Lonnie Zamora
Encyclopedia
Lonnie Zamora was a New Mexico
police
officer who reported a UFO sighting while on duty on Friday, April 24, 1964, near Socorro, New Mexico
.
Zamora’s account received considerable coverage in the mass media
, and is sometimes regarded as one of the best documented, yet most perplexing UFO reports. It was one of the accounts that helped persuade astronomer J. Allen Hynek
, who was one of the primary investigators for the Air Force, that some UFO reports represented an intriguing mystery.
on April 24, 1964, at about 5:45 p.m., when he "heard a roar and saw a flame in the sky to southwest some distance away — possibly a 1/2 mile or a mile." Thinking a local dynamite shack might have exploded, Zamora broke off the chase and went to investigate.
Though Zamora says he did not pay much attention to the flame, that the sun was "to west and did not help vision", and he was wearing green sunglasses over prescription glasses, in interviews with Air Force investigators for Project Blue Book
he goes to some lengths to describe the long, narrow, funnel-shaped "bluish orange" flame. He thought there might be some dust at the bottom, and attributed it to the windy day. The weather was "Clear sunny sky otherwise — just a few clouds scattered over area."
He describes the noise as "a roar, not a blast. Not like a jet. Changed from high frequency to low frequency and then stopped. Roar lasted possibly 10 seconds" as he approached on a gravel road. "Saw flame about as long as heard the sound. Flame same color as best as recall. Sound distinctly from high to low until it disappeared." He explains that his car windows were down. Zamora notes no other possible witnesses except possibly the car in front, which he estimates might have heard the noise but not seen the flame because it would be behind the brow of the hill from their viewpoint.
Zamora struggled to get his car up the steep hill, and on the third attempt, which was successful, he noted no further noise. For the next 10–15 seconds he proceeded west, looking for the shack whose precise location he did not recall. It was then that he noticed a shiny object, "to south about 150 to 200 yards", that at first he took to be an "overturned white car ... up on radiator or on trunk", with two people standing close to it, one of whom seemed to notice him with some surprise and gave a start. The shiny object was "like aluminum — it was whitish against the mesa background, but not chrome", and shaped like a letter "O". Having stopped for a couple of seconds, Zamora approached in his car meaning to help.
Zamora only caught a brief sight of the two people in white coveralls beside the "car". He recalls nothing special about them. "I don't recall noting any particular shape or possibly any hats, or headgear. These persons appeared normal in shape — but possibly they were small adults or large kids."
Zamora drove towards the scene, radioing his dispatcher to say he would be out of his car "checking the car in the arroyo
." He stopped his car, got out, and attended to the radio mic, which he had dropped, then he started to approach the object. According to Zamora,
Keeping the object in view he ran behind his car, bumping his leg on the rear fender and dropping his glasses, and continued running northwards away from the object, which was still near the ground. He now gives a more detailed description of the object. "Oval in shape ... smooth — no windows or doors ... Noted red lettering of some type (see illustration). Insignia was about 2½' high and about 2' wide I guess. Was in middle of object ... Object still like aluminum-white." He also noted that the object was still on the ground when the roar started.
Zamora then describes how the object took off:
Zamora went back to his car and contacted the Sheriff's office by radio:
He then watched the object fly away, swiftly but silently and without flame:
Zamora inspected the area and was soon joined by a colleague, Sergeant Chavez, who did not see the object:
Zamora then says that he had noticed that the object had what looked like legs:
Zamora then tries to account for the disappearance of the two people:
and United Press International
were in Socorro. Members of civilian UFO study group APRO were on the scene within two days, as were officers representing the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book
. NICAP investigators appeared the following Tuesday. The first NICAP investigator was Ray Stanford, who would later write a detailed book account of his investigation (see references).
Stanford wrote about a number of corroborating witnesses in his book, including two tourists named Paul Kies and Larry Kratzer, who were approaching Socorro in their car from the southwest, less than a mile from the landing site. They apparently witnessed either the landing or takeoff and reported seeing the flame and brownish dust being kicked up. Their story was reported in the Dubuque, Iowa
Telegraph-Herald a few days later after their return.
