2.3
High Altitude Research Projects
By 1960, hundreds of high altitude research balloons, some that carried anthropomorphic dummies, descended and were recovered in areas surrounding Walker AFB and Roswell. But based on the descriptions of the bodies and the involvement of a hospital and medical personnel, it did not seem likely that high altitude research balloons with scientific instruments or anthropomorphic dummies could possibly account for this testimony. Therefore, the focal point of the research shifted to manned high altitude balloon flights conducted by the Air Force during the mid to late 1950s and early 1960s.
Manned Balloon Flights
Two manned balloon projects, Man High and Excelsior, were conducted within the time period targeted for research: Man High from 1957 to 1958[163] and the manned portion of Excelsior in 1959 and 1960. The only other manned high altitude balloon project in Air Force history, Stargazer, did not fly until 1962.
It was discovered that only six manned flights were made for Man High and Excelsior. These flights were determined unlikely as the source of the testimony since there were no injuries or deaths, all six flights had been the subject of intense media coverage, and none were flown in the vicinity of Roswell. Despite the apparent dead end these flights presented to explain this account, records were obtained and persons involved in Man High and Excelsior were contacted and interviewed. These records and interviews confirmed that there were, in fact, only six USAF manned high altitude balloon flights, none with characteristics similar to the testimony. However, detailed examinations of the records revealed that, in addition to the six high altitude balloon flights, there were also numerous low altitude balloon flights made to train and qualify the high altitude balloon pilots.[164] Records of the training flights indicated that some of these were conducted at Holloman AFB, N.M., and several mishaps occurred resulting in injuries to the pilots.[165]
Further research revealed that one accident had taken place just northwest of Roswell.[166] The accident occurred on May 21, 1959, 10 miles northwest of Walker AFB, on a pilot training mission for the upcoming Project Excelsior and Stargazer flights scheduled to begin that fall. Analysis of the accident revealed actual events that closely resembled the remaining portions of the established profile.
In addition to unmanned high altitude balloon research flights, from 1957 to 1962 the U.S. Air Force conducted a series of seven manned high altitude flights. These forward-looking projects investigated the upper reaches of the earth’s atmosphere and laid the foundation for manned spaceflight. Most flights were conducted before rocket booster technology was available to propel a spacecraft into earth’s orbit. In this interim period, to “bridge the gap” while awaiting developments in rocket technology, high altitude balloons were the only vehicles capable of reaching the altitudes required. All three of the USAF manned high altitude balloon projects, Man High, Excelsior, and Stargazer utilized Holloman AFB balloons to transport men to the very edge of space, above approximately 99 per cent of the earth’s atmosphere, a region known as “near space.”
Project Man High. In 1955, a combined effort by the U.S. Air Force Aeromedical Field Laboratory, Winzen Research International, and the Holloman Balloon Branch resulted in the first Air Force manned balloon program. Project Man High, officially known as the Biodynamics of Space Flight, directed by Lt. Col. David Simons (MC), was the first of the three widely publicized manned high altitude balloon programs. The objective of Project Man High was to measure the physiological and psychological capabilities of a human in a space equivalent environment. Many developments of this successful project were later incorporated into the first phase of the U.S. Air Force Man in Space Program nicknamed Man in Space Soonest (MISS). Technology developed for MISS was transferred to NASA in 1959 and became part of Project Mercury, the initial series of U.S. space missions.[167]
Fig. 11. (Left) Test pilot Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. just before launch of Man High I at New Brighton, Minn. on June 2, 1957. Kittinger flew in all three USAF high altitude balloon projects and has accumulated more high altitude balloon flying hours than anyone else in the world. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Fig. 12. (Center) Lt. Col. David G. Simons (MC), a physician and pilot of the Man High II high altitude balloon mission, is shown here boarding the recovery helicopter near Frederick, S.D. following the successful flight on August 19, 1957. This flight lasted 33 hours and 10 minutes attaining a peak altitude of 101,500 feet. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Fig. 13. (Right) Holloman AFB Balloon Branch Meteorologist and Engineer, Bernard D. Gildenberg, instructs high altitude balloon pilot 1st Lt. Clifton McClure, pilot of Man High III, in the operation of a low altitude training balloon on May 12, 1959 at Holloman AFB, N.M. (U.S. Air Force photo)
