Date: May 18, 2005
From: Francis Ridge <nicap@insightbb.com>
Subject; Incident at Datil, NM; Photo Unexplained
February 24 and 25th, 1950
To: CE, SHG, NCP
Sighting No. 175
Photograph of Unknown Aerial Phenomena taken at Datil, New Mexico by
Cpl Lertis E. Stanfield, Holloman Air Force
Base, New Mexico on 24 and 25 Feb 1950. An
analysis of the above photograph was made by Dr. Lincoln
LaPaz, Head
of the Institute of Meteorics, University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, who reached the following conclusions;
a. The angular diameter of the
perfectly round luminous object Stanfield observed was
approx imately 1/4 of a degree.
b. The angular velocity of the object
in the sky was greater than half a degree per minute.
Dr. LaPaz stated that on the basis of the results (a)
and (b) above, the object seen by Stanfield was not
the moon (for the angular, diameter is too small), it was not
Venus or any other planet (for the angular diameter was too
large), and it was not a bright fixed star slightly out of
focus (for the observed rate of motion is double that due to the
diurnal rotation of the earth).
NARA-PBB91-400