A family of five tourists from Colorado headed north also saw the oval object as it approached Socorro at a very low altitude, going east to west just south of town. It passed directly over their car only a few feet above it. After the encounter, the tourists stopped for gas in Socorro. Their identity was never discovered, but the story was learned from the service station operator, Opal Grinder, who reported the incident at the time and later signed an affidavit
in 1967. According to Grinder, the husband told him "Your aircraft sure fly low around here!" and that the object almost took the roof off their car. The man thought it was in trouble since it came down west of the highways instead of the nearby airport to the south. He saw the police car headed up the hill towards it, he thought to render assistance. (Stanford, p. 16)
According to Stanford, another witness called an Albuquerque television station around 5:30 p.m. to report an oval object at low altitude traveling slowly south towards Socorro. (Stanford, p. 82) Several other stories appeared in New Mexico newspapers in succeeding days of other sightings of oval-shaped objects, including another landing case with burned soil near La Madera in northern N.M. Also similar to the Socorro incident, the FBI report on the La Madera case further noted the witness reporting a blue-white flame associated with the object, four rectangular, V-shaped landing marks, and several circular marks about 4 inches in diameter.
Stanford also noted that there were a large number of aural witnesses to the object's loud roar during takeoff and landing. One member of the Socorro sheriff's office told him that "hundreds of persons" on the south side of town had heard it. Stanford said he personally spoke to two women who heard the roar just before 6 p.m. They said that there were two distinct roars, maybe a minute or so apart. (Stanford, pp. 85–87)
In addition to the above witnesses, Stanford said there were three other persons who called the police dispatcher immediately following the incident, before it was ever publicized, reporting a bright flame. In October 2009, Stanford first publicly revealed that Sgt. Chavez, the first policeman to provide backup for Zamora, had privately confided to fellow police officers that he too had seen the object rapidly departing to the west over the mountains as he approached the site. However, in public statements, Chavez was firm that he arrived too late to see the object. When Chavez first arrived at the scene within a minute or two after the object had departed, he also noted that burnt bushes were still smoldering and Zamora appeared to be in a state of shock.
Multiple policemen arrived soon after to help investigate, including Ted Jordan and James Luckie. All noted fresh burning at the site. Luckie and Chavez were quoted in the Socorro newspaper saying that clumps of grass and burned greasewood bushes were "still hot" when they arrived. Chavez was also quoted saying that dry grass was still "smouldering" as were the greasewood plants. Jordan later filled out a sworn statement saying, "When I arrived, greasewood branches were still smoking." Zamora was likewise quoted about the green bush "burned bare by exhaust heat" and that it was "still smoking several minutes after the craft's departure." The FBI report written by the agent on the scene within two hours similarly reported that all first responders noted "four irregularly shaped smouldering areas."
Chavez was again quoted in an Air Force report written two days later about smoking brush. “[Chavez] then went to the area were the craft or thing was supposedly sighted and found four fresh indentations in the ground and several charred or burned bushes. Smoke appeared to come from the bush and he assumed it was burning, however no coals were visible and the charred portions of the bush were cold to the touch.”
Chavez was further reported securing the area and scouring the ground looking for the presence of other human activity. He could find no other tire tracks besides Zamora's and was "adamant" that there was no other "track activity" (footprints or other marks) in the area. In addition, Chavez was also quoted in the report saying that the indentations appeared to be new: "He stated that the marks were definitely 'fresh', and the dirt showed evidence of 'dew' or moisture."
Similarly, several policeman later told Stanford the whatever had produced the rectangular, wedge-shaped landing traces appeared to have penetrated into the moist subsoil, as the bottoms of the traces were moist for several hours, suggesting that the traces were freshly made. Hynek also commented on the freshness of the soil impressions in a letter to astronomer Donald Menzel: "I have the word of nine witnesses who saw the marks within hours of the incident, who tell me the center of the marks were moist as though the topsoil had been freshly pushed aside."
The FBI investigator also observed that the rectangular marks "seemed to have been made by an object going into the earth at an angle from a center line" pushing "some earth to the far side." Also observed were "three circular marks in the earth which were small, approximately four inches in diameter and penetrated in the sandy earth approximately one-eighth of an inch." Speculation in Stanford's book was that these were ladder indentations for the crew to exit and enter the craft.
or at nearby Holloman Air Force Base
. Holder shot down this idea, and was later quoted in a Socorro newspaper as saying, that there was in military custody "no object that would compare to the object described ... There was no known firing mission in progress at the time of the occurrence that would produce the conditions reported."
