Although Mogul components clearly accounted for the claims of “flying saucer” debris recovered in 1947, lingering questions remained concerning anecdotal accounts that included descriptions of “alien” bodies. The issue of “bodies” was not discussed extensively in the 1994 report because there were not any bodies connected with events that occurred in 1947. The extensive Secretary of the Air Force-directed search of Army Air Forces and U.S. Air Force records from 1947 did not yield information that even suggested the 1947 “Roswell” events were anything other than the retrieval of the Mogul equipment.[2]
Fig. 1. The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert contains, in its entirety, the report submitted to the Secretary of the Air Force in July 1994. It is available for sale from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C., 20402-9328. Stock No. 008-070-00697-9, ISBN 0-16-048023-X.
Subsequent to the 1994 report, Air Force researchers discovered information that provided a rational explanation for the alleged observations of alien bodies associated with the “Roswell Incident.” Pursuant to the discovery, research efforts compared documented Air Force activities to the incredible claims of “flying saucers,” “aliens” and seemingly unusual Air Force involvement. This in-depth examination revealed that these accounts, in most instances, were of actual Air Force activities but were seriously flawed in several major areas, most notably: the Air Force operations that inspired reports of “bodies” (in addition to being earthly in origin) did not occur in 1947. It appears that UFO proponents have failed to establish the accurate dates for these “alien” observations (in some instances by more than a decade) and then erroneously linked them to the actual Project Mogul debris recovery.
This report discusses the results of this further research and identifies the likely sources of the claims of “alien” bodies. Contrary to allegations that the Air Force has engaged in a cover-up and possesses dark secrets involving the Roswell claims, some of the accounts appear to be descriptions of unclassified and widely publicized Air Force scientific achievements. Other descriptions of bodies appear to be descriptions of actual incidents in which Air Force members were killed or injured in the line of duty.
The conclusions of the additional research are:
• Air Force activities which occurred over a period of many years have been consolidated and are now represented to have occurred in two or three days in July 1947.
• “Aliens” observed in the New Mexico desert were probably anthropomorphic test dummies that were carried aloft by U.S. Air Force high altitude balloons for scientific research.
• The “unusual” military activities in the New Mexico desert were high altitude research balloon launch and recovery operations. The reports of military units that always seemed to arrive shortly after the crash of a flying saucer to retrieve the saucer and “crew,” were actually accurate descriptions of Air Force personnel engaged in anthropomorphic dummy recovery operations.
• Claims of bodies at the Roswell Army Air Field hospital were most likely a combination of two separate incidents: