Documents / FOIA release

roswell

Office of the Secretary of Defense · 993 pages · text from the file's own layer

The Roswell Report: Fact versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert was published in 1995 by Headquarters United States Air Force. It was written in response to Representative Steven H. Schiff's request and a General Accounting Office audit, and it contains Col. Richard L. Weaver's report and 1st Lt. James McAndrew's synopsis, along with attachments, appendices and photographs. The report says researchers found no evidence of an extraterrestrial craft or crew. It concludes that the 1947 debris came from a Project MOGUL balloon train.

  • p. 6 …Special thanks go to Athelstan and Kathy Spilhaus, Charles and Wilma Moore, Col. Albert and Jean…
  • p. 12 …June 3, 1994 21. Statement, Charles B. Moore, June 8, 1994, and Hieroglyphic and Balloon Train…
  • p. 13 …8, 1946 10. Hieroglyphic Drawing, Charles B. Moore, August 28, 1992 11. Alamogordo News, "Fantasy of…
  • p. 14 …F. Spilhaus, C.S. Schneider, C.B. Moore, "Controlled-Altitude Free Balloons," Journal of Meteorology, Vol…
  • p. 15 …Trakowski and Dr. James Peoples Charles B. Moore U.S. Army GR-3 Sound Ranging Set…
  • p. 18 …contributions to Antarctic research; and Charles B. Moore, Project Engineer at NYU and an atmospheric physicist…
  • p. 29 …crashed UFO. Similarly, two authors, William L. Moore and Charles Berlitz, also engaged in research which…
  • p. 31 …The Roswell Incident (1980) by William Moore and Charles Berlitz; "Crashed Saucers: Evidence in Search of…
  • p. 41 …Additionally, transcripts of the interview with Moore and Trakowski are also included (equipment malfunctioned during the…
  • p. 42 …The interview with Professor Moore indicated that these gaps were the unlogged "service flights." Professor Moore…
  • p. 43 …The material and a "black box," described by Cavitt, was, in Moore's scientific opinion, most…
  • p. 44 …device. These persons included Professor Charles B. Moore, Robert Todd, and coincidentally, Karl Pflock, a researcher…
  • p. 45 …An actual device was also obtained for study with the assistance of Professor Moore. (The example…
  • p. 48 …Signed Sworn Statement of Moore, June 8, 1994 22. Signed Sworn Statement of Trakowski, June 29…
  • p. 171 …Berlitz and Moore? MC: Now, you see, he was here at the house. I've heard…
  • p. 185 …Was it with Berlitz and Moore? SC: Our son sent this book to us. RW: This…
  • p. 201 …I recommend you check with Charlie Moore for those details. Many of the projects I just…
  • p. 203 21 Statement, with Hieroglyphic and Balloon Train Drawings Charles B. Moore June 8, 1994
  • p. 205 …NM C/3!_4 I, Charles B Moore, hereby state that Jeffrey Buder, was identified as…
  • p. 206 …it was in about 1980 that William Moore contacted me and asked questions about balloons making…
  • p. 208 …saw one of these targets more than 20 years ago . ) c.a. Moore August 28, 1992
  • p. 213 …Charlie Moore was primarily responsible for development of the constant level balloons for lifting the instrument…
  • p. 215 …Col Jeffrey Butler and 1st Lt James McAndrew with Professor Charles B. Moore June 8, 1994
  • p. 217 Transcript from 8 June 94, Interview with Professor Charles Moore (A) Professor Charles Moore Project Engineer…
  • p. 218 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 you've talked with also. Colonel Weaver talked with Sheridan Cavitt…
  • p. 219 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 not leave any creases. This material looks like it would almost…
  • p. 220 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 Q: we have tried to reach Colonel Trakowski, and he has…
  • p. 221 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 5 A: .•. much of which we can copy and make it…
  • p. 222 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 6 Q: w.w. Brazel mentions eyelets which appear in the…
  • p. 223 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 A: A guy named Sam Kay formed a company and it…
  • p. 224 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 A: That's about two mil polyethylene here. Q: Obviously, you…
  • p. 225 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 At the same time, then Captain Fletcher was assigned ••• Duffy had…
  • p. 226 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 strings from these four corners. Obviously, trying to take something that…
  • p. 227 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 11 balloons out of a Goodyear film called pliofilm. It was…
  • p. 228 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 12 this manual in '44. I was commissioned in September of…
  • p. 229 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 13 A: No, we didn't. Q: Not a letter or…
  • p. 230 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 Q: The early nylon line, would it have degraded, such as…
  • p. 231 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 15 June 4th, "Out to Tulerosa Range and fired charges between…
  • p. 232 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 16 have ambiguities. You don't know if it went up…
