LOS ALAMOS N M, July 1952July 1952

On July 22, 1952, between 10:50 and 11:15 a.m., a tower operator at Los Alamos Airport in New Mexico spotted a group of about eight round or elliptical objects in the sky to the south and southwest. The operator, Don R. Wiens, viewed them through binoculars from the control tower. He described the objects as aluminum or bright metallic in color, with very bright luminosity. Without knowing how far away or how high they were, he found it impossible to judge their exact size, but he believed they must have been quite large compared to aircraft.

The objects moved in unexpected ways. Some flew straight and level for a distance, then changed direction instantly. Others darted back and forth, reversing course so quickly that Wiens had trouble keeping them in view even with binoculars. The objects seemed to hover overhead at first, then some passed out of sight while others simply vanished with a darting movement. The entire sighting lasted approximately 25 minutes, though not continuously. Because of their extreme speed, Wiens thought it unlikely they were balloons, and he noted that no distinguishing marks were visible even through binoculars.

At least three other people witnessed the objects that day. A Carco Air Service pilot named J.I. also saw them while waiting at the airport for a flight to Albuquerque. In a sworn statement, the pilot described one object he observed through binoculars as saucer or circular in shape, traveling at high speed in a southwesterly direction. The object suddenly made a sharp 90-degree turn to the right, tighter than any jet aircraft the pilot had ever flown or seen. It appeared to oscillate, catching the sun's reflection several times per second, and had no wings or tail surface. The object disappeared into or behind a cumulus cloud about 10 to 15 miles southwest of the airport. The pilot noted that the object "appeared to be definitely controlled."

The Air Force investigation interviewed these witnesses and recorded details about wind conditions (5 to 10 miles per hour from the southeast) and weather (clear skies but heavy cumulus clouds over the western mountains). The file does not state a final conclusion about what the objects were. The full case file, eight pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.