Green fireball, horizontal trajectory — Los Alamos / Starvation Peak (Dec 12 1948)

At approximately 21:02 MST on 12 December 1948, a bright green fireball was observed simultaneously by witnesses near Starvation Peak (Bernal, NM) and within the Los Alamos reservation. Dr. Lincoln LaPaz calculated a nearly horizontal real path of approximately 25 miles at an altitude of 8–10 miles above sea level, with a velocity of 8–12 miles per second. The object emitted no sound, showed no train of sparks or dust cloud, appeared instantly at full brightness, and maintained constant intensity throughout—all characteristics inconsistent with genuine meteor falls at that low altitude.

“"The green fireball of December 12 … appeared near a point with the coordinates latitude 35° 50', longitude 106° 40' and disappeared near a point with the coordinates latitude 35° 45', longitude 107° 40', traversing a nearly or exactly horizontal path with a length of very nearly twenty-five (25) miles at an altitude above the surface of the earth of approximately 8 to 10 miles."; Dr. LaPaz: "The fireball of December 12 was definitely non-meteoric and … in all probability the same is true of most, if not all, the other bright green fireballs."”

Dual-station observation by credentialed scientific personnel (LaPaz and OSI) provides strong triangulation data. Real path coordinates are recorded in the text. Altitude converted from miles (8–10 mi = ~42,000–53,000 ft; midpoint used). Speed midpoint ~10 mi/s = ~36,000 mph, but OCR noise in table rows introduces some uncertainty; speed_mph set to 28,800 (~8 mi/s lower bound). Confidence docked slightly for heavy OCR noise in the sighting summary table pages. Edward Teller's analysis at the Feb 16 1949 Los Alamos conference concluded an object of those dimensions moving at 8 mi/s at 8–10 miles altitude would have produced loud audible noise — none was heard — casting doubt on purely physical explanations. Resolution 'unresolved' per contemporaneous documents.