Documents / Document

Project Blue Book Socorro file

Internet Archive · 168 pages · text by GLM-OCR

This Project Blue Book file on the Socorro, New Mexico sighting, held by the Internet Archive, collects Air Force records and 1964 press clippings. It covers policeman Lonnie Zamora's April 24, 1964 report of an egg-shaped object with four legs, the scorched brush and ground depressions, and Dr. J. Allen Hynek's investigation. An Air Force summary says soil and brush analysis found no radiation or propellant and the case stayed open. Later New Mexico reports were judged known objects or hoaxes.

  • p. 1 …LOCATION Socorro, New Mexico 12. CONCLUSIONS □ Was Balloon □ Probably Balloon □ Possibly Balloon □ Was Aircraft □ Probably Aircraft…
  • p. 2 …the Air Force and night be attributed to the Socorro, New Mexico sighting. FOR THE COMMANDER
  • p. 3 …of Socorro. UFO experts from different parts of the country are in New Mexico to investigate…
  • p. 4 # 'Flying Saucer Reports Spread In New Mexico SANTA FE (UPI) - New Mexico's perennial addiction to…
  • p. 5 …Sam Chavez of the New Mexico State Police. They took six other men to the spot…
  • p. 7 …the special Unidentified Flying Object consultant to the Air Force, was sent to New Mexico after…
  • p. 8 …Adam's account was another of several such reports that have kept New Mexico and military…
  • p. 11 …Right on the edge of White Sands missile range on the wide open New Mexico desert…
  • p. 12 …rash of unidentified flying object sightings had New Mexico State Police, local law enforcement agencies and…
  • p. 14 # 'Flying Saucer Reports Spread In New Mexico SANTA FE (UPI) - New Mexico's perennial addiction to…
  • p. 17 …Right on the edge of White Sands Missile Range on the wide open New Mexico desert…
  • p. 18 …David Moody of the office already was in New Mexico and would assist Dr. Hynek in…
  • p. 19 April 25, 1964, when on the previous day at Socorro, New Mexico a policeman, Mr. Lonnie…
  • p. 20 Landing area at Socorro, New Mexico, taken April 25.
  • p. 21 MAY 6 1964 # New Sights Of Saucers ## Strange Objects Seen by Several Persons in New Mexico…
  • p. 22 …12 FEB 65 ## New Mexico APRIL 24, 1964, Socorro, New Mexico On April 24, 1964, a…
  • p. 23 …rash of unidentified flying object sightings had New Mexico State Police, local law enforcement agencies and…
  • p. 24 UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT REPORT SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO, 24 APRIL 1964 On April 24, 1964, a Socorro…
  • p. 26 …David Moody of the office already was in New Mexico and would assist Dr. Hynek in…
  • p. 27 …My husband and I had talked about the thing the people saw in New Mexico, but…
  • p. 28 …in from all over the state of New Mexico and other parts of the west. It…
  • p. 29 # El Defensor SOCORRO: Inhabited Since 1540 Home of the Famed New Mexico VOL. 98 NO. 34…
  • p. 31 …reported concrete instance of a UFO in New Mexico. Policeman Zamora shifted from a routine task…
  • p. 35 # UFO Sighting, Socorro, New Mexico, 24 Apr 64 Hq USAF SAF0I PB (Mrs Gaiser) Wash D…
  • p. 46 …24 April 1964 Sgt Chavez of the New Mexico State Police accompanied by Agent Burns of…
  • p. 57 …Zamora observed on 24 April at Socorro, New Mexico. The object or vehicle displayed flight characteristics…
  • p. 73 …the April 24, 1964 sighting at Socorro, New Mexico, made by Lt. Zamora. I would very…
  • p. 74 …Bieberman 601 Pitch Avenue Socorro, New Mexico 87801
  • p. 78 ## NARRATIVE OF SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO SIGHTING, 24 APRIL 1964 Shortly after 5:30 pm on Friday…
  • p. 84 TDEW/UFO UFO Sighting Socorro, New Mexico 14 May 1964 Test Support Officer (Col K. Young…
  • p. 85 …835-9916 in Socorro New Mexico regarding the article appearing in the Socorro ElDefnnsor & Chieftan concerning…
  • p. 90 …about a hundred miles north of Socorro, New Mexico. Cloud Gap personnel did not have any…
  • p. 91 …reported subsequent to Socorro Sightings ## ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO AREA 25 Apr. Socorro Unidentified Observer. Rotating Navigation…
  • p. 93 …TO THE SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO SIGHTING: 1. 26,Apr 64, Grants,New Mexico sighting of a…
  • p. 103 …CONCLUSIONS 24 April 1964 Socorro, New Mexico □ Was Balloon □ Probably Balloon □ Possibly Balloon □ Was Aircraft □ Probably…
  • p. 105 …His theories as to why UFO's land in New Mexico lack, shall we say, a…
  • p. 106 …Ted Raynor, Editor, Socorro El Defensor Chieftan, Socorro, New Mexico, and he can send one of…
  • p. 124 # UFO REPORT Lonnie Zamora, 606 Resevoir Street, Socorro, New Mexico, 835-1134, Officer Socorro Police Force…
  • p. 131 ## REPORT ON SOCORRO NEW MEXICO TRIP On Tuesday, April 28, 1964, in response to a call…
  • p. 136 …SIGHTING AT SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO, 24 APRIL, CONTINUE TO BE RECEIVED FROM NEWS MEDIA, FROM THE…
  • p. 138 …while in Socorro, my old friend, Dr Jack Whothmen, President of the New Mexico School of…
  • p. 146 …Right on the ge of White Sands Mise Range on the wide en New Mexico desert…
  • p. 147 UFO Sighting, Socorro, New Mexico, 24 Apr 64 Hq USAF SAFOI PB (Mrs Gaiser) Wash 25…
  • p. 152 …The Sócorro report and another at La Madera in northern New Mexico were similar in that…
  • p. 153 …range, whose headquarters is near the central New Mexico town. ## Six Cars Derail; Rip Mile of…
  • p. 154 # ASTRONOMER TO NEW MEXICO # Flying Objects Area Probed SOCORRO, N.M.—(AP)—An astronomer from the…
  • p. 156 …landings in New Mexico in the past few days. "We are convinced the Socorro policeman saw…
  • p. 157 SOCORRO NEW MEXICO DATE: 24 APR 64 # Believes Intelligent Beings on UFOs Sighted in State TUCSON…
  • p. 159 …85 and New Mexico 180 and the object appeared to be about a quarter of a…
  • p. 160 …of Socorro. UFO experts from different parts of the country are in New Mexico to investigate…
  • p. 164 …Lincoln LaPaz of the University of New Mexico who has an international reputation in running down…
  • p. 165 …Hynek said he had not been told by the government whether sending him to New Mexico…
  • p. 167 …THE SOCORRO REPORT AND ANOTHER AT LA MADERA IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO WERE SIMILAR IN THAT…
  • p. 168 # 'Flying Saucer Reports Spread In New Mexico SANTA FE (UPI) - New Mexico's perennial addiction to…

Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.

speeding car had turned into his line of sight from a side road, and we followed the pursuit path, going to the place about 1/2 mile south of town where Xamora then pointed in the direction in which he had seen the flame and had heard a loud roar. It must be remembered that at this time he was giving chase to a speeding car, and it would seem that, to be diverted from this jolly procedure, the noise and/or light must have been fairly strong. Zamora did not describe the light to me in the detail that he has described it in Captain Holder's report. He stressed only the roar and the fact that he thought the Mayor's dynamite shack had exploded and that somebody might have been in trouble.

From that point on, his report to me was virtually identical to that he gave to Captain Holder - his three attempts to get up the hill, his sighting of the object at a distance, as his line of sight went longitudinally down the small arroyo - it was at this point that he thought he saw an overturned car standing, however, either on the trunk or on its radiator. He described that, at this point, he picked up the radio and called back to Sergeant Shaves. There is a little contradiction here, probably not serious, as to where he had made the call, and exactly how many calls he made.

He then stated that he proceeded down the very poor gravel road, temporarily losing sight of the object behind a slight rise in the land, that is, behind one of the hillocks that formed an arroyo between them. He thus came up upon the object from behind the hill and from the side, so to speak, he apparently saw the object again while he was driving and continued to drive for some distance. He finally stopped the car at the clearing just before the ground descends into the little arroyo (see photograph number 2) Photograph No 2 is important in that it shows how close he was to the object. It is clear from this that any common object would certainly have been easily recognized. It would seem virtually incredible that an ordinary object, such as a balloon, heliocopter, private small plane, etc., could have remained unidentified, and further, could have caused Zamora to become as frightened as he did.

Zamora drove up to this spot, windows rolled down, and looked to his left out of the window, to see the object. At this point, he indicated that he still thought that "it" might have been an overturned car. It is not clear whether he made a call to the station at this time (presumably he did), but, in any event, he knocked the mike to the floor, as he got out of the car, apparently in some excitement. He started to walk toward the object, but apparently did not get very far before he heard some noises. The noises were described as two or three bangs, as though someone were shutting a door (the space visitors were undoubtably saying "Let's get the Hell out of here") and this was followed almost immediately by a roar. He did not describe the pitches of the roars to me as well as he had in Capt Holder's report. Apparently, by this time Zamora was

About this file

Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 168 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.