Chapter V: Section ONE: Flying Saucer Crashes and Alien Bodies

The most puzzling and intriguing element of the complex series of events now known as the Roswell Incident, are the alleged sightings of alien bodies. The bodies turned what, for many years, was just another flying saucer story, into what many UFO proponents claim is the best case for extraterrestrial visitation of Earth. The importance of bodies and the assumptions made as to their origin is illustrated in a passage from a popular Roswell book:

_Crashed saucers are one thing, and could well turn out to be
futuristic American or even foreign aircraft or missiles. But
alien bodies are another matter entirely, and hardly subject to
misinterpretation._[3]

The 1994 Air Force report determined that project MOGUL was responsible for the 1947 events. MOGUL was an experimental attempt to acoustically detect suspected Soviet nuclear weapon explosions and ballistic missile launches.[4] MOGUL utilized acoustical sensors, radar reflecting targets and other devices attached to a train of weather balloons over 600 feet long. Claims that the U.S. Army Air Forces recovered a “flying disc” in 1947, were based primarily on the lack of identification of the radar targets, an element of weather equipment used on the long MOGUL balloon train. The oddly constructed radar targets were found by a New Mexico rancher during the height of the first U.S. flying saucer wave in 1947.[5] The rancher brought the remnants of the balloons and radar targets to the local sheriff after he allegedly learned of the broadcasted reports of flying discs. However, following some initial confusion at Roswell Army Air Field, the “flying disc” was soon identified by Army Air Forces officials as a standard radar target.[6]

From 1947 until the late 1970s, the Roswell Incident was essentially a non-story. The reports that existed contain only descriptions of mundane materials that originated from the Project MOGUL balloon train—“tinfoil, paper, tape, rubber, and sticks.”[7] The first claim of “bodies” appeared in the late 1970s, with additional claims made during the 1980s and 1990s. These claims were usually based on anecdotal accounts of second- and third-hand witnesses collected by UFO proponents as much as 40 years after the alleged incident. The same anecdotal accounts that referred to bodies also described massive field operations conducted by the U.S. military to recover crash debris from a supposed extraterrestrial spaceship.

A technique used by some UFO authors to collect anecdotal corroboration for their theories was to solicit cooperating witnesses through newspaper announcements. For example, one such solicitation appeared in the _Socorro_ (N.M.) _Defensor Chieftain_ on November 4, 1992, on behalf of Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, the authors of the book _Crash at Corona_. This request solicited persons to provide information about the supposed crashes of alien spacecraft in the Socorro area.[8][*]

[*] Socorro, N.M. is situated at the northwest boundary of White
Sands Missile Range, the largest military test range in the United
States. Since the 1940s, White Sands and the surrounding areas of
New Mexico have been the site of a high volume of military test
and evaluation activity, including the launch and recovery of
anthropomorphic dummies carried aloft by high altitude balloons.

_Harassed Rancher who Located ‘Saucer’ Sorry He Told About It_

W. W. Brazel, 48, Lincoln county rancher living 30 miles south east
of Corona, today told his story of finding what the army at first
described as a flying disk, but the publicity which attended his
find caused him to add that if he ever found anything else short of
a bomb he sure wasn’t going to say anything about it.

Brazel was brought here late yesterday by W. E. Whitmore, of radio
station KGFL, had his picture taken and gave an interview to the
Record and Jason Kellahin, sent here from the Albuquerque bureau
of the Associated Press to cover the story. The picture he posed
for was sent out over AP telephoto wire sending machine specially
set up in the Record office by R. D. Adair, AP wire chief sent here
from Albuquerque for the sole purpose of getting out his picture
and that of sheriff George Wilcox, to whom Brazel originally gave
the information of his find.

Brazel related that on June 14 he and an 8-year old son, Vernon
were about 7 or 8 miles from the ranch house of the J. B. Foster
ranch, which he operates, when they came upon a large area of
bright wreckage made up on rubber strips, tinfoil, a rather tough
paper and sticks.

At the time Brazel was in a hurry to get his round made and he did
not pay much attention to it. But he did remark about what he had
seen and on July 4 he, his wife, Vernon and a daughter Betty, age
14, went back to the spot and gathered up quite a bit of the debris.

The next day he first heard about the flying disks, and he wondered
if what he had found might be the remnants of one of these.

Monday he came to town to sell some wool and while here he went to
see sheriff George Wilcox and “whispered kinda confidential like”
that he might have found a flying disk.

Wilcox got in touch with the Roswell Army Air Field and Maj. Jesse
A. Marcel and a man in plain clothes accompanied him home, where
they picked up the rest of the pieces of the “disk” and went to his
home to try to reconstruct it.

According to Brazel they simply could not reconstruct it at all.
They tried to make a kite, out of it, but could not do that and
could not find any way to put it back together so that it would fit.

