The Roswell Legacy: The Untold Story of the First Military Officer at the 1947 Crash Site

by Jesse Marcel

  In short order, Colonel Blanchard was contacted by General Ramey, the Commander of the 8th Air Force, and ordered to issue a "corrected" statement, in which the material was to be described as debris from a common weather balloon. Blanchard was also ordered to immediately fly the debris to the general's office at Fort Worth Army Air Field so Ramey could examine it himself. General Ramey further specified that my father was to accompany the material on the flight. Once my father had arrived with the debris, General Ramey arranged for a civilian journalist to come to the base and photograph the materials. Following are two of the famous photos taken by photographer James Bond Johnson for the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

  My dad displaying debris from a radar target.

  General Ramey inspecting radar target debris.

  The pictures taken in General Ramey's office showed remnants of a genuine Rawin radar target, which is a special type of target tied beneath a free balloon and designed to be an efficient reflector of radio energy. Although you may not be able to see it clearly in the photo, the balloon envelope-the packaging that holds a balloon prior to its being deployed-was also in the background. This is the picture that was released to the public to reinforce the government's contention that there was no reason for excitement. My father was ordered to appear in the photograph holding the weather balloon material for one reason: to support the Army's contention that the officers who had made the initial determination had erred because they did not really know what they were looking at. In the first photograph, my father is shown holding a portion of a radar target, and the look on his face says it all: "They've got to be kidding!"

  The report the government issued had been carefully constructed. My father was asked to hold what was obviously a remnant of a radar target, with the implication that this was the debris retrieved from the Foster Ranch that my father had showed us in our kitchen. He was further ordered to keep silent, and not to make any comments in the presence of the civilian photographer. I think it was at this time that my dad realized that the cover-up had begun, and that he was going to be stuck in the middle of it, whether he liked it or not.

  Besides the look on my father's face, others things in the photograph simply don't add up. The government claimed that the materials shown in the photograph were the retrieved remnants of the crashed balloon, but I'd like to know where that balloon envelope came from. As I mentioned earlier, the envelope is the packaging the balloon is housed in pre-deployment, so a balloon envelope would never be present at a crash site, and the envelope was certainly not part of the debris flown in from Roswell. Obviously, it had to be placed in the photo with the rest of the switched debris to reinforce the idea that the material found at the site was a weather balloon with its accompanying radar target. They even had a weather balloon expert come in and testify-correctly-that the material in the photograph was the remnant of a weather balloon. In short, they pulled out all the stops to confirm their story.

  Another interesting point is that others in the office-including the civilian photographer-later reported that the debris photographed in the office had a strong odor of something that had been burned. As I noted in the last chapter, however, there was no odor whatsoever associated with the debris we inspected in our kitchen that night.

  Dad later told us that the civilian photographer saw only a small part of the actual debris, and that he was only allowed to observe the real debris-which remained wrapped up-from a distance, as opposed to being allowed to get close enough for a detailed photograph, as he had been allowed to do with the radar target material. Does this mean that there was a mix of genuine debris with debris from a weather balloon? This is indeed what happened, as the foil shown in the photograph was paper-backed, and looked like tin foil and balsa wood sticks, whereas the foil on our kitchen floor did not have a paper backing. In a later interview, the photographer remarked that General Ramey-who would certainly have been able to identify weather balloon materials-had no idea what the materials were. Johnson, the photographer, said, "While shooting the general, I asked him what all this material was. He shrugged and answered something like, `Damned if I know "'

  One of the other photographs was quite interesting as well. In it, General Ramey was shown holding what appears to be a telegram, and, as it happened, the printing on the telegram was partially facing the camera. David Rudiak analyzed the telegram, and through computer enhancements (see the following pictures), there are several words that can be made out. Those words included the phrases "victims of the," and "emergency powers needed." One would think that if the telegram had been describing just the downing of a weather balloon, words such as "victims of the" would not be applicable, as there are generally no victims in the wreck of a weather balloon. The other words were suspicious as well, mentioning the necessity of emergency powers being needed at Site Two, which was southwest of Magdalena, New Mexico. The intensity of the Army's dismissal, combined with the phrases gleaned from the telegram, certainly made it sound as if something other than a simple weather balloon-or even a secret observation device-had been discovered at Site Two.

  Breakdown of the Ramey telegram.

  The government admitted much later that there had been a coverup after all. In their later statements, they claimed that what was recovered from Roswell was not from a weather balloon, but in reality was debris from a Top Secret project, the so-called Mogul balloon, which, as I explained in the last chapter, was designed to detect atmospheric disturbances caused by Soviet nuclear tests. This subsequent explanation highlights yet another rather obvious flaw in the official story: Under no circumstances would the government publish pictures of its Top Secret projects on the cover page of press releases, at least not while the information was still classified. Hence, openly publishing such pictures at that time smelled of cover-up as well. In the next chapter, I'm going to go into more detail about Mogul balloons. For now, though, I want to stress that, even though the Mogul balloon project was classified, the materials used in it were not. In fact, they were off-the-shelf items; only their intended use was Top Secret. My father surely would have recognized these common components, yet in its attempt to bolster its story, the government implied rather clearly that my father did not recognize any of these common components.

