The Green Fireballs
Date: December 5, 1948
Location: United States
The Green Fireballs is a term used to describe a series of UFO sightings in 1948. These mysterious objects were referred to as the green fireballs as they were exactly that; green balls of fire flashing across the sky. The majority of these sightings were observed over military and research bases, which sparked interest and concern from the government.
The first report was made on December 5, 1948, by a United States Air Force pilot, Captain Goede, who was on board a C-47 aircraft. Captain Goede recalls that at around 21:27 he observed “a green ball of fire flashing across the sky ahead of them.” 13 Captain Goede and his copilot were approximately ten miles east of Albuquerque when they saw the fiery green object. At first, the two pilots just assumed that the object was a meteor or a weather phenomenon of some sort. The last thing they assumed the object to be was an extraterrestrial aircraft.
As the pilots continued watching, the green fireball, which was on the east side of their aircraft, then moved closer toward their aircraft. As it proceeded to level with the C-47, it was evident that this was not a natural phenomenon. Whatever that object in the sky was, it was aware of the C-47’s position. As the fireball leveled with the aircraft, the two pilots were able to get a better look at the object and they were able to rule out some possibilities of what the object could have been. The UFO was described as being very large in size. It had a spherical shape and was also emitting a bright green glow. Shortly after the green fireball leveled with the aircraft, it accelerated at an alarming speed and disappeared. Captain Goede and his copilot were unable to locate the UFO again. After the sighting came to an end, they informed Kirtland Air Force Base, located just outside of Albuquerque, of their encounter. What the pilots did not know, however, was that other pilots had reported seeing the same phenomenon on the same night.
Just five minutes after the initial sighting, a second report was made by another pilot who reported seeing a similar object outside the cockpit window. The unnamed pilot was on board Pioneers Airlines Flight 63 when he suddenly noticed a green glowing object in the sky. Just like Goede and his copilot, the pilot on board the Pioneers flight at first assumed that this green object was either a shooting star or another natural phenomenon, however, this theory was disproved. The green fireball started approaching the aircraft as it changed its color from green to red. As it was increasing its speed, the object got larger in size, which forced the pilot to make a quick sharp turn to avert disaster and avoid collision with the object. The fireball then started descending toward the ground until it disappeared.
There are a lot of similarities between the two reports. The first similarity is the description the pilots provided of the object. The object in both reports was described as having a spherical shape and a glowing bright green color. The pilot on board Flight 63 also reported that the object was able to change its size and color. The most interesting characteristic of the reports is the spatial awareness the UFO seemed to possess. The fact that the objects were able to mirror the maneuvers carried out by the aircraft implies that whatever was piloting the green fireballs was aware of the aircraft’s position in space and time.
The Investigation
Following the two separate reports, the Kirtland Air Force Base launched an investigation to determine the origin of these green fireball sightings. From the beginning of the investigation, the intelligence officers assumed that the object must have been a meteor, which is the reason why Dr. Lincoln LaPaz was included in the investigation. LaPaz was an American astronomer known for being a pioneer in the study of meteors and meteorites. Because of his expertise on meteors, his insight was essential in order for the investigation to be a valid and accurate one.
To find out if the green fireballs were truly meteors or not, LaPaz plotted the path of the green fireballs in accordance to the reports made on the night. This path would follow the course of the fireball, and if the object was in fact a meteor that made it to earth to become a meteorite, then debris would be located at the site of where it would have eventually hit the ground. If no debris were to be found, then the meteor/meteorite hypothesis would have been ruled out. On December 5, 1948, a total of eight separate reports were made and LaPaz took into consideration all of these reports when calculating the fireballs’ path.
To the air force’s surprise, no debris or remnants of a meteor/meteorite were found at the calculated locations. Moreover, apart from the fact that no debris was found, there were further factors that proved to LaPaz that the green fireballs could not have been meteors. First and foremost, the flat trajectory of the green fireball was unlike that of a meteor. Secondly the objects also changed in size and maneuvered in a way that was impossible for a meteor. As has been stated, it is evident that whatever was piloting the green fireballs was aware of the aircraft’s location in space.
As the days went on, the number of green fireball reports increased, heightening the pressure on the air force to provide an explanation. Thus far, the investigation was inconclusive, and all the facts were pointing to one theory: that these objects were not natural. The air force wanted to have first-hand evidence of the fireballs, which is why on December 8, 1948, two intelligence officers got on board a private aircraft in an attempt to witness the green fireballs for themselves. It did not take the officers very long to witness the UFOs. Shortly after their take off at around 18:33, as the aircraft was flying at an altitude of 11,500 feet twenty miles east of Las Vegas, the officers noticed that just two thousand feet above their aircraft was a green fireball. Similar to the previous reports, the green fireball leveled with their aircraft and started approaching it at a rapid speed. Luckily, the pilot was able to swerve just in time to avoid the fireball. As for the two officers, it was now proven to them that these reports were truly authentic, and that these fireballs were not meteors but something else, something being controlled by an intelligent entity.
