Lincoln LaPaz

Early Career and Meteoritics

Lincoln LaPaz (February 12, 1897 – October 19, 1985) was an American astronomer and mathematician who became one of the 20th century's leading meteor experts. Born into a scientific tradition, LaPaz earned his B.A. in mathematics from Fairmont College (now Wichita State University) in 1920 and his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1928. During World War II, he worked as a Research Mathematician at the New Mexico Proving Ground, where his ballistics expertise led him to investigate both Japanese Fu-Go balloon bombs and, increasingly, anomalous aerial phenomena. In 1945, he founded the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico, which he directed for over two decades while also heading the university's mathematics and astronomy departments—establishing himself as both a rigorous academic and government contractor with high-level security clearance.

The Green Fireballs Mystery (1948–1951)

Beginning in late November 1948, the skies over New Mexico produced one of the most puzzling UFO waves in American history: a series of brilliant green luminous objects observed primarily between Los Alamos, Sandia, and White Sands—all strategically vital atomic weapons facilities. Between December 1948 and February 1949 alone, over thirty incidents were reported, often by trained military and civilian observers including pilots, radar operators, and atomic scientists. The objects moved too slowly to be meteors, left no audible sound, produced no visible dust trail, and exhibited intelligent maneuvering. LaPaz was tasked by the U.S. Air Force to investigate.

Having witnessed a green fireball himself on December 12, 1948, near Fort Sumner, LaPaz applied triangulation to measure its trajectory and velocity, concluding it moved at roughly 4,800 mph horizontally—too slow for a natural meteorite but far faster than contemporary aircraft. He noted that the phenomenon appeared "in full intensity instantly," maintained constant brightness, and broke into bright green fragments before vanishing. LaPaz interviewed over 100 witnesses, many with scientific credentials, and began amassing data that could not easily fit conventional explanations. His reputation for rigor meant his preliminary findings—that these were not conventional meteors—carried weight with military planners.

Project Twinkle and Competing Theories

In December 1949, the U.S. Air Force's Geophysics Research Division authorized Project Twinkle, a network of ground stations equipped to photograph and triangulate the green fireballs using standardized meteor-observation techniques. LaPaz was instrumental in the planning, and the project represented an unprecedented commitment to UFO investigation. However, Project Twinkle was plagued by funding delays, institutional resistance, and the phenomenon's apparent decline by 1950—though sightings continued into early 1951.

When Project Twinkle was discontinued in 1951, the official Air Force conclusion was that the fireballs were "probably natural in origin"—a hypothesis LaPaz publicly disputed. In his reports to the military and the Atomic Energy Commission, LaPaz argued that the evidence suggested either classified U.S. "unconventional defensive devices" being tested in the region, or—more troublingly—Soviet surveillance craft conducting reconnaissance over America's atomic heartland. He noted the correlation between sightings and proximity to weapons facilities as non-random. While some colleagues theorized exotic atmospheric phenomena or classified U.S. technology, LaPaz's skepticism about the official explanation remained documented in declassified files.

Later Life and Legacy

LaPaz continued directing the Institute of Meteoritics through 1966, building it into a world-class research center. Though he remained circumspect in public, his private correspondence and internal government documents confirm he held reservations about whether the green fireball question had been satisfactorily resolved. He also reported a personal UFO sighting on July 10, 1947, near Fort Sumner—a curious object exhibiting "a sort of wobbling motion" that he described in technical terms to colleagues but never fully published. His careful, peer-reviewed approach to meteor science lent credibility to his UFO testimony in ways that more sensationalist witnesses could not match.

LaPaz died in 1985 having never publicly endorsed any single explanation for the green fireballs. His legacy rests on pioneering the application of rigorous scientific methodology to UFO phenomena within a government framework—an approach both respected and contested by later researchers. Declassified government records confirm his central role in what remains one of the U.S. military's most systematic UFO investigations, conducted at the height of the Cold War near strategic atomic weapons sites.