Unidentified flying objects -- Sightings and encounters -- New Mexico -- Roswell
Anderson related that as a five-year-old boy on an outing with his
family in west central New Mexico, they stumbled upon the crash of
some type of aerial vehicle.[127] When he first saw the craft he
thought it was a “blimp.”[128] According to Anderson he “didn’t really
get very close,”[129] but thought he saw four bandaged crewmembers
and at first he “thought they were plastic dolls.”[130] He also
described attempts by persons in his party to communicate with one
of the “crewmembers.”[131] Soon after, other civilians arrived (some
wearing pith helmets) followed by military personnel in an assortment
of vehicles and aircraft commanded by a “redheaded captain.”[132] The
military personnel, after “screaming and hollering” at the civilians
“this is a military secret,” started a recovery operation of the alien
craft and crew.[133] Anderson also recalled that the military personnel
threatened some of the civilians with imprisonment or death before
escorting them out of the area.[134]
Assessment
Anderson’s choice of the terms “blimp” to describe the crashed vehicle,
and “dolls” to describe the “crew,” strongly suggests that a balloon
with an anthropomorphic dummy payload was the foundation for this
testimony. He also provided an abundance of supporting details that
accurately described vehicles, aircraft, equipment, and procedures
used by the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch to launch and recover
anthropomorphic dummies.
An aspect of this testimony that is not accurate is the alleged threats
and intimidation of civilians by military personnel. The use of such
heavy-handedness was not a tactic used by the Air Force. A careful
review of official records and interviews with numerous persons
who actively participated in and were responsible for the conduct
of Air Force members on high altitude balloon recovery operations
revealed that these allegations are untrue.[135] Additionally, the
witness alleges that the military personnel were “screaming and
hollering” “this is a military secret.”[136] This statement might lead
uninitiated persons to believe that the witness observed something
highly classified and that by telling everyone present that it was a
“military secret” would somehow help it to remain so. However, logic
dictates that if something was classified “screaming and hollering”
it was “secret,” would compromise it and not serve to protect its
classification. This application of logic, combined with the fact that
the launch and recovery of anthropomorphic dummies was unclassified,
widely publicized, and often observed by local civilians, indicates
that the witness’ recollections are in error. There was never a reason
to disrespect, “scream,” “holler,” or forbid any person from talking
about the launch or recovery of anthropomorphic dummies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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