The description the two officers provided of the UFO was similar to the previous reports. The fireball was described as being significantly larger than a flare, which ruled out that possibility as well. They also described the object as being large and capable of mirroring every maneuver their aircraft had carried out.
Project Twinkle
The pressure on the air force continued to grow as the phenomenon lacked an explanation. In an attempt to resolve the numerous reports that were being made, the air force created Project Twinkle in 1949. The project, which was run by Land-Air Corporation, operated phototheodolites at White Sands, New Mexico. The aim was for the phototheodolites to photograph any unusual activity and any unidentified objects flying past the cameras. Apart from that, a twenty-four-hour manned watch was to be set-up in New Mexico to accompany the phototheodolites and to confirm any unusual sightings.
Another factor that indicated the green fireballs were piloted by intelligent beings is the fact that the green fireball sightings stopped shortly after the manned watch was set up. From October 1, 1950, to March 31, 1951 (the duration of the second contractual period), not a single green fireball sighting was made. Since no further sightings were reported, Project Twinkle was discontinued on the basis that no information was being gathered. However, many have questioned why the sightings had suddenly stopped. Could it be the case that perhaps whoever was piloting the green aircraft had become aware that instruments were set up to capture the sightings?
Project Twinkle was destined for failure from the get-go. It was poorly funded and was not given any importance. A final report was written just a year and a half later, even though insufficient data had been collected to come to a conclusive explanation. Apart from not being able to identify the origin of the green fireballs, the report suggested that no more funds were to be wasted on the project. Albeit the fact that there was no data to back up the claim, the report stated that the sightings were natural phenomena. Although the green fireballs were reported to be completely natural, the air force refused to declassify any material related to the sightings.
The Sightings Continue
After Project Twinkle failed to explain what the green fireballs were, Edward J. Ruppelt, the director of Project Blue Book, started an investigation of his own in early 1952. The sightings were once again on the rise and he wanted an explanation. In his book titled The Report of Unidentified Flying Objects, Ruppelt mentions a meeting he had with a group of scientists who worked at the Los Alamos Laboratory. When discussing the green fireball sightings, one of the scientists who had witnessed these UFOs for himself described the sighting as follows:
“Take a soft ball and paint it with some kind of fluorescent paint that will glow a bright green in the dark. Then have someone take the ball out, about 100 feet in front of you and about ten feet above you. Have him throw the ball right at your face, as hard as he can throw it. That’s what a green fireball looks like.” 14
During the meeting with the scientists, it seemed evident to Ruppelt that these highly qualified individuals all seemed to have the same opinion: these fireballs were not a natural phenomenon, but were an aircraft of some sort, an extraterrestrial one, piloted by an intelligent entity. Many came to the conclusion that the green fireballs were “an unmanned test vehicle that was being projected into our atmosphere from a spaceship hovering several hundred miles above the Earth.” 15
This was not the only instance in which credible scientists had claimed that the UFOs were extraterrestrial. In a meeting two years prior, a group of scientists had made a similar statement. Ruppelt stated that “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.” 16
Meteors or Alien Aircraft?
On July 24, 1948, nine months after the initial sighting, the green fireballs were observed once again, this time near Socorro, New Mexico. LaPaz took dust samples, but this time the results showed that the dust contained large copper particles. This interested LaPaz because when copper is burned, it gives off a yellow green hue, which explains why the fireballs were green in color. However, copper is not usually found in meteors, which further proved that these green fireballs were not and could not have been meteors. What this finding proved was that the object was producing enough heat to burn the copper, producing the green color all the reports described.
With the meteor hypothesis ruled out, this left LaPaz and the authorities with one other viable explanation, the extraterrestrial hypothesis, the same explanation that several scientists had come to.
“I’m sure the yellow-green fireballs aren’t ordinary meteorite falls. I have been observing the skies since 1914 and I have never seen any meteoritic fireballs like them.” 17
What is amazing about the air force’s statement is that it completely contradicted the explanations the experts had provided. LaPaz, as well as several scientists, who work at the most reputable government laboratory in the country, stated that the green fireballs could not have been meteors. It would only have been logical for the air force to trust the experts, alas, this was not to be the case.
In the final Project Twinkle report from 1951, it was stated that the sightings were completely natural. The green fireballs were simply “a flight of birds, planets, meteors and possibly cloudiness.”
13. Edward J. Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects: The Original 1956 Edition (New York: Cosimo Classics, 2011), 48.
14. Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects: The Original 1956, 53.
15. Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects: The Original 1956, 53.
16. Ruppelt, The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects: The Original 1956, 53.
17. National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, The UFO Evidence, ed. Richard Hall (Washington, DC: Quarto, 1964), 135.