The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert

Flights 54, 56 and 60: On these three flights, made in April and May, 1948, fixed-leak ballast losses were used to keep a .001" polyethylene balloon aloft, but no barograph record of pressure is available. From the descent points (Figure 19) and the radiosonde data which was received it is believed that the ballast flows of about 300 grams per hour were adequate. [figure] Figure 19 On both Flights 56 and 60 a very light load was lifted, and the floating level in each case was over 60,000 feet MSL. Light winds were encountered in both cases, and a reversal from Westerlies to Easterlies was experienced -26-