Holloman Air Force Base
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 📍 Place
Contents 7
| Type | Place |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Holloman AFB, Holloman |
| On the Timeline | 5 events, 1950–2002 |
Holloman Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base about 10 km (6 miles) southwest of Alamogordo, New Mexico, next to the White Sands Missile Range. Opened in 1942, it became a major centre for missile, rocket, high-altitude and space research in the 1950s, and features in UFO history as a base for Project Twinkle's camera stations and in later claims about secret contact with aliens.[1][2]
History
Construction began on 6 February 1942 as Alamogordo Army Air Field, which trained B-17 and B-24 bomber crews during the Second World War. On 13 January 1948 it was renamed Holloman Air Force Base after Colonel George V. Holloman, a pioneer of guided-missile research. Missile and rocket testing began in 1948, with about 147 major launches by 1959.[1]
Research centre
From 1952 the Holloman Air Development Center carried out pioneering work on human survival at high speed and altitude. On 10 December 1954 Air Force doctor John Paul Stapp rode the rocket sled Sonic Wind No. 1 to 632 mph. On 16 August 1960 Joseph Kittinger set records with a parachute jump from a high-altitude balloon, and chimpanzees trained at the base flew in early American space tests, including Ham's flight on 31 January 1961.[1]
Green fireballs
In 1950 and 1951 Holloman hosted observation posts and cameras for Project Twinkle, the Air Force's attempt to photograph the "green fireballs" and other lights reported over New Mexico. Lights were seen over the base around missile launches in August 1950, but the cameras never recorded usable data.[2]
Later history
Fighter wings arrived in the 1960s. The base flew F-15 Eagles from 1977 and became home to the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter in 1992, followed by F-22 Raptors and, from 2014, F-16s and MQ-9 Reaper drones. It hosted German Air Force flight training from 1996 to 2019 and, in 2021, temporarily housed Afghan refugees.[1]
UFO claims
Holloman is the setting of a story that a UFO landed at the base and its occupants met Air Force officers. Writer Robert Emenegger said he had been promised military footage of the event for his 1974 documentary UFOs: Past, Present, and Future, narrated by Rod Serling; the footage never arrived, and the film showed illustrations instead. The landing is usually said to have happened in 1964, though some accounts give 1971; a shot once claimed to be real footage was shown to be part of a re-enactment, and the Air Force has never acknowledged the event. Emenegger later appeared in the documentary Mirage Men, which examines how such stories may have been planted as disinformation.[3][4]
On the UAP Timeline
- Holloman cigar-shaped object film (1950) (July 1950) — A Holloman AFB contractor films a cigar-shaped metallic object and hands the film to the base.
- Holloman landing and hangar claim (1964) (30 April 1964) — A claimed UFO under guard at Holloman AFB; the same day a pilot reports an egg-shaped object.
- UFOs: Past, Present, and Future documentary (May 1973) — Two Air Force colonels reportedly encourage filmmakers to make a UAP documentary.
- Hynek autopsy rumor (1994) (26 February 1994) — Vallée and a filmmaker discuss a rumor about Hynek and autopsies, calling it disinformation.
- Alexander's A-12 explanation for Holloman (11 May 2002) — Col. John Alexander says the Holloman landing story covered up a failed spy-plane test.
References
- Holloman Air Force Base — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- L. Elterman, "Project Twinkle — Final Report" (27 Nov 1951), transcribed by Project 1947 · project1947.com · archived copy
- UFOs: Past, Present, and Future — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Mirage Men — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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