One of the other photographs was quite interesting as well. In it, General Ramey was shown holding what appears to be a telegram, and, as it happened, the printing on the telegram was partially facing the camera. David Rudiak analyzed the telegram, and through computer enhancements (see the following pictures), there are several words that can be made out. Those words included the phrases "victims of the," and "emergency powers needed." One would think that if the telegram had been describing just the downing of a weather balloon, words such as "victims of the" would not be applicable, as there are generally no victims in the wreck of a weather balloon. The other words were suspicious as well, mentioning the necessity of emergency powers being needed at Site Two, which was southwest of Magdalena, New Mexico. The intensity of the Army's dismissal, combined with the phrases gleaned from the telegram, certainly made it sound as if something other than a simple weather balloon-or even a secret observation device-had been discovered at Site Two.
The government admitted much later that there had been a coverup after all. In their later statements, they claimed that what was recovered from Roswell was not from a weather balloon, but in reality was debris from a Top Secret project, the so-called Mogul balloon, which, as I explained in the last chapter, was designed to detect atmospheric disturbances caused by Soviet nuclear tests. This subsequent explanation highlights yet another rather obvious flaw in the official story: Under no circumstances would the government publish pictures of its Top Secret projects on the cover page of press releases, at least not while the information was still classified. Hence, openly publishing such pictures at that time smelled of cover-up as well. In the next chapter, I'm going to go into more detail about Mogul balloons. For now, though, I want to stress that, even though the Mogul balloon project was classified, the materials used in it were not. In fact, they were off-the-shelf items; only their intended use was Top Secret. My father surely would have recognized these common components, yet in its attempt to bolster its story, the government implied rather clearly that my father did not recognize any of these common components.
And that is patently absurd. As I stated before, my father had just gone through radar school, where he studied radar targets similar to the one he was ordered to hold for the photo session. In essence, the government implied that my father couldn't even tell the difference between a box kite and a P-51 Mustang. Such claims just made no sense.
Of the 11 flights of the Mogul project in 1947-and again, I'll go into more detail in the next chapter-the government's story focused upon Flight #4, which was launched on June 3. Based upon prevailing winds and atmospheric conditions that day, the projected flight path would not have taken the balloon anywhere near the crash site.
Immediately after the debris was moved to Fort Worth, both my father and Colonel Blanchard were "offered" the opportunity to take a three-week leave of absence. This could have been for reasons unrelated to the discovery and ensuing cover-up, but my father felt that it certainly was suspect, especially because he wasn't allowed to come home for those three weeks. Instead, he inadvertently became part of the cover-up, spending this period being debriefed on what he saw, as well as how to handle the public and other government agencies' inquiries. According to records later made available, Colonel Blanchard had scheduled his own leave prior to the crash, but he apparently used the time to go back to the crash sites to have a look.
By July 10, 1947, all of the debris had been vacuumed (my father's words) from the crash site and moved to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The aircraft used to transport the debris was a C-54. It took an aircraft of large size to transport the considerable amount of debris, as well as the number of armed guards needed to ensure that the debris was not seen by anyone not directly involved in the government's explanation of the event.
If the government were only transporting the wreckage of a Mogul balloon, it would not have needed an aircraft the size of a C-54, let alone guards to protect the over-the-counter materials that made up the balloons and instruments.
Inasmuch as the debris from Mogul balloons recovered by research teams were typically disposed of without any special security measures taken, why would the government have felt the need to transport what they found on the Foster Ranch under guard on a special flight? Obviously, the material being transported was not the remnants of a Mogul balloon.
Later, the pilot of the aircraft, Captain Pappy Henderson, recalled the flight and mentioned the large crate used to haul the materials, and, according to Henderson, the alien bodies. Neither my father nor I ever saw any alien bodies, but as you probably know, several other people did make that claim.
Interestingly enough, all records from Roswell pertaining to the recovery of the debris are no longer available, reportedly having been inadvertently destroyed, lost, or misplaced. I can't help wondering who was responsible for those records, and why only these particular items are missing. Perhaps they were abducted by aliens.
As of today, the government is still holding to its story, although the particulars of that story have changed many times in the years since the crash occurred. In 1994, the government issued the first of several special reports on Roswell. The final version was issued in 1997; it was a 213-page document called The Roswell Report: Case Closed, which purported to finally tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the Roswell event. The report was based on an exhaustive search for records about Roswell, the purpose being to determine if the Air Force or any other U.S. government agency had information on the crash and recovery of an extraterrestrial vehicle and its alien occupants.
Besides revealing what the crash was, the document discusses what the crash wasn't. Here's what it says the Roswell Incident was not.
As anyone who watches television, listens to the radio, or reads a newspaper knows, airplane crashes are big news, and even the most minor of such incidents is both officially documented and publicly described. The only crashes that have any chance of escaping extensive public scrutiny are those involving classified military missions or test flights. Between the dates of June 24, 1947, and July 28, 1947, there were a total of five crashes officially documented in New Mexico, none of which occurred on the dates or in the vicinity of the Roswell debris site.
Incidentally, the government report also examined how the different agencies documented crashes of weather balloons and other non-typical aerial vehicles. Inasmuch as a "crash" or uncontrolled landing is the normal means of terminating a weather balloon flight, the only time a report of such an event is documented is when the falling debris causes injury or property damage. Even these records are only maintained for five years.
There have been some who have theorized that the Roswell Incident was actually the crash of a missile, such as a previously captured German V-2. Given the fact that any such tests-which would have been launched at nearby White Sands missile rangewere classified as Secret at the time, the government would have handled such crashes under tight security, especially if the flight had crashed on land not under government control. Air Force records, however, do not suggest that such a crash could have been involved in the Roswell case. At any rate, there would be no pressing need to maintain a classified status involving tests on World War 11-era weaponry, as virtually all technical information pertaining to these weapons is publicly available anyway.