March 17, 1950 — Farmington, NM
9:15 a.m.–noon. About a dozen shiny “saucer-like discs” appear above Farmington, New Mexico, zip around for 10 minutes then move off to the northeast. At 10:30 a.m., a red object is joined by three silvery discs and put on a “dogfight.” At 11:15 a.m., a huge swarm comes into view. Former Army Engineer captain and Farmington Times business manager Clayton J. Boddy Jr. is walking on Broadway Avenue with two friends when he sees a large cluster of 50–100 objects moving at high speed. Private pilot John Eaton sees a red object at the center of the formation of silvery discs, which appear to be twice the size of a B-29 bomber. Some estimates say that the UFOs are seen by half the town’s population, or about 3,000 people, for 20 minutes. Harold F. Thatcher, director of the Farmington branch of the US Soil Conservation Service, triangulates one disc’s flight and calculates it is traveling at 1,000 mph. After maneuvering in formation, they speed away at a height of 15,000–20,000 feet [Eberhart]
Doyle Rees Summary:
SPOT Intelligence Report:
Misc Newsclips [Sorry I have not typed them all out]:
Sources:
“Farmington ‘Invaded’ by Saucer Squadron,” Santa Fe New Mexican, March 17, 1950, p. 1;
“Huge ‘Saucer’ Armada Jolts Farmington,” Farmington (N.Mex.) Daily Times, March 18, 1950, p. 1;
UFO Report [Transcription at link]
“Hundreds at Farmington Report Large Force of Flying Saucers,” Albuquerque (N.Mex.) Journal, March 18, pp. 1, 14;
“Farmingtonites Crane to See More ‘Saucers,’” Santa Fe New Mexican, March 19, 1950, p. 1;
“Farmington Still Talks about Discs,” Albuquerque (N.Mex.) Journal, March 19, 1950, p. 1;
Edward Ruppelt, The Report On Unidentified Flying Objects, 1956, pp. 75-76;
James E. McDonald, “Statement on Unidentified Flying Objects,” in Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects, Hearings, US House Committee on Science and Astronautics, 90th Cong., 2nd Sess., July 29, 1968, pp. 47–48;
Loren E. Gross, UFOs, a History: Volume 5, January–March 1950, The Author, 1983, pp. 56–64;
Loren E. Gross, UFOs, a History: Volume 5, January–March 1950 Supplemental Notes, The Author, 2000, pp. 25–36;
Brad Sparks, Blue Book Unknown Files, Case 345, p. 84;
NICAP, “The Farmington Invasion”;
David Marler, “The Flying Saucer Invasion of 1950: Farmington, New Mexico and Beyond,” David Marler, UFO Researcher, February 2018;
[This article is better more and thorough then I can do for a post, David has done a lot of work on this case]
Transcription of Farmington Daily Times article:
Mike Easterling, “Farmington Reaches 70th Anniversary of Mass UFO Sighting,” Farmington (N.Mex.) Daily Times, March 17, 2020;
“The 1950 Farmington, New Mexico, UFO Armada Discussed by Eyewitnesses,” Eyes on Cinema YouTube channel, December 5, 2023;
