전쟁부(DOW)-미확인 이상 현상(UAP)-D017, 산디아 기지에서 보고된 미확인 이상 현상(UAP), 1948-1950

This file contains 116 pages of documentation from the Armed Forces Special Weapons Program (AFSWP) – the direct, post-World War II successor to the Manhattan Project – and from the U.S. Air Force – relating to a series of sightings and investigations in Sandia, New Mexico, from 1948-1950. This file contains 209 sightings of “green orbs,” “discs,” and “fireballs” reported near the military base. Witnesses reported unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) maneuvering, flying out of sight, disappearing, or exploding. The documents also include the results of contemporary investigations into residual copper powder found in some areas where sightings were reported. A few of these investigations became the basis for Project Grudge, which collected reports of unidentified flying objects from various other military installations – also included in this collection.

HEt\DQUARTEP..S • DETACHMENT D
1100TH USAF SPECUL REPORTING GROUP
Campbell Mr Force Base
Camp Campbell. Kentucky
7 April 1949
~?>'2.>,,
SUBJECT: Security :E:nspection
TOt Commanding General
Sandia Base \
~o
Albuquerque, New Mexico
)
lo'
Q,0~
~4
1. Reference is made to secret letter. your headquarters. dated
1 April 1949• Subjects Security Inspection.
2. a. Guard Orders have been amended directing that the elec­
tric gate be closed between 1700 hours until 0700 hours the following
day.
b. Looks have repl~ced the bolts in all inspection access
gates in the outer fence.
c. Inspection ports on both bridges are now pr ovided with
locks.
d. The final draft of our alert plan has been reviewed and
will be published and distributed for study to operating personnel.
It is desired to point out that the alert plan is incomplete. !.
stockpile custodian has not been assigned here; his part in the alert
plan has been outlined only. Furthermore, since the 11th Airborne
' Division is not in place yet, only temporary arrangements for defense
have been made. Final form of the overall alert plan will be sub­
mitted to your headquarters for approval as soon as conditions will
allow. ·1n the interim period. it is felt that the temporary alert
plan we have prepared is adequate. A copy of this pl an will be dis­
patched to your headquarters in the near future.
e. !11 jeep radios are now installed in jeeps.
r. ~lthough not entirely satisfactory. radio oom.munioation
with the Camp Campbell Military Police has been in effect for some-
time and was in effect at the time of the Security inspection. .Pe~­
manent arrangements for radio communication with Camp Campbell Military
Police are delayed panding the arrival of radio frequency crystals
that fit the Milit ary Police net frequency.
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Short Title
SHORT TI~ffhBI
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7 April 194.9
•
SUBJECTs Security Inspection
g. Pressure has been exerted to get the Post 'Ehgineers to
keep the dra.inage system. clear and to take measures to check the ero­
sion. These efforts will be continued but little progress on erosion
control can be expected until the rains diminish. Ditches have been
filled, dirt moved and replaced, native grasses planted, but the rains
return too soon and much of the effort invested is therefore wasted.
Plans a.re prepared f or an interim erosin control effort, and a stud;y
is being ma.de to estinate the cost of resloping the cuts in order
that the rainfall mq be drained with less damaging results. Initial
estimates run in the neighborhood of twenty thousand dollars (t20,ooo.oo).
3. With the exception of halting the erosixm, all deficiencies
listed in the security inspection report have been cleared away. It
is therefore requested that the monthly report of action taken re­
quired by cited letter be discontinued.
/(~4/./?L_
RICHARD TI' KLIN.!!i
Lt Col, USAF
Commanding
NND 58378

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SEGRET
HEADQUARTERS
SANDIA BASE
Albuquerque, New Mexico
AFSWP
CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS LIBRARY
Fl LE NO. 45~. S- ¥
~·o
SUBJECT: ll'T.-;,J)..o;y
e:i:
NND 58378

