FOIA: Sighting of a low, fast light near Los Alamos, NM by a Atomic Energy Security Service Guard

NM_MAR_2_1949.pdf
Sighting of a low, fast light near Los Alamos by an AESS Inspector
0010 hours two second sighting of a low, fast light north to south from station 103 by Paul J. Seward, AESS Inspector on foot patrol.
Document date: 1949-03-02
Department: Atomic Energy Security Service
Author: Paul J. Sewald, Inspector
Document type: incident report
pages: 6


Archivist's Notes: While on foot patrol at Ground Station 103 AESS Inspector (i.e.: a Guard) Paul J. Sewald saw a low, fast light for about two seconds, traveling from north to south. It traveled 90 degrees of arc in two seconds and disappeared behind some trees. It was a dim light of constant intensity. Note says 'CBI' a requirement of employment.

Document 1: blank

Document 2:
Military report labeled incident #274
Dated 2 March 1949 at Los Alamos, N.M.
Description – object was dim light & self luminous, very fast – covered half the field in 2 secs.
Disappeared behind the trees.

Document 3:
Letter regarding the incident #274 from Inspector Paul J. Sewald

“At approximately 0010, 2 March 1949, while making a foot patrol at station 103, I observed a light low in the sky. It appeared quite dim and constant in intensity. It was traveling nearly in a horizontal plane from north to south. I saw it for about 2 secs when the trees cut off my view. It appeared to be traveling very fast as it crossed one half of my line of vision during the time I observed it.”
For some reason the subject title is: Requisite for employment with AEC.

Document 4:
Internal military document from Inspector Paul Sewald to Lt. Earle D. (Hightower?) Operations Officer Protective Force AESS (Atomic Energy Security Service)
Relays same description as Document 3.


Document 5 & 6:
Document headed ‘Guide to Investigate’ detailing same facts as Doc 3
Incident #274. At the bottom of pg 6 under Comments of Interrogator…
“CBI requisite for employment”.

the above sums it up very well.

due to his job, AEC presumably is the atomic energy commission though not sure what the CBI requisite stands for. perhaps it was the company Chicago Bridge & Iron who developed "the first site-assembled thick wall steel nuclear reactor vessel". at a guess i would say that it probably means he was screened to be able to work for those companies and was therefore regarded as 'in good character'.

I was the guard lieutenant cited in the above article. I personally witnessed several of the "flying green fireballs" which were the subject of several investigations code named "bluebook", "cookstove" and the Atomic Energy Commission designation, "Project Delta. From 1952 through 1955 I was Director of Security at the Nevada Test Site where I witnessed two fireballs, one of them at 3:00 am which was so bright it illuminated the entire desert. I attributed these to the CIA project (now known as Area 52) which was actually the U-2 activity being carried on at a CIA site north of the Nevada Test Site.
I was also present when the aluminized balloons carrying detectors for radioactive fall out resulting from the Soviet Joe 1 test landed at Wagon Mound, New Mexico, incorrectly described as Almagordo. The balloons were recovered by the Airforce and treated with great secrecy because they contained classified information relating to the Soviet test. There no little aliens involved.

In 1955 I was transferred to the Washington Headquarters where I eventually became Assistant Director for Policy and Plans.

Earle D. Hightower, 40 Whitehaven Drive, Pinehurst, North Carolina 28374