Las Cruces, N. M., June 1947June 1947

The OCR of this file is heavily garbled on pages 9 through 16, making reliable extraction of analysis details impossible. However, the core case information on pages 1 through 8 is readable.

On June 29, 1947, four people driving along Highway 17 between Las Cruces and White Sands, New Mexico spotted an unidentified object in the sky. The driver, an administrative assistant at White Sands, noticed it first and alerted the other occupants: a rocket sonde section supervisor, a high altitude spectroscopy scientist, and the scientist's wife. The object was visible for about 30 seconds as it moved horizontally in a northerly direction, apparently crossing the highway from right to left. The witnesses estimated it was between 8,000 and 10,000 feet altitude, though one observer expressed doubt about that estimate. The shape appeared uniform with no wings or other protrusions. The object displayed a solar reflection that seemed to change in intensity as it receded until it vanished from sight. One witness thought he saw vapor trails at one point. The sun was behind the automobile at the time. A Naval Research Laboratory officer who interviewed the witnesses noted that the observers had relevant technical experience and that none were intoxicated. An Air Force analysis suggested the object might have been a meteor, though the extended observation time and the apparent vapor trails made a definitive conclusion difficult. The full case file comprises 16 pages as held by the National Archives.