Fig. 14. Project officer and pilot, Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., standing beside the Excelsior gondola at Holloman AFB, N.M. On his third and final high altitude parachute jump, from 102,800 feet, he established world records for highest parachute jump and length of free-fall which still stand today. (U.S. Air Force photo)Project Excelsior. In 1959 and 1960 the U.S. Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory collaborated with the Holloman Balloon Branch for Project Excelsior, the second Air Force manned high altitude balloon program. Excelsior was the dramatic climax of the high altitude free-fall studies that began as Project High Dive in 1953 using anthropomorphic dummies. As the test director for Project Excelsior, Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. made three parachute jumps from balloons, Excelsior I, II, and III, from 76,000, 75,000, and a still standing record altitude of 102,800 feet. Excelsior’s scientific objective was to develop a parachute system and techniques required to return a pilot or astronaut to earth following an emergency high altitude escape.
Project Stargazer. Project Stargazer was the third Air Force manned high altitude balloon program. Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger. Jr., the veteran high altitude balloon pilot of Man High and Excelsior, was both the pilot and project engineer. On December 13, 1962, Kittinger and U.S. Navy civilian astronomer William C. White rose to 86,000 feet to make astronomical observations with a gyro-stabilized telescope. A joint U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Smithsonian Institution, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology program, Stargazer made only one of a scheduled four flights due to budget shortfalls and equipment difficulties.
Fig. 15. Project Stargazer pilot and project engineer, Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. (left), after landing near Lordsburg, N.M. on December 13, 1962 with U.S. Navy civilian astronomer William C. White. Kittinger and White ascended to 86,000 feet to make astronomical observations in the seventh, and final, U.S. Air Force manned high altitude balloon flight. (U.S. Air Force photo)Table 2.4
U.S. Air Force Manned High Altitude Balloon Flights
Date Project/Flight Altitude (feet) Pilot 6/2/57 Man High I Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. 8/19/57 Man High II Lt. Col. David G. Simons (MC) 10/8/58 Man High III 1st Lt. Clifton McClure 11/16/59 Excelsior I Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. 12/11/59 Excelsior II Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger. Jr. 8/16/60 Excelsior III Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. 12/13/62 Stargazer Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. With the completion of Project Stargazer and the success of NASA’s Project Mercury space flights, future investigations were accomplished by space vehicles. This signaled the end of an era of manned high altitude balloon flight; however, these projects had indeed “bridged the gap,” and manned space flight was now safely possible.
Low Altitude Balloon Training Missions
Background. In April 1958, Col. John P. Stapp, commander of the U.S. Air Force Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, appointed a new project officer for Project Excelsior, Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. Excelsior was part of an ongoing program to examine high altitude aircraft escape procedures and equipment.[168] Kittinger was an experienced fighter test pilot who was the pilot of the first Air Force manned high altitude balloon project, Man High I, in June 1957.[169] In addition to being the Excelsior project officer, Kittinger was the pilot and project engineer of Stargazer which also utilized high altitude balloons.
By 1959, Kittinger was an integral part of both Excelsior and Stargazer and one of only three individuals in the Air Force with high altitude balloon pilot experience. Due to the hazardous nature of these important projects, Stapp was concerned that an injury to Kittinger might result in the cancellation of one or both of them. Therefore, Stapp determined there was a need for backup pilots. Selected as backup pilots were Captains Dan D. Fulgham and William C. Kaufman. Both men were rated aircraft pilots, parachutists, and research and development officers assigned to the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB.
