Notes:
“Crash Site” 1—Site North of Roswell
“Crash Site” 2—Site 175 miles Northwest of Roswell
Shaded areas indicates corroboration between witnesses.
Boxed shaded areas indicates corroboration between witnesses at different “crash” sites.
| Witness Description | Air Force Equipment/Procedure |
“Crash Site” |
|---|---|---|
| The “Aliens” | ||
| 1. “They was using dummies in those damned things.”[166] Ragsdale | Reference to anthropomorphic dummies (figs. 11, 14, 21–22, 29, 30–33, 35, 40, 72–75, 45). | Site 1 |
| 2. “I thought they were plastic dolls”[167] Anderson | Reference to anthropomorphic dummies that had plastic skin. | Site 2 |
| 3. “an experimental plane with dummies in it”[168] Kaufman | Reference to anthropomorphic dummies. | Site 1 |
| 4. “I’m sure that was bodies ... either bodies or dummies.”[169] Ragsdale | Reference to anthropomorphic dummies. | Site 1 |
| 5. “it was either dummies or bodies or something laying there.”[170] Ragsdale | Reference to anthropomorphic dummies. | Site 1 |
| 6. “his eyes was open, staring blankly”[171] Anderson | Reference to anthropomorphic dummies. | Site 2 |
| 7. “not exactly like human beings ... similar, but not exactly.”[172] Maltais | Reference to anthropomorphic dummies. | Site 2 |
| 8. “didn’t look like human beings”[173] Knight | Reference to anthropomorphic dummies. | Site 2 |
| 9. “they didn’t have a little finger”[174] Anderson | Reference to Alderson Laboratories dummy that were reused many times and were often damaged but remained in service. (figs. 35, 73, 74). | Site 2 |
| 10. “they had four fingers”[175] Maltais | Corroboration of description #9. See above. | Site 2 |
| 11. [the beings were] “three and a half to four feet tall”[176] Maltais | Likely description of anthropomorphic dummy missing legs after fall from altitude. | Site 2 |
| 12. [the beings were] “four foot tall, four and a half feet tall.”[177] Anderson | Corroboration of description #11. See above. | Site 2 |
| 13. “they weren’t over four or five foot long at the most.”[178] Ragsdale | Corroboration of description #11. See above. | Site 1 |
| 14. “Their skin coloration... [was] a bluish tinted milky white”[179] Anderson | Probable description of a “Sierra Sam” dummy with pale white “skin” (fig. 21). | Site 2 |
| 15. “their heads were hairless ... no eyebrows, no eyelashes, no hair”[180] Maltais | Anthropomorphic dummies did not have “hair” (figs. 21, 22, 36–38, 40). | Site 2 |
| 16. “no hair ... completely bald”[181] Anderson | Corroboration of description #15. See above. | Site 2 |
| 17. “no visible ears ... just a rise there and then a hole”[182] Anderson | Dummies had ears that were molded to their heads with openings for placement of instruments (fig. 22). | Site 2 |
| 18. “The hands were not covered”[183] Maltais | Reference to Alderson dummy which did not have gloves on hands (figs. 35, 73–75). | Site 2 |
| 19. “they were all wearing one piece suits ... a shiny silverish gray color”[184] Anderson | Reference to gray flight suits worn by the dummies for some of the tests (figs. 14, 29, 30). | Site 2 |
| 20. “Their clothing seemed to be one piece and gray in color.”[185] Maltais | Corroboration of description #19. See above. | Site 2 |
| 21. “It’s uniform was torn in a couple spots ... their uniforms were in pretty sad shape.”[186] Anderson | Dummy uniforms were often secondhand, rips and other defects were common but they remained in service (fig. 75). | Site 2 |
| 22. “Around the collar it [the suit] was trimmed in ... maroon-like cording”[187] Anderson | Reference to red duct tape used to prevent air from filling the dummy’s flightsuit (figs. 29, 30). | Site 2 |
| 23. “They looked like they had some sort of bandages on ’em ... over his [the crewmember’s] arm.”[188] Anderson | Reference to tape and nylon webbing used to prevent arms and legs of dummy from flailing. Tape was also used to secure the removable back plate of head (figs. 29, 30, 35, 72–75). | Site 2 |
| 24. [bandages] “around his midsection and partially over his shoulder”[189] Anderson | Reference to parachute harness that had chest and shoulder straps. | Site 2 |
| The “Craft” | ||
| 25. “It [the crewmember] felt dead when I touched it, it was very cold.”[190] Anderson | Description of a high altitude balloon payload that was cold soaked at sub zero temperatures of the upper atmosphere. | Site 2 |
| 26. “it was a dirigible, a blimp that had crashed”[191] Anderson | Reference to a partially inflated or deflated high altitude balloon (figs. 23, 70). | Site 2 |
| 27. “a flying saucer that had burst open”[192] Maltais | Reference to the dummy suspension rack that did not have sides (figs. 35, 73–75). | Site 2 |
| 28. “clusters of thread-like material in the form of a cable”[193] Anderson | Numerous cables and wires were used in the dummy instrumentation kits and balloon control package. | Site 2 |
