Farmington saucer armada
- Date
- 17 Mar 1950
- Place
- Farmington, San Juan County, New Mexico, United States
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
On 17 March 1950 hundreds of Farmington residents, by press estimates up to half the town, watched dozens of small, shiny, saucer-like objects darting about the sky late in the morning; the Farmington Daily Times reported it the next day and some later summaries date it to the 18th. Witnesses named in the coverage included the newspaper's business manager and a Soil Conservation Service official who tried to estimate one object's speed. No photograph, radar record or official investigation of substance survives. The Skyhook-balloon explanation suggested at the time was checked by James McDonald, who found no balloon release from Holloman or elsewhere near the date; drifting balloon fragments or windblown cotton fluff remain the usual skeptical suggestions.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
None established; fragments of a burst balloon or windblown debris are proposed, but no matching release was found
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- Yes: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia: Farmington, New Mexico (history)en.wikipedia.org
- Farmington Daily Times, 18 March 1950 (transcribed)ufologie.patrickgross.org
On the map
36.73° N, 108.21° W, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map