THE FIRST 'BALLOON HOUND' - MARCH 1946

 The idea of a weather balloon was not a new one in the 1940's, in fact mentions can be found in newspaper articles going back into the 1920's and some of the early arctic experimental expeditions.  

A headline from 6 March 1946 proclaimed, "AIR AGE PRODUCES BALLOON HOUND" and shared that a weather balloon released at Des Moines, Iowa traveled an airline distance of 1,100 miles before it came to rest when it landed on the farm of Robert Allard in Clarkmont, New Hampshire and was discovered by his dog.

The Army had balloon installations for several decades prior to Roswell's making balloons a front page headline. The ranged in size from large hand-held balloons to massive ones like the 1910 one shown below. 

ROSWELL - Some Reflections and Questions

In the 1990's, finishing a grad program and beginning work in my professional field, I began studying Roswell (Or the Roswell Incident).  I set up a simple webpage to explore questions and research. I contacted numerous researchers, authors, and even hunted down one witness some had a hard time finding and he kindly answered my questions. Questions I had; gaps and contradictions, poor arguments, and evidence that all came from the same source (i.e. the government). I voiced my questions, gripped about the "run around" and connected with some people who appeared "like minded." 

It may have been pure coincidence that this website was seriously hacked some months into the study, as was an email I used.  I was using the page when it went black and fast scrolling data raced up the page and then pop! It was gone. Lost. Not able to retrieve. You name it that was the message sent to me. Oddly, I could access other pages I had created for other purposes or audiences. I am not claiming this was done on purpose - just throwing it out there.  When I questioned the logic and claims of one "out there" group, I was verbally harassed via emails from a Reptilian-aliens-in-the-woodwork (and government) proponent. That is a whole other story! They threatened and insulted. My in box was filled to overflowing with their nonsense. Just let it be said, it was an interesting time.

So, when I began research into the SOONER SAUCERS book (pub.2020) and subsequent work on my own Kansas experiences as well as those of others in that state, revisiting Roswell was not high on the list. It was the landmark, the signpost, the tree in the road; Events had to be measured and compared in Pre-Roswell and Post-Roswell terms. Layers of assumptions generated in the post-Roswell world - and false assumptions - still colored how the topic was viewed later 20th and early 21 centuries.

One of the areas just coming to light in those dates of the personal website adventure was the news that a top-secret experimental project, MOGUL, was behind the Roswell Incident. I recall clearly seeing numerous online articles, postings, and etc. dealing with the history of the tests for the project. These were drawn from the records and diary of Albert Crary. The first two tests were back "east" and then project moved to the southwest, there about two were lost or never released, and the others had data on release and recovery locations.  Recently, trying to locate that chart and list online I discovered that the majority of sites all accepted the Air Force report of 1996 where the Roswell "Disc" was alleged to be Flight Test #4.  There was often little evidence beyond that Air Force report (again the source of the solution is the source of the problem - a little of the Fox guarding the henhouse contradiction).  

Where? That chart or listing with its data, to me, would be a great piece of evidence to undergird the Air Force claim. So, where is it? Instead, the "Wikipedia" article provides evidence only via long quotes from the works of men some might truthfully claim were a bit prejudiced in their views and work regarding Roswell and unidentified flying or aerial objects. That, to me, does not seem true "evidence." So question: where did that informative chart and list of those project test flight go? The way the Internet has developed the primary focus is presumed to be that the Internet user will be pecking keys with credit card at the ready. Assumptions of research and in-depth knowledge gathering are not high on the radar of several Internet gateways.

Buried within the massive (900+ pages) of the government produced Roswell: Fact vs Fiction in the New Mexico Desert was that chart and some of that date. Not easy to find, access, or use. After weeding through pages of leading question interviews with pro-Mogul individuals there were finally some facts. In the early pages and in a summary was the firm statement that Charles Moore had identified Flight # 4 as the Project Mogul flight responsible for the "Roswell Incident. "See page 27 of the Fact vs Fiction work. This is the repeated statement found on so many websites and in articles.

Yet, on page 15 of the interview with Moore has him reading from a written source, "June 4the, "out to Tularosa Range and fired charges between 0-0 and o-6" something. "No balloon flight again on account of clouds. "..."as to that flight made by Mirs and Hackman, earlier, we have no record of it in the NYU summary."

