Sandia — Armed Forces Special Weapons Program Orb Encounters

Sandia Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was home to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Program (AFSWP) — the classified body responsible for the assembly and custody of the United States' nuclear weapons stockpile in the immediate post-war period. Newly declassified AFSWP records released in May 2026 document 209 documented UAP sightings at and around Sandia Base between 1948 and 1950. The objects were consistently described as luminous orbs, typically observed at low to medium altitude, capable of high-speed directed movement that was inconsistent with any known aircraft of the era. In multiple documented incidents, the orbs were observed performing tight-radius maneuvers before apparently exploding mid-air without leaving debris. Military personnel at the facility — including weapons technicians, security forces, and scientific staff — filed formal incident reports. The geographic clustering of these incidents around the United States' foremost nuclear facility prompted security assessments within AFSWP and early Air Force intelligence. These records were withheld from prior declassification cycles. The 2026 Pentagon release makes the AFSWP Sandia files publicly available for the first time.