RELEASE 04 / DOE-UAP-D004
DOE-UAP-D004, Los Alamos Conference on Aerial Phenomena, 1949
- File ID
- DOE-UAP-D004
- Agency
- Department of Energy
- Release
- Release 04, 10 Jul 2026
- Event date
- 3/22/1949 (read as 22 Mar 1949; precision: day)
- Location
- New Mexico
- Type
- Redactions
- None flagged
The official record
Official copy at war.gov
Official summary, as published
This document is a transcript of a 1949 conference held at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (now Los Alamos National Laboratory), Los Alamos, New Mexico. Attendees included several eminent scientists and physicists, many of whom had contributed to the development of the first nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project. The purpose of the conference was to discuss and gather hypotheses to account for the nature and origin of a phenomenon involving “green fireballs” that had been reported over a period of several months in the vicinity of the laboratory. The group did not come to a consensus on a likely attribution for the phenomenon, though a leading hypothesis was that the observations may have been related to meteors entering the atmosphere at a shallow angle and high altitude. Dr. Edward Teller suggested that if not a “material body,” an “electron phenomenon” might be the cause, while Dr. Lincoln LaPaz, an expert specializing in meteorics, expressed that “nothing like this, to [his] knowledge, has ever been observed in the case of meteorite drops.”
Named in this file
5 namesPeople, programs and institutions from The Legacy Program research board whose names appear in this file, found by exact spelling against a hand-checked list. A match says only that the file names them, not what part they play. People and programs lists every file that names each one.
- Tier C Edward Teller person
Named in the official summary and pages 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 13, 17 and 6 more.
Los Alamos physicist; co-founder and later Director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; attendee of the 16 February 1949 Los Alamos green fireballs conference
- Tier C Lincoln LaPaz person
Named in the official summary and pages 2, 5, 6, 10, 13, 14, 18, 19 and 4 more.
Director, Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico; principal investigator of the 1948-1951 'green fireballs' over Los Alamos, Sandia and Kirtland; scientific lead associated with Project Twinkle
- Tier B Project SIGN program
Named in page 19.
First official USAF UFO project (1948-1949)
- Tier B Los Alamos National Laboratory institution
Named in the official summary.
DOE FFRDC administered by Triad National Security, LLC since 9 June 2018; Los Alamos, NM
- Tier A Atomic Energy Commission institution
Named in page 1.
Civilian atomic authority, 1946-1974; statutory custodian of fissionable material and atomic weapons
Our reading
READ FIRSTThe Secret transcript of the 16 February 1949 Los Alamos conference on the green fireballs, attended by Bradbury, Teller, Reines, LaPaz, Army, AEC and FBI representatives. LaPaz sets out why the fireballs do not behave like meteorites: long horizontal paths, constant brightness, no sound. Teller works the numbers at the blackboard and concludes it ought to be a material body, or might be an electron phenomenon. The meeting hears that Sign is now Grudge and that the Air Force has put the fireballs and flying discs in one category.
Three separate measures, each with its reason. They are never added into a score.
E Evidence 1 of 3
A discussion of green fireball reports, with LaPaz's own sightings and observer data given secondhand; no instrument record.
N Novelty 0 of 3
The same transcript has been online since at least 2005; this DOE copy carries a NARA declassification stamp dated 2026.
L Linkage 3 of 3
It is the transcript of the 1949 Los Alamos green fireballs conference, a board event, with Teller and LaPaz present.
Flags
- The file explains itself. Words in the file that bear on what it shows (recorded, not a verdict):
- Still don't feel that the meteor stuff is out. (page 25)
- Previously public.
- https://ufology.patrickgross.org/bb/caop16feb1949-24.htm: Scan of the same transcript (copy declassified 1975), page updated 2005, including Teller's material body remark.
People and programs
Reading published 31 Oct 2026.
Our saved copy
One version seen. The checksum lets you confirm that a copy you hold is the one we saved.
-
First seen
5.0 MB (5,192,634 bytes)
SHA-256
64f70db72f3747cfdc512f78f16b0ac33a0876b39dbf7dddf07ab870ba1b1a47