SUMMARY OF FLIGHTS 1-6 

Flight no. Date Launch Site Configuration Landing Site 

3 5/29/47 Alamogordo, NM Same as flight no. 2* Unknown 

4 6/4/47 Alamogordo, NM Same as flight no. 2* Unknown

* Depictions of flight nos. 3 and 4 are not provided in the NYU reports. According to NYU Progress Report 

No. 6, Section 11, p. 5, the equipment to be used for the Alamogordo field trip in June was consistent with the depiction of flight no. .2. This information also concurred with Crary's partial description of flight no. 4 in his diary. 

So, although we have Charles E. Moore in 1994 stating the Roswell Incident was caused by Flight # 4, we have conflicting data from Albert Crary which Moore himself appears to agree to in the interview! A balloon that did not go aloft - almost all agree now according to the websites and articles - was responsible for the Roswell Incident. 

MOGUL information and the Crary Diary at pt05a.pdf (smu.edu) .  This section indicates there was no flight for June 4, 1947, proving the text read aloud in the interview with Moore was from Albert Crary's diary.

Roswell Report (AF 1994) at The Roswell Report (defense.gov)

ROSWELL: PLAYING FAST AND LOOSE WITH FACTS - STILL

 I was researching and ran across the History Channel page on Roswell and found in bold red print this nugget:

"Did you know? The Project Mogul team invented a number of high-tech materials for its balloons and other equipment, including ultra-lightweight and ultra-strong metals, fiber-optic cables and fireproof fabrics. This is part of the reason why some people who saw the debris thought it came from outer space: It didn’t look or behave like anything they’d ever seen. Many of these materials are still in use today." Source: Roswell - New Mexico, Alien & UFOs - HISTORY

I found this fascinating because if you explore the original reports, the Air Force interviews for their first exposé on Roswell the principal players admit there was nothing out of the ordinary with anything used in those early Mogul flights. Charles Moore states they did not even change from the common neoprene balloon to the plasticized version until after the end of June 1947! Since most sites float the Flight #4 as the Roswell debris, the debris would have been parts of a neoprene balloon. Those flights used primarily linen strings and cords as well. The fireproofing, according to Moore, was applying a layer of Elmer's glue-like substance to various parts.

Read all about Mogul here pt05a.pdf (smu.edu)

Charles E Moore shown here with reflector from a weather balloon such those used in Mogul

"Based on the above, it appeared likely that the debris found by the rancher and was subsequently identified as a ”flying disc” by personnel from Roswell AAF was, with a great degree of certainty, MOGUL flight no. 4, launched on June 4, 1947. " ---Roswell: Fact vs Fiction

"June 4 Wed. Out to Tularosa Range and fired charges between 00 and 06 this am. No balloon flights again on account of clouds. Flew regular SO"O buoy up in cluster of balloons and had good luck on receiver on ground but poor on plane. Out tith Thompson pm. Shot charges from 1800 to 2400.

 June 5 Thurs. Up at 4 to shoot 2 charges for balloon flight. Whole assembly of constantaltitude balloons set up at 0500. Fired charges at 0537 and 0552, the" ~00" buzzed by plane 1947 11 to return. Receiver at plane did not work at all. Ground receiver worked for a short time but did not receive explosions. B-17 and most of personnel out to Roswell - recovered equipment some 25 mi east of Roswell. [my emphasis] Out at 10 this morning, sot TKI and went out to range. " ---NYU/Mogul Balloon, Crary Diary, 1947 

So, from these sources it is shown that flight #4 lifted June 4 (according to the Air Force report and Moore's comments), but is listed as having an unknown landing site in one source and in Crary's diary it is clearly stated no lifts were made due to cloud coverage.

One thing the work of Project Blue Book discovered was that most people - read leaders, administrators, government officials, reporters - and so they read the summary, they consume the pre-digested information and accept as fact all the summary presents under a guise of logical, objective, rational, and unbiased information. 

When the Condon Committee prepared their reports in the late 1960's, head of the project Condon was already preparing his summary based on the biases he held or had been told to hold. Much of his summary was in opposition to the conclusions of his committee members. Most people read just the summary and accepted those conclusions as facts. Just the way the reports in the Blue Book Project had often made conclusions that witnesses statements contradicted, the Condon report and so many others, saw this flaw in human beings and utilized it to push forward an agenda. 

