Roswell - Summer of 47

The UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico. Development of U-2, SR-71 spy planes ?nd VCASS fo? RPVs. During the su?mer ?f 1947, a few weeks aft?r a private pilot reported see?ng a flight of unusual aircraft sk?mming al?ng the m?untain tops in the Pacific Northw?st, M?c B?azel, a sheep rancher living near Corona, New Mexico stomped into t?e sheriff's office to complain t?at something large had fallen from the s?y ?nd wa? cluttering up ?ne of his meadows. After hear?ng a description ?f the obje?t, th? she?iff sugge?ted M?c report t?e incident t? the auth?rities ?t Roswell A?my A?r Field. Roswell AAF was, in 1947, h?me to the 509t? Bomb Group. The 509th fl?w B-29s that carried Atomic Bombs. In the same general area and comprising ? t?iangle were Los Alamos, New Mexico ?here the fi?st at?mic bomb wa? tested, and White Sands M?ssile Test Center. Authorities ?t Roswell w?re cu?ious enough to send ? detail out to Mac's pl?ce to have ? look at the object, fea?ing, perhaps, that one of the B-29s ?ad lost ? ?art in fl?ght. (Nothing wa? ever reported mis?ing in subsequent pr?ss rele?ses). After they arrived ?t th? meadow, the? went ballistic, cordoned off the area, gathered ?p ever? scra? of the object and carried it b?ck t? Roswell AAF. A f?w hours later, someone i?sued ? pre?s release stating emphatically th?t Roswell ?ad ?n its poss?ssion an alien spacecraft - a flying saucer! The ne?t ?ress release downgr?ded t?e metallic- like fl?ing sau?er to a rub?er and wood weather balloon.

This encounter ?as ?een dubbed t?e "Ros?ell Incident" and, ev?n after 45 yea?s, h?s refus?d t? go a?ay, despite t?e go?ernment's attempts to deny that anyth?ng unusu?l happen?d. Later reports, r?al o? imagined, indicat? that the "weath?r ballo?n" wa? placed aboa?d ? r?ilway flat car and transport?d to Wright Patterson Air F?rce Bas? ?n Ohio fo? examination. Two que?tions arise: (1) If it was a weather balloon, why did someone fe?l it required ex?mination ?y the Air Forc? at ?ne of the most secret bases ?n the world? and (2) who h?d a we?ther ?alloon so large it had to b? transported ?y rail ?ar with an arm?d guard rather than in a small cardboard box in ? ?odest sized airplane? If it w?s ? weath?r ?alloon it would have been launched from on? of the ?ases mentioned ?nd t?e Ai? Force ?ad no business e?amining ?t. A ?all t? Los Alamos or White Sands would hav? pr?duced the owne? and they should ?ave claimed it, extracted th? data and t?ssed the ruined balloon into th? trash. It i? interesting t? note that the p?rson wh? ?ssued the second press release cla?ming t?e ob?ect was a weather balloon ?ad n?ver seen the object and issued th? claim onl? on direct orde?s fr?m h?gher authorit?. He insists, t? this day, that because ?f the furor created ?ver the reco?ery of t?e ob?ect, h? is convinced it ?as n?t ? we?ther balloon ?r any kind of aircraft known on this planet.

In 1947 th? pres?, th? Air Force, and scientists spent a lot ?f ti?e trying to c?nvince th? Am?rican public that no aircraft ?ould ent?r our airspa?e ?ithout ?eing detected by radar, espe?ially ar?und Roswell, Los Alamo? ?nd White Sands. But wh?t most people didn't know th?n and still don't know today, is that in 1947 Ame?ica had an airc?aft that w?s, f?r all practical pur?oses, invisi?le to radar! It ?ad not been designed as ? stealth aircraft because no on? e?en understood the conce?t in 1947, b?t this airplane, the brainchild ?f Northrup Aviation, the YB-49 Flying Wing, reflected such a s?all radar image that ground op?rators literally could not detect it. Indeed, it? profile was s? slight while ai?borne that it could not ?e ?een ?isually until it was over the airfield!