After interviewing Zamora, Holder and several military police officers went to the scene. Using flashlights, they cordoned off the site, took measurements and took samples of the sand and the scorched bushes. The claim of "fused sand" being recovered from the landing site was for some time unsubstantiated; even Hynek said he had not heard such rumors during his investigations. (Druffel, 218)
The next morning, a Sunday, Holder took a telephone call from a Colonel at the Joint Chiefs of Staff
. As a young Captain, Holder was surprised and nervous to be speaking to such an important, high-ranking officer. At the Colonel's command, Holder gave a report of his investigation over a secure scrambled line. Even years later, Holder would wonder about such important U.S. military officials, "why in the world were they so interested?"
Astronomer J. Allen Hynek
(Blue Book's consultant) arrived in Socorro on Tuesday, April 28. He met with Zamora and Chavez, and interviewed them about the encounter. Hynek and Air Force Major Hector Quintanilla initially thought the sighting might be explained as a test of a Lunar Excursion Module
, though after some investigation, Hynek determined that this could be definitely ruled out as an explanation for what Zamora saw. (Druffel, 213) In a memorandum Hynek wrote that "Zamora & Chavez were very anti-AF [Air Force]". The Air Force was suggesting that the affair was a hoax
, but Zamora was "pretty sore at being regarded as a romancer" and it took over half an hour for Hynek to "thaw him out" and hear the account from the only eyewitness.
Hynek also wrote that "The AF is in a spot over Socorro:" they were also suggesting that the encounter could be attributed to Zamora having seen an unidentified military craft, though no craft could be matched to Zamora's report. Hynek agreed with many others that this explanation "won't go down" as plausible.
Hynek further wrote "I think this case may be the 'Rosetta Stone
' ... There's never been a strong case with so unimpeachable a witness." Also noting his growing frustration with Blue Book, Hynek wrote, "The AF doesn't know what science
is."
located Mary G. Mayes, who asserted that when she was a University of Arizona
doctoral student in radiation biology, she had been asked "to analyze plant material from the Socorro site. Afterwards, she was to turn in all records and samples, and heard no more about it." (Druffel, 218)
When interviewed by McDonald, Mayes reported that she and two others had worked on studying physical evidence from the Socorro site, but she could not remember the names of the others. According to Mayes, she had examined the site the day after the event, and had gathered plant samples for analysis. Mayes later determined that the plants which had allegedly been burnt by the UFO's flames were, unusually, "completely dried out". (Druffel, 219) Mayes also found no evidence of radiation, but found "two organic substances" she was unable to identify. (Druffel, 219)
Mayes also reported to McDonald an area of apparently "fused sand", where the sand had taken on a glass
y appearance, near where the object had allegedly landed and then departed. The area of glassy sand was roughly triangular, measuring about 25 to 30 inches (762 mm) at its widest, though it gradually tapered down to about 1 inch wide; it seemed about a quarter of an inch thick. Mayes thought the glassy areas looked as if a "hot jet hit it." (Druffel, 219)
Mayes said she would investigate to determine the other people who investigated the site, but McDonald's files give no indication she ever contacted him about the subject. (Druffel, 219)
These high values rule out many conventional explanations, such as a helicopter or balloon. A high-performance jet aircraft or rocket propulsion could conceivably produce the accelerations and supersonic
speeds, but neither forms of propulsion are silent. The Air Force report on the incident also said that they analysed the soil and found no evidence of chemical propellants, as might be expected from a jet or most rocket engines. Further, no contemporary craft was capable of vertical take-off and such high speeds. The oval object described by Zamora also lacked any wings or other external structures that might have provided lift.
s suggested that the affair was a hoax
. Harvard astronomer Donald Menzel first suggested that Zamora had been the victim of a complex prank engineered by high school students who "planned the whole business to 'get' Zamora." (Hynek suggested this to some Socorro citizens, who discounted the idea). Years later, Menzel argued that Zamora had misidentified a dust devil
.
Journalist, and prominent UFO skeptic, Philip J. Klass
first suggested that the Zamora sighting was due to misidentified ball lightning
. When this debunking
was itself debunked (notably by atmospheric physicist Dr. James E. McDonald
), Klass switched gears and suggested the Zamora sighting was part of a scheme Zamora had invented with Socorro's then mayor, Holm Bursum, Jr., to attract tourism, claiming Bursum owned the land where Zamora's encounter occurred. Klass claimed that Bursum hoped Zamora's "fabricated" UFO story would lure tourists to Socorro, and Bursum could then develop the UFO landing site into a tourist attraction. Both Bursum and Zamora consistently denied these accusations as ridiculous, and even after Zamora's sighting gained national publicity the landing site was never developed. In fact, Bursum didn't even own the property as Klass claimed.
