Documents / Report
This U.S. Department of War release compiles 1949 records tied to Sandia Base, New Mexico. It includes a Sandia Base security inspection reply and a W. D. Crozier letter to Lincoln LaPaz. It also contains Crozier and Seely's report on collecting airborne copper particles after the July 24, 1949 fireball near Socorro, which they judged negative or inconclusive. LaPaz's sixth report on green fireballs disputes parts of that finding, and a Fourth Army report describes unusual lights around the Q Area at Camp Hood, Texas, in March 1949.
From the source:Release of 2026-05-22 Incident: 1948-1950, New Mexico. This file contains 116 pages of documentation from the Armed Forces Special Weapons Program (AFSWP) – the direct, post-World War II successor to the Manhattan Project – and from the U.S. Air Force – relating to a series of sightings and investigations in Sandia, New Mexico, from 1948-1950. This file contains 209 sightings of “green orbs,” “discs,” and “fireballs” reported near the military base. Witnesses reported unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) maneuvering, flying out of sight, disappearing, or exploding. The documents also include the results of contemporary investigations into residual copper powder found in some areas where sightings were reported. A few of these investigations became the basis for Project Grudge, which collected reports of unidentified flying objects from various other military installations – also included in this collection.
“Edwards Air Force Base”1 page
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
S/I. Office of the AO of S, G-2, Headquarters Fourth Army, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, 16 March 1949, subj, "Unusual Lights"
## d. Object sighted:
(1) Number: 1
(2) Shape: Roundish head with hazy smoke trail.
(3) Size: Not known
(4) Color: Pale white light at head
(5) Speed: Not known
(6) Direction: From S $ 5 8^{\circ} $ E to S $ 5 4^{\circ} $ E
(7) Maneuverability: No deviation
(8) Altitude: From $ 5 8^{\circ} $ above horizon to $ 5 4^{\circ} $ above
(9) Sound: None
(10) Exhaust trail: Left hazy white smoke trail (11) Remarks: Travelled in arc and visible "long enough to snap your fingers."
2. From observation point #4 (see attached overlay).
a. Location: 914.5-856.7; Time: About 0103.
b. Weather: Clear (see attached weather report).
c. Witness: Cpl Luke Burke Sims, RA 38753446 Company A, 42nd AIB Camp Hood, Texas
d. Object sighted:
(1) Number: 1
(2) Shape: Lemon with tail
(3) Size: Not known
(4) Color: Pale reddish nose, whitish red trail
(5) Speed: Not known, but very fast
(6) Direction: From N 56° W to S 64° W
(7) Maneuverability: No deviation
(8) Altitude: From 15 above horizon at beginning and end of arc.
(9) Sound: None
(10) Exhaust trail: Whitish red trail
(11) Remarks: Good observer. Stated that "light" started from point above horizon then arced upward and down to 15° when it disappeared. Was perfect arc. He was able to run 10 paces toward field telephone to report light before it vanished.
The following incident may or may not be connected: At about 1950 hours on 7 March 1949, a flashlight was seen moving about the Q Area fence line near the air strip. It could not be told by the observer whether the light was within or Report, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 116 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.