Fig. 31. Plaque placed at Holloman AFB honoring three Balloon Branch members killed during a high altitude balloon recovery when their L-20 balloon chase plane crashed in the rugged Gila Mountains near Stafford, Ariz. (U.S. Air Force photo)
IN MEMORIAM
WILFRED P. CHAMPLAIN, 1ST LT. U.S.A.F.
RONALD J. NIELSEN, AIRMAN 1/C U.S.A.F.
ROBERT W. MITCHELL
WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE RECOVERY
OF INSTRUMENTS FROM THE STRATOSPHERE
25 AUGUST 1955
Fig. 32. (Left) The balloon launch facility at Holloman AFB, N.M. was named in honor of Maj. Richard L. Nenninger who died of injuries received in an aircraft crash during a balloon recovery mission on April 7, 1970 in the Sacramento Mountains near Ruidoso, N.M. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Fig. 33. (Right) A semiconscious Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., following the Excelsior I parachute jump from 76,000 feet. With his parachute wrapped around his neck and body and hopelessly out of control, his life was saved by an ingeniously designed reserve parachute system that opened just moments before contacting the desert floor; White Sands Proving Ground, November 16, 1959. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Finally, after reviewing this report, some persons may legitimately ask why the Air Force expended time and effort to respond to mythical, if not comedic, allegations of recoveries of “flying saucers” and “space aliens.” The answer to those persons is:
• Initially the Air Force was required to respond to an official request from the General Accounting Office.
• High altitude balloon research, aircraft escape systems, and other technologies that were misrepresented as part of the Roswell Incident, accounted for significant contributions to the knowledge of the atmosphere, to the quest for space flight, and to the defense of this nation. The U.S. Air Force is exceedingly proud of these accomplishments. Distorted and incomplete descriptions of these activities do not pay tribute to these important exploits or to the individuals who, often at great personal risk, boldly carried them out.
• A sobering reality of the mission of the U.S. Air Force, as evidenced by the aircraft mishaps described in this report, is that defending this nation is a dangerous profession. On a daily basis, members of the U.S. Air Force perform hazardous missions in many locations throughout the world. Unfortunately, these missions sometimes result in injuries or deaths. It is the right—and indeed the duty—of the Air Force to challenge those who attempt to exploit these human tragedies wherever, and whenever, they are discovered.
• The misrepresentations of Air Force activities as an extraterrestrial “incident” is misleading to the public and is simply an affront to the truth.
This comprehensive further examination of the so-called “Roswell Incident” found no evidence whatsoever of flying saucers, space aliens, or sinister government cover-ups. But, even if unintentionally, it did serve to highlight a series of events that embody the proud history of the finest air force in the world—the U.S. Air Force. The actual events examined here, rich in human and scientific triumph, tempered by the stark realities of the dangers of the Air Force mission, are but one small portion of that history. The many Air Force activities cobbled together in the ever changing collage that has become the “Roswell Incident,” when examined in the clear light of historical research, revealed a remarkable chapter of the Air Force story. In the final analysis, this examination simply illustrates once again, that fact is indeed stranger, and often much more fascinating, than fiction.