Documents / Report
The Roswell Report: Case Closed is a 1997 Headquarters United States Air Force report by Captain James McAndrew that follows up the 1994 Air Force report on the Roswell Incident. It concludes that the 1947 debris came from Project MOGUL balloons. It also says the reported alien bodies were probably anthropomorphic dummies dropped from high altitude balloons. Claims of bodies at the Roswell hospital most likely combined a 1956 KC-97 crash and a 1959 manned balloon mishap.
“Project 1947”19 pages
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.
Fig.49. Holloman Balloon Branch personnel prepare a polyethelyne 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) Report, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 232 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.