Holloman AFB, N.M., April 1948 - Incident Number: 122April 1948

# Holloman AFB, April 1948: Three Trained Observers and One Fast-Moving Object

In April 1948, three trained balloon observers at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico saw an object moving so fast and so high that they could not identify it. The object was visible for less than thirty seconds. It disappeared suddenly, without fading away in the distance, and the observers said it seemed to be performing violent maneuvers at great speed, which made them confident it was not a manned aircraft.

The observers described the object as having a rounded, indistinct shape and a golden hue. To give a sense of its apparent size, they said that if the moon were the size of an orange, the object would be about the size of a dime. The Air Force later noted a problem with this comparison: a dime held at arm's length would actually block out the entire moon, even if the moon appeared much larger than it normally does. This suggested the object must have appeared as an extremely small point of light, which the investigators found odd for witnesses described as highly trained.

The witnesses were certain the object was not a balloon. It moved faster than any known aircraft at the time and behaved with violent, sudden maneuvers. No sound was heard, and no wind could have carried such an object given the calm high-altitude conditions that day, which the observers measured at only ten to fifteen miles per hour.

The Air Force's initial assessment, stated in the case file, was clear: "At the moment there appears to be no logical explanation for this incident" and "there is nothing to indicate an astronomical origin of the object observed."

The full case file, comprising 26 pages as held by the National Archives on microfilm T1206, Roll 2, is reproduced below.