ALOMOGORDO, N. MEX., October 1952October 1952

On the evening of October 7, 1952, a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and his wife were watching a movie at the Starlite Drive-In Theater about 2 miles south of Alamogordo, New Mexico. His wife called his attention to a light in the sky visible through the windshield of their car. The object appeared oval in shape with its long axis nearly vertical. Through his outstretched arm, it looked about one-third the height of his thumbnail. The object had a pale blue color, appearing lighter on its right edge and top than in the center and left side.

The object traveled in a straight line from west to east at roughly the same elevation, about 20 degrees above the horizon. It passed across the sky in about four to five seconds, covering roughly a thirty-degree arc before it suddenly grew dimmer and faded out when it was nearly due north of the observers. The witnesses saw no sound, exhaust, or visible propulsion system. The officer noted that his first impression was it might be a searchlight, but the sky appeared clear with no visible beams. His second thought was that it might be a reflection off the windshield, but when he leaned close to the glass to look more carefully, this did not appear to be the case. Both he and his wife saw the object through the same pane of glass in approximately the same position.

The Air Force investigation noted that no weather balloons had been released by the Army in the area during that period. The officer was described as an aeronautical engineer who had been stationed at Holloman Air Force Base for eight months. The file does not include a final evaluation of what the object was. The full case file, 18 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.