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Project Blue Book Socorro file

Internet Archive · 168 pages · text by 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. 4 …UPI) - New Mexico's perennial addiction to flying saucers has taken hold of the state again…
  • p. 5 …Sam Chavez of the New Mexico State Police. They took six other men to the spot…
  • p. 7 …sent to New Mexico after a rash of reports of sightings in the state. He planned…
  • p. 8 …shots at one of New Mexico's unidentified flying objects. State Policeman Tommy Richardson of Moriarty…
  • p. 12 …of unidentified flying object sightings had New Mexico State Police, local law enforcement agencies and military…
  • p. 14 …UPI) - New Mexico's perennial addiction to flying saucers has taken hold of the state again…
  • p. 16 …New Mexico's perennial addiction to flying saucers took hold of thae state again Monday. More…
  • p. 23 …Around State A rash of unidentified flying object sightings had New Mexico State Police, local law…
  • p. 24 …Within moments afterward, Sgt Chavez of the New Mexico State Police arrived on the scene in…
  • p. 27 …in a state loaded with radar installations. "It is my understanding that New Mexico has more…
  • p. 29 …Inhabited Since 1540 Home of the Famed New Mexico VOL. 98 NO. 34 Published Tuesdays & Thursdays…
  • p. 31 …State Police Sgt. Sam Chavez, State Policeman Ted Jordan, and Undersheriff James Luckie responded. Chavez and…
  • p. 35 …The sighting was reported to Sgt Chavez of the New Mexico State Police. The object sighted…
  • p. 46 …April 1964 Sgt Chavez of the New Mexico State Police accompanied by Agent Burns of the…
  • p. 57 …Socorro, New Mexico. The object or vehicle displayed flight characteristics well within the State-of-the…
  • p. 78 …his call was monitored by Sgt Chavez of the New Mexico State Police. Sgt Zamora attempted
  • p. 80 …The FBI was informed of the sighting by the New Mexico State Police. The New Mexico…
  • p. 82 Sgt Sam Charez of the New Mexico State Police was interviewed by Major Connor and Sgt…
  • p. 83 …Sawde Damore interviewed by Sgt Chavez, New Mexico State Police Kes
  • p. 154 …New Mexico after a rash of reports of sightings of unidentified flying objects in the state…
  • p. 157 …A rash of unidentified flying object sightings had New Mexico State Police, local law enforcement agencies…
  • p. 159 …85 and New Mexico 180 and the object appeared to be about a quarter of a…
  • 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. 168 …UPI) - New Mexico's perennial addiction to flying saucers has taken hold of the state again…
thoroughly tired of going into details. It is clear that he turned tail at this time and ran for cover, thinking the object was about to explode. He banged his leg against the rear fender of the car as he tried to round it, at which time his glasses, and his sunglasses fell off into the ground, but he did not stop to retrieve them. This is an indication of the state of panic he was in. He ran some distance behind the car, as indicated in photograph No 3, which shows him crouching down, but not as he had done that Friday evening. At that time, he had crouched quite close to the ground, covering his eyes with his arm. It was at this time that he saw the object rise to essentially the level of his car and proceed in the direction of the dynamite shack, shown in figure 4 which shows the small dynamite shack about 7 or 8 feet high, off to the right and shows Zamora's arms extended, his left arm pointing to the direction in which he had seen the object originally, its takeoff position, and the right arm pointing in the general direction in which the object had disappeared. A shadow cast by Zamora in this picture, which was taken approximately at 10 am, at which time the sun was in the south-east quatrin of the sky, indicates that Zamora is facing southwest, with the shack somewhat to southwest by west. The dynamite shack is also shown in figure five, which shows the car parked as it was on the evening of the sighting. Zamora was looking out of the left hand drivers' window at the object when he parked the car. Photograph No 6 shows the position from which Zamora first saw the object whose location was approximately under the X mark on the photograph. It was from this distance that he thought that the object looked like an overturned car. Photograph 7 is the position Zamora was in, looking at the object disappearing, said object having missed the dynamite shack by some 3 feet, according to Zamora. Photography No 8 is approximately the position Chaves and Zamora were in, on their way down from the rise toward the place where the object had been, when Chaves first saw the markings the object had left. Photograph No 9 is 180 degrees, approximately, from that of No 6. No 9 shows the town of Socorro in the distance, looking down longitudinally through the gulley toward the "road" along which Zamora was stationed when he first saw the object, looking inthe direction Socorro to the spot from which Photograph 9 was taken.

## Resume:

From all of the above and from my personal observations, I would conclude the following: That Zamora, although not overly bright or articulate, is basically sincere, honest, and reliable. He would not be capable of contriving a complex hoax, nor would his temperment indicate that he would have the slightest interest insuch. He was simply a copy on duty, relinquished one discharge of that duty (chasing a speeding car) for another which he thought was of more immediate importance. (Investigating the possible explosion of a dynamite shack). His fright was genuine,

About this file

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