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This NICAP-hosted compilation of Project Blue Book records covers the Air Force investigation of policeman Lonnie Zamora's 24 April 1964 sighting at Socorro, New Mexico. It includes Foreign Technology Division teletypes, a resume and narrative of the sighting, Capt Hector Quintanilla's memos, and letters to Project Cloud Gap and the FAA. Investigators found no radiation, no foreign material in soil samples, and no helicopter or radar explanation. They concluded that a real object was seen, possibly a VTOL or lunar module type vehicle, and left the case open.
“Socorro, New Mexico”12 pages
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## (6) VTOL and Lunar Modules: (a) Personnel working on the development of VTOL type aircraft and lunar modules were consulted. VTOL type a/c were not eliminated as a possible cause due to the absence of a blast effect in the area. There are several types of ducted blast devices which would divert the force of the blast outward. However, they were not aware of an operational craft of this nature. (b) Lunar Module configurations conform not only to the description of the object but also have girder like legs or pods which would produce markings such as those found at Socorro. One known experimental model, constructed by Bell Aircraft Corporation, is located at Edwards AFB. (7) Additional Witness. The El Defensor and Chieftan of Tuesday 28 Apr 64 carried an article indicating that an unidentified tourist traveling North on U 8 65 saw the UFO just before it landed. He also observed the police car heading up the hill toward the spot where the UFO landed. If this is true, the UFO not only disappeared in the direction of White Sand's but also came from that same direction. A telephone call to Mr Opal Grinder of Whiting Brothers Service Station indicated that he was the source for reporting that an unidentified tourist had observed the unidentified flying object. He verified that the information in the news article was correct. ## c. General Conclusions to Date: (1) Evaluation of the data contained in the various investigative reports confirms that a sighting definitely did occur. The description of the object and flight characteristics are coincident with that expected of a helicopter, VTOL or Lunar Module configuration. Current investigative efforts are being made to establish or identify the specific vehicle which caused the sighting. The following statement by Captain Hector Quintanill represents a statement which may be released to the press: "Conclusion: The investigators at Wright-Patterson have not been able to identify or determine what type of vehicle or object Mr Lonnie Zamora observed on 24 April at Socorro, New Mexico. The object or vehicle displayed flight characteristics well within the State-of-the-Art and the sighting cannot be attributed to atmospheric or astronomical phenomena. In this respect, I can categorically state that the vehicle or object observed by Mr Lonnie Zamora was not an inter-planetary space vehicle visiting the planet Earth. This case is still open and the investigation is still in progress."
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. 25 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.