During the third week of May 1959, a series of low altitude manned balloon flights were flown to train Fulgham and Kaufman.[170] These flights were launched by the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch. To satisfy safety requirements, the flights were closely monitored by medical personnel at all times. A helicopter with medical personnel followed the flights during daylight hours, a C-131 aircraft followed during hours of darkness, and at all times medical personnel followed in an ambulance.[171] Balloon recovery and communications technicians also followed the missions on the ground in a communications vehicle and a balloon recovery vehicle.[172] The safety requirements were a result of several recent balloon mishaps that resulted in serious injuries to the pilots.
To meet the training schedule, Kittinger, Kaufman and Fulgham were assigned temporary duty (TDY) from the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB to the Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB, N.M.
The three pilots, Kittinger, Kaufman and Fulgham, flew training missions together. Kaufman and Fulgham alternately flew the balloon while Kittinger instructed. The missions were flown at night to take advantage of light winds and avoid the effects of diurnal heating on the helium (the lifting gas that filled the balloon). Used for these missions were 30-foot diameter polyethylene balloons and an aluminum gondola especially designed for low altitude training.
The first training mission scheduled for May 19, 1959 was canceled due to equipment problems.[173] Problems overcome, the next day at 1:30 a.m. the mission launched from White Sands Proving Ground.[174] The objective of this flight was to practice gas valving and ballasting techniques necessary for balloon control and to practice landings. After a five-hour flight, the balloon landed without incident just after sunrise northwest of El Paso, Texas.[175]
The second training flight, launched at 2:41 a.m. on May 21, 1959, from behind the Balloon Branch building, Bldg. 850 at Holloman AFB.[176] Near the end of another successful training mission with the same objectives as the previous flight, a mishap occurred resulting in injuries to two of the pilots, Fulgham and Kittinger.[177]
The Mishap. Just after sunrise on May 21, 1959, following a successful low level training flight east of Holloman AFB over the Sacramento Mountains, Kittinger, the instructor pilot, determined the balloon should be landed in a small field approximately 10 miles northwest of Roswell.[178] This was necessary because of approaching bad weather and the field was the last suitable landing site before overflying the city of Roswell.[179] When the balloon touched down, a higher than normal forward velocity for landing caused the gondola to overturn.[180] The three pilots, Kittinger, Fulgham, and Kaufman, were spilled from the gondola pinning Fulgham’s head between the edge of the gondola and the ground.[181] The impact shattered his helmet and he sustained a head injury.[182] When the three pilots climbed out from under the gondola, Fulgham noticed that his “head seemed to be protruding outward from underneath [his] helmet.”[183] Kittinger also received an injury, a minor facial laceration. The crew of the nearby chase helicopter and personnel in the ground tracking vehicles rushed to the scene.[184] For medical treatment, the pilots were transported by the helicopter to nearby Walker AFB.[185]
When the helicopter landed at Walker AFB, it was met by armed security personnel who sought to verify the purpose of the unannounced arrival.[186] The security personnel escorted the balloon pilots to the hospital.[187] The balloon recovery and communications crew, after retrieving the gondola and balloon, drove to Walker AFB to check on the injured crew and to inform the Balloon Branch at Holloman AFB of the accident.[188]
At the Walker AFB hospital, Fulgham and Kittinger received treatment for their injuries and neither required admission. Meanwhile, the Walker AFB security officials continued to escort the unannounced visitors while verifying their identities.[189] The pilot’s identities and purpose for their visit were confirmed via phone by Colonel Stapp, Aero Medical Laboratory commander at Wright-Patterson AFB (the pilots and Project Excelsior were assigned to this organization).[190]
Kittinger, the Excelsior project officer, wanted to leave the hospital as quickly as possible after he and Fulgham received medical attention.[191] The quick departure was to avoid unwanted scrutiny by Walker AFB flying safety officials.[192] When released by the flight surgeon, the three pilots boarded the chase helicopter and returned to Holloman AFB approximately 100 miles to the west.