  • p. 233 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 17 A: What the wind did. The description that Brazel gives…
  • p. 234 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 18 executive officer of a flight detachment at Newark Airport. I…
  • p. 235 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 Q: He was unsuccessful? A: He was unsuccessful. Q: What method…
  • p. 236 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 Q: How did you come in possession of it? A: Todd…
  • p. 237 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 21 It's of interest, in the Holloman report there's…
  • p. 238 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 22 A: No. we were the balloonists. This was all ground…
  • p. 239 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 23 Here's a nice paper that came through courtesy of…
  • p. 240 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 Q: No. A: He worked for a Tracer lab and is…
  • p. 241 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 A: There's a gray area here. I was certainly aware…
  • p. 242 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 A: Oh, yeah. I visited people in Washington. Q: Just for…
  • p. 243 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 Q: But you had them available for study, but you didn…
  • p. 244 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 28 Q: so is that pretty much maybe a condition of…
  • p. 245 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 Q: The service flights were which ones? A: The ones carrying…
  • p. 246 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 "Excluded are those two tests' special gear in launches which were…
  • p. 247 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 31 Q: so you made your plan in New York to…
  • p. 248 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/~/94 32 from north hangar and from Cloudcroft for awhile. Nothing from Roswell…
  • p. 249 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 A: By a pressure switch. Q: were those tracked? Was there…
  • p. 250 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 34 miles. Then he had Don Edmondson went to Silver City…
  • p. 251 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 35 A: Brush recorders. (Strip charge) recorders feeding out at high…
  • p. 252 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 Brazel gives the impression that it is the smoky rubber of…
  • p. 253 PROFESSOR MOORE - 6/8/94 A: As I say, I find it hard to think that…
(although some researchers claim there were as many as 800 sightings during that
period). Interestingly, the "Roswell Incident" was not considered one of these
1947 events until the 1978-1980 time frame. There is no dispute, however, that
something happened near Roswell in July, 1947, since it was reported in a number
of contemporary newspaper articles, the most famous of which were the July 8
and July 9 editions of the Roswell Daily Record. The July 8 edition reported "RAAF
Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch In Roswell Region," while the next day's
edition reported, "Ramey Empties Roswell Saucer" and "Harassed Rancher Who
Located 'Saucer' Sorry He Told About It."
The first story reported that the Intelligence Officer of the 509th Bomb Group,
stationed at Roswell Army Air Field, Major Jesse A. Marcel, had recovered a
"flying disc" from the range lands of an unidentified rancher in the vicinity of
Roswell and that the disc had been "flown to higher headquarters." That same
story also reported that a Roswell couple claimed to have seen a large unidenti-
fied object fly by their home on July 2, 1947.
The July 9 edition of the paper noted that Brigadier General Roger Ramey,
Commander of the Eighth Air Force at Forth Worth, Texas, stated that upon
examination the debris recovered by Marcel was determined to be a weather
balloon. The wreckage was described as a " ... bundle of tinfoil, broken wood
beams, and rubber remnants of a balloon.... " The additional story of the
"harassed rancher" identified him as W.W. Brazel of Lincoln County, New
Mexico. He claimed that he and his son, Vernon, found the material on June 14,
1947, when they "came upon a large area of bright wreckage made up of rubber
strips, tinfoil, a rather tough paper, and sticks." He picked up some of the debris
on July 4 and " ... the next day he first heard about the flying discs and won-
dered if what he had found might have been the remnants of one of these."
Brazel subsequently went to Roswell on July 7 and contacted the Sheriff, who
apparently notified Major Marcel. Major Marcel and "a man in plain clothes" then
accompanied Brazel home to pick up the rest of the pieces. The article further
related that Brazel thought that the material:
12
... might have been as large as a table top. The balloon which held
it up, if that is 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

Cases discussed

About this file

FOIA release, from the osd collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 993 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.