Geographic_, 26

  National Medal of Technology, 32

  National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), 81

  NATO, 111

  NCO [Non-Commissioned Officer], 86

  Nenninger, Richard L., Maj., USAF, 124

  New Brighton, Minn., 102

  New Mexico, 1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 14–15, 17, 19, 23, 30, 34, 36–37, 41–42,
    46–48, 55, 58, 60, 64, 67, 84, 91, 95, 109

  New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, 9

  New York, N.Y., 21, 82

  New York University, 9, 40

  newspaper accounts, 41, 94

  newspaper announcements, 8

  newspapers, 31

  Newton, Silas M., 85

  Nixon, Richard M., President, 1

  nondisclosure agreements, 13

  Nordstrom, Frank B., Capt. (MC), USAF, 83, 89.
    _See also_ Signed sworn statement in Appendix B

  nosecone, 43

  nuclear accidents, 13

  nuclear weapon, 5


  O

  oscillograph, 30

  odor, 77, 91, 95–97

  officers’ club, 77.
    _See also_ Roswell AAF Officers’ Club

  oil field worker, 97.
    _See also_ Dennis, W. Glenn

  _Omni_ magazine, 83

  _On the Threshold of Space_, 26, 38–39, 63

  Orlando, Fla., 112

  “Oscar Eightball”, 21


  P

  Panama, 47

  paper, 5, 8

  paper, aluminized, 6

  parachute, 19, 23, 25–26, 28, 31, 49, 57, 62, 64, 103, 124

  pathologist, 95, 98–99

  pay load, 17, 40–44, 46–48, 53, 57, 61, 64, 66–67, 91

  Pease AFB, N.H., 115

  pediatrician, 76, 78, 81, 83–84, 86, 89–91, 99, 121

  pharmacist, 83

  phone directories, 97

  PIONEER, 44

  police, 49

  polyethylene, 40.
    _See also_ balloon, polyethylene

  polygraph examination, 60

  _Popular Mechanics Magazine_, 26–27

  POW, 112.
    _See also_ Prisoner of War

  _Pre-Astronauts, The_, 110

  predatory animals, 97

  preparation room, 97

  Prisoner of War, 110

  Project 119L, 42

  Project BLUEBOOK, 117

  Project GEMINI, 120

  Project MERCURY, 111

  Project MOGUL. See MOGUL

  property damage, 58, 66


  R

  radar, 6, 41

  radar guided missiles, 42

  radar targets, 6

  radio stations, 31

  Ragsdale, James, 14, 56, 67, 214.
    _See also_ interview in Appendix C

  ramp, 114, 120

  rancher, 5, 37

  Ray, Hilary, 120

  _Recollections of Roswell, Part II_, 58, 60, 186, 213, 215

  reconnaissance, photographic, 42

  redheaded captain, 60, 77, 91, 100, 109–110, 117

  redheaded colonel, 77, 87, 91, 96, 98

  redheaded officer, 77–78, 86

  remote control, 56–57

  research methodology, 11

  reward, 66

  rocket sled, 32, 39

  Rosie O’Grady’s Flying Circus, 112

  Roswell AAF, 6, 12, 15, 37, 45, 75–78, 81–83, 88–91, 116, 121, 197

  Roswell AAF hospital, 12–13, 75–78, 81–83, 86–90, 97, 109

  Roswell AAF Officers’ Club, 81, 87

  Roswell Army Air Field, 3, 5, 12–13, 45, 68.
    _See also_ Roswell AAF

  _Roswell Daily Record_, 8

  Roswell Incident, 1, 3, 5–6, 9, 11–12, 16–17, 21, 37–38, 42, 44–45,
    60, 75, 78, 84–85, 88, 90, 116, 118, 121, 125

  Roswell Industrial Air Center, 37, 44

  Roswell, N.M., 1, 3, 5–6, 8–13, 15, 23, 30, 33–34, 36–37, 44, 47, 49,
    51, 56, 58, 61, 65, 67–68, 76, 78, 83, 95, 97–102, 106, 109, 113,
    187, 215