Then Major Marcel brought it to Roswell and that was the last he
heard of it until the story broke that he had found a flying disk.

Brazel said that he did not see it fall from the sky and did not
see it before it was torn up, so he did not know the size or shape
it might have been, but he thought it might have been about as
large as a table top. The balloon which held it up, if that was how
it worked, must have been about 12 feet long, he felt, measuring
the distance by the size of the room in which he sat. The rubber
was smoky gray in color and scattered over an area about 200 yards
in diameter.

When the debris was gathered up the tinfoil, paper, tape, and
sticks made a bundle about three feet long and 7 or 8 inches thick,
while the rubber made a bundle about 18 or 20 inches long and about
8 inches thick. In all, he estimated, the entire lot would have
weighed maybe five pounds.

There was no sign of any metal in the area which might have been
used for an engine and no sign of any propellers of any kind,
although at least one paper fin had been glued onto some of the
tinfoil.

There were no words to be found anywhere on the instrument,
although there were letters on some of the parts. Considerable
scotch tape and some tape with flowers printed upon it had been
used in the construction.

No strings or wire were to be found but there were some eyelets in
the paper to indicate that some sort of attachment may have been
used.

Brazel said that he had previously found two weather observation
balloons on the ranch, but that what he found this time did not in
any way resemble either of these.

“I am sure what I found was not any weather observation balloon.”
he said. “But if I find anything else, besides a bomb they are
going to have a hard time getting me to say anything about it.”]

In response to the newspaper announcement, two scientists central to the actual explanation of the “Roswell” events, Professor Charles B. Moore, a former U.S. Army Air Forces contract engineer, and Bernard D. Gildenberg, retired Holloman AFB Balloon Branch Physical Science Administrator and Meteorologist, came forward with pertinent information.[9] According to Moore and Gildenberg, when they met with the authors their explanations that some of the Air Force projects they participated in were most likely responsible for the incident, they were summarily dismissed. The authors even went so far as to suggest that these distinguished scientists were participants in a multifaceted government cover-up to conceal the truth about the Roswell Incident.

_Authors seek UFO witnesses_

Co-authors of a major book on the 1947 crash of at least one
alien spacecraft in the New Mexico desert will be at the Golden
Manor Motel in Socorro on Monday, Nov. 16 to seek out additional
witnesses to these events.

Nuclear physicist Stanton T. Friedman and aviation/science writer
Don Berliner, whose “Crash at Corona” is now in its second
printing, want to meet with people having knowledge of the 1947
crashes.

Their book, being published in August by Paragon House of New York,
is being prepared for a made-for-TV movie. It is the story of the
discovery, retrieval, shipping and cover-up of what the authors
call the most important scientific discovery of the past thousand
years.

It is based on dozens of interviews with first- and second-hand
civilian and ex-military witnesses to various parts of what is
referred to as a very complex series of events.

In order to strengthen their case for government knowledge of what
they call “the truth behind almost 50 years of UFO sightings,” the
authors are seeking out additional, reliable witnesses. It remains
their policy to honor requests to keep the names of witnesses
private.

For more information, contact Don Berliner, 1202 S. Washington St.,
Alexandria. VA., 22314 (703-548-0405); or Stanton T. Friedman, 79
Pembroke Crescent, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 2V1, Canada (506
457-0232).

Witnesses are invited to call either author collect or to make
arrangements to meet them at any of their stops in New Mexico,
which include the cities of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces,
Alamogordo and Roswell.]

Since many of the Roswell accounts and allegations were collected by irregular methods and are not specifically documented, the series of events as alleged by UFO theorists has become very complex and requires clarification. Therefore, the following section will briefly examine some of the more confusing elements of the Roswell stories, specifically, the multiple crash sites and complex scenarios, in order to facilitate an objective analysis of actual events.

1.1
The “Crash Sites,” Scenarios, and Research Methods

The “Crash Sites”

From 1947 until the late 1970s, the Roswell Incident was confined to one alleged crash site. This site, located on the Foster Ranch approximately 75 miles northwest of the city of Roswell, was the actual landing site of a Project MOGUL balloon train in June 1947.[10] The MOGUL landing site is referred to in popular Roswell literature as the “debris field.”

In the 1970s, the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, additional witnesses came forward with claims and descriptions of two other alleged crash sites. One of these sites was supposedly north of Roswell, the other site was alleged to have been approximately 175 miles northwest of Roswell in an area of New Mexico known as the San Agustin Plains.[11] What distinguished the two new crash sites from the original debris field were accounts of alien bodies.

