Green Fireball cluster over LANL/Sandia (1948–52).
documentednuclear_strategicUS Department of Energy (DOE)
Late-1948-onward wave of 'green fireball' sightings concentrated around the Los Alamos and Sandia atomic-weapons laboratories and nearby radar/interceptor bases, reported by pilots, weather…
Late-1948-onward wave of 'green fireball' sightings concentrated around the Los Alamos and Sandia atomic-weapons laboratories and nearby radar/interceptor bases, reported by pilots, weather observers, scientists, intelligence officers, and lab security inspectors. The AEC and Air Force took the reports seriously enough to commission meteoriticist Dr. Lincoln LaPaz (UNM), who interviewed 100+ witnesses and concluded the objects were likely secret U.S. defensive devices or Soviet spy craft — not natural meteors. Project Twinkle (1950) was created to instrument the New Mexico skies. Newly released FBI files reconfirm officials tracked sightings 'concentrated' around Los Alamos, with many witnesses rated reliable; the files do NOT establish ET origin or that LANL itself investigated UFOs.