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
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.
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
[figure]
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)
[figure]
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)
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