Project 10073 Record Card: Alamogordo, New Mexico, 16 October 1957

This document collection details the investigation of a photograph taken on 16 October 1957 near Alamogordo, New Mexico, by a government employee. The photograph, which depicts a saucer-shaped object, was released to the news media by the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) in August 1958. APRO claimed the object was an unconventional aerial object, estimating its diameter at 4,000 feet and noting it hovered for 15 minutes. The case gained significant public attention, appearing in national magazines and newspapers, and was linked by APRO to comments made by the psychologist Dr. Carl Jung regarding the reality of UFOs and the potential for quasi-human pilots. The Air Force, specifically the Air Force Missile Development Center (AFMDC) at Holloman Air Force Base and the Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC), conducted a formal analysis of the original 35mm negative and color slide. Their conclusion was that the object was not a craft but a rare form of lenticular alto-cumulus cloud, illuminated by the sun in an unusual fashion. The Air Force investigators noted that the individuals who submitted the photograph were biased toward a UFO explanation and refused to accept the scientific evaluation provided by the military. The correspondence includes disposition forms, coordination sheets, and press clippings documenting the Air Force's efforts to address public and congressional inquiries regarding the incident, while maintaining that the object was a natural phenomenon. The file also contains internal discussions about the need to provide a clear, factual explanation to the public to counter the sensationalist claims made by APRO and other groups like NICAP, which were using the photograph to argue that the Air Force was withholding evidence of extraterrestrial craft.