White Sands patrols
At about 2:30 a.m. on 3 November 1957, hours after the Levelland reports, two military police patrols at White Sands Proving Ground reported a bright egg-shaped object, which they estimated at 100 yards across, near the old Trinity test area.
1957 CE · 33.68, -106.47 · status: disputed
The sceptical view
Blue Book's investigators and later skeptics suggested the Moon or other bright sources seen in the excitement of the night; the size estimate cannot be checked.
The researched reading
Military police saw a bright egg-shaped light near the old Trinity site the night after Levelland. A low Moon or range lights seen by primed observers is the likely explanation.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 40% | Blue Book and later sceptics suggested the setting Moon or other bright sources; a low, bright Moon in haze over the desert can appear as a large glowing egg, and two patrols on alert after the Levelland news would watch the same source. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 16% | Two patrols saw an object near the ground they estimated at 100 yards across; the Moon explanation fits a distant light better than an object near Trinity site. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 15% | The Levelland reports the evening before and Sputnik 2 launched the same day put military police in a state of high expectation. |
| Secret human technology | 10% | White Sands was a missile range; flares, test vehicles or helicopters could explain a bright object near the range. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 8% | Desert inversions after midnight distort low lights and celestial bodies. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 8% | Some researchers link the November 1957 reports to a poorly understood luminous atmospheric phenomenon (ball lightning-like) in stormy weather. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 3% | Two military patrols reporting officially are unlikely to invent a story. |
Official position: Project Blue Book considered it a probable misidentification of a bright natural source (the Moon or similar) seen in the excitement of that night.