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For the majority of the tests, dummies were flown to altitudes between 30,000 and 98,000 feet attached to a specially designed rack suspended below a high altitude balloon.[49] On several flights the dummies were mounted in the door of an experimental high altitude balloon gondola.[50] Upon reaching the desired altitude, the dummies were released and free-fell for several minutes before deployment of the main parachute.

Fig. 28. (Left) Witnesses at both flying saucer “crash” sites stated that a “wrecker” was used in the recovery of the “alien” craft. This was a likely reference to the M-342 five-ton wrecker, used to launch and recover anthropomorphic dummies. Fig. 29. (Right) Three tests utilized anthropomorphic dummies mounted in the door of an experimental Project High Dive gondola. This launch took place on October 8, 1957, in front of curious onlookers at the public picnic area of White Sands National Monument, N.M. (U.S. Air Force photo)

The dummies used for the balloon drops were outfitted with standard equipment of an Air Force aircrew member. This equipment consisted of a one-piece flightsuit, olive drab, gray (witnesses had described seeing aliens in gray one-piece suits) or fuchsia in color, boots, and a parachute pack.[51] The dummies were also fitted with an instrumentation kit that contained accelerometers, pressure transducers, an oscillograph, and a camera to record movements of the dummy during free-fall.[52]

Fig. 30. A “Sierra Sam” with High Dive Project Officers 1st Lts. Eugene M. Schwartz (left) and Raymond A. Madson (right). This dummy is outfitted in a “sage green” colored flightsuit (a shade of gray) with red tape sealing its neck, wrists, and ankles. (U.S. Air Force)

Recoveries of the test dummies were accomplished by personnel from the Holloman AFB Balloon Branch.[53] Typically, eight to twelve civilian and military recovery personnel arrived at the site of an anthropomorphic dummy landing as soon as possible following impact. The recovery crews operated a variety of aircraft and vehicles. These included a wrecker, a six-by-six, a weapons carrier, and L-20 observation and C-47 transport aircraft—the exact vehicles and aircraft described by the witnesses as having been present at the crashed saucer locations.[54] On one occasion, just southwest of Roswell, a High Dive project officer, 1st Lt. Raymond A. Madson, even conducted a search for dummies on horseback[55] (see statement in Appendix B).

Fig. 31. An M-35 2½-ton cargo truck, commonly referred to as a “six-by-six,” were used by the Holloman Balloon Branch to launch and recover anthropomorphic dummies and suspension racks at numerous locations throughout New Mexico. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Fig. 32. M-37 ¾-ton utility trucks, known as “weapons carriers,” were used for high altitude balloon recoveries by the Holloman Balloon Branch during the 1950s. Here, recovery technicians use an M-37 to retrieve an Aero Medical gondola from a location on Holloman AFB, N.M. (U.S. Air Force photo)

To expedite the recoveries, crews were prepositioned with their vehicles along a paved highway in the area where impact was expected.[56] On a typical flight the dummies were separated from the balloon by radio command and descended by parachute.[57] Prompt recovery of the dummies and their suspension racks, which usually did not land in the same location resulting in extensive ground and air searches, was essential for researchers to evaluate information collected by the instrumentation and cameras. To assist the recovery personnel, a variety of methods were used to enhance the visibility of the dummies: smoke grenades, pigment powder, and brightly colored parachute canopies.[58] Also, recovery notices promising a $25 reward were taped to an exposed portion of a dummy.[59] Local newspapers and radio stations were contacted when equipment was lost.[60]

The Bravest Man

America was introduced to Col. John Paul Stapp on December 10, 1954, when he became known as both the “the bravest” and “the fastest” man on earth. Stapp earned these titles following a rocket sled test that accelerated him to 632 miles per hour. He reached this speed in just five seconds—faster than a .45 caliber bullet—and was decelerated to a stop in 1.4 seconds, subjecting his body to more than 42 times the force of gravity! While this was America’s introduction to Col. Stapp, the 1954 rocket sled test that examined aircraft restraint devices and human responses to accelerative/decelerative forces and windblast, was just one of many achievements of this legendary Air Force physician.

Born in Bahia, Brazil to American missionary parents, Stapp sold pots and pans door to door during the Depression while he earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees in zoology and chemistry at Baylor University. He went on to earn a doctorate in biophysics from the University of Texas, and a doctorate in medicine from the University of Minnesota.