10 August 1949
Dr. L1nooln ~
InDtituta of 'Meteoritics
University of New Mexico
Albuqu.erquo, N. :t:.
Doar l.1ncoln:
I a::n lnclos1ng two copies or the report you asked tor, fllld hope
that they oerve their purpose.
\'lo Jiave mado a preliminary ez:eminntion ot tm elghtaon collact1ona
token at nine locatione on my,l!onde.:,•'l'uesday trip. !lbere was a large
number of coppor-boar1ng pe.rtiolee on one eolleotion (ll-104L) taken on
Higm1ay 84, seventeen ·mles north ot E1gl:may 66 and aoa.ttered occas•
1
i onal particles throJJ.ghout the series. The collection teken at tho
Blt"lle location imcodiately' following R-l04L eho'\YD practically no copper.
A 1orge l)art of the n -104L is of a granular mnterial untamiliar to us, and
, the copper indioat1ona ori,:.inate principal ly 1n l'lhat are e.pparontl'1
aggregations of finely (ona ..m eron) granular material of overall sizes
in tho neighborhood of thirty microns. Some cop_per _part! ,lea, hor.-
ever, appear to be solid nnd o,Paque. The passage of t-, automobiles while
this oollection uas being made is a complicating fe.ctor. It is hard
to aee how they mieht he.Ta been a eourco ot coppor, ho,raver, unlean it
nao a question of stirring up aoI!lo :trom dust on the -pavement.
We intend to do some :1"urther chemi.eal work Tii th theee colloctions,
but I doubt if muoh nen relevant information 11111 be obtained.
Hy tentative conclusion is that no ~idcspread significant dispersion
or copper-bea't'ine; particles ,vas present in tbe atmoaphere in the rc"ion
covere.:1 at the timo the eollcct1ons wore made. l,o det1nita statel':lcnt
is possible about the one heavy copper collention: it should be prosumod
to be of local origin until come evidonee to the contrary ic 'found.
~e route at tho collocting trip included Paatura, Santa noaa., junc­
tion of Routes 66 and 84, ond Las ·Ve.:;aa on J!ondey af'ternoon. On Tuosdey
morning it included. Las Ve3as, Canonr,1to, Glorieto. end ecos.
Yours vory truly,
mx,~
o.ttaobments (2)
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R/D-tw
8-10-49
AN AT'l!EMP? 'ro coU.roT AnBCP.NE PAU'ICLES
A'3SOOIA'l'ED fJI'l'iJ THE FIREBALL OF JULY 24 1949
1
By
• n. Oroztor
and
x.
Ben Seely
HBTHOD
A 'fireball was raportad to have pasaod ovor the general noighborhood of
Socorro, Uew Uexi.00 at 8:26 p.m. J'uly 24 1949. Impaotment equipment, develop9d
1 1 1
in conneation 1a th the sarosol research proJect ot the New Mex1 co School of !lines,
was available, and it was decided to make systematic collections ot airborne me.ter­
-iel. in the hope ot obta1nill8 material that could be associated .-1th the t1reball.
For the present report it is suftio1ent to state that the equipnant processed air
at the rate ot about J4 11tera per minute, the particles being separated f'rom the
air by -impactment against en adhesi'f9-coate~ plate in an air jet. Appro:d!natel.y
ninety per cent of airborne particlee with dianeters greater than one micron are
collected.
Tho adheeive used. on the collecting plates (mcroscope slides) waa a glycerin­
gelatin tlixture w1th an a.dd1tion or rubeanic aeid (dithiooxamide. ) 'l'lus reagent
was used to enable identifioation of copper or copper compounds; it also enables
identification of nickel and cobalt. After ?C:lking the eollaotions, the slides were
covered with e. Saran til::l, after which thoy were exposed to strong aomonia vapor
for r1:tteon Jninutes to effect partial ao lution or any copp_er or copper oxide parti­
el.Gs.
R ESULT S
'?he first oolleotion was made at 10:00 a.m., .ruly 25, about thirteen and one-
he.lf houra after the fireball was seen. The air wan te.lcen about twelve teet above
ar
ground lovel, on t he Ol!!'.IJ>UO the School ot Uines. Tho first run was i'or three min- ,
utes, ll['COosaing cbout 102 liters of air. Sevoro.l large particles wero :round in it
that gave J)ositiva co pe.r teats. In at least ono or these the copper reaction was
aeen petore the cn::mx>ni c tro~ont, indicating the presence 9f at least a trace of a
aoluble copper co~pound. The sizes of particles aoon in tho first oollections ranged
up to over one hundred microns in the largest dimension: the largest particles gave
tho impression o~ bein.g f'r8gl:lents or a so:i:ievm.at f'ibrous material, llith the smaller
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NND 58378

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dbension oi" ,the o-rder o~ twnty or thirty .:nicrono. There were no Br:lall partielee,
that 1e, no particles 11'1th n iruuiml1!11 di?DeXUiion below 15 microns.
,
J'ollmring tho :f'lrat colleotion, ,additional oolleotions 1f8re nade, tindor aimi•
1ar conditions. over a period of elght daya.
The aooco.pann,ng table su:n:iarisea the colld1t1ons and copper counts ror all
tbese collections, including tho first ono described above. nU!!lbor of the ru.ru,
wero tor periods lor.,;or tfum three minutes, but °'he oouhts have, 1n 'tbeee cases,
been reduced to the threo-:nnuta equivalent. Olio eolleetion showing oevora.l large
copper indications, tekon J"u~ 25, ia omm:1ttnd fron the to.blo because it was
damaged in courae ot a teai for radioaotivity by exx,osure of a nmlear track plate
(vrith negative reoultn) end a det"inita count oOllld not be made .
The counts are exhibited in tbreo size claeRiflcations, end attention is
directed to tlie :ta.at that particles in the smallest s!ze croup (l to l5 microns)
e::-e practically absent trom the early oollectlona, mil& in the later collectiow,,
particles 1n the largest (.30 mioron.o) 8Ii.d middle (15 to 30 microna} groups have
become cp;ite esoarce. At the same tine, the counto have beccte quite large in tile
:.s:ncllest aizo group.
SIONIFICA~CE OF RESULTS
If 1 t were possible to SflY that particles giving a copper test are generally
very rare in eollectione near groimd leTel in this locaJ.lty, the above facts t'.Ould
bo highly s!gni1'1cant. It l1appens, however, that collections have been :-:,ode at
Socorro over only- a short period, and not .muoh e.tten1i1on has been given to !denti­
fica.tion ot copper coJ:lJ)ounds. ::aowever, after the copper indieetions had been round
in the present sories of: collectio•,s, some collections were round on file that hod
been made on plain glycertn-3aui.tin on july .1,, 1949. -These r.are oovered ,nth the
Sarun fi-lm and rubeanic eoid C!Jld an::.on1a were appliod by d1 tfusion through tho ·ttlm.
A few copper indications were found, al!nost all the i:e.rtioles being in the 30 micron
size group. Some other co11ection.s were made early 1n ~uly tbo.t will be e::lt8!ninod
tor· 'lopper when they are treed !"roe other tests. lil add1 t1on, oce~ional colloot1ons
will be examined. tor copper in the futll!'e, and 1t may be possible eventually to add
so:neth1ng to tho information now presented.
COllCLUSION6 REGARDING COPPER
In view Qt the above fa.eta , it i,eem:, very hazardous to draw any: definite con­
clusion associating ~he coppe~-bearioo perticlos collected with the fireball or 1uly
24. Th.are a till is, hwoTer, a residuum or poasitdlity ot such associations men 1 t
is conoidored th c.t partic!.ss ot 1hc smallest s1 ze group did not appear in largo
numbera until some 35 hours at'ter the po.esege of tl;le fireball.
NND 58378

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CountG of Copr,er Partieloa ill Colleetiotu, at Socorro
-
During Per1o4 lul.:y 25 to August l , 1949
f '
(Roduced ~o Particlen per 102 J.itera of' Air)
Comr Counts
ind* l • 15 15 • .30 30'
Collec.Timo Elapsed Direction M1c1·on YJ.cron .U.cron.s
Date Hour time knots Range Range
- ..
7-25 10 m.. 13.5 NN\i • 9 l 4 l
13.s 0 2 2
,
.. .. ,
7-25 2 Rf 17.5 '1 4 l. l
'1 l 0 0
7-26 8~ 35.5 tn - 9 8 0 ' 0
"' lit "' ft) 0 0
lit 'It "' 0 2 2
7-26 2 I'}.{ 41. 5 ' •- 7 ~-20--::> 0
"' lit 18 1 0
"1t 'ft " <-22 --> 0
7-27 7:.30 '11. 0 Im • 8 l 0 0
..
'7-27 1:3() PU 77. 0 NR • 6 23 0 0
"' <ft 8 0 0
..
7-P,8 7:30 AM 95.0 r,m.,,. -3 0 l 0
•
<'-28-.> 0
'1-29 7:30 ~ 119.0 s -7 4 0 0
7-29 4, .,/1,: 127.t> ESR -10 (f---28--> l
• •
" 15 0 0
..
7-30 10 14:5. 5 SE• - 4 2 0 0
"' 8.3 l l
'l•Jl 10 Rl l.69.5 SSE • 5 4 0 0
• + •
lOf.,JU 3 0 0
10+ A4 - ♦ "' 2 0 0
..
8-1 9:30 ! 19,3.0 N - 6 17 0 0
• •
6 0 0
"surt'ace ind recorded by eather Station o.t time nearast collection time.
NND 58378

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Attention is called particularly to the l arao !lumber ot small particles in one
at the 145-l/2-ho-.ir collootione. The actual nl.I!lber in the colle'ltion was 140, tor
r
the ive-oinute run. l.!ost of these l'lere in the size range of' tTJO to f1ve microns•
and the principal difficulty in assoctattnc them 111 th the fireball is that a five­
micron par\1cle cannot tall J!lUOh more tho.n l0,000 foot in 145.5 hom-s. These part1-
olea could have ccr:ie down from a greater height only it' sol:!& downward motion hfld
tc.k:en place in port of the a1r 1nvolvet.
It should be oantioned. that collections were t aken during tbe at'ternoon of Ju13'
27, at several pointa eouth end east ot Socorro, tbs fartb.eot being near Binche:a.
These oolleotions ocntainod pcrtiole~ giving copper indications, the :particles being
i n tho range ot sizes as those collected in Socorro at about the &a.":le ti'C'.b.
•a;?¥!)
It is perhaps noteworthy that the cop_per-boaring particles 1n all these collec­
tlona were of opaque material. I.oat ot the co:;,per minerals tbat huve previously-
come to our attention 1n collection• rrom the air have been oolored material, blue,
green, red, or yellow.
C OBALT AND NICKEL TESTS
In the 2t00 J.l• coll~ction of J"ul.y 26, three quite re:::iarkable particles were
found that save very strong coba1t indications. The particles were apparently por­
:reot spheres (at l east thoy were pori'eetly circul.ar in cross section), twelve mic­
ro!ls in diameter. The reaction with rubeanie e.eid, after at!nOnia trentmant , pi•o­
dueed a dense yellow-ten halo, eixty microns 1n diameter. The color v.ao not quite
so clear es with pure cobalt: the e.ppearance sU;;gestin.g e. high-cobalt com,vosition
with so~ metal. prosont. Such particles are quite uniqne i n the axporionce or the
present. , It' these particles wore of meteoritic orictn they cwld, in tho absence
of verticul oir IJOV«llSnt, have f'al:len a d1stO!loo of the oi·der ot 20, 000 feet 1n an
i nterval or 41. 5 houra.
Two particlse giT1ns nickel indication.swore round. ~a is quite nomvl, llo ,­
ever. It anything, the number is smaller than x::ight have been expected in material
of aurt'aoe ori<;in. The collections ware not given acid treatnent: additional nickel
indieations might h &Te been 'i'ound it t his had been done.
A oUOGEB TION
hile the r&aul.ta o!' the present investiga:Uou ahould be recarded as negatt-vo
or,inoonolusive, it i s desired to call attention to the faet that a coan.s ia at hand
that obould r..al:a .PQAsiblo a definite demonetration of tho presence or absonoe ot cop­
per :particl es asaod.ated with events or the July 24th type.
rartlol.e collectlon equipment, operating on the s.:mie principle as that used in
the i:resont inTestigat1on, and der;igned tor airple::ie installation, is on hand and
1te suco&esful operation has been dooonstrated in numeroll s sligh:ta. Provision
NND 58378

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could easily be made ror quickly nountins this equi~ent in an airplane cap&ble ot
o.s~enaing above the 40,000-toot l evsl, wllieh couli teke otr soon otter an event ot
the J'uly 24th kind, and fly a pattern that would ineludo nitl:. reasonable certainty
sO"C!e or the nateriol originating at the neteor u-ajectory. A g_uiek approximate
deteroination of the tTejeetory wo11ld be required, of course, Wld 1f winds aloft
wore or considerable strength 1 t muld b& nocaseary to make due allowance tor ttlc:t:1
1n planning the :flie}lt.
UOT ADDED <l-l AWUS1' 10 1949:
1
Ao this report ,1aa being 1'1n1shea, an ntte:ipt naa :oade c.t on. airplane oollection
1'ollOm.ng the event o~ uzust 6. The oolloetins eguiPmQnt ,1as installod in a B-25
from Kirtland Field nnd on the o.f'to:::-noon or .~ugust 8 , a flight wao ,u1e l!.«lich a was
hoped m18ht intercept somo of the meteoritic