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Project Blue Book desk file, Socorro (217 pages)

The Black Vault (Rob Mercer collection) · 217 pages · text from the file's own layer

This 217-page Project Blue Book desk file on the 24 April 1964 Socorro, New Mexico sighting by policeman Lonnie Zamora comes from the Rob Mercer collection. It contains the Blue Book record card, which carries the case as unidentified pending more data, along with Foreign Technology Division messages and resumes and a narrative of the sighting. It also holds inquiries about lunar modules, helicopters and VTOL craft, soil and radiation findings, and a letter by J. Allen Hynek rejecting Donald Menzel's hoax hypothesis.

  • p. 10 …Within moments afterward, Sgt Chavez of the Nev Mexico State Police ~rriYed on the scene in…
  • p. 16 NARRATIVE OF SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO SIGHTll~G 1 24 APRIL 1964 .. Shortly after 5:30 pm…
  • p. 18 …He uses the same radio frequency as the New Mexico State Police and that is the…
  • p. 138 …lllter..lloaal . .ng object sightings had New \ Mexico State Police, local law . e n f o…
  • p. 139 …85 and New · Mexico 180 and the object ap- peared to be about a quarter of…
  • p. 141 …State Police this after- bngn: mc:al v:1tnout wmaow.;, noon to investigate the new !as…
  • p. 143 …flY· ~ ing object sightings had New 2 1 Mexico Stale Police, local law r e ;~ f…
  • p. 154 …re- Zamora's reliability as _a ity ~New: Mexico who has !icem a n Lonnie Zamora…
  • p. 155 …State Police Capt. Arch1e samples. Dr. Hynek returned Six Reports aircraft. . White said in Las Cruces…
  • p. 159 …UPI) - New Mexico's perennial addiction jto flying saucers has taken lhold of the state again…
  • p. 161 …UPI) - New Mexico's perennial addiction to flying saucers has taken hold of the state again…
  • p. 163 …Inhabited Since 1540 Home of the Famed New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology -----------------------------------------------------------------------VOL. 98 - NO…
  • p. 164 …a level with the police car on 'the jed hovering .for two hours at an eral…
  • p. 167 …sent to New Mexico after a rash of reports of &ichtinp in Ule state. He planned…
  • p. 168 …ehots at one of New Mexico's unidentified flying objects. ; State Policeman Tom my Richardson of…
  • p. 172 …had New llke a mountam ~Ion's," as coloring, marking, character- Mexico State Police, local law…
  • p. 173 …UPI) -New Mexico's perennial addictior to flying saucers has taker hold of the state again…
  • p. 175 …e Police, ;)nd reportedly t !1 ~ FBI. Orlando Gallegos of SanTa e told State nolice he…
  • p. 182 …unidentified fly- \< ing object sightings had New~ Mexico State Police, local law r e n f…
  • p. 185 …a state load· ed with radar Installations. "It Is my understanding that New Mexico has more…
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it on a global basijfnd the UFO phenomenon1 apart from the Socorro case;is
certainly not limited to the United States.
After these discussions in ~XXmxi the editorial offices, Ra'nSr and
~ went out for lunch and asked Sgt. Chaves to join us. 1Vhile we were waiting
for him, I showed Ra~er the letter from Menzel and his co~nents about
part~f it were, "Childish." But we~ went over it point by point, and likewise
Chaves did. Chaves' reaction to the letter was rather strange. He had sort
of a resigned, almost pathetic look on his face, and said, "I really feel
sorry for Lonnie. He's had to take an awful lot. "~hen he told of a recent
case where Zamora was arresting a kid for speeding, and the kid said, "vr.nat
do you want to give me a ticket for? Don't you · know a flying saucer might
. ,...,,
COme right dOWll On US nOw? II (Or SOmething like that • ) r(Jf'.,
(J•
I asked him what the whole movie situation had been~ Zamora and how
it ha~ · effected him. He said that Zamora had not wanted to be in the picutr~
but it was at the~yor's insistence, via his boss, that he consented to do
so . I can't quite believe this myself. When I talked to Zamora later, he seemed
to be reasonably pleased about being in the movie. Clearly, with a world
~t
premiere in Socorro, it would be a strange hurmn who did not get some ~~iek out
of a thing like that •
. I will come back to the MenzeJ/ letter later because I discussed it with
Dr. I.a Paz who knows Menze}/ well. That was the next day in Albuquerque.
I purchased five newpapers which had various stories about the movie or
about related matters. The papers were for Tuesday, Feb:ruary 9; Thursday,February
25; Tuesday March 2; !Hues day, March 9; and Thursday, March 11. The first one
I think you have; it states, "Socorro Part of Film on UFO's Completed; Zamora's
Account Jibes With Sixtten Verified Sightings." The Feb:ruary 25th issue contains
a front page story on a UFO sighted over Gallup which_ps far as I can see_., is
nothing more than a meteor. · The March 2nd issue contains a lovely story aboutRob Mercer

About this file

Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 217 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.