Lonnie Zamora UFO Sighting on Unsolved Mysteries

There’s still a few more episodes to go in this series of threads on UFO cases featured on Unsolved Mysteries (freely available on YouTube). This particular case was considered one of the best in the Project Blue Book archive. And so we go back to Socorro, New Mexico and the Lonnie Zamora UFO sighting of April 1964.

Episode first aired : December 1, 1995

Direct Link to Segment : youtu.be...

Unsolved Mysteries Show Notes

On April 24, 1964, in the small town of Socorro, New Mexico, Police Officer Lonnie Zamora spotted a local teenager speeding through town. Officer Zamora followed to the edge of Socorro and out into the desert. Zamora had no idea the strange twist his life was about to take:

“I could see a white object to my left there. I thought it was a turned-over car. When I got up on top of the mesa there, I looked down, and I saw this big white object on the ground. I thought I could see something around the craft there. I could see some figures. Looked like they were walking around the craft.”

According to Lonnie, there were red markings on the hull; a vertical arrow with a horizontal line beneath it and a crescent-shaped line above it. Lonnie tried to radio police headquarters but was not able to break through the heavy static. After hearing two metallic sounds, like doors clanging shut, Lonnie said he noticed the small figures were gone:

“I saw this flame come up from underneath it, then I ran back behind the car, and it went up two, 20, 30 feet up in the air. It just stayed there for a while. And then, finally, it just took off slowly to the west. At first, you know, after I got to my senses, I said, ‘Did I see it or didn’t I, you know? What happened, you know?”

With his radio now static free, Lonnie called an old friend, Sergeant Sam Chavez of the New Mexico State Police and told him to hurry to the site:

“I could tell that Lonnie was excited and probably scared. Lonnie Zamora, he’s a very dependable, honest type of person. He’s not one to create or make stories or build things up to make it exciting or anything like that.”

When Sam arrived, he and Lonnie noticed what looked like landing marks on the ground:

“We found some indentation on the ground where this thing had landed and the marks into the ground were 9 inches deep, 8 inches long, and 9 inches wide. I started looking for tracks, human tracks, but the only thing I found were impressions on the ground that were made by a perfect circle. But I found no human tracks. No shoe prints.”

U.S. Army officials at the nearby White Sands Missile Range sent Captain Richard T. Holder to investigate:

“My first impression was that it was something from the range that needed possible help. You know, first aid, attention, or at best, security. The more I got into it, the less convinced I was that that was the case.”

Holder noticed the unusual marks left in the sand and a bush burned to a crisp on only one side:

“Everything we saw seemed to support the story that officer Zamora recounted. Nothing gave me the slightest hint that he did this as a hoax or cooked it up for fame or fortune.”

The sighting was headline news

After their investigation, the Air Force agreed that Lonnie saw something, but they insisted that it must have been a secret military aircraft. UFO expert and author Jerome Clark said the official explanation doesn’t hold water:

“They never were able to find any such evidence that any such thing was being tested at the time. And, in fact, even today, not an iota of evidence has emerged to support that claim. Nonetheless, the Air Force line on the case is that this is a credible witness. He clearly saw some kind of structured flying vehicle and that it must have been something that we built even if we can’t find it anywhere.”

Air Force officials brought in Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a respected astronomer and consultant on Project Blue Book, the Air Force’s official study of the UFO phenomenon. Dr. Hynek found the physical evidence convincing. But according to Jerome Clark, the most persuasive argument was Lonnie Zamora himself:

“Dr. Hynek was enormously impressed by Lonnie Zamora. He thought there was virtually no possibility of a hoax. He expressed huge disdain for the Blue Book handling of the report. And he said it was clear that the story that Blue Book had cooked up about this possibly being some kind of experimental aircraft was a story that even Blue Book knew to be untrue, but which was invented to keep Congress from harassing the Air Force.”

How do we explain what Lonnie Zamora saw? No matter what others believe, Lonnie has no doubt that what he witnessed was not of this earth:

“If they want to believe me, good. If they don’t want to believe me, it’s all right, too.”

Beyond Unsolved Mysteries

The Zamora/Socorro case was investigated by the Army, Air Force, FBI, police and civilian UFO groups (one being NICAP) and reported in many newspapers.

Initial findings were:
• The weather was windy, but conditions were otherwise clear.
• No unknown helicopters or aircraft were in the area at the time.
• Nearby radar installations did not report any unusual or unidentified activity.
• No radioactivity beyond normal background levels in the area was detected.
• Soil samples taken showed no traces of foreign material or chemicals.
• There was trace evidence. Four depressions (16ins x 6ins and 2ins deep ** different from Chavez's measurements) were left in the ground where the object had landed.
• Some of the grass and shrubbery close by was also burned.
• There were no vehicle tracks or footprints from the road to the landing site.


One of the indentations at the landing site

Project Blue Book was heavily leaning towards a military explanation initially but left the case open. Even the Condon Committee couldn't explain it some years later. It was classed as a genuine a UFO landing and close encounter of the third kind. One that changed J.Allen Hynek’s previously sceptical views on the topic.

Head of Blue Book, Major Hector Quintanilla later told the CIA in a memo:

"There is no doubt that Lonnie Zamora saw an object which left quite an impression on him. There is also no question about Zamora's reliability. He is a serious police officer, a pillar of his church, and a man well versed in recognizing airborne vehicles in his area. He is puzzled by what he saw and frankly, so are we. This is the best-documented case on record, and still we have been unable, in spite of thorough investigation, to find the vehicle or other stimulus that scared Zamora to the point of panic."


Source : www.nicap.org...

One puzzling part of the case is that Zamora reported a symbol on the side of the craft. But he was told by investigators not to reveal the correct one to the public. This was to eliminate ‘witnesses’ who had claimed to see the same symbol, as confabulators and hoaxers

A sketch of the craft was prepared under Zamora’s direction about two weeks after the sighting. It was published in an APRO bulletin and in the May 28, 1964 issue of the Socorro Chieftain. It also featured in the Blue Book file on the case.



However, a number of variations on an arrowhead, or upside down V shape also appeared in relation to the case in other publications. Whatever its significance may or may not be there is still some confusion as to which was the correct one reported by Zamora.

Theories

Various theories have been banded around since the incident. Such as the testing of a lunar landing vehicle, a hi-tech balloon and a prank by students from the nearby New Mexico Tech.

Phil Klass claimed it was all a hoax perpetrated as a means of increasing tourism. In fact, in 1966, NM Chamber of Commerce president Paul Ridings proposed building up the site to promote tourism. That theory would implicate numerous people in a hoax on Zamora. Or that Zamora was part of the hoax himself!!

J.Allen Hynek was so impressed by the evidence that his once sceptical stance began to change. However, he would still go on to‘Swamp Gaslight' the public over the Michigan UFO sightings some two years later in 1966.

After leaving the police to manage a gas station, Lonnie Zamora died on November 2nd, 2009, in Socorro from a heart attack, aged 76. Not long after, the stories of a student prank on him had surfaced in September 2009.

A former New Mexico Tech President affirmed in the 1960s in a letter to renowned scientist Dr. Linus Pauling that the Socorro UFO was a hoax.

In a 1968 letter to Dr. Stirling Colgate -the President of New Mexico Tech, Pauling inquired about the Socorro sighting. Colgate replied to Pauling by returning the letter with a handwritten note at the bottom.

Dr. Colgate wrote "I have a good indication of the student who engineered the hoax. Student has left. Cheers, Stirling."



The evidence seems largely circumstantial. But who knows what Zamora really saw? The case remains unsolved.

What is impressive about the Unsolved Mysteries series on UFOs is that they get to the witnesses for many of these events. Obviously, being around in the 90s helps. Also, they do a good job of recreating the incident.

Lonnie is, without a doubt, a reliable witness, and I do believe his story.
Whether it was, an ET craft is debatable.

a reply to: mirageman

Wouldn't soil (compaction) test provide an estimate of the object's weight?

Given an estimate of its weight, and dimensions (per observer), some clue to the amount of propulsion (and perhaps, means thereof) could be made.

In other words;

Given the available physical evidence, observed character and performance of the object, together with the technologies available at that time...would such a craft be reasonably possible? Did powerful enough engines exist? Did the size of the object and its estimated mass allow for large enough fuel tanks to be incorporated to provide motive power for the time and distance covered?

Frustrating that such questions never seem to be addressed in encounters like these.

a reply to: mirageman


A true headscratcher, this one.

The student prank theory is interesting, but why would the culprits remain anonymous? Without names or any deeper detail, aside from a short 1968 line of scribble by Colegate, it is arguably the weakest theory of them all.

(By the way, did anybody discover the identify of the teenager Zamora was chasing at the start of the incident? If indeed a hoax, then it's possible the driver needed to lead Zamora there after attracting his attention in town.)


Far more interesting is Jacques Vallee's find - the logo for a company called Astropower, Inc., a subsidiary of the Douglas Aircraft Company, dealing with advanced space propulsion.

Here is their 1961 advertisement:



Hmmm...

a reply to: Mantiss2021

The official investigations concluded that Zamora did see a genuine object but that it did not display anything that was beyond the technology of the day. It was therefore not anything 'interplanetary'. They explored possible helicopters, VTOL aircraft, Lunar Modules and even the possibility that Project Cloud Gap might be secretly up to something in the area. But could never identify what it was.

One thing about some of the 50+ year old cases (like Falcon Lake and this one) is that there seems to be plenty of documentation from official investigations that has been released into the public domain.

The Blue Book files are available at : documents.theblackvault.com...

Although I have not scrutinized all 200+ pages as yet. So maybe there is more detail to be uncovered.

A few things that are notable that 'might' point to a hoax are that Zamora did not get a good look at the supposed 'beings' for more than a few seconds. He also reported the object looked like a balloon and no traces of a propellant were found in the soil and grass samples.

However, if it was a hoax and Zamora had been singled out as the victim, then there were an awful lot of things that would have to fall into place for it to work. Never mind the level of planning and acquisition of materials needed to pull it off.

Interestingly, maybe the high-level interest of the military in this particular ufo event may have something to do with the propulsion Zamora claimed of the ufo. Maybe like the one in Canada, we went over earlier, the Falcon Lake Incident-- which had an enthusiastic interest from Canadian and American authorities--also had a fiery takeoff, according to Michalak, similar to the Zamora description.

According to the lore, aren't ufos generally supposed to be silent?

Or maybe NOT on takeoffs. I can’t recall right now other descriptions of supposed ufo takeoff events.

But I have a feeling in these two cases--the authorities were so drawn to them based on that descriptive element of the ufo takeoffs.

a reply to: ConfusedBrit

The student prank theory is interesting, but why would the culprits remain anonymous?

It could be that they have a high profile scientific/engineering career and do not want to court any controversy and get dragged into the murky world of ufology.

However, I also wonder how much precision planning would go into such a prank. Not only would you have to engineer something to look like a potential flying saucer, but you'd also need to know Zamora's shift patterns and whereabouts. Even then could you guarantee he'd follow a speeding car? He could have come off the road or even be called to a higher priority crime. Socorro seems to be a fairly small place. So I don't rule it out. But a hoax relies on certain events all falling into place at the right time.

Good find on the logo BTW.

a reply to: mirageman

The student prank theory is interesting, but why would the culprits remain anonymous? Without names or any deeper detail, aside from a short 1968 line of scribble by Colegate, it is arguably the weakest theory of them all.

Well, they might have been aware of the ufo hell Zamora went through enough not to want to get involved in this.
The official might have wanted them not to face the same problems or other problems related to confessing a hoax.

One potential flaw in this story is that the person in that gas station spoke that Zamorea or some other cop was chasing the ufo while it was in flight. I don't think Zamara said he did that. He said he saw it on the ground.

Maybe it was another cop involved?

a reply to: peaceinoutz

Zamora reported a noise from a low pitch to high pitch as the object began to emit smoke and flames. But not like anything he was familiar with. But then it stopped seconds later ashe fled back towards his car. Hitting his leg on the bumper and losing his glasses in the process. He also reported that it took about 3 minutes as it faded into the distance and he never observed it to "rise more than 20ft off the ground".

See page 16 : documents.theblackvault.com...

a reply to: peaceinoutz

I think you are quoting me mistakenly there.

originally posted by: mirageman
a reply to: peaceinoutz

I think you are quoting me mistakenly there.

Yeah, I thought you were him, and he was you.

The ETs hacked into my brain.

They're watching us.

We're getting close!

Lonnie Zamora is very credible, and with all those details I believe him.
And his account has not been discredited almost 60 years later.
Having seen one of these strange flying vehicles some years ago myself, you are left with a feeling of having seen something 'unworldly'. They are nothing like our vehicles, I know everyone seems to think they are experimental craft that we are testing, no way that's what they are. If we had the capability these craft have, we could send vehicles to Mars in a matter of minutes, instead of several months.

originally posted by: mirageman
a reply to: Mantiss2021

The official investigations concluded that Zamora did see a genuine object but that it did not display anything that was beyond the technology of the day. It was therefore not anything 'interplanetary'. They explored possible helicopters, VTOL aircraft, Lunar Modules and even the possibility that Project Cloud Gap might be secretly up to something in the area. But could never identify what it was.

One thing about some of the 50+ year old cases (like Falcon Lake and this one) is that there seems to be plenty of documentation from official investigations that has been released into the public domain.

The Blue Book files are available at : documents.theblackvault.com...

Although I have not scrutinized all 200+ pages as yet. So maybe there is more detail to be uncovered.

A few things that are notable that 'might' point to a hoax are that Zamora did not get a good look at the supposed 'beings' for more than a few seconds. He also reported the object looked like a balloon and no traces of a propellant were found in the soil and grass samples.

However, if it was a hoax and Zamora had been singled out as the victim, then there were an awful lot of things that would have to fall into place for it to work. Never mind the level of planning and acquisition of materials needed to pull it off.

But would a balloon have those unusual markings?
And would a balloon have flames coming from underneath?

Hard to believe, especially with flames coming out, as most are described with no heat signature. Just hard to believe any off it, as with aliens traveling from light years away to get here? I'm a believer in life elsewhere, but not aliens traveling here. Our science knows there is no life within many light years, so they'd have to becoming from afar, which is just too unrealistic, all I know they might come within our own earth, that's a farse too.

And with all these pictures of the aliens you see online, have you ever thought, well if they have craft, they come from somewhere, where they actually built these crafts? So, they have factories and like to build these? Just with these aliens building craft like this I just don't see it or picture these beings building craft, they just do not appear handy or mechanical looking just too farfetched to believe they come here, exist elsewhere probably, but do not come here.

a reply to: mirageman

A few things that are notable that 'might' point to a hoax are that Zamora did not get a good look at the supposed 'beings' for more than a few seconds. He also reported the object looked like a balloon and no traces of a propellant were found in the soil and grass samples.

However, if it was a hoax and Zamora had been singled out as the victim, then there were an awful lot of things that would have to fall into place for it to work. Never mind the level of planning and acquisition of materials needed to pull it off.

Possible hoax scenario: Theory: The incidents are too scripted:

If it were a hoax, Zamora would have had to be in on it, IMO. And I don’t think he was the type to do that, but you never know. All avenues must be considered.

So here is a hoax scenario, and it’s not too complicated with Zamora involved.
I will highlight the hoax scenario in Bold

The hoax scenario would be based on the coincidental speeders, flame, and roar in the sky, then his idea that the roar was the dynamite factory blowing up all seems somewhat scripted and connected.

He sees speeders he follows them to this isolated place. Meanwhile, he hears a roar and sees some flames in the sky to the southwest (so he forgets the speeders), and now he goes towards the shack and or the flames at the same time. As he cruises along the highway. …or( IF ITS A HOAX—because where then is he going? Maybe just waiting for something to happen which is scripted to happen? To wait and see what he was told to look for?)

Or he’s a bit flustered: speeders, roar in the sky, dynamite shack? Towards the dynamite shack? Or towards the falling flame or both?

So, he’s cruising west toward the object looking for the shack, which he was not sure where it was, so he continues to cruise when he notices the shiny object off the road. Bingo—get to work.

Peripherally at a glance, it appeared to be an overturned vehicle related maybe to those kids speeding.
He's still cruising and notices the two beings in white coveralls by the vehicle and one staring at him.. he, still cruising, thinks about going to help them. He views the object, sees it’s not an overturned car, and describes it as aluminum and white, smooth and oval-shaped. He describes the object all while still cruising.

He calls in and reports a potential accident he will check out, and, at the same time, he gets out of the car, intending to hike to the vehicle to help the two people. Then he hears a door shut loudly---slamming...

...walked 3 steps to the front of the car to possibly 90 ft distance when he heard a very load roar increasing in volume and saw a smokeless blue-orange flame coming from beneath the oval object, now seeming long-axis horizontal at this angle (about 120° from previous sighting), with a red insignia or lettering in the middle about 2 x 2­ 1/2 ft, and slowly rising. He thought it was going to explode and ran away, putting car between him and the object, about 25 ft and 6 secs of running from the car he glanced back and saw object had risen about 20-25 ft to level of his car, ran another 25 ft and "ducked down" below edge of ridge. Roaring noise stopped, he looked up and saw object heading to the SW (towards W end of Socorro Municipal Airport 1 mile away) at level height just clearing 8 ft dynamite shack by about 3 ft moving "very fast," no flame or smoke or noise. He ran back to patrol car, radioed headquarters, saw object climbing slowly and "get small" in the distance just clearing Box Canyon or Six mile Canyon Mtn. (about 6 miles to WSW). Immediate police and military investigation found physical traces, burning brush and indentations in the ground, and several other more distant witnesses. (UFOE, Section V; Hynek UFO Rpt pp. 223-9, etc.)