As of 2009, the landing site reportedly remains much as it was in 1964.
suggested that the report was "riddled with errors," including the claim that there were no other witnesses (several reported their sightings within minutes of Zamora's encounter), and the claim that there were no disturbances to the soil (manifestly false, based on Jordan's photos of the scene taken less than an hour after the encounter). Noting that they made no conclusion as to the object's origin (other than to rule out the extraterrestrial hypothesis
), the "Air Force was continuing its investigation, and the case is still open."
However, in a secret report prepared for the CIA, Project Blue Book
's director, Major Hector Quintanilla offered further details regarding the Zamora case, "There is no doubt that Lonnie Zamora saw an object which left quite an impression on him. There is also no question about Zamora's reliability. He is a serious police officer, a pillar of his church, and a man well versed in recognizing airborne vehicles in his area. He is puzzled by what he saw and frankly, so are we. This is the best-documented case on record, and still we have been unable, in spite of thorough investigation, to find the vehicle or other stimulus that scared Zamora to the point of panic."
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
officer who reported a UFO sighting while on duty on Friday, April 24, 1964, near Socorro, New Mexico
Socorro, New Mexico
Socorro is a city in Socorro County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It stands in the Rio Grande Valley at an elevation of . The population was 9,051 at the 2010 census...
.
Zamora’s account received considerable coverage in the mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, and is sometimes regarded as one of the best documented, yet most perplexing UFO reports. It was one of the accounts that helped persuade astronomer J. Allen Hynek
J. Allen Hynek
Dr. Josef Allen Hynek was a United States astronomer, professor, and ufologist. He is perhaps best remembered for his UFO research. Hynek acted as scientific adviser to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force under three consecutive names: Project Sign , Project Grudge , and Project Blue Book...
, who was one of the primary investigators for the Air Force, that some UFO reports represented an intriguing mystery.
The sighting
Alone in his patrol car, Sergeant Lonnie Zamora was chasing a speeding car due south of Socorro, New MexicoSocorro, New Mexico
Socorro is a city in Socorro County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It stands in the Rio Grande Valley at an elevation of . The population was 9,051 at the 2010 census...
on April 24, 1964, at about 5:45 p.m., when he "heard a roar and saw a flame in the sky to southwest some distance away — possibly a 1/2 mile or a mile." Thinking a local dynamite shack might have exploded, Zamora broke off the chase and went to investigate.
Though Zamora says he did not pay much attention to the flame, that the sun was "to west and did not help vision", and he was wearing green sunglasses over prescription glasses, in interviews with Air Force investigators for Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of unidentified flying objects conducted by the United States Air Force. Started in 1952, it was the second revival of such a study...
he goes to some lengths to describe the long, narrow, funnel-shaped "bluish orange" flame. He thought there might be some dust at the bottom, and attributed it to the windy day. The weather was "Clear sunny sky otherwise — just a few clouds scattered over area."
He describes the noise as "a roar, not a blast. Not like a jet. Changed from high frequency to low frequency and then stopped. Roar lasted possibly 10 seconds" as he approached on a gravel road. "Saw flame about as long as heard the sound. Flame same color as best as recall. Sound distinctly from high to low until it disappeared." He explains that his car windows were down. Zamora notes no other possible witnesses except possibly the car in front, which he estimates might have heard the noise but not seen the flame because it would be behind the brow of the hill from their viewpoint.
Zamora struggled to get his car up the steep hill, and on the third attempt, which was successful, he noted no further noise. For the next 10–15 seconds he proceeded west, looking for the shack whose precise location he did not recall. It was then that he noticed a shiny object, "to south about 150 to 200 yards", that at first he took to be an "overturned white car ... up on radiator or on trunk", with two people standing close to it, one of whom seemed to notice him with some surprise and gave a start. The shiny object was "like aluminum — it was whitish against the mesa background, but not chrome", and shaped like a letter "O". Having stopped for a couple of seconds, Zamora approached in his car meaning to help.
Zamora only caught a brief sight of the two people in white coveralls beside the "car". He recalls nothing special about them. "I don't recall noting any particular shape or possibly any hats, or headgear. These persons appeared normal in shape — but possibly they were small adults or large kids."
