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Dr. Athelstan F. Spilhaus (left) and Col. Marcellus Duffy appear here serving as members of HQ USAAF Liaison Group to the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Saipan, in 1944. Photo Courtesy of Mrs. Emily Duffy.
Dr. Athelstan F. Spilhaus, Director of Research at New York University, oversaw but had no direct involvement in the activities of the NYU Balloon Group or the alleged incident. He did, however, serve on various high-level panels which set military and national policy, including the USAF Scientific Advisory Board (1953–1957). When asked, for the purpose of this report—and released from any security oaths he may have taken—if he ever had knowledge of a recovery of an extraterrestrial vehicle or its occupants by the U.S. Government, his unqualified response was “no.”
Col. Marcellus Duffy, a highly capable scientific research officer, was a MOGUL project officer. Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay, Deputy Chief of Air Staff for Research and Development, turned to Colonel Duffy to make adjustments to MOGUL after the project’s progress was determined to be inadequate (see App 8).