July 8, 1947: Things Were Hopping All Over or the Evolution of a Cover Story

• 
  
  Objects reported over Muroc (future Edwards) airfield in California. Morning and afternoon sightings. Also, some day before.
• Missile scientists, with Naval background, prepping in southern New Mexico for a test the next day, observe strange object in the sky that no one can identify.
• Major General Nathan F. Twinings statements insisting the flying saucers are not the Army's released over AP wire serves from Portland, Oregon. "Neither the AAF nor any other components of the armed forces has any plane, guided missile or other aerial device under development which could possibly be mistaken for a saucer or formation of flying discs... Some of the witnesses evidently saw something, but we don't know what. We are investigating."
• Roswell Army Airfield press release comes out in Roswell newspaper about the finding of a "disc" by a local rancher.
• Various newspapers carried stories that included comments from an "unnamed or identified source", often labeled as a "high ranking Army officer" that included the following statement in one form or another: "Privately high-ranking Army officers said they believed the saucers were a hoax and that some persons were victims of hysteria." (UP, July 8).
• A story found in Texas papers and identified as an AP story "Aluminum Missile Found on Beach" was subtitled "Flying Disk Mystery. and dated July 8. Various people found discs along the shores of Trinity Bay near Houston. They were even inscribed: "Military secret of the United States of America, Ary Air Forces M4339652. Anyone damaging or revealing description or whereabouts of this missile subject to persecution by the U.S. government. Call collect at once LD 446, Army Air Forces Depot, Spokane, Washington." When contacted the commanding officer said he could neither confirm or deny the existence of such a missile. The article reported numerous silvery object seen flying over Lubbock, Hillsboro and Bonham in the past several days (July 6-8). Was this an attempt to "muddy the waters"? Some had to have sprinkled those labeled discs across the southern regions of Texas. There are ghost hunters who have faked ghosts into order to promote the idea that ghosts are real; was something similar going on here with the military (or some combination of agencies and "arms" uniting) to create hoaxes that could then be knocked over (a straw man approach to the whole topic.)
• The conflicting views and attitudes coming out of 'higher up' offices and military leaders in the days from early May to Roswell and beyond could imply various attempts to float a working excuse or explanation or story to (1) explain (2) allay "fears" and (3) keep control of the subject.
• The ridicule hard was being played with a heavy hand on July 8 in UP story found in a Texas newspaper, "Dry Kansas Miss Flying Discs: Military Men Believe Saucers are Hoax."  "The army and ground forces announced that they were investigating the reported cloud hopping discs with an open mind." They added, "But privately, high ranking army officers said they believed the saucers were a hoax and that some persons were the victims of hysteria." The reported a story from North Carolina of a bright light in the sky. "Meanwhile, they mystery of the saucers took on an internal flavor...The discs already reported over most of teh 48 states and parts of Canada were reported over Mexico City." Mexican authorities did not believe the people calling in reports and Russia laughed at the idea they were from that area. The "U.S. Army officers discounted theories that they flying discs might be secret weapons for use in bacteriological warfare." They noted as significant the fact none of the objects had yet registered on army radar." The close was the killing note - - "Kansas, a dry state, boasted that none of its residents had seen one."

Someone - or more than one someone's - was working backstage sending out different actors with different lines but similar motives.  

Earlier news stories of balloons, radar sondes, and the like prove the topic was not as uncommon as a wished to express to the vast population. College newspapers, daily papers, and books had shared the developing field of weather forecasting and data collection from the early arctic experiments to more recent developments. Columns regularly addressed changes in air crafts and their potentials for changing mail service, commerce, and travel.

There may be a reason so many of the articles about the topic would grow giddy to show up the ignorance or isolation of rural sightings by farmers, miners, ranchers, and small town people. Present the populace as short a few bricks and make the topic easier to ridicule both person and topic.

When Project Blue Book or its predecessors encountered that hated of all witness - an experienced, qualified, and observant person - one can sometimes hear the gnashing of teeth. The one or two short tempered readers (consultants maybe?) who loved to add "!!!!!!!" behind statements made by witnesses and point out what they saw as mistakes with a "got ya!" glee must have been chewing aspirin by the bottle!

