“I thought they were plastic dolls ... I didn’t think they were real”[126]
Anderson related that as a five-year-old boy on an outing with his family in west central New Mexico, they stumbled upon the crash of some type of aerial vehicle.[127] When he first saw the craft he thought it was a “blimp.”[128] According to Anderson he “didn’t really get very close,”[129] but thought he saw four bandaged crewmembers and at first he “thought they were plastic dolls.”[130] He also described attempts by persons in his party to communicate with one of the “crewmembers.”[131] Soon after, other civilians arrived (some wearing pith helmets) followed by military personnel in an assortment of vehicles and aircraft commanded by a “redheaded captain.”[132] The military personnel, after “screaming and hollering” at the civilians “this is a military secret,” started a recovery operation of the alien craft and crew.[133] Anderson also recalled that the military personnel threatened some of the civilians with imprisonment or death before escorting them out of the area.[134]
Assessment
Anderson’s choice of the terms “blimp” to describe the crashed vehicle, and “dolls” to describe the “crew,” strongly suggests that a balloon with an anthropomorphic dummy payload was the foundation for this testimony. He also provided an abundance of supporting details that accurately described vehicles, aircraft, equipment, and procedures used by the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch to launch and recover anthropomorphic dummies.
An aspect of this testimony that is not accurate is the alleged threats and intimidation of civilians by military personnel. The use of such heavy-handedness was not a tactic used by the Air Force. A careful review of official records and interviews with numerous persons who actively participated in and were responsible for the conduct of Air Force members on high altitude balloon recovery operations revealed that these allegations are untrue.[135] Additionally, the witness alleges that the military personnel were “screaming and hollering” “this is a military secret.”[136] This statement might lead uninitiated persons to believe that the witness observed something highly classified and that by telling everyone present that it was a “military secret” would somehow help it to remain so. However, logic dictates that if something was classified “screaming and hollering” it was “secret,” would compromise it and not serve to protect its classification. This application of logic, combined with the fact that the launch and recovery of anthropomorphic dummies was unclassified, widely publicized, and often observed by local civilians, indicates that the witness’ recollections are in error. There was never a reason to disrespect, “scream,” “holler,” or forbid any person from talking about the launch or recovery of anthropomorphic dummies.
The “Crewmembers.” The statement “I thought they were plastic dolls” seems an odd choice of words to describe an extraterrestrial being and is a likely reference to an anthropomorphic dummy whose skin was made of plastic.[137] This description is similar to that of the sole witness of the other crash site, north of Roswell, who described the “aliens” as “dummies.”[138] Other references provided by this witness further indicate that anthropomorphic dummies were the basis for these descriptions. The heads of the “crewmembers” were described as “completely bald” with “no visible ears ... just a rise ... and then a hole.”[139] This is an accurate description of Alderson Research Laboratories model dummies that did not have “hair” and had either plastic “ears” molded to the head or a circular opening where a “demountable ear” or additional instrumentation was attached (see [figure 22]).[140] The statement “they didn’t have a little finger,”[141] a detail very similar to one provided by another witness, also appears to be a description of dummies manufactured by Alderson Laboratories that were often damaged during the balloon tests resulting in the loss of fingers.
Fig. 73. “Some kind of container, a metal box,” was described as laying on the ground near the alleged aliens. This appears to be a reference to boxes containing electrical components of the remote controlled systems positioned on the top of the dummy suspension rack. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Fig. 74. “They looked like they had some sort of bandages on ’em ... over his ... arm ... around his midsection and partially over his shoulder”—witness description of tape and nylon webbing used to prevent arms and legs from flailing, and parachute harness that had chest and shoulder straps. Tape was also used to secure the removable back plate of the head (also see figs. [29], [30], [73], [75]). (U.S. Air Force photo)