Zamora drove towards the scene, radioing his dispatcher to say he would be out of his car "checking the car in the arroyo
Arroyo (creek)
An arroyo , a Spanish word translated as brook, and also called a wash is usually a dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Wadi is a similar term in Africa. In Spain, a rambla has a similar meaning to arroyo.-Types and processes:Arroyos...
." He stopped his car, got out, and attended to the radio mic, which he had dropped, then he started to approach the object. According to Zamora,
Keeping the object in view he ran behind his car, bumping his leg on the rear fender and dropping his glasses, and continued running northwards away from the object, which was still near the ground. He now gives a more detailed description of the object. "Oval in shape ... smooth — no windows or doors ... Noted red lettering of some type (see illustration). Insignia was about 2½' high and about 2' wide I guess. Was in middle of object ... Object still like aluminum-white." He also noted that the object was still on the ground when the roar started.
Zamora then describes how the object took off:
Zamora went back to his car and contacted the Sheriff's office by radio:
He then watched the object fly away, swiftly but silently and without flame:
Zamora inspected the area and was soon joined by a colleague, Sergeant Chavez, who did not see the object:
Zamora then says that he had noticed that the object had what looked like legs:
Zamora then tries to account for the disappearance of the two people:
Witnesses, investigation and publicity
Within hours, word of Zamora's encounter had reached the news: many people had heard the radio traffic, including a few reporters. Within days, reporters from the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
were in Socorro. Members of civilian UFO study group APRO were on the scene within two days, as were officers representing the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of unidentified flying objects conducted by the United States Air Force. Started in 1952, it was the second revival of such a study...
. NICAP investigators appeared the following Tuesday. The first NICAP investigator was Ray Stanford, who would later write a detailed book account of his investigation (see references).
Other witnesses
Several independent witnesses reported either an "egg" shaped craft or a bluish flame at roughly the same time and in the same area — some of them within minutes of Zamora's encounter, before word of it had spread.Stanford wrote about a number of corroborating witnesses in his book, including two tourists named Paul Kies and Larry Kratzer, who were approaching Socorro in their car from the southwest, less than a mile from the landing site. They apparently witnessed either the landing or takeoff and reported seeing the flame and brownish dust being kicked up. Their story was reported in the Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
Telegraph-Herald a few days later after their return.
A family of five tourists from Colorado headed north also saw the oval object as it approached Socorro at a very low altitude, going east to west just south of town. It passed directly over their car only a few feet above it. After the encounter, the tourists stopped for gas in Socorro. Their identity was never discovered, but the story was learned from the service station operator, Opal Grinder, who reported the incident at the time and later signed an affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
in 1967. According to Grinder, the husband told him "Your aircraft sure fly low around here!" and that the object almost took the roof off their car. The man thought it was in trouble since it came down west of the highways instead of the nearby airport to the south. He saw the police car headed up the hill towards it, he thought to render assistance. (Stanford, p. 16)
According to Stanford, another witness called an Albuquerque television station around 5:30 p.m. to report an oval object at low altitude traveling slowly south towards Socorro. (Stanford, p. 82) Several other stories appeared in New Mexico newspapers in succeeding days of other sightings of oval-shaped objects, including another landing case with burned soil near La Madera in northern N.M. Also similar to the Socorro incident, the FBI report on the La Madera case further noted the witness reporting a blue-white flame associated with the object, four rectangular, V-shaped landing marks, and several circular marks about 4 inches in diameter.
Stanford also noted that there were a large number of aural witnesses to the object's loud roar during takeoff and landing. One member of the Socorro sheriff's office told him that "hundreds of persons" on the south side of town had heard it. Stanford said he personally spoke to two women who heard the roar just before 6 p.m. They said that there were two distinct roars, maybe a minute or so apart. (Stanford, pp. 85–87)
In addition to the above witnesses, Stanford said there were three other persons who called the police dispatcher immediately following the incident, before it was ever publicized, reporting a bright flame. In October 2009, Stanford first publicly revealed that Sgt. Chavez, the first policeman to provide backup for Zamora, had privately confided to fellow police officers that he too had seen the object rapidly departing to the west over the mountains as he approached the site. However, in public statements, Chavez was firm that he arrived too late to see the object. When Chavez first arrived at the scene within a minute or two after the object had departed, he also noted that burnt bushes were still smoldering and Zamora appeared to be in a state of shock.