link

ACTUALLY, IN THE HOAX SCENARIO, HE'S CRUISING AND WAITING FOR THE CRAFT TO RISE AND LEAVE SO HE CAN DO HIS ACT. HE'S SIGNALED THAT ITS TIME AND HE CALLS IN AND LEAVES THE VEHICLE. THEN BOOM, HE GOES SLIGHTLY BESERK AND RUNS AND GETS DOWN LIKE AN OSTRICH IN FEAR OF THE OBJECT HE THINKS WILL BLOW UP. IT'S ALL AN ACT, BUT HE GOES THROUGH IT AS IF IT HAPPENED, AND HE EASILY CONVINCES THOSE WHO HEAR HIS STORY BECAUSE HE IS WISE ENOUGH TO GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS OF THE ACT TO BECOME PANICKED

I see it as a potentially connected hoax involving maybe those college kids and Zamora and that speeding car all synchronized for him to experience this ufo which, btw, has not exhibited any of the famous five observables of the one and only-- Zondo:
1) anti-gravity (no discernable propulsion technology, no exhaust trails)
2) sudden & instantaneous accelleration (go from ZERO to 20,000 MPH in less than a second)
3) hyper-speed (exceed Mach 5)
4) stealth (dodge radar)
5) trans-medium (can effortlessly travel through multiple mediums, including water, air, and outer space)

Hoax or not, unfortunately, the evidence, IMO is not proof of an ET craft event. And the hoax scenario is only hypothetical; I believe Lonny wouldn't do that, but you never know.

a reply to: RonnieJersey

But would a balloon have those unusual markings?

I don't think it's out of the realms of possibility.

And would a balloon have flames coming from underneath?

Ditto

a reply to: peaceinoutz

The one thing about this case is how it hasn't been tainted by supposed new witness coming along. No ex-military telling us how they found the dead bodies after the craft crashed miles away in the desert. No kooky people claiming they saw the craft and hear aliens talking to them in their head with environmental warnings of how we were damaging the planet. And, other than Blue Book's attempt to explain it all away as Air Force experiment, no interference from the intelligence community.

So Lonnie Zamora's testimony still stands as it did in 1964. All those involved in investigations seem convinced he saw a craft of some sort and that he was a credible witness. Would he really get involved in a hoax? it's all hypothetical as you say.

I originally couldn't track down the original source of the hoax story. But Ive found it now and will post it below.

The original "Hoax" revelations were posted by Anthony Bragalia on a blog in 2012.

For the full posting see : THE ULTIMATE SECRET OF SOCORRO FINALLY TOLD: NEW DETAILS ON WORLD-FAMOUS 1964 UFO HOAX

Here's an edited summary.

■ Dr. Stirling Colgate, physicist and former President of New Mexico Tech, knew the incident to have been be a hoax and remained friends with one of the hoaxers, a former student and now a senior citizen, who “does not want his cover blown”.

■ Six or less people were involved. The students were embarrassed by their prank after the story grew and were concerned about the possible harm that could have come to Zamora and his career.

■ The craft was simply "“A candle in a balloon. Not sophisticated.” according to Colgate.

■ A freshman acted as the "speeder" to lure Lonnie to the scene.

■ Two short students in white lab suits acted as “aliens. They launched the landed “UFO.” from the ground. Note: Lonnie never claimed that he saw the short people get into the craft.

■ A very large white candle balloon (with a red, drawn symbol on its side) was launched by lab-suited students.

■ Another student was used to create the explosion, roaring and high-pitched sounds from material readily available at the school’s Energetics Lab which sponsors the annual July 4th fireworks.



I'm not sure if I buy this hoax story.

* It was noted that although conditions were clear, it was a very windy day. Difficult conditions for a balloon to fly away from Zamora in surely?

* How was this all set up so perfectly to catch Zamora. What if he'd not seen the speeder or been asked to attend another incident at the time?

* How did the students evade everyone to set up the prank and then get away without leaving any tracks or footprints as reported?

a reply to: mirageman
And landing marks that were 9" deep? That would take quite a bit of planning on their part as fraud, I don't buy it.
Zamora was not stupid, I think he knew exactly what he was looking at.