9502948 — Page 2013

FOIA RELEASE

AI Summary

Case Number: 2006-0476-F FOIA. MARKER This is not a textual record. This is used as' an administrative marker by the Clinton Presidential Library Staff. Original OA/ID Number: 577 Document ID: 9502948 .. Stack: v Row: . Section: 44 5 Shelf: 3 Position: 2 J .' , , ..;. _______._____--=.~__.~_~_.____....""'. ___,,___._....._,.......,._..~_!..... _~_.....~.... ~~_"'.---.....-..~~~.~,..-~~~~-.-,--..·....---..•.,~--~.~-.. -~...~, ....,.·.";;'·f ..;"-'··.~·p~..""!,:.",'it~":"'0:.t_<~,'lf'~ .. __ , ...

Key Findings

NARA NAID 147873187

OCR Text

Case Number: 2006-0476-F FOIA. MARKER This is not a textual record. This is used as' an administrative marker by the Clinton Presidential Library Staff. Original OA/ID Number: 577 Document ID: 9502948 .. Stack: v Row: . Section: 44 5 Shelf: 3 Position: 2 J .' , , ..;. _______._____--=.~__.~_~_.____....""'. ___,,___._....._,.......,._..~_!..... _~_.....~.... ~~_"'.---.....-..~~~.~,..-~~~~-.-,--..·....---..•.,~--~.~-.. -~...~, ....,.·.";;'·f ..;"-'··.~·p~..""!,:.",'it~":"'0:.t_<~,'lf'~ .. __ , .... . .' -, ........,..; UNCLASSIFIED RECORD I~~48 .~ NSC/RMO PROFILE RECEIVED: 18 APR 95 09 TO: SENS FROM: DAVIS, RICHARD DOC DATE: 28 JUL 95. SOURCE REF: KEYWORDS: CONGRESSIONAL . CONGRESSIONAL ACCESS PERSONS: SCHIFF, STEVEN H SUBJECT: GAO RPT RE RESULTS OF A SEARCH FOR RECORDS CONCERNING THE 1947 CRASH NEAR ROSWELL ACTION: RECD CY GAO RPT ·DUE DATE: 02 MAY 95 STATUS: C STAFF OFFICER: LEARY LOGREF: FILES: SCP: . COD s: DOC U MEN T DIS T RIB UTI O.N FOR ACTION. FOR CONCURRENCE FOR INFO DANVERS LEARY '.' . NSC CHRON COMMENTS: DISPATCHED BY ____-,..-_____ DATE _____ BY HAND W/ATTCH OPENED BY: NSJDA CLOSED BY: NSMBN DOC 4 OF 4 UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED RECORD ID: 9502948 ACTION DATA SUMMARY REPORT DOC ACTION OFFICER CAO ASSIGNED ACTION REQUIRED 001 DANVERS Z 95041809 PREPARE MEMO FOR SENS 002 SENS Z 95042810 FOR SIGNATURE 003 X 95042816 SENS SGD MEMO 004 . X 95080314 RECD CY GAO RPT DISPATCH DATA SUMMARY REPORT DISPATCH FOR ACTION DISPATCH FOR INFO 003 950428· KELLEY., J UNCLASSIFIED United States General Accounting Office GAO Washington, D.C. 20548 National Security and International Affairs Division B-262046 July 28, 1995 The Honorable Steven H. Schiff House of Representatives Dear Mr. Schiff: On July 8, 1947, the Roswell Anny Air Field (RAAF) public information office in Roswell, New Mexico, reported the crash and recovery of a "flying disc." Anny Air Forces personnel from the RAAF'S 509th Bomb Group were credited with the recovery. The following day, the press reported that the Commanding General ofthe U.S. Eighth Air Force, Fort Worth, Texas, announced that RAAF personnel had recovered a crashed radar-tracking (weather) balloon, not a "flying disc." Mter nearly 50 years, speculation continues on what crashed at Roswell. Some observers believe that the object was of extraterrestrial origin. In the July 1994 Report ofAir Force Research Regarding the Ros~ell Incident, the Air Force did not dispute that something happened near Roswell, but reported that the most likely source ofthe wreckage was from a . balloon-launched classified government project designed to detennine the state ofSoviet nuclear weapons research. The debate on what crashed at Roswell continues. Concerned that the Department of Defense (DOD) may not have provided you with all available information on the crash, you asked us to determine the requirements for reporting air accidents similar to the crash near Roswell and identify any government records concerning the Roswell crash. We conducted an extensive search for government records related to the crash near Roswell. We examined a wide range of classified and unclassified documents dating from July 1947 through the 1950s. These records came from numerous organizations in New Mexico and elsewhere throughout DOD as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the National Security Council. The full scope and methodology ofour work are detailed at the end ofthis report. Page 1 GAOINSIAD·96·187 Government Records B·262046 In 1947, Army regulations required that air accident reports be maintained Results in Brief permanently. We identified four air accidents reported by the Army Air Forces in New Mexico during July 1947. All of the accidents involved military aircraft and occurred after July 8, 1947-the date the RAAF public information office first reported the crash and recovery of a "flying disc" near Roswell. The Navy reported no air accidents in New Mexico during July 1947. Air Force officials told us that according to record-keeping requirements in effect during July 1947, there was no requirement to prepare a report on the crash of a weather balloon. In our search for records concerning the Roswell crash, we learned that some government records covering RAAF activities had been destroyed and others had not. For example, RAAF administrative records (from Mar. 1945 through Dec. 1949) and RAAF outgoing messages (from Oct. 1946 through Dec. 1949) were destroyed. The document disposition form does not indicate what organization or person destroyed the records and when or under what authority the records were destroyed. Our search for government records concerning the Roswell crash yielded two records originating in 1947-a July 1947 history report by the combined 509th Bomb Group and RAAF and an FBI teletype message dated July 8, 1947. The 509th-RAAF report noted the recovery of a "flying disc" that was later determined by military officials to be a radar-tr…

Metadata

Agency
National Archives and Records Administration
Classification
UNCLASSIFIED
Department
National Archives and Records Administration
Confidence60
Credibility70

NARA Source

NAID
147873187
File
42-t-7585721-20060476F-001-006-2013.pdf
Type
application/pdf
Retrieval
DOWNLOADED
OCR status
SUCCEEDED

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