  Enlargement of the Ramey telegram.

  And that is patently absurd. As I stated before, my father had just gone through radar school, where he studied radar targets similar to the one he was ordered to hold for the photo session. In essence, the government implied that my father couldn't even tell the difference between a box kite and a P-51 Mustang. Such claims just made no sense.

  Of the 11 flights of the Mogul project in 1947-and again, I'll go into more detail in the next chapter-the government's story focused upon Flight #4, which was launched on June 3. Based upon prevailing winds and atmospheric conditions that day, the projected flight path would not have taken the balloon anywhere near the crash site.

  Immediately after the debris was moved to Fort Worth, both my father and Colonel Blanchard were "offered" the opportunity to take a three-week leave of absence. This could have been for reasons unrelated to the discovery and ensuing cover-up, but my father felt that it certainly was suspect, especially because he wasn't allowed to come home for those three weeks. Instead, he inadvertently became part of the cover-up, spending this period being debriefed on what he saw, as well as how to handle the public and other government agencies' inquiries. According to records later made available, Colonel Blanchard had scheduled his own leave prior to the crash, but he apparently used the time to go back to the crash sites to have a look.

  By July 10, 1947, all of the debris had been vacuumed (my father's words) from the crash site and moved to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The aircraft used to transport the debris was a C-54. It took an aircraft of large size to transport the considerable amount of debris, as well as the number of armed guards needed to ensure that the debris was not seen by anyone not directly involved in the go
vernment's explanation of the event.

  If the government were only transporting the wreckage of a Mogul balloon, it would not have needed an aircraft the size of a C-54, let alone guards to protect the over-the-counter materials that made up the balloons and instruments.

  Inasmuch as the debris from Mogul balloons recovered by research teams were typically disposed of without any special security measures taken, why would the government have felt the need to transport what they found on the Foster Ranch under guard on a special flight? Obviously, the material being transported was not the remnants of a Mogul balloon.

  Later, the pilot of the aircraft, Captain Pappy Henderson, recalled the flight and mentioned the large crate used to haul the materials, and, according to Henderson, the alien bodies. Neither my father nor I ever saw any alien bodies, but as you probably know, several other people did make that claim.

  Interestingly enough, all records from Roswell pertaining to the recovery of the debris are no longer available, reportedly having been inadvertently destroyed, lost, or misplaced. I can't help wondering who was responsible for those records, and why only these particular items are missing. Perhaps they were abducted by aliens.

  The Government Tries to Close the Case

  As of today, the government is still holding to its story, although the particulars of that story have changed many times in the years since the crash occurred. In 1994, the government issued the first of several special reports on Roswell. The final version was issued in 1997; it was a 213-page document called The Roswell Report: Case Closed, which purported to finally tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the Roswell event. The report was based on an exhaustive search for records about Roswell, the purpose being to determine if the Air Force or any other U.S. government agency had information on the crash and recovery of an extraterrestrial vehicle and its alien occupants.

  Besides revealing what the crash was, the document discusses what the crash wasn't. Here's what it says the Roswell Incident was not.

  An Airplane Crash

  As anyone who watches television, listens to the radio, or reads a newspaper knows, airplane crashes are big news, and even the most minor of such incidents is both officially documented and publicly described. The only crashes that have any chance of escaping extensive public scrutiny are those involving classified military missions or test flights. Between the dates of June 24, 1947, and July 28, 1947, there were a total of five crashes officially documented in New Mexico, none of which occurred on the dates or in the vicinity of the Roswell debris site.

  Incidentally, the government report also examined how the different agencies documented crashes of weather balloons and other non-typical aerial vehicles. Inasmuch as a "crash" or uncontrolled landing is the normal means of terminating a weather balloon flight, the only time a report of such an event is documented is when the falling debris causes injury or property damage. Even these records are only maintained for five years.

  A Missile Crash

  There have been some who have theorized that the Roswell Incident was actually the crash of a missile, such as a previously captured German V-2. Given the fact that any such tests-which would have been launched at nearby White Sands missile rangewere classified as Secret at the time, the government would have handled such crashes under tight security, especially if the flight had crashed on land not under government control. Air Force records, however, do not suggest that such a crash could have been involved in the Roswell case. At any rate, there would be no pressing need to maintain a classified status involving tests on World War 11-era weaponry, as virtually all technical information pertaining to these weapons is publicly available anyway.

  A Nuclear Accident

  Because in 1947, the 509th Bomb Group was the only military unit in the world that possessed nuclear weapons, it would be understandable for one to question whether the Roswell Incident might have been somehow associated with nuclear weapon-related tests. Extensive reviews of available records-even those still classified Top Secret gave no indication that this was the case. Also, any records pertaining to nuclear incidents eventually fell under the auspices of the Department of Energy, which would have subsequently made those records public as part of its declassification and public information activities.

