there b e l i e v e d they had
go in straight line and at
seen in the night skies.
same height- possibly 1 0
Five years later, an
to 1 5 feet from the ground,
other tantalizing report of
and it cleared the dyna
close-up sightings of hu
mite shack by about three
manoids emerged, this time
feet. . . . Object was travel
from Socorro, New Mexico.
ing very fast. It seemed to
The incident had begun at
rise up, and take off imme
about 5 : 4 5 P.M. on April 24,
diately across country."
1 964 . On that spring eve
New Mexico state
ning, police officer Lon
trooper M. S. Chavez ar
nie Zamora was in hot pur
rived on the scene shortly
s u i t of a s p e e d i n g c a r
afterward, and he and Za
through the desert outside
mora discovered indenta
of Socorro when, as he later
tions in the earth and still
reported, he was j olted off
burning brush where the
the road by a sudden roar
mysterious craft had appar
and a burst of blue-orange
ently taken off. The place
flame. Thinking that a near
was soon crowded with in
by dynamite storage shack
vestigators, who were mea
had b l o w n u p , Z a m o ra
suring and documenting
bounced across the rugged terrain and stopped his pa trol car at a gully, where he
what t h e y fou n d . Four Onlookers await results as alleged contactee Daniel W. Fly tries to reach aliens with a multiple frequency radio device he built in the 1 950s. It could send but not receive.
spotted an egg-shaped ob
squarish imprints arranged in a trapezoidal pattern were assumed to be the
ject squatting on the ground. Next to it he saw two figures
marks of landing legs. Several smaller, shallow, circular in
who appeared to be wearing white coveralls. One of them
dentations may have been the footprints of the beings in
"seemed to turn and look straight at my car and seemed
white coveralls.
startled -seemed to jump quickly somewhat." Thinking the
Hynek personally investigated this encounter. He inter
vehicle might be an overturned automobile, Zamora in
viewed Zamora and confirmed the burned areas and the de
formed the sheriff over his radio that that he was going to
pressions. When he was finished, Hynek concluded that the
investigate an accident.
report was one of the "major UFO sightings in the history of
Hardly had he left his car, however, when he heard a
the air force's consideration of the subject . " The air force
loud blast. The shiny craft, ablaze underneath, started to lift
reluctantly carried the Zamora sighting as "unidenti fied "
off the ground . Fearing that the thing might explode, Zamora
the only combination landing, trace, and occupant case listed
turned and ran to take cover behind his car, while the UFO
as such in Blue Book files.
continued to rise with an eerie whining and roaring. As it
Plausible-sounding incidents such as the Gill and Za
moved, Zamora noted some kind of red insignia about two
mora sightings made the air force's attitude seem unneces
feet square displayed on the side of the hull. "It appeared to
sarily harsh. However. the official stance was more under73