Anthony Mirarchi's challenge to the balloon explanation
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 27 February 1951 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Government programs (topic) |
| People | Anthony Mirarchi, Lincoln LaPaz, Urner Liddel |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 42 |
| Year | 1951 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1951 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 11 |
Anthony O. Mirarchi was a scientist at the U.S. Air Force's geophysical research organisation who, as an assistant branch chief, studied reports of the "green fireballs" seen over New Mexico's atomic sites in 1948–1950. In February 1951, after leaving government service, he publicly attacked a Navy scientist's claim that flying saucers were all balloons, warning of "a worse Pearl Harbor".[1][2]
The green fireballs
From late 1948, bright green fireballs were reported over sensitive sites in New Mexico, including Los Alamos and Sandia, often by trained scientists and security staff. Meteor expert Lincoln LaPaz of the University of New Mexico argued that they did not behave like normal meteors. Mirarchi studied hundreds of eyewitness reports and recommended a large appropriation for a full study, and in 1950 the Air Force set up Project Twinkle to photograph and measure the phenomena.[1][3][4]
The 1951 interview
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In February 1951 Look magazine quoted Dr. Urner Liddel of the Office of Naval Research as saying that essentially all credible saucer reports were the Navy's giant "Skyhook" research balloons. In an Associated Press interview at Scituate, Massachusetts, on 25 February 1951, Mirarchi called the Navy report erroneous and said it lulled people into a false sense of security. He said the objects he had studied showed "maneuvered motion" unlike meteors or drifting balloons, fitted a missile programmed in advance, and had been seen in a region critical to the national interest. If they were experimental missiles from a foreign power, he warned, the result could be a worse Pearl Harbor than the country had ever experienced. He urged radar and spotter posts. An Air Force spokesman replied that more than 500 investigations had found no concrete evidence.[1][2]
Project Twinkle's end
Twinkle struggled to obtain usable data. Its final report, dated 27 November 1951, called the findings "essentially negative", concluded that even the green fireballs showed no sign of being anything but natural, and recommended spending no more money on the problem; the project was put on standby. Mirarchi's outspokenness reportedly drew a security investigation, but this is not documented in the published sources.[3][4]
People and topics
- Project Twinkle — A 1949–51 Air Force effort to photograph the green fireballs over New Mexico.
- U.S. Navy — The U.S. naval service, whose pilots reported the UAP encounters revealed in 2017.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
- Anthony Mirarchi — Air Force scientist behind Project Twinkle who publicly challenged the balloon explanation in 1951.
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Los Alamos National Laboratory — The New Mexico laboratory where the atomic bomb was designed.
- Sandia National Laboratories — A U.S. nuclear weapons laboratory in Albuquerque.
- Lincoln LaPaz — Meteor expert who argued the 1948–49 green fireballs over New Mexico were not ordinary meteors.
- Urner Liddel — Office of Naval Research physicist who said in 1951 that Skyhook balloons explained saucer reports.
On the Timeline
- Urner Liddel's Skyhook balloon explanation (27 February 1951) — A Navy physicist publicly says all UAP reports are mirages or balloons.
- Project Winterhaven (1952) — Physicist Thomas Townsend Brown proposes Project Winterhaven, a military study of electrogravitic propulsion.
See every 1951 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "Scientist sees peril in 'saucers'", AP (26 Feb 1951), NICAP · nicap.org · archived copy
- "1951 newspaper and magazine items", Project 1947 · mail.project1947.com · archived copy
- Project Twinkle final report (27 Nov 1951), Project 1947 · mail.project1947.com · archived copy
- Green fireballs — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Green fireballs and Project Twinkle — Bruce Maccabee, NICAP · nicap.org · archived copy
- Green fireballs — Wikipedia · en.Wikipedia.com · archived copy
- Project Twinkle report, Nov 1951 — UFOScans · ufoscans.com · archived copy
- Ruppelt, 'The Report on UFOs,' chapter 4 (green fireballs) — Wikisource · en.wikisource.org · archived copy
- Dr. LaPaz and the mystery of the green fireballs — Liberation Times · liberationtimes.squarespace.com · archived copy
- newspapers.com · newspapers.com · archived copy
- sohp.us · sohp.us · archived copy
Further reading
- UFO files — FBI Vault · vault.fbi.gov · 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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