FOIA: Project Twinkle Final Report

NM_MAR_6_1951.pdf
Project Twinkle Final Report
Report of a meteor sighted by multiple witnesses on March 6, 1951; and possibility of fragment recovery.
Document date: 1951-11-27
Department: USAF
Author: Richard G. Cox Lt. Col., USAF District Commander
Document type: Report
pages: 11


Archivist's Notes: Documentation of a bolide seen over Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 6, 1951. Included are maps of the area, incidences of other bolides, details on fragment recovery, and a section on communicating with airway stations. The latter part appears to be either mistakenly added, or was added simply because it contained a map of the recovery area. The document appears to be in good shape, but has some faded out areas.

At the time during the 1940’s when everyone was seeing flying saucers, there was another phenomenon taking place. Green fireballs were being seen in New Mexico and many suggested they could have been Russian spy satellites or they could be of extraterrestrial origin. Dr. Lincoln LaPaz studied the phenomenon that culminated with Project Twinkle. He was also one of the investigators of the Roswell Incident.

Project Twinkle was a U.S. Air Force investigation to look into the Green Fireballs Mystery in the late Forties. It was an attempt to setup cameras and various instruments at Holloman AFB to try to obtain physical evidence of the phenomenon. The project was soon cancelled after the fireballs seemed to have stopped.

Related FIOA Documents:
FOIA: Green fireball over TX, NM, AZ causes investigation for impact point

Related ATS Discussions:
The Green Fireball Mystery of New Mexico

Related Links:
TinWiki article Green Fireballs
Dr. Lincoln LaPaz

page 1 chooses the curious word 'landed' rather than crashed, when referring to an attempt to recover debris from the area the object 'possibly landed' in. perhaps it's just me but i don't think it would choose the word 'landed' for a fallen bit of space rock. the comments section also has typed in it "report of meteor, not ufo"

page 2 contains a paragraph summing up the report and finishes "No fragments recovered" though it appears to me that the word 'recovered' has been underlined by hand rather than being an artefact from photocopying.

pages 5 & 6 go into detail about the large amount of 3 objects being searched for within 24 hours in an accurate area of their 'landing' yet despite such effort, no signs of the meteors or their impact were found, despite the fact that from their reported size, they should have been able to ''punch out easily visible craters in the earth''. they call for photo-reconnaissance of the area and for many troops to be sent there for an "exhaustive search". the suspicion that they are not meteorites is brought up.

page 11 has a map of the area should any nearby members wish to hunt for signs of the craters

reply to post by Hal9000


Hal, here's another one to add to the related FOIA list on the New Mexican green fireball tip.

FOIA: Letter from Ft. Sam Houston to Wright-Patterson AFB, Regarding Madeline Merchant