Multiple policemen arrived soon after to help investigate, including Ted Jordan and James Luckie. All noted fresh burning at the site. Luckie and Chavez were quoted in the Socorro newspaper saying that clumps of grass and burned greasewood bushes were "still hot" when they arrived. Chavez was also quoted saying that dry grass was still "smouldering" as were the greasewood plants. Jordan later filled out a sworn statement saying, "When I arrived, greasewood branches were still smoking." Zamora was likewise quoted about the green bush "burned bare by exhaust heat" and that it was "still smoking several minutes after the craft's departure." The FBI report written by the agent on the scene within two hours similarly reported that all first responders noted "four irregularly shaped smouldering areas."
Chavez was again quoted in an Air Force report written two days later about smoking brush. “[Chavez] then went to the area were the craft or thing was supposedly sighted and found four fresh indentations in the ground and several charred or burned bushes. Smoke appeared to come from the bush and he assumed it was burning, however no coals were visible and the charred portions of the bush were cold to the touch.”
Chavez was further reported securing the area and scouring the ground looking for the presence of other human activity. He could find no other tire tracks besides Zamora's and was "adamant" that there was no other "track activity" (footprints or other marks) in the area. In addition, Chavez was also quoted in the report saying that the indentations appeared to be new: "He stated that the marks were definitely 'fresh', and the dirt showed evidence of 'dew' or moisture."
Similarly, several policeman later told Stanford the whatever had produced the rectangular, wedge-shaped landing traces appeared to have penetrated into the moist subsoil, as the bottoms of the traces were moist for several hours, suggesting that the traces were freshly made. Hynek also commented on the freshness of the soil impressions in a letter to astronomer Donald Menzel: "I have the word of nine witnesses who saw the marks within hours of the incident, who tell me the center of the marks were moist as though the topsoil had been freshly pushed aside."
The FBI investigator also observed that the rectangular marks "seemed to have been made by an object going into the earth at an angle from a center line" pushing "some earth to the far side." Also observed were "three circular marks in the earth which were small, approximately four inches in diameter and penetrated in the sandy earth approximately one-eighth of an inch." Speculation in Stanford's book was that these were ladder indentations for the crew to exit and enter the craft.
Air Force investigation
The evening of the encounter, Army Captain Richard T. Holder (then the senior officer at White Sands, as the higher-ranking officers had gone home for the weekend) and FBI agent Arthur Byrnes, Jr. together interviewed Zamora. However, for reasons that remain unclear, the FBI asked that their presence at the scene be kept quiet.(Druffel, 213) Zamora speculated that the object was some kind of newly-developed craft being tested at White Sands Missile RangeWhite Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range...
or at nearby Holloman Air Force Base
Holloman Air Force Base
Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located six miles southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, a city in Otero County, New Mexico, United States. The base was named in honor of Col. George V. Holloman, a pioneer in guided missile research...
. Holder shot down this idea, and was later quoted in a Socorro newspaper as saying, that there was in military custody "no object that would compare to the object described ... There was no known firing mission in progress at the time of the occurrence that would produce the conditions reported."
After interviewing Zamora, Holder and several military police officers went to the scene. Using flashlights, they cordoned off the site, took measurements and took samples of the sand and the scorched bushes. The claim of "fused sand" being recovered from the landing site was for some time unsubstantiated; even Hynek said he had not heard such rumors during his investigations. (Druffel, 218)
The next morning, a Sunday, Holder took a telephone call from a Colonel at the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
. As a young Captain, Holder was surprised and nervous to be speaking to such an important, high-ranking officer. At the Colonel's command, Holder gave a report of his investigation over a secure scrambled line. Even years later, Holder would wonder about such important U.S. military officials, "why in the world were they so interested?"
Astronomer J. Allen Hynek
J. Allen Hynek
Dr. Josef Allen Hynek was a United States astronomer, professor, and ufologist. He is perhaps best remembered for his UFO research. Hynek acted as scientific adviser to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force under three consecutive names: Project Sign , Project Grudge , and Project Blue Book...
(Blue Book's consultant) arrived in Socorro on Tuesday, April 28. He met with Zamora and Chavez, and interviewed them about the encounter. Hynek and Air Force Major Hector Quintanilla initially thought the sighting might be explained as a test of a Lunar Excursion Module
Apollo Lunar Module
The Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman to carry a crew of two from lunar orbit to the surface and back...