The Scenarios

[Sidenote: “_It must be emphasized that the claims of bodies only
became part of the Roswell Incident after 1978, when they were
erroneously linked to the July 1947 retrieval of Project MOGUL
components._”]

UFO enthusiasts have attempted to explain the obvious contradiction of multiple impact sites involving only one alien craft through the introduction of complicated scenarios. These scenarios have become increasingly convoluted since the proponents of each crash site must make allowances to have “their” flying saucer at the correct time and place—the actual MOGUL balloon train landing site in early July, 1947—in order to “fit” with the rest of the story. The actual Project MOGUL landing site, 75 miles northwest of Roswell, lends credibility, and more importantly establishes a _time frame_, for the other accounts that include reports of bodies. Flying saucer enthusiasts use the documented presence of U.S. Army Air Forces personnel at the MOGUL site in July 1947, who were there to retrieve the MOGUL balloon train, to provide the nucleus of unrelated and much later accounts that include reports of “bodies.” It must be emphasized that the claims of “bodies” only became part of the Roswell Incident after 1978, when they were erroneously linked to the July 1947 retrieval of Project MOGUL components.

In general, “Roswell Incident” scenarios claim that a disabled alien craft momentarily touched down at the site 75 miles northwest of Roswell, leaving behind parts of the spaceship (material that has been subsequently identified as components of a MOGUL balloon train) to create the original “debris field.” The scenarios further contend that the damaged craft again became airborne and flew to its final crash site, at either the location north of Roswell or 175 miles northwest of Roswell on the San Agustin Plains.

Regardless of the dispute over the location, an element common to most scenarios was that, once recovered, the bodies were supposedly transported to the hospital at Roswell Army Air Field for autopsy. Also common to these theories is that the bodies were later shipped from Roswell AAF to another facility, usually Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (or a host of other facilities—this is another area of further disagreement among UFO theorists) for further evaluation and ultimate deep-freeze storage.

Research Methods

In an attempt to untangle this collection of complicated assertions and determine if there was any validity to the reports of bodies, Air Force researchers faced the task of sorting through and examining anecdotal testimony of hundreds of witnesses. However, a large number of the accounts were eliminated by applying previously established facts to the testimonies. The July 1994 report to the Secretary of the Air Force clearly presented and documented these facts:

_a._ The U.S. Army Air Forces did not recover an extraterrestrial
vehicle and alien crew. This conclusion was based on extensive
research that included a thorough review of both classified
and unclassified materials at record depositories, archives,
libraries and research facilities throughout the nation. Of the
millions of pages of material reviewed, there was no mention of
any activities that even tangentially suggested such an event.
Additionally, former and retired Air Force members and civilian
contract scientists were located and released from any possible
nondisclosure agreements they may have entered into regarding
past classified activities. This release allowed them to freely
discuss with Air Force researchers, or any other persons,
information related to this issue. These releases were issued at
the express written direction of the Secretary of the Air Force.
Interviews with these persons yielded no information supporting
extraterrestrial claims or any other unusual activities.

_b._ The reports of bodies were not associated with Project MOGUL.
The MOGUL balloon train did not, was not designed to, nor could it
carry passengers. Neither did it carry hazardous materials that
would have caused injury, death, or mutilation to persons who may
have come in contact with any of its components.

_c._ Actual events, if any, that inspired reports of bodies did
not occur in 1947. Based on extensive examinations of U.S. Army
Air Forces activities in 1947, no evidence was found to support
allegations that the Army Air Forces was involved in any uncommon
operations other than the retrieval of the MOGUL balloon train
in the Roswell area in July 1947. Examination of research and
development projects, aircraft crashes, errant missiles and
possible nuclear accidents yielded no information to support a 1947
claim.

In light of these documented facts, the hundreds of anecdotal accounts were reduced to a few. Eliminated were accounts that were likely descriptions of materials known to be part of the Project MOGUL balloon train and accounts describing transportation of these materials.

From the remaining testimony, Air Force researchers developed the following set of working hypotheses to assist in identifying the actual events, if any, matching those described by the witnesses.

_a._ Due to the number and great detail provided in some of the
accounts, it was likely that some event(s) actually did occur.

_b._ Due to the many similarities of the two crash site
descriptions and the considerable distance between them, it was
likely that more than one event with similar characteristics was
the basis for these accounts.

_c._ Since the account of bodies at the Roswell Army Air Field
hospital did not contain elements similar to reports of the two
crash sites, it was likely that this account was unrelated to
the crash site accounts. (The hospital account will be addressed
separately in Section Two of this report.)

The remaining testimony was examined with regard both to the facts and to working hypotheses to determine if there were common threads or links connecting any of the accounts. If similarities were found, the next step was to determine if they were related to an actual event. Finally, if there were actual event(s), were they part of U.S. Air Force or U.S. Government activities?

Common Threads

Careful examination of the testimony revealed that primary witnesses of the two “crashed saucer” locations contained descriptions common to both. These areas of commonality contained both general and detailed characteristics. However, before continuing, the accounts were carefully examined to determine if the testimony related by individual witnesses were of their own experiences and not a recitation of information given by other persons. While many aspects of the remaining accounts were judged to be similar, other aspects were found to be significantly different. The accounts on which the analysis is based were determined, in all likelihood, to have been independently obtained or observed by the witnesses.

