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. 12 …Memo, with Attachments, Edward C. Mishler, HQ AFOSIIHO, for SAF/AAZ, subj: GAO Review on Records…
  • p. 14 …Spilhaus, C.S. Schneider, C.B. Moore, "Controlled-Altitude Free Balloons," Journal of Meteorology, Vol. 5…
  • p. 15 …Spilhaus and Col Marcellus Duffy Capt Albert C. Trakowski and Dr. James Peoples Charles B. Moore…
  • p. 18 …Albert C. Trakowski, a young Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, followed Duffy in the leadership role…
  • p. 27 …of their efforts if they did; and (c) the overall effort was the task and responsibility…
  • p. 33 …AQL, Directorate of Electronics and Special Programs (c) AF/SE, Air Force Safety (d) AF/HO…
  • p. 35 …Mexico alone, involving A-26C, P-51N, C-82A, P-80A, and PQ-14B aircraft; however…
  • p. 41 …Moore; and the military Project Officer, Colonel Albert C. Trakowski. All of these persons were subsequently…
  • p. 45 …actually procured was a 1953-manufactured model"C" as compared to the Model B which was…
  • p. 55 GAO UnitedStal:eS General AecolllltiDC omce WashiDgtoo., D.C; ZOMS National Security and Interaatiooal ..urairS Division…
  • p. 59 …SEE DISTRIBUTION Genoral Ac:c:ounti.nq Offic:a (GAO) Latter Dated February 9, 1994, •aeccrds…
  • p. 67 …investigations, and wreckage/debris retention and disposition; (c) identify~ records (unclassified or classified) related to air…
  • p. 71 …Ref para c above. Although we possess no official records related to the subject matter, we…
  • p. 72 …OBSTE'TRI RTIUTY. ~·_._ Freedom of Information Act Request (S O.S.C. 552} Department of the…
  • p. 82 AIRCRAFT DATE A-26C 24 June 1947 P-51N 10 July 1947 C-82A 12 July…
  • p. 94 …1 Atch \nExtracts from AF tV y Records Schedules ~ . ~ c.L- T {(av.r- t;"RAcE…
  • p. 103 …Pursuant to CLuthorj.ty c.::.r.taincd in Hqs. 8th Air Forco 'f;.:x num~.or…
  • p. 104 …Colonel Lur.:c.s relieved. Lt Colonel William C. Kingsl-1~ who then assumed oommand of…
  • p. 106 …Lewis c. Bohanan. former commanding o£ticer of the 3rd Pho to Lab Unit, was trans…
  • p. 107 …Spurgeon, to coordi- nate with Adjutant; 's Section; Lt Colonel Ray- C. 16.ltcn, to coordinate…
  • p. 108 …Jr., Arrrr:r Air Forces, Washington, D. c., .arrived .for investi- gation of the B-29…
  • p. 113 …Copy of SF 135, 19 Dec 75 c!;i.J&£~{ (fftiJl~. EDWARD C. MISHLER Historian 2…
  • p. 114 …C,R1 .01·'~ c INSTRUCTIONS SIG~ATU~ ~. i OAt ~CORe$ RC:V:> Send original and…
  • p. 127 …51 B-0614 BOLLING FLO 342-51 C-5071 BOLLING FLO 342-52-7089 1 OF8…
  • p. 133 …c.c:::·=-:e::.. }.:~~Or'?! £.x~c::::··f-. W.::.::a::-y ?e!'aOnrJel Div:..a! Office Ci…
  • p. 140 …5:30 AI/Z r/J,.;c51/ C?PP.·~?:2/.? _f/' ..50.4/ t ~ rs <,--:.. () fl…
  • p. 141 …1 nG( - · i ' ~-- 1 '-' !? (/.:_ /_,; l-~~i ., I I ' •· 1 i c - t\.: ' .. 1/Vv • i ....- • i…
  • p. 143 …unc ey !eels Gen C&.nnor. ~ not too sure o! hi.Jr.selt, as two Z…
  • p. 144 …Frank Heckett 1 s aame on it. ·i;c are most anxious to explode this thing…
  • p. 168 …I said it was 700 C at Bolling. I believe now that you mentioned Andrews, it…
  • p. 193 …Graul to Commanding General AMC; Brig Gen Tom C. Rives to Commanding General AAF July 8…
  • p. 195 …COITDllal'lding General, Army Air Forces, Washington 25, D.C. THRU& (AC/A5-4) 1. To…
  • p. 196 …lS:~.-ll, priority lA, include dcttarrd.nation of con:;n-oasional wa~ voloc.C..t.y…
  • p. 197 …obta.!..r~:~bla n.l~l t.u'l·->·9 f ..,~~ • ?' ' ..•. . .:···, l•J..w •. '<,-' ..·.;\;~': ~ ··' .· ..-c '''-0. ..·'..,-- ...... · . .' .. ,,' .. ,• .. ..
