Documents / Report

UAP Reported at Sandia Base, 1948-1950

U.S. Department of War · 1948 · 116 pages · text by GLM-OCR

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.

  • p. 5 …passed over the general neighborhood of Socorro, New Mexico, at 8:26 p.m., July 24…
  • p. 10 …Crozier at New Mexico Proving Grounds while working on saboted and proximity fused shells and knew…
  • p. 11 …staff car and driven out through San Antonio, Carthage, and Bingham, New Mexico (this route passing…
  • p. 49 …152 27 Nov 1749 1 R Socorro, New Mexico E to W 100°-400° above horizon…

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

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
179	1950/24 Feb	Between 1315	1	R	Los Alamos, New Mexico	Circled then E	Considerable altitude Aluminum	Yes	2	None	Spherical	Rather large	Erratic	Unknown	(1)
180	25 Feb	140015451555	12	R	Los Alamos, New Mexico	Heading toward ground	30°-35° above horizon Flash-ing silver	None	3 secs to 2 mts	None	Circular like plane fuse-lage	Small airplane	From very slow to very fast (2)
181	25 Feb	2115	1	Unk	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Toward S	App. 20° above horizon	Almost vertical	Bright green-white	Yes	1 1/2 secs	None	Tear-drop	3 times size of a shooting star	Slightly slower than falling star	Appeared to burn out	(1)
182	25 Feb	0200	1	R	Datil, New Mexico	NW White changing to red & green	Yes	30 mts	None	Round 10° per 2 mts	Disappeared behind mountain	(2)
183	25 Feb	1410	1	R	Los Alamos, New Mexico	S to N	1 to 3 miles at 30° above horizon Metallic	None	2 mts	None	Oblong	10-15'	40 mph	Went below horizon	(2)

Cases discussed

About this file

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.