=General Similarities.= The testimony presented for both crash sites generally followed the same sequence of events. The witnesses were in a rural and isolated area of New Mexico. In the course of their travels in this area, they came upon a crashed aerial vehicle. The witnesses then proceeded to the area of the crash to investigate and at some distance they observed strange looking “beings” that appeared to be crewmembers of the vehicle. Soon thereafter, a convoy of military vehicles and soldiers arrived at the site. Military personnel allegedly instructed the civilians to leave the area and forget what they had seen. As the witnesses left the area, the military personnel commenced with a recovery operation of the crashed aerial vehicle and “crew.”

=Detailed Similarities.= Along with general similarities in the testimonies, there also existed a substantial amount of similar detailed descriptions of the “aliens,” and the military vehicles and procedures allegedly used to recover them.

The first obvious similarity was the descriptions of the aliens. Mr. Gerald Anderson, an alleged witness of events at the site 175 miles northwest of Roswell, recalled, “I thought they were plastic dolls.”[12] Mr. James Ragsdale, an alleged witness of the site north of Roswell, stated, “They were using dummies in those damned things.”[13] Another alleged witness to a “crash” north of Roswell, Frank J. Kaufman, recalled that there was “talk” that perhaps an “experimental plane with dummies in it” was the source of the claims.[14]

Additional similarities were also noted. Mr. Vern Maltais, a secondhand witness of the site 175 miles northwest of Roswell, described the hands of the “aliens” as, “They had four fingers.”[15] Anderson characterized the hands as, “They didn’t have a little finger.”[16] He also described the heads of the aliens as “completely bald”[17] while Maltais described them as “hairless.”[18] The uniforms of the aliens were independently described by Anderson as “one-piece suits ... a shiny silverish-gray color”[19] and by Maltais as “one-piece and gray in color.”[20] The date of this event was also not precisely known. Maltais recalled that it may have occurred “around 1950”[21] and another secondhand witness, Alice Knight stated, “I don’t recall the date.”[22]

Witnesses of different sites also used the terms “wrecker”[23] and “six-by-six”[24] when they described the military vehicles present at the different recovery sites. One witness described seeing a “medium sized Jeep/truck”[25] and another witness described seeing a “weapons carrier”[26] (a weapons carrier is a mid-sized Jeep-type truck).

The Research Profile

When the general and specific similarities were combined, a profile emerged describing the event or activity that might have been observed. The profile, which contains elements common to at least two, and in some cases, all of the accounts, established a set of criteria used to determine what the witnesses may have observed. The profile is as follows:

_a._ An activity that, if viewed from a distance, would appear
unusual.

_b._ An activity of which the exact date is not known.

_c._ An activity that took place in two rural areas of New Mexico.

_d._ An activity that involved a type of aerial vehicle with dolls
or dummies that had four fingers, were bald, and wore one-piece
gray suits.

_e._ An activity that required recovery by numerous military
personnel and an assortment of vehicles that included a wrecker, a
six-by-six, and a weapons carrier.

Based on this profile, research was begun to identify events or activities with these characteristics. Due to the location of the sites, attention was focused on Roswell AAF (renamed Walker AFB in 1948), White Sands Missile Range and Holloman AFB, N.M. The aerial vehicles assigned or under development at these facilities were aircraft, missiles, remotely-piloted drones, and high altitude balloons. The operational characteristics and areas where these vehicles flew were researched to determine if they played a role in the events described by the witnesses.

=Missiles and Drones.= Missiles and drones were determined not to have been responsible for the accounts.[*] The areas where the alleged crashes took place were, in all likelihood, too far from the White Sands Missile Range. Missiles were equipped with a self-destruct mechanism that was activated if it strayed off-course or out of the White Sands Missile Range. There was never a program that required a dummy or doll to be placed inside a missile or a drone. However, missiles were launched from White Sands carrying monkeys and other small animals aloft for scientific research.[27] These projects were well documented, and none of these missiles landed near either of the two crash sites.

[*] From September 1961 until March 1965 12 Atlas F
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were deployed by the
579^{th} Strategic Missile Squadron in areas surrounding Walker
AFB, N.M. These missiles were determined not to have been involved
in the Roswell Incident.

=Aircraft.= Aircraft seemed just as unlikely as missiles to have been responsible for the extraterrestrial claims as outlined in the profile. Although additional research revealed the significant role dummies played in the test and evaluation of aircraft emergency escape systems, these dummies were used on board aircraft and on the high-speed test track at Holloman AFB. However, aircraft test flights demanded strict adherence to established flight profiles over the instrumented portions of the White Sands Missile Range, many miles from the alleged crash sites. Dummies used on the high-speed track remained in the immediate vicinity of the track facilities at Holloman AFB. This geographical impossibility ruled out dummies that were ejected from aircraft and those used on the high-speed track as a cause of alleged alien sightings. (Aircraft accidents will be discussed extensively in Section Two of this report.)

