High speed motion-picture studies were made of the dependence of air-water entry cavities on the relevant physical parameters—in particular, on the atmospheric pressure over the water surface. Experiments on the vertical entry of spheres ¼ in. to 1 in. in diameter, with entrance velocities between 15 ft./sec. and 100 ft./sec., and air pressures between 1/60 atmosphere and 3 atmospheres, show that surface sealing of the cavity is a major factor in controlling cavity formation, and is the factor most responsible for non-Froude scaling of cavity phenomena. Surface sealing is a function chiefly of the atmospheric density and projectile velocity, although surface tension is also important in its effect on splash formation. Froude's scaling is found to hold true in the region of low Froude's numbers and low atmospheric pressures. The measured average drag coefficient of the projectiles is independent of cavity size and shape. Jets are found to occur regularly and with great strength at both deep and surface closures of the cavity. The observed presence of jets in finite cavities is predicted by an extension of the Kirchhoff-Helmholtz theory of the infinite (two-dimensional) cavity to the case of finite cavities with finite cavitation numbers. Some of the results of this theory are mentioned.