For this accident, identification took approximately two days and any releases of information were restricted to individuals with an official requirement. These restrictions extended, not only to the general public, but also to Air Force members.
A possible reference to the identification specialist is found in one of Dennis’ recitations of the account. Dennis, a mortician who might possess limited knowledge of Air Force mortuary procedures, stated that he was told the “doctors” might be pathologists from “Walter Reed Army Hospital.”[158] Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C. is a likely location that an unknown pathologist performing an autopsy on military personnel might have been based. Co-located at Walter Reed is the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) and beginning in 1955, AFIP sent pathologists into the field to examine aircraft accidents. A review of records at AFIP and interviews with persons involved with the identification procedures at Walker AFB do not indicate AFIP sent any personnel to assist in this accident.[159]
Pathology Consultant. In June 1956, the Walker AFB hospital did not have a pathologist on staff.[160] All autopsies and examinations of pathological specimens were conducted by a civilian consultant from Roswell.[161] The autopsy protocols of the deceased crewmen from the June 1956 crash indicated that Dr. Alfred S. Blauw of Roswell performed the three autopsies.[162] Obviously, neither the pathologist nor the identification specialist were normally assigned to the Walker AFB hospital and would not be expected to be present at the hospital, especially to an observer with limited knowledge of these activities.
Continuing Research
The focus of research was now shifted to other activities that might explain the remaining portions of the profile. The unexplained portions were:
a. the presence of a redheaded captain;
b. the wreckage in the rear of the ambulance outside the Walker AFB hospital;
c. the heightened state of security at the Walker AFB hospital; and,
d. the shipment of a body with a large head to Wright-Patterson AFB.
Based on previous research, this effort began by examining records of the other Air Force aerial vehicle known to have operated extensively in the Roswell area since the late 1940s—high altitude research balloons.