The 1944 Green Fireball Reports over the Southwestern United States

Record summary

Bright green fireballs were reported over New Mexico and nearby areas during the 1940s, including the period surrounding the Manhattan Project. Scientists, military personnel, and later UFO writers debated whether the objects were meteors, secret weapons, atmospheric phenomena, or something unknown. Their intense color and apparent motion readily invited comparisons with celestial fire and portent imagery, although the reports were not originally a unified religious tradition. This lead is useful for tracing how classified settings and unusual light phenomena encourage mythic reinterpretation.