FOIA: Fuzzy Star Sighting Holloman AFB 12MAY49

NM_MAY_12_1949.pdf
"Fuzzy Star" sighting Holloman AFB 12MAY49 Incident 359?
Donald Menzel, observed two "fuzzy stars" in the skies while watching the moon and filed a report.
Document date: 1949-05-12
Department: Unknown
Author: Various
Document type: Record
pages: 7


Archivist's Notes: The observer worked for the Harvard Observatory, and witnessed the stars, (white w/greenish tinge), in a two page report. This file is poor in a couple of places though one complete record from the witness details the entire event. The first page is the 10073 record card where it appears to classify the incident as Astro (STARS/PLANETS?)

This is a report by Dr. Donald H. Menzel made 16May49 of objects he saw on 12May49. He reports that on that date he was in transit from Holloman Air Force Base to Allamogordo, New Mexico, when he observed objects in the sky that he could not identify.

It seems that a red "star" near the full moon was seen as "bright", even though the Moon's extreme luminosity should have washed it out, and made an object only a few degrees offset impossible to see. He also observed two fuzzy stars just above the eastern horizon that were estimated at 180 miles distance and 1000 feet in diameter. These stars "disappeared" after a few minutes.

While lights in the sky reports are common, this report has more going for it than many. First, Dr. Menzel worked for the Harvard Observatory, where three years after this incident, he was named acting director. As a trained observer of the night sky, and someone of the status to become the director of a major observatory, this report cannot be dismissed.

It is interesting to note that Dr. Menzel later went on to become known as a debunker of UFOs. en.wikipedia.org... It is almost as if he spent the rest of his life trying to erase this moment in the New Mexico desert, a moment when something effected him very deeply. Something all of his training said just couldn't be true.

A very interesting report.

reply to post by NGC2736


perhaps him first reporting the unusual sighting, then becoming director and then debunking ufo's from thereon have some link.... ?

he was leaving holloman air force (i wonder what he was doing there when he worked at harvard) base when he had the sighting and there were a lot of unusual sightings of green fireballs/lights in the sky around the area at that time. for someone who went into such great detail in his report, it makes you wonder why, as such a great astronomer, he remained puzzled as to what it was or even why he reported it in the first place - it's sort of like a traffic warden reporting a parked car!


pages 6 & 7 are copies of pages 2 & 3

What I find at least as interesting as the sighting is the report form.

Where did he get that and is it seen in other documents in this (or other) archives.

Also kind of interesting that it had no letterhead.
========(page 1)==============
Holloman Air Force Base
Alamogordo, New Mexico

Report of an unusual (?) Natural Phenomenon

To: Whom It May Concern
========(reporting form)==============
1. Date of Observation _______ Date of Interview ____________

2. Exact Time (????)

3. Place of observation

4. Location of observer

5. What ?????? attention to object

6. Number of objects

7. Apparent dia.

8. Color of object

9. Shape

10. Altitude

11. Direction from? observer

12. Distance? from observer

13. Direction of flight of objects

14. Time of sight

15. Speed

16. ?????

17. Trail

18. Luminosity

19. Projections?

20. Observers

21. ???

22. ???

23. Additional information concerning object

24. Weather Conditions

------------
Page 2 ???? incident ________________

???? observer:

????

???? ?? relative to intelligence and ???? of observer(s):
=========================

I put a ? where I couldn't make out the word and ? after any words that are best guesses. If anyone can fill those in, please do so. (there might be other report forms identical to this in the archives with better resolution).

reply to post by justyc


Yes, his reaction is strange for an astronomer. Your analogy of the traffic warden is correct except I would say it's more like a traffic warden that couldn't recognize that it was a parked car, and didn't know what in the hell it was. Yet later on insisting that there were only cars to ever be found on any road at any time.

Very strange reaction all the way around.

Edit to add: the word "analogy" has never had two "o's" in it.

[edit on 24-11-2007 by NGC2736]

reply to post by NGC2736


I agree. Many times while driving we make a mental note to do something, such as report a bad driver, or maybe report a sighting, but by the time one gets home the feeling is 'bah, why bother'.

Here, Menzel took it to the next level. He didn't appear to be concerned that he'd be labeled a kook.

In addition the sighting seems, to me, to be unremarkable. I mean 'fuzzy stars'? You'd think it would even cross his mind that he wasn't much of an astronomer to not be able to identify something in the sky like that and just blow it off. But...he didn't. Curious.

Physicist and UFO researcher Stanton Friedman reported that his own research (including examination of Harvard University archives) showed that Menzel had served as a consultant to the National Security Agency.

Hahaha do you expect that this person would ever claim that what he saw was a UFO? He was a consultant of the NSA, to an agency that is very serious in keeping UFOs a subject not to be taken seriously. So far they have succeeded. But the big question to me is : Why UFOs have not appeared massively yet. Until then to tell you the truth I will also remain a skeptic myself no matter how much I want to believe in them.

Actually, if you think about it, Menzel's subsequent behaviour after submitting his report mightn't be that strange.

By debunking the reports of others he may've been, in his own terms demonstrating to himself - not to mention his colleagues - the veracity of his own report, (unless of course he subsequently debunked his own report!).

Though it's also possible he was simply suffering from an oddly common syndrome I've come across many times now: the amazing way some people who expect everybody else to get all excited about their own particular sighting of a UFO, ghost, etc., can be so dismissive as to the 'reality' of the claims of other people's sightings.