  Extraterrestrial Craft

  This was the question that was on everyone's mind, and it was the reason the report had been generated in the first place. The report contends that what crashed was not an extraterrestrial craft, despite the fact that my father's and my testimony does not support such a contention, and that evidence evaluated by a number of credible sources serves to refute such a conclusion. Unfortunately, the government chose to edit out any evidence that did not support its desired conclusion, and acknowledges only evidence and statements that fit within the report's intended premise.

  The biggest question in my mind, after all these years, is this: Why did the government feel the need to perpetuate a cover-up that was foolish at its inception, and only grew more ludicrous in the successive decades? Why was the government willing to allow the reputation of my father, a man who had served with devotion and honor, to be attacked-and even destroyed-rather than acknowledge a 60-year-old lie?

  This, for me, is the bitter part of the Roswell legacy. But there is so much more to the story. Before we go any further, however, I think it is only appropriate to take a closer look at those Mogul balloons. After all, where the Roswell Incident is concerned, Mogul balloons are the government's story, and it's sticking to it. Let's poke a few more holes in that story.

  Chapter 4

  What Was a Mogul Balloon?

  The Japanese formally surrendered on September 2, 1945, and the United States was entering a period in which surveillance of our enemies had become an imperative in the effort to establish and maintain world peace. As is typical during wartime, the technology of battle and intelligence-gathering had advanced at breakneck speed. In the late 1930s, Dr. Maurice Ewing of Columbia University had experimented with the theory of a "sound channel" that exists underwater, where sound vibrations or waves could be transferred distances of thousands of miles without enough degradation to disrupt the signal. His theory was later applied to sound channels high in the stratosphere. It was from these experiments that Project Mogul was born in 1945, at the onset of the Cold War.

  A portion of a Mogul balloon.

  The project's premise was quite simple: to suspend a microphone high up in the stratosphere using a string of neoprene weather balloons. The microphone would be capable of detecting long-range sound transmissions created by the Soviet Union. If the Soviets tested a nuclear bomb or set off a missile, the sound waves created could be detected and deciphered though the Mogul program.

  The Project Mogul device consisted of three components: (1) An expendable microphone for sound wave detection, (2) A transmitter used to send the information picked up by the microphones to the receiver on the ground or in the air, and (3) A balloon train and ballast to lift the devices. Rawin radar targets were also used to track the device.

  Under the direction of Dr. Charles Moore, the balloon transport system for the Mogul device was designed and constructed for the military by the New York University (NYU) "balloon group," in charge of testing the constant-level balloon system, and Columbia University, responsible for the acoustical equipment. In keeping with the Army's protocol for highly classified projects, each group was aware of only that portion of the project that was directly affected by their respective area of expertise, and remained in the dark as to the nature of the project as a whole. Between September 30, 1946, and December 31, 1950, the Research Division of the College of Engineering of NYU conducted research on controllable ascent balloon transport systems under contract for the Army, unaware of the final application intended. As a matter of fact, Dr. Moore did not learn the details-or even the existence-of Project Mogul until UFO researcher Robert Todd told him about it in 1992.

  The detection/transmi
tter package was carried aloft by spherically shaped balloons, much like the early example in the included picture. The balloons were made of a film of natural or synthetic rubber (neoprene), at a standardized weight of 350 grams. Before launch, a neoprene balloon was inflated with lighter-than-air gas, typically helium, to a diameter of approximately 6 feet (2 meters). This size provided sufficient lift to carry a radiosonde payload of several pounds. The thickness of the balloon's skin ranged from 2/1000 to 4/1000 of an inch at the time of inflation, but as the balloon ascended to an altitude of approximately 25 miles, it stretched to a mere 1/10,000 of an inch thick, its diameter swelling from its initial 6 feet to a diameter of between 24 and 32 feet-whereupon the neoprene ruptured and the balloon burst.

  An integral part of the detection equipment was a radiosonde (Rawin sonde or radio wind sonde) package with an attached radar reflector that would determine wind direction and speed at various altitudes during the ascent of the package. The reflector was utilized to track the Mogul device and sonobuoy. In several of the flights, corner reflectors called Rawin targets were used in place of the radiosonde (see description on the following page). The components of the radiosonde device were contained in a robust, lightweight, white cardboard (or plastic) instrument package, approximately the size of a large shoe box.

  The sonobuoy was a large cylindrical object, nearly 3 feet long and 4 3/4 inches wide and weighing 17 1/2 pounds. If a radiosonde was being used, a system of bellows expanded and contracted depending upon the altitude of the balloon chain, and would release ballast at predetermined altitudes. If there was no radiosonde, the ballast would simply dribble off fluid as time passed. Connected to the radiosonde box were a series of parachutes that would return the instrument packages safely to Earth.