Sightings of Green Fireball UFOs in Mexico

Reports of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs),and had too flat a trajectory to be a meteor. He
from extremely credible witnesses, havewas en route to Albuquerque, and on landing
fascinated ufologists for years now. Some of thewould file a full report.
most exciting, and well-documented stories areWith additional reported sightings being phoned in
those about the Green Fireballs sighted in Mexico.from all over northern New Mexico. By morning a
Here's an extract taken from the mysteriousfull-fledged investigation was under way. No
"Project Blue Book".matter what these green fireballs were, the
Amazing reports of sightings of Green Fireballmilitary was getting a little edgy.
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have captivatedSince the green fireballs bore some resemblance
ufologists for years.to meteors or meteorites, the Kirtland intelligence
Here's a taster of what can be found in officialofficers called in specialist Dr. Lincoln La Paz.
reports. It was precisely midnight on SeptemberTrue, he said, the description of the fireballs was
18, 1954 when my telephone rang. It was Jimsimilar to that of meteorites. One way to be sure
Phalen, a friend of mine from the Long Beachwas to try to plot the flight path of the green
Press-Telegram, and he had a "good flying saucerfireballs to determine where they would have hit
report," hot off the wires. He read it to me. Thethe earth if they were meteorites.
lead line was: With thousands of people tonightBased on the numerous sightings received, the
witnessing a huge fireball, which light up the darkprojected crash site was plotted; a subsequent
New Mexico skies."search of the area however found nothing of
The story went on to tell about how a "blindingsignificance. They went back over the area time
green" fireball the size of a full moon had silentlyand time again  nothing. As Dr. Later La Paz
streaked southeast across Colorado and northernconfided that this was the first time he seriously
New Mexico at eight-forty that night. Thousandsdoubted that the green fire-balls were meteorites.
of people had seen the fireball. It had passed rightA couple of days later fireball sightings were being
over a crowded football stadium at Santa Fe,report reported almost every night. The
New Mexico, and people in Denver said it "turnedintelligence officers from Kirtland decided that
night into day." Witnessed by the crew of a TWAmaybe they could get a good look at one of
airliner flying into Albuquerque from Amarillo,.them, so on the night of December 8 two
Every police and newspaper switchboard in theofficers took off in an airplane just before dark
two-state area was jammed with calls.and began to cruise around north of Albuquerque.
One call was from a man who asked if anythingA carefully created plan was constructed for each
out of the ordinary had occurred recently. Heavingperson to concentrate on a specific detail when
an audible sigh of relief after being told about theobserving one of the green fireballs. At 6:33 P.M.
strange fireball he said, "Thanks - I was afraid I'dthey saw one. This is their report.
gotten some bad bourbon." And he hung up.At 6:33 P.M. while flying at an indicated altitude of
Dr. Lincoln La Paz, world-famous authority on11,500 feet, a strange phenomenon was
meteorites and head of the University of Newobserved. When the sighting occurred, the aircraft
Mexico's Institute of Meteoritics, apparently didwas precisely 20 miles east of the Las Vegas,
not flinch when told of the sighting. The wireN.M., radio range station. With me as copilot, and
story being he had informed a reporter of histhe aircraft on a compass course of 90 degrees.
intention to plot its course, and strive toI first observed the object, a split second later
determine where it landed, and locate it. "But," hethe pilot also saw it. It was 2,000 feet higher, and
said, "I don't expect to find anything."was approaching our plane at a rapid rate from
When Jim Phalen had read the rest of the report30 degrees on our port side. The object was
he asked, "What was it?"similar in appearance to a burning green flare, the
"It sounds to me like the green fireballs are back,"kind that is commonly used in the Air Force.
I answered.However, the light was too intense, and the
"What on earth are green fireballs?" asked Jim.object appeared considerably larger to be
What the devil are green fireballs? I'd like to know.considered as a normal flare. At first sight, the
So would a lot of other people.trajectory of the object was almost flat and
The green fireballs streaked into UFO history lateparallel to the earth. The phenomenon lasted
in November 1948, when people aroundabout 2 seconds. At the end of this time the
Albuquerque, New Mexico, began to report seeingobject seemed to begin to burn out and the
mysterious "green flares" at night. The firsttrajectory then dropped off rapidly. The
reports mentioned only a "green streak in thephenomenon was of such intensity as to be visible
sky," low on the horizon. From the description thefrom the very moment it ignited.
Air Force Intelligence people at Kirtland AFB inBack at Wright-Patterson AFB, the main interest
Albuquerque and the Project Sign people at ATICwas to review all incoming UFO reports and see if
wrote the objects off as flares.the green fireball reports were actually unique to
The reports improved as the days passed. Forthe Albuquerque area. They were. Although a
instance the report at 9:27 P.M. on December 5good many UFO reports were coming in from
by Captain Goede flying an Air Force C-47 atother parts of the U.S., none fit the description of
18,000 feet 10 miles east of Albuquerque. Thethe green fireballs.
crew, were startled by a sudden green ball of fireContinually throughout December 1948 and
flashing across the sky ahead of them. It lookedJanuary 1949, the skies of New Mexico seemed
something like a huge meteor except that it wasfull of green fireballs. Everyone, including the
a bright green color and it didn't arch downward,intelligence officers at Kirtland AFB, Air Defense
as meteors usually do.Command people, Dr. La Paz, and some of the
After conferring quickly the crew agreed tomost distinguished scientists at Los Alamos had
report the incident, especially as they had seen anseen at least one.
similar object twenty-two minutes earlier near LasIn mid-February 1949 a conference was called at
Vegas, New Mexico.Los Alamos to deter¬mine what should be done
The captain of Pioneer Airlines Flight 63 calledto further pursue the investigation. The Air Force,
Kirtland Tower a few minutes after the incident.Project Sign, the intelligence people at Kirtland, and
At 9:35 P.M. he had also seen a green ball of fireother interested parties had done everything they
just east of Las Vegas, New Mexico. Observingcould think of and still no answer.
the object apparently traveling on collision courseSuch notable scientists as Dr. Joseph Kaplan, a
with their airplane, it changed color from orangeworld-renowned authority on the physics of the
red to green. With the object becoming larger andupper atmosphere, Dr. Edward Teller, of H-bomb
larger, the captain said, he thought sure it wasfame, and of course Dr. La Paz, attended, along
going to collide with them, so he took avoidingwith a lot of military brass and scientists from Los
action by steering the DC-3 up in a tight turn. AsAlamos.
the green ball of fire got abreast of them itThis was one conference where there was no
began to fall toward the ground, diminishing inneed to discuss whether or not this special type
brightness until it had disappeared. In a split secondof UFO, the green fireball, existed. Almost
they realized whatever they saw was too lowevery¬one at the meeting had seen one.