Documents / Report
This Black Vault copy of Air Force records centers on the Project Twinkle Final Report, which Louis Elterman of the Geophysics Research Division wrote on 27 November 1951. Project Twinkle investigated green fireballs and other light phenomena in New Mexico using Askania cameras run by Land-Air at Vaughn and Holloman AFB. Elterman found the results essentially negative, with most sightings put down to aircraft, balloons, birds, clouds and meteors. He recommended no further spending. The file also includes the 1949 and 1950 correspondence that set up the project and 1952 memos about declassifying it.
• • • • c • • ' AIR FORCE CAV~IDaE RESEARCH LABORATORIES FCEO/epa OO . Q2 In reply, address Conmtanding Officer . Attn: ERH 230 Albany Street Cwr.bridge 39, I-1ass 7 November 191~9 SUBJECT: Report of Conference on Green Fireballs" (Project Gr1dge) TO: Commanding General Air Materiel Command Wright-Patterson Att"""'B Dayton, Ohio ATTN: MCREEO, l"ajor G. H . Duncan l . In accordance with instructions contained in classified letter from Chief of Staff, USAF to CG, AMC, s1bject 11 Light Phenomena," 11+ September 1949, the undersigned attended a conference at Los Alamos on the subject of a phenomena observed in the northern Nevr Mexico area. The phenomena has the appearance of a green fireball and because of the fact that it has been observed only (as fa.r as can be determined) in the northern new Mexico area and only since the year 1947, has caused a high degree of apprehension among security agencies in the area. Two reports from the 17th District Office of Special Investigations (inclosures 1 and 2) summarizes present information on the phenomena. In view of the fact that the phenomena has been observed by independent and t~ained observers there is little doubt that something was actually observed. 2 . Inclosure 3 lists those personnel attending the conference. 3. The first part of the conference was devoted to a sununary pre- sentation of all collected and organized observational information re- garding green fireballs . The presentation wa.s made by Dr. Lincoln LaPaz (Professor and Head of Department of Meteroritics and Mathematics: Uni- versity of New ~exico) and Capt . Melvin E. Ncef (17th District OSI, USAF). Dr . LaPaz has been cooperating witl1 the OSI investigators in the matter at their request and on an unpaid basis . Capt. Neef 1s the principal OS! agent on the case. Both Dr. LaPaz and Capt Neef have personally and independently observed the phenomena . 4. The second part of the conference was a discussion by the scien- tists present of various possible explanations and hypotheses concerning the phenomena. Little success was had. 0p y eps • DOWNGRADED AT 3 YEAR INTERVAl Q . ECLASSIFIED AFTER 12 YEARS " I • • DOD. DIR 5200.10 \. . . .- ..... ,..,. ........ _ --
Report, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 34 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.