UAP Reported at Sandia Base, 1948-1950

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.

Summary of Sightings of Unknown Aerial Phenomena, 17th District OSI (cont)

Number	Date	Time	Number of Observers	*Reliability of Observers	General Area of Occurrence	Apparent Direction of Flight	Apparent Altitude	Course Horizontal to Vertical	Color	Train or Trail	Duration of Observation	Sound	Shape	Apparent Size	Apparent Speed	Manner of Disappearance	**Evaluation
57	1949/28 Apr	App 1745	3	Unk	Tucson, Arizona	NE to SE or SW Silver	None	12-40 mts	None	Cigar or sausage shape	From B-29 to a city block	300-600 mph	Faded from view	(2)
58	30 Apr	2215	1	Unk	Albuquerque, New Mexico	E to W	59° above horizon Blue green	None	2 secs 2°	None	Round	Tenth of moon	2 seconds 2 degrees	Went out	(1)
59	3 May	2143	1	R	Los Alamos, New Mexico	S to N	10°-15° above horizon Bright white light 10 secs	None Very fast up to 1,000 mph (1)(3)
60	3 May	2126 2143 2205	1	R	Los Alamos, New Mexico	S to N	10°-15° above horizon White 3-7 secs each time	None Large - similar to size of airplane landing lights	Very fast (1)(3)
61	3 May	2126 2140	1	R	Los Alamos, New Mexico	ESE to NWN	10°-15° above horizon 2126-white 2140-red 5 sec 1st; 2 sec 2nd	None 2126-base-ball diamond lights. 2140-slightly larger than firebox lights	Same speed as aircraft landing (1)(3)