LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICODecember 1952

Unidentified

Summary

On the night of December 30, 1952, a security inspector with the Atomic Energy Commission was standing on the sidewalk in front of his home in the residential section of Los Alamos, New Mexico, when he heard an unusual noise and looked up. What he saw was a ball of fire traveling from southeast to northwest across the clear night sky. The object appeared fire red, moved in a slight curve at a constant altitude of about 5,000 feet above the terrain, and was accompanied by a high pitched crackling sound that trailed behind it by four seconds. The entire sighting lasted roughly two seconds. The observer estimated the object was three-quarters to one mile away and traveling at a speed between 600 and 900 miles per hour, faster than any jet he had ever seen. The object had no visible contrail or exhaust trail, and it disappeared from view behind nearby mountains.

The Air Force's Director of Intelligence at Kirtland Air Force Base documented the sighting in detail. The observer, whose reliability was considered excellent due to his professional training as an aerial observer, was interviewed and completed a technical information questionnaire. The investigation noted that the lack of additional witnesses may have been due to the severe cold that night, which kept most people indoors. There was no radar contact with the object, and no other observations of it were reported. No military aircraft were known to be in the area at the time.

The preparing officer commented that the object may have been a low meteor, which would explain the crackling sound. The Air Force's official conclusion was "probably meteor." However, this assessment appears in the file alongside the observer's own account, in which he suggested the object might have been an unconventional aircraft operating at an extremely high speed, given that it produced no sound characteristic of conventional jet engines. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, comprising 14 pages.

Reported location

LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO

Date of incident

December 1952

State / country

NM / US

Page count

14 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 17

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 14

View transcribed text

3
. : ? p we |
RIE Ie A EVN APT
PROMECT 16073 RECORD CARD |
3 . |
1 l \ 8 a \ bad A a as ET a : ; ; 1 !
| s» eA i WEATTON, 12. CONCLUSIONS : !
: ' : !
3 : RE WEE PN i TAS LT ALIAS Sree prises AA ' Has Lalleon |
g oy 1s | - . iw] )
J pa UG g PUL aT! 10S A } Yemeni oe atloan '
f : - - 5 - ° —— : - - - —— . - 5 rN Yo100 24
} 3 DATETIME GROUP 4 TYPE OF LOLLIAVATION cidbil Me ’
] \
A i ro Inve Qe : & R = ’ Ve Ai.pnke
4 i OBS od NEL NONE ARE ann ee XL Covind- Visual 2 Ceraundet 44a ’ «8 ' a |
' MYON yg sare! |
} q r SW £6 70 bar a ’ : - ’ [= asa Farceantt !
P i LTE SA) WL PE. ° RE ' LC] Ave Visual td Ate ininrcant acdar otal. ; :
‘oe “nq y padi 4 st 5 “Cr : : Fr a ch Ri 7 :
f y oe re « STLRCH - "
f i ‘] } © > ‘Ss vd a > | ANTIrONSnI Ca |
! oN r ' a
14 C “eu . 7 Prana eo Astin at !
3 | - V2e02 92 a re " - tPaaeshly At nom | :
Zi + Civilian lan SATIRE Beton
9 .y AGEL Sv» pp | ’ Lams AR AR Bee 1 0 FADS aie 5 . Pea) -
4 poe eta WF OCOSEAV ATION } WUE R OF CBLESTS 9. CCURSE SEE vtaar | LUD00 a. nsLeor.
3 i ’ 1 "He tiv Crennd Ceta to (STARTS }4 '
! . ' ;
E i ‘ Tyner
3 i ~ Lal : pyran J PNT
3 H ce oC ith :
Sekt se da . . — I SN RRE LOPES. Se vA EA. Api dois atmwsé
3 Voi, RICE SLMMAR TE Lr stad Tinh 13. Commu itNT
3 i 7 qsvas? ~n: 2 Ald N 1 " 3 ° : : !
3 § 13.490 I YY wm Iron Fy 3 3 er 4 A rancor \ " eo . 5 - "a ' PS ,
{ AWLnNG, 10 TOC CLgect aout vii S17¢ 01 LiaTEe de QOUTCO 18 a rallied Rerial OUSCrvelg
i .
§ Ark Aelia et kh 1S hl wYkaline] evant Sd os asned ~ “ETE I 1 CE © 1 $ :
[ few LUN tla dv Veh Wee SRA 100 1a CINCO Crac.illaln . und ' ‘oe “i bailar Lo el HVE ARVIC INNS RIGWIN mavegrs \
t 8.99 "igh - a - p L 2 : .
E 5% Ee it Ts Tae : 4 anevr a) 2 A - yesh Syne bop sun pm Ll 3 Vr ee T Aes ' $3 ry” A OS Pa
& ug pi Ril oo Al Wiab lal 20 an esvilna wd. Us wd ' ar SHAN) SO Close LO Una earn hav sound
3 ~ WK RA 1 ios a ' “ - pn Ay . \ . - :
pe CAG moh at an altitude of zonrosr S00O00 En Miia sid i TR. ar KE : Op oy
b: 2. ww 4) La AL 4 cl vw L LUG Q. < nny (9 ar? IV RES I TLREE aa L1ma (oi re Sec pr %35 ail 1Lavor OL
Mb. and 12 a on p 1 | pp : | 3  ] | 3 |
i ee 1S samynmasran ro; el Aver ha ws measles “NT AA xl aid " i
Ba Jeet disapnesred from view behind nearly meteor explanation, :
eile
j jmountaing, i
5 | ‘
E i : :
] | | i
|
i
1
| . i
E H :
k ES eee Nt dD Gree PDs Bt ES SSUES = S. GPE +E Gps © es ted - . -- ema mere @e see. ew— LL LE. —- —-— . ’
] 0 SPREE “UD SHI O° . Me SO DE 42 ww
1 VINE FORM JIT (NEV 26 BEY 32,
: g y ‘
:
>
.

/ 14

Use ← → keys to navigate · scans hosted by the U.S. National Archives

Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28952375