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A number of so-called Green Fireballs were reported in the skies of the southwestern United States, beginning in late 1948. Such sightings worried some in the government, who noted that the reports were often made near military bases.

The earliest reports came from December 5, 1948. Two separate pilots in New Mexico asserted that they’d each seen a dim green light, though about 20 minutes apart. Each pilot declared the lights were not meteors, but resembled flares. The next night, a similar green light was spotted for a few seconds over a secret atomic bomber base at Kirtland Air Force Base.

The United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations began an official inquiry the day after the Kirtland AFB sighting.

Two such Air Force 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 2000 feet above their craft, roughly resembling the green flares commonly used by the Air Force, though "much more intense" and apparently "considerably brighter". 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.

Similar sightings were reported, and the Air Force consulted Lincoln La Paz an astronomer from the University of New Mexico who had previously worked on secret military projects. La Paz himself saw a "green fireball" and in a classified letter to the Air Force, wrote that the object moved far too slowly to have been a meteorite, and furthermore, left a "trail of sparks or dust cloud" as would be typical of meteors.

La Paz suggested that Air Force patrols should attempt to photograph the green fireballs. This was deemed impractical, and never tried.

After interviewing witnesses, La Paz had concluded that "green fireballs" were an artificial phenomenon. An informal study at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory quickly became formal, being called the “Conference on Aerial Phenomena”. The assembled people--both military personnel and civilian scientists--were informed that the “green fireballs” were not the result of any secret military project.

By April 1949, similar sights were reported over a nuclear-weapons storage facility at Fort Hood in Texas.

Despite objections by La Paz and others, the United States government concluded the green lights were a natural event. Project Twinkle (consisting of two officers at) was established at Holloman Air Force Base, in order to study further reports. La Paz criticized Project Twinkle as inadequate, arguing the green fireballs were worthy of "intensive, systematic investigation".

Project Twinkle was discontinued in December, 1951. Despite efforts to downplay the fireballs as natural, a fellow-up report in February 1952 from the USAF Directorate of Intelligence recommended that Project Twinkle remain classified, as no scientific explanation had been found and "some reputable scientists still believe (they) are man-made." There was speculation that they were some kind of spy device.

Edward J. Ruppelt, director of the USAF Project Blue Book UFO study, stated he visited the Los Alamos National Laboratory in early 1952 and spoke to various scientists and technicians there, all of whom had had green fireball sightings. None of them believed they had a conventional explanation, such as new natural phenomenon, secret government project, or psychological enlarged meteors. Instead the scientists speculated that they were alien probes "projected into our atmosphere from a 'spaceship' 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."

Despite the discontinuation of Project Twinkle, green fireball were still occasionally sighted and La Paz would continue to comment. In January 1953, he was quoted saying the green fireballs were artificial devices and might be a Soviet missile scouting the U.S and other parts of the world. 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 Denver, and into northern N.M. It was seen by thousands at a football stadium in Santa Fe. Dr. LaPaz was called back in to investigate, but told a reporter that he doesn't expect to find anything. From April 3-9, 1955, five green fireballs were reported in New Mexico and two in northern California. At least 3 were reported within minutes of one another mid-morning of April 5. Dr. La Paz 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 meteoric fireballs like them."

La Paz's last known comments on the green fireballs occurred in 1964 during a visit by astronomer Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a consultant to the Air Force's Project Blue Book. According to Hynek, La Paz continued to think the objects were artificial, but now believed them to be a secret project of the U.S. government and complained bitterly that this information had been withheld from him.

Green fireballs continue to be reported now and then, but their origins remain a mystery.

Sources

• Jerome Clark, "Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena", Visible Ink Press, 1993.
• Edward J. Ruppelt, "The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects," 1956, Chapter 4 online