General Accounting Office
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🏢 Organization
Contents 6
| Type | Organization |
|---|---|
| Also known as | GAO, Government Accountability Office |
| On the Timeline | 5 events, 1986–2004 |
The General Accounting Office, renamed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2004, is the auditing and investigative agency of the U.S. Congress. In UFO history it is known for its 1995 search for government records on the 1947 Roswell incident, which found that some records from Roswell Army Air Field had been destroyed without any record of who destroyed them or why.[1][2]
The agency
The GAO was created by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 and began work on 1 July 1921. It is part of the legislative branch, provides audits, evaluations and investigations for Congress, and is often called the "congressional watchdog". It is led by the Comptroller General of the United States, appointed for a single 15-year term.[1]
The Roswell request
Representative Steven Schiff of New Mexico, concerned that the Department of Defense had not provided all its information about the Roswell crash, asked the GAO to find out what reporting rules applied to such an event and to identify any government records about it. GAO auditors searched records of the Army, Navy and Air Force, the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Council, and several National Archives facilities, and asked the White House science office and the Department of Energy for records.[2]
Findings
The GAO reported to Schiff on 28 July 1995. It found only two records from 1947 about the Roswell recovery:[2] - the July 1947 history of the 509th Bomb Group and Roswell Army Air Field, which said the base's public information office had been kept busy answering questions about the "flying disc", which turned out to be a radar-tracking balloon; - an FBI teletype of 8 July 1947 from Dallas, reporting an Eighth Air Force officer's description of a hexagonal disc suspended from a balloon, which was being sent to Wright Field and resembled a high-altitude weather balloon with a radar reflector.
The GAO also found that Roswell Army Air Field's administrative records from March 1945 to December 1949, and its outgoing messages from October 1946 to December 1949, had been destroyed; the disposal forms did not say who destroyed them, when, or under what authority. The CIA, the National Security Council, the White House science office and the Department of Energy reported no relevant records. The Defense Department said the Air Force's 1994 report, which identified the debris as a Project Mogul balloon train, represented all its information.[2]
Reaction
Schiff said the missing outgoing messages should have provided more information, and that they were permanent records that should not have been destroyed. Skeptic Philip Klass pointed out that the missing messages covered a three-year period, not just early July 1947 as Schiff's statement could suggest. The report did not settle the debate over what crashed near Roswell.[3][4][5]
On the UAP Timeline
- GAO testimony on special access programs (1986) (24 July 1986) — A GAO official testifies about secret 'black' defense programs.
- Dan Sherman on programs above special access (1990) — Sgt. Dan Sherman says some secret programs are hidden above the usual special access level.
- Andrew Kissner and the 1947 crashes (1994) — A former New Mexico legislator says sources told him 1947 disc crashes caused deaths.
- GAO Roswell records report (28 July 1995) — Rep. Steven Schiff says Roswell base records were destroyed, per a GAO audit.
- Charles Bowsher audit claim (7 August 2004) — A consultant says a former U.S. comptroller general found a 'crashed UFO program' in an audit.
References
- Government Accountability Office — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "Government Records: Results of a Search for Records Concerning the 1947 Crash Near Roswell, New Mexico", GAO/NSIAD-95-187 (28 Jul 1995) · govinfo.gov · archived copy
- Rep. Steven Schiff, press release on the GAO Roswell report (28 Jul 1995), Project 1947 · project1947.com · archived copy
- "UFO documents destroyed unjustifiably, lawmaker says", Deseret News (30 Jul 1995) · deseret.com · archived copy
- Philip J. Klass, special report on the GAO Roswell search, Skeptical Inquirer (Nov/Dec 1995) · centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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