office. More reports, which had been phoned in from all over
northern New Mexico, were waiting for them. By morning a full-fledged
investigation was under way.

No matter what these green fireballs were, the military was getting
a little edgy. They might be common meteorites, psychologically
enlarged flares, or true UFO's, but whatever they were they were
playing around in one of the most sensitive security areas in the
United States. Within 100 miles of Albuquerque were two installations
that were the backbone of the atomic bomb program, Los Alamos and
Sandia Base. Scattered throughout the countryside were other
installations vital to the defense of the U.S.: radar stations,
fighter-interceptor bases, and the other mysterious areas that had
been blocked off by high chain-link fences.

Since the green fireballs bore some resemblance to meteors or
meteorites, the Kirtland intelligence officers called in Dr. Lincoln
La Paz.

Dr. La Paz said that he would be glad to help, so the officers
explained the strange series of events to him. True, he said, the
description of the fireballs did sound as if they might be meteorites
--except for a few points. One way to be sure was to try to plot the
flight path of the green fireballs the same way he had so
successfully plotted the flight path of meteorites in the past. From
this flight path he could determine where they would have hit the
earth--if they were meteorites. They would search this area, and if
they found parts of a meteorite they would have the answer to the
green fireball riddle.

The fireball activity on the night of December 5 was made to order
for plotting flight paths. The good reports of that night included
carefully noted locations, the directions in which the green objects
were seen, their heights above the horizon, and the times when they
were observed. So early the next morning Dr. La Paz and a crew of
intelligence officers were scouring northern New Mexico. They started
out by talking to the people who had made reports but soon found out
that dozens of other people had also seen the fireballs. By closely
checking the time of the observations, they determined that eight
separate fireballs had been seen. One was evidently more spectacular
and was seen by the most people. Everyone in northern New Mexico had
seen it going from west to east, so Dr. La Paz and his crew worked
eastward across New Mexico to the west border of Texas, talking to
dozens of people.