Project 10073 Record Card: Deming-Columbus-Las Cruces UFO Case, 14 July 1957

This document contains the records and subsequent correspondence regarding a UFO sighting reported on 14 July 1957, near Deming and Columbus, New Mexico. Two witnesses, identified as a theater owner and a newspaper man, reported observing an infinite number of round, blue, pin-head-shaped objects rising from a volcano crater near the Mexican border. The witnesses claimed the objects moved in formations with distinct turns and were accompanied by a blue haze over the crater. The observation lasted approximately two hours. Military investigators from the 1006th AISS and the 685th ACWRON evaluated the report, noting that the weather at the time was stormy with broken clouds, which likely contributed to the visual misidentification. The official conclusion reached by the Air Technical Intelligence Center was that the phenomena were likely phosphorescent gases escaping from the floor of the Afton crater. The investigation was hampered by the perceived unreliability of the witnesses, who were later found to have provided a diary of sightings covering a considerable period. Following a lack of funds for further investigation and the determination that the sources were unreliable, the case was officially closed on 19 February 1958 by Sgt. Norman P. Barth of the 1006th AISS.