=High Altitude Research Balloons.= The only vehicles not yet evaluated as a possible source of the accounts were high altitude research balloons. Previous reviews of early research balloon flight records revealed that trajectories of high altitude balloons were, at times, unpredictable and did not usually remain over Holloman AFB or White Sands Missile Range.[28] Many of the scientific payloads required recovery so the data collected during flight could be returned to the laboratory for analysis.

These characteristics seemed to fit at least some of the research profile. Atmospheric sampling apparatus or weather instruments, the typical payload of many high altitude balloons, could hardly have been mistaken for space aliens. A careful examination of the instruments carried aloft by the high altitude balloons revealed that one unique project used a device that very likely could be mistaken for an alien—an anthropomorphic dummy.

An anthropomorphic dummy is a human substitute equipped with a variety of instrumentation to measure effects of environments and situations deemed too hazardous for a human. These abstractly human dummies were first used in New Mexico in May 1950, and have been used on a continuous basis since that time.[29]

In the 1950s, anthropomorphic dummies were not widely exposed outside of scientific research circles and easily could have been mistaken for something they were not. Today, anthropomorphic dummies, better known as crash test dummies, are easily identifiable and are even the “stars” of their own automotive safety advertising campaign. During the 1950s when the U.S. Air Force dropped the odd-looking test devices from high altitude balloons in its program to study high altitude human free-fall characteristics, public awareness and stardom were decades away. It seems likely that someone who unexpectedly observed these dummies at a distance would believe they had seen something unusual. In retrospect, when interviewed over 40 years later, they could accurately report that they had seen something _very unusual_.

With the introduction of anthropomorphic dummies as a possible explanation for the reports of bodies, another element of the research profile appeared to be satisfied. Specific information that described the locations, methods, and procedures used to employ the dummies was required before any definitive conclusions could be drawn. To gather this detailed information, research efforts were concentrated on high altitude balloon operations and the specific projects that utilized balloon-borne anthropomorphic dummies.

“I’LL JUST BRACE
MYSELF WITH THE
STEERING WHEEL”

Who are you trying to fool? There’s no way a steering wheel
can stop you from slamming into a dashboard. Only a safety belt can.
Stop making excuses and start buckling your safety belt.

YOU COULD LEARN A LOT FROM A DUMMY.
BUCKLE YOUR SAFETY BELT.

A Public Service Message
US Department
of Transportation
]

Test Dummies Used by the U.S. Air Force

Since the beginning of manned flight, designers have sought a substitute for the human body to test hazardous new equipment. Early devices used by the predecessors of the U.S. Air Force were simply constructed parachute drop test dummies with little similarity to the human form. Following World War II, aircraft emergency escape systems became increasingly sophisticated and engineers required a dummy with more humanlike characteristics.

Parachute Drop Dummies

During World War I research and development of the first U.S. military parachute was underway at McCook Field, Ohio. To test the parachute, engineers experimented with several types of dummies, settling on a model constructed of three-inch hemp rope and sandbags with the approximate proportions of a medium-sized man.[30] The new invention was soon known by the nickname “Dummy Joe.” Dummy Joe is said to have made more than five thousand “jumps” between 1918 and 1924.[31]

By 1924, parachutes were required on military aircraft with their serviceability tested by dummies dropped from aircraft.[32] For this routine testing, several types of dummies were used. The most common type is shown in figures 17 and 18. Parachutes were individually drop-tested from aircraft until the early stages of World War II, when, due both to increased reliability and large numbers of parachutes in service, this routine practice was discontinued. Nonetheless, test dummies were still used frequently by the Parachute Branch of Air Materiel Command (AMC) at Wright Field, Ohio, to test new parachute designs.

Anthropomorphic Dummies

The ejection seat had been developed and used successfully by the German Luftwaffe during the latter stages of World War II. The utility of this invention was realized when the U.S. Army Air Forces obtained an ejection seat in 1944.[33] To properly test the ejection seat, the Army Air Forces required a dummy that had the same center of gravity and weight distribution as a human, characteristics that parachute drop dummies did not possess. In 1944, the USAAF Air Materiel Command contracted with the Ted Smith Company of Upper Darby, Pa. to design and manufacture the first dummy intended to accurately represent a human.[34] The dummy had the same basic shape as a human, but with only abstract human features, and “skin” made of canvas.

