=VIKING and VOYAGER-MARS Space Probes.= Examples of unusual payloads, not likely to be associated with balloons, were qualification trials of NASA’s VOYAGER-MARS and VIKING space probes. Both of these spacecraft looked remarkably similar to the classic dome-shaped “flying saucer.” In 1966–67 and 1972, eight of the UFO lookalikes were launched by the Balloon Branch from the former Roswell Army Air Field (now Roswell Industrial Air Center), N.M.[94] The spacecraft were transported by Air Force balloons to altitudes above 100,000 feet and released for a period of self-propelled, supersonic, free-flight prior to landing on the White Sands Missile Range.[95] While the origins of the “Roswell” scenarios cannot be specifically traced to these vehicles, their flying saucer-like appearance, and the fact that they were launched exclusively from the original “Roswell Incident” location, leaves an impression that perhaps these odd balloon payloads may have played some role in the unclear and distorted stories of at least some of the “Roswell” witnesses. [Illustration: Fig. 52. A NASA VIKING space probe is rolled out of its assembly building at Martin Marietta Corporation in Denver, Colo. (_NASA_)] [Illustration: Fig. 53. (_Above Left_) The aeroshell of a NASA VOYAGER-MARS space probe just prior to launch at Walker AFB, N.M. (formerly Roswell AAF). (_U.S. Air Force photo_)] [Illustration: Fig. 54. (_Above Right_) This NASA VIKING flying saucer-like space probe was test flown by U. S. Air Force high altitude balloons in 1972 at the former Roswell Army Air Field. (_NASA_)] [Illustration: Fig. 55. (_Right_) Following a supersonic test flight in 1972, a VIKING space probe awaits recovery at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. (_NASA_)] =Tethered Balloons.= The Holloman Balloon Branch, in addition to high altitude research activities, also conducted low altitude tethered balloon flights. It appears that descriptions of these balloons may have become part of the “Roswell Incident.”