Green fireball campaign — Socorro / New Mexico area (Jul 24 1949)

A green fireball was reported passing over the general neighborhood of Socorro, New Mexico at 20:26 on 24 July 1949. The object descended to an endpoint altitude of 11–12 miles. Airborne dust-collection efforts using impactment equipment (B-25 from Kirtland Field) were conducted on 8 August 1949 to seek volatilization products. Ground-level collections by Dr. Crozier and associates beginning the morning of 25 July found anomalously large copper-bearing particles (up to 100 microns). The investigation also detected three perfectly spherical cobalt-bearing particles 12 microns in diameter. Dr. Crozier's conclusion was that the results were negative or inconclusive regarding a fireball-dust association, but Dr. LaPaz's analysis in his Sixth Report identified reasons to consider the copper particles potentially of fireball origin.

“"A fireball was reported to have passed over the general neighborhood of Socorro, New Mexico at 8:26 p.m. July 24, 1949."; Dr. Crozier: "the results of the present investigation should be regarded as negative or inconclusive." LaPaz: "if future more detailed work shows that the numerous copper particles found by Dr. Crozier and Mr. Seely are indeed floating down from green fireballs, then the fireballs are not conventional meteorites. Copper is one of the rarest of the elements found in meteorites."”

Scientific investigation is well-documented in Dr. Crozier's formal report (R/D-tw, 8-10-49) and LaPaz's Sixth Report (17 August 1949), both of which appear in the file. The copper-particle finding is scientifically significant; copper is anomalously rare in meteorites per published literature cited by LaPaz (Merrill, 1925; Harrison Brown, 1948). Three cobalt spheres at precisely 12 microns are notable. Altitude of 11–12 miles converted to ~58,000–63,360 ft. Primary interest is the scientific follow-up investigation rather than a classic visual sighting.