MOTHERSHIPS

 In 1947 one of the little heard about accounts was by a house wife (so often they were minimized and filed under the favorite catch all of "hysteria") but her words take on some intriguing many compared with later account. NICAP's site shares this: "In still another case, the woman in Palmdale, California, who described the satellite object case as appearing like "a mama hen with her baby chicks," gave newsmen a real heyday of merriment; and yet this is probably one of the most significant reports to come out of the entire 1947 wave (Cases 528 & 530)".

Fast forward to Tulsa, Oklahoma were a detailed report and sketch are ignored by investigators and the sighting labeled with one of the favorite classes, "aircraft." In this report, the witnesses saw the smaller craft disappear into a vast and black object in the skies. 

There were other account during Project Blue Book of objects that seemed to disappear into unexpected cloud banks or into "thin air".

Just how long have these "mother ships" been seen and ignored?

Missile Expert Saw a Flying Disc: Pre-Roswell Incident (1947)

July 8, 1947 - - Missile Expert saw something unlike anything he had seen before. Dr ZOHN. One article dated July 7 and the other July 8.

1947 map showing places reporting strange things in the skies.

Post Kenneth Arnold sightings. This article of June 26, 1947

Below, a very early UFO over a classified location involved in nuclear and other studies at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Over the decades UFO's will be seen to visit nuclear and power sites around the globe.

July of 1947 a strange object was reported and photographed over the highly classified OAK RIDGE in Tennessee. Several images in an undated file labeled July 1947 and Oak Ridge. All the images show a round, glowing, object traveling in an undulating course across the field of the image. There is an apparent air disturbance trail following it but the quality is such it is not clear if this was part of the original image or added later for clarification or obsfucation.
 

How Special Report 14 Came To Be

Section Operations ATIAA

Visit to xxxxxxx Battelle

8 June 1952, 

Lt. E. J. Ruppelt and General Kirkland conferred with members of  xxxxxxxxx on 26 December 1951 in regard Project Grudge.

The question of weather or not there was enough material available on unidentified aerial objects to warrant a detailed scientific study was discussed.

It was decided that there was enough material available and xxxxx would submit a proposal to furnish consultants in the field of astronomy, applied psychology, physics, etc. 

They will also attempt to make a statistical analysis of the reports  in an attempt to obtain some pattern or trend. 

"It is very reasonable to believe that some type of unusual object or phenomens [sic] is being observed as many of the sightings have been made by highly qualified sources."

This is a very interesting memo. Interesting on several levels.

This is a memo of a report to an un-named group, led by an un-named individual that plans a study of things that it is "reasonable to believe..." are some type of unusual object or natural phenomena.

Although the dating is a little out of sync with the published timeline for the emergence of the ROBERTSON PANEL, it could easily be part of a long run plan to achieve specific goals related to the subject.

It dovetails with the emerging interest in the topic by the CIA that will see the ROBERTSON PANEL emerge. The CIA was concerned of communication jams due to people "seeing things" and the confusion that could arise from a perfect storm of a "flap" as cover for an invasion. 

This event is flagged "BATTELLE" and that is significant as some have alleged connections with major projects there in metallurgy, nuclear sciences, and other fields may have been the result of alien technology.

So here we have an interesting note that serves to prove the AF and others did have concerns in 1951 about topic of unidentified. This led to the Special Report # 14 that led directly to the CIA's Robertson Panel.

In most records the ROBERTSON PANEL OR COMMITTEE was a scientific committee which met in January 1953 headed by Howard P. Robertson. The Panel apparently came out of a recommendation to the Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) in December 1952 from a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) review of the U.S. Air Force investigation into the topic of unidentified flying objects.

Of Note:

Air Force Special Report # 14 (1952) Project Blue Book Special Report #14 : United States Air Force : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Durant Papers (Robertson Panel): REPORT OF SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY PANEL ON UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS CONVENED BY OFFICE OF SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE, CIA January 14 - 18, 1953 (cufon.org)

In the Durrant Papers is a note that in the presentations related to the report, "The Project STORK support at Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, was described by Dr. Hynek." Battelle Memorial Institute was founded in 1923 with an endowment from the estate of Gordon Battelle. Located in Columbus, Ohio, the institute's mission is to develop practical applications for scientific research. Battelle was officially incorporated in 1925 and began its laboratory operations for the first time in 1929.