DuBose affidavit (1991)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
| Date | 16 September 1991 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Secrecy & cover-up (topic) |
| People | Thomas DuBose, Roger Ramey, Clements McMullen |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 112 |
| Year | 1991 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1991 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
On 16 September 1991 retired Brigadier General Thomas DuBose, who in July 1947 had been chief of staff of the Eighth Air Force at Fort Worth, signed an affidavit stating that the weather balloon shown to the press in his commander's office was "a cover story" for the Roswell recovery. It is one of the most quoted Roswell statements, but DuBose's various accounts were inconsistent.[1][2]
DuBose
Thomas Jefferson DuBose was born in 1902 and graduated from West Point in 1929. In July 1947 he was a colonel and chief of staff to Major General Roger Ramey at Fort Worth Army Air Field, and appears holding the debris in some of the press photographs taken in Ramey's office. He was promoted to brigadier general in 1952 and, according to the affidavit, retired in 1959. He died on 24 February 1992.[1]
The affidavit
In the affidavit, signed when he was 89, DuBose said that Major General Clements McMullen of Strategic Air Command had phoned to ask about the object recovered near Roswell and ordered that it be sent on. DuBose said he told Colonel William Blanchard at Roswell to send the material to Fort Worth in a sealed container, that Colonel Al Clark then flew it to Washington in a B-26, and that McMullen had it sent to General Benjamin Chidlaw at Wright Field. He said the material photographed in Ramey's office was a weather balloon, and that the balloon explanation was a cover story to divert the attention of the press; he also said the matter was handled at the highest level of secrecy.[1][2]
Inconsistencies
DuBose's statements were not consistent. In an August 1990 session with researchers Donald Schmitt and Stanton Friedman, which used regressive hypnosis, he said emphatically that he had never seen the real Roswell debris and that the material in Ramey's office was not from Roswell. In 1991 interviews with Jaime Shandera, he said the photographs showed the debris Major Jesse Marcel had brought from Roswell. Critics have also argued that hypnosis can contaminate memory.[1]
Assessment
The Air Force's 1994 report agreed that the balloon story concealed something, but said it was the secret Project Mogul balloon program rather than an alien craft. DuBose's affidavit remains widely cited because he was present when the balloon photographs were taken.[2][3]
People and topics
- Thomas DuBose — Eighth Air Force chief of staff in 1947 who appears in the Fort Worth balloon photos and later called the balloon story a cover.
- Roswell — The New Mexico town at the center of the 1947 crash story.
- Roger Ramey — Eighth Air Force commander who presented the Roswell balloon in 1947.
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Fort Worth — The Texas city where the Roswell debris was shown to the press in 1947.
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — The Ohio air base that housed Project Blue Book and is linked to the Hangar 18 legend.
- Clements McMullen — Strategic Air Command deputy commander named in the DuBose affidavit.
- Project Mogul — A secret Army Air Forces program using balloon trains to detect Soviet nuclear tests, blamed by the Air Force for the Roswell debris.
On the Timeline
- NRO Blue Fire document (28 July 1991) — An alleged NRO document warns of UFO-group protests near Area 51.
- Ray Boeche's meeting with two DoD scientists (25 November 1991) — Two scientists tied to the DIA and NSA claim secret programs try to control non-human intelligence.
See every 1991 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Patrick Gross, "Thomas Jefferson DuBose", Roswell witness page, UFOs at close sight · ufology.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- Roswell incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Project Mogul — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- The DuBose affidavit — Kevin Randle · kevinrandle.blogspot.com · archived copy
- roswellproof.com · roswellproof.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Roswell incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- UFOs and the Air Force: records — National Archives · archives.gov · archived copy
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Hangar 18 (the legend and 1980 film) — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · 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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