  • p. 198 Btuic ltr WLAMC., 9 Sop 47, to CO Al!C, aubj: "Research Op:-s in Ala…
  • p. 205 …NM C/3!_4 I, Charles B Moore, hereby state that Jeffrey Buder, was identified as…
  • p. 206 C/3.#/ model I think that flight #4 was the flight that was launched out of…
  • p. 207 C B. ;vi. I can think of no other explanation for Roswell than one of our…
  • p. 208 …saw one of these targets more than 20 years ago . ) c.a. Moore August 28, 1992
  • p. 211 Statement Albert C. Trakowski June 29, 1994 22
  • p. 213 …VA I, i\lbert C. Trakowski, hereby state that Jeffrey Butler, was identified as a Colonel…
  • p. 224 …I think this was a C-45. We did, indeed, have B-17's attached to…
  • p. 228 …we still carried microphones aloft and a C-54 orbited overhead and followed the balloons out…
  • p. 230 …June 1st, "C-47 with Moore, Schneider and others from NYU, also Irewin, Minton, Olson, NYU…
  • p. 247 …Trakowski went over in a c-54 and picked them up. Also radiosonde receivers set up…
  • p. 249 …It looks like Maryalls' "C-54, located on Tulerosa Range by air. Out PM with several…
  • p. 258 …HT SST, whatever that is." July 8th. "C-54 off about 10:30 with 23 people…
  • p. 263 …I had forgotten, but he reminded me that he had gone on the C-54 to…
  • p. 264 …what sticks in my mind as either c-s or an M-5 radar. I knew…
  • p. 266 …A~ I say, these c~me out right at the end of the war. The warrant…
  • p. 268 …This is the c Model. It doesn't show the reinforcements. Q: The young lady I…
  • p. 269 …I thought the B Model was a 1947 vintage and assumed, wrongly so, that the C…
  • p. 271 24 Interview Col Jeffrey Butler and 1st Lt James McAndrew with Col Albert C. Trakowski, USAF…
  • p. 278 …balloon launch-Maj. W. D. Pritchard, Maj. C. W. Mangum, Lieutenant Siegal, and a Capt. L…
  • p. 287 …ltfttf} for ••• ftlu,c.hin1 thwtc. C. au nit} C~r~hff • I Ac.te d…
  • p. 299 …1675 Ms Ruth Fiornartto DSN 992-5781 c) Westinghouse Electronics History Museum, Baltimore MD Mr Robert…
  • p. 303 r--·-- =------------------1-~·;-~ 1 ".::' ,-k-;'~/ r"'\\ _.---® / ~r /~ .L c:.::;?;: /~~~\@ ® /./:/ ' ~ ~,('KMSFMIIL~W/TN r ~/ ;-/~ _ ~@.T,11'£ .IN!'VSIJ7…
  • p. 307 …other· icial, non-judicial, or administrative proceedings. __ c. I have the right to consult with a…
  • p. 308 …70 U.S C BOis. 44 U.S.C 3101. and EO 9397 PRINCIPAL PURPOSES: usea…
  • p. 320 …Crane, spring 1946-July 1946; Col Marcellus Duffy, August 1946-January, 1947; and Capt Albert C…
It was also decided, particularly after a review of the above popular literature,
that no specific attempt would be made to try to refute, point by point, the
numerous claims made in the various publications. Many of these claims appear
to be hearsay, undocumented, taken out of context, self-serving, or otherwise
dubious. Additionally, many of the above authors are not even in agreement over
various claims. Most notable of the confusing and now ever-changing claims is
the controversy over the date(s) of the alleged incident, the exact location(s) of the
purported debris, and the extent of the wreckage. Such discrepancies in claims
made the search much more difficult by greatly expanding the volume of records
that had to be searched.
An example of trying to deal with questionable claims is illustrated by the
following example: One of the popular books mentioned that was reviewed
claimed that the writers had submitted the names and serial numbers of "over
two dozen" personnel stationed at Roswell in July, 1947, to the Veterans Adminis-
tration and the Defense Department to confirm their military service. They then
listed eleven of these persons by name and asked the question: "Why does neither
the Defense Department nor the Veteran's Administration have records of any of
these men when we can document that each served at Roswell Army Air Field."
That claim sounded serious so SAF I AAZD was tasked to check these eleven
names in the Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. Using only the names (since
the authors did not list the serial numbers) the researcher quickly found records
readily identifiable with eight of these persons. The other three had such common
names that there could have been multiple possibilities. Interestingly, one of the
listed "missing" persons had a casualty report in his records reflecting that he
died in 1951, while the writers claimed to have interviewed him (or a person of
the exact same name) in 1990.
While the historical document search was in progress, it was decided to attempt
to locate and interview several persons identified as still living who could
possibly answer questions generated by the research. This had never been
officially done before, although most of the persons contacted reported that they
had also been contacted in the past by some of the listed authors or other private
researchers. In order to counter possible future arguments that the persons
interviewed were still "covering up" material because of prior security oaths, the
interviewees were provided with authorization from either the Secretary of the
Air Force or the Senior Security Official of the Air Force that would officially
allow discussion of classified information, if applicable, or free them from any
prior restriction in discussing the matter, if such existed. Again, the focus was on
interviewing persons that could address specific issues raised by research and no
consideration was given to try and locate every alleged witness claimed to have
been contacted by the various authors. For example, one of the interviewees
thought vital to obtain an official signed, sworn statement from was Sheridan
Cavitt, Lt Col, USAF (Retired), who is the last living member of the three persons
universally acknowledged to have recovered material from the Foster Ranch.
Others were also interviewed as information developed (discussed in detail later).
Additionally, in some cases survivors of deceased persons were also contacted in
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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.