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.
“Socorro, New Mexico”4 pages
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
could easily be made for quickly mounting this equipment in an airplane capable of ascending above the 40,000-foot level, which could take off soon after an event of the July 24th kind, and fly a pattern that would include with reasonable certainty some of the material originating at the meteor trajectory. A quick approximate determination of the trajectory would be required, of course, and if winds aloft were of considerable strength it would be necessary to make due allowance for them in planning the flight. ## NOTE ADDED ON AUGUST 10, 1949: As this report was being finished, an attempt was made at an airplane collection following the event of August 6. The collecting equipment was installed in a B-25 from Kirtland Field and on the afternoon of August 8, a flight was made which it wash hoped might intercept some of the meteoritic material. An Interval of 41 hours had passed before the take-off, and the maximum altitude reached was 23,000 feet. A rough attempt was made to include air that was under the trajectory, but distances of several hundred miles were involved. A few copper indications were obtained, but they seemed definitely to be associated with material of surface origin. No nickel or cobalt indications were found. An elaborate study, which may require more upper air data than is available, should be made before it is decided whether or not the flight did actually include air that should have borne particles from the meteor trajectory.
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.