Fig. 33. The first “space doctor,” Lt. Col. John P. Stapp (now a retired Colonel) being strapped into the rocket sled Sonic Wind N^o 1, on December 10, 1954, at Holloman AFB, N.M. Courageously, Stapp was his own volunteer subject on 29 rocket sled tests and earned two awards of the Legion of Merit and the Cheney Award for valor and self-sacrifice. (U.S. Air Force photo)

In 1944 Stapp entered the U.S. Army Air Forces and became a flight surgeon. From 1946 to 1963, due to his unique qualifications in biophysics and medicine, he conducted a series of acceleration/deceleration experiments on the high-speed track at Muroc (now Edwards AFB), Calif.,[61] and later at Holloman AFB, N.M. Developments from these and other studies resulted in innovations which have saved many lives. These included improved safety belt restraint systems and design specifications for aircraft and automobiles, aircraft ejection and emergency escape systems, refinement of automobile airbag systems, and development of the modern anthropomorphic test dummy.

As commander of the U.S. Air Force Aeromedical Field Laboratory at Holloman AFB, N.M. and later the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, Stapp won support for the Air Force manned high altitude balloons projects—Man High and Excelsior. As a testament to his thorough safety preparations, these and other extremely hazardous projects administered by Stapp, did not result in a single debilitating injury to a test subject. These projects helped pave the way for future flights of both high altitude aircraft such as the X-15, and of spacecraft for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. In fact, Stapp’s expertise was called upon to assist in the selection of the initial cadre of astronauts, the “Mercury Seven.”

He retired from the Air Force in 1970, but not before amassing a collection of awards and honors. These included two awards of the Legion of Merit for rocket sled experiments, the Cheney Award for 1954, and membership in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

In association with the Society of Automotive Engineers, Stapp continues to participate in annual conferences in which industry experts assemble to discuss vehicle safety issues. The conferences, now in their 40th year bear his name: the Stapp Car Crash Conferences.

In 1991, in recognition of a lifetime of unselfish dedication to scientific research, Stapp was awarded the National Medal of Technology, bestowed upon him at the White House by President George Bush.

He is married to the former Lillian Lanese, a former soloist with the Ballet Theater of New York, and resides in Alamogordo, N.M. At 87 years old he continues to maintain a dizzying pace of travel and lectures.

It is not an exaggeration that virtually every person who has safely operated, or ridden in, an automobile, aircraft, or spacecraft, has benefited from the genius of Col. John Paul Stapp, and owes this brave scientist, physician, and visionary, a great deal of thanks.

Fig. 34. September 12, 1955 edition of Time featuring Col. John P. Stapp and his rocket sled experiments at Holloman AFB, N.M.

Despite these efforts, the dummies were not always recovered immediately; one was not found for nearly three years and several were not recovered at all.[62] When they were found, the dummies and instrumentation were often damaged from impact.[63] Damage to the dummies included loss of heads, arms, legs and fingers.[64] This detail, dummies with missing fingers, appears to satisfy another element of the research profile—aliens with only four fingers.

Fig. 35. Rough treatment and parachute failures during balloon drops often caused damage to the hands of the dummies. This detail, “beings” with “four fingers,” was related by two witnesses as a distinguishing feature of the Roswell aliens. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Figs. 36–38. Actual photographs of an Alderson Laboratories type anthropomorphic dummy falling away from its suspension rack at high altitude over New Mexico. Fig. 37 (center) appears on the cover of this publication. (U.S. Air Force photos)

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Fig. 39. Memo taken from Project High Dive files explaining the loss of a dummy near Roswell, N.M. in November 1955.

What may have contributed to a misunderstanding if the dummies were viewed by persons unfamiliar with their intended use, were the methods used by Holloman AFB personnel to transport them. The dummies were sometimes transported to and from off-range locations in wooden shipping containers, similar to caskets, to prevent damage to fragile instruments mounted in and on the dummy.[65] Also, canvas military stretchers and hospital gurneys were used (a procedure recommended by a dummy manufacturer) to move the dummies in the laboratory or retrieve dummies in the field after a test.[66] The first 10 dummy drops also utilized black or silver insulation bags, similar to “body bags” in which the dummies were placed for flight to guard against equipment failure at low ambient temperatures of the upper atmosphere.[67]

Fig. 40. Air Force personnel used stretchers and gurneys to pick up 200-pound dummies in the field and to move them in the laboratory. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Fig. 41. For the first 10 balloon flights, dummies were placed in insulation bags to protect temperature-sensitive equipment. These bags may have been described by at least one witness as “body bags” used to recover alien victims from the crash of a flying saucer. (U.S. Air Force photo)

On one occasion northwest of Roswell, a local woman unfamiliar with the test activities arrived at a dummy landing site prior to the arrival of the recovery personnel.[68] The woman saw what appeared to be a human embedded head first in a snowbank and became hysterical. The woman screamed, “He’s dead!, he’s dead!”[69]

It now appeared that anthropomorphic dummies dropped by high altitude balloons satisfied the requirements of the research profile. However, the review of high altitude balloon operations revealed what appeared to be explanations for some other sightings of odd objects in the deserts and skies of New Mexico.

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Figs. 42 & 43. These reports detailed the methods and procedures used for the dummy tests. They may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), Springfield, Va.