New Mexico-Texas Area, April 1960April 1960

On the evening of April 16, 1960, multiple witnesses across New Mexico and Texas saw a bright object streak across the sky. An Air Force F-100 pilot flying over the area reported seeing a bluish-white object with a red tail, similar in appearance to a flare, descending at a steep angle. The pilot watched it for approximately two seconds. Around the same time, a captain in Clovis, New Mexico, observed what he described as the same object from his home, and he reported seeing pieces flying from it.

Reports poured in from across the region. A TWA airliner northeast of Amarillo, Texas, also saw the object. Observers in Amarillo, Clovis, and Albuquerque all provided accounts. Estimates of the object's altitude varied widely, from as low as 200 feet to extremely high altitudes. All witnesses agreed the object was traveling fast, moving from northeast to southwest. Weather conditions in the area were clear to partly cloudy with some blowing sand.

An Air Force captain passing through the Cannon Air Force Base area provided additional details. He reported seeing a burning object falling from the sky that was breaking up, with pieces separating as it fell. He believed it was a satellite reentering the atmosphere. The event occurred over about 38 to 45 degrees of arc across the sky before the object burned out, a process that took approximately four seconds.

Officers at Cannon Air Force Base noted that the object was sighted by scores of people who reported it to newspapers, radio stations, and military bases throughout west Texas and New Mexico. The Air Force officers acknowledged they were not technically qualified to make a definite identification of what the object was. The case file indicates the Air Force suspected it was probably a balloon or possibly a reentry vehicle, though no final conclusion appears in the available records.

The complete case file, comprising 9 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.