, though after some investigation, Hynek determined that this could be definitely ruled out as an explanation for what Zamora saw. (Druffel, 213) In a memorandum Hynek wrote that "Zamora & Chavez were very anti-AF [Air Force]". The Air Force was suggesting that the affair was a hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
, but Zamora was "pretty sore at being regarded as a romancer" and it took over half an hour for Hynek to "thaw him out" and hear the account from the only eyewitness.
Hynek also wrote that "The AF is in a spot over Socorro:" they were also suggesting that the encounter could be attributed to Zamora having seen an unidentified military craft, though no craft could be matched to Zamora's report. Hynek agreed with many others that this explanation "won't go down" as plausible.
Hynek further wrote "I think this case may be the 'Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
' ... There's never been a strong case with so unimpeachable a witness." Also noting his growing frustration with Blue Book, Hynek wrote, "The AF doesn't know what science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
is."
The fused sand
In 1968, physicist and UFO researcher James E. McDonaldJames E. McDonald
James Edward McDonald was an American physicist. He is best known for his research regarding UFOs. McDonald was senior physicist at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics and professor in the Department of Meteorology, University of Arizona, Tucson.McDonald campaigned vigorously in support of...
located Mary G. Mayes, who asserted that when she was a University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
doctoral student in radiation biology, she had been asked "to analyze plant material from the Socorro site. Afterwards, she was to turn in all records and samples, and heard no more about it." (Druffel, 218)
When interviewed by McDonald, Mayes reported that she and two others had worked on studying physical evidence from the Socorro site, but she could not remember the names of the others. According to Mayes, she had examined the site the day after the event, and had gathered plant samples for analysis. Mayes later determined that the plants which had allegedly been burnt by the UFO's flames were, unusually, "completely dried out". (Druffel, 219) Mayes also found no evidence of radiation, but found "two organic substances" she was unable to identify. (Druffel, 219)
Mayes also reported to McDonald an area of apparently "fused sand", where the sand had taken on a glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
y appearance, near where the object had allegedly landed and then departed. The area of glassy sand was roughly triangular, measuring about 25 to 30 inches (762 mm) at its widest, though it gradually tapered down to about 1 inch wide; it seemed about a quarter of an inch thick. Mayes thought the glassy areas looked as if a "hot jet hit it." (Druffel, 219)
Mayes said she would investigate to determine the other people who investigated the site, but McDonald's files give no indication she ever contacted him about the subject. (Druffel, 219)
Object speed and acceleration
According to reconstructions of the event from Zamora's account, the time was probably no more than 20 seconds from when the object went to silent operation, rapidly accelerated, and then faded from view near Box Canyon, a distance of about 6 miles (9.7 km). Assuming constant acceleration, these numbers can be used to estimate the object's acceleration, average speed, and final speed. The acceleration would be given by 2d/t^2, where d is the distance of 6 miles (9.7 km) or about 9600 meters, and t is the time of 20 seconds. The final speed would be 2d/t and the average speed d/2. This works out to a final speed of 2160 miles/hour, an average speed of 1080 miles/hour, and an acceleration of 48 meters/sec^2, or almost 5 times Earth gravity of 9.8 meters/sec^2.These high values rule out many conventional explanations, such as a helicopter or balloon. A high-performance jet aircraft or rocket propulsion could conceivably produce the accelerations and supersonic
Supersonic
Supersonic speed is a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound . For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C this speed is approximately 343 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph or 1,235 km/h. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound are often...
speeds, but neither forms of propulsion are silent. The Air Force report on the incident also said that they analysed the soil and found no evidence of chemical propellants, as might be expected from a jet or most rocket engines. Further, no contemporary craft was capable of vertical take-off and such high speeds. The oval object described by Zamora also lacked any wings or other external structures that might have provided lift.
Aftermath
Zamora became so tired of the subject that he eventually avoided both ufologists and the Air Force, taking a job managing a gasoline station. He died on November 2, 2009 in Socorro from a heart attack.Hoax claims and rebuttals
Some debunkerDebunker
A debunker is an individual who attempts to discredit and contradict claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious. The term is closely associated with skeptical investigation of, or in some cases irrational resistance to, controversial topics such as U.F.O.s, claimed paranormal phenomena,...
s suggested that the affair was a hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
. Harvard astronomer Donald Menzel first suggested that Zamora had been the victim of a complex prank engineered by high school students who "planned the whole business to 'get' Zamora." (Hynek suggested this to some Socorro citizens, who discounted the idea). Years later, Menzel argued that Zamora had misidentified a dust devil
Dust devil
A dust devil is a strong, well-formed, and relatively long-lived whirlwind, ranging from small to large . The primary vertical motion is upward...