| 29. “others of those [cables] went from one kind of package of components to another kind of package”[194] Anderson | Both balloon control package and dummy instrumentation kits were connected by cables (fig. 73). | Site 2 |
| 30. “some kind of container, a metal box”[195] Anderson | Reference to balloon control package or dummy instrumentation kit (fig. 73). | Site 2 |
| 31. “it was ice cold, it felt like it just came out of a freezer”[196] Anderson | Condition of a balloon payload after it has been “cold soaked” in the upper atmosphere at temperatures far below zero. | Site 2 |
| Vehicles | ||
| 32. a “jeep-like truck that had a bunch of radios in it and two big antennas.... There was a guy sittin’ in there wearin’ earphones and he was talking on the radio.”[197] Anderson | Reference to a modified M-37 ¾-ton utility truck commonly referred to as a weapons carrier, unique to the Balloon Branch. One of the primary vehicles used by recovery crews. Balloons were tracked by direction finding gear and required a radio operator to wear headphones (fig. 32). | Site 2 |
| 33. “weapons carriers”[198] Ragsdale | Corroboration of description #32. See above. | Site 1 |
| 34. “six by six Army trucks”[199] Ragsdale | Reference to M-35 2½-ton cargo truck used to transport dummies and suspension racks for launch and recoveries (fig. 31). | Site 1 |
| 35. “six by [six] ... military truck with canvas ... wagon type ... thing over it”[200] Anderson | Corroboration of description #34. See above. | Site 2 |
| 36. “wreckers [with] cranes on ’em”[201] Anderson | reference to M-246 wrecker used to launch and recover anthropomorphic dummy payloads (figs. 23, 28, 70). | Site 2 |
| 37. “a wrecker”[202] Ragsdale | Corroboration of description #36. See above. | Site 1 |
| 38. “there was military ambulances”[203] Anderson | Reference to a converted M-43 ambulances used as balloon recovery communications vehicles (figs. 64, 71, 80). | Site 2 |
| 39. “the pick-up”[204] Anderson | Pick-up trucks were often used to recover anthropomorphic dummies (figs. 71, 79). | Site 2 |
| 40. “tankers, like, maybe had fuel or water in ’em”[205] Anderson | reference to M-49 fuel trucks used to refuel aircraft or helium trailer used to inflate balloon (figs. 23, 70, 80, 81). | Site 2 |
| 41. “a military car”[206] Anderson | A variety of military and civilian cars were often used for balloon recoveries and launches (fig. 71). | Site 2 |
| 42. “’47 Ford car”[207] Ragsdale | Corroboration of description #41. See above. | Site 1 |
| 43. “there was a jeep that was pulling a trailer with a motor on it, like a generator.”[208] Anderson | Reference to 1-ton trailer and MB-19 15 Kilowatt diesel generator that were used at balloon launch and recovery locations (fig. 71). | Site 2 |
| Aircraft | ||
| 44. “observation aircraft ... high winged aircraft”[209] Anderson | Reference to an L-20 aircraft, primary “chase” aircraft used for balloon recovery in the mid 1950s (fig. 77). | Site 2 |
| 45. “C-47 sittin’ there” [on the road][210] Anderson | C-47 aircraft were often used on dummy launch and recovery operations (fig. 78). | Site 2 |
| Procedures | ||
| 46. “The federal government could have been doing something because they didn’t want anyone to know what this was ... they was using dummies in those damned things ... they could use remote control”[211] Ragsdale | Reference to balloon borne anthropomorphic dummies that were dropped by remote control by balloon controllers at Holloman AFB | Site 1 |
| 47. “they took everybody’s name and everything”[212] Anderson | Procedure used by Balloon Branch to ensure payment of $25 reward and to settle claims of property damage. | Site 2 |
| 48. “they cleaned everything all up ... I mean they cleaned everything”[213] Ragsdale | Balloon Branch personnel were required to remove as much debris as possible from balloon and payload landing areas to avoid complaints and legal actions. | Site 1 |
| 49. “they had the road barricaded off”[214] Anderson | Procedure used for aircraft operations. | Site 2 |
| 50. “they had the road sealed off”[215] Ragsdale | Corroboration of description #49. See above. | Site 1 |
| 51. “airplanes sitting there they had landed on the highway”[216] Anderson | Established procedure to refuel an aircraft, launch a balloon from an isolated location or recover a small payload near a rural road. | Site 2 |
| 52. “there was airplanes in the sky” [over the crash site].[217] Anderson | Reference to balloon “chase” aircraft used to direct ground recovery crews to balloon impact site. | Site 2 |
| 53. “stretching out cables of some kind ... they were stretching stuff out on the ground, dragging stuff out of trucks”[218] Anderson | Reference to balloon inflation procedure that required the balloon and ground cloth to be removed from a vehicle and laid on the ground (fig. 79). | Site 2 |