(_Right_) “Oscar Eightball,” the name given to this early model
anthropomorphic dummy by Col. John P. Stapp, is shown following a
run of the high-speed track at Muroc AAF (now Edwards AFB), Calif.,
in 1947. (_U.S. Air Force photos_)]

In 1949, the U.S. Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory submitted a proposal for an improved model of the anthropomorphic dummy.[35] This request was originated by the renowned Air Force scientist and physician John P. Stapp, now a retired Colonel, who conducted a series of landmark experiments at Muroc (now Edwards) AFB, Calif., to measure the effects of acceleration and deceleration during high-speed aircraft ejections.[36] Stapp required a dummy that had the same center of gravity and articulation as a human, but, unlike the Ted Smith dummy, was more human in appearance. A more accurate external appearance was required to provide for the proper fit of helmets, oxygen masks, and other equipment used during the tests. Stapp requested the Anthropology Branch of the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright Field to review anthropological, orthopedic, and engineering literature to prepare specifications for the new dummy.[37] Plaster casts of the torso, legs, and arms of an Air Force pilot were also taken to assure accuracy.[38] The result was a proposed dummy that stood 72 inches tall, weighed 200 pounds, had provisions for mounting instrumentation, and could withstand up to 100 times the force of gravity or 100Gs.

In 1949, a contract was awarded to Sierra Engineering Company of Sierra Madre, Calif., and deliveries began in 1950.[39] This dummy quickly became known as “Sierra Sam.”

In 1952, a contract for anthropomorphic dummies was awarded to Alderson Research Laboratories, Inc., of New York City.[40] Dummies constructed by both companies possessed the same basic characteristics: a skeleton of aluminum or steel, latex or plastic skin, a cast aluminum skull, and an instrument cavity in the torso and head for the mounting of strain gauges, accelerometers, transducers, and rate gyros.[41] Models used by the Air Force were primarily parachute drop and ejection seat versions with center of gravity tolerances within one quarter inch.

Over the next several years the two companies improved and redesigned internal structures and instrumentation, but the basic external appearance of the dummies remained relatively constant from the mid 1950s to the late 1960s. Dummies of these types were most likely the “aliens” associated with the “Roswell Incident.”

1.2
High Altitude Balloon Dummy Drops

From 1953 to 1959, anthropomorphic dummies were used by the U.S. Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory as part of the high altitude aircraft escape projects HIGH DIVE and EXCELSIOR.[42] The object of these studies was to devise a method to return a pilot or astronaut to earth by parachute, if forced to escape at extreme altitudes.[43]

Anthropomorphic dummies were transported to altitudes up to 98,000 feet by high altitude balloons. The dummies were then released for a period of free-fall while body movements and escape equipment performance were recorded by a variety of instruments. Forty-three high altitude balloon flights carrying 67 anthropomorphic dummies were launched and recovered throughout New Mexico between June 1954 and February 1959.[44] Due to prevailing wind conditions, operational factors and ruggedness of the terrain, the majority of dummies impacted outside the confines of military reservations in eastern New Mexico, near Roswell, and in areas surrounding the Tularosa Valley in south central New Mexico.[45] Additionally, 30 dummies were dropped by aircraft over White Sands Proving Ground, N.M. in 1953. In 1959, 150 dummies were dropped by aircraft over Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio (possibly accounting for alleged alien “sightings” at that location).[46]

A number of these launch and recovery locations were in the areas where the “crashed saucer” and “space aliens” were allegedly observed.

Following the series of dummy tests, a human subject, test pilot Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., now a retired Colonel, made three parachute jumps from high altitude balloons. Since free-fall tests from these unprecedented altitudes were extremely hazardous, they could not be accomplished by a human until a rigorous testing program using anthropomorphic dummies was completed.

A Cover-Up?

Countering claims of a cover-up, Air Force projects that used anthropomorphic dummies and human subjects were unclassified and widely publicized in numerous newspaper and magazine stories, books, and television reports. These included a book written by test pilot Kittinger, _The Long, Lonely Leap_, another book, _Man High_, by MAN HIGH Project Scientist, Lt. Col. David G. Simons (MC), a feature article in _National Geographic_, and cover stories in _Life_, _Collier’s_, _Popular Mechanics_, and _Time_.[47] A characterization of Kittinger’s record parachute jump even appeared in the adolescent magazine, _MAD_.[48] The intense public interest in HIGH DIVE, EXCELSIOR and other aero medical projects conducted at Holloman AFB also resulted in a 1956 Twentieth Century Fox full-length motion picture, _On the Threshold of Space_ (see page 38).

The Long, Lonely Leap

_World’s highest jump tests a new type of parachute for
high-altitude flyers and scientists returning from the threshold of
space_

By CAPT. JOSEPH W. KITTINGER. JR., USAF

_Illustrations by National Geographic photographer VOLKMAR WENTZEL_

OVERHEAD my onion-shaped balloon spread its 200-foot diameter
against a black daytime sky. More than 18½ miles below lay the
cloud-hidden New Mexico desert to which I shortly would parachute.

