• High altitude balloon research, aircraft escape systems, and other technologies that were misrepresented as part of the Roswell Incident, accounted for significant contributions to the knowledge of the atmosphere, to the quest for space flight, and to the defense of this nation. The U.S. Air Force is exceedingly proud of these accomplishments. Distorted and incomplete descriptions of these activities do not pay tribute to these important exploits or to the individuals who, often at great personal risk, boldly carried them out. • A sobering reality of the mission of the U.S. Air Force, as evidenced by the aircraft mishaps described in this report, is that defending this nation is a dangerous profession. On a daily basis, members of the U.S. Air Force perform hazardous missions in many locations throughout the world. Unfortunately, these missions sometimes result in injuries or deaths. It is the right—and indeed the duty—of the Air Force to challenge those who attempt to exploit these human tragedies wherever, and whenever, they are discovered. • The misrepresentations of Air Force activities as an extraterrestrial “incident” is misleading to the public and is simply an affront to the truth. This comprehensive further examination of the so-called “Roswell Incident” found no evidence whatsoever of flying saucers, space aliens, or sinister government cover-ups. But, even if unintentionally, it did serve to highlight a series of events that embody the proud history of the finest air force in the world—the U.S. Air Force. The actual events examined here, rich in human and scientific triumph, tempered by the stark realities of the dangers of the Air Force mission, are but one small portion of that history. The many Air Force activities cobbled together in the ever changing collage that has become the “Roswell Incident,” when examined in the clear light of historical research, revealed a remarkable chapter of the Air Force story. In the final analysis, this examination simply illustrates once again, that fact is indeed stranger, and often much more fascinating, than fiction. Notes - Section One [1] Headquarters United States Air Force, _The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert_ (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995), 20–22. [2] ibid. [3] Don Berliner and Stanton T. Friedman, _Crash at Corona_ (New York: Paragon House, 1992), 14. [4] Headquarters United States Air Force, _The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert_ (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995), 20–22. [5] Ted Bloecher, _Report of the UFO Wave of 1947_ (Washington D.C.: author, 1967), I-13-14. [6] Combined History, 509th Bomb Group and Roswell Army Airfield, 1 July-31 July 1947, 39, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL. [7] _Roswell Daily Record_, July 9, 1947, 1.