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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.
“Socorro”60+ pages
At least one other person an unidentified tourist traveling north on U. S. 85 saw the UFO just before it landed in the gully. Opal Grinder, manager of Whiting Brothers' Service Station on 85 north, said the man stopped at the station and remarked that aircraft flew low around here. Grinder replied there were many helicopters in this vicinity. The tourist said it was a "funny-looking helicopter, if that's what it was." The man said further the object had flown over his car. It actually was headed straight for the gully where it landed moments later. The tourist also commented that he had seen a police car heading up the hill. This was Zamora's car. Grinder did not know of the object at the time, and did not attach importance to the traveler's remarks. A Tucson, Ariz., couple was here Sunday to interview Zamora for a scientific article on the object. The woman said a minister and 26 other persons in New Guinea had seen a similar object hovering for two hours at an estimated altitude of 400 feet. It was reported the observers had seen a man on the "deck" of the object. Maj. William Conner of Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, was also here Sunday afternoon to interview Zamora. The major said he was not at liberty to comment. He and an Air Force sergeant visited the UFO scene. Use of a Geiger counter at the scene was reported to have brought negative results. Capt. Richard T. Holder of Socorro, U.S. Army up-range commander with headquarters at Stallion Range Center on White Sands Missile Range, said Saturday: "I was contacted on the evening of April 24 by local authorities and asked to provide assistance in identifying a reported UFO. After beng appraised of the situation, I attempted to determine whether White Sands Missile Range or Holloman Air Force Base had anything that might produce the conditions described. Neither White Sands Missile Range nor Holloman had an 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." Zamora doesn't know what the object was, but for those who desire to speculate, there are three possibilities: First, it may have been a top secret U.S. aircraft in an advanced stage of development. Second, it may have been an advanced type of aircraft or space ship of another power. Third, it may have been a space scout ship from another planet. Whatever the object was, it probably was the first reported concrete instance of a UFO in New Mexico. Policeman Zamora shifted from a routine task to a frightening, out of this world experience in a few minutes Friday night. He was patrolling Park Street where he had begun pursuit of a fast-traveling car several blocks ahead of him. Zamo- ra was almost on the old road when he heard what he described as a blast or a roar. His first though was that an aluminum building used to store explosives had blown up. He forgot about the speeding car and headed up a very rocky, dirt road towards the building. On the third try, driving very slowly, he managed to get up the road which leads to the top of the mesa overlooking the gully where the UFO had landed. The policeman said he first saw the object at an estimated distance of 150 yards, and he thought it was an overturned car. He was looking out of his car window as he drove towards the top of the mesa. Zamora said one of two persons at the UFO, whose back was to him, turned his head and looked straight at him. The two persons standing by the object appeared to be dressed in white coveralls, and at the distance Zamora saw them they appeared to be "childlike," that is, small. He did not notice what sort of headgear, if any, the two persons, presumably men, wore. Zamora continued driving up the hill to get a closer look at the object and the persons. When he stopped his car on the top of the mesa and directly opposite the place in the gully where the UFO had landed, he saw it again, but the persons were not outside the object on which the sun gleamed brightly. He got out of his car and started towards the UFO. Then he again heard the roar or blast that had brought him to the scene and saw flames. Dust was flying around the object. The policeman believed the object was about to explode. He was about 50 feet from the UFO, and for protection he dropped to the ground and covered his face with an arm. No explosion occurred, and Zamora also realized the object was not heading in his direction. He raised his head slightly. He saw the UFO, which seemed to be headed south on landing, rise straight up for an estimated 20 feet, which brought it about on a level with the police car on the mesa top. The object appeared to maintain this altitude beyond the explosives building and due west in a straight line for about two miles to the perlite mill. On the other side of the mill the UFO gained altitude very rapidly, passed over Six-Mile Canyon, became a speck in the sky, and disappeared. Zamora said there was a sharp whining sound at the end of the roar preceding the object's takeoff. As the object got into the air, the noise quieted. The object did not leave a jet trail. Reports of other supposed UFO's have mentioned that they fly with little or no noise. Zamora radioed the sheriff's office immediately after the object had taken off. State Police Sgt. Sam Chavez, State Policeman Ted Jordan, and Undersheriff James Luckie responded. Chavez and Luckie said the burned clumps of green grass and the greasewood were still hot when they arrived. The military later took samples of the burned earth for analysis.
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