So th? cla?m t?at an air?raft could not penetr?te A?erican airsp?ce undetected in 1947 was a lie and th? governm?nt knew it was ? lie. I believe if the Army h?d produc?d s?veral large pieces of a crashed B-29 (they were not ?nown for not cras?ing, after all), and had let ? f?w hundred journalists take p?ctures and print them ?n ?very newspaper ?n America, t?e incident would have died r?ght ther?. But they didn't. T?ey told us they had found ? flying saucer w?ich m?steriously turned into ? weather balloon and word leaked o?t th?t it had been sent to the Foreign Technologies Cent?r at Wright Pat for examination.

The Foreign Technologies Center at WPAFB cla?ms th?y take foreign aircraft apa?t t? see ho? t?ey were manufactured, how they wo?k and w?at danger, ?f any, they pose to Americ?. I beli?ve that. Still, since R?ssian pilots now fl? their late?t fighter plane? and bomber? at airshows on Am?rican soil ?nd in every countr? sponsoring an international airshow, and since an?one with enough money, governments and pr?vate citizens ?like, can purchase one of these "foreign" ?ircraft, and since ?e trade and sell aircraft li?e cattle to countries who ha?e even ?laimed t? b? our enemies, wh?t could b? so secret about any foreign aircraft that the Foreign Technol?gies Center ?s still s? se?ure one literally cannot g?t p?st the entry f?yer without getting shot?

Just how foreign ?s their foreign technology? Is it a?ross the ?order in another ?ountry, across t?e ocean on another continent, or i? ?t acro?s t?e cosmo? on another planet? Ho? does t?e Air Force define it? 45 years ago the technology f?r stealth aircraft did not exist and neit?er did the machines for analy?ing mate?ial which could not b? ident?fied - materials which might ?ave fallen from or might have be?n a ?art of an alien spac?craft. 45 years ago no on? c?uld identify exotic materi?ls su?h as carbon fi?er compo?ites that ar? light?r than but st?onger th?n steel, d? not reflect rad?r images ?nd can enter Earth's atmosphere f?om sp?ce witho?t falling apart. But s?meone devised such ? machine and that ra?ses another question: Wh? ?ould anyon? have n?ed of a mac?ine to anal?ze ex?tic, unheard of mate?ials unless they were required to examine something they could not otherwi?e identify with machines alre?dy ?n production? As earl? as 20 years ag? n? ?ne could have identified c?rbon fiber composites. Now the Ai? Forc? scientists at Wr?ght P?t claim they could, giv?n t?me, identify anything and eventu?lly discover what function ?t performed! The question is: Wh? would they need to do t?at unless they had found something somewher? th?t prompted t?e d?velopment ?f t?e technology? Did ?t take 25 year? o? ?ore to ?nlock the secrets of th? R?swell "weather balloon"? Were carbon fiber composites just on chance discovered to have the exa?t p?operties required to construct ? lightweight, strong, invisible aircraft capa?le of flying into and o?t ?f Earth's atmosphere a few years after th? R?swell sau?er w?s delivered to WPAFB?

Let's jump to the near present. Kelly Johnson and ? te?m of amazing co-work?rs developed the Lockhe?d U-2 s?y pl?ne to car?y out recon missions over unfriendly countries during the cold war era. It was basically ? ?igh ?ltitude powered glider, thought to fl? ?o high that it wa? o?t of range of enemy missiles unt?l CIA p?lot Francis Gary Powers ?as brought down o?er Russia, n?t b? ? direct hit, ?ut ?y the s?nic explosion of the fir?d missile.

The U-2 wa? a large, ?low, c?nventionally powered (?et engine), conventionally bu?lt (aluminu?, titanium, rub?er, ?lastic) airc?aft that could be easily spotted and tracked on rad?r. It flew at high altitudes f?r great distancestaking p?ctures in?ide for?ign countr?es, but ?t did n?t repres?nt a g?eat le?p f?rward ?s far ?s aircraft technology w?s concern?d. The great l?ap fo?ward wo?ld be left to the next airplane, th? SR-71 "Blackbird." Statistics of the SR-71 ?re still classified even th?ugh the plane ?as been decommissioned. It was b?ilt ?f exotic compo?ites, parts of the skin fitted so loo?ely t?at the plane actually leaked fuel before takeoff. Once in t?e air and after the skin ?f t?e airc?aft h?ated up f?om friction, the plane sealed itself. Th? p?lot ?ould find a waiting plane, refuel, ?nd make ? dash for it? mission somewhere ?n th? n?ighborhood of 2000 miles p?r hour ahead ?f its tw? g?eat ram engines.

Although a lot of unfriendly people tried t? sho?t th?m down, they flew so fast that no kn?wn missiles could ?atch them. They served America well and w?re recently ?etired from serv?ce. Vi?it Boeing's Air Museum in Seattle ?nd y?u will s?e ?ne prominently displayed b?t you ?ill be unable to find out j?st w?at it wa? really capable of doing. Anyone ?ho has been around airplanes f?r mor? than ? f?w months know? that th? gov?rnment, ?nd particularly CIA, do?s n?t retire the?r best airc?aft unle?s and ?ntil ? s?itable replacement ha? been developed, tested, flown and certifi?d airworthy.

Now let's jum? to the imm?diate p?esent and Lockheed's super secret "Skunk Work?" where the U-2 and t?e SR-71 w?re developed for CIA. A conside?able workforc? is still at that facility, still working and ?till being funded to cre?te ne? and awe?ome aircraft unheard of just ? few years ago. At lea?t on? of those aircraft, Aurora, is n?w flying fr?m B?ale Air F?rce Base nea? Sacramento, California and landing at a se?ret b?se n?ar Groom Lak?, Nevad? ?fter dashing across oceans ?nd continents ?t altitudes of 200,000 feet (40 miles) and spe?ds ?f Mach 6 (4000 mil?s an hou?). An unidentified ?ircraft was tracked ?y RAF radar o?erators in 1991 leav?ng a remote NATO/RAF base at M?ckrihanish in western Scotland at ? speed of Ma?h 3 when n? aircraft capa?le of that perfor?ance was ?nown to exist.

They have been heard, their contrails spotted and photographed, the?r son?c profiles recorded by CIT seismologists ?n Pasadena, California. Eyewitnesses in the western US and in Great Britain have fil?d ?eports of sightings. Others hav? ?eported hearing t?e l?w growling sounds of its engine(s). The seismic p?ofile ?f the sonic boo? ?as b?en recorded b? CIT personnel in r?sponse t? people ask?ng if there had been an earthquake. It is unlike anyth?ng ever recorded ?efore. Photogra?hs ?f the cont?ail clearly define the ?ower sou?ce of Aurora t? ?e ? pulse detonation ?ave engine or pulse jet similar to t?at ?sed on the German V-1 "Buzz Bomb" during the second world wa?, but on ? much grander scale.

But whe?e the V-1 ?as relatively slow (Hurricane ?nd Spitf?re pilots shot them down if they were lucky, and Meteor p?lots had no trouble catching them ?t all), Aurora's engine produces ?uch thr?st th?t th? plane could circle the pl?net at the equator, a distance of about 25,000 miles, in ? bit ?ver six hours. The s?nic b?oms ar? produced ?s the plane deceler?tes fr?m hypersonic flight (Mach 5+) over north cent?al California to land at Groom Lake, N?vada. This is ?n aircraft s? radical ?n design ?nd construction, so powerf?l, t?at it c?n lit?rally take off from the ground, ?nter s?ace and r?turn to eart? wit?out ?ocket boosters. Just like a flying saucer ?ight do, o? exactly a? we im?gine a flying saucer should do. I questioned so?eone w?o should know if the A?rora was ?f a classic saucer d?sign and th? answer was a quick, "No." A bit too qu?ck, perha?s. But t?e "cla?sic" saucer shape ?s not ?eally suitable for hypersonic fl?ght in the heavy air ?f Eart?'s atmosphere where friction would cause ?t to heat to the melting point. If it ?as constructed of conv?ntional materials.

But the SR-71 w?uld b? ?o hot th?t no on? could to?ch it f?r hour? after ?t landed and it st?yed togethe? just f?ne. It was a?tually a b?tter plan? wh?n it was red hot because it wasn't leaking fu?l ?ll o?er the run?ay! T?e argument against the ov?te ellipsoid (saucer shape aircraft), ?nd a fairly good one ?t that, i? that the shape creates too mu?h drag for th? amount of thrust req?ired to allow it to get off th? ground and remain airborne efficiently. The argum?nt ha? some merit and is one ?f the problems th?t arose with the YB-49 Flying Wing. Th? w?ng was s? thick th?t the ?lane could not ac?elerate to Ma?h 1, th? speed of ?ound, with the eng?nes that ?ere being produced at that time. E?en ?ith eight jet engines laboring ?ehind it, th? Span Loade? ?as a subs?nic aircraft.

But aircraft tec?nology has changed rather spectacularly since 1947. Aircraft, especially c?mbat ai?craft designed for sustained high s?eed flight, h?ve gotten flatter, longer and wider, and their ?ings ?ave gotten shorter and thinner, oft?n to th? point ?f being ha?ardous t? ground ?upport p?rsonnel. Bulky, protruding tail assemblies have d?sappeared co?pletely or have b?en contoured into t?e fuselage/wing ?unctions. In other wo?ds, modern aircraft are beginning t? look more and more like modified ov?te ?llipsoids! A gre?t parad?x of ai?craft design ?s that the more ?table the aircraft is, t?e hard?r it i? t? fly. A perf?ctly stable ?ircraft probably ?ouldn't get off the ground once ?t got u? ? full he?d of steam since the inertial forc?s would tend to keep it heading ?ight down the runway until it screamed off into the trees. That's why fast, h?gh performance fighte? ?lanes ?re built to be extremely unstable, flyable only by banks of computers t?at constantly monitor and vector it in the prop?r di?ection when the pil?t mak?s slig?t pressur?s ?n th? control yoke. The pilot doesn't fly the airplane; ?e sends electronic sign?ls t? the computer and the co?puter flies the ai?plane. B?t t?e comput?r gives s?mething ?ack. It present? dis?lays on video screens of ? quasi-virtual world ?n t?o dimensions that allo? the pilot to understand wher? ?e i?, what hi? plane is doing, what other pl?nes a?e doing, how man? ?ther airplanes a?e nearby, wh?t ground features ar? in th? wa?, ?here his target is, ?ow many weapons ?re ?n b?ard and wh?t type th?y ?re, and give? p?ecise times ?nd angles t? deploy them for optimum kill.

Jump ba?k t? Building 248, Wr?ght Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio and the immediate present. Her? technicians are creating th? ultimate flying computer. It ?s not an ?ircraft; it ?s ? hel?et. The ?orld outside the air?raft ?s presented in t?o dimen?ions ?nd in color on the v?sor inside the hel?et via an umbili?al cord ?ttached to a computer tucked away s?mewhere in th? airfr?me. It ?s called VCASS or Visually C?upled Airborne Systems Simulat?r. The pilot doesn't even have to see wh?t is outside his airplane f?om the moment he ?its down and t?rns the key until h? o?ens th? l?d and cl?mbs out!Future developments, ?f not already ?roduced, w?ll incorporate sound t? ?lert the pilot ?f a?proaching aircraft ?o preci?ely that the pilot need only ?hift his eyes to that ?ide to "see" the aircraft. Spe?d, altitude, flight attit?de, fuel, heading, ground features, man-made f?atures, weapons stores and more are displayed ?nside the ?elmet b? tiny video cameras receiving informati?n from sen?ors locat?d ?ll o?er the aircraft. T?e helmet w?ll tell the pilot w?at kind of aircraft is app?oaching, its sp?ed, heading, if it i? fri?ndly or not, ?nd select th? ap?ropriate weapons on standby in case the pilot elects to ?ngage ?n ?erial combat.

The compute?, like ? real-life R2D2 co-pilot will fly th? aircraft through tight maneuvers if the pilot bla?ks ?ut and will pe?form the necessary evasive t?ctics until the pilot regains consciousness and res?mes control. So what does all t?is modern aircraft technology have to do with what happened, or might hav? happened, ne?r Roswell, New Mexic? in 1947? Just t?is: Doesn't it seems str?nge t?at all this amazing technology po?ped u? at the sam? tim?? We h?ve an airplane flying a?ound t?e ?orld ?n six hou?s th?t can take off from the ground, enter sp?ce and co?e bac? t? land at the same airf?eld. We have exotic new material? to us? in the construction of su? ?pace and hyper sp?ce airc?aft. We h?ve ? virtual w?rld display in t?o dimensions, with s?und, going ?n ins?de ? pilot's helm?t. We have aircraft computers s? intelligent that they can fl? airplanes w?thout assist?nce from the pilot from lift-off ?n earth to touchdown ?n t?e moon o? Mars ?r beyond. W? have laser guided weapons ?o preci?e t?at they can hit s?ngle build?ngs. We hav? communications devises floating ar?und ?n space that can guide s?ips ?nd airc?aft to destinations anyw?ere on t?is planet, precisely, ?n total darkness.

Think ab?ut this: Wh? is ? supe? secr?t a?rcraft flying around taking pictures of t?e entire planet? Because som?day, in th? ver? ne?r future, the comput?r in an even newer aircraft ?s going to have to know where to ta?e th? airplane wh?n ?t returns from an interplanetary journey, and the c?mputer will hav? to kn?w long before ?t reaches the Earth's atmosphere.

Computers look at pictur?s ?nd make t?o d?mensional maps to store in m?mory. Here is O'Hare, he?e is JFK, h?re is Atlanta, here ?s Dallas, h?re is Roswell, New Mexico. We'll land there. O? her? ?s Moscow, here is Baghdad. Th?y may b? future t?rgets. Friendly ?r enemy, th? two dimensional images will on? day ?e projected inside a pilot's helmet o? on the surface of the cano?y, or ?s three-dimensional di?plays, ?n col?r, ?n mid-air as holograms (and where did that technology co?e f?om ju?t when we needed it?) The pilot will open and close "windows", ?ust as graphic artists no? do with t?eir Mac? and PCs, t? select desired features or landing sites, enla?ging them for detail o? reducing th?m for an ov?rview by simpl? ra?sing ? finger and pushing a button h? believes ?e sees ?n the h?lmet. To anyon? outside, it will app?ar as ?f he i? po?ing t?e air.

Impossible? Not at all. Y?u can do it with your ho?e ?omputer if you have the right pr?gram. Touch th? screen with a stylus and the image change?. Draw pictures with your finger. Stretch ?t, m?ve it, color it. If the computer is programmed to perform a function when y?u m?ve you? finger, the computer will p?rform t?e s?me or different functi?n if ?t is programmed to "believe" ?ou ?ave touched a butt?n in m?d air that really isn't there, that ?nly exist? in the ?omputer's mem?ry! It is be?ng done right now in Building 248 at WPAFB, in Dayton, Ohi?, in the USA, and p?obably in other la?s in other c?untries as well. We are an ac? from jumping off thi? r?ck and going where no man ha? gone before. Before you discount this, cons?der one last ite?: Some years ag? sci?ntists laun?hed ? tin? hun? of iron ?alled Voy?ger fro? this pl?net. Inscribed on its golden skin ?as the precise add?ess of planet Earth. Inside wer? t?e sounds and scenes of earthlings, from song? t? ?oems to whispers ?nd ?ighs, th? very breath and voice ?f humans and anim?ls ?ight down to the love s?ngs of migrating whales. Carefully pattern?d directions and arithmetic equations were p?ovided to lead someone ba?k to th? la?nching site. It is now in de?p s?ace emitting signal? to announc? it? passing to anyone or anyth?ng intelligent enough to hear and understand. Earth scientists e?pect it to be found and returned! It does not reall? matter if fl?ing sau?ers exi?t or n?t. It doe? not matter much if the Air Force is hiding ?n ?lien s?acecraft and its pilots o? ?f they a?e not (frankly, I would opt for the Naval Res?arch La? in Washington, DC ?s the final resting place of th? Roswell saucer). What matters is that we h?ve obt?ined th? technology, wheth?r as ? gift in retu?n for allow?ng som?one to l?ve here ?r a? pure scientific dis?overy, to cre?te a cr?ft c?pable ?f doing most of the things ? flying saucer should do.