Sitting in my gondola, which gently twisted with the balloon’s slow
turnings, I had begun to sweat lightly, though the temperature read
36° below zero Fahrenheit. Sunlight burned in on me under the edge
of an aluminized antiglare curtain and through the gondola’s open
door.

In my earphones crackled the voice of Capt. Marvin Feldstein, one
of our project’s two doctors, from ground control at Holloman Air
Force Base:

“Three minutes till jump, Joe.”

I was ready to go, for more reasons than one. For about an hour—as
the balloon rose from 50,000 to 102,800 feet above sea level—I
had been exposed to an environment requiring the protection of a
pressure suit and helmet, and the fear of their failure had always
been present. If either should break, unconsciousness would come in
10 or 12 seconds, and death within two minutes.

In our altitude-chamber flights at the laboratory, I always

“=Lord, take care of me now=,” I pray, then take the big step-off
that begins my return from the edge of space, a 13-minute,
45-second plunge to an earth wrapped in clouds. The lanyard
attached to my parachute pack is my last link with the gondola.
It starts a timer on a small stabilization chute that will
open 16 seconds later and prevent horizontal spinning. Without
stabilization, man could not survive a jump from these high
altitudes.

A National Geographic camera mounted above the gondola took this
remarkable photograph at 102,800 feet.

MS Ektachrome National Geographic Society
]

Dummy Drop Procedures

For the majority of the tests, dummies were flown to altitudes between 30,000 and 98,000 feet attached to a specially designed rack suspended below a high altitude balloon.[49] On several flights the dummies were mounted in the door of an experimental high altitude balloon gondola.[50] Upon reaching the desired altitude, the dummies were released and free-fell for several minutes before deployment of the main parachute.

The dummies used for the balloon drops were outfitted with standard equipment of an Air Force aircrew member. This equipment consisted of a one-piece flightsuit, olive drab, gray (witnesses had described seeing aliens in gray one-piece suits) or fuchsia in color, boots, and a parachute pack.[51] The dummies were also fitted with an instrumentation kit that contained accelerometers, pressure transducers, an oscillograph, and a camera to record movements of the dummy during free-fall.[52]

Recoveries of the test dummies were accomplished by personnel from the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch.[53] Typically, eight to twelve civilian and military recovery personnel arrived at the site of an anthropomorphic dummy landing as soon as possible following impact. The recovery crews operated a variety of aircraft and vehicles. These included a wrecker, a six-by-six, a weapons carrier, and L-20 observation and C-47 transport aircraft—the exact vehicles and aircraft described by the witnesses as having been present at the crashed saucer locations.[54] On one occasion, just southwest of Roswell, a HIGH DIVE project officer, 1st Lt. Raymond A. Madson, even conducted a search for dummies on horseback[55] (see statement in Appendix B).

To expedite the recoveries, crews were prepositioned with their vehicles along a paved highway in the area where impact was expected.[56] On a typical flight the dummies were separated from the balloon by radio command and descended by parachute.[57] Prompt recovery of the dummies and their suspension racks, which usually did not land in the same location resulting in extensive ground and air searches, was essential for researchers to evaluate information collected by the instrumentation and cameras. To assist the recovery personnel, a variety of methods were used to enhance the visibility of the dummies: smoke grenades, pigment powder, and brightly colored parachute canopies.[58] Also, recovery notices promising a $25 reward were taped to an exposed portion of a dummy.[59] Local newspapers and radio stations were contacted when equipment was lost.[60]

The Bravest Man

America was introduced to Col. John Paul Stapp on December 10,
1954, when he became known as both the “the bravest” and “the
fastest” man on earth. Stapp earned these titles following a
rocket sled test that accelerated him to 632 miles per hour. He
reached this speed in just five seconds—faster than a .45 caliber
bullet—and was decelerated to a stop in 1.4 seconds, subjecting
his body to more than 42 times the force of gravity! While this
was America’s introduction to Col. Stapp, the 1954 rocket sled
test that examined aircraft restraint devices and human responses
to accelerative/decelerative forces and windblast, was just one of
many achievements of this legendary Air Force physician.

Born in Bahia, Brazil to American missionary parents, Stapp sold
pots and pans door to door during the Depression while he earned
both undergraduate and graduate degrees in zoology and chemistry
at Baylor University. He went on to earn a doctorate in biophysics
from the University of Texas, and a doctorate in medicine from the
University of Minnesota.

In 1944 Stapp entered the U.S. Army Air Forces and became
a flight surgeon. From 1946 to 1963, due to his unique
qualifications in biophysics and medicine, he conducted a series
of acceleration/deceleration experiments on the high-speed track
at Muroc (now Edwards AFB), Calif.,[61] and later at Holloman
AFB, N.M. Developments from these and other studies resulted in
innovations which have saved many lives. These included improved
safety belt restraint systems and design specifications for
aircraft and automobiles, aircraft ejection and emergency escape
systems, refinement of automobile airbag systems, and development
of the modern anthropomorphic test dummy.

