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| {{Short description|Unidentified flying objects}} | |||
| {{refimprove|date=August 2013}} | |||
| '''Green fireballs''' are a type of ] (UFO) that has been reported since the early 1950s. Early sightings primarily occurred in the ], particularly in ]. Although some ] and ufology organizations consider green fireballs to be of artificial extraterrestrial origin, mainstream explanations have been provided, including natural ]s. | |||
| ==Reports and responses== | |||
| '''Green fireballs''' are a type of ] which have been sighted in the sky since the early 1950s.<ref name="Ruppelt Edward 1956">Page 47, Ruppelt Edward, J. (1956) Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, DoubleDay</ref> Early sightings primarily occurred in the ], particularly in ].<ref name=ruppelt1/><ref name=clark1/><ref name=maccabbee1/> They were once of notable concern to the ] because they were often clustered around sensitive research and military installations, such as ] and ], then Sandia base.<ref name=ruppelt1/><ref name=clark1/><ref name=maccabbee1/> | |||
| Early observations of green fireballs date to late 1948 ], and include reports from two plane crews, one civilian and the other military, on the night of December 5, 1948. These crews described the observed fireballs as a bright "green ball of fire" and "like a huge green meteor".<ref name=ruppelt1>Ruppelt, Edward J. (1956) "", DoubleDay</ref> On December 8 another aerial observation of a green fireball was reported by two pilots.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.project1947.com/gfb/gfbchron.html|title=Green Fireball Chronology|last=Carpenter|first=Joel|website=Project 1947}}</ref> In a letter to the ] dated December 20, ], an ] from the ], wrote (as reported by the ufologist ]<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Government UFO Files: The Conspiracy of Cover-Up|last=Randle|first=Kevin D|publisher=Visible Ink Press|year=2014|isbn=9781578594986|pages=109}}</ref>) that the observed objects were atypical of meteors. On January 13, 1949, the Director of Army Intelligence from Fourth Army Headquarters in Texas wrote that the green fireballs " the result of radiological warfare experiments by a foreign power" and that they "are of such great importance, especially as they are occurring in the vicinity of sensitive installations, that a scientific board ...study the situation."<ref name=":0" /> | |||
| A February 1949 conference at ] attended by members of ], scientists including ] and ], and military personnel was unable to identify the origin of the observed green fireballs; secret conferences at Los Alamos and elsewhere, later in 1949 and addressing green fireballs, were also claimed by ] and ufologists including ] to have convened.<ref name=ruppelt1/><ref name=clark1 > Clark, Jerome (1956) "The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial", Visible Ink Press</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.project1947.com/gfb/cap21649.html|title=DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE WASHINGTON|date=March 1949|website=Project 1947}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cufos.org/UFO_History_Gross/1949_01-06_History_2ED.pdf|title=UFOs: A HISTORY January - June 1949|last=E. Gross|first=Loren|date=1982|website=Center for UFO Studies|access-date=2018-09-26|archive-date=2021-02-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214075442/http://cufos.org/UFO_History_Gross/1949_01-06_History_2ED.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In December 1949 Project Twinkle, a network of green fireball observation and photographic units, was established but never fully implemented. It was discontinued two years later, with the official conclusion that the phenomena were likely natural in origin.<ref name=ruppelt1/><ref name=clark1/> | |||
| ] expert Dr. ] headed much of the investigation into the fireballs on behalf of the military. LaPaz's conclusion was that the objects displayed too many anomalous characteristics to be a type of meteor and instead were artificial, perhaps secret Soviet spy devices. The green fireballs were seen by many people of high repute including LaPaz, distinguished Los Alamos scientists, ] intelligence officers and Air Command Defense personnel.<ref>Page 50, Ruppelt Edward, J. (1956) Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, DoubleDay</ref> A February 1949 Los Alamos conference attended by aforementioned sighters, Project Sign, world-renowned upper atmosphere physicist Dr. ], H-bomb scientist Dr. ], other scientists and military brass concluded, though far from unanimously, that green fireballs were natural phenomena. To the conference attendees, though the green fireball source was unknown, their existence was unquestioned.<ref>Pages 50-51, Ruppelt Edward, J. (1956) Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, DoubleDay</ref> Secret conferences were convened at Los Alamos to study the phenomenon<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Third Kind: A Compendium of U.F.O. Encounters|last=Ryan|first=Michael|publisher=Michael Ryan|year=2015|isbn=9781519355867|location=|pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.project1947.com/gfb/cap21649.html|title=DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE WASHINGTON|date=March 1949|website=Project 1947}}</ref> and in Washington by the ].<ref name=ruppelt1/><ref name=clark1/><ref name=maccabbee1/><ref name=meeting1> of Los Alamos conference</ref> | |||
