Clyde Tombaugh's Las Cruces sighting
- Date
- 20 Aug 1949
- Place
- Tombaugh's back yard, Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
On the night of 20 August 1949, Clyde Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered Pluto, saw a group of six to eight rectangular lights pass across the sky over Las Cruces, with members of his family present. Tombaugh wrote that he doubted it was a terrestrial reflection and that he was 'petrified with astonishment'. In 1952 he was one of five astronomers, with Lincoln LaPaz, who described their sightings to J. Allen Hynek in Hynek's confidential survey of astronomers for the Air Force. No photograph or instrument record exists. Skeptics have proposed reflections of town lights on a haze layer or birds lit from below; Tombaugh rejected terrestrial reflections.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
None established; birds lit by city lights and reflections from a haze layer have been proposed
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
- Yes: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- Yes: Silent
Outside sources
- Wikipedia: Clyde Tombaugh (UFOs)en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia: UFO reports and atomic sitesen.wikipedia.org
On the map
32.32° N, 106.76° W, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map