As commander of the U.S. Air Force Aeromedical Field Laboratory
at Holloman AFB, N.M. and later the Aero Medical Laboratory at
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, Stapp won support for the Air Force
manned high altitude balloons projects—MAN HIGH and EXCELSIOR. As
a testament to his thorough safety preparations, these and other
extremely hazardous projects administered by Stapp, did not result
in a single debilitating injury to a test subject. These projects
helped pave the way for future flights of both high altitude
aircraft such as the X-15, and of spacecraft for the MERCURY,
GEMINI, and APOLLO programs. In fact, Stapp’s expertise was called
upon to assist in the selection of the initial cadre of astronauts,
the “MERCURY Seven.”

He retired from the Air Force in 1970, but not before amassing a
collection of awards and honors. These included two awards of the
Legion of Merit for rocket sled experiments, the Cheney Award for
1954, and membership in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

In association with the Society of Automotive Engineers, Stapp
continues to participate in annual conferences in which industry
experts assemble to discuss vehicle safety issues. The conferences,
now in their 40th year bear his name: the Stapp Car Crash
Conferences.

In 1991, in recognition of a lifetime of unselfish dedication
to scientific research, Stapp was awarded the National Medal of
Technology, bestowed upon him at the White House by President
George Bush.

He is married to the former Lillian Lanese, a former soloist with
the Ballet Theater of New York, and resides in Alamogordo, N.M. At
87 years old he continues to maintain a dizzying pace of travel and
lectures.

It is not an exaggeration that virtually every person who has
safely operated, or ridden in, an automobile, aircraft, or
spacecraft, has benefited from the genius of Col. John Paul Stapp,
and owes this brave scientist, physician, and visionary, a great
deal of thanks.

Despite these efforts, the dummies were not always recovered immediately; one was not found for nearly three years and several were not recovered at all.[62] When they were found, the dummies and instrumentation were often damaged from impact.[63] Damage to the dummies included loss of heads, arms, legs and fingers.[64] This detail, dummies with missing fingers, appears to satisfy another element of the research profile—aliens with only four fingers.

Loss of MR Equipment
WCUSS-22 WCRDB-4 19 Jan 56
ATTN: Mr. R.L. Mason Lt. Nielsen/1bc
Ext. 2-4194/B.33

1. On 17 November 1955, an anthropomorphic dummy, B-15 jacket and
a stop watch were lost during a high altitude dummy drop from a
balloon at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.

2. The drop was performed to determine the effectiveness of a
two stage personnel parachute in lowering a man-like dummy from
85,000 feet. The test was part of a continuing task “High Altitude
Escape Studies”, 7218-71719. The point at which the dummy reached
the ground was not known to the recovery crews at the time and an
extensive search lasting through the first week of December 1955
failed to discover the lost items.

3. Lost are:

a. 1 ea., dummy, anthropomorphic, Sierra Engineering Co. model 120,
stock no. 3500-NL-30010,

b. 1 ea., jacket, B-15, spec. 3220, size 36, stock no.
8415-269-0512,

c. 1 ea., stop watch, Fisher Scientific Co. P/N 14-646, stock no.
8TAA 98545.

4. Because of the loss of these items as a result of a test,
it is requested that Lt. Henry P. Nielsen be relieved of the
responsibility for these items.

HARVEY E. SAVELY
Chief, Biophysics Branch
Aero. Medical Laboratory
Directorate of Research

CONCURRENCE
]

What may have contributed to a misunderstanding if the dummies were viewed by persons unfamiliar with their intended use, were the methods used by Holloman AFB personnel to transport them. The dummies were sometimes transported to and from off-range locations in wooden shipping containers, similar to caskets, to prevent damage to fragile instruments mounted in and on the dummy.[65] Also, canvas military stretchers and hospital gurneys were used (a procedure recommended by a dummy manufacturer) to move the dummies in the laboratory or retrieve dummies in the field after a test.[66] The first 10 dummy drops also utilized black or silver insulation bags, similar to “body bags” in which the dummies were placed for flight to guard against equipment failure at low ambient temperatures of the upper atmosphere.[67]

On one occasion northwest of Roswell, a local woman unfamiliar with the test activities arrived at a dummy landing site prior to the arrival of the recovery personnel.[68] The woman saw what appeared to be a human embedded head first in a snowbank and became hysterical. The woman screamed, “He’s dead!, he’s dead!”[69]

It now appeared that anthropomorphic dummies dropped by high altitude balloons satisfied the requirements of the research profile. However, the review of high altitude balloon operations revealed what appeared to be explanations for some other sightings of odd objects in the deserts and skies of New Mexico.

WADC TECHNICAL REPORT 57-477
PART I.
ASTLA DOCUMENT No. AD 130965

HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON DUMMY DROPS