  _Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert_, 2

  rubber, 5, 8

  Ruidoso, N.M., 124


  S

  SAC. _See_ Strategic Air Command

  Sacramento Mountains, 106, 124

  safety belts, 19, 32

  San Agustin Mountains, 67

  San Agustin Pass, 67

  San Agustin Peak, 67

  San Agustin Plains, 11–12, 58, 67, 109

  _San Francisco Chronicle_, 85

  satellite, 41–44

  saucer, 30.
   _See also_ flying saucer

  Schiff, Steven, Rep. (N.M.), 1

  Schmitt, Donald, 56, 214

  Schock, Grover, Capt., USAF, 105

  Schwaderer, George, 98

  Schwartz, Eugene M., 1st Lt., USAF, 29

  scientists, civilian contract, 13

  Scully, Frank, 84–85

  Selff, Naomi Maria, 81, 88, 90

  sensors, 1

  sensors, acoustical, 5

  sheriff, 5, 49–50

  Sierra Engineering Company, 21, 60

  Sierra Madre, Calif., 21

  “Sierra Sam”, 21, 29

  _Sightings_, 96

  Silver City, N.M., 50

  Simons, David G., Lt. Col. (MC), USAF (Ret), 26, 48, 101–102, 104

  six-by-six, 15, 30, 55–56, 58, 65.
    _See also_ M-35 2½ ton cargo truck

  Slattery, Lucille C., Capt., USAF, 88–89

  Smithsonian Institution, 103

  Society of Automotive Engineers, 32

  _Socorro_ (N.M.) _Defensor Chieftain_, 6, 9

  Socorro, N.M., 8

  Sonic Wind Nᵒ 1, 31

  Southeast Asia, 110, 112

  Soviet, 5

  Soviet Union, 43

  space, 42–44, 46, 102–104, 121

  Space and Missile Command, Test and Evaluation Unit, 46

  space probe, 37, 42, 44
    GALILEO, 44
    PIONEER, 44
    SURVEYOR, 44
    VIKING, 37, 44
    VOYAGER-MARS, 45

  spacecraft, 44, 47

  spaceship, 6, 12, 38, 46, 67

  SPUTNIK I, 43

  St. Catherine’s Academy, Springfield, Ky., 82

  St. Mary Elizabeth’s Hospital, Louisville, Ky., 82

  Stack, Robert, 38

  Stafford, Ariz., 124

  Stapp Car Crash Conferences, 32

  Stapp, John P., Col. (MC), USAF (Ret), 20–21, 31–32, 38–39, 104–105,
    107, 109, 111–112, 117, 120

  star witness, 75

  STARGAZER, 49, 101–105, 109–110, 112, 117–118

  statement, signed sworn, 56, 84

  sticks, 5, 8

  Strategic Air Command (SAC), 94, 115–116

  stretcher, military, 35

  sunglasses, 96

  SURVEYOR, 44

  symbols, 76


  T

  tanker, 95

  tape, 5, 8, 62

  tape, red [duct-type], 29, 62

  targets, missile, 42

  Ted Smith Company, 20–21

  Texas, University of, 31

  Texas, West, 47

  threats, 61

  _Time_, 26–27, 32

  tinfoil, 5, 8

  transducers, 21

  transducers, pressure, 30

  transmitters, radio, 41

  transponders, 41

  truck, pickup, 56, 58

  _True_ magazine, 84–85

  Tularosa Valley [N.M.], 23

  Twentieth Century Fox, 26, 38


  U

  U.S. Air Force, 1, 3, 14, 17, 19, 23, 37, 41, 43, 45–49, 55, 64, 67,
    76, 82, 85–86, 90, 102–105, 111, 123, 125

  U.S. Army, 53, 86, 112

  U.S. Army Air Forces, 1, 5, 8–9, 12, 20, 31, 40, 75–76, 86, 120, 123

  U.S. Army Special Forces, 112

  U.S. Government, 1, 14, 42, 67

  U.S. Government Printing Office, 2

  U.S. Navy, 43, 103–104

  U.S. Navy Aerospace Recovery Facility, 120

  Ubon Air Base, Thailand, 121

  Udorn Air Base, Thailand, 112

  UFO, 2, 5, 9, 12, 37, 41, 44, 47–48, 58–59, 96, 117–118
    _UFO Crash at Roswell, The Truth About the_, 46–47
    UFO enthusiasts, 60
    UFO Museum and Research Center, The International, 3, 75
    UFO organizations, 60
    UFO proponents, 123
    UFO researchers, 81
    UFO theorists, 10, 47–48, 60, 67, 75, 78, 82–83, 85, 96, 113–116,
    120, 123

  unidentified flying object, 41

  Units
    1st Air Commando Wing, 111
    6th Bombardment Wing, 94, 115–116
    47th Air Division, 115
    427th Army Air Forces Base Unit, 81
      Squadron “M”, 81
    509th Aerial Refueling Squadron, 94
    509th Bombardment Wing, 94, 115–116
    555th Tactical Fighter Squadron (“Triple Nickel”), 112, 121
    579th Strategic Missile Squadron, 17
    4036th USAF hospital, 95
    7510th USAF Hospital, 82

  unrecorded interviews, 8

  _Unsolved Mysteries_, 38, 60

  Upper Darby, Pa., 20

  USS Haiti Victory, 43


  V

  Vandenberg AFB, Calif., 43

  _Variety_, 84

  Venus, 44

  Vietnam, Hanoi, 112

  Vietnam, North, 112

  Vietnam, Republic of, 111, 121

  Vietnamese, North, 110

  VIKING, 37, 45

  “Vince and Larry”, 19

  VOYAGER-MARS, 44


  W

  Walker AFB, N.M., 15, 17, 45, 83, 86–89, 91, 93–95, 97–102, 107,
    109–110, 113–117, 120–121

  Walker, Chalma, 89

  Walt Disney World, 112

  Walter, John. SSgt., USAF, 98

  Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 99

  Wasem, Martha, 89

  Washington, D.C., 99

  weapons carrier, 15, 30, 55–56, 58, 65, 113–114.
    _See also_ M-37 ¾-ton utility truck

  weather equipment, 5

  Whenry, Jack, 1st Lt., USAF, 98

  White House, The, 32

  White Sands Missile Range, N.M., 16, 42–43, 45, 67.
    _See also_ White Sands Proving Ground, N.M.

  White Sands National Monument, N.M., 29

  White Sands Proving Ground, N.M., 23, 25, 42, 106, 124

  White, William C., 103–104

  Wickenburg, Ariz., 50

  Williams, Carol, 89

  Wilson, Capt., 77–78, 87, 89

  Wilson, Idabelle M., Maj., USAF (Ret), 90

  Wilson, “Slatts”, 77–78, 87–91

  Wimpole Park, Cambridge, England, 83

  Winzen, Otto C., 101, 105

  Winzen Research International, 102

  World War I, 19

  World War II, 19–20

  wreckage, 76–77, 91, 99, 109, 113–114

  wreckage, bluish-purplish, 76, 78, 91, 113, 115

  wrecker, 15, 29–30, 55–56, 58, 65.
    _See also_ M-342 5-ton wrecker

  Wright Field, Ohio, 19, 21, 77

  Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 12, 77–78, 91, 95, 98, 100, 104–105, 107,
    117, 119–120


Transcriber’s Notes:

 - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
 - Text enclosed by equals is in bold font (=bold=).
 - Blank pages have been removed.
 - Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
 - There are two types of footnotes: numbered footnotes are listed
   in the “Notes” sections, and starred footnotes appear immediately
   following the paragraph they refer to.
 - Text transcribed from images or documents has been left as is.





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