.
Journalist, and prominent UFO skeptic, Philip J. Klass
Philip J. Klass
Philip Julian Klass was an American journalist and UFO researcher, known for his skepticism regarding UFOs. In the ufological and skeptical communities, Klass tends to inspire strongly polarized appraisals. Klass has been called the "Sherlock Holmes of UFOlogy"...
first suggested that the Zamora sighting was due to misidentified ball lightning
Ball lightning
Ball lightning is an unexplained atmospheric electrical phenomenon. The term refers to reports of luminous, usually spherical objects which vary from pea-sized to several metres in diameter. It is usually associated with thunderstorms, but lasts considerably longer than the split-second flash of a...
. When this debunking
Debunker
A debunker is an individual who attempts to discredit and contradict claims as being false, exaggerated or pretentious. The term is closely associated with skeptical investigation of, or in some cases irrational resistance to, controversial topics such as U.F.O.s, claimed paranormal phenomena,...
was itself debunked (notably by atmospheric physicist Dr. James E. McDonald
James E. McDonald
James Edward McDonald was an American physicist. He is best known for his research regarding UFOs. McDonald was senior physicist at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics and professor in the Department of Meteorology, University of Arizona, Tucson.McDonald campaigned vigorously in support of...
), Klass switched gears and suggested the Zamora sighting was part of a scheme Zamora had invented with Socorro's then mayor, Holm Bursum, Jr., to attract tourism, claiming Bursum owned the land where Zamora's encounter occurred. Klass claimed that Bursum hoped Zamora's "fabricated" UFO story would lure tourists to Socorro, and Bursum could then develop the UFO landing site into a tourist attraction. Both Bursum and Zamora consistently denied these accusations as ridiculous, and even after Zamora's sighting gained national publicity the landing site was never developed. In fact, Bursum didn't even own the property as Klass claimed.
As of 2009, the landing site reportedly remains much as it was in 1964.
Blue Book conclusion
The Air Force issued their formal report on June 8, 1964. Jerome ClarkJerome Clark
Jerome Clark is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note....
suggested that the report was "riddled with errors," including the claim that there were no other witnesses (several reported their sightings within minutes of Zamora's encounter), and the claim that there were no disturbances to the soil (manifestly false, based on Jordan's photos of the scene taken less than an hour after the encounter). Noting that they made no conclusion as to the object's origin (other than to rule out the extraterrestrial hypothesis
Extraterrestrial hypothesis
The extraterrestrial hypothesis is the hypothesis that some unidentified flying objects are best explained as being extraterrestrial life or non-human aliens from other planets occupying physical spacecraft visiting Earth.-Etymology:...
), the "Air Force was continuing its investigation, and the case is still open."
However, in a secret report prepared for the CIA, Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book
Project Blue Book was one of a series of systematic studies of unidentified flying objects conducted by the United States Air Force. Started in 1952, it was the second revival of such a study...
's director, Major Hector Quintanilla offered further details regarding the Zamora case, "There is no doubt that Lonnie Zamora saw an object which left quite an impression on him. There is also no question about Zamora's reliability. He is a serious police officer, a pillar of his church, and a man well versed in recognizing airborne vehicles in his area. He is puzzled by what he saw and frankly, so are we. This is the best-documented case on record, and still we have been unable, in spite of thorough investigation, to find the vehicle or other stimulus that scared Zamora to the point of panic."
Further reading
- Ann Druffel; Firestorm: Dr. James E. McDonald's Fight for UFO Science; 2003, Wild Flower Press; ISBN 0-926524-58-5
- Ray Stanford, Socorro 'Saucer' in a Pentagon Pantry, 1976, Blueapple Books, ISBN 0-917092-00-7 (most complete investigation and account of Zamora case)
- Brad Steiger, Project Blue Book, 1976, Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-345-26091-0 (contains Air Force's account with maps, Zamora's account, reports of J. Allen HynekJ. Allen HynekDr. Josef Allen Hynek was a United States astronomer, professor, and ufologist. He is perhaps best remembered for his UFO research. Hynek acted as scientific adviser to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force under three consecutive names: Project Sign , Project Grudge , and Project Blue Book...
)
External links
- Socorro, New Mexico Landing (Lonnie Zamora) 1964 at UFO Casebook