A'L'IC l!O. USAf' Personnel ll\TE' TIJ Tn A'l'lC --- Silver and ciar!f T:cLl!..~<~l SI~ I Varied estima~es COUrmr N and NE T.EUC'rH Of 'l'Ii 1.! CJDS!.RVr:n ----- PffC\'0~) GKETCtu:S 'f' ::.tpo"ary A'I'IC IWfl-:UVEH .. S Tumbling descenol.Dg motion ascending and INroRMATI0N ONLY Fannington, Ne\f' Hexioo (BA~) Observation Pltutic UFOa and the stack of Coins A burst balloon has caused many a saucer scare, but the invasion of Farmington, New Mexico, on Saint Patrick's Day 1950 was one of the most dramatic. TI1e saucers" began to Ry about 10:15 A.M. M .S.T., and soon filled the air. In numbers estimated from 500 to thousands, for the next hour the gteaming saucer-shaped objects soared over the town, moving erratically at incredible speeds, darting in and out among each other in what one writer has called "the greatest exhihition of magnetic Right that has ever happened in this lmiverse."' [6] (See CllaJ'fCr tx. ) Tile explan.1tion is more prosaic. A Skyhook balloon had been' launched that morning from H olloman Air Force Base near \Vhite Sands, New Mexico. Kear Farmington, in the cold atmosphere at 6o,(l(IO feet the balloon had become brittle, hurst, and disintegrated into hundreds of tiny pieces of plastic. Light as feathers, shining In the sunlight, they floated ov~ the town and away [ 1, p . to6). 04 Tt OIIII~T 1 n.-t.I.:AtiO!t ~'J1111ng At l!rtlM~ m, 8.:1 of'f!el'!r e!1d three enli!lted lre:'l o1:'at-r hl'''t" o~Jaet.e ~t a:1 tltltu.ie or 'bet~e!'. t -~::~ t~l~ thou nd !Pet. At f11"""'t gltHl~ tl-J;> o"J~el"vers thc~ht tbP:r ~re ,,.r!'eh1l~. Ti:!s '-'":~" r41~d {h t t er,ue of~ tur.s1:11n~ :'!'Ot1"n e.z:>es!.r.g :;ilY!!r ~r.d. dsr~: st<ie ~lt~r-r.~t~l , l.:~U.1::e t~ oberve" t> "t-el1f'Y8 thll!m t~ ~., w!:1,< t'!'\l'i?.s !'ro.J'l Uf'!.t~rs tu t~ ::>~P. 'r"r.1a ..ru ruJad out w~:z sc.dC..enly r.nP. ur;t:et ro~ ~rtlcallj :-t r:; ; !e-h rPt~ c-~ tw . ., o~Jeets s~f'i!t"'<.t to~ .. d.e~,~ecih;g. "~'" t 0'-l:'rc t~ :hrth, tr=-o~b"!!" ForthP t ':ee o~JHct J~:J~nt4.1r.r t"~m.rd t~ :"ort~.f'l1&t .,..._a n'-~g~rvnd f{'r " r.P r!..,a. c~ l'S rn!ntte di!lannE-~rin~ into t~ ~o,mt~jns ~.:')'0!\).Air.!~tel~ 2"' cr:ilea r~y lfo l"f'l)Ort wMo turn4!d in to T'f'"r~onr.t'l ="t v1rt1P..nd t\..!1-"ll ~At~ 1ne1- d~ nt 'rl~s cot. eor.aid~red i::pt,rtRnt !l:lt11 T""!-,rt!~ neroonr.el ~:'!d. of r)t:-l!r ()f Ur.1.d~nti'!ied ityin~ c""jF-ct:; 1~ 3 A.:er. T/Srtt .!toy-: ~" es4o;!r.,f.te. All :')'t-erory!l:-t . n~r; d:: r1~t. UNCLASStFIE~ AIR l~iTELLIGENCE INFORrAATiON REPORT