| The theoretical astrophysicist and UFO skeptic ] claimed to have observed in May 1949 a green fireball near ], which he later considered to be an ordinary meteor.<ref>Menzel letter, May 16, 1949, cited at an Air Force Scientific Advisory Board meeting on the green fireballs in Washington, D.C., Nov. 3, 1949. The quoted section read, "Circumstances force me to conclude that the phenomena described are actually real. With regard to Dr. Kaplan's explanation, which deserves very serious consideration, I merely raise the question as to why the phenomenon seems to be confined to the Alamogordo region."</ref><ref>For example, in contrast to his 1949 private statement to the Air Force that he didn't find the meteor explanation totally adequate, Menzel later wrote in his UFO debunking book "The UFO Enigma" (1977) with Ernest Tavres that, "He and several other astronomers present observed the bright green object as it slowly traversed the northern sector of the heavens, moving from east to west: they quickly and unequivocally identified it as a meteor, or bolide..."</ref> Green fireballs have more recently been observed in Japan,<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mysterious green light 'fireball' spotted in Japan sky|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=November 2, 2016|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/02/mysterious-green-light-fireball-spotted-in-japan-sky/}}</ref> Australia, West Virginia and Tennessee.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Flashy Fireball Lights Up Sky Above West Virginia And Tennessee|website=space.com|date=August 2, 2023|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/flashy-fireball-lights-up-sky-above-west-virginia-and-tennessee/vi-AA1fIFud?rc=1&ocid=socialshare&cvid=36d03317139c4b7bcbd2a08be94631c7&ei=24}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite news|title=Fireball that lit up Pilbara sky 'something special', but scientists not exactly sure what|newspaper=ABC News|date=June 15, 2020|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-15/green-glowing-space-object-filmed-over-pilbara/12355358}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Ominous Green Fireball Lights Up Skies Over Australian Outback|newspaper=Gizmodo|date=June 15, 2020|url=https://gizmodo.com/ominous-green-fireball-lights-up-skies-over-australian-1844039645}}</ref> | |||
| In December 1949 ], a network of green fireball observation and photographic units, was established but never fully implemented. It was discontinued two years later, with the official conclusion that the phenomenon was probably natural in origin.<ref>Ruppelt, 78–79, 81; Clark 1998, 263; Maccabee, 149–161; , </ref> | |||
| ==Explanations== | |||
| Green fireballs have been given natural, man-made, and extraterrestrial origins and have become associated with both the ] and ].<ref name=ruppelt1>Ruppelt Edward, J. (1956) "", DoubleDay</ref><ref name=clark1>Jerome, Clark (1998) "The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial", ]</ref><ref name=maccabbee1>Maccabee, Bruce (2000) "The UFO-FBI Connection", Llewellyn Publications</ref> Because of the extensive government paper trail on the phenomenon, many ] consider the green fireballs to be among the best documented examples of ] (UFOs). | |||
| ].]] | |||
| Some ufologists consider green fireballs to be of artificial, extraterrestrial origin.<ref name=ruppelt1/><ref name=clark1/> Beyond meteors/bolides, outlier scientific explanations include sequelae of atomic weapons tests, including clouds of ], lunar material ejected from meteor impacts on the Moon's surface, and aircraft associated with secret military projects.<ref name="Steiger">{{cite book |last1=Steiger |first1=Brad |title=Project Blue Book |date=1987-05-12 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0345345257 }}</ref> | |||
| ==Early green fireballs== | |||
| Some early reports came from late November 1948,<ref name="Ruppelt Edward 1956"/> but were at first dismissed as military green ]s. Then on the night of December 5, 1948, two separate plane crews, one military (Air Force ], Captain Goede, 9:27 p.m., {{convert|10|mi|km}} east of ]) and one civilian (], Pioneer Flight 63, 9:35 p.m., east of ]), each asserted that they had seen a "green ball of fire"; the C-47 crew had seen an identical object 22 minutes before near Las Vegas.<ref name="ReferenceA">Page 48, Ruppelt Edward, J. (1956) Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, DoubleDay</ref> The military crew described the light as like a huge green meteor except it arched upwards and then flat instead of downwards<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The civilian crew described the light as having a trajectory too low and flat for a meteor, at first abreast and ahead of them but then appearing to come straight at them on a collision course, forcing the pilot to swerve the plane at which time the object appeared full moon size.<ref>Pages 47-48, Ruppelt Edward, J. (1956) Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, DoubleDay</ref> | |||
| Two AFOSI investigators — both of whom were experienced pilots themselves — witnessed a green fireball while flying an aircraft the evening of December 8. They said it was about {{convert|2000|ft|m}} above their craft, roughly resembling the green flares commonly used by the Air Force, though "much more intense" and apparently "considerably brighter." The light seemed to burst into full brilliance almost instantaneously. Their report stated that the light was "definitely larger and more brilliant than a shooting star, meteor or flare." The light lasted only a few seconds, moving "almost flat and parallel to the earth". The light's "trajectory then dropped off rapidly" leaving "a trail of fragments reddish orange in color" which then fell towards the ground. <ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.project1947.com/gfb/gfbchron.html|title=Green Fireball Chronology|last=Carpenter|first=Joel|website=Project 1947}}</ref> | |||
| The next day, AFOSI consulted Dr. ], an ] from the ].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cufos.org/UFO_History_Gross/1949_01-06_History_2ED.pdf|title=UFOs: A HISTORY January - June 1949|last=E. Gross|first=Loren|date=1982|website=Center for UFO Studies}}</ref> LaPaz himself saw a "green fireball" on December 12, which was also seen at ], enabling LaPaz to determine the ] using ]. From this LaPaz discovered that the center of the trajectory was straight over Los Alamos.<ref name=":1" /> | |||
| In a classified letter to the Air Force on December 20, LaPaz wrote that the object moved far too slowly to have been a meteor and left no "trail of sparks or dust cloud" as would be typical of meteors flying at low altitudes.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Government UFO Files: The Conspiracy of Cover-Up|last=Randle|first=Kevin D|publisher=Visible Ink Press|year=2014|isbn=9781578594986|location=|pages=109}}</ref> | |||
| On January 13, 1949, the following message was sent to the Director of Army Intelligence from Fourth Army Headquarters in Texas: "Agencies in New Mexico are greatly concerned . . .Some foreign power making 'sensing shots' with some super-stratosphere device designed to be self-disintegrating . . . The phenomena the result of radiological warfare experiments by a foreign power . . . the rays may be lethal or might be . . . the cause of the plane crashes that have occurred recently . . . These incidents are of such great importance, especially as they are occurring in the vicinity of sensitive installations, that a scientific board be sent . . . to study the situation."<ref name=":0" /> | |||
| On January 30 the brightest and most widely seen green fireball sighting occurred near ]. The next day, the ] was informed by Army and Air Force intelligence that ] and the fireballs were classified top secret. LaPaz interviewed hundreds of witnesses, with help from the FBI and military intelligence, and again tried to recover fragments by triangulating a trajectory, but was again unsuccessful. <ref name=":1" /> | |||
| After his own sighting and interviewing numerous witnesses, LaPaz had concluded that "green fireballs" were an artificial phenomenon.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} On February 8, he met with Dr. ], a ] ] and member of the ]. | |||
| LaPaz's informal scientific study for the Air Force quickly became formal, being called the "Conference on Aerial Phenomena", convening at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in mid-February to review the data.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} | |||
| The scientists felt that a network of instrument stations should be established to photograph and analyze the fireballs.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} | |||
| By April 1949 similar sights were reported over a nuclear-weapons storage facility at ] in ].{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} The intrusions were deemed so serious that, unlike the Air Force, the Army quickly set up an observation network.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} | |||
| On July 24 a green fireball was observed falling close to ].{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} Dust samples were collected at the School of Mines there and were found to contain large particles of ].{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} LaPaz found this highly significant, since copper burns with the same yellow-green color characteristic of the green fireballs.{{dubious|date=April 2015}} He also noted that if the copper particles came from the green fireballs, then they could not be conventional meteorites, since copper was never found in dust of meteoric origin.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}} LaPaz suggested that further air and ground samples be taken in areas where the fireballs were seen. | |||
| Another Los Alamos conference convened on October 14.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} Among the puzzles were the sudden onset and the high concentration of sightings in New Mexico, quite unlike natural phenomena. Despite this, it was decided the fireballs were probably atmospheric in origin. Instrumented observations—photographic, triangulation, and spectroscopic—were deemed essential to solving the mystery. | |||
| On November 3 Dr. Kaplan brought the plan to the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board at the ]. Kaplan by this time had decided the fireballs might be a new type of rare meteor.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} Nonetheless, most of the scientists remained puzzled by the brightness, trajectories, and absence of sound.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}} Seeming to contradict his meteor hypothesis, Kaplan also said, "This high selectivity of direction seems to indicate that some group was trying to pinpoint Los Alamos with a new sort of weapon."{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} Concerns were expressed about the possibility of panic and the need for continued secrecy. | |||
| ==Project Twinkle== | |||
| Finally, on December 20 after nearly a year of delay, the instrument observation program was approved and Project Twinkle was born. The first instrument post (consisting of two officers) was established at ] in February 1950. Only one other instrument post was ever set up. LaPaz criticized Project Twinkle as inadequate, arguing the green fireballs were worthy of "intensive, systematic investigation".{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} Twinkle did manage to record a few events, but the data collected were said to be incomplete in the final Twinkle report.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} Besides, it was stated, no funding had been provided for follow-up data analysis. In addition, the fireball activity near the observation posts seemed to virtually disappear,{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} as noted in a report from September: "It may be considered significant that fireballs have ceased abruptly as soon as a systematic watch was set up."{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} | |||
| Over the objections of LaPaz and others, the final report on Project Twinkle (see ]) concluded the green lights were probably a natural event, maybe sunspot activity or an unusual concentration of meteors.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} The report stated, "There has been no indication that even the somewhat strange observations often called 'Green Fireballs' are anything but natural phenomena."{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} Twinkle was discontinued in December 1951. | |||
| Despite efforts of the final Twinkle report to downplay the fireballs and other studied UFO phenomena as natural, a follow-up report in February 1952 from the USAF Directorate of Intelligence disagreed: | |||
| :"The Scientific Advisory Board Secretariat has suggested that this project not be declassified for a variety of reasons, chief among which is that no scientific explanation for any of the fireballs and other phenomena was revealed by the report and that some reputable scientists still believe that the observed phenomena are man-made." {{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} | |||
| The following month, another letter from the Directorate of Intelligence to the Research Division of the Directorate of Research and Development again stated that the report should not be publicly released, since no real solution had been provided: | |||
| :"It is believed that a release of the information to the public in its present condition would cause undue speculation and give rise to unwarranted fears among the populace such as occurred in previous releases on unidentified flying objects. This results from releases when there has been no real solution." | |||
| ==Opinions of Los Alamos scientists== | |||
| ], director of the USAF ] UFO study, stated he visited the ] in early 1952 and spoke to various scientists and technicians there, all of whom had experienced green fireball sightings. None of them believed they had a conventional explanation, such as a new natural phenomenon, secret government project, or psychologically enlarged meteors. Instead, the scientists speculated that they were ] probes "projected into our atmosphere from a ']' hovering several hundred miles above the earth." Ruppelt commented, "Two years ago I would have been amazed to hear a group of reputable scientists make such a startling statement. Now, however, I took it as a matter of course. I'd heard the same type of statement many times before from equally qualified groups."<ref></ref> | |||
| However, such opinions were apparently not unanimous. Immediately afterward, Ruppelt said he visited LaPaz in Albuquerque. Ruppelt reported that "LaPaz said that some people, including Dr. Joseph Kaplan and Dr. Edward Teller, thought that the green fireballs were natural meteors. But he didn't think so." {{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} LaPaz then reiterated the various anomalous characteristics which led him to believe the fireballs were artificial. Ruppelt also mentioned that he had previously met with Kaplan in Los Angeles, and although Kaplan respected LaPaz professionally, he was not convinced that the fireballs were man-made. | |||
| Ruppelt further mentioned that he discussed the issue with some of the people who had been at the Los Alamos meeting in February 1949, but did not provide any names. "People who were at that meeting have told me that Dr. LaPaz's theory was very interesting and that each point was carefully considered. But evidently it wasn't conclusive enough because when the conference broke up, after two days, it was decided that the green fireballs were a natural phenomenon of some kind." However, despite what Ruppelt may have been told and then reported in his book, there is nothing in the actual that indicates that such a group decision was ever reached. Instead, opinions remained divided, much puzzlement was expressed, and further research was recommended to help resolve the issue. | |||
| ==Astronomer sightings of green fireballs== | |||
| Other astronomers besides LaPaz known to have sighted green fireballs in New Mexico during this period were ], who in 1956 said he had seen three, and Dr. ], who sighted one in May 1949 near ]. In a letter to the ], Menzel admitted the phenomenon must be real and expressed puzzlement, wondering why the fireballs should be so confined to New Mexico if they were natural phenomena.<ref>Menzel letter, May 16, 1949, cited at an Air Force Scientific Advisory Board meeting on the green fireballs in Washington, D.C., Nov. 3, 1949. The quoted section read, "Circumstances force me to conclude that the phenomena described are actually real. With regard to Dr. Kaplan's explanation, which deserves very serious consideration, I merely raise the question as to why the phenomenon seems to be confined to the Alamogordo region."</ref> Menzel eventually became a famous ] ], and in two of his books stated he was never puzzled by his sighting, instantly identifying the object as an ordinary meteor fireball.<ref>For example, in contrast to his 1949 private statement to the Air Force that he didn't find the meteor explanation totally adequate, Menzel later wrote in his UFO debunking book "The UFO Enigma" (1977) with Ernest Tavres that, "He and several other astronomers present observed the bright green object as it slowly traversed the northern sector of the heavens, moving from east to west: they quickly and unequivocally identified it as a meteor, or bolide..."</ref> | |||
| ==Green fireballs after Project Twinkle== | |||
| Despite the discontinuation of Project Twinkle, green fireballs were still occasionally sighted and LaPaz continued to comment. In early November, 1951, a month before the official termination of Twinkle, a huge flurry of green fireball sightings occurred in the Southwest and other states. LaPaz was widely quoted saying that such a concentration of fireballs was unprecedented in history, and he didn't believe they were a natural phenomenon. (More details below in ] In April 1952 the green fireballs and Project Twinkle were written up in a famous '']'' magazine article titled "Have We Visitors From Space?" A recent green fireball incident over ] from November 1951 was mentioned. LaPaz again repeated why the fireballs could not be ordinary meteors. The article also described LaPaz's ] sighting near ], on July 10, 1947, about the same time as the famous ]. LaPaz, however, remained anonymous. Also described was a 1949 UFO sighting by astronomer ], the discoverer of ] (). | |||
| In January 1953 LaPaz was quoted in newspaper articles saying the green fireballs were artificial devices and might be a Soviet missile scouting the U.S. and other parts of the world.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} According to Ruppelt, the green fireballs reappeared in September 1954. One the size of a full moon was seen streaking southeast across Colorado, lighting up ], and into northern New Mexico.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} It was seen by thousands at a football stadium in ]. LaPaz was called back in to investigate, but told a reporter that he did not expect to find anything. From April 3 to 9, 1955, five green fireballs were reported in New Mexico and two in ]. At least three were reported within minutes of one another midmorning of April 5. LaPaz stated, "This is a record . . . I'm sure the yellow-green fireballs aren't ordinary meteorite falls. I've been observing the skies since 1914, and I've never seen any meteoritic fireballs like them."{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} In a visit by astronomer Dr. ] in March 1965, LaPaz told Hynek that one had been reported as recently as the previous Christmas (Steiger, p. 132). | |||
| ==Atomic testing and fallout theory== | |||
| A recent theory of the green fireballs was introduced in Robert Hastings' 2008 book ''UFOs and Nukes''. Although it had been a concern from the beginning to military intelligence that the sightings seemed concentrated near sensitive nuclear facilities such as Los Alamos and Kirtland AFB, researcher Dan Wilson discovered that later heavy concentrations of sightings might also be correlated with atomic tests that began in Nevada in January 1951. In particular, green fireball sightings, and other reported UFO sightings, seemed to follow the drift of the ] clouds as winds carried them into other states. | |||
| Hastings cites a number of examples from Wilson's research.<ref>Robert Hastings, ''UFOs and Nukes'', 2008, pp. 64-84.</ref> Perhaps the most graphic example occurred during the ] of atomic tests on November 1 and 5, 1951, which were accompanied by so many reported green fireball sightings in states affected by fallout, that even the ] carried a story on November 9, "Southwest's 7 Fireballs in 11 Days Called 'Without Parallel in History'." Dr. LaPaz was widely quoted saying, "There has never been a rate of meteorite fall in history that has been one-fifth as high as the present fall. If that rate should continue, I would suspect the phenomenon is not natural... don't behave like ordinary meteorites at all." | |||
| Initially the green fireballs were reported in ] and New Mexico as the fallout clouds left Nevada, but as the clouds spread out and drifted further east, south, and north, green fireball sightings then followed in Texas, northern Mexico, Iowa, Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, and New York. Portions of the fallout also drifted west into the Los Angeles area on November 7, followed the next day by a green fireball sighting there. | |||
| ] also took note on November 19, in a somewhat satirical article titled "Great Balls of Fire." In the article, they lightheartedly speculated that the green fireballs were connected to the atomic testing.<ref>Hastings, 64-70</ref> | |||
| Summarizing the rash of fireball sightings in November 1951, Wilson commented, "Some researchers imply that the radioactivity itself was producing the green fireballs, possibly as an electrostatic effect. Dr. Lincoln La Paz thought otherwise. He said that the green fireballs move too regularly and had been sighted earlier, on a number of occasions, at the Los Alamos and Sandia atomic labs, where no measurable radiation was released, as well as at Killeen Base, in Texas, where the weapons were simply stored. So it seems that the electrostatic theory doesn't stand up."{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} | |||
| Wilson concluded, "We can make one statement of fact: the fireball sightings—green or otherwise—occurred in areas that received radioactive debris from Operation Buster. Was this just coincidence, or a planned occurrence? We simply don't know, so all we can do is to continue to collect data and see if some overwhelmingly convincing pattern emerges." Wilson nonetheless felt the evidence pointed to the fireballs being real, artificial, and those responsible having some sort of agenda."<ref>Hastings, 70</ref> | |||
| Hastings then noted similar comments by Project Blue Book head Edward Ruppelt, citing the opinion of a number of Los Alamos scientists on the green fireballs when he visited in early 1952, that they might be extraterrestrial probes from an orbiting spacecraft. (See ] above.) | |||
| ==Condon Committee theory== | |||
| In the 1969 ] UFO report, astronomer ] thought the green fireballs might be explained by lunar material ejected during recent meteor impacts on the Moon's surface . Hartmann's reasoning was that such ejected lunar meteors could account for the abnormally low velocities calculated for the green fireballs by LaPaz of about Earth's ], that is, much lower than normal meteor velocities. Hartmann further claimed, without explanation or elaboration, that "the predicted characteristics match those of the 'green fireball episode'." | |||
| However, an object coming from the moon would enter the earth's atmosphere with a speed almost as high as the ] of the earth, 11 km/s. And the theory would not account for the many other anomalous characteristics of the green fireballs detailed by LaPaz, such as strong confinement to the New Mexico area, lime-green color, low altitude yet absence of sound, absence of smoke trail, and absence of meteorite fragments.{{Citation needed|date=April 2014}} Despite the entirely speculative nature of Hartmann's hypothesis, it is sometimes cited as scientific fact: for example, astronomer ] presented it as such in his '']'' television series in 1980 {{Verify source|date=February 2010}}. | |||
| ==Other UFO investigations of Dr. Lincoln LaPaz== | |||
| ===Roswell incident (1947)=== | |||
| At least three witnesses, including two involved with Army and Air Force counterintelligence, also claimed that LaPaz was brought in after the ] to interview witnesses and reconstruct the trajectory of the crash object (). One counterintelligence agent claimed LaPaz told him he thought the object got into trouble, touched down for repairs, took off again, and then exploded. The two of them then speculated about possible origins. LaPaz allegedly held the opinion that the object was an unoccupied extraterrestrial probe. | |||
| However, UFO researcher ]<ref>Pflock, Karl T. ''Roswell : Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe'' Prometheus Books, 2003</ref> discovered some facts that might call into question some aspects of this testimony. For example, one of the purported witnesses to LaPaz's Roswell involvement claimed that LaPaz spoke fluent Spanish, but by interviewing family members, Pflock discovered that LaPaz did not speak any Spanish. | |||
| ===Anomalous satellites (mid-1950s)=== | |||
| <!-- Deleted image removed: ] --> | |||
| Besides LaPaz's consultations with the Air Force on the green fireballs, in 1954 he was also involved with astronomer ] in a search for near-Earth orbiting satellites on behalf of the Army (several years before ] became the first man-made satellite). In August 1954 a story broke in the press that Tombaugh and LaPaz had found two of the satellites only 400 and {{convert|600|mi|km}} out that had recently come into orbit. But LaPaz later denied the report.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Scientist denies space base find|newspaper=New York Times|date=October 10, 1954|url=http://www.roswellproof.com/Satellites_NYTIMES_1954.html}}</ref> (See ] for details.) | |||
| ===Zamora/Socorro incident (1964)=== | |||
| In 1964 LaPaz was also involved peripherally in the investigation of the famous Socorro UFO incident, in which a ] policeman named ] claimed to have seen a small egg-shaped object land, saw two humanoid figures near the object, and then when he approached to within {{convert|50|ft|m}}, the object blasted off and rapidly disappeared. LaPaz interviewed Zamora and vouched for him as a witness. | |||
| ===Green fireballs revisited (1965)=== | |||
| LaPaz's last known comments on the green fireballs occurred in 1965 during a visit by astronomer Dr. ], a consultant to the Air Force's ]. Hynek was also investigating the Socorro incident. According to Hynek, LaPaz felt the fireballs were the most important part of the UFO phenomenon. He remained convinced that the fireballs' anomalous characteristics had never been adequately explained by the official investigation. LaPaz continued to think the green fireballs were artificial, but now believed the fireballs, and also the Socorro craft, to be highly secret projects of the U.S. government. He also accused Hynek, Project Blue Book, and others of being part of "a grand cover-up for something the government does not want discussed".<ref>Steiger, pp. 132, 136</ref> | |||
| ==Green fireballs outside the United States== | |||
| There have been reports of green fireballs outside the U.S. and long after the early days of Project Twinkle<ref></ref> often near sensitive government or military bases: Randles and Houghe note that a ] pilot had a near collision with three unusual green fireballs near ], England, and fireballs were also sighted near a ] in ] in 1983 (Randles and Houghe, p. 92). | |||
| There was also a sighting of a green fireball in ], Alberta, Canada in the summer of 2011.{{cn|date=July 2017}} Cold Lake notably has the largest air force base in all of Canada, and after several local protests in the 1980s, Cold Lake no longer has nuclear weapons. | |||
| On October 31, 2016, a green fireball was witnessed over the predawn skies of ] in northern Japan.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mysterious green light 'fireball' spotted in Japan sky|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=November 2, 2016|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/02/mysterious-green-light-fireball-spotted-in-japan-sky/}}</ref> Another fireball was spotted in ], Ireland on the 22 November 2016.{{cn|date=July 2017}} On November 26, 2016 another was spotted just north of ], Alberta around 6:45 local time.{{cn|date=July 2017}} | |||
| In South Africa, a green UFO was spotted 1000 feet in the sky of ].{{cn|date=July 2017}} A ] cargo aircraft captain and co-pilot, flying from ] to Port Elizabeth International Airport, reported seeing what appeared to be a green object increasing in altitude past the cockpit of their aeroplane, reaching to about a thousand feet into clouds above them, and then returning towards earth at high speed past the cockpit of the aeroplane," NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said. "The sighting was reported to air traffic control at Port Elizabeth International Airport who requested NSRI's assistance to investigate the possibility that an aircraft or craft may be in difficulty." Lambinon said the NSRI's Jeffreys Bay team monitored the matter throughout the night. "The green object has not been seen since and there are no reports of anyone, or craft or aircraft overdue or missing." | |||
| On June 17, 2020 a green fireball has been seen flying over ], ]<ref>{{Cite news|title=Fireball that lit up Pilbara sky 'something special', but scientists not exactly sure what|newspaper=ABC News|date=June 15, 2020|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-15/green-glowing-space-object-filmed-over-pilbara/12355358}}</ref> and various other places in the region.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Ominous Green Fireball Lights Up Skies Over Australian Outback|newspaper=Gizmodo|date=June 15, 2020|url=https://gizmodo.com/ominous-green-fireball-lights-up-skies-over-australian-1844039645}}</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| *] | *] | ||
| *] | *] | ||
| *] emits green fireballs when igniting | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| Line 123: | Line 22: | ||
| ==Sources== | ==Sources== | ||
| * ], '' |
* ], ''The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial'', Visible Ink Press, 1998. | ||
| * ], '']'', 1956, Chapt. 4 | |||
| * Jerome Clark, ''The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial'', Visible Ink Press, 1998. | |||
| * ], ''Project Blue Book'', Ballantine Books, 1976 | |||
| * ], ''The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects'', 1956, Chapt. 4 | |||
| * ], ''The UFO-FBI Connection'', Llewellyn Publications, 2000 | |||
| * ], ''Project Blue Book'', Ballantine Books, 1976 (Contains letter from Dr. ] of Dr. LaPaz expressing final opinion on green fireballs) | |||
| * ] and Peter Houghe; The Complete Book of UFOs: An Investigation into Alien Contact and Encounters; Sterling Publishing Co, Inc, 1994; {{ISBN|0-8069-8132-6}} | |||
| {{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
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| * | * | ||
| * | * | ||
| * | |||
| * , similar but more detailed discussion of the green fireballs and critical collected evidence omitted from Twinkle final report. | |||
| * | * | ||
| * Discusses UFO evidence, green fireballs, and LaPaz's sightings and findings. | |||
| * {{APOD |date=20 November 1998 |title=Photo of a meteor with a greenish tint in tail}} | * {{APOD |date=20 November 1998 |title=Photo of a meteor with a greenish tint in tail}} | ||
| * | * | ||
| Line 144: | Line 38: | ||
| {{UFOs}} | {{UFOs}} | ||
| ] | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Fireballs}} | |||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 22:03, 20 June 2024
Unidentified flying objectsGreen fireballs are a type of unidentified flying object (UFO) that has been reported since the early 1950s. Early sightings primarily occurred in the southwestern United States, particularly in New Mexico. Although some ufologists and ufology organizations consider green fireballs to be of artificial extraterrestrial origin, mainstream explanations have been provided, including natural bolides.
Reports and responses
Early observations of green fireballs date to late 1948 New Mexico, and include reports from two plane crews, one civilian and the other military, on the night of December 5, 1948. These crews described the observed fireballs as a bright "green ball of fire" and "like a huge green meteor". On December 8 another aerial observation of a green fireball was reported by two pilots. In a letter to the U.S. Air Force dated December 20, Lincoln LaPaz, an astronomer from the University of New Mexico, wrote (as reported by the ufologist Kevin Randle) that the observed objects were atypical of meteors. On January 13, 1949, the Director of Army Intelligence from Fourth Army Headquarters in Texas wrote that the green fireballs " the result of radiological warfare experiments by a foreign power" and that they "are of such great importance, especially as they are occurring in the vicinity of sensitive installations, that a scientific board ...study the situation."
A February 1949 conference at Los Alamos attended by members of Project Sign, scientists including Joseph Kaplan and Edward Teller, and military personnel was unable to identify the origin of the observed green fireballs; secret conferences at Los Alamos and elsewhere, later in 1949 and addressing green fireballs, were also claimed by Edward Ruppelt and ufologists including Jerome Clark to have convened. In December 1949 Project Twinkle, a network of green fireball observation and photographic units, was established but never fully implemented. It was discontinued two years later, with the official conclusion that the phenomena were likely natural in origin.
The theoretical astrophysicist and UFO skeptic Donald Menzel claimed to have observed in May 1949 a green fireball near Alamogordo, which he later considered to be an ordinary meteor. Green fireballs have more recently been observed in Japan, Australia, West Virginia and Tennessee.
Explanations
Some ufologists consider green fireballs to be of artificial, extraterrestrial origin. Beyond meteors/bolides, outlier scientific explanations include sequelae of atomic weapons tests, including clouds of nuclear fallout, lunar material ejected from meteor impacts on the Moon's surface, and aircraft associated with secret military projects.
See also
References
- ^ Ruppelt, Edward J. (1956) "Report on Unidentified Flying Objects", DoubleDay
- ^ Carpenter, Joel. "Green Fireball Chronology". Project 1947.
- Randle, Kevin D (2014). The Government UFO Files: The Conspiracy of Cover-Up. Visible Ink Press. p. 109. ISBN 9781578594986.
- ^ Clark, Jerome (1956) "The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial", Visible Ink Press
- "DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE WASHINGTON". Project 1947. March 1949.
- E. Gross, Loren (1982). "UFOs: A HISTORY January - June 1949" (PDF). Center for UFO Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
- Menzel letter, May 16, 1949, cited at an Air Force Scientific Advisory Board meeting on the green fireballs in Washington, D.C., Nov. 3, 1949. The quoted section read, "Circumstances force me to conclude that the phenomena described are actually real. With regard to Dr. Kaplan's explanation, which deserves very serious consideration, I merely raise the question as to why the phenomenon seems to be confined to the Alamogordo region."
- For example, in contrast to his 1949 private statement to the Air Force that he didn't find the meteor explanation totally adequate, Menzel later wrote in his UFO debunking book "The UFO Enigma" (1977) with Ernest Tavres that, "He and several other astronomers present observed the bright green object as it slowly traversed the northern sector of the heavens, moving from east to west: they quickly and unequivocally identified it as a meteor, or bolide..."
- "Mysterious green light 'fireball' spotted in Japan sky". The Telegraph. November 2, 2016.
- "Flashy Fireball Lights Up Sky Above West Virginia And Tennessee". space.com. August 2, 2023.
- "Fireball that lit up Pilbara sky 'something special', but scientists not exactly sure what". ABC News. June 15, 2020.
- "Ominous Green Fireball Lights Up Skies Over Australian Outback". Gizmodo. June 15, 2020.
- Steiger, Brad (1987-05-12). Project Blue Book. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0345345257.
Sources
- Jerome Clark, The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, Visible Ink Press, 1998.
- Edward J. Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, 1956, Chapt. 4
- Brad Steiger, Project Blue Book, Ballantine Books, 1976
External links
- Transcript of 1949 Los Alamos conference on green fireballs
- Project Twinkle final report
- Links to other green fireball documents
- Another article on green fireballs and Project Twinkle
- NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Photo of a meteor with a greenish tint in tail (20 November 1998)
- Skeptical witness of a green fireball
