Green fireballs, New Mexico
Bright green fireballs seen near sensitive atomic sites in New Mexico from late 1948 worried military and scientific officials.
1948 CE · 35.08, -106.65 · status: disputed
The account
Early sightings were concentrated in the south-western United States, especially New Mexico, home of key atomic laboratories and bases, and some ufologists consider them possibly extraterrestrial.
The sceptical view
Mainstream explanations treat them as natural bolides, exceptionally bright meteors.
The researched reading
Real, well-observed green lights near atomic sites. Bright green meteors plus a strong reporting bias explain most, with a small unexplained share kept open by LaPaz’s objections.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A known natural phenomenon | 50% | Bright meteors often glow green from emission by excited oxygen and metals such as nickel and magnesium; reports clustered where trained security observers watched the night sky and reported everything, which inflates apparent frequency. |
| Undetermined | 13% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 10% | Meteor expert Lincoln LaPaz argued some had unusually flat, slow paths, no sound and no meteorites; an odd meteor population or unusual atmospheric effect remains possible. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 8% | Project Twinkle could not settle the question before it closed, but the recorded properties do not demand anything beyond meteors. |
| Secret human technology | 8% | Soviet reconnaissance devices or US tests were suspected near atomic sites, but no evidence surfaced. |
| Something known, misidentified | 5% | Flares and aircraft lights explain some reports. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 5% | Security alertness around Los Alamos and Sandia heightened attention and reporting. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 1% | Reports came from scientists and security staff; fabrication is unlikely. |
Official position: Project Twinkle ended inconclusively; the Air Force and most scientists favoured natural bolides, while LaPaz thought they were not ordinary meteors.
Connections in the atlas
- Project Twinkle (green fireballs)
- ? Can ball lightning explain UFO reports?
- Charles Moore's theodolite sighting
- Project Blue Book closes
- Roswell incident