Alamogordo, New MexicoFebruary 1950

On the night of February 24, 1950, Corporal Lertis E. Stanfield, an Air Police officer stationed at Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo, New Mexico, spotted an unusual bright object in the sky above Datil, New Mexico. Stanfield first saw it at 1930 (7:30 p.m.) and watched it for about two and a half hours before it faded from view. The object reappeared early the next morning at 0200 (2:00 a.m.) on February 25 and remained visible for roughly 30 minutes before disappearing behind a mountain. Stanfield was the only witness to the sightings.

The object appeared as a perfectly round, white light that changed color to red and green as Stanfield watched. It moved slowly to the northwest at a rate of about one degree every two minutes (a speed that would be barely perceptible to the eye). The object remained at roughly 30 degrees above the horizon. No sound was heard, no exhaust was visible to the naked eye, and the object moved in a straight line without erratic maneuvers. When Stanfield photographed it at various times during both sightings, the camera picked up what appeared to be a faint trail or tail that was not visible to his eyes alone.

The Air Force investigated through its Office of Special Investigations. Technicians at Holloman AFB, including the Electronics and Atmospheric Branch and the Weather Detachment, could find no conventional explanation for the object. The Photo Lab at Holloman created a comparison photograph using the same camera, lens, and film type, photographing a round object about four inches across to determine what size the mystery object might have been at various distances.

The official Air Force conclusion, added to the file 15 years after the sighting, was that the object was a comet. The file notes that the evaluation was made in 1965 and mentions a comparison with photographs of Comet SIKI from April 1962. However, the investigation report from 1950 itself offered no definitive explanation, finding only that the object remained unidentified.

The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives (16 pages).