Almost
from the moment that I became interested in the Roswell case, people were
offering solutions for it. Like most everyone else, I thought that a balloon of
some nature would answer the questions about the crash. After the first few
days in New Mexico, as Don Schmitt and I talked to various people who claimed
some inside knowledge of the case, we were disappointed. It seemed there was
less than nothing… and then we met Bill Brazel whose tale matched that he had
been telling for years about bits of metallic debris.
I
mention all this by way of preamble. I didn’t begin believing that Roswell was
the crash of an alien spacecraft, but something much more mundane. It was only
after talking with Brazel and then many others that my attitude began to
change.
At
the same time, there were those who pushed the idea that it was some sort of
balloon. John Keel had suggested a
Japanese Balloon Bomb, but that was quickly eliminated given the history of
them and the circumstances in which they were launched. The Air Force settled
on a Project Mogul array in the mid-1990s and at the risk of continuing a lot
of unnecessary discussion that has been going on for years, I’m not sold on
that. Documentation provided by the Air Force seemed to rule it out.
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| An inflated Satelloon. |
Lately,
Dr. Bob Gross introduced us to the Satelloon, which is, basically, a huge,
aluminum-covered balloon designed for passive communications. These balloons
would be launched into space, inflated, and then radio signals would be bounced
off them. This idea was much more cost effective, according to various studies,
than using a trans-Atlantic cable for worldwide communications. Of course, in
1947, there had been no artificial satellites launched into orbit. That was ten
years away.
The
idea of something like the Satelloon, however, was one proposed Arthur C.
Clarke in the mid-1940s. He is considered the father of the modern
communications satellite even though he had no hand in putting the things into
orbit. And, of course, science fiction writers have always been on the forefront
of scientific thought with visions of trips to the moon, to the planets of the
solar system, and to thoughts of communications with alien civilizations to
name just a few of the things they envisioned.
I
have attempted to follow up on this Satelloon idea. I have contacted Dr. Gross,
but his response was less than helpful. He said that he would think about my
questions and decide if he wanted to answer them. These were such puzzlers as
had he reviewed all the information supplied by Bill Brazel, meaning his
descriptions of fiber optics and balsa-like material that was so touch he
couldn’t get a shaving with his pocket knife. His response suggested he would
think about it was dated July 21 but I have yet to hear another word from him.
What
I have found, by reading his papers, listening to his interviews, is that he
suggests that the testing of the Satelloons was imbedded in the testing of the
Mogul arrays. Going through Dr. Albert Crary’s field notes on the New York
University balloon project, and the other documentation available about these
Mogul tests, there is no hint that this was done. Crary mentioned, not only the
Mogul name in those notes, but other projects with which
they cooperated in
some fashion and other equipment that could be relevant to their research. Had
a Satelloon been embedded, there is a good chance that it would have been
mentioned, but it was not. Is this proof positive? No.
 |
| A Satelloon. |
I also note that the Mogul culprit, Flight No. 4, was cancelled
according to the available documentation. That would have been launched at dawn
on June 4 but wasn’t. There was a launch of a cluster of balloons carrying a
sonobuoy later that day, but this was not a Mogul array, according to the
documentation available. Charles Moore’s speculative track of Flight No. 4,
required it to have been launched at 2:30 or 3:00 a.m., which would have been
in violation of the regulations under which they operated. And, given that Dr.
Crary noted that it was cancelled at dawn, it means that Moore’s calculations
of the path were in error. I mention this only because the track that seemed to
take the array in the direction of the Brazel (Foster) ranch is flawed. That
means, of course, that whatever fell there did not include a Satelloon.
In my research, I noticed a couple of things. I see that there was
nothing that suggested a Satelloon was available in July 1947 for testing with
the Mogul arrays. The last relevant entry in Gross’s paper seems to be that no
BoPET balloons, which were the type of balloon that would become the Satelloon,
were available until 1952. Gross’s timeline then drops to the Roswell crash
story and to speculation about satellites including Arthur Clarke’s 1945 paper.
That doesn’t provide any documentation that a Satelloon was available in 1947.
Gross does point to the pictures taken in General Ramey’s office,
suggesting they show the remains of a Satelloon. The truth is, the pictures
show the remains of a rawin radar target and a neoprene weather balloon. There
is nothing in those pictures to suggest the remains of a Satelloon.
Gross has suggested that he had other evidence, other documentation that
will prove that a Satelloon is responsible for the debris found by Mack Brazel.
He has yet to produce it, saying that he doesn’t want to lessen the impact of
his upcoming book. This I understand. However, I have found nothing that would
suggest that Satelloons were being tested in New Mexico in 1947 and nothing to
suggest that they were being tested as early as 1947. The idea was there but
the technology had not caught up with the theory. The best I can do is find
information on testing in 1952.
Until, and unless, Gross provides the documentation, this is a theory
that we must reject. If the documentation exists and we can verify its
provenance, we have no choice. If the documentation is presented, at that point
we can reevaluate the theory.
