Documents / FOIA release
This July 1994 Department of the Air Force package, from SAF/AAZ to the Secretary of the Air Force, covers a report written to support a General Accounting Office audit requested by Congressman Steven Schiff. The Air Force searched its offices, archives and records centers and interviewed witnesses, including Sheridan Cavitt. It found no evidence of an extraterrestrial event, alien bodies or a cover-up. It concludes that the debris recovered near Roswell in 1947 most likely came from a Project MOGUL balloon.
“Roswell”27 pages
REPORT OF AIR FORCE RESEARCH REGARDING THE 11ROSWELL INCIDENT" EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The "Roswell Incident" refers to an event that supposedly happened in July, 1947, wherein the Army Air Forces (AAF) allegedly recovered remains of a crashed "flying disc" near Roswell, New Mexico. In February, 1994, the General Account- ing Office (GAO), acting on the request of a New Mexico Congressman, initiated an audit to attempt to locate records of such an incident and to determine if records regarding it were properly handled. Although the GAO effort was to look at a number of government agencies, the apparent focus was on the United States Air Force (USAF). SAF I AAZ, as the Central Point of Contact for the GAO in this matter, initiated a systematic search of current Air Force offices as well as numerous archives and records centers that might help explain this matter. Research revealed that the "Roswell Incident" was not even considered a UFO event until the 1978-1980 time frame. Prior to that, the incident was dismissed because the AAF originally identified the debris recovered as being that of a weather balloon. Subsequently, various authors wrote a number of books claiming that not only was debris from an alien spacecraft recovered, but also the bodies of the craft's alien occupants. These claims continue to evolve today and the Air Force is now routinely accused of engaging in a "cover-up" of this supposed event. The research located no records at existing Air Force offices that indicated any "cover-up" by the USAF or any indication of such a recovery. Consequently, efforts were intensified by Air Force researchers at numerous locations where records for the period in question were stored. The records reviewed did not reveal any increase in operations, security, or any other activity in July, 1947, that indicated any such unusual event may have occurred. Records were located and thoroughly explored concerning a then-Top Secret balloon project, designed to attempt to monitor Soviet nuclear tests, known as Project MOGUL. Additionally, several surviving project personnel were located and interviewed, as was the only surviving person who recovered debris from the original Roswell site in 1947 and the former officer who initially identified the wreckage as a balloon. Comparison of all information developed or obtained indicated that the material recovered near Roswell was consistent with a balloon device and most likely from one of the MOGUL balloons that had not been previously recovered. Air Force research efforts did not disclose any records of the recovery of any "alien" bodies or extraterrestrial